Blog Posts - ARGYLE YARN SHOP

Westknits tour wrap-up

2/13/2019

Thanks for joining us for a great event with Stephen West!

We had a delightful time this week with Stephen West!
Thanks so much to everyone who joined us for his two classes and for the really fun meet-and-greet!

Argyle Yarn Shop was proud to be a stop on the Westknits Winter Tour.
During this tour of America, Stephen visited a select number of independent yarn shops, taught workshops to a lucky few and released his latest pattern collection, Hiberknitting.

Stephen West's simple clean designs have now been knitted by thousands of knitters all around the world. His shawl designs and innovative colorwork have helped him become a widely recognized and respected designer.

How many environments are there outside knitting where everyone is totally excited to show up at a party wearing the exact same outfit?
Waiting for the magic to begin, here's a pic of everyone rocking the Marled Mania sweater!

In Stephen's workshops his students explored the Westknits shawl world as he demonstrated several of his top-down shawl construction methods.
They experimented with elements like colorful stripes, Westknits shortcut rows, texture, and yarn overs.
The afternoon was all about showing off beautiful yarns with simple techniques combined in clever ways.

After the workshops, Stephen was generous enough to stick around to meet some of his Brooklyn fans! He delivered an inspiring presentation on how he works with yarns, textures, and shapes, and followed it with a book signing of both his Westknits Bestknits books as well as his newest release Hiberknitting!
After the book signing, Stephen was on hand to help our guests shop for colors and yarns for their next Westknits project. Here's Stephen with both the Betten ladies, Esther and Zoë!

Stephen showed off a colorful array of Westknits designs while encouraging our guests to look at yarn in a new way.
Some of the wonderful designs he brought included Penguono, Marled Magic Shawl, Marled Magic Sweater, Dotted Rays, Parachutey, Chevron Shenanigans, Marled Fade Triangle, and Vertices Unite.

We had a wonderful time, and we are hoping to tempt Stephen to return to Brooklyn again later this October!

Thank you to every one for joining us!

Hiberknitting! - The new release

Hiberknitting Number 1 by Stephen West!

Hiberknitting features six patterns to inspire and comfort knitters. Two shawls, a color blocked cowl, two hats, and a cozy top-down sweater make picking the perfect project for the Hiberknitting season a breeze.

The collection features West's signature graphic designs, garter stripes and angular chevrons, knit-purl texture and neutral-with-a-pop color choices.

Get your copy right here!

Stephen West is returning to Argyle!

12/13/2018

The fantastic Stephen West returns to Argyle!

Join us for a set of workshops starring the wonderful Stephen West!

Stephen West's simple clean designs have now been knitted by thousands of knitters all around the world. His shawl designs and innovative colorwork have helped him become a widely recognized and respected designer.

Argyle Yarn Shop is proud to be a stop on the Westknits Winter Tour!
During this tour of America, Stephen will be visiting a select number of independent yarn shops, teaching workshops to a lucky few and releasing his upcoming pattern collection, Hiberknitting.

We at Argyle are fortunate enough to be hosting not one but two classes with him that month:

Color Play the Westknits Way!
Tuesday, Feb. 12th, 1:00-4:00

and

Westknits Shawl Mashup:
Wednesday, Feb. 13th, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM

Stephen has taught highly popular workshops at yarn shops throughout the United States and all over the world.

We're very excited to have him join us, and we hope you'll be able to attend!

Click on the link here to register for one of these exciting workshops!

Color Play the Westknits Way!

This class is all about showing off beautiful yarns with simple techniques combined in clever ways.

Techniques like stripes, short rows, and holding yarns together will be explored and combined to create bold architectural fabrics.

Stephen will show off a colorful array of Westknits designs while encouraging you to look at yarn in a new way.

If you have a colorful Westknits project you would like to begin, there will be time to cast on a new project in the last hour of class.

Recommended projects: Penguono,
Marled Magic Shawl, Marled Magic Sweater,
Dotted Rays, Parachutey, Chevron Shenanigans,
Marled Fade Triangle, Vertices Unite, or any other
favorite Westknits design that uses several colors
striped or marled together.

Color Play the Westknits Way:
Tuesday, February 12th,
1:00-4:00 PM. $125

Register online right here.

Westknits Shawl Mashup

In this workshop you will explore Stephen West's shawl world as he demonstrates several of his top-down shawl construction methods.

You will be given a handout in class filled with Stephen's favorite techniques, stitch patterns, and shaping ideas.

Stephen will help you mix your favorite elements together into your very own shawl mashup.

You will be guided to either use a simple shawl shape to fill with texture and color if you prefer to follow a pattern as a guideline or you can also create your very own knitted shape if you like to improvise and experiment.

Emphasis will be focused on experimenting with elements like colorful stripes, Westknits shortcut rows, and yarn overs.

Prepare to be inspired!

Westknits Shawl Mashup:
Wednesday, Feb. 13th,
10:00 AM-1:00 PM $125

Register online right here.

Stone Wool

10/13/2018

Welcome, Stone Wool, to Argyle!

We at Argyle are very happy to announce a new and very unique yarn named Stone Wool.
These yarns are one of the very few that are wholly ranched, shorn, spun, and dyed right here in the United States!

Stone Wool's mission:
Make extraordinary yarns and support the farmers whose tireless dedication keeps American lands producing a diverse and incredible bounty.

Stone Wool made its first mill-spun yarn with a small mill in Wyoming. The yarn was spun from soft and springy Cormo fleece sourced directly from ranches in Wyoming and Montana.
They combine combed and uncombed wool, a process that they developed with the mill to highlight the best qualities of this lovely fiber.
They dye the yarn in a Maine-based dyehouse, choosing earthy, versatile tones that they would want to make whole sweaters with.

The result is a unique yarn with woolen-spun's airy loft and worsted's strength.
Springy, lofty, and with a substantial hand, Stone Wool offers crisp stitch definition and elegant texture in knitting.
At Argyle we now stock the aran weight Corriedale, the worsted weight Cormo, and the DK weight Romney + Merino.

Limited edition Cormo Natural Indigo

Stone Wool's Cormo Natural Indigo yarn was dyed with natural indigo, an amazing plant, and dye source, prized for centuries for its magical blue properties.
Dyeing with Indigo is a time-consuming and elaborate production, as the dye will only yield color under precise chemical conditions, which must be constantly evaluated and adjusted.
Indigo deepens with successive dips in the dye vat; the light color was dipped once or twice, the medium shade 3 or 4 times and the deepest shade up to 12 times.

Brooklyn Knitting Collective

9/8/2018

New knitting parties with Brooklyn General Store!

Join us for a brand new Knit-Along we're cohosting with Brooklyn General Store!

Last summer we at Argyle had so much fun collaborating with Brooklyn General Store for our knit-alongs of the "Brooklyn Blossom" and "BK All Day" shawls that we have teamed up again this year for another big event. It's the Brooklyn Knitting Collective!

Here's Esther with Catherine of Brooklyn General co-modeling this fall knit-along's garment!

Check out the full calendar below.
It's always free to attend, just RSVP!

Here it is: The Brownstone Ivy!

We at Argyle and Brooklyn General Store are delighted that super-talented knitwear designer Lesley Ann Robinson of Knit Graffiti Designs custom designed this gorgeous shawl pattern just for our autumn event!

We used two skeins of Hedgehog Fibres, one skein of Black Elephant and one skein of Life in the Long Grass, but any 4 skeins of fingering yarn will do. We have kits with our colors (pictured here) and the card stock pattern available in both shops and online.

(If you're thinking: "But I like both shops. I don't which one I should buy the kit from," don't worry! We're splitting the sales halfsies no matter which store you order it from!)

The Brownstone Ivy is an exciting brioche lace shawl that would keep changing and keep the knitter truly engaged. A brioche lace pattern twists and grows with the shawl, mimicking vines of ivy growing up the side of an old brownstone in Brooklyn.

What's a Knit-Along?
A Knit-Along is when a community of knitters decides to all work on the same project at the same time, helping, teaching, and encouraging each other as they go.
Stay tuned: There will be a contest with a great prize from both stores- Details to come!

The Brooklyn Knitting Collective calendar:
All dates are Tuesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 PM

Sep 11, @Brooklyn General
Sep 18, @Argyle: RSVP right here
Sep 25, @Brooklyn General
Oct 2, @Argyle
Oct 9, @Brooklyn General
Oct 16, @Argyle

Enter to win a prize!

We are also cohosting an Instagram contest with Brooklyn General during the KAL, just for fun.
Here are the rules of the contest:

1) Purchase at least two skeins (starting today) of yarn from either or both stores to make the Brownstone Ivy.
2) Follow both @brooklyngeneralstore and @argyleyarnshop on Instagram
3) Before October 16th, post a picture of your work in progress on Instagram and tag both #brooklyngeneralstore and #argyleyarnshop

The winner receives two $50 gift cards, one from each store.

BK All Day

6/29/2018

It's the BK All Day Knit-Along!

It's a new all-Brooklyn summer knit-along starring Lavanya Patricella's "BK All Day!"

We've got the printed patterns, and you better believe we've got the yarn choices in!

Last summer we at Argyle had so much fun collaborating with Brooklyn General Store for our knit-along of the "Brooklyn Blossom" shawl that we have teamed up again this year for another big event.

We're delighted to announce that this year String Thing Studio and Woolyn are joining in the fun, meaning all four yarn shops in Brooklyn are co-hosting this party!

Check out the full calendar below: It's always free to attend, just RSVP!

Even if you're not working on this project, we'd still love for you to join us. It's just a casual knitting party to have fun and be social.
Come knit with us!

All events start at 7:00
Thursday, July 5th @ Argyle
Thursday, July 12th @ Brooklyn General
Thursday, July 26th @ String Thing
Wednesday, July 18th @ Woolyn
Thursday, August 2nd @ Argyle
Thursday, August 9th @ Brooklyn General
Wednesday, August 15th @ Woolyn
Friday, August 24th - WRAP UP PARTY @ String Thing

Here it is! The "BK All Day"

We in Brooklyn are thrilled that knitting designer superstar Lavanya Patricella offered to custom design this gorgeous shawl pattern just for our summer event!

It takes four different skeins of fingering or sock weight yarn to make it, and we've just got some amazing colors in stock. So come on in and let us help you put together a unique and striking combination!

What's a Knit-Along?
A Knit-Along is when a community of knitters decides to all work on the same project at the same time, helping, teaching, and encouraging each other as they go.

Folks are just casting on to make Lavanya Patricella's "BK All Day"!

You're not too late to pick your colors to join in the all-Brooklyn, all summer knit-along. Far from it! In fact, the four Brooklyn yarn shops will be taking turns cohosting knitting parties featuring this exciting new design until the end of August.

For your inspiration, our color consultant Kate has been pairing together glorious four-skein kits for you to create the BK All Day.

Each kit contains four curated colors of indie hand-dyed yarn, the printed card stock pattern, the limited edition BKLYN KAL drawstring project bag, and the commemorative wooden stitch marker/bracelet charm!

Check them out right here.

Join us in spirit from abroad to participate in this summer's exciting Brooklyn-themed event!

VKL! 2018

3/1/2018

Our first visit to Vogue Knitting Live!

After six years of business, we at Argyle decided to do something a little bit scary and a lotta bit exciting which was to go to Vogue Knitting Live for the first time as a vendor!

Vogue Knitting Live is like a cross between a knitting trade show and a craft fair, and is held in Times Square.
Famous knit wear designers fly in from all over to teach master classes. And in the "marketplace," there are hundreds of booths, in which yarn makers and dyers show off their own wares, and merchants like us display our favorite new yarns.
The yarns we selected for this year were by Hedgehog Fibres, Woolen Boon, and Barnyard Knits.
We also put together lots of three-skein kits to make the "Brooklyn Blossom," a shawl custom designed by Kirsten Kapur for a knit-along hosted ourselves and Brooklyn General Store. Speaking of . . .

Like anything big and new, it took a little courage to push ourselves out of our comfort zone.
Fortunately, we have become friends with Catherine, the owner of Brooklyn General Store! Since she had never had a booth at Vogue Knitting Live either, we decided (as it were) to hold hands and jump together.
We've had a wonderful time over the last year collaborating between the two stores. We decided to split one booth and we practiced setting up and decorating it together before the show. As the weekend got closer, it actually got less stressful and more exciting. It felt a little bit like when we first opened a yarn shop in the first place

Here's a picture of Esther and Catherine in the back room of Argyle, figuring out how to hang the drapes behind the grid wall, and where to put these cool café lights. There were so many stressful, grownuppy things to learn about trade shows like mobile credit card processing and "drayage fees," (Ugh! You don't want to know!) that by the time we got to just think about what kind of fabric to decorate with and what kind of music to play, it felt like sweet relief!

Here's the final look at Argyle's half of the booth.
We also put together a bunch of really fun three skein kits with the pattern included to make the Brooklyn Blossom, a pattern designed for Brooklyn General and Argyle for our joint knit-along.

When they first open the doors at VKL, hundreds of ladies are already waiting in a massive line outside, and they all pour in at the same time with a loud whoop! We hoped we would be ready for them!

One of the delightful things about being at Vogue Knitting Live is having everyone all in the same place at the same time. We were very happy to meet Kim, the founder of Barnyard Knits.
And here is Esther with Beata, the founder of Hedgehog Fibres! We were delighted to finally meet her, and she flew in from Ireland to be there.
Before we opened a business, I thought maybe it would just be numbers and transactional. You always hear that phrase, "It's just business." Not so! The reality is, it really really matters to have a face-to-face relationship with the people you do business with. You root for each other, and it makes your enthusiasm for what they do genuine.

We also got to meet Katy, the founder of Katrinkles, who makes the most charming custom wooden notions.

Here's a lineup of these four awesome ladies! (I, David, was there the whole weekend, but I guess I forgot to take a selfie). From left it's Catherine of Brooklyn General, knitwear designer Lavanya Patricella, Esther of yours truly, and Beata of Hedgehog.

Vogue Knitting Live truly was a wonderful experience, and we look forward to going back next winter!

Swift Yarns

2/10/2018

Welcome to Argyle, Swift Yarns!

Beautiful, inventive yarns dyed right here in New York City!

Here at Argyle, we are very happy to announce the most recent addition to our shop:
NYC's very own Swift Yarns!

If you love color in your project, then you are in the right place. Swift Yarns is all about the love of colors!
They love colors that are bright, bold and rich. Colors that will make every project extra special.
Their yarns are designed to work well with each other to ensure every project looks as beautiful as you imagined.
Add a little Swift to your stash and bring some extra color to your projects!

Here's how Carol, the founder of Swift Yarns, describes their dyeing process:
"We are proud of the love and care that goes into each skein of yarn here at Swift Yarns. We use professional low impact acid dyes and a variety of immersion and low immersion techniques to create our repeatable and special edition yarn colors.

"Our yarns are dyed two at a time to ensure consistency in the skeins, which is why we do not have any dye lots. We dye the yarns to exhaustion and then rinse the yarns. We do not use any wool washes as many contain some herbal additives or chemicals that may cause allergic reactions in some individuals."

Check out all of our colors of Swift Yarns on our web store, or come join us to see them in person!

Qing Fibre

10/21/2017

Welcome to Argyle, Qing Fibre!

The vivid and vivacious colors of London's own Qing Fibre.

At Argyle, we are proud to now stock Qing Fibre's Super Soft Sock yarn, which is a blend of fine merino and cashmere.

This is the yarn that Stephen West has featured twice this year alone in his patterns: The Smock It!, and last month's Westknits Mystery Shawl Knit-Along Speckle & Pop!

Qing Fibre feels amazing to the touch and is dyed in inventive combinations that capture the imagination.

Vibrant and happy colors!

Qing Fibre is the creation of independent dyer Layla Qing. Raised in Beijing surrounded by traditional folk crafts, she now resides in London where she combines unexpected colors from ethically sourced Peruvian wool and cashmere.

From spirited, animated brights to the intriguing darkest shades, she hopes to inspire people with her love of color.

Here's a few yarn color pairings of Qing Fibre we love!

The first flights are: Miss Bim and Underwater,
Spin Me Round & Electronics,
Pangolin and Elderwood,
and Smiler and Siren.

And here is
Shibuya and Narwal,
Berry Milkshake and Salt,
Frost and Gelateria,
and Ibiza Breeze and Soft Grey.

Barnyard Knits

10/14/2017

Welcome to Argyle, Barnyard Knits!

Discover the subtle beauty of Barnyard Knits.

At Argyle, we try to listen to our guests' suggestions when they've discovered what they believe is the next new, up-and-coming hand dyer.

The latest to catch the eyes of some of our friends are the truly beautiful skeins from Barnyard Knits.

Soothing yet resonant color ways. . .

Skeins capturing the spirit of nature. . .

Just look at the lovely lineup of Barnyard Knits' colors!

The names of the colors are as evocative as the shades themselves, such as "A Walk in the Woods," "October Wind," and "Shipwreck."

The four colors left, clockwise, are: "Winterberry," "Soho," "Rosebud," and "Faded Farmhouse."

Barnyard has a unique and distinctive sensibility. Their delicate color palette is more ethereal than the neons of other speckled hand dyers. It is gentle and harmonious, while at the same time inventive and surprising.

Here are the colors "Luxe," "October Wind," "Shipwreck," and "Autumn."

Here are a few pairings of Barnyard Knits colors that we're really pleased with.

Here are eight of the 22 colors we now have in stock.
Clockwise it's Fantasy and Soho, Antique Pottery and Plum Blossom,
Cashmere and Monarch Meadow,
and Birch and Rosebud.

Here's another round:
Clockwise, it's Loft and Luxe, Winterberry and Barnwood, Steampunk and Acorn, and Autumn and October Wind.

And here's
Rosebud and Sweet Juliet,
Stone Harbor and Shipwreck, Walk in the Woods and Song of the Sirens,
and Faded Farmhouse.

Woolen Boon

10/8/2017

Woolen Boon's unique hand-dyed yarns are a feast for the eyes.

Since we first started stocking their yarns last month, we at Argyle have been delighted by our experience with Woolen Boon and their yarns. Woolen Boon is a little family-run yarn company, the husband-and-wife team of Sonya and Ryan who hand-dye yarn together in their small studio and shop in Concord, New Hampshire.

With names like "Super Cool Party People," "I Love Lisa Frank," "Platypus Prime," and "Giant Jawbreaker," the colors are as adventuresome, playful, and inspiring as you'd hope.

If you're too far away to feast your eyes in person, we have Woolen Boon available on our web store right now!

Looking at these two lineups you can see that Woolen Boon has a unique, sophisticated eye for color. They have the feel and look of yarns that are on point for the modern knitter, but also an individual character that stands out and has its own voice and spirit.

Woolen Boon is the yarn dyer that Andrea Mowry chose next for her new project, the So Faded sweater, after the success of her Find Your Fade shawl using Hedgehog Fibres.

We were pretty lucky this September. We were worried if an order of yarn we had placed would ship in time for the NYC Yarn Crawl.
Sonya and Ryan had the perfect solution: Since they would be driving through New York on a family road trip the day before, they could just drop the shipment off in person!
They were kind enough to stay for a while to meet with and answer questions from some of their local fans.
Here's Sonya and Esther showcasing the new lineup of Woolen Boon on Argyle's wall.

We were also honored to have Sonya dye for the event a limited-edition, custom-designed color exclusive to Argyle Yarn Shop.

Here it is, the beautiful Mardi Gras!

We are so delighted with it! Although this first run went fast, we certainly hope to get our hands more skeins before too long. It's so complex, yet balanced; aquatic seafoam over a creamy base, with a punch of purple and the texture of amber speckles.