Merry Christmas to All

From all of us at Sanjo Silk, have a wondrous holiday season. And grand wishes for oodles of creativity in the coming new year. (Featured yarn: Sanjo Silk 20-056 50/50 Silk Wool 12/3)

Christmas Shopping

 I had the dearest man come into the Silk Weaving Studio today. He walked in, looked at a few scarves, and with his back to the baskets, shelves and cubbyholes groaning under the weight of yarn asked, "Do you have anything for knitters?"

Do we? DO we??? So many yummy yarns. Colours. Blissful naturals. Wild silks. Cultivated silks. Kits. Yikes! Beginner knitters. Expert knitters. We've got stuff for every knitter on your list. 

He snapped up 2 kits. The O-Scarf, and the Kyla Hat. "These are perfect. I can't believe it. A one-stop shop!" He paid in cash because, he said, at this time of year, it's the only way he can keep his purchases secret. "She's our banker." 

We hope she loves them.

Knitting Kits at Sanjo Silk

Sanjo Silk has knitting kits. Yes indeed we do. In all cases the kits include the pattern (with ample photographic images), the required yarn to complete the project, and in most cases, the accessories (like beads, rings and buttons). This photo shows the ever-popular Rain Shawl, an intermediate knit that makes a luxurious and elegant wrap, complete with beaded accents.

Our kits range from simple to intermediate. They all feature lush Sanjo yarns. In some cases (as shown above) the yarns are undyed, superbly lovely in their natural colour. 

 In other cases, we combine our yummy handpainted yarns with solids. Sometimes you knit them together (Kyla hat) and in others they form separate parts of the pieces (e.g. fingerless gloves). For now, the handpainted kits are available only at the Silk Weaving Studio

Now Available

They're now in the shop, at the Silk Weaving Studio. And they look pretty scrumptious. 4 colourways. The one above is blues, russets, greys and goldy browns. We're imagining how knockout this would be knitted into a go-with-jeans accessory. Luscious mohair silk and Fluffy Dots.

Fuchsias, golds, blues and greens here. The yarn in the centre of the photo is Sanjo's 20-060. It looks so beautiful painted, 'cos the tussah golden forms an underlayer that makes the coours look so rich.

These greens are cheeky and colourful. They're kissed with plummy purple and brassy golds. Lovely. The mohair silk and the silk mohair nylon are glorious.

Plum purple, blue purple, soft turquoise and toffee. So yummy. Especially the boucle.

 And of course, painted bombyx spinning fibre. This is the most gorgeous spinning fibre we've ever painted. It's really lovely.

We've also put lots of the painted yarns into kits, but that's for another post.

Colourful Skeins

We had a huge skein-painting day last week. We're always so enchanted when the painted skeins are all done, dried, and twisted. They're so very lovely. Every time. They still need to be labelled, and many of them will go into knitting kits. They'll be available shortly, only at the Silk Weaving Studio, as soon as we can get all this stuff done!

Knit Swatches

The Sanjo Silk yarns always look lovely on the cones and in skeins. But fibre artists justifiably want to know what they look like when they're made into something. So we create handknitted swatches of most of our yarns just so people can touch them and see how gorgeous they look.  Each one is handknitted, then blocked, and then it's photographed (for the Sanjo Silk website), and taken to the studio to display alongside the yarn.

Here you'll see a few really lovely yarns in action. Top left is a silk/alpaca; this is the closest thing we have to a "100-Mile Yarn". The alpaca is from Salt Spring Island, and the yarn is spun on Vancouver Island. Both of these places are within 25 miles of Vancouver.

Top right is Fluffy Dots. This yarn is gaining fame because of it's wonderful, quirky texture.

Lower left: Silk Gima, which is a flat yarn consisting of several finer, somewhat firm yarns loosely adhered. As you work with this yarn, the finer yarns sometimes separate, sometimes don't, giving it an intriguing look.

Bottom right: one of our favourites. It's a 15/2 tussah that we use in weaving all the time. It's stunning when it's machine knit. And here, you can see that it's also stunning handknit.

Knitters discover our Noil Fleck

Wind, wind, wind. We sold this yarn, 20-090, like crazy at Knit City. Frankly, this was a surprise. It's not a yarn we considered to be a knitting yarn. But it's superbly beautiful, a fact that knitters didn't ignore. They told us they would be knitting it into open, lacework overlayers. They told us they would be pairing it with mohair, noil and other yarns to create the perfect texture. They told us they would be looking and waiting to see what inspired them with such a yarn. So we've been spending some time winding skeins of this luscious yarn to replenish the empty space that it once occupied. We at Sanjo have always loved this yarn, so it's delightful to see that others love it too.

Knit City, Vancouver

We were busy at Knit City. It certainly is an event that attracts a lot of people. Well done, organizers Fiona and Amanda! We told a lot of people about silk, the different types, how it's turned into yarn. In short, what makes silk so amazing. Our luscious natural-coloured silks were unique at the show, and attendees appreciated that uniqueness. Many claimed they wanted bibs to catch the drool; "diving into the yarns" was a common desire; we were deemed "Best in Show" by more than one customer. Thank you to all who came to see us at Knit City.

Big Meets Small

This is what happens when a shipment arrives and requires pickup at the airport. This one is from India, so it features the lovely and somewhat curious wrapping and handstitching that are part of their packaging. What you can't see in this image is that the parcel completely fills the passenger side of the car, to the back lid. As we carried, dragged and otherwise wrestled the parcel to the studio more than one person commented that it seemed a rather obvious way to "carry a dead body"... The yarns and fibre are exquisite; worth the effort.

Preparing for Knit City, Vancouver

We're preparing for Knit City, a knitters' and spinners' conference in Vancouver. This is the second annual, and to say it's popular is a bit like saying it rains a little bit in Vancouver (OK, not for about 4 months now, but usually.....) We've been a blur of activity, winding skeins of yarn, preparing treasure boxes, assembling kits, compiling our booth's furniture, lighting and bits/pieces, and generally getting ourselves ready. We've been warned to "gird our loins", that if we think we know how busy it will be, to think again. This is the first public appearance of Sanjo Silk, and we're pretty excited to make your acquaintances. Bring it on. We're ready!

Knit City,
Sat. Oct. 26, Sun. Oct. 27, 10-5 both days
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
We're Booth 35

May we introduce...

The secret’s out. There’s a new silk yarn merchant in Vancouver-town.

If you’re a weaver, knitter, felter or spinner, Sanjo Silk will be your go-to when you’re looking for the highest quality natural and ready-to-dye silks. We’ve been busy stocking shelves with the most scrumptious silk yarns you’ve ever seen. High lustre super-slubs and crazy Fluffy Dots for texture. All manner of Essentials: 2.5/1 Singles, 30/2, 20/2, high-twist cords. Blends of Silk with Linen, or Wool, or Camel, or Mohair. Super soft, luxurious spinning fibre. Dang, this stuff is good. 

Come and see, or better yet feel, this luxury at The Silk Weaving Studio. Granville Island, on the waterfront, next to the Sandbar Restaurant.

Meanwhile, we're working feverishly to get our website up and running. From there you'll be able to order online, and have all this deliciousness delivered to your door.We'll let you know here when it's up and running.