Book your spot on-line at our shopping site at http://www.jorstadcreek.com.
Fall Jorstad Classes
Hats for Humanity A Charitable Knitting Project
Introducing a local charitable knitting and crochet effort to provide warm, hand-knit hats for anyone who needs one in the Olympia area.
The Details
We will be distributing donated hand-made hats to the community through our “hat library” located at the front of our retail store in Olympia, Washington. You can drop off finished hats (preferably wool-blend) in the store or directly into the Hat Library at:
Jorstad Creek
801 7th Ave SE
Lacey, WA 98503
Any size, gauge, or style. Mitts or mittens are welcome, too. No store-bought items please. The idea is to assist the community with our craft.
Here’s the Story
This project was inspired when our retail shop was visited by a person in need of a hat.
Our store is a busy workshop, and our staff have many tasks to do. One day a woman entered the shop and proceeded to fondle and examine all the hats in the shop. This is not unusual, we have some pretty cool hats we display as samples and lots of people have asked if they could purchase them! We don’t hover, particularly since we are set up for social distancing. Suddenly our visitor left with one of our beautiful hat samples without asking if she could have it.
Serious conversations ensued at Jorstad about what could be changed to prevent further loss, and whether to rearrange the displays. Then it occurred to us that maybe this woman just needed a hat – she didn’t take anything else, although there were plenty of valuables that could have gone with her, just one hat.
We started to talk about whether there was a need in the community we could help fill, and what we could do to open up to this need instead of react negatively. Our store windows face Plum Street, and we see many people in need walk by on their way to the Salvation Army down the street. It feels at times like we have a window on a world of human need but at the same time we are separated from it. This incident brought awareness of the need into our store.
One of the Jorstad Staff shared that in Iceland you will find hats and gloves casually draped on a bush for anyone to use. This simple act of sharing is without the need for thanks, gratitude, or acknowledgement. It is sending care and loving handwork out into the community without an expectation from the recipient. Offer free hats, without shame, or obligation, to those who need one. Inspired, we changed our hearts and decided to embrace this Icelandic practice. Our only dilemma, our wet climate doesn’t lend itself to draping things on bushes without the items getting seriously weather worn.
Local artist and tiny house builder Dee Williams to the rescue! Dee designed and built our hat library to shelter our free hats so that at any time, day or night, hats can be left off, or obtained without asking. At the entrance of the store you will see this little micro-house greeting everyone coming in or just passing by. We want to fill up our hat library with free hand-made hats and mitts or mittens for all who find themselves out in the cold without adequate gear against the elements.
Will you help us? Call the Jorstad Studio at 360-915-9258 for questions.
Half-Moon Tides Scarf
Free for a limited time, presenting this pattern by Celia Roberts that uses a combination of Aran and DK weight yarns, or heavy worsted weight with DK, in a pattern stitch sequence that shows off both color and texture in a squishy scarf!
Download this pdf!
Enjoy! Available for a limited time for those “in the know.”
Jorstad Spinning Fiber
Mixed Blue Faced Leicester
Long wool combed top with dark stripes carded within white wool
In 4 ounce braids
Suitable for a variety of knitting, a good beginner’s fiber
As a dyer the famous fiber from the sheep breed known as “BFL” is known for beautiful color, ease of dyeing, and its reflective qualities. This is one of the first spinning fibers we experimented with to develop our colorways, and it has been a tough act for other fibers to follow! We purchase our Mixed BFL from our supplier Ashland Bay, a reputable and outstanding source from nearby Oregon. The quality of this fiber is a dependable source for our braids, we know our colors will look outstanding every time as it takes the dark wool in deep rich tones, and reflects saturated bright color on the white wool.
As a spinner I enjoy spinning this fiber on a drop spindle. Drop spindling is not about production and how much you can spin. Rather it is about pure tactile pleasure and the meditative quality of making yarn from fiber in a personal, up close way. Our Mixed BFL drafts smoothly and with ease, allowing you to spin with a spindle confidently. As you wind each section of spun yarn onto the drop spindle you get a second, visual wave of enjoyment as the colors wind on in layers and tones. Because this is a long wool there’s very little trouble with the ply breaking and sending your spindle plunging to the floor. The long fibers are what makes this a great choice for newer spinners just learning and gaining the muscle memory required for sucessful drop spindling.
Some of the most notable colorways that are popular with spinners in this fiber are the three vibrant greens in “Three Forests,” mysterious blues of “Crater Lake”, “Dahlia Dreams” with sections of pink, green, and yellow, and “Squash Blossom”, rich yellows with tones of lavender. Find our current on-line stock of Mixed BFL on our shopping site.
Jorstad Yarns
Arranmore
Aran/Worsted Weight 100% Merino
181 yards per skein
US Needle 8 – 10
Arranmore was one of the first yarns we started dyeing as a Jorstad Creek yarn. It is a 3 ply traditional Aran weight superwash merino with a soft feel. Shows texture and cables amazingly well. Great for accessories or sweaters and it is soft enough for next to skin and babies. Dyes beautifully with light and dark complexity.
We import this base from our supplier in the UK, and dye it in an expanding range of colors. Arranmore is exceptional for kettle dyeing because it takes the dye in light and dark layers. This means when you knit this yarn it will lend this complexity to your knitting. So if you choose simple stockinette or garter pieces to knit in this yarn it will lend sophistication to your knitting by the way it reflects color and shade.
The BK Collective has designed several patterns in this yarn for you to try. You can purchase these patterns from loveknitting.com or ravelry.com, search for the pattern by name. Purchase this lovely yarn at our shopping site.
Spacious New Setup
The new spacious setup in the retail store is working out well, providing plenty of space for social distancing while browsing or talking to our staff. We are adding to our inventory, with new cotton blend yarns in a variety of gauges as well as plumping up the supply of our hand dyed yarns.
It was difficult to be closed and while we all felt a little isolated from our knitting community at the store we found new ways to be together with Zoom knitting and spinning groups. In many ways the new tools for communicating have expanded our engagement with the crafters around us near and far. What a welcome gift to come from tragic circumstances.
Now that we are back open it is almost a giddy feeling to talk in person to you!
We are open Monday through Saturday 10 to 5:30 for the time being. I hope you are able to stop in. If you come during the week chances are good you will have the store to yourself for your visit. There’s plenty of room to social distance, and we are asking everyone to wear a mask to protect our loyal staff.
Also don’t forget we keep adding new items to our new shopping site, so drop in from time to time to see what’s being featured. Just click on the Shop button on the top of the website menu to visit.
Thank you to everyone for continuing to support us through the crisis and for keeping us in mind for your crafting needs. We really appreciate you! You’ve made it possible to hang in there.
Remember that the Slow Crawl is now underway, and we have a smashing new pattern available for crawlers, made in our hand dyed yarns. See it on the Slow Crawl Ravelry page, it is called The Plum Street Blouse! Thanks again and stay well.
Update for 3/25/20 and Stash Buster Ideas – Stripes
Do not despair! We ship if you know what you need, transactions can be handled by PayPal or Square. Contact us at jorstadcreek@comcast.net, use the word ORDER in the subject line!
March 25, 2020 Video Blog Notes
Stash Buster Ideas – Stripes!
Topics covered in the video blog:
- Stripes are stash busters!
- Links to techniques and patterns
- Substituting your yarn for a pattern’s recommended yarn – just do the gauge swatch!
- Simple stripes give way to slip stitches for texture
- Explore designers who like stripes
Recommended Tutorials for Techniques
Weaving In Ends As You Go with Lucy Neatby at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33907xc3XwE
Jogless Stripe demonstrated on Knit Purl Hunter at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PjA0IR0MOU
Recommended Patterns Knit by Kerry
Breathing Space sweater by Veera Välimäki – in Fingering Weight Yarns – short rows to accomplish the diagonal. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/breathing-space
Lineage sweater by Gabrielle Knits (Gabrielle Vezina) – in 6 colors of Jorstad Chelan DK – weave in ends as you go, and off-set the overlaps in color. You can use more than 6 colors for this project! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lineage-sweater
Top Down Knit Pullover – Yarnspirations – free – Uses self-striping yarn but I used 5 different colors in stripes – top down means you can use multiple colors to knit the length until you run out of yarn. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/top-down-knit-pullover-2
Aasgard Pass Hat by Jann Hoppler of the BK Collective in Camano DK – one hand painted, one solid color – modular construction means you can use up bits of yarn in the design. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aasgard-pass-hat
Crazy Quilt Mitts by Kerry Graber – 5 or 6 colors of worsted weight in small bits of yarn. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crazy-quilt-mitts-2
Striped Patterns We’ve Knit in Jorstad Yarns
Texture Shawl by Helen Kennedy in Spirit Lake DK. Slip stitches on the diagonal make the fabric look woven! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/texture-4
Power and Parallels Shawl by Destiny Itano in Ursa Minor and San Juan fingering weights. Fabulous garter in alternating yarns in broad sections and contrasting zig zag traveling stitches. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/power-and-parallels
Capriccio Shawl by Nancy Mills – a BK Collective Pattern. Shawl is in fingering, multiple colors and lots of possibilities including our Jorstad kit in Iona and Antigua gradient minis. Stash idea, use Zauerball or Mini Mochi from your stash as the base color, and pick a contrasting solid for the stripes. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/capriccio-shawl-2
Capriccio Hat/Mitts also by Nancy Mills in DK weight in two contrasting colors. Uses wrapped short rows. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/capriccio-hat–mitts
Patterns Kerry Researched as Ideas – can’t wait to knit!
Prism socks by Jaya Srikrishnan – free – fingering – one hand painted color, one solid in squares of color.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/prism
Baktus scarf (shawlette) by Strikkelise – free – one hand painted or gradient, and a contrasting solid. The main picture doesn’t do it justice, look at the project pictures for ideas. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baktus-scarf
Baktus Scarf is shown at left.
Wide scarf or “Stole” uses 9 colors of fingering weight yarn – great stash buster, super easy, and stunning. The picture on the pattern does not do it justice, look at pictures of finished projects to get ideas about the possibilities! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stole-7
Johannes by Suvi Simola – Men’s amazing striped garter sweater with interesting graphic vertical and horizontal lines in two colors of Aran weight. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/johannes-4
Designers With Amazing Striped Designs
Isabell Kraemer – Ravello pullover in fingering, left. The stripes are at the top of the sweater, the body in a solid color. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ravello
Atelier Alfa – Stripes Gone Crazy – sweater and cardigan with a diagonal striped swath in the back. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stripes-gone-crazy
Melanie Berg – Drachenfels shawl. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/drachenfels.
True Colors. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/true-colors
The Joker and the Thief. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-joker-and-the-thief
Martina Behm – Hitchhiker, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker.
Also Easy is a very cool use of Zauerball yarn. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-2
General Hogbuffer – Vertizonal socks – amazing use of stripes every which way. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vertizontal
Brick and Mortar Cowl by Kim McFall – free – in worsted weight 1 multicolor, 1 contrasting color. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/brick-and-mortar-cowl
Recommended Books
Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush or anything by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Ultimate Sweater Book by Amy Herzog
Color by Victoria Finlay
Everyone Stay Home and Stay Healthy, we will see you on the other side of this!
News About Studio Hours and Protocols For Customer Service
Learn to knit, crochet, or upgrade your skills!
Beginning Knitting and Crochet Instruction for Adults and Adult/Child – Mar 2 through June 29
Why Learn to Knit with us?
We love our craft! Drop in for expert instruction that gets the new knitter on a solid confident foundation.
Teaching a structured curriculum you will start beginner projects such as handwarmers or a scarf. Work with our recommended needles suitable for beginners, and start out with our amazing hand-dyed superwash wool. Go as fast or slow as you like, we’ll give you personalized instruction at your pace!
Why Learn to Crochet with us?
The art of crochet is nearly as old as knitting and just as versatile. Use crochet techniques alone or paired with other fiber art skills like knitting and weaving to create original works of art!
We will cover basic crochet stitches like chains, single crochets, double crochets, and slip stitches. Discover how to make stitches in straight rows or in rounds to create both flat and 3-dimensional fabrics. Learn increasing and decreasing to get your fabric just the right size and shape, and deal with the fiber artists’ bane–hiding those pesky ends
Cost
Enrollment fee $35/student includes all the materials you need! Beginning knitting or crochet pamphlet from Churchmouse, needles or hook, Worsted Weight Yarn, and a beginner pattern.
Drop in tuition of $5 per session per student thereafter.
Choose the day of the week that is most convenient for you, or come as often as you wish to any session and learn at your own pace!
Children and Teens are welcome! 12 yrs and under must attend with enrolled parent.
Schedule starts Mar 2. Choose one or attend all!
Beginning Knitting
- Mondays 4:30 to 5:30 with JJ
- Thursdays 5:30 to 6:30 pm with JJ
- First & Third Saturdays 1 to 2 pm with Kerry
Beginning Crochet
- Thursdays – 3 to 4 pm – Heather
- Second and Fourth Saturdays 1 to 2 pm – Heather
Instructors
JJ is an avid knitter who loves to teach knitting to beginners. His passion for the craft and ready laugh will keep his students both relaxed and motivated to learn!
Kerry is the founder of Jorstad Creek – and yes she loves yarn and knitting! Students attending her Holiday craft clinics inspired her to return to teaching.
Heather is an experienced crochet teacher and designer with her own Instagram following! She loves teaching and all things yarn. Her humor and affection for the craft shines through her gentle teaching approach.
Call during business hours or drop-in to reserve your spot in Beginning Knitting or Crochet!
360-915-9258
Monday & Tuesday 11 to 6
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 11 to 8
Saturday 11 to 5
801 7th Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98504
Find us at Plum Street and 7th.
But wait there’s more!
Skill Building Clinics
This schedule of short classes are for the crafter to learn techniques for improved project success and increased confidence.
Saturdays from 10 to 11 am
March 14 to June 20
No initial enrollment fee – Sign up for one or more clinics and pay $5 per session. Call Jorstad Creek to reserve your spot or drop-in on the date of the clinic – you are welcome if there is room! Limit 8 students per clinic to ensure quality instruction. Hand-out or reference materials provided.
Note: Parent with child should contact Jorstad Creek before attending in order to make sure the clinic is age or skill-appropriate.
Basic competence in knit, purl required for all of these clinics unless otherwise noted. Check website for updates to homework or additional materials!
Bring basic supplies such as scrap yarn, needles, and stitch markers unless otherwise specified for the class.
Instructors are pattern designers, yarn dyers, and experienced teachers. All are regulars at Jorstad and live in the area. In our pursuit of a local focus we strive to bring you the best possible instruction in a beautiful, positive environment. We hope you will join us and be inspired on your journey to learn new skills!
Schedule
March 14 – Provisional cast on with Nancy. Bring two colors of yarn and a crochet hook along with knitting needles.
March 28 – Sewing pieces together – Kitchener stitch and grafting with Susie. See website for homework and supplies.
April 4 – Three Needle Bind Off with Nancy. Homework: Swatch of 20-30 stitches cast on provisionally, 3-5” length on 16-24” circular needle or straight needles. Double-pointed or additional needle of same size required.
April 11 – Embellishments with Susie. See website for homework.
April 18 – Brioche stitch with Madison. See website for homework/materials.
May 9 – Magic Loop for small round knitting (like socks) with Celia. Bring 40” circular needle in appropriate size for scrap yarn, and two 24” circular needles.
May 16 – Crocheting Stuffies with Heather and Leanna. Basic competence with crochet techniques required.
May 23 – Exploring projects that use beautiful speckled yarns with Leanna and Heather.
May 30 – Short Rows. German, Wrap & Turn with Nancy. Homework: swatch worked in garter, about 20 stitches.
June 6 – Beautiful edgings with Susie.
June 13 – Blocking for beautiful project results with Jann.
June 20 – Fixing Dropped Stitches in Stockinette and Garter with Nancy. Homework: swatch on needle knit half in Stockinette and half in Garter stitch.Crochet hook in appropriate size.
Call during business hours or drop-in to reserve your spot! Limit 8 students per clinic.
360-915-9258
Monday & Tuesday 11 to 6
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 11 to 8
Saturday 11 to 5
801 7th Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98504
Find us at Plum Street and 7th!
Knitted Flower Demo Rescheduled to Dec 21!
Knitted flowers can be a simple way to embellish a bag, scarf, or wrapped gift. We provide yarn and instruction for a simple rosette. Bring size US 4 or 5 short straight needles.
These one hour demo classes have been a fun way to learn a technique or make a small Holiday gift. So far drop in students have made mini sweater ornaments, a knitted ball for the tree, and needle-felted gnomes.
This is the last of our Holiday craft series before Christmas. Hope to see you there!
Jorstad Creek 