Choose Your Own Adventure Retreat

  

This year's "Choose Your Own Adventure Retreat" will be held at the Majestic Mountain Inn in Payson.  The retreat will be August 9-11th.  If all goes as planned it will be at least 20 degrees cooler there over the retreat weekend.

  

The retreat will be held in their conference center which has lots of natural light and windows.  

  

Here's a picture of the inside of the conference room.

  

And a view of the Courtyard off some of the rooms.

  

  

Take a dip in the pool right outside the conference room.    

  

    

We have negotiated with the Majestic Mountain Inn to get special room rates for the Retreat ranging from $81 to $125 per night plus tax.  Note, they have rooms with two queen beds for ~$85 per night plus tax, so there are opportunities to share rooms.

  

To book a room call Majestic Mountain Inn at 928-474-0185.  To get the discount rates, tell them you are part of the Tempe Yarn Retreat.  While we have a block of rooms on hold, we do suggest that you book your rooms early.  

  

The schedule for this year's Retreat will be:

  

             August 9th, 6-9pm: Reception

                       10th,11-9pm: Play Time

                                             Lunch will be at around 1pm

                                             BBQ Dinner will be at around 6pm

                       11th,11-3pm: Play Time

                                             Lunch will be at around 12:30pm

  

  

The cost of the retreat will be $150.00 and includes the use of the conference room, the reception, two lunches, a BBQ dinner, and snacks and drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks & water).  Hotel rooms at the Majestic Mountain Inn are not included in the cost of the Retreat.

 Registration for the Retreat is now open! 
Call 480 557 9166 or stop by TYF to Sign Up.

Dyelicious "University Drive" Yarn

We are proud to introduce, Dyelicious "University Drive" Yarn.  It is custom handpainted 100% superwash Merino 2 ply yarn in 400 yard skeins. 

"Gifted Knitting & Crochet KAL/CAL"!

You could win TWICE by participating in TYF's
"Gifted Knitting & Crochet KAL/CAL"!

 

#1 You win by making your holiday gift items NOW.  Admit it, you could be one of those people who wait until the last minute to begin making gloves for you brother, or you've promised your favorite aunt you would make her a scarf for her birthday.  Then when time runs out they get another IOU. 

 

Well, not this year!  Join the Gifted Knitting & Crochet Knit- and Crochetalong Group and we will help you with ideas, give you opportunities to gain new skills, provide project tracking and give you a chance to win a gift card to help buy the yarn you need to make your gifts.  

 

#2 To be part of the Gifted Knitting & Crochet KAL/CAL group there is a monthly fee of $5.00 (you can participate for just one month or for as many as you like).  Each month there will be a "theme of the month" for the KAL/CAL. Every time you complete a project that fits that month's theme, simply bring it into Tempe Yarn for a photo and we will enter your name in a drawing for a Tempe Yarn gift card.  The more theme items you complete during the month, the more chances you have to win the gift card.   The value of the gift card each month will be determined by the number of people who participate.  The more participants the larger the gift card (i.e. 10 people @ $5.00  = $50 gift card, etc).

   

The theme for May will be Bags.  Your can work at home on the projects, or come join us at the community table.  The Gifted Knitting & Crochet KAL/CAL Group will meet on Wednesdays from 5:00-7:00 and Saturdays from 2:00-4:00.  During the group gathering there will be an instructor available to help you.    

  

Come join the fun and take a chance to win a gift card!

Special Event on May 4th!!

Remember this special event on May 4th!

 

To help you find that perfect gift for your mom, we have arranged to have two talented local artists, Kathy Canuel of SDG Creations and Jody Brosseit from GreenBean Glass & Stone, at TYF on Saturday, May 4 from 12:00-5:00. 

  

Kathy will have lots of metal and clay pieces for people to purchase and she will be bringing her torch to demo some metal work while she's here.  Jody will have the glass and stone buttons that she has become known for, plus some new glass items that you've never seen before.  

    

In addition to the trunk show, we have our usual wide selection of other local artists' products (Yumiko Alexander, Ken Ledbetter, Pajulie Pottery, and fabrications2b, just to name a few), and of course we have lots of great yarns, needles, books, classes and gift cards.

Just a note, we will be closed on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12.

Come Join the Mystery Mobius Adventure

Do you like to follow directions?  Do you like structure? Do you like treasure?  If so, the Mystery Mobius Adventure is for you.  For a mere $3.00 in silver, you can join the other treasure hunters and complete the adventure.  Simply follow the clues (clues will be released on: May 13, 17, 20, and 24) and you will be rewarded with a treasure that will stand up to time. 


Möbius Size: One size (~ 6.5” wide x 33” around)

Materials:
Yarn: Approx. 265 yards of Worsted Weight/#4 yarn.  We recommend Softknit Cotton by Rowan Yarns (92% Cotton/8% Polyamide, 50 gr/1.75 ozs, 115 yds/105 m)

Needles: U.S. Size 6 (4.00 mm) circular needle, 40”-47” long, or size needed to obtain gauge

Stitch Markers: We recommend that you use 3 different types or colors of stitch markers-18 markers that are all the same to mark groups of stitches for counting purposes as indicated in the pattern, 1 marker in a different color or style to mark the beginning of your round, and 1 more marker in a different color or style to mark the middle of your round. 

Gauge: 5.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch after blocking

Mystery Mobius Ends & Begins....

The Beginning:

On May 13th we will begin a new Mystery Mobius Knitalong.  But unlike prior KALs, this Mobius will be structured not manic.  It will have 4 clues and take 2 weeks to complete.  We will have the link to purchase this at tempeyarn.com shortly. 

The Ending:

We just completed the 3rd Manic Möbius Mystery Knitalong.  If you missed out on this KAL, you can still have the fun of making the Manic Möbius 3.  This pattern will shortly be available at tempeyarn.com.  

Our Dyelicious Yarns & Fiber Line Continues to Grow

Our Dyelicious Yarns & Fiber Line

Contineus to Grow

  

 

This month we added Gourmet Blend Sock Yarn.  This sock yarn is a blend of 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon.  The generous 435 yard skeins are dyed for you in a range of TYF custom colors.

Knitted Knockers' New Partner

 

  

We recently teamed up with Breast Cancer Freebies to help get the word out about Knitted Knockers around the world.  This has given us the chance to help a lot more ladies in need.  It has also greatly reduced our ready supply of Knockers.  If you have time, please consider helping us keep up with the demand for Knockers. Remember the Knitted Knocker Lunch Hour meets at Tempe Yarn & Fiber Mondays from 11:30-12:30 and the Knitted Knocker Fridays group meets from 6-8pm every Friday.

Big Changes to Choose Your Own Adventure Retreat!!!

  

The Choose Your Own Adventure Retreat is designed to give you time to enjoy your fiber arts without outside interruptions while relaxing with others who "get it."  This year we are adding a new dimension to the experience by holding the retreat in the cool tall pines at the Majestic Mountain Inn in Payson, Arizona. 

Payson is typically 20 degrees cooler in the summer and the Majestic Mountain Inn is perfect for the retreat.

  

The retreat will be held on August 9 - 11th.   We will shortly have more info on the cost and how to reserve a space.  This year we are limiting the attendance to 30 people, so watch tempeyarn.com for more details.

Arizona Fiber Mill - Arizona's Only Natural Fiber Mill!

Most people don't know how many steps it takes to go from raw fiber to a finished skein of yarn at the commercial level.  Not only is the capital equipment to start up this type of business expensive, the actual manufacturing is time consuming.  

We recently visited the Arizona Fiber Mill, LLC, a family owned business, located in Prescott Valley, Arizona.  AFM uses state of the art textile equipment (Made in the USA) and they are the first and only natural fiber mill in Arizona.

We thought we would share with you some of the pictures from our visit.

The first step is sorting the raw fiber.  Not only are they sorting out foreign material, but they are removing any fiber that is less than 3.5 inches (if the short pieces are not removed they create noils or beads in the material later on in the process). 

  

After sorting, the fiber is washed and then dried.

 

  

After drying the fiber, it goes through a Picker.  The Picker teases (opens and separates) the fiber and blows the fluffy fiber into an enclosed room. 

    

  

After the fiber has been picked, it is put through a series of steps called carding.  The machine's drums comb the fibers many times by transferring it back and forth from one drum to the other as it is passed down the series of drums. 

  

(The carding machine below is similar to but is NOT the one they have at Arizona Fiber Mill.)

  

The final step in the carding process divides the fiber into small strips called pencil rovings. These are collected on large spools on the end of the card. These spools of pencil roving will be placed on the spinning frame to make yarn.

The roving as it comes off the card has no twist. The spinning machine will

put the actual twist on the roving and turn it into yarn (see the wooden bobbins). 

When the bobbins are full of yarn, they are put into skeins. 

  
The finished product is wonder skeins of yarn (alpaca in this case). 

It was fascinating to see the time, effort and love that goes into processing raw fiber into to yarn.  We hope at some point in the future to set up a field trip to the Arizona Fiber Mill for those who would like to see the process in person. 

We want to thank Rita for being such a great host and wish her the best in running Arizona Fiber Mill. 

Pat's Run On Saturday

Heads up, Pat's Run is on Saturday 4/20, starting at 7am. 

There should not be any traffic issues as we are southeast of the course. 

But if you are concerned avoid Mill Ave and Scottsdale Road.

 

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY!

 

Cormo - An Arizona Original

Cormo--
Grown near Tucson
     Processed in Prescott
         Sold in Tempe
             Utilized by YOU!