Yarn Tasting with the Tulare County Fiber Enthusiasts

Last week, Anzula was invited to a yarn tasting with the Tulare County Fiber Enthusiasts. We loaded up our stock and headed for Visalia to share our luxurious yarns. The group was delighted by our selection of samples, some of which had been knit by members: When the stock came out, everyone dug right in.

We had a lot of fun helping everyone find their perfect yarn.

After everyone had their fill of yarns, we packed up and headed home. Thanks for having us, Tulare County Fiber Enthusiasts! We had a wonderful time!

If you are interested in hosting a trunk show or yarn tasting, please let us know at myanzula@gmail.com. And if you're ever in Visalia on a Thursday evening, stop by Panera and meet the Enthusiasts! They knit, crochet, spin, and otherwise enjoy fiber from 5:30 to 8pm. You can find more information about them here.

Monkey Along with Anzula!

Here at Anzula, we love a challenge. To that end, we're starting a knit-along with the hopes of finishing at least one sock before we leave for TNNA on June 14th. Each Anzula employee is knitting a sock in our five sock-appropriate yarns: Squishy, Dreamy, Haiku, Sebastian, and Cloud. Each Friday, we'll post an update on our progress. Because two of our employees are new knitters, we've chosen a fairly simple pattern: the Monkey socks by Cookie A. from the Winter 2006 issue of Knitty. We've also started a Ravelry discussion board for our knit-along--feel free to join us or just cheer us on! We're going to need it.

Sabrina is knitting her Monkeys with Cloud in Avocado from the cuff down. She's starting with size 1 needles, but since Cloud is a light fingering, she may actually have to go down a needle size--which means her socks might be too small.

Charlie is knitting her Monkeys with Sebastian in Grape; she's doing them toe-up and two-at-a-time on size 1 needles. Because Sebastian is a slightly heavy fingering and Charlie is a very loose knitter, she's a bit worried about sizing, but so far, the socks are looking great.

Megan is knitting her Monkeys with Haiku in Curry; she's also doing them toe-up and two-at-a-time on size 1 needles. She knit her first pair of socks years ago using the Monkey pattern--although they have felted slightly and are two sizes too big, she still loves them.

Sylvia will be casting on her Monkeys with Dreamy in Petunia very soon; these are her very first socks!

Kim will be casting on her Monkeys with Squishy in Emerald very soon as well; this is only her second project ever, but she's ready to take it on!

We'll be back next week with more progress and pictures. Until then, please join us on Ravelry and show us what you're up to!

Dye Day with The Urban Sheep

We recently hosted nine knitters from Modesto's The Urban Sheep yarn boutique for a weekend of knitting and dyeing at the factory. The knitters spent the weekend in Fresno, enjoying shopping at all three local yarn shops and spending their evening knitting in our factory lounge. On Saturday morning, we set up handpainting tables and twelve dye pots for the visitors to experiment with. Sabrina was available to provide color guidance and assist the dyers with their projects.

All of the knitters had very different styles and color preferences:

By the end of the afternoon, our back lot was full of beautiful and unique yarns and fibers drying in the sun. 

To see more gorgeous pictures, please visit our facebook page.

A big thank you to The Urban Sheep for coming to Fresno to dye with us. We had a blast! We hope you will show us whatever you make from your gorgeous new yarns and fibers.

And if you are interested in scheduling a dyeing workshop with the Anzula team, please email us at myanzula@gmail.com. We would love to have you!