Paternayan is Saved! (Maybe)

Last night I received an email from Ken at Suripaco.com.  I'm quoting it below with permission. Here's Ken's website, by the way.
http://www.suripaco.com/

"We recently acquired a large number of 8 yard Patternayan skeins as a result of our purchase of the JCA dye facility in Pepperell/Townsend, MA. It appears to be the newer yarn with similar sized strands (3 plys of 2 ply yarn). We would be interesting in selling all the skeins as a single lot once we get them catalogued over the next 4-6 weeks (probably 2-3000 skeins). Price is negotiable. We currently own the rights to Patternayan and once the dye house is operating in Maine (hopefully, late this summer), we are considering reproducing the yarn as before. We are considering importing New Zealand wool (as with the original) for the new production. I am currently working with two commercial spinning mills to manufacture the yarn strands and do the plying. We would definitely be interested in your comments and perceived needs."

So I emailed Ken right back and asked if I could post his message here on Blog where stitchers and shop owners would see it.  This is his reply.

"You are welcome to publish my note on the blog--I would like to reach out to people interested and knowledgable re Paternayan yarn to help us decide if we are getting the hand and spin qualities correct (although I perceive hand is not nearly as important for this yarn) as well as the durability required for needlepoint work. How important is the variation in the strands? As you can imagine, having to create 3 different 2 ply yarns to put into the three ply finished product increases production costs significantly. Is it your impression the Paternayan yarn is a worsted (or at least semi-worsted) product. Apparently, a number of years ago the quality of the British produced yarn dropped off so JCA switched to a US supplier(and probably US wool) but their quality was sporadic as well.

Yes, SuriPaco is us--it is something we do when we are not at our day jobs."

I told Ken that as far as I was concerned, the traditional Paternayan with three plies, each slightly different in size, was an interesting quirk that made Paternayan wool unique, but certainly was not very important, especially comported to the colors, twist and durability of Paternayan wool.  I also let two shop owners know about Ken's stock of Paternayan skeins.  But that's just one stitcher's opinion.  If you have thoughts about Ken's questions above or are interested in talking to him about buying some of his old stock, leave a comment below where Ken can see it or email me at chilly hollow at hotmaildotcom and I'll make sure Ken gets the message.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Counted Delights

Scarlet Thread has posted photographs (and a teaser) of new charts they have at the shop.  The new items are from Freda's Fancy Stitching, Brenda Kocher and Nancy's Needle.  The hint is a piece of a new design from Jeff Kulick.  I can't wait to see what he has released!  I saw four new designs from him on display at Woodlawn, one of which got a blue ribbon and another of which won my I'd Take That Home If I Could award.  We'll have to wait for Sara Leigh to post more about Jeff's new chart and for me to get my act together enough to write about Woodlawn.
http://stitchything.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-new-pretties.html




Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Let's Make A Pillow (or Two)

I am cheap so I do a lot of my own finishing. It's not as hard as you would think, although you do have to be patient (always MY downfall!) and take it step by step. A sewing machine is useful although I often add trim around the edges of an ornament with hand sewing.  Good instructions make it all clearer so I was glad to see the Focus On Finishing blog has just posted two tutorials on how to make two styles of small ornamental pillows.  The stitching is counted thread but the finishing is the same for any type of needlework you want to make into a pillow.
http://focusonfinishing.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/pin-pillow-tutorial-1/

http://focusonfinishing.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/pin-pillow-tutorial-2/

Anne's site is a great resource so bookmark it for finishing ideas and help the next time you decide to turn some of your completed stitching into something to display and use.

If you shudder every time you think of "sewing machine" then this little coaster project is going to be right up your alley.
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/bargello-needlepoint-coaster/

However, if you absolutely do not want to tackle your own finishing or you are looking for ideas have fun browsing this great finishing website.
http://westcoastneedlepointfinishing.com/


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com