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merciYour Lifestyle Magazine

Special Issue 2014

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CONTENTSAbout the Monster 4

KPC Yarn Journey 6

Time to Crochet 8

Family-friendly craft workshops at TTTT 18

A day with KPC Brand Consultant 20

Your farvourite Yarns 26

Merci - Your Lifestyle MagazineSpecia Issue 2014

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The Monsters And Mushrooms Treasure Hunt!

KpcHas Hidden A Variety Of Crocheted Monsters And Mushrooms Around Wan-

chai And It Will Be Up To You To

Find Them To Win Great Prizes!

Merci - Your Lifestyle MagazineSpecia Issue 2014

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Monsters!

Mushrooms?

Where are you?

Treasure Hunt

Please RSVP by commenting on the post or on the Instagram post to reserve your place!

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About The Monsters and Mushrooms treasure hunt! How will it work?

There will be 2 ways to win!

Happy Hunting!Sarah Coates

Creative Brand ConsultantKPC Yarns

The details:

Price: FREE!

Date: 1 November 2014

Time: 2-4pm

Place: Meet at Dominion Garden Wanchai

https://www.google.com.hk/maps/place/Dominion+Garden/@22.276759,114.168918,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3404005d41530ce1:0x608a8502cfa943b2

OPTION 1

On Saturday, Nov 1, KPC will officially launch the treasure hunt in Wanchai. You can enter as an individual or as a family/ team. You will be given a booklet showing you what the Monsters and Mushrooms look like.

You have 1 hour to:

• Find each and every one of the Monsters and Mushrooms• Take a photograph• Upload to Facebook or Instagram and tag KPCYarn• Meet back at the collection point for the KPC team to verify your finds

The first person back with all the Monsters and Mushrooms found and verified, will win some great KPC prizes.

OPTION 2

If you cannot attend the event on Saturday, no problem! The Monsters and Mushrooms will stay hidden around Wanchai for 1 month until the end of November. Go out on your own time, find and photograph all the Mon-sters and Mushrooms and upload to Face-book and/ or Instagram tagging KPCYarn. The first person to find all the Monsters and Mushrooms will be the winner and will be contacted by the KPC team!

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KPC Yarn journey starts over seventy years ago in Shanghai. After a move to Macau in the 1950s, the successful family tailoringbusiness grew into Novetex, one of the first com-pletely vertically integrated textile companies in Asia.

In other words, through KPC parent company Novetex they oversee and manage the entire yarn production process allowing KPC an unri-valled attention to detail and quality control. KPC raise their sheep in Gostwyck in New South Wales, Australia where they have been produc-ing wool since 1834. KPC know that their sheep, goats and their environment are properly cared for. This means superior fleece producing an ex-ceptionally high quality fibre.

Their impeccable care and attention is not just limited to the well being of our livestock. Their commitment to the highest industry standards carry on throughout the production process. KPC Yarn spin and dye all our fleece and oversee where every ball of wool is wound and packaged.

KPC Yarn is proud to be the only company in the world to use merino wool of this superior quality for their hand knit yarns.

KPC Yarn

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Time to crochetText: Winnie Ng Photo by: Roger Lee by Roger Lee Production Ltd.

Crochet and Knitting: An Art and Fashion That Should Not Be Forgotten

Fashion is an ever-changing world and things are moving very quickly,

no matter if we talk about trends, colours, materials or cutting. How-

ever, there is something else timeless which should not be forgotten

in the fashion industry: Crochet and Knitting!

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Time to crochetCrochet and Knitting: An Art and Fashion That Should Not Be Forgotten

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Crochet versus Knitting

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Crochet is an art and a process of creating fab-ric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word “crochet” which means hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as met-als, woods, plastic, or bamboo. Knitting is on the other hand a process of using two or more needles to loop yarn into a series of intercon-nected loops, to create a finished garment or fabric. The word knit is derived from knot, likely originating from the Dutch verb knutten, which is similar to the Old English cnyttan, meaning to knot.

Crochet, unlike knitting, incorporates wrapping the working material additionally around the hook one or more times and meanwhile only one stitch is active at a time for most styles. Stitches made with the same diameter of yarn are comparably taller, and a single crochet hook is used instead of two (or more) knitting nee-dles. On the other hand, most of the knitting patterns can be accomplished by machines; while many crochet stitches can only be crafted by hand. Crochet is therefore a pure handcraft.

In the past both were connected to very basic human needs – knitting was needed to produce clothes that were essential for protection; whilst crochet had been one important way of earning money, especially the crocheted lace. However, both ways of hand knitting have nowadays be-come more like a hobby than a necessary skill.

The history of both crochet and knitting is still a mystery. Crochet was believed to originate in Iran, South America, or China. However there is

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no evidence of appearance before its popularity in Europe during the early 19th century. The de-velopment of crochet was fast due to the good availability of inexpensive machine spun cotton (cotton is a perfect material for crochet) during the early industrialization period. After World War I, most of the crochet patterns were sim-plified versions of the early 20th century pat-terns. There was a rebirth of interest in home crafts, particularly in the United States, with many new, colourful and imaginative crochet designs published for doilies and home items during late 1940s to early 1960s. The craft re-mained primarily a homemaker’s art until the late 1960s and early 1970s with a trend worked in the round and incorporating bright colors. The handcraft fell out of fashion in the 80s but is becoming more and more popular again now.

Knitting has another similar story but appeared much earlier than crochet. Socks and stockings were believed to be the first pieces produced using techniques similar to knitting, making multiple knots or loops with a single needle and thread to produce fabric. The widespread of knitting technique to Europe was traced back to between 13-15th century via trade routes. Knit-wear became commercial and fashionable in the 1920s, with Coco Chanel making prominent use of it and Vogue Magazine featuring knitting patterns. At the World War II period until the 60s, knitting was a great success to make items for the Army and Navy. All the girls were taught to knit in school to know this useful skill. Later on, it has been periodically on and off from the fashion trend.

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Most of people will think of crochet and knitting when

winter is arriving. They are creating something thought-

ful, caring and warm - scarf, hat, socks, gloves, or other

knitwear, to protect the owners and keep them warm

during the cold days. Crochet and knitting create unique

pieces of art, with their own combination of colour, pat-

tern, thickness and materials of yarn. A hand knitted or

crocheted piece is be the best and the most intimate gift

ever in the world. Some organizations around the world

will nowadays knit and crochet for specific charity pur-

poses, such as crocheting for homeless shelters, cancer

treatment centers for those undergoing chemotherapy

with crochet hats (known as “chemo caps”), or knitting

for orphans and elderly.

To continue this traditional and meaningful handcraft,

Knit Purl Crochet (KPC) started their journey over seventy

years ago in Shanghai and later moved to Macau, then to

Hong Kong. KPC raise their own sheep for wool produc-

tion in Australia to ensure that yarns are to the highest

industry standards throughout the production process.

They spin and dye all fleece and oversee where every ball

of wool is wound and packaged.

Both crochet and knitting are something undoubtedly

not to be forgotten.

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KPC is the only company in the world to use ultrafine qual-

ity merino wool for their Novomerino hand knit yarns. All the

smooth yarn balls are packaged in a special way created by

KPC- they are using distinctive ribbons instead of papers that

can be reused to retie the ball of yarn and then sewn into the

finished project as a label. Labels with all necessary yarn infor-

mation are attached to the yarns. KPC also supplies all the es-

sential equipments and accessories like needles and crochet

hooks via their website, and their stockists in Hong Kong.

Quality and colour is the most important for KPC. They de-

veloped a yarn that particularly suits the Hong Kong summer,

Glencoul wool cotton. By increasing the percentage of merino

to 70% the yarn has the elasticity and durability of wool whilst

retaining the practicality of cotton. 60 glorious colours are

available for this new line so that knitters can play around the

colour for own design. KPC also has cashmere and plan to in-

troduce a sustainable bamboo yarn and 100% organic cotton

later in the year. In addition, they are developing a yarn using

yak hair to fulfill everyone’s needs in terms of materials.

Your own design

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Apart from crochet hooks and knitting needles and

yarns, KPC also organizes regularly crochet and knit-

ting workshops, and provides trends and inspirations

on their blog www.knitpurlcrochet.com and website

www.kpcyarn.com.

You can create many things from crochet and knit-

ting for your home, for your own accessories and for

the newborns: cushion case, cup mats, coin bags,

clutches, cell phone cases, blankets… Just make

use of creativeness and imaginations to bring you a

more colourful and funny life and home to be shared

with your beloved ones!

Special created

by KPC

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KPC IS NOW OFFERINGFAMILY-FRIENDLY CRAFT WORKSHOPS

AT DAVID TANG’S ELEGANT WANCHAI BOUTIQUE:

TANG TANG TANG TANG.

From now until the end of the year Tang Tang Tang Tang will be hostinga selection of craft workshops for you and your family,organised by Stylebrief Hong Kong

and sponsored by KPC yarns.

Learn to make your own knit pom-poms, wreaths, tassels, dream-catchers, garlands and everything you need to adorn your home with colour, creativity and Christmas cheer!

For more information and to book your place,please go to www.stylebriefhongkong.com or

www.kpcyarn.com

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A day with KPC Brand Consultant at her home office!

Meet Sarah Coates, the creative brand consultant of KPC Yarns, who

designed a traditional, classy and friendly home in a rental apartment

complex located in the heart of Hong Kong central district.

When Sarah moved to Hong Kong about 2 years ago, she had lived in

a number of cities, such as New York, Beijing and London. Her house is

full of British style, with natural dark wooden floor. It is also furnished

with intersperse pieces of crochets, such as coasters, blankets, cush-

ions, storage baskets, doilies and rugs, which are all created by Sarah.

Text: Peggy Lui Photo: Jenny Ho

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Her home office design is so original, which

reflects the personalities in a beautiful way.

Sarah spends most of the time in her office

using KPC yarns to create all variety of pro-

jects. The inspirational mood board is the

main core in the office, which keeps sched-

ules, deadlines and inspiration in view and a

quick way to personalize and get the creative

juices flowing. With the modern industrial

look of the cabinet, filled with all samples

and sketches, we can feel her professional-

ism and personality.

Believe it or not, we saw some Aliens (made

Home office could be stylishand funat the same time!

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by Mary from Belle Epoque) in her home office, hiding in the penholders, bookshelves

and even yarns. I believe that it shows the abundance of creativity she is playing around

in her office.

Don’t be afraid to using different colors for home décor. You can use little details to make

big differences in a place however it looks originally. Paint, furnishings and lighting are

important but using and adding cozy crocheted details can change the mood of the envi-

ronment and it could be fun!

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Add your favourites to the mix & match basket toplay around with color combinations.

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The ultrafine pure merino is incredibly smooth and gentle against the skin. This is the first time fibre of this length and quality has been used for a hand knit yarn, and it is a pleasure to work with, and to wear.

novomerino 4ply

Novomerino 4ply is perfect weight for babies and children, as it won’t tickle or scratch. It’s also wonderful for socks – make them stripy so you can use as many of our beautiful colors as possible.

novomerino DK

Novomerino DK is the most versatile yarn weight, ideal for sweaters, scarves, hats, clothes, blankets, toys – pretty much everything really.

novomerino chunky

Chunky is quick to work up, so it’s great for beginners and weekend projects.

novomerino aran

Aran is great for quick projects such as hats and scarves, as well as cosy sweat-ers and handsome blankets.

Specifications

Blend: 100% Ultra Fine Merino Wool Ball weight: 50g

novomerino4ply

novomerinoDK

novomerinoaran

novomerino chunky

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Glencoul 4 ply

4 ply is ideal for summer clothes projects, as well as toys and accessories.

Glencoul DK

Glencoul DK is ideal for summer sweaters, dresses, skirts, shorts, blankets, cushions, toys - anything you can think of.

Glencoul wool cotton is a blend of 70% merino and 30% cotton. It has the feel and sub-

tle sheen of a cotton yarn, but with the stretch and durability of wool. It is also machine

washable, so it is practical as well as beautiful.

Specifications

Blend: 70% Merino Wool 30% CottonBall weight: 50g

Glencoul 4 ply

Glencoul 4 DK

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Pure Cashmere originates in the mountainous plateaus of Mongolia, where tribesmen still herd hundreds of goats. The goats have thick coats of soft hair to protect them-selves from the cold, harsh climate. Cashmere uses the soft downy undercoat of these cashmere goats to create a beautifully soft and versatile yarn.

cashmere laceLace weight yarn is perfect for creating delicate openwork shawls and scarves.

cashmere 4 ply 4ply cashmere is perfect for babies and children – your creations will be heirlooms of the future.

cashmere dkDK is for you to treat yourself with. Perfect for everything.

Blend: 100% CashmereBall weight: 25g

cashmere lace cashmere 4 ply cashmere dk

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