Yarn Gallery Blog

Sorry I didn’t get a post in this past week.  It was one of those weeks when too much got stuffed into too few hours and even though I wanted to write and thought about writing and and planned to write, it just didn’t get done.  I did, however, see a yarn rep and order some more Zauberball so you too can make all the cool things on Ravelry and some new storage cases from DellaQ, like the Que-i, which stores your interchangeable sets.  And I just got in a couple of Namaste’s new bags called Monroe, very nicely designed, and their wallets.  You can see them here and of course, at the shop.  I also fixed my shower in which water was squirting everywhere but at me, got a lot of information together for taxes, and knit like crazy and ripped like crazy so got very little done.  In the end, for the week, here is what I produced, knitting-wise:

Ta-Da! And big whoop.

I actually made 2 of these Pleated Ballet Flats.  It’s Coco Knits pattern and I made them in Padua, a multi-colored wool blend.  They are cute as pie.  I’m really into small projects right now, just can’t seem to get a handle on anything bigger than a breadbox. (Does anyone even remember how big a breadbox was, except me?)  I didn’t even get my weekly cat hug done!

This coming Tuesday, Feb. 2, is the shop’s 8th anniversary.  Another reason I couldn’t seem to write this week is that I have too much to say about this birthday and how much it means to me and how much you all mean to me, and so I’m going to pretty much just ignore it.  The staff and I are going out to lunch and that will be my celebration until I just get over it.  Why does 8 years seem so significant and 7 didn’t?  Same  reason that I had a crisis at age 40 and breezed right through 50, I suppose.

Berks County Living came to take pictures of the boys this past week – they are going to be doing an article about pets that go to work in their March issue, so I hope the boys will be featured.  They are the handsomest boys in the county, if I do say so myself, although Geordie could have used a haircut. But he’s too old to have no fur when it’s so cold!

Meanwhile, a couple more ganseys got finished and are currently keeping their owners nice and cozy.  Deb Schlarb looks gorgeous in her rich green gansey in silk and wool Venezia Worsted.  The cables really pop in this yarn and the color is perfect.  And just to add to the effect, she wore a sock and shoe combo that definitely made a statement!!  Deb is tall, so I couldn’t get the total look in one photo:

Zowie!  (And I love how Geordie’s paw is inserted into the photo, I didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s like he’s saying, well hey, check out this foot.)

Donna Howard also brought in her finished gansey, beautiful in off-white Country 8-ply wool:

and she modeled this beautiful shawl she made for her sister in silk and wool Regia 6-ply.  It’s the Sampler Shawl from Folk Shawls and it is just lovely:

That’s it for this week and probably next, as I continue on my usual February number-crunching for taxes and celebrate with the gals next Tuesday.

See you soon…

Trish

snowflake sweater, originally uploaded by yarngal628.

Hi Trish but
Tonight i finished my snowflake sweater… i thought you might like to see it on me.. i adapted it from a lopi pattern but had to actually re-write it for worsted wt . along with adding more snowflakes to fit into the number of stitches i had..

im so in the mood for cabling. so im going to look for a pattern and ill come down to purchase some yarn for it..
hope to c u soon.
Dave

I love the change of seasons for many reasons and one of them is that it brings new fashions and colors to our notice.  I don’t rush out and buy stuff, of course, but I do love to see what the designers have thought up and see what the trends are.  As far as I can tell, the trends this season are for muted ombre colors and bright tone-on-tone prints, lots of ruffles and gathers and ties and other embellishments, loose plain jackets, and the safari look, which raises its pocket-y, lapel-y, belt-y head every few years. ( I ignore it because I look like Elmer Fudd on his wabbit-hunting trek. Don’t need all those extra things hanging on my clothes.)

I have to say, Berroco is right on top of these trends.  They’ve added an ombre line to their wonderful yarn Seduce and Norah Gaughan’s new collection is full of pleats, gathers, ruffles, and embellishments.  I can’t decide which to do for the shop, but I loved this the minute I saw it:

Lots of knitting but I think it may be worth it.

Karen Wenrich is knitting this gorgeous tank for the shop in black Bonsai:

This is the subtle pleat at the center of the eyelet detail.  Love it!

Bonsai and Seduce colors as well as the new Norah collection are at the shop already.  This was one thing I couldn’t wait for!

More about new yarns as time goes on.  Meanwhile, many of you are finishing up wonderful winter projects as you can see below.

Jettie Hunt and Kim Walker both finished their ganseys from the class that ended just before Christmas.  Jettie’s husband Michael is modeling his:

The sweater is not hot pink, it’s a gorgeous rich burgundy but I couldn’t get the photo to look like that.  So, I’m sorry, Michael, you’re not only headless but also extremely colorful!

Kim Walker knit her gansey in a beautiful dark green tweed, which  looks gray but gorgeous nonetheless in this photo.  It’s absolutely lovely.

The gansey was quite a project, with a huge commitment of time involved.  Congratulations to all who have finished theirs, and for those who are still working on it, keep going.  It’s definitely worth it!

Last week I showed you the Abstract Leaves Vest that Karen Walter is making and teaching.  It had three steeks (extra stitches added that allow you to continue to work Fair Isle in the round even after the garment has reached the armhole and neck openings).  This picture shows the neck finished and one armhole being worked on, while the third steek is still intact.

And here is the finished vest!

It really is a beautiful piece, and the yarn (Nature Spun Sport) makes a crisp design with a very soft hand.  Wonderful!

Lynne Nagle brought in this fabulous wrap that she crocheted.  It’s done in a self-striping yarn, with a beautiful swirling motif.

The pattern is called the Infinity Wrap and is available for download from Interweave Press’s store.  I hate to promote expensive downloaded patterns on this blog, but if the magazine is unavailable, at least it’s a good thing if the pattern can be still be purchased.

Jennifer Gensemer brought in this pretty cabled “snood” (which is not a snood but a neck wrap that can also be worn over the head as a hood.  A snood is an old fashioned hair net popular with Victorians.)  (Okay, I’ll try to quit the quibbling.) Jennifer did a beautiful job on it, working it in black Baby Alpaca Grande.  Margie Jozwiak was in the store and volunteered to model it for us.  Aren’t they both gorgeous?

Jennifer bought the pattern on the internet (Ravelry, I believe).  You can find it by googling “Snooty Snood.”

And here is this week’s Belle of the Blog.  Annie Harlin is a well-known artist and has worked in many media.  She’s retired, she says, but how do you retire from art?  By pleasing yourself and not potential customers, I guess, and look at the wonderful hooded cape she made from – oh, my gosh, I can’t even estimate the number of different yarns she used!  The braided fringing alone must have taken hours.  How wonderful to have this kind of vision, yes?

That’s it!  See you soon…

Trish

cabled summer top, originally uploaded by yarngal628.

Hi Trish,
i wanted to post this last week, but totally forgot.. lol.. I’ve been so busy with the re-doing of my shop…

i loved the pattern for this summer top , and the colours in the yarn (all my favorite colours)..it was a quick project and its so cute.. (unfortunately the pic is not very clear)
hope to see u soon
Dave

It has been quite some time since I posted photos here, so I have a million of them.  Some are from before the holidays and frankly, I don’t always remember who the projects belong to so I apologize if I get anything wrong.  For example, here is the danger of saying “Don’t take my picture, just get the sweater.”

Mystery Sweater

Beautiful sweater, isn’t it?  For the life of me, I can’t remember who is lurking behind it, insisting I cut her head off.  Red Queen, that’s me!

We held a drawing from our frequent buyer cards, finally – we drew for 3 $50 gift certificates because it had been such a long time since we did it – and here’s who won:  Jettie Hunt, Margitta Pfleger, and Evie Braun.  Congrats!

I saw Patty Kroppe, a fledgling knitter, out running with a friend the other morning, looking lithe and energetic while I was plodding around the block with the boys.  She stopped (well, she kind of danced around me the way runners do when they don’t want to cool down) and said she had been up till 1 in the morning catching up with this blog and was really inspired by all the great projects everyone does.  Wasn’t that sweet of her to say?  And nice reinforcement for me, too, to keep this up.

Okay, on with more inspiration.  Here are a few of the scarves that Becky Steltz finished before Christmas.  Becky also brought in our first two Cat Hugs – thanks, Becky, for getting the ball rolling.  I’ve only finished one so far, but I hope to  empty two bags of leftovers by the end of March. Becky is also jumping into the Great North American Afghan class – she’s a fearless knitter!

Speaking of Fearless Knitting, I finally got the book in.  It’s a good practice book for anyone who is at brginner or advanced beginner level.  There are only a few projects in it, but if you work through the sections and complete the swatches, you will learn an extraordinary amount about knitting in general.

Geri Kozloff completed this smart little jacket just before the holidays (in black boucle, for Pete’s sake! talk about fearless knitting…)  She loves it (you can see why) and is making a second one in a more casual colorway.

Diane Huddleston completed this little jacket in Como and of course looks adorable in it.

I love this yarn and used it to make this cabled cowl/capelet for my niece.  I know it looks weird but it’s just covering up a big pot at home.  It’s really very cute when it’s on a person. I modified a Classic Elite design to add the turtleneck to make it nice and warm for Manhattan winters.

Barbara Haag used both ends of a ball of Zauberball sock yarn to make a really neat little scarf.  Using both ends blends the colors of this random-striped yarn, without taking away from color effects.  She also bought the little Zecca Pod pin, it was just too perfect.

And here are some socks Janet K made from Zauberball (it’s out of stock but I’m getting more, I promise!).  The label warns you that your socks will not match – random stripes of color! – so I had to laugh when Janet said she drove herself crazy trying to make these socks match each other.  As she said, that’s just the way she is!  She couldn’t do it, and that’s just the way Zauberball is.  They look great anyway, don’t they?

Here are some projects our other teachers finished:

Donna Guthrie made another lace beret.  She’s teaching this hat beginning soon.  It’s beautiful and there are a couple places left in the class:

Karen Walter brought in this crazy looking thing which is the Abstract Leaves Vest with the steeks knit in but not yet cut.  Maybe next week we’ll be able to show it with steeks cut!

And, because of course you can’t knit this intensely all the time, she also was working on other things, such as this wildly pink scarf for her daughter Alex:

Karen Wenrich was in wearing her beautiful latest Napa pullover done in Cleckheaton Country 8-ply superwash wool.  Love it!!!  And so cozy on cold days like we’ve had.  She’s working with a group from Lititz who are all making the Napa as their first sweaters.  Geordie was so happy to see her, he couldn’t let her be.)

And Karen brought this little beauty in, a summer lace and cable pullover she made in Classic Elite’s Cotton Bamboo.  It’s just lovely, design and yarn (and knitter!) Not meant to be worn over a turtleneck of course, but it was just too cold in the shop to take it off.  Poor Karen, she’s in Florida visiting her mom right now, don’t we all feel so sorry for her?

And Linda Dawe, a new knitter who is really doing well, came in with her daughter Amy who’s home from college, and modeled this vest, her first project more complex than a scarf.  She did a wonderful job on it, and is now signed up for our upcoming sock class.

Okay, that’s more or less it for this week. Whew! A reminder that there are spaces available in the Fair-Argyle hat class and the Puzzle-Me-This Jacket class that start this coming weekend.  If you’ve been on the fence, now is the time to call!

Thanks, and see you soon…

Trish