Yarn Gallery Blog

…or in my case, what I knit.  My mind has not been on my knitting lately and I’ve not accomplished much.  It will seem like I actually did something because I have pictures from several weeks ago, but I have to settle down a little before I can do anything complicated.  I’m doing scarves for the store – just gorgeous scribble lace numbers that I of course don’t have pictures of, but you’ll love them when you see them – and I’m going to do a simple scarf for my niece’s boyfriend, and really, that’s all I’m equipped to work on right now.

After getting the furnace installed last week  – and may I just quickly give three cheers for central heating – I casually decided to download a new operating system for my computer, and now it won’t connect to my website, nor will it work with my financial software and there are probably other headaches to come.  Seriously, will I ever learn that this is not a casual thing to do despite the bland little pop-up that says there is a software update available? Thank heaven that I still have my old Mac and can finish out the financial year on that.  But I’ve got to do research into other options to start 2012, just when I really don’t want to have to think that hard.  I’m working on the class schedule for the winter, and it’s really time intensive too, and I want to find another way to think about classes instead of this clunky, quarterly way we’re working it, but again, need some serious time to figure out what might work, for you and for the teachers.

Are you tired of the b—-ing yet?  Me, too, so let’s move on!

Here is one of the projects I finished successfully recently – it’s a Cocoknits design called Louisa, very simple lines with handkerchief hems, and lightweight in Silky Wool.  It was fun to make because there’s interesting stuff at the bottom, then easy peasy in the round with decreases to the armholes and then interesting stuff at the armholes.  It’s one piece with very little finishing:

And here is the other thing I managed to accomplish over the last two weeks, from the new Noro Accessories book:

A little sweater in Kureyon for Geordie for winter!  Here’s another look:

Now when people ask if I knit sweaters for the dogs, I can say yes with a clear conscience, even if they never wear them.  I had to scale it down from the instructions, which were done with a bulky yarn and sized for a larger dog, but it was simple to do since I could just hold it up to him when I needed to.  I really think he needs a cardigan, though; with his old joints, getting a pullover on is a little tough.

Here is Jane Rohrbach in her wonderful kimono, finished just in time for the season.  Love the camel/black combination:

Warning: Don’t let your cat see this next photo, which is a really gorgeous cat bed, felted from an alpaca blend and lined in satin.  We all know how cats are, and he/she will never settle for an ordinary bed again!  I’m sorry I’ve forgotten the knitter’s name.  I’ll post it when I see her again or maybe she’ll comment:

Sandy Albert finished this classic sweater, in Silky Wool and in her favorite green.  You can see why it’s her favorite – very flattering!

Nancy Baker made this crocheted Beseme Scarf in Lynne’s class.  It’s made from Bubbles, and I just love how it turned out:

What a great accent piece!

Virginia Griffith made this cowl from an old “magic ball” from years ago – made by tying a bunch of novelty yarns together.  The novelties are fun again and Virginia looks just wonderful in the cowl:

While I was hiding out from the furnace installers last week, I made up a few new magic balls and made this shaped scarf from one of the colorways:

Fast and fabulous on size 17 needles.  Let’s have some fun!

See you soon…

Trish

Whine alert!  You can skip the first paragraph entirely.  It will be brief, factual, a little self-pitying, then bracingly practical and optimistic:

My furnace stopped working.  The new one will be expensive and can’t be installed until next week.  It will be cold at our house, noisy and inconvenient for 2 -3 days, and probably interfere with my plans for Thanksgiving.  My favorite holiday and my sister’s birthday. Wanted to see my niece and meet the new puppy.  Wanted to get out of town for a few days.  Waahh!!  But it could be worse.  At least I have electricity, so can have a little heat here and there, and light, and food, and hot water.  I do have an emergency fund – not enough, but at least some.  So it’s a pain but life goes on.

Okay, on with the blog!

First I’m going to show you a few pictures from Donna Guthrie’s son’s wedding, because Donna knitted the bride’s, the junior bridesmaids’, and the flower girl’s shrugs, and Tara, the bride, knitted the bridesmaids’ shawls herself after taking a beginning class from janet (and I’m sure with help and encouragement from Donna.)

Tara in her shrug, Andrew, and bridesmaids in their shawls

The wedding party, all in hand-knits except the groom!

Gabby in her sweater, with Andrew

A beautiful day for a beautiful wedding.  Amazing job, Donna!

Let’s see what else is in the old camera:

Lynda Slovitsky finished her fair-isle bag so beautifully that I had to take a picture of the inside.  She used vibrant colors on the outside, so she knit the facings in one of the contrast colors and used bright fabrics to line the bag and make pockets.  Isn’t it pretty?

Deb Hawk finished her “Iced” in a trice, and looks wonderful in it.  I love the cinnamon color of Paloma that she chose:

David brought in his Marilyn cardigan and Donna modeled it for a picture:

and here is a closeup of all those beautiful bobbles!

Another expert job from David – and be sure to see his Marshall sweater in the post below this one.

Deb Schlarb is always making something interesting – here is a gorgeous sweater she made from a number of different yarns.  I remember helping her to pick out yarns and wondering about combining all of them – but her vision was just perfect:

Here is the overall look.  I unfairly caught her defending her muffin from the dogs:

Mary Ann Posey finished this beautiful cabled cardigan, handsomely modeled by husband Ken:

Virginia Griffith looks fabulous in her new Haciendo pullover – don’t you love her in this color?

And Sylvia Kurpiewski was in for a crochet class, wearing her beautiful JJ jacket:

Such talented customers we have!  They inspire me.

I finished a couple of things in the last two weeks – maybe I’ll have time and room next week to post them, if my fingers aren’t too cold to type.  Meanwhile stop in and you can see them in person.  We’ll be working on the class schedule for winter this week and will have it up on the website in the next couple weeks, I hope!

Thanksgiving schedule:  We’ll be closed Monday through Friday and open Saturday and Sunday.   Have a great one!

See you soon…

Trish

Headband, a photo by yarngal628 on Flickr.

Just finished the shop pattern for the headband made from schulana cashmere.
Dave

Marshall sweater. By Todd gocken, a photo by yarngal628 on Flickr.

Hi Trish
Just finished my sweater. I like the shoulder construction of this saddle shoulder sweater. Kind of reminds me of the instep of a sock. Made from encore.
Dave

Firenze cowl, a photo by yarngal628 on Flickr.

Hi Trish
Just finished the shop pattern for the cowl. Been meaning to make this awhile. Glad I did. I started a sweater tonight for myself called Cary grant. Very nice sweater will post when done
Cya soon
Dave