Yarn Gallery Blog

Janet and Donna gave me the weekend off, so I had 4 days in a row away from the store.  What would you do with 4 days suddenly free?  (It was sudden to me because I don’t often check the schedule of who’s supposed to work – I just assume I’m working.)  Would you jet off to Paris?  Catch a bus to NYC?  Get in the car and drive to the mountains hoping for fall color?  Or would you…

…change the batteries in your smoke alarms, weather-strip your front door, vacuum your whole house so you could take your vacuum in to be serviced, sort through old store records and shred the ones that could be gotten rid of to make more room in the basement, take your dog to the vet, and cook a pot roast and make apple crisp? Oh, and knit a bit as well.  Guess which one I did?  (And frankly, enjoyed it all because I had the time to enjoy it.)

I got the Manos for Sarah’s wrap last week – it’s such a rich berry color, just beautiful.  It arrives in a huge bundle (a kilo of yarn) that must be separated into hanks -

- then they must be wound into balls -

and then you get to knit it up.  Here is the center back panel, from which the rest of the wrap grows:

It’s coming along nicely, with one half of it done.  I’m taking a break to knit a pretty sort of lace patterned scarf – show you next week when it’s blocked.

I need a knitting plan because right now it’s pretty random – whatever catches my eye jumps into first place.  I’ll certainly have Sarah’s wrap done, but then what about the rest of the gifts this year.  I have a pair of socks for my brother-in-law, but no real plan for the rest of the family.  I’ll do cabled headbands for my niece-in-law and great-niece (matching or not?  Not, I think, because I think Sammie would like a bright purple cashmere and I’m not so sure about her mom.)  My nephew has humongous feet but maybe a pair of heavy socks that he can wear around the house or inside boots, that won’t take me a month to knit.  I want a lightweight triangular lace scarf in something yummy and beautiful (maybe Misti Alpaca Lace – due in this week!) for my sister in Baltimore, and I have no earthly idea what my other sister might want – maybe a lusciously soft cowl – in black, of course – she’s ultra-fashionable but never wants to stand out.  Okay, that’s my personal knitting figured out and it all sounds like fun.

The last session of our Nimbus knit-along is coming up this Thursday – most people will be done, I think.  Jettie Hunt is already done so I talked her into modeling for me:

Doesn’t it look great?  Her colors and a perfect fit.  I hope we’ll have a great group shot for next week.  Then we’ll have to decide what and when the next knitalong will be.  Any suggestions?  Let’s hear them!

Next week on Thursday Donna is giving a blocking workshop.  This session is full, but we’re taking names for another session yet to be scheduled.  If you want to be called, let us know.  Blocking is the ultimate finishing touch for your garment – or almost any project.  Don’t be afraid of it, and don’t ignore it – just learn how to go about it.

A new Begin to Knit class starts next Saturday – there are one or two spaces left.  If you’re on the fence, it’s time to jump in.  Karla Renninger took beginning knitting this past year and has made a number of great projects, including this neat felted bag:

Her crocheted hat is really cute, too, and you can learn to make it in November.  There’s maybe one or two spaces left in the Fair-Isle cowl class that starts October 24.  Check the class page on our website for times and other details.

Look what Patty Kroppe is making for holiday/hostess/spur-of-the-moment gifts:

These adorable coasters are made in garter stitch, then a beaded, crocheted edging is added – aren’t they fun?  Patty loves simplicity of garter stitch – don’t we all? – and has loaded up on yarn and beads to get ahead of the curve on gifts.

What’s your knitting plan?

Trish

Yippee! I can upload pictures again, but first, if you missed the post from last week, be sure to update your bookmarks/RSS feed and any other preset for the blog from http://blog.yarngal.com to http://www.yarngal.com/blog.

The MadelineTosh has arrived and the afghan gals snagged a bunch of it.  I’ll have to reorder right away because I was at the store this morning (ordering fall yarn – gosh, so fabulous!) and saw that the carton was half-empty.  Still some wonderful things in there and I’ve got my eye on a skein of Tosh Sock that absolutely rocks.

Reminder: The shop will be closed on Sunday, May 30.

Let’s catch up with some older photos:

This is the Springtime Bandit shawl that I mentioned several weeks ago, a free pattern on Kelbournewoolens.com.  It’s pretty, fun, quick, and frankly, mine looks better than theirs, probably because of the blocking.  It’s a good pattern.

This is my Let’s dance a fandango! version of the Horizontal Feather and Fan shawl, a pattern that Janet teaches in her beginner lace class.  I used Noro’s Furin and inserted a few rows of Trendsetter’s Cha-Cha, and it’s just plain fun.  Fran Krieger is doing a beautiful version in off-white, very, very pretty.

Here are some photos that might get you into a class this summer.  First is Yuko Lewandoski’s version of the Adult Surprise Jacket.  The colors are bright but overall the effect is tailored and elegant.

This is Janet’s version of the shrug she’s teaching in her Mother-Daughter Design a Shrug class.  It’s too cute in a combo of Jelli-beenz and Fizz:

And here is the toe-up sock in progress, from Karen Walter’s class this summer.  It may be finished this week – it’s sort of like a striptease, every time I see her she shows a little bit more!  (This week she was in to raid the MadTosh before anyone else got their paws on it.)

Carol Whitcraft is knitting like a madwoman for her first great-grandchild.  Look at the beautiful blanket and this perfect little sweater in Jeannee, a soft cotton/acrylic blend.

And Karen Shearer’s granddaughter came in in her Baby Surprise, and even though we’ve shown her before, I had to take her picture again.  You can see why, can’t you?  Do you love the little pants or what?

Anne Nordhoy is an A-one knitter who knits like the wind and does the most intricate colorwork as naturally as you and I breathe.  She and her husband host an auction and fundraiser for the Y every year, and she knits many beautiful treasures to auction off.  Here are a sampling of what she’s offering this year.  They’re just too remarkable to remark on:

A Trio of Christmas Stockings

Thumb Detail (a boy and girl) of a Pair of Mittens

A Multi-Stitch Baby Blanket

Christening Gown and Bonnet

Delicate Lace Shawl

A Child's Ski Sweater

Child's Sweater

See what I mean?  It takes your breath away!

Enough for one day… see you soon!

Trish

We got socked, didn’t we?  It was really just lovely to wake up to a world in white and know that I didn’t have to go anywhere.  I hope all of you who have to get to work, no matter what, made it safely, and thanks for being there for all of us.  The only thing I did all day was shovel, nap, and knit.  It was very nice.  My sister lives in Baltimore and sent me updates from time to time on Saturday.  At 1 pm we were clear but it was still coming down at her place:

That little gate you see is taller than my head.  I bet her dogs are still peeing on the deck!

The second wave that we’re supposed to get this week may not seem just so very special!  I have yet to dig out my driveway, because I can walk to work, but I think I’d better make the effort today and run all those errands that I’m tempted to put off. But first! Here are some fabu projects to inspire your snow-day knitting:

Loretta Hollenbach made it to class on Sunday all the way from the wilds of Womelsdorf and modeled her beautiful gansey:

and Sarabel Conn also sent a photo of herself in her completed gansey:

I should have a page just for these wonderful sweaters – they have all turned out so well, thanks to some very good knitting, persistence, and Donna’s Guthrie’s inspirational and supportive class.

Nancy Rambo had a back operation and came in beforehand to make sure she had some knitting to do while she was recuperating.  These two pretty baby blankets are the results, and I hope everything else went as well as her knitting.

Nancy used JelliBeenz for the top blanket and Encore for the lower. Both are from Plymouth’s 8-Hour Baby Blankets booklet, our most popular booklet, and you can see why it’s so popular.

Karen Shearer used a self-striping Encore for the child’s sweater above.  It’s from a pattern by Cabin Fever and we were all enchanted by the way the stripes worked out.  The pattern is fun to make – garter stitch, all one piece, no sewing to do!  There’s an adult version that I would love to make – it’s on my list for fall.

Debbie Andrews made our Scribble Lace Scarf and had enough yarn left over to make this adorable tam to match.  She looks great in the set and finished them just in time for all this wintery weather.

Some additions to our class schedule:  Donna Guthrie is starting a new group for the Great North American Afghan soon – if you’re interested, email me or call me at the shop 610-373-1622.  Janet will be doing a second session of the February Lady Sweater and the Beginner Cabled Scarf.  Again get in touch if you’re interested.  You can check out the projects on our Classes Page on the website.

Well, I probably won’t see you Wednesday but I hope to see you soon!!

Trish

This post won’t be long because I have a lot of computer work to do today, but I just want to tantalize you with a few projects from our summer class schedule.  First, though, I’ll show you a couple of projects that turned out really well, and tell you not to miss David Ritz’s latest in the post just below. Another gorgeous piece from David!

Carol Sullivan finished her Napa Pullover, and since it’s kind of yucky and cool today, she may even be getting some use from it before summer hits.  She used Kathmandu Aran and did a beautiful job: She chose an Annie Adams pewter shawl pin to secure the collar, which sets it off perfectly, even though it’s difficult to see in this photo.

Karen Wenrich is making a pair of bright purple socks for a young friend – they are such happy socks that I had to snap a picture of the first of the pair: Isn’t it purty?  She’s using Magic Loop, which she’ll be teaching this summer.

And Stephanie Fishkin brought in a wonderful baby blanket that she designed and knit in Nature Cotton and Patagonia, two Araucania yarns that are chunky and funky and perfect for a soft and comfy blankie.  She always has the blankets monogrammed at Initials Only.

All right, now for some glimpses of summer class projects!  That’s the computer work I have to accomplish today – I must get going on the schedule, signup sheets, web page, orders for materials, etc.  There’s a lot of work in putting a full boat of classes together, and we rarely repeat except for a few basics – we try to keep it fresh for you!

We seem to have a theme for summer: nearly every project we looked at had some amount of lace involved, so we went with it!  Janet is going to teach a simply beautiful feather and fan shawl, which Karen Wenrich is modeling here.  Janet used Noro Silk Garden  but this would be lovely in any lush yarn:

And Karen also models a sweet beret that Karen Walter is going to teach, made out of Fibra Natura Mermaid.  It’s a wonderful blend that got a nice review on Knitter’s Review:

Donna Guthrie made and will teach this great vest, made in Sublime Organic DK Cotton:

and Donna is also showing off a market bag that Karen Walter made and will teach.  It uses mitered squares with “cutouts” and is really a neat bag.  I love the two-tone handle.

Lynne Nagle will be teaching some beautiful crochet projects: a really gorgeous diagonal scarf, shown in Silk Garden a cute crocheted and felted handbag, and a pretty lacy shrug.  There are many more, including the on-going Great North American Afghan, beginner series, finishing classes, a lace shawl knitalong  with 2 shawls to choose from, and a pretty top-down tee with a demure lace panel. If I make serious progress today, I may have the schedule up by next week. You’ll get an e-mail if you’ve subscribed.  If not, do it here!

This past week was the last week (until fall) for the fabulous gals who work at the store, so I’d like to say thanks to Becky Lawrence, Janet Kakareka, Karen Walter and Karen Wenrich for all their great help and expertise this past season.  I’ll be on my own in the shop for the summer and I’ll miss them.  I’m sure you will too since you may have to wait for help with your problems.  My advice:  take a class to stretch your skills, or knit something fun and simple this summer, and just enjoy!

See you soon…

Trish