January - 2007

January 30, 2007

A frigid but beautiful day out there!  I have a million errands to run today so I'll be out, bundled up in my Big Easy Sweater and flannel-lined jeans.  No, not elegant, but warm and toasty.

I've been having fun working on small projects from One-Skein Wonders, like this cute little bag made from (two skeins of) Tidiori from Noro.  Look how cute:

I wonder if, instead of a bag, the fabric could be stiffened to make a little basket.  I think I have some information on that kind of thing, but the question is - where?!!   This will be one of the Wednesday night projects.  I've made 4 so far, and all of them turned out quite well, so I think we'll have some fun.

Some neat projects came into the shop this week.  First, Carol Swisher finished her Sunrise Circle jacket.  We had a knit-along in the summer for this jacket, as you may (or may not) remember.  Just to show the difference between summer and school season for teachers, the members of the knitalong who didn't get their jackets finished in September are almost all teachers.  From mid-August on, their lives are completely absorbed with getting their classrooms ready and getting the school year off to a good start - no time for knitting, and isn't that the way of life?  Just when you need some knitting for stress relief, there's no downtime to do it!  Anyway, Carol looks great in her jacket!        

Fran Krieger wore her vest, made from Berroco's Smart Mohair, into the shop the other day.  I just love the color on her, and it fits like a dream, don't you think?

Janet Kakareka finished this cunning little entrelac bag last week.  It came out a little floppy, so we felted it, and my goodness, it's adorable!  I think this will be a class sometime soon - the technique takes some concentration and the construction is challenging.  Janet added some of her own touches and made it all the better.

This was a sad week for me. I put my older dog, Isaac, to sleep Friday morning, and Geordie (my other dog) and I are missing him greatly.   He had lots of health problems all his life and more in the past few months, but I prefer to remember him the way he looks in this picture:  feisty, determined, and cute as pie.

Have a great week - see you soon!

Trish

January 23, 2007

Ha!  Our first (admittedly weeny) snowfall and I'm knitting for spring.  That's right, I'm working on a cute little tee with a sweetheart neckline in Artful Yarns' "Candy," a cotton tweed with elastic spun in, so no droopy hemlines or necklines.  I've tried this yarn before and because of the tension I put on the yarn, the fabric came out stiff and the rows were so compressed it took forever to get anywhere.  But the colors are wonderful and I really wanted to do a successful project and finally found that all it took was to use a bigger needle than I normally would for the gauge and now it's just breezing along.  Sometimes I can be such a hard-head, when it's really just logical.

The yarn industry's semi-annual wholesale show was held last week in San Diego. This is the show where the yarn companies present their spring lines to retailers.  I don't go to the spring show because of the distance to travel and because it's a busy time in the shop, so I rely on sales reps to bring me samples of new goods. I'm a little late this year - I just didn't have time between Thanksgiving and New Year's because of the move, but I've seen a few really good yarns.  One of my favorite new yarns is Classic Elite's "Classic Silk," a soft-textured cotton & silk blend with a beautiful hand.  I see it in a textured cardigan or a plain over-sized V-neck, with 3/4 sleeves to wear everywhere this spring.  Another yarn I like is Vermont Organic's new yarn called "Comfort," a blend of organic cotton and wool that I really like a lot.  I've got a swatch in the store ready to be tortured to be sure it holds up well, then I'm picturing a beautiful Aran knit that will last a lifetime and be worn forever.  Karen's son Kellen has asked for a celtic sweater and she's looking for yarns and ideas - this could be a great match.  Come in and let your dark side out by helping us torture the swatch, it's a great stress-reliever.

I mentioned a V-neck above, and they seem to be everywhere in the designers' ready-to-wear collections this spring. Lightweight, flowing fabrics, wide and/or plunging necklines, and sleeves either short and draping extensions of the shoulders or in 3/4 length.  A few were very tightly fitted, but yikes - hot and unflattering for too many of us.

I'm hoping for some great designs in open work from the yarn collections this year.  The most useful thing to me would be a simply-shaped cardigan in a fingering-weight yarn in a cool and open stitch that doesn't droop.  I have a store-bought cardy like this from years ago, but it's unraveling and disintegrating more every season.  I'm swatching a couple of stitch patterns to see if there's something simple that fills the bill, but maybe I'll get lucky and another designer has already come up with it!  I love easy fit, simple shape, and pretty color for spring and summer.  What are you looking for this spring?  E-mail me, send me pics!

See you soon -

Trish

January 16, 2007

What a great week this past one turned out to be!  So many folks working on great projects, in for help or one more ball or something new to start.  Lots have gift certificates to burn so it's even more fun.  Plus, classes started again this weekend, so that's always a busy time. It's interesting to be out front - you hear the teacher going over things and some light conversation and questions, then things get VERY QUIET for a while.  Then it varies - either you hear moans of pain (oh, no, I have to start over!) or general hilarity when things are going well.  We have two advanced sweater classes starting this month, one with cables galore and one in Fair-Isle - I think the moans are going to win out until everyone gets the necessary techniques down pat.

I got in a little bit of Crystal Palace's "Panda Cotton" - a new fingering weight yarn that made from bamboo, cotton, and elasticized nylon.  They're marketing it for socks and I think it will make absolutely great summer socks - soft and smooth with good memory.  The only problem is that it splits - it took me pretty much a whole baby sock to get used to it.  It's also fabulous for baby wear and I knit a cute little baby jacket from it, but I have no picture to show you because I can't find it!  Oh, well, I made a few mis-steps on the prototype anyway, so I'll knit another one.  (THEN I'll find the original.) The pattern is free on the Pattern page, and you can use any fingering weight yarn, but trust me, the Panda Cotton is yummy.  I'll be ordering it in several colors this week.

We scheduled new beginner classes this week, starting in early March.  If you've been waiting, please don't delay.  We had a waiting list for the last basic class, so those folks have already been contacted.  There also a new class to learn how to make socks using the Magic Loop method.  This  is a learn-to-make-socks class as well as a Magic Loop technique class so advanced beginners qualify.  We've added a new class called Pick-Me-Up to our basics to help you solve the mystery of picking up stitches for necklines, button-bands, and so forth.  We've scheduled a new Seams Sew Easy class - if you're making garments and aren't satisfied with your finishing, you need this class!

The evil people at Blue Heron Yarns stopped in this week, with the most amazing yarns to tempt me.  They have a new beaded wool that looks fabulous - I bought a skein to try before I order.  Since I'm ordering for spring and summer, however, I did have to order some of their rayon loop - a bouclé that looks like mohair loop, only in cool, smooth, drape-y rayon that makes the most of their beautiful hand-dyed colorways.  Can't wait to get it and figure out something wonderful to knit!

I have only one picture to show you but it's totally adorable.  Fran Krieger knit this baby set from Plymouth's Oh, My!, a soft synthetic yarn that knits to 4 st/inch.  She added an accent by casting on each piece with a contrasting color, then changing to the the main color.  It's really cute to look at, and an absolute delight to touch.  I just kept thinking of that lucky baby.  (It comes in adult colors, too - and that's a thought!)

I'm ordering spring and summer yarns, and this week it looks like we'll finally get some winter weather.  I hope the ice storm that has devastated those poor folks in theMidwest has missed us. Have a great week, stay cozy, and keep on knitting

January 9, 2007

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Oh, how I love a new year!  It's such a good time to look at where we've been and where we'd like to go, to evaluate the good and the bad of the past year, and then move on.  Last year was a challenge.  We saw the end of the foof-y scarf fad, which was both bad and good.  Bad because we have a lot of crazy inventory left (at 25% off, may I remind you!) and good because the folks who learned to love knitting when they made scarves have moved on to other projects and are building their skills and their wardrobes.  And for me, that means that the business got 10 times more interesting, even if cash flow doesn't look as healthy as it did before.  And if I've learned one important thing in my life, it's that time spent doing something you love is way more enriching than time spent just making money.  Both important, no doubt about it, but I'll take quality of life over quantity of money any time.

My, my, I do get philosophical this time of year.  I'll quit now.  Let's see - there's a new class up on the Classes page called Lacy Wave Scarf.  Donna Guthrie is teaching it, there's a picture on the Class Gallery page and a model in the shop.  It's really beautiful, as is all Donna's work, and I've heard very good feedback from her students.  Lace is challenging and a good teacher can make all the difference! We're going to have a lace shawl class later this spring, so you can brush up your skills now.  There are still spaces in the Mitered Diamond shawl class, the Oregon Vest class and the Crocheted Ripple Scarf class, too. 

We haven't gotten the other spring classes together yet, but I do know what we're going to do for Wednesday nights when they start again in March.  There's a new book out called One Skein Wonders

that is full of great small projects, and we're going to do a series of projects from the book. Wednesdays will begin again on March 21 (first day of spring).  Requirements: (1) You'll need the book, either from me or wherever. (2) Your yarn must come from Yarn Gallery  - stash or new, I don't care.  (3)  You must be an intermediate knitter, able to read patterns and work on your own.  I'm there for tips and advice but not to teach you every last thing.  Wednesdays are inexpensive because they're about fun and cameraderie with a little larnin' thrown in.   I'll get more specific about this series in the next couple weeks.  If you're interested, please let me know!

Gads, I could go on and on, but the dogs want dinner, darn it.  We've got some beautiful new colors in Jade Sapphire's 2-Ply Cashmere, which reminds me that Janelle Speicher-Paisley sent me adorable photos of her doggies modeling 2 dog-alicious scarves (one was in 2-Ply Cashmere).  I don't know who she knit the gorgeous scarves for, but I'm afraid Lily and Karma didn't get to keep them.  I can't show you because I can't open them except in e-mail.  Pooh, my accursed ignorance strikes again.  If Janelle can fix it, I'll put them up right away, but for now...

Happy knitting, and see you soon!

Wait, wait, I think I got them -

           This is Lily in cashmere!                        This is Karma in Noro.  Are they not the prettiest creatures?

Trish