Whale Watching

Renee S., aged 6, knitting while the rest of her family watches for whales off of Cape Cod.

Wednesday August 31

We are open again without electricity.

Once again cash and checks appreciated.

Once again we are happy to see you.

60 Quick Baby Knits Trunk Show is in the shop!

Come in and knit with us!

Tuesday, August 30

We'll be open today from 10 to about 7 tonight.  We still do not have electricity and are dependent on natural light so if the clouds swoop in we may have to close earlier.  Cash and checks are greatly appreciated.
Hope you're doing okay in the aftermath of the storm.
Come on in and knit with us!

We Are Open!

The storm knocked out our power but it's a beautiful day and Felicia and Barbara are at the store from 11-4 today.  So come on in and knit with them!

Wondering About the Wallaby

The Wonderful Wallably. 

Coming to your needles soon.

If it's not already there.

 

The pattern is written for all sizes.

It's for knitters beginner to advanced. 

It's comfortable.

It's cozy.

It looks great.

And there's a place for your hands if your arms get tired.

We've had some questions about this simple sweater.  And by we I mean WE.  I myself spent two hours picking up the stitches for the pouch.  Had I only read the instructions cover to cover.  Like you're supposed to.  Like we tell all our customers.  

Reading the pattern before beginning is as important as checking your gauge.  I became a believer of the gauge swatch years ago after working in two yarn stores.  I tell you.  I am now a total believer in reading the pattern before beginning to cast on or chain a stitch.

Here's what I learned about picking up stitches for the pouch.  (Turns out Felicia had figured this trick out for herself.  Felicia's knit so many Wallaby's we've lost count.)

Thread scrap yarn through the second knit row (after the ribbing) immediately after knitting it OR knit a contrasting thread along with yarn when knitting the second row (to be cut out later).  This way you don't have to guess which stitch your poking your needle through to pick up the next stitch. 

If you get confused when instructed to increase stitches evenly across a row, here's a link that does the calculation for you.

What advice would you like to share with Wallaby knitters?

You can see more Wallaby's here and here.

Jennifer Spins Yarn, Knits Hat

Jennifer learned how to spin yarn and does so whenever she can.  Her very first product is at home among the jewels at Pretty Funny in Tarrytown where we've been holding some of our off site classes.

Her second ball of yarn resulted in this hat.

Lucy's Flower Pillow and Peanut

There was lots of laughter at the Crochet A Flower workshop last Wednesday night. Between the conversation from Mary's class, and the show and tell of all the projects they have completed  (they're an extremely impressive group of practically new knitters), and our group (learning the hard way that multiples of five means that you if you don't have multiples of five you will not have enough stitches to complete the pattern) you wouldn't have thought that we were concentrating on wrapping yarn and pulling it through one, two or three loops.
Those of you who last crocheted the LAST time granny square ponchos were all the rage need not fear that you won't remember a thing. It all DOES come back to you.
I made this pillow after modifying a pattern from Attic24 for which Lucy had written a comprehensive tutorial complete with her comprehensive photo illustrations. I haven't been able to get hold of Lucy but I have made a contribution to her coffee fund for which she has a button on her blog.
I think the pillow makes a perfect backdrop for Peanut who is feeling much better after being bedridden for a few days.

An Illusive Yarn

I just finished leading a week of garden camp for a group of children aged 5-8.  It involved harvesting from an herb and vegetable garden, using the harvest to make food and then eating it.  

My 16 year old thought it necessary to remind me not to become a five year old myself when dealing with one.  

For example, if a child who I knew was not allergic to anything said "I'm allergic," she felt I should not say "No you're not.  I know for a fact that you are not because I had your parents fill out a form before camp started specifically asking if you were allergic to anything.  And you're not allergic to ANYTHING."

I'm sure there's not one among you who would disagree with my daughter.  And to be clear.  I'm not saying that I behaved the way used in the above example.  It was simply an example of how she felt I should NOT behave.  

She wanted to make sure that I behaved like a grownup.  

Meanwhile back on the yarn front....

This past Saturday I started emailing and calling every yarn store on the Noro list of retailers and on-line stores carrying Silk Garden.  I was determined to find the illusive Silk Garden 269.

This colorway landed on the periphery of my consciousness when Kay Gardiner listed it in her Mitered Cross Pattern.  I didn't pay too much attention to it.  It was white, a neutral, and discontinued.  Oh well.  Move on.  

I liked the idea of learning mitered knitting and helping Japan at the same time so I pressed the BUY button.  I have always enjoyed the way Noro self stripes and liked the idea of making use of that quality in a way that didn't result in simple parallel lines. 

As I wrote about here, I happily used Manos silk blend in a green for the solid contrast to the transitioning Noro and received many compliments.  

The problem began after I had five squares completed.  Suddenly the green became heavy and confining.  

I began looking for a way to loosen things up.  Maybe I would crochet the blocks together asymetrically with some other color.  Maybe I would make a bag using the blocks on the diagonal.  

Maybe I would mix other Noro colors in.  

After a while I took my five completed squares and put them away.

One day Chris B. walked into the shop with a skein of Silk Garden 269 and one skein of Silk Garden 264 thinking that they might help lighten things up for me.  

She did not realize that the 269 was a much sought after item or that it was the color that was used in the original quilt. 

I knit up one mitered cross square using the 269.  

The picture below tells you what I did next.

I found the 269 after an hour of calling and emailing many yarn stores and online shops.  A quilt shop that had a yarn corner found some stuffed in a cubbie and an online store said they had it but I was skeptical.

I had already ordered from the online store when I heard back from the Quilt shop but I was so addicted to the idea of getting the yarn that I thought I might just buy all of it and then have it for some other Mitered Cross junkie.

Then I decided to order the yarn from the Quilt shop, cancel my other order and AFTER my yarn arrived I would let people know where they could find 269.

There was no way I was going to risk giving up my source of Noro Silk Garden color 269 before I had my 8 outstanding skeins in hand.

ABSOLUTELY NO WAY.

Nothing childish about that.

Nu Uh...

Liz

Ribbon Candy Scarf

Susan M., a regular at our Tuesday night Sit, Knit and unWined, casually took this beauty out of her bag a few weeks ago.  She had just come back from Gale Zuckers Photography for Knitter's Workshop and was so excited about her experience that she failed to make a big deal about her impressive creation.  She was explaining that she was working through her stash and had created this double knitting project as a way to use up her Kid Silk Haze.

Thankfully she's writing up the pattern and has agreed to share it with all of us here just as soon as she's finished.  I know what I'm going to do with all the Kid Silk left from my Log Cabin Scarf.  - Liz