Kelly's Blog

...but you can read it here!

and it is here.

Now on to the newsletter...

Hello everyone!
June 14th (this Saturday) is World Wide Knit in Public day. We’re going to have a get together here, outside in the parking lot. Kind of a knitters tailgating thing. We'll abe knitting from 1:00 - 5:00. We'll provide beverages and some snacks, but feel free to bring something to share, if you like.

We decided not to get a tent, but to use the money I would have spent on a tent for prizes. I think we’ll have plenty of shady space to sit on the sidewalk along the side of the building. And prizes are more fun, I think!

So, here’s what we’re giving away:

2 Skeins of Cotonade ($9.70 value)
2 Skeins of Panda Silk ($17.50 value)
Three Skeins of Frog Tree Merino Melange ($22.20 value)
A set of Frogged/Ripped pint glasses from Ravelry ($12.00 value)
A kit for a Feather & Fan Throw made of Merino Stripes (8 skeins) ($62.40 value)
We’re just doing a simple drawing: everyone who comes to knit puts their name in, and we’ll draw at the end of the day. You don’t need to be present when we draw to win, but you do have to Knit in Public, at least for a little while. Prizes cannot be returned or exchanged. We also have a couple other little freebies for everyone, while supplies last.

Don’t forget your chair, and I hope to see you on Saturday!

Kelly

Starting next week, we're switching to our summer hours. They are:

Tuesday 10 am - 9 pm
Weds-Thursday Noon - 8 pm
Friday Noon - 5pm
Saturday 9 am - 3 pm

What else has been going on...
1. Last weekend Francis & I went to Ikea and got another big 5 x 5 (cubes) shelf. We're planning on expanding our yarn to the back room. More yarn!

2. I'm obsessivly working on the Celtic Cardigan . I'm using Eco Wool and, get this, it's for me! I figure I'm almost 2/3 done with it. It's an extremely satisfyng pattern: interesting, but not super difficult, so I can easily watch tv while working on it.

3. I got a really fun package from Brown Sheep yesterday: a trunk show. This is the first time I've taken one of my vendors up on having a trunk show here, and it's wonderful! They sent 6 sweaters, 1 vest, some socks, a skirt, a rug, and a felted desk set. It's so fun to have so many new samples in the shop, and I didn't even have to knit them! I'll have them here through the month of June if you want to take a peek.

4. There's another new model in the shop, thanks to Ann. She is graciously letting me display her newly finished Hemlock Ring Afghan.You have to see this in person. It's just beautiful. Really.

Time to sign off now...I've got to go work on my sweater.

We've been collecting bears...lots of bears...
They're for the Mother Bear Project, and we're up to...hmmm...I think 23, but more are in the works. And here they are:



And here's a couple shots of the hanging of the bears:



If you're interested in knitting a bear (or two, or three, or eight!), just let me know. The more bears, the merrier!

Yup, I'm still around...and I fully intend to continue blogging... I have so much to share with you!

For now, though, I just wanted to quickly share our May Newsletter that just went out yesterday. I had some issues with emails bouncing (I always have some emails bounce, but this time there was more-than-normal email bouncication going on.)

So, here's a link to the newsletter (which includes the May-June class schedule, plus a great article by Miz T):
May Newsletter

Knit on!
Kelly

Finally, a fresh FO to share!
Pattern: Salsa, from Knitting at Knoon.
Yarn: Cotton Rich DK from Cascade
Comments: I've read a lot of Knitting at Knoon's patterns, but this is the first time I've actually knit one, and I have to say it was very well written. The ruffles can get a little tedious towards the end (zillions of stitches to bind off, it seemed...), but they were worth it.

I've been reading Knitting Without Tears again (for the umpteenth time...I love EZ), and I just wanted to share this gem:

Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.

--Elizabeth Aimmer, Knitting Without Tears

She had such a way with words.

Here's a little bit of proof that I didn't spend my hiataus from blogging sitting around playing World of Warcraft:

Great American Afghan 2nd & 3rd Squares

Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8-Ply
Comments: This afghan project is turning out to be a lot of fun for me! A great group of women meet here at the shop on Saturday mornings at 9:00 to work on their afghans. We started out meeting every other week, but it's so much fun, we decided to do it every week. Feel free to jump in at any time!


Salsa

This pile of parts is Salsa from Knitting at Knoon.
Yarn: Cottonrich DK by Cascade
Comments: This is a new-to-the-shop yarn, a cotton/nylon blend. It's very nice to knit with; cotton tends to be a little bit hard on my hands, but not this stuff...it has some give to it, and the colors are so pretty.


Domino Baby Bonnet

Yarn: Cocoon by Cleckheaton
Coments: This is the Baby Domino Bonnet by Lucy Neatby A fun, fun, fun project. Ann is working on one too.


Yin Yang Bolero

Yarn: TyDy from Knit One Crochet Too
Comments: You can see one finished here. I'm using two different colors like the pattern calls for, but actually, I think it would be even cuter (and less futsy) just using one color. TyDy is such a pretty yarn! It's 100% cotton, the colors or gorgeous, and it's very soft & nice to knit with; I think it's going to be the hit of the summer here.

...because I actually finished the Mar-April class schedule and newsletter today!

So, I'm back to my blog-short-blog-often mindset. I've been doing a lot of knitting, and I haven't shared the projects here for so long. We'll start with just a couple photos:


These are the Malabrigo Loafers I knit in January. (If you've been to the shop, these are old news.) The pattern is from cocoknits.com. At this time, the pattern is only available for purchase from her website. They were a lot of fun & quick to knit.


I also wanted to share this photo of my daughter, Emily. She learned how to do cables in January! So far, she's knit three dishcloths like this. Now she wants to knit a vest with cables. We just need to find the right pattern for her. Like most of us, she has several projects going. Currently, she's working on The Wonderful Wallaby, some Coffee Cup Huggies, and a tank top. She's a great knitter!

It's been forever since I've blogged. So much knitting has gone on, and other stuff too. I had two goals this week (remember, my work*-weeks run Tues - Saturday): update my blog & ravelry projects, and to get out the March newsletter.

BUT...
(and here's the big but...)
I'm sick. I've been sick all week. This week, I managed to knit & run the shop, but that's about it. (Thank God for Dayquil!)

Newsletter's going to be late; April class schedule is going to be late; Ravelry projects aren't updated. But I've officially made a blog entry. (a lame one, but I say it counts)

So this weekend (Sunday-Monday), I'm going to sleep sleep sleep & hopefully I'll be in better form next week. (especially since it's the big String Bag Sale all week!)


*this is work???

So, in keeping with my recent return to sock knitting and wanting warm feet, I started a pair of very basic socks. I decided to use one of my slower-selling, lesser known sock yarns: Ditto. I want to be honest with you: when I first got this yarn for the shop, I thought "meh". But now that I'm knitting with it, I'm very pleasantly surprised: on the skein, it looks OK, but when I knit it up, it's turning out pretty nice - rich, tweedy colors. It's not uber-soft, but it feels like a yarn that will wear well, and lots of sock yarns are known for softening up a lot with washing; I think that might be the case with Ditto. It's nice to knit with, too - not splitty or anything. I did run into one knot so far, but I can forgive a knot - they happen. I'm almost finished with the first sock, so if I keep it up, we'll start the softness & wear-test soon!




How cute is this?
Pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple Top Down Baby Cardigan
Yarn: Cotonade
Fun, fun, knit. 'Nuff said.

I started this sweater for myself almost a year ago with my first sweater class I taught at the shop. I worked on it while the class was going, then tucked it away in March. So, I’ve resurrected it to work on it with my current sweater workshop! I just need to buckle down & get it done - it’s cold these days and I need it! It photographs horribly, so I'm showing you the folded-up-blob version. I'm almost done with the body; still need to do the sleeves, then collar & button band.
Pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple Neckdown Cardigan #9725.
Yarn: Flax & Wool Blend from Harrisville Designs



I've had this project rolling around in my head for a while, and yesterday afternoon I started it. It's another Knitting Pure & Simple pattern, and it's basically the same as the cardigan I'm making for myself, except tiny. I must be in a KP&S mood! I’m pretty much following the pattern as written, except I'm doing stripes. When changing colors, I do the last row of the old color and the first row of the new color in seed stitch. I’m going to do the collar & button bands in seed stitch as well. Even though the colors might be a bit...much..., I'm really happy with how it's turning out. It's amazing how much faster a baby sweater goes than a ginormous ladies sweater.
Pattern: Babies Neckdown Cardigan #982 from Knitting Pure & Simple
Yarn: Cotonade from Knit One Crochet Too

One more thing I wanted to share:
Those of you who come to our open knitting group on Tuesdays might remember the little shrug Dana made for her grandaughter; it was very cute, and several people thought would be cute for adults. Apparantly a LOT of people thought the same thing, because Knitting Pure & Simple is coming out with a ladies version that will be out in February. You can see it here...scroll down to the bottom of the page, it's #284.