Loose Ends
I have some business to take care of with this blog: Announcements and things we have been up to.
Things we have been up to:
We have all been designing and knitting like crazy to come up with a slew of new hat patterns for all of you for a special February promotion, which will start next week. Here are two I have been working on: an adult Como roll brim hat and a children’s Kureyon roll brim hat. These and MANY more will be available next week – watch for your newsletter.
Announcement 1:
On Monday February 1 from 2-8 pm we will have Linda Cortright in the shop. She is the founder and publisher of Wild Fibers Magazine. (If you haven’t seen it, you don’t know what you are missing. Published here in Maine and about all things fiber; Amazing Photographs!) She also founded Keep the Fleece as a celebration to honor the United Nations International Year of Natural Fibres in 2009. She started a project called the World’s Longest Scarf in 2009 to promote the importance of natural fibers by creating the world’s longest scarf made from natural fibers. It is now nearly 1000 feet long! Each row in the scarf represents one dollar donated to Heifer International which provides fiber animals to poor families to enable them to become self-supporting. She needs help sewing it up!! SO she will be here at the shop with all these yards of scarves and we need recruits to come and help stitch them together. Come if you are local, call a friend or two; it should be great fun. At the very least, read up about it. It is a great cause for fiber awareness.
Announcement 2:
I have finally gotten Michael to agree to a blog post for all the weavers out there! (I simply talked him to death until he had to agree. He called me a car salesman and I tried not to be offended.) He is starting with one post a month and I have warned him he may need to do more depending on interest and feedback. He will have his own spot on the homepage where you can click and get right to his post which is called ‘Advancing the Warp’. He will be talking about what he is working on, what he is planning and answering FAQ’s from weavers and anyone else who has one! Be sure and tune in….
thing I am knitting is the Leaf Lace Shawl from the Vogue Knitting Shawls and Wraps compilation. I have seen this wrap before in one of their mags and was transfixed by it then. The photography is stunning and as crazy as it looks, it begs to be knit. I found myself with 20 balls of Debbie Bliss butter yellow Como that I impulsively bought when the distributor sent it to us by mistake. I could not resist
the color and had at least three sweaters in mind (as usual). I settled on one in the Como book, cast on and knit in the round up to the armholes. I them divided it into front and back and knit most of the back. Then the sweater got very comfortable in my knitting basket and began to languish. I should have had this sweater done by Christmas and I didn’t even want to work on it. When this Shawls and Wraps book crossed my desk this week and I saw the pic on the back cover, I knew. So I went home and frogged the 10 balls of yellow 
I had knit and cast on the shawl. The Como is bulkier than the yarn in the pattern so instead of a 19 I am using a 35 (because the yarn is doubled)
one that requires reading every line of a 52 row repeat (for a 49″ chest!) And he chose the yarn, 
the Christening gown, a Baby Fiesta Dress, a rug for my husband’s birthday, an Einstein Coat in Noro Kochoran, a Lopi sweater, the 
knit-along projects. Anytime Nolan dropped in, he was sure to comment, “That doesn’t look like my sweater.” And everyone feels duty bound to use the greeting, “How’s Nolan’s sweater coming?” Today I have on my latest temptation–the 
night, I swore to myself (because no one else would believe me) that I will not knit another thing until I finish Nolan’s sweater and that I will do that by Christmas! ( The men in my family are taking odds on whether that is this Christmas or next!) At least it’s bulky and I’m almost through with the back! Oops! Noro just arrived to be put away, maybe with a blindfold on! May your holidays be filled with color!
If I do say so myself, it is a thing of beauty. I finished the second half of the chart this afternoon so I could show it off. Evenings last week I worked on the man size blanket for my brother – too tired to concentrate on anything else. The blanket is done! and now the stocking is back to stupid knitting so I should be able to get it done soon. Next bit is another section of stripes then the big foot. I am still so proud of myself for finally catching on. Big Thanks to the girls at Mason Dixon Knitting!!
(there is alot I love about this book but the fair isle instructions and this stocking pattern make it worth its weight in gold.) I started it (because Meredith needs a handknit stocking) and because it has instructions for learning the two circular needle way of knitting socks. (On page 116 of this book there is one skinny column of instructions and that is how I learned this method. Short and to the point.) When I started this stocking last year, I couldn’t quite decipher the instructions on page 65 regarding weaving the long strands behind the work. It wasn’t clicking and I wasn’t motivated enough to keep trying. Plus, I was so excited to have learned the two circular needle method for socks that I picked up sock yarn and didn’t stop until well into the new year.
ng a striped portion then the snowflake and then more stripes. Last night I finished the first portion of stripes and geared up for the snowflake. I got the Fair Isle instructions out and I was determined this time to GET IT. My Dad even scanned the snowflake portion of the chart to blow it up for me so I wouldn’t go blind. I had no excuses not to go for it. I read page 65 and tried it with yarn. Again and again. Until the Eureka Moment! I got it! 
I finally got it! The instructions finally made sense and I was fair isle knitting with both hands and weaving the yarn behind the work and it looks Fabulous!! At the beginning of the instructions she promises to ‘Talk you down’ (after a very funny bit about the movie Airport 1975) and she did!! Just take a gander at the beginnings of my gorgeous fair isle snowflake! Look at those beautiful tidy strands on the back! I did all that yesterday – two circular needles is SO fast – I might have time to knit my own self a stocking.
ay. We were taking advantage of this unheard of late November warm sunny weather…Now I must go knit The Stocking.
because it is just enough thinking to keep me interested but not TOO much thinking and it is reversible. I leave off the garter stitch edges/border to conserve yarn because the block pattern looks good that way and it keeps the edges from rolling. I am using the Patagonia cotton we used to carry since Joe is down in Georgia.
