What's Knitting?

Folks have been knitting the fingerless gloves/mittens/gauntlets/whatever you want to call them, for the past year. I have to admit that the ones we have had as samples in our shoppe never caught my eye. Then, about 2 weeks ago, I tried on a pair that one of the customers brought in. And I loved them! What was the difference? These fit. I have large hands and the ones in the shoppe were all too tight on me. But these fingerless mittens were my size.

So I sat down and knitted these up, out of Lamb's Pride Worsted. And I love them. They are bright and warm.

During a knitting weekend, seven and a half years ago, my goal was to learn how to knit socks. I had been playing around with knitting socks, but wasn't very good with it. Not only did I learn more about knitting socks, but I also learned how to change colors.

Voila! See what I wrought.


But that was pretty much all I did with that pair. I discovered this sock last weekend while rooting around in my stash in the basement. Time to knit the other sock, don't you think?

The woes of being married to a master bread maker

One of the many reasons I married my husband, was because he was a fantastic cook and baker.



And he has not let me down. This is what I get to eat.



"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods, and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts." James Beard (1903-1985)

Moving on

The ShiBui trunk show is gone. It was great fun while it was here.


It had a chance to travel downstate with Melody to Knit Michigan.



And then it hung around with us for several weeks.






This week, we received this box. It has 130 skeins of Opal sock yarn. Starting this Sunday until next Sunday, we are running a sale on all of our Opal yarn, the 6-ply included.



Here is my next major project.



It is the Knitted Ruana from the Folk Shawl book by Cheryl Oberle. I will be using some Lamb's Pride, La Gran, Kiss, Bella, handspun from Ram-A-Llama Ding Dong, Stellar, Bo Peep sock, and Yang. The colorways include pinks, blues, and beiges. This will be wonderful to wrap up in.

I will be working on it during our Saturday KAL. Join Susan and I and we will help you plan your shawl or lace project.

Bleak and Dreary

Hah! Thought we might be through with winter? No way. For those of you who know me, winter is my second favorite season, behind fall. I would much rather shovel than weed or mow. And it gives me a chance to wear my sweaters and vests. I blame it on my husband for taking us to Alaska.

Tracy, from the Bayside Salon, brought in this poem. I don't know the author, but it speaks to what we have been experiencing this winter.

Michigan Poem

It's winter here in Michigan and the gentle breezes blow.
Seventy miles and hour at seventy-five below,
Oh, how I love Michigan
When the snow's up to your butt.
You take a breath of winter and your nose get frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful.
So I guess I 'll hang around.
I could never leave Michigan
Cause I 'm frozen to the ground.

Renovations update, again

This should be the last update for our renovations, maybe. There are still some things I want to do, like hang our samples from the ceiling, but that will be a while from now. So here are some photos. And of course, it is much better when you see it in person.



Here you are in the front room. We have books, buttons, table and chairs, notions, and spinning wheels.



The main room, the one you walk into, has our checkout, various yarns, patterns, and notions.



The last room has all of our sock yarns, Lamb's Pride, Polar Knit, and other yarns.


The last I counted Lamb's Pride has 93 colors and when our order comes in this week, we will have just about all of them.

Winter Sweaters

Wintery weather calls for warm sweaters. Danielle made hers out of the Cascade Eco Wool in purple. This is the Swing Jacket from Knitting Pure and Simple. Really cute on her and what a great fit!

Susan knit this out of ShiBui Merino Alpaca.


This is a pattern from SweaterKits. The sweater will be going down to Knit Michigan. Melody will be representing our shoppe and we will be exhibiting ShiBui and Icelandic yarn. ShiBui is sending us a trunk show, so be ready to stop by the shoppe in another 1.5 weeks. We will have lots of wonderful knitted garments ready to touch and drool over.

Continuing our renovation

We are continuing to work on updating the shoppe. This is where we put the checkout counter.


Then the rest of the main room.

And check out the front room. Three of the trellis's are sitting out in the front lawn, in the snow.


This is the last of the trellis's. We purchased three bookcases from Ikea to replace the trellis. They are in the middle room.

Hopefully our carpenter is coming in tomorrow to put up the slatboard in the front room. Then we will use hooks for the notions and needles. Books and patterns will go on bookcases.

I am still looking for a table. If you know of a 60" oval pedestal table, let me know.

Renovation time

After being in business for 1.5 years, we decided it was time to look at the shoppe and see how we could use the space to give you better service. We decided to put a table and chairs in the front room, to use for classes. Books, notions, and patterns will also go out into the front room. Yarn will be in the main and back room.

We are getting rid of the trellis and brought in shelves for the yarn. Here are Kate and Ashley working hard, helping to set up the new shelves.



And here is the finished project.


The checkout area has also been moved.


We are still in the process of moving items around. This is the back room - we took the shelves out and the countertop will also be removed.


The room will have shelves full of yarn and the buttons and notions are going into the front room where we are putting up slatboard for the notions. Bookshelves will hold patterns and books.

I have four boxes sitting in the closet, waiting to be unloaded. New yarn from Farmhouse Yarns, more Denise Organizers, yarn from Fiber Trends, and felted items and other goodies from Rising Tide.

Click and knit

Yup, they are here. The Addi Clicks. There are 10 different tips, from US 4 to US 15 (no US 5, and don't ask me why), along with a 24", 32", and 40" cord. You place the cord into the tip, twist, and let go. It clicks into place and will never pop out. If you don't want the case, put the needles and the rest of the kit into this - the Denise Organizer. We also ordered Loft Color from Skacel. This yarn was used in knitting the Inside Outside Scarf from Knitting Universe. Then we have sock yarn that can be knit with US size 3 - Opal 6 ply and Trekking 6 fach. Now, if I could just order some knitting time.

Kristina's Glo

Love the hats from Hip Knit Hats. Here is another quick one to knit up. I used Cascade Autunno on size US 10 needles. Did some minor modifications to the pattern and it turned out cute.


And the best part is that Kristina likes it! Merry Christmas, sweetie.

Finished Thorpe

Here is the finished model. We tied the earflaps up for an alternative look.

This hat and 116 other items went off Tuesday to the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative Holiday Gathering that was held last night for 97 foster youth and aged-out foster youth. You folks are amazing! In less than two weeks you donated all of those items.

Where's a crocheter when you need them?

I am working on the Thorpe. And I have it knitted.

Now I have to half-double crochet around the edges. Easy for you to say - just look it up on You Tube. But I have to have someone show me first, as I always seem to find some way of not fully understanding the directions.

So, where are the crocheters?


P. S. You just have to ask. About 5 minutes after I posted this, Pamela came in. Pamela, a crocheter. Guess what is now crocheted around the border.



Thanks, Pamela. Now all I have to do is add the braids.

More Goodies

We just received these great pendants! They are from Debra's Garden. Knitter's Review did an article on them a while back, which piqued my interest. I finally got around to ordering them and they are really nice. They come with a bag and would make a great gift. Clara Parkes tells us that she found that ChiaoGoo US 6 did not fit properly in this gauge, but when I checked mine, they worked, so it may be that ChiaoGoo fixed their sizing after Clara's review.

I have to admit that one of the fun things about owning a yarn shoppe is that it feels like Christmas year around. We get to try out all sorts of wonderful items and I am forever awed by the artistic talent that is shown to me.

Missing Kathy

A while ago, I was really excited because I met up with an old friend. She came back into my life and once again, she enriched it. Then that rotten cancer came back into her life and this past Friday, Kathy left this world.

So, I am feeling sad and I know that I will miss her. I keep hearing that heart attacks are the biggest killer, but the majority of people I know that have died, die from cancer. And they are always the good people. In fact, I have adopted the philosophy that I had better be a really terrible person if I want to live a long life.

I find it hard to say goodbye. I am not afraid of dying, I just don't know what to say to the folks who are left behind. And in the last couple of months, three people have died who are connected, in some way, to my life. And that is pretty crappy.

No Idle Hands

About two months ago we asked you to join us in the No Idle Hands Project.


And what a response we have had! 57 hats, 51 scarfs, and 20 sets of hats, mittens, and scarfs. Thanks to you, we will be taking all of these wonderful items over to Goodwill Inn, where they will be distributed to folks.

What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Hats

Bring on the cold weather.
I am getting ready for it.

Actually, what I am doing is knitting up some hats from Hip Knit Hats. They have been fast and fun.