We will be closed until January 8th. See you all in the New Year

Craft Sale

Here's our booth at the craft sale this weekend. Katy attracted a lot of attention with her sock knitting machine that you see on the stool there in the center, down toward the bottom. We had a really fun time!

Carol was showing me how she was knitting at her grandson's hockey practice Tuesday night. She said the skating rink was so cold, she needed to wear her mittens, but she also wanted to keep knitting to get scarves done for the craft sale.

We'll be back out at the store this Saturday, the 27th, so we'll see you this weekend!

Felted Slippers

Here are the slippers felted. I'm still working on the pair that I'm putting the Cocoon around the top. Carol's worked with the Cocoon before, in making several scarves, so she showed me how to pick up from the waste yarn and knit with the Cocoon.

Boot-slippers, pre-felting

Carol and I have been working on things for the Holiday Happenings Craft Sale coming up this weekend at the fairgrounds. I finished another pair of slippers last night, and I'm now ready to throw them in the washing machine. The brown slippers I only knit up to where you would normally drop a strand of wool and continue on with the fuzzy yarn for the top, and put the stitches on waste yarn, and after they're felted, I'm going to attempt to knit the tops with our new Cocoon yarn. We saw a picture in a recent magazine of a pair of slippers with the tops knitted in Cocoon, or a similar yarn, and they looked really cute. But I don't think those slippers were felted, so we'll see how this attempt works out.

Saturday, November 20th

We want to let everyone know that we won't be at the store this Saturday, November 20th. We'll be over at the fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday for the Holiday Happenings craft sale. If you happen to come out to the craft sale, stop by our booth and say hi!

Holly's felted boots

Here are some felted boots that Holly made. Melissa put some leather bottoms on them.

Closed Saturday October 30th

Just a reminder that we'll be closed this Saturday, October 30th. I'm leaving Wednesday for a much-needed vacation, and will be back the first week in November. We'll be open again on Saturday, November 6th. We want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!

KnitWhits Ripley Hat

I finally finished the Ripley hat that I started a couple of months ago, and talked Makenna into modeling it for us. This pattern seemed a little cumbersome and time-consuming at first, but the further up I got, the quicker it seemed to go. I made this hat in CMR colors, green and gold, but I think this would be really fun using bright colors on all the "tuck" stitch rows. I need to dig through my stash and see what crazy colors I can come up with.

Jane's Scarf

Jane made this scarf with a bulky yarn and size 19 needles in a really pretty herringbone pattern.

Barb Hofer's Sweater

Barb finished her Cascade 220 sweater, and she was out at the shop Saturday to model it for us.

Saturday Knitters

Here's everybody hard at work on their projects Saturday. Barb is finishing up a sweater, Holly is making felted boots for Christmas gifts, Melissa is making a felted purse, and Lorraine, well, she just came out to visit. Even if she doesn't have time to sit and knit with us, we love it when Lorraine comes out on Saturdays.

Ginnie's Pig Afghan

Last night at our knitting class, Ginnie brought her Pigs on Parade afghan to show everyone. I'm a big fan of anything involving pigs, so of course this is something that really appeals to me. Great work, Ginnie!

Crochet Classes

Carol's ready to start giving crochet classes on Wednesday nights. They'll be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Please let us know if you're interested by calling either of us, Carol at 771-0799, or Deanne at 454-2077, or e-mail me at deannem1@bresnan.net. You can also go directly to my e-mail by clicking on the little mailbox on our homepage.

Jullie's Scrap Yarn Sweaters

Here are some sweaters that Jullie brought to S&B Monday night. What a great way to use up all those odds and ends of yarn that we accumulate.

Knitting Class Thursday night

For this Thursday's knitting class, we'll be learning to knit with the Magic Loop. So for anyone who doesn't really care for double points, this is great! I've used this method now for hats, and a pair of thrummed mittens. I don't know why it's taken me so long to learn this technique for circular knitting. I guess it looked a little off-putting, but it's really very simple.
We'll also be learning to knit cables, carry two colors, and make I-cords.
So for Thursday night's class, you'll need to bring a cable needle, two colors of yarn (preferably a non-fuzzy yarn, so you can see your stitches clearly), a circular needle with at least a 32-inch cable, and a set of double-point needles. If you don't have any of these, we have them at the store, and any supplies purchased for a class is 10% off.

Latest projects

Lorraine made this chemo hat in eyelash yarn.

Here's a scarf Lorraine made in Cocoon from Universal Yarns. I think she said she used a size 10 1/2 needle.

Here's the scarf Carol made in Cocoon, on larger needles.

Knitting Classes

I'm going to start a knitting class this Thursday, September 23rd, and it will continue until Thursday, October 21st, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 each night, and it's $5 an hour. So every Thursday night for the next five weeks. We're going to start with the basics, like casting on, ribbing, and then learn how to make buttonholes and different cables, and we'll just keep working along on the same strip of knitting, so you can look back at your "sampler" when working on projects in the future to refresh your memory on how to do certain stitches. You'll need a skein of worsted weight yarn (make sure it's an acrylic yarn and not something that's fuzzy, where you can't see your stitches, and a light color), and size 7 or 8 needles.

Ginnie's blue sweater

Ginnie made this little hooded sweater for a new grandson. All she has left to do is put a zipper in the back, that goes from the top of the hood to the bottom of the ribbing.

Jeanette's scarf in Marshmallow

Jeanette made this scarf with Marshmallow yarn. Isn't it intriguing? We decided we wanted to try it out, so we found a similar yarn with a company we do business with, Universal Yarns, and ordered it in three colors. We've been notified that it's been shipped, and it should be here in time for our knitting class on Thursday.

Tammi in her Crofter sweater

I made a sweater for Tammi in Sirdar Crofter DK. I didn't notice this when I took the picture, but that's Pat down in the right-hand corner wearing the scarf I made out of Foxy last weekend while we were all sitting around visiting during our crafting weekend.

Classic Shades Mittens

Here's the start of a mitten I'm making in Classic Shades yarn using the magic loop method. I have to say, I'm really loving the magic loop! No more double points. Not that dpns are so terrible, but hey, if I can get the same result without using them, why not?

Here's the pair of finished mittens.

Class September 23rd

I'll be giving a basic knitting class on Thursday, September 23rd, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. It will be just the basics, like casting on, different ribbing, cables, buttonholes, etc. There's room for eight students, so let us know if you're interested in this class. Our phone number and email address is on the homepage of our website.

Sale and Crafting Weekend!

It's time for our back-to-school sale, and a weekend of crafting! Everything in the store is on sale:

15% off all purchases up to $50

20% off all purchases up to $75

25% off all purchases $75 and above

We're going to be here all weekend: Friday, September 10th, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday, September 11th, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Sunday, 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. We'll have the coffee on, and snacks, and on Sunday we'll have lunch brewing in the crockpot. We're looking forward to everyone joining us for a fun weekend!

Discounts on Charity Items

Well, it feels like fall, and we all know what that means ... time to dig into that yarn basket and start knitting again! Okay, maybe "again" doesn't apply to most of us. If you're like me, my needles are clicking away year 'round. It's also that time of year where we start thinking about the things we'd like to make for our charity drive. And this year Old MacDonald's is going to give a discount for any items you bring in by the first weekend in December. The more you donate, the more you save!

1% per hat, up to 25%
10% for each mitten/hat set
20% for each adult afghan
25% for each hat/sweater/bootie set
40% for five baby afghans
50% for five baby afghans with matching hats

Thank you to all who have contributed in the past, and to all of you who will be joining in our charity drive this year!

Pictures of Pat's Projects

Pat's making the little skirt that we've been seeing in magazines lately made with Bernat Baby Jacquard yarn. This looks like such a fun self-designing yarn, that we've ordered it in several colors, and we're just waiting for it to come in.

Pat was in the store on Saturday, and brought along her crocheted dress and bonnet set to show us. She just needs to do a little finishing, and put the ribbon on.

Crochet Speed Contest at the Fair

I thought it would be fun to start adding videos, so here's my first attempt at it, just to see how to do it. This is the group at the fair for the fastest crocheter contest. It's just a quick pan around the group, to show who showed up to participate. I'm sorry, I don't know who won the contest, but there were first, second and third place winners.

Continuing to Finish Projects

I'm almost done with a Knitwhits Ripley hat, but I ran out of the gold yarn, so I'll have to wait until I can get out to the store to get another skein before I can resume this project. This is a green and gold CMR hat. But I think this would be fun to make with the tucked rows in all different colors, no two the same.

I finished another baby sweater. This one's made with Sirdar Kisses. Slowly, but surely, I'm working my way through all my UFOs.

Oh My! Sweaters

I made these sweaters in Oh My! yarn in two different sizes. This yarn is so soft, I'm always getting requests for hats and sweaters made with it.

Geneva's Purse

Pat's granddaughter, Geneva, learned to knit this summer while she was here visiting from Denver. Here's her first project. The pattern is actually designed to be a felted drawstring purse, but she decided not to felt it, and also wanted to make it more of a backpack. I think she did a mighty fine job on her first project.

Vicki's Crocheted Dress

Here's Vicki with her crocheted dress.

Finishing Projects

I've decided it's time to pull out all these partially-completed projects and finish them. Here's one of them I'm working on right now. I don't know what it is about these self-striping yarns. I just can't seem to get enough of them. This yarn is Patchwork from Universal Yarns. It's an inexpensive 100% acrylic yarn that's really soft, and nice to work with. We ordered three colors, to try them out and see if anyone liked them, and they seem to be a real hit. We're thinking we might have to order all the other colors in this line.

I finally finished this sweater for Tammi. It's made with Sirdar Crofter DK. I'm really loving the self-striping yarns.

Lorraine's Snoopy jacket

Lorraine brought this sweater jacket in Saturday to have Carol put in a zipper. She said she had the pattern from a Mary Maxim kit she bought years ago.

Pictures from last Saturday

Makenna is modeling this crocheted earflap hat that Lorraine made.

Here's the christening gown Pat is crocheting. I'll try to remember to get another picture when she finishes it.

Pat's Angel Baby Afghan

Here's the baby afghan Pat has been working on. All that she has left to do is the finishing around the edges.

Knit Night Thursday, June 24th

I just want to let everyone know, we're going to have a knit night this Thursday night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It's an open night, so bring whatever it is you're working on.

Jo's Scarf

Jo made this beautiful beaded scarf. I understand she took it for show-and-tell at S&B recently, but I missed out, so she brought it out to the yarn shop so we could display it on our mannequin and take a picture.

Lorraine's Child Sweater

Here is another sweater that Lorraine made. This little lady has really been cranking out the projects, hasn't she?

Lorraine's Baby Buntings

Here are a few of the baby buntings that Lorraine has made recently, with matching hats. She's made both the crochet and knit versions, and it seems to be the concensus that we all prefer the knit version, with the favorite being the lavender one.

Knit Night Thursday, June 10th

We'll be open on Thursday once again from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. I think it's supposed to be cool and rainy over the next few days, so what's more fun than being snuggled up inside knitting, and snacking on really fattening food.

Monday Night S&B

Our first show-and-tell Monday night was Jullie's lace shawl.

I took some pictures at S&B Monday night. Carmen's wearing a sweater that she designed.

Knit Night Tonight

I'll be at the store tonight, if anyone would like to come out and play. And here's a recent picture of Tammi's afghan. It's progressing along quite nicely. It's a double-sided afghan, so she's basically knitting two afghans as she goes along, so the fact that it's moving along so quickly is quite impressive.

Saturday, May 22nd

Here's who was at the store today when I got there: Ronda, Pat and Barb. Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay long, because I had to get back home for work. But I understand there are a handful of ladies who are interested in making the shopping bag that I made last year. So I'll be at the store Thursday night, May 27th, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., if anyone would like to come out and join us for a class on making a shopping bag.

Getting Organized

I got tired of leafing through stacks of patterns and decided it was time to get organized. I spent several hours on my day off last weekend putting patterns in sleeve protectors and large binders. What is it about having things organized and all neat and tidy that brings such peace of mind? I guess I'm just a nut about printing off all these patterns of projects that I actually think I'll have the time to knit some day. I'd have to live another two or three lifetimes to knit up all these things! But they're fun to flip through and dream about making, so now they're all in their proper place, and I can find a specific pattern in an instant.

Holly's Felted Purse

Here's a felted purse that Holly made for her mom for Mother's Day.