GOOD NEWS! i have decided to move my yarn shop and classes next door. i will have three big rooms to have my yarn displayed and plenty of room for sitting and knitting. tom is going to put some track lighting in for me and i have a few other things to work on. i plan on aiming for a january move-in date after market is over as well as the holidays.
since i will have three times the room, i will be meeting with the crystal palace rep to begin carrying their wonderful, varied line of yarn. there are so very many to choose from. i have been a fan of crystal palace yarns since i began knitting and am very excited about this. i also plan on offering more purse hardware supplied by a small two-person company located in maryland. they make beautiful leather purse handles and exquisite rings and buttons -- i just received my first order and am very excited about carrying their products as well. i am happy that their products are made in USA, as is brown sheep yarn made right in Mitchell, Nebraska.
i recently placed three (YES THREE) orders with brown sheep. when i got my first order with some new yarns i hadnt used yet, i was so thrilled i wanted more. i placed the second order on a friday and was assured it wouldnt go out til monday, at which time i could add to it if i wanted to. of course i wanted to but when i called monday morning, the order had already been shipped. oh well my mistake, but you guys have to see some of the beautiful verigated lanaloft yarns. they change color often enough so as not to make an actual stripe but enough to flow nicely.
i ordered some cascade yarn last week as well and to my dismay when i looked my invoice, they increased their prices on cascade 220 35%!! needless to say i was not a happy knitter. their other lines only increased less than 1%, as they know their 220 line is their most popular. no fair!
UPCOMING CLASSES
Beginning knitting to felting: in this class you will learn how to do basic knitting and the project will be a one-skein clutch. many of you have already taken the class but some of you are new and may be interested. the class will be held thursday evenings beginning september 15 from 6 to 8 pm. classes will be held sept 15, 22, and 29, and the last class will be october 6. the cost will be $40 and will be held here at my shop. those of you who are interested, please email me and i will give details on materials needed. there are no makeup classes.
in the spirit of always learning something new, this month i learned a couple of new stitches, while sitting with my mom. one was called a split stitch and it gives the fabric a sturdiness and a bit of an unusual look on the right side, which i admire; however the going is slower than i'm used to. the pattern is a sweater/jacket so the sturdiness will come in handy. i like the look but have found out that fixing a mistake is a little tricky. (what? me? make a mistake??) here is the link to this sweater pattern: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTrevolution.html
i also stumbled upon a big-knit wrap by debra norville with a different stitch look. here is the link to this pattern as well: http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/67436.aspx
wip (works in progress): i normally dont have more than one or two projects on my knitting needles at one time but for some reason, while spending a lot of time watching tv with mom, i have had as many as six (yikes) at one time. the fun thing about that is slowly but surely you finish one project after another and all of the sudden you have several things completed. the method to my recent madness is this: the slip stitch sweater project mentioned above is a long-term one -- and it requires thinking, which i hate. also because the stitches are split (thus making it slow going), its a little harder on my hands. this is when the scarf kit enters the scene -- a smaller needle and the pattern is k1p1 for the entire scarf. well those of you who know me well enough i will have nothing to do with a k1p1 for an extended project. i modified it to k2p2 (not much better but still half the work). there again it took a little more attention than i wanted to give for much time, soooo enter project three - the big knit deborah norville wrap. goes along quicker and requires a little bit of thought. project four -- a carpet bagger bag which is nothing but knitting in the round. wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee just my style! the fifth project, which is on the back burner right now is the boho style sweater i am designing as i go and forget all about that one til i get my brain back. i walk past it a hundred times a day sitting there on the church pew in the livingroom and look at it longingly but i know this isnt the time as of yet. and last but not lease is a pair of yoga sox on size ZERO needles - needless to say i have to be in the mood for that one.
this month's pet peeve of mine: patterns that dont give the yardage - only the type of yarn used. most of us dont use the yarn suggested on the pattern so we have no way of knowing how much yarn we will need! or how about the label will list grams. GRAMS? the scarf kit i mentioned above came with two balls of yarn (one for the body of the scarf and one for the ruffle which gets knitted on the ends) and pattern; however the yarn label had NO indication of how much yarn was on the ball. the pattern says to knit a six or eight inch ruffle on the ends. well with only one ball of ruffle yarn and no idea of how much you have used, i knitted a six inch ruffle to insure i would have enough for the other side. only to find when i knitted the second six inch ruffle, i had a bunch left over, so i actually could have possibly knitted two eight inch ruffles....... sorry to ramble but this so frustrating to me because i hate having small bits of yarn that arent enough to do anything else with!
IMPORTANT DATES:
Monday, September 5 labor day
Thursday, September 8 purl'n gurls meeting at the coffee bean in latrobe
Friday and Saturday, September 10 and 11 mountain craft days in somerset*
Friday and Saturday, september 10 and 11 flax scutching festival in stahlstown*
Thursday, September 22 purl'n gurls meeting at the coffee bean in latrobe
Friday, September 23 first day of Fall!!! woohoo
*these are two very wonderful annual festivals. mountain craft days has artists set up meandering through the woods and fields, many of whom re-enacting the old-time crafts. flax scutching is a smaller festival set up more like ligonier market, with vendors set up in tents. both festival feature artists dressed in period clothes, offer civil war re-enactments, and great food.
as you murrysville girls will notice, there are no meetings scheduled as of yet, as some gals are on vacation and eugenia's son just had a new baby. as soon as everyone is back we will make plans to get together.
since our button class was cancelled last month, i will check with laura to see if we can get it rescheduled for an evening in october.
quote for this month: "life is like a ten-speed bicycle. most of us have gears we never use." -- charles schulz
well friends, happy september and hope to see you soon!
