Cheryl, Mittens & Eileen's Hat

Needless to say, Cheryl just loved the mittens and hat.  Now…on to something else for Christmas!

Keep on knitting,

Eileen

Knit’n from the Heart: Yes Eileen…it’s pretty good!

Mexico Socks

Well, I finally finished my Mexico socks……you know……the ones I started in Mexico this past January (See blog post “Eileen’s Mexico Vacation” 2/23/2011).  I had pushed them into the back of my projects.  I really just started them for something to do on the plane.  But, after coming across them time after time, I decided to take action.

After finishing the pair, I realized I knitted the wrong size! So I gave them to my daughter. Oh well, she was very happy to get them and I was very happy to get rid of them!! Not to worry, I have finished a few projects since my trip and I have a few others on my needles.  After all, Christmas presents are popping up in my mind!!

Happy Fall to you all and keep those needles clicking!

Eileen Brdlik

On Shetland Islands with Curt & Nick

After a recent vacation to Germany and Scotland with my husband Curt and grown son Nick, I can honestly say I now know the meanings of certain words. ‘Blind Summit’ comes immediately to mind, followed by ‘Haggis.’ The former refers to the cresting of a hill while driving, resulting in no visible road, for at least a terrifying second or two,  beyond said crest. The latter is what is done to sheep when their wool-gathering retirement party is over. Think sheep organs and meat, in the key of oatmeal, to the tune of, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” But why talk about my experiences with Haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and mashed potatoes), Haggis potpie, Haggis paté, Haggis-topped chicken breast, toasted Haggis sandwiches, or Haggis mini-lasagne (deep-fried Haggis remaining an elusive ‘consummation devoutly to be wished’), when we can talk about knitting instead?

Actually, the highlight of the trip for me was the Shetland Islands, as inspired by a knitting magazine at Knit’n that I’d skimmed months ago. There was a big article about the Jamieson Spinning Mill in it. After seeing that, I convinced Curt to have us include it on our itinerary. We were further encouraged to go there by the owner of the B&B we were staying at on the Shetland Mainland, who happened to be a cousin of the mill’s boss. So warily we rolled along that morning, on a sheep-infested one-lane road barely ten sheep turds wide, till we reached Sandness, the teeny town that Jamieson calls home. A woman in the office asked us to please go ahead and shop in the sales room first, until the workers had come off their tea break. After they did, we three were left to roam the place by ourselves, our attempts to accidentally snag ourselves on the fast-moving machinery unnoticed by anyone.

Jamieson Spinning Mill

The knitwear is produced by machine these days, since there aren’t enough workers to hand-knit the items anymore. Imagine my shock at hearing that 80% of Jamieson’s Fair Isle-patterned clothing goes to Japan! The Japanese are apparently starved for the bright colors of Jamieson’s products. I was allowed to purchase some flawed panels of the machine-knitted fabric. Normally these pieces are saved and sold to charities which make brightly-colored Teddy Bears from them and sell these bears for fund-raisers. Nothing is wasted, I was told.

Teddy Bear

Driving back past all those mixed breeds of sheep was entertaining in its own right. They were completely condescending to approaching cars, taking their own sheepy time to get across the road, not budging at all if they wanted to be grazing instead. Curt almost got a sheepish kiss once or twice when his window was rolled down and a sheep stuck its face near. Sheep are inherently cute, though – what can I say? Did you see those two almost-adult twins nursing from their mother, their tails wagging like cranked-up metronomes? Oops, they almost tipped their mother over, and she had to jump over them to get away. Or what about those other couple of sheep so flat on the ground they looked like someone let the air out of them, even their faces were lying on the ground, eyes closed? Thankfully, they got up again. Then there’s the one who had such a case of dreadlocks, it could have been an honorary Rastafarian.

While aboard the ferry from the Shetlands back to Aberdeen, I saw the Fair Isle itself. Fair Isle is barely inhabited today, with only 70 permanent residents. Still, standing there, wearing one of the two Fair Isle tams I’d made to prepare for our trip (tams are called “toorie caps” here), it made me happy to see it, as our boat demonstrated the words “roll,” “pitch,” and “yaw” as we passed the little island.

Ready-Made Knitwear

The town of Portree offered a chance to meet a few fellow knitters at a sort of flea-market in a community hall. One of the women was selling yarn used for world-famous Harris tweed. She said there was a wax coating on the yarn, and that it knitted up into a rather stiff fabric. They also had some antler buttons and vintage knitting patterns from various companies. Both women said that knitters are a rare sight these days.

I did see small yarn and craft shops in some of the towns we went through, although ready-made knitwear shops were much more obvious. Shops advertising kilts were readily available as well.

All in all, if I had a euro for every sheep we saw on our trip, we’d have enough to buy a woolen mill AND a haggis factory. Nothing wasted, right?

Sharon Aaseng

Knit’n From the Heart: Looks like you had a great time, Sharon. Thanks for the travelog…and Welcome back!

Suzanne

It is amazing how you can spot a knitter a mile away.  And I have certainly embarrassed my family several times by moving near someone wearing a hand knit and striking up a conversation.

Recently, my husband, son and I were at the University of Wisconsin – Madison for Ben’s registration and orientation program.  After one of the presentations, I approached a speaker with a quick question. Then, the ‘knitdar’ went off.  I glanced to the next speaker and saw a nifty shawl around her neck and casually sauntered over. ‘Excuse me, did you knit that?’ just rolled off my tongue.  With her smile, I knew we were knitting friends forever.

It turns out, the pattern was Ravelry favorite, Daybreak by Stephen West (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/daybreak).  Over 2500 people have knitted this nifty small shawl with fingering/sock weight yarn so far.  It is perfect for using one variegated or self striping colorway and a complementary solid.  I have been eyeing this pattern for quite a while, so I was happy to have a chance to check one out and of course my friend was happy to tell me all about it!  She said that she has knitted about five of them and they have all been fun and super easy.  It looked like the pattern would be easy to memorize after a few rows, so it could be easily toted along all those times you are sitting around waiting for someone.  Immediately, my mind started racing about all the great colors of Cascade Heritage that could be used for this shawl!  Heritage has been great for socks, so this could be a fun change of pace for this yarn.

So after about five minutes of talking and gesturing and looking the shawl over, I had to turn around and walk back to Ben and my husband.  I got the usual eye roll and then a ‘Did she knit that?’  My family knows me oh too well.

Suzanne

That was the first thing out of the mouth of my Target cashier recently when I was buying a couple of bags of balloons.

“Well, actually, no,” I replied.  “It’s time to wash hats.”  Of course, I was met with a blank stare, because obviously, she wasn’t a knitter.

Balloons in Hats

In the past, I would wash the hats and lay them flat to dry.  It seemed like it took forever, even with my regular fluffing and flipping.  And when they were finally dry, it seemed like the tops were pointy.  But when I felted a bowl last year and read how to hold the shape while it was drying…  Voila!  I had my answer for my hats.  Balloons!

So this spring, I headed to the basement with my bag of balloons, a stack of cereal bowls and a pile of wet hats.  Pretty soon, it looked a little funny on the ping-pong table with the hats and balloons, but it really did work great!  Just varying the amount of air in the balloon made this perfect for any size hat.   The hats dried quickly and the balloons helped shape the tops.

It was magic! But then again, I think almost anything to do with knitting has a bit of magic to it.  String (albeit really nice string) knotted into wearable things?  Who would ever think it could work?          Suzanne

Knit’n from the Heart: Suzanne…we could have a party with the leftover balloons. 

Balloons in Bowls

Back in the 90s when my boys were born in Louisiana, even if I could have found yarn easily in Baton Rouge, it was just too hot most of the time to think about knitting.  My issues of Vogue Knitting would arrive and I would dream of someday living back where I could happily knit with and wear wool.  And not having a yarn shop nearby made browsing for that perfect baby sweater pattern nearly impossible.  (How did I EVER live without Ravelry?)

Sweater 1

Move ahead 18 years or so, and the minute the word baby comes out of someone’s mouth, my mind is a-racing to think of what great color I can use for my two go-to baby sweaters.

1. Knitting Pure and Simple #982 Babies Neck Down Cardigan by Diane Soucy

If ever there was the perfect sweater, this is it!  This top down cardigan knits up quickly in worsted weight yarn (Plymouth Fantasy Naturale or Cascade Sierra are perfect!) and there is no seaming at all.  Three of the four this Spring have been this pattern and all look a little different.

The first one I used Fantasy Naturale and knitted the sweater with the hood option.  I used the kitchner stitch to sew the top of the hood seamlessly and it turned out great!

Sweater 2

For the second sweater, I was getting a little daring and wanted to experiment with some stripes.  This time I used a Baby Bamboo, which is a DK weight yarn, 80% bamboo and 20% wool.  It definitely feels amazing to knit with.  The sweater was a little small which I knew going into it using smaller yarn than the pattern called for, but the end result was really nice.

The third one looks pretty much like the first, but without a hood.  I was glad to use up this cotton yarn from my stash that I have moved around the country twice.

Sweater 3

2. February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Many of you have heard about the February Lady Sweater, since it has been all the rage on Ravelry for the last year or so.  Well, the inspiration for that sweater was this original, written in I think the 50s by the grand dame of knitting, Elizabeth Zimmerman.  This pattern is again knitted from the top down using worsted weight yarn, but has a lace pattern in the arms and body, making it perfect for little girl. (Although I have to admit, that this was the one pattern that I did have 18 years ago when Ben was born and since I went through the effort to make a green one, he wore it anyway.)  I did make a tiny modification to knit the sleeves in the round like the Pure and Simple pattern to eliminate the seaming. No one is the wiser.

February Baby

So these four sweaters were a fun diversion during the gloomy spring we have had.  But now it is time to finish the sweater that I have been making for myself.  I cast on a Bicardi sweater last summer when Judy started her class at the shop.  The body and one sleeve are finished, but the last sleeve seems to be taking forever!  If only mom size sweaters knitted as quickly as these four cute little ones!

Suzanne

Teresa

Our Wednesday morning divas are a close ‘knit’ group. When a diva departs for other environs, it is an emotional time at the shop. Recently, Teresa, a morning diva for several years, attended her last event at Knit’n from the Heart. Thus…the party was on. We certainly wish Teresa the best, and hope she finds a new “second knitting home” as enjoyable as the one she left.

Goodbye Cake

Teresa & Eileen

The Wednesday Morning Divas

Basket & Garter Stitch Cardigan

OK, call me fickle…I just finished my favorite sweater! I say that because lately every sweater I knit is my favorite.  I first saw this sweater in one of the Summer knitting magazines.  It’s a free download from Cascade,  pattern W147, Basket & Garter Stitch Cardigan.  I used the Sierra yarn that the sweater was designed for…and it is so comfortable.

I usually find garter stitch somewhat boring. However, in knitting this project, it was really nice to do as I was able to knit it with my eyes closed behind ice packs.  (I had a little corrective lid surgery & had to ice for a couple of days.)   Because this pattern is done seamless doing the fronts & back with no shaping, I was able to just keep knitting without even checking my work.

If you are thinking of making this sweater, I would suggest you consider making some adjustments to the pattern.  It does not have individual size lengths for the body or sleeves.  I shortened both for myself by about 2 inches to adjust for my being 5 feet tall.  So, study the pattern measurements closely before getting started & while you’re knitting.  The sweater has a slight drop shoulder, so while knitting the sleeve, keep in mind that it will be somewhat shorter than a normal set in sleeve.

I just want to add a side note about having another successful class on the BC Ruffle Wrap on Sunday, May 15^th.  These ladies had such a good time learning the short row technique & seeing their wraps develop!  I’m anxious to have them stop by the shop and show off their creations.

Judy

Umaro Afghan in Lana Grande

I admit it… I am a groupie.  The object of my knitting obsession is Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed). I found his blog, http://brooklyntweed.net/blog/ a couple of years ago and was hooked in no time!

So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I stumbled upon Umaro, http://brooklyntweed.net/blog/?p=471 and knew that I had to knit it.  An afghan was the perfect thing to knit after the unusually cold, snowy November we had.  The thick yarn and big needles would make this project go quickly, while keeping me warm in the process.

The thirteen balls of Lana Grande by Cascade looked pretty ominous in the bag when I brought them home, but once I cast-on right after Christmas, the knitting went pretty quickly.  Lana Grande is wonderfully soft and warm, but it is that hint of a different hue in one of the plys of yarn that really makes it beautiful!  The pattern calls for size 15 needles, but after about 6 inches, I started over with size 13s and was much happier with how it looked.

Blocking the Umaro Afghan

After juggling some other projects and knitting for classes, the afghan was finished at the end of February.  Wow, it looks great!  Blocking was a necessity and a bit of a challenge, but it turns out the ping pong table has multiple functions!

I am not sure why my version isn’t quite as delicate looking as Jared Flood’s, but since I used the same yarn, maybe it’s the color or my lack of photography skills.  And it hasn’t seemed to bother my son, Andrew, who grabs for it the minute he hits the couch.

The shop is now carrying several of Jared Flood’s patterns.  They are so well written and charted; I have never had a problem deciphering them, even on the most complicated of stitches.  The next time you are in, check them out.  I think I feel a Jared Flood KAL brewing!

Suzanne

My son enjoying the Afghan

BC Ruffle Wraps

As I left town, I had to have my next project ready for my travel.  I fill long hours in hotels with knitting and the Food Channel.  So I popped into the shop to pick up new yarn and a pattern.  Sunday afternoon was vibrant.  Judy had a class of eleven knitting the BC Ruffle Wrap in Sprout.  I’m certain the churches of Woodbury will be alive and well with these wraps in two weeks.

My next project?   I picked up the Berroco Seduce and the C2 Knits Holly sweater pattern.  Both are new products in the shop. My plan is to have it finished for the Groom’s rehearsal dinner.  Now that I told you, it can’t become a UFO.

Barb

BC Ruffle Wrap Class

Our BC  Ruffle Wrap Class

I am so excited to report we had a great class at the shop yesterday!  All the students were so excited to get started on the adorable BC Ruffle Wraps which have been on display in the shop.  The students selected either cotton or alpaca for their projects.  As a result, there was a nice variety of colors and yarn being used.  Seeing what other people were using has inspired them to make more than one.  In fact, some found the knitting so much fun they plan on making more for other family members.

BC Ruffle Wrap Class

Most of the ladies had not tried short-rowing before, so I introduced this new technique. I always find it very rewarding to teach my students new techniques and expand their knitting skills.   This class was such a success, another class is scheduled on Sunday, May 15^th from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.  So, come join the fun!!!!

Judy