Author: Sally

Well another week has gone by oh so quickly. I had a day off from the shop on Tuesday and used the time to organise my work area, as my ‘stuff’ was beginning to get out of hand. I have continued to work on my Alice Starmore sweater and have just a couple more inches to knit on the front before I start to shape the neck line.

Because it is so easy to measure knitting incorrectly or to put it in a different way, each time a piece is measured it is a ‘different’ length I always keep track of each row I knit which I think is a very accurate method of making sure pieces are exactly the same length. Not only is writing down each row knitted a good way of making the back and front the same length, or that both sleeves are identical, most importantly, you ALWAYS know what row in a pattern you are about to knit. I can not imagine knitting lace or sweaters with Aran patterns without keeping track of each row as I knit them. There can be nothing worse than putting knitting down for a while, hours, days or even weeks and then going back to it unsure of which part of the pattern comes next. As I start each new project I head the page of my trusty notebook with the pattern name/number, size I am going to knit, needles I knitted an accurate swatch on and yarn I am using. Then as I start each part of a sweater for example I write, back, front, sleeves, neck etc. and again I always know what is happening with each piece.

Alan and I have friends in Seattle who are expecting a son in late February which is very exciting. When their daughter Bliss was born three years ago I didn’t knit for them as we purchased things from the baby register. This time however I decided to knit a few things after I bought a baby blanket kit when we had a fund raiser in September at the store for Knit for her cure. I started the blanket last night and as it is chunky yarn on larger needles it won’t take long to complete. Naturally I have purchased more yarn to make some Aran sweaters for him and am eager to do those as quickly as possible. So a busy time ahead knitting smaller things for a change.

Have a great week
Sally

Good morning one and all,

Well so far I have kept to my word and have continued knitting my Alice Starmore sweater. I really do enjoy fingering weight knitting so it is not a chore doing it, I just want to start new projects now.

Chester and Lester had been very good and quiet trustworthy around my yarn until someone sent me some furry skeins recently. I put the yarn in a sweater bag and one of them, Chester, ripped the plastic and took off with a skein running through the house with his prize. I rescued it from him, and him from the danger, and put the skeins in a new sweater bag which is now on a very high shelf in the study/sewing room. As they have got older and bolder they are testing the water and things that have not been of interest are suddenly very inviting. We feel like we have two teenagers in the house!!!

This week I am not working on Monday at the dental office, and I am also having a day off from Filati on Tuesday. So three days home in a row will feel like a mini vacation. Of course some things have to be done, housework and shopping, but I intend to catch up on some correspondence and also spend some time in my two favourite fabric stores. As most of my friends know as well as my love for knitting I am also a beginner quilter and since working at Filati full time for almost two years I have done absolutely no quilting at home. During 2005 I did take three classes, two at Tayo’s and one through the Folsom Quilting Guild which were all fun, but I have not completed any of the projects started in the classes. I would like to tackle the UFO’s in my fabric stash during this year and have a completed quilt on our bed which would be nice.

Have a super week
Sally

After a very successful, and busy sale at Filati we closed the store at 3pm for New Year’s Eve. I have to admit that I came home and after a cup of tea took out ALL the unfinished projects and lined them up on the floor of the sitting room. It was scary!!!!! So I have made a promise to myself to complete all the sweaters in various stages before I start knitting the two new sweaters for Alan. Poor Alan he got two bags of yarn complete with patterns and an IOU for Christmas so these have to be my next new projects. So on that note I started knitting the front of an Alice Starmore sweater that has been on needles for about 18 months and thoroughly enjoyed going back to fingering weight yarn. I do have two jackets, a Rowan and a Noro both I have mentioned before which need sleeves knitted and now of course I have a Debbie Bliss jacket on needles because I had to start that one too…. So I need tunnel vision to just work on the UFO’s for the next few weeks.
My copy of YARN arrived from Adelaide, Australia and it seems like a nice magazine. The second issue will be out in March so I am looking forward to getting that either from my Mum or via a subscription. I do hope it is successful because it is nice to see knitting becoming so exciting all over the world.
Well I wish you all a very happy New Year one which is peaceful and yet exciting

Best wishes
Sally

What a month it has been. Time flies when you’re having fun!
I did manage to finish a few projects. The Plymouth Sinsation scarf turned out very nicely and its been shipped off for christmas. Also, the shawl is finished and the Seaman’s scarf is almost done.

This year, we decided to have an after Christmas Yarn sale. So we’ve been preparing for that. The filati website has a Christmas front page, with father christmas beaming out at you and a special christmas yarn sale page with all the details.

There are some yarns that never go on sale, but just for the 5 days, they are 25% off. The list includes Cleo, Eyelash, Flora, Charm, Joy, Splash, Fizz, Squiggles, Punta, Aura, India, Monet, Paris Nights, Deco Ribbon, Deco Stardust, Firenze, Fabu, Verikeri, Fluff and so many more that I’m not going to list them.

There are also some special markdown yarns, with up to 70% off. If you can’t make it in between 27th and 31st December, just call Janice, toll free.

I’ll try to get some photos of the things I’m working on and especially the ones I’ve finished.

I just looked through the new Interweave Knits magazine and I was so pleased. There are several projects in this copy that I am very keen to knit. Finally one of the knitting magazines have included garments for normal shaped and sized bodies and that real people might like to knit and enjoy wearing. My mother also called me from Adelaide in South Australia to tell me that she has found a copy of the new Australian knitting magazine and she has mailed that for me to look at. She said very few shops had more than 6 copies so perhaps that is so they can see how much demand there is for a new knitting magazine.

This past couple of weeks I have felt like knitter with ADD as I can not concentrate on one project. I have a seaman’s scarf on one set of needles, a shawl on another, as well as a blanket for my two Maine Coon kittens. Then in more bags on needles I have an Alice Starmore sweater for myself, a Rowan cardigan and also a Noro jacket both for me, then there is a lone bag of yarn and needles with a half knitted sweater for Alan crying out to be completed. And I have a vintage bubble bag almost ready to felt and a Fibre Trends hat again just waiting to be felted. And in a moment of excitement I started a Plymouth Sinsation scarf as a gift for a friend and that is waiting to be completed as well. So I think I shall line the bags up and complete each one in order, before I start the Hanne Falkenberg Butterfly kit that has just arrived for me at Filati….

Have a nice evening Sally

G’day,

It seems that one moment we were enjoying a typical “Indian Summer” and suddenly we have been plunged into the middle of winter! Thankfully the much needed rain, and snow in the Sierra’s held off while our back and side yards were freshly landscaped. It all looks lovely and I am sure by Spring will be well and truly settled.

My husband, the “have you blogged” kind of guy found a nice website for me to look at this morning. It is called www.yarnmagazine.com.au and is being launched by an American living in Adelaide which is a coincidence, as I am an Australian from Adelaide living in America! The site does look interesting and as soon as I have completed two knitting projects which have to be done I will certainly spend some more time going over the articles.

The one thing that continues to bother me and most of the experienced knitters that I talk to each and every day is that more and more of the knitting magazines, both new and long standing are catering for the new knitters. What this means is that we are not happy with the garments, which seem to show more and more of the body, so we will probably cancel our subscriptions and go back to using old magazines with beautiful classic designs. While it is great to encourage the new knitters to go beyond the fru fru scarves and felted bags the designers have to remember that the core of their support has come from the addicted knitters with years of experience who love classic designs with some challenges to the instructions. I for one will use old Alice Starmore books, early Rowan and Jaeger books, and even older Jo Sharpe and Debbie Bliss books for my next projects. I also have lots of books and magazines that I brought with me from Australia and most of the sweaters I knit for my husband come from those treasures.

Well I have chores to run and then I am off to work this afternoon at the yarn store.

Have a great day

Sally

Good evening,

I have got two projects ready for sleeves. Tomorrow I will get help from Alice in measuring the length I need to knit, and of course they will be shorter than the patterns measure!

Several months ago I started a sweater for my husband Alan, using a discontinued yarn by Annabel Fox called Oasis cotton. It knits at 22 stitches to 4 inches, which is one of my favourite yarn weights and so I bought enough to make two sweaters of course. I have the back and two sleeves knitted and started the front on Sunday morning so will look forward to making some progress on that project. Fortunately I do not have to alter the sleeve length on any sweaters for Alan as he is 6ft in height and I think patterns are designed for taller people all the time.

I have one other project completed that I had forgotten about. Recently I had purchased some Noro Iro in a sale, which was a discontinued colour, not a discontinued yarn line. A coat had caught my eye in a Noro book and I decided as it was a quick knit I would get it on the needles in between everything else I had to knit. Well the coat complete with hood is a joy to wear and only took about three weeks to knit. So that was a totally unexpected project.

Sally

At last I have found some time to complete the two backs and two fronts for the Yokohama jacket in the Silk Garden yarn by Noro. I need to work out over the weekend how long to knit the sleeves, bearing in mind my arms are not as long as the pattern assumes! I love the gentle striping of this yarn and done in garter stitch it is certainly looking pretty.

The bolero I started several weeks ago in a new yarn by Louisa Harding is almost completed. This is for an old school friend of mine and will, if completed in time, be her Christmas present. I chose buttons yesterday and instead of one as the pattern suggests I am going to put two on so that the fronts stay closed a little better. It is cold in London at this time of the year and I am hoping that she will enjoy wearing it going to formal and even casual nights out.

The unisex scarf I have been procrastinating over in an alpaca sport weight yarn is also almost finished too. While the pattern is nice, I would much rather be knitting another sweater either for myself or for my husband this time.

I have the yarn for some baby knitting waiting for me. Our friends in Seattle are expecting a little boy towards the end of February. They already have a three year old daughter and after I knitted her a sweater for her last birthday, they would like me to knit a few things for the new baby. That will be a lot of fun, and I have already looked at a few books choosing sweaters so am excited to get started after Christmas.

Sally

Good morning,

My Yokohama Noro jacket is starting to take shape. I have completed the left half of the back, and started the right half last night. It took a little time to get started as I had to remember how to do a crochet chain and then do a provisional cast on… However it went okay and have now done several rows of that back piece.

Tonight when I get home from the store I shall continue with the scarf sample for the shop. It is a new Prism yarn and it certainly looks and feels nice knitted on the diagonal.

Sally

In 2003 I purchased a Cast On magazine because of the Noro jacket on the cover. At long last I am going to knit one for myself using Silk Garden yarn by Noro. The pattern calls for #8 needles but I have done a swatch and am using #9 for the correct guage. The jacket is knitted in six pieces and is all in garter stitch. One front and one back piece are knitted from bottom to top and one front and one back piece are knitted side to side and then the sleeves are both knitted from the top down. So will keep you posted on my progress.
I do have another scarf to knit for the shop and will get that done over the weekend.
Janice is having the first of three finishing and blocking classes on Saturday and all three classes have filled very quickly indeed.

Happy knitting
Sally