Author: Sally

Good morning everyone,

Oh such delight with all the new yarns coming into the store almost daily now. It is getting harder to choose a new project as each box opens and reveals different ideas, books and of course yarn and notions.
I have just two projects for the store left to complete. One is a gorgeous evening scarf/shawl in a yarn by Prism and the other is a unisex reversable scarf knitted in a sport weight alpaca yarn. The Prism shawl I hope to have completed either before I go to work this morning or it will be finished the evening. The alpaca is on size 6 needles so will take a little longer to complete.
My own current project is for an old school friend in England as a Christmas present. I decided to do a bolero and found a pattern on line dating back to around the late 30’s early 40’s. Very shaped and extremely elegant. The yarn I am using is a new line by Louisa Harding and it is Kashmir DK in black. This has to be finished as soon as possible and as it is just stocking stitch is knitting up quite quickly.
Once that is done, I have no idea what I am going to start from scratch because I have two or three sweater projects still on needles, which I have promised to complete before opening a new bag of yarn….

Happy knitting Sally

What a great week we have had with the temperatures finally cooling down. I know we can still have some days over 95F however the cool evenings have been a delight.

My mental lists of what I want and have to knit before Christmas continues to grow. I have several things to knit for the store and have three on needles already. I am hoping to knit a Rowan Botany 4ply vest for an old school friend in the UK as a Christmas gift and of course have ideas about a sweater for Alan……. I did manage to knit a short sleeve cotton sweater for my Mum and as it will be Summer at Christmas time her present is just waiting to be wrapped and mailed.

The Fall yarns continue to arrive at the shop and it is like being in a candy store. Each box that arrives is unpacked and gushed over before we all think about what we could knit if only we had 48 hours in each day! I am not used to spending so much time on my knees each day, but at least I get to handle all the new yarns as we display it all throughout the store.

Our cancer fund raiser is being held on September 24th from 10am until we close at 5pm. Last year was fun, this year with more time to prepare and more people being involved with the preperations I know it will be an even better day.

Sally

It’s been another busy week as more people are working on hand knitted projects for their families. It certainly seems like there will be a lot of warm fuzzy gift giving this year.

One sad part of knitting is that you will occasionally drop a stitch and continue on or you misread the pattern and make an error. Sometimes people start having problems in the next row and they stop. Sometimes a novice knitter will continue on for many rows, either unaware that there is a problem or unable to believe that they aren’t following the pattern exactly, even though it doesn’t look or feel right.

That’s when they come to see me and say the pattern is wrong. Usually, the pattern isn’t wrong! Unpicking is not only a part of knitting, its an important part – and its not always easy. At the end of unpicking, you have to have all the stitches identified exactly and set on the needles correctly or you’re going to end up with another problem.

The hardest thing, when I do it, is to see their faces, as I pull undone hours of effort. But its alwayw worth it because a perfectly finished item is 100 times better than one with a flaw that you could have fixed with 5 minutes of creative unpicking.

Unpicking is a fact of life – its not always pleasant, but its always going to be with us.

I have been a bit busy the last few weeks. It is hard to believe that we are going into the last full week of January. Where do the days go?

Last year I knitted a dark brown Jaeger cashmere sweater which I loved knitting and of course enjoy wearing too. This morning I finished a scarf with the last two balls of the brown cashmere. It is from a Jaeger pattern book which sadly is now out of print, but I will copy patterns if anyone wants to knit some of the beautiful scarves. (I have permission from Rowan)

Our Wednesday and Saturday classes continue to be popular. We take six students for each class and they are now filling about two weeks in advance. It is great when the new knitters go beyond scarves and start to think about shawls and then basic sweaters.

The weather here, while not as bad as the storm currently affecting the east coast is certainly miserable. After a lot of rain we seem to have settled into a trend of damp foggy days, rather like London or Melbourne!!! Hopefully it will rain soon and clear the misty weather away altogether. Mind you it is wonderful weather to stay in the warm by the fire and while away the hours with either a good knitting book to read, or knit up some beautiful yarn.

Sally

Well it is another new year, and I hope it is a happy and safe one for all.

My curious creek shawl is finished and presently being blocked. I started Alan’s afghan, but still the Furlauro poncho is calling my name and I know I have to get that done for the store. Actually I am feeling a little smug because I have finally caught up with all the knitting that had been on needles for so long. It is nice to be wearing all the sweaters instead of just moving bags with the pieces tucked inside.

Yesterday I went through all my magazines and have a couple of piles to give to friends and neighbours. It really is amazing just how fast these accumulate and how they suddenly become a nuisance.

We are still trying to cope with the loss of our female Maine Coon kitten, Matilda, on Christmas Eve and I am sure Chester is missing her too. The breeder is going to give us a new female just as soon as we are ready for that although it won’t be quite the same of course….

Another day of scarves….. Trying to come up with yarn combinations and needle sizes all day becomes a puzzle for me.

I love the fun yarns but sometimes I think they are better alone than spoiled with yet another one added. It seems as though all of California will be opening parcels on Christmas Day containing scarves or the occasional hat.

Today I came home with the yarn for an afghan so will look forward to starting that after all the Christmas cards are written and mailed this week.

Sally

Today, Alan decided to add my blog’s RSS feed to his myYahoo account. Now he can see what I say every time I write in my blog and he’s using his yahoo account!

Sneaky!

I haven’t knitted more than a hundred rows this week. The kittens seem to be taking up a lot of time!

In the shop, lots of knitters are preparing for Christmas by stocking up on the sale yarn and buying new patterns. It looks like more people will be getting personalized, handmade gifts this year.

You can check out the great Sale Yarn at Filati Fine Yarn.

We’ve had a good week, even though its been a bit cooler and wetter than usual. I’ve been able to help lots of people fix up their knitting problems. The worst part of that is when I have to unpick 10 rows for them, so they can fix up a problem.

I’m so used to unpicking that it is as easy as knitting, but there is an art to it. You really have to be a good technician. Of course, the hardest part is seeing their faces when I undo hours of work, but its always worth if when the finished product comes out perfect.

For several months now we have has some lovely yarn in the store by a company called Curious Creek. I finally weakened and purchased to skeins of the mohair in a colour I can only describe as “southwestern”. The company supplied us with a pattern for a shawl and I am now busy knitting away on that project.

Of course like most knitters I have a few projects to complete. Two sweaters for Alan remain on needles. One is being made in Rowan Botany 4ply, and the other is an Annabel Fox yarn. Both wonderful to knit with, but the smaller projects for gifts and for the store seem to have taken over my life.

Thie weekend I have to organise all of our Christmas cards, letters and gifts for overseas. Hopefully I can get that all completed over the next two days and have them all at the post office no later than Wednesday. Then I can concentrate on local cards and trying to think of something for Alan.

Sally

It seems that scarves, shawls and ponchos continue to be on every knitters must have list for this winter. I am currently knitting a segue ribbon and eyelash shawl on size 19 needles for myself. This is the second one I have done for myself, as they are quick to knit and fun to wear.

Christmas is not too far away now so I am frantically knitting shawls and scarves for friends in both England and Australia. This makes for a fun gift and of course being made by hand made makes them even more special.

Because of the new kittens, Chester and Matilda I had to lock myself in the office today. I had forgotten just how much kittens love the yarn, or perhaps it is just the movement they enjoy… I’ll be glad when their tree house arrives on Monday – I hope it will keep them occupied.

Sally

After about my fourth attempt at the beginner level of learning to crochet, I have decided the hobby is not for me!

When we first moved to California and I was a lady of leisure I did yet another beginner class, and actually completed two afghans. But over time the practice yarn has slowly moved on to the floor area of our study and knitting instead has consumed most of my time.

I wound all the practice yarn up last week put it in clean plastic bags and tomorrow will donate it all to a lady who knits blankets for the needy people of the greater Sacramento area.

One little note. We became the ‘proud’ owners or maybe slaves is the correct word to two Maine Coon kittens this past weekend. Chester was born August 1st, and Matilda was born August 27th and right now they are fast asleep and I have some time to write this.

Sally