Christmas in July | Wednesday July 11, 7 – 9 pm
Every year we crank up the air conditioning, bake some cookies and imagine cooler times; please join us. We’ll have our top twenty gift knitting ideas on display. Take a look at the video to see last year’s assortment.
Gift knitting is perfect summer knitting and it feels so good to start early.
If you don’t celebrate Christmas, please come anyway. Who doesn’t love a Christmas cookie?
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Ripping Back
I know many of you believe that at some point your days of ripping out rows and rows of knitting will be over. You dream of some distant point in the future when you will be experienced enough to only go forward and never go back. Sorry, but I don’t think that is going to happen.
Some of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s best blog posts are about ripping out. There is the shawl that she cast on 10 times or this post, just last week. As much as she knits, if she is still ripping things out, there is really no hope for the rest of us.
For example, I’m making a sweater out of Fibre Co.’s fabulous Acadia, a slubby blend of merino, alpaca, and silk. I love this yarn! It has a silky hand and the color is iridescent. I’ve already used several skeins with no problem and then I looked down and saw this:
See where I started my last skein? These skeins all came from the same dye lot. I know, because I scooped up the whole bag before it ever even hit the shelf. I’m guessing this happened because the fibers in this skein didn’t twist the same way that the fibers in the other skeins did. You can see it is a little less slubby than the previous skein, so maybe more of the bronze colored merino ended up on the outside of the strand. Who knows!
To fix it, I slipped my stitches off the needle and I ripped back all the rows I had knit with the new skein and a few rows of the old skein. Then I started knitting again, alternating two rows of one skein and two rows of the other. It blurs the line, so that your eye isn’t drawn to the spot where I changed colors. (We often recommend this technique when working with hand dyed yarns that rarely match from skein to skein.)
If you look closely, you’ll still see a little variation, but it isn’t a long straight line anymore. And honestly, a little variation is what I love about artisan yarn.
Need help (or moral support) ripping something back without losing your stitches? Stop in or take a look at this video.
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Yarn Bombing Glen Ellyn Style
On April 1 2012, an anonymous group called Knitters for Peace “bombed” downtown Glen Ellyn, IL with about 80 knitted birds. The birds placed on bike racks and benches disappeared pretty quickly, but many merchants brought their birds inside for safe keeping. You can read more about it here.
Thank you Knitters for Peace. We LOVED it!
Guerrilla Knitting started as a clandestine project to beautify public space without getting caught for defacing property. Now, in some places it is being recognized as an art form, like this installation in Seattle by Suzanne Tidwell.
There are still many who prefer the anonymity like the person who knit all the Olympic events and installed them on Saltburn Pier in the UK. Take a look.
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The Art of Yarn
Windows at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC are always spectacular. Take a look at the latest.
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Golden Needle Awards 2012
Just in case you missed our Golden Needle Awards, we got a slideshow for you:
Congratulations to the following winners:
Jan Jones won “best in show” for her Beech Leaf Vest
Bonnie Spark won “most colorful” for her Oakland Shawl.
Tobi Davis won “most creative” for her Austin Lace Neckwarmer
Julie Ashley won “best use of sock yarn” for her Kudzu Shawlette
Jody Oxley won “most likely to be seen on the red carpet” for her Rock Island Shawl
Jeanne Enright won “best baby/child item” for her Anthropologie Inspired Capelet
Julie Ashley tied herself for the “Personal Favorite (the “I’m going to make this next” category)” for her Warren 2 Way Jacket and her Sarah James Entrelac Jacket
Thank you to everyone who participated. Every entry was fabulous!
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Poptart Cat
We’ve received almost 200 scarves to sell for the People’s Resource Center this year, but when I saw this one, I thought there must be a story here. Last weekend, I overheard some kids exclaiming over the “Poptart Cat”, so I looked it up online. Evidently the Poptart Cat (or the Nyan Cat) is a huge YouTube phenomenon. Take a look at the video. The absurdity will make you smile. And the fact that this video, not counting all the spinoffs, has over 51 million views will make you wonder. Enjoy!
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Handmade Scarves for Sale
To celebrate the first day of our 3rd Annual Scarf Project, I’m reposting this video “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf”.
Please help us spread the word that we have fabulous scarves for everyone on your list. Prices range from $20 – $75. Because the scarves have been made and donated by our talented customers, we are able to turn every dollar raised over to the People’s Resource Center. This is truly a gift that gives back.
We will sell scarves through December 30th, but come early for the best selection.
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Conceptual Knitting
Bobbi stopped by the store the other day and told me the story of this scarf she made during a recent trip to Guatemala. Before she left, she gathered yarn in Guatemalan colors and each day she would choose a color to add as the spirit moved her. The black at the beginning represents a two day flight delay. The black towards the end is an encounter with the airport officials in Guatemala that confiscated her yarn in the name of security.
Throughout her trip, the scarf became a discussion piece with the people she met: which colors did they think represented Guatemala? which color would she pick up next? I can just imagine all the memories that will resurface whenever she wears it.
Sky Scarf from Leafcutter Designs on Vimeo.
Knitting according to your environment is described by Lea Redmond as conceptual knitting. Perhaps you’ve heard about her Sky Scarf project, where she challenges you each day to knit a few rows of the color of the sky out your window. Others have suggested knitting colors that represent the current temperature or the colors of this evenings’ sunset.
I love the idea of knitting a story into a scarf. What will your theme be?
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Christmas in July 2011
If you missed our Christmas in July party, take a look and be inspired. If you’d like a list of the patterns displayed, stop in or send us an email.
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In the Movies
Sue Lynn Subin created this video about String Theory as a class project.
Take a look, maybe you’ll see yourself. I love the way it turned out.
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