Summer Customer FO's

We love it when people come in and show us their finished projects. 

This cute cotton summer top is knit sideways on the bottom for interesting shaping and a flattering look.

This sweater was finished just in time for a break in our almost 100degree weather- haha.

This is a cute ski sweater made for a grandchild in the cold north.

Here is an afghan made for a wedding present. Our friend Sue made it out of odd ball skeins of purple and green.

Here is Sue enjoying this beautiful afghan before she ships it off to her newly wed brother.

This silk scarf was made with an over lay of wool felted into the fabric. Another example of felting magic!
This skirt wasn't knitted or felted but it was a very interesting finished project. Hannah made this skirt for her mother. She bought a ready made skirt and then cut an old t-shirt into strips and sewed them on the skirt  to make the flower embellishment. We all want one!

This cute baby sweater and hat were recently finished and sent to a lucky newborn. It has an interesting trim on the ribbing and the knitter did a great job on this project.

This was the second finished. project of one of our students. She learned a lot and can now do cables on anything!

Another finished hat by a different student. We love the flaps and fair isle pattern on this hat.

It will keep someone nice and warm this winter.

Baby Sweaters

This is sweet baby Benjamin. His mother,who was 8 7/8's months pregnant, finished the knitting for this beautiful blanket in our shop one Saturday afternoon about 4 weeks ago. When she stood up to leave she said " ooh, something is going on". On her way home she started having contractions and beautiful Benjamin was born the next morning! She brought him in to meet us when she picked up her lovely alpaca blanket.

We have lots of cute baby sweaters to knit for all the babies and toddlers in your life. This is a cute raglan made with a self-patterning cotton yarn from Needful Yarns called Cotton Joy.

This double breasted baby sweater is made with Crystal Palace Bamboozle. It is quick to knit and the bamboo yarn is so soft.

Another cute easy-to-make cotton baby sweater. This one is made from Fantasy Naturale from Plymouth.

This baby sweater is knit side to side out of Wool Bamboo from Classic Elite.

Bamboo yarn is very popular for babies and childrens sweaters. It is soft and wears well and is easy care. This sweetheart sweater is made from K1C2 Babyboo yarn.

Another sweet baby sweater with delicate crochet edging. This one is made from Ecologie Cotton from Nashua Yarns.

Baby sweaters are so much fun to make. They don't take very long to knit or use very much yarn. The babies always look so cute in them and get a lot of attention for wearing a handknit garment. We love seeing your babies in what you create for them!

Dog Days of Summer

It is so hot that even the dogs want to come in the yarn store to cool off. We get all kinds of furry visitors. Well behaved pets are always welcome, especially if they can show us a trick or two.

This beautiful Standard Poodle had just come from the salon where he got his Summer look.

His coat looked like velvet.

This is sweet little Otis. He is the brother of Greta's dog Molly.

And the son of Lily's dog Rosie. Don't let his size fool you- I hear he is one tough guy.

This is Lucy who likes to follow her master around everywhere.

This is Tucker- Isn't that the cutest face you have ever seen?

And this is Princess Leia- who is my dog. She only gets to come to the shop when no one else is there as she thinks everyone comes to see HER. She is very sweet and special and brightens our lives. Leia recently had a cancerous tumor taken out of her ear so we are taking extra special care of her. The prognosis is good and we are enjoying all the doggy licks and hugs we can get right now. Enjoy your special pet and keep them cool and safe during this hot summer!

COOKIE FRIDAY

What do you think about having Cookie Friday around the Carrboro shop? 

Friday is such a great day to work in the shop, for so many reasons...

There are always new things that came in during the week.

I get to work with Alisa- who is a delight! 

It is a wonderful time to pick out a new project, and even time for a swatch!

There are lots of fun people stopping by to get their projects ready for the weekend.

Friday is the unofficial start to the weekend, but Friday is also my Monday.

That's why I think Friday is such a great candidate for cookies!

So come on by, pick out an exciting new project and see what we're knitting on.

This one is top secret until June 9th! Come see if I can make yet another unrealistic and self imposed deadline!

AND you should see if I managed to make cookies... I am sure I managed to make a mess!

Summer Sweaters

Summer is just around the corner and we have some really cute summer sweaters for you to knit while on vacation or for vacation.

This cotton tank is made in cool 1824 Cotton. We love the big flower knit in intarsia across the bottom. This style looks cute on many different figures.

This Henley style top is made in a new yarn from Classic Elite called Cotton Bamboo. It feels silky and is a treat to work with.

This square neck top is made with a "magic" technique. The decreases form the unique pattern and shape of this summer top.

All of these sweaters are quick and easy to knit. They don't take mach yarn and the projects will fit nicely in your travel knitting bags. Come see us for even more good ideas for summer projects.

40 years of Knitting

I recently had a birthday and I turned 46. I started knitting when I was 6 so I have now been knitting 40 years! Wow! That is a lot of knitting. Recently  had 2 very special customers in the store. They both had sweaters on that were 40 years old. The sweaters are still beautiful as are the women who made them. They are still knitting heirloom sweaters after all these years.

We all have reasons for why we enjoy knitting. We love the whole process of picking a project, choosing the yarn, learning new stitches, creating the fabric and putting the pieces together. The best part about the process is when we wear our finished knit wear or give it to someone who loves our talents. 

We are all special knitters. We all create heirlooms that can be passed from one generation to the next. We all love sharing skills, talents and friendships with other knitters.

I learned to knit from my mother and grandmother. My own mother, Anne, is almost 80 and still knits every day. She is currently making my Dad a pair of socks and making a baby blanket for a new grandson.

I can only hope that I am still creating when I am at the same stage of life as these wonderful ladies!

Wedding Present

When Hannah got married on February 29th she and Jon requested creative, funky and handmade gifts. Well, the yarn shop ladies got together and got their creative juices flowing. I think we accomplished creative and funky with this beautiful afghan pieced together with lots of love and good wishes.

Everyone who participated made a square- or rectangle or something close to it- out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. We chose 1824 Cotton because it is easy to work with and there are so many colors to choose from. The ladies made all kinds of squares- they used lots of colors, fancy stitches, interesting ideas, added fun yarns and embellishments. It was so much fun to see all the different squares come in. All of this was done without Hannah's knowledge. People handed me their squares literally behind her back.  

I arranged and rearranged the squares on my dining room table for a week or two. I then started sewing the seams and adding in little squares where there were gaps. I then knit a garter stitch border around the whole blanket. The result is a beautiful, colorful, snuggly, sturdy, wonderful wedding afghan!
We all gathered around Hannah on Wednesday and presented her with our gift. I do think we succeeded in surprising her and she really loved our creativity.  We all had a lot of fun pointed out which squares we made and oohing and aahing over several exquisite ones. This was a very fun group project and I am so glad Hannah and Jon got married so we could make it for them!

WE LOVE YOU HANNAH!!!!!!