Carolina Fiber Fest

The Carolina Fiber Fest was at the NC State Fairgrounds the weekend of May 21-23rd. There was an abundance of Fiber and smiles to go along with it all.

Great Yarns/yarns etc... sponsored the Ravelry Meet-up.

There was lots of knitting and sharing and meeting new people.

There were so many beautiful projects. People won prizes for various entries. This project won for the oldest project - I think she said she spun the yarn 6-8 years ago.

People came from as far away as Wilmington and as close as 1/2 mile away. The thought of wonderful fibers and demonstrations and new Fiber Friends brings people from far and wide-even in the heat and thunderstorms!

We even have proof of the World's Youngest Knitter! Meet 2 month old SAM. He can DO some knitting!!
If you missed it this year- mark your calendar for next year!!

Knit Grafitti

My family and I recently took a wonderful vacation to Northern California and San Francisco. We had a marvelous time- enjoyed all the sights- even visited a few yarn shops. We parked our car next to this bike rack in Haight- Asbury one night. My husband said look at that- and took this picture. It is always exciting to see unexpected knitting and color!

Oh, and look at this- have any of you seen this in your favorite Whole Foods parking lot?

Or this? This tree will be a little warmer this Fall.

Here is a short video and news clip about another town that has been experiencing a bit of Knit Grafitti. It makes me wonder what we could all do to brighten our surroundings with our brightly colored knitting!
'Midnight Knitter' Pulls The Wool Someone is spinning quite a yarn over one New Jersey shore town.An unidentified culprit dubbed the "The Midnight Knitter" has been covering tree branches and lamp poles with little sweaters in West Cape May, N.J. under cover of darkness, CBS station WCBS-TV reports.Mayor Pam Kaithern said police were looking into the guerrilla crocheting, which technically is against the law because it is being done on public property without permission.Despite the illegality of the act, the town's mayor and residents admit they're enthralled by the rainbow of colors that has popped up.Resident Susan Longacre takes a walk each morning in Wilbraham Park, where several tree branches and light poles have gotten the treatment. She thinks it's great.Even those who are not thrilled admit the yarn is better than spray-painted graffiti.West Cape May is about 147 miles south of New York City.

Purple Hats

The following information is from an email we received from Lynn Jackson, please consider participating in this worthy cause.

Dear knitters:

We need YOU! We invite you to put your terrific talent to work!

WHO: Please share your knitting (or crocheting) gifts to help us reach our goal to provide a PURPLE newborn baby cap to every infant born in North Carolina during the week of April 11th, 2010. This [PDF]flier has all the details.

WHAT: Help us raise awareness of a statewide education project designed to teach parents and other caregivers about the Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina – the largest and most comprehensive evidence-based Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention initiative in the country.

WHEN: The deadline to send your finished baby caps is March 25th, see mailing address on flier or call/email with questions.


More info about The Period of PURPLE Crying:
The Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina is designed to educate parents and others about the normalcy of increased early infant crying and how to cope with it. More than 5,000 nurses in hospitals across North Carolina have educated more than 140,000 parents about this important program, so far. Help us honor, thank, and celebrate our nurses and hospitals! By raising awareness and understanding, the Period of PURPLE Crying program seeks to significantly reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur when frustrated caregivers shake crying babies.

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Visit our website for more information on the Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina: purplecrying.info Please pass this information along to anyone you know who might be interested.


For more information and questions, please contact:
Lyn Jackson 919.961.1081 Ljackson@purplecrying.info
Jane Royall 919.733.6341 jroyall@purplecrying.info

Fun Day at the Yarn Shop

It is always a fun day at the Yarn Shop. It is especially fun when Babies and Grandchildren come to visit.

Baby Wyatt was there as well as Kerri's new baby boy and his visiting cousin from Minnesota.

We also love it when Miss Anne's Grand daughters visit too!

The next best part was when the ladies from the yogurt shop came by giving away frozen yogurt samples. It was a particularly warm day so everybody was really happy to have some of the cool tasty treat!

You just never know what is going to happen next......

Baby Wyatt

Baby Wyatt came to visit last week! We all took turns holding him and enjoying him. It was a cold day and he was all warm and snuggly in his little wool sweater and striped hat. He is so sweet and Hannah is such a good mama. We all miss her but she is doing the most important job in the world right now. We will look forward to seeing you again soon!

Prolific Knitter

We have some very prolific knitters at Great Yarns and Yarns etc...

It is so much fun to help someone pick projects and help decipher the patterns. The best part is when they come back and show us their finished projects.

Rebekah is a great knitter. She picks really beautiful projects in beautiful yarns. She is always willing to try a new stitch or shaping technique. I really enjoy helping her pick out her next project. Rebekah is also a pretty quick knitter -so she completes a lot of projects. I have taken pictures over the past year of most of her finished projects.

This is the February Ladies Sweater made in luxurious Manos Wool/Silk.

This cotton Cardigan has an interesting lace pattern that Rebekah had no problem mastering.

This is the first random color/texture afghan Rebekah has done. It is an easy project and really fun but it takes a long time to knit and uses a LOT of yarn. You change yarn every 2 rows so you are constantly getting to work with a new color or texture. You can go with a particular color sequence or be a little more random about your choices.

Here is a one color afghan with an all over stitch pattern. I bet no one gets chilly at Rebekah's house with all these beautiful afghans to keep them warm!

Another fabulous lace patterned cardigan. Perfect for this Spring!

A beautiful blue raglan cardigan.

Another cotton cardigan with interesting stitch details in the front bands.

I love this short sleeve v-neck cardigan. The one button closure is a flattering style and if you look at the button closely you can see it is a turtle. So Cute!

This all over lace patterned cardigan is also made from Manos wool/Silk. It is a great weight for our climate.

Thank you Rebekah, for letting me show off some of your beautiful work and for being such a great knitter that I get to help find the next great project for you!

This is a close-up of the lace pattern from the purple sweater from above.

Knitting for the Troops

Here is a great volunteer knitting opportunity! Knitting helmetliners for our troops overseas.
When I first heard of this project I wasn't so sure that this was an item that a soldier really needed or wanted. Well, I was very pleased to find out that helmetliners are really needed and appreciated! It is cold in the desert at night and sand is blowing - the helmetliner keeps them warm and keeps some dust out. It also provides a soft layer of protection between the head and the helmet. My nephew Taylor is an officer in the 82nd Airborne and you can bet he will have at least one helmetliner in his duffel when he goes to Iraq or Afghanistan.

If you are interested in learning more about making Helmetliners, scarves or neck gators you can go here

All the information including patterns, yarn requirements and colors can be found on the web site. Cascade 220 is one of he suitable yarns and we have many great "desert "colors in stock.

You can leave your finished helmetliners at Yarns Etc... or Great Yarns and I will send them to the organization that distributes them to our soldiers.