Thanksgiving Knitting

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy, busy, busy in the shop with people picking out their Thanksgiving Knitting projects. On Wednesday afternoon at 4:45 I realized that I needed to get my holiday knitting projects together. I was headed to the beach for 2 days and needed various projects for different types of knitting. Here are the bags of stuff I took with me for less than 48 hours at the beach.

Here is what was in those bags

Starting from the left corner and around;

Green Tweed sweater to sew together.

Balls of yarn for my stepdaughter to knit a scarf for her BF.

The front of a sweater in Kidsilk Haze to start.

Inca Alpaca to start a new scarf.

Teal and lime King George to make a scarf on the dark drive down.

More balls of yarn to make a scarf if I finished knitting everything.

Red, green and white yarn to knit Christmas stockings.

My sunglasses and phone charger that I forgot I put in there and couldn't find until Thursday night when I got to the bottom of the bag.

Some extra yarn that my Mother wanted me to bring her.

So I knit in the dark on the way down, I knit on Thursday morning after a wonderful walk on the beach just after sunrise. There were lots of people who are much better cooks than me responsible for the big meal so I could knit and watch the confusion in the kitchen. I was on clean up duty and then I had to take a nap so I didn't get to knit again until the early evening. My stepdaughter started a scarf for her BF. Then the BF decided he needed to learn to knit- so we taught him. Then my stepson who knows how to knit needed to get in on all that yarn so he started a scarf. My mother was also knitting so there was a lot of knitting going on at our house. I also knit on the way home.

 

Here is what I accomplished;

I started a Christmas stocking.

I started the second half of my Kidsilk Haze Cardigan.

I started the Basketweave Inca Alpaca Scarf.

I started and finished the sideways scarf.

I don't know what I was thinking- probably that I would knit nonstop and be snowed in for a week! I am so happy I accomplished what I did!

The knitting was great! So was the company! And we had great food too!!!

Marine Sciences 101

In my residency here at yarns etc. I have learned a great many things. I have been encouraged, challenged and nurtured, all in the comforting presence of soft and colorful yarns. This is one of my most happy places. So of course you can imagine that when my good friend S. announced that she was having a baby, I was excited to show off some of my new skills and talents. Now I immediately started knitting. Baby! I will tell you, I am a shameless lover of babies and kids, so I started knitting a LOT! I made a blanket before she even started to get big, hats, a maternity sweater and burp cloths. Beautiful things really, but I was excited to give them away and there wasn't even a baby shower yet! I knew I had to have something to bring to that. Then I found a book called "knitted toys"  '25 fresh and fabulous designs' by Zoe Mellor. I tell you there were these cute little fishes and I was sold! A rainbow of colors in Rowan Handknit cotton and a flurry of needles later, I had 6 of my own little cotton fish! Now here's where it gets most interesting... in the book the fish are strung up and separated by lovely painted wooden beads. Now I am a realist and I REALLY wanted this child to play with these fish, so I figure he'd have the paint sucked off those pretty quick, and um, not too washable. Then I thought of the alternatives; plastic- yuck, glass- one good whack on the floor... can you see where I'm going with this?

So, I'm mulling over my little problem and my Sweet Man who is ever so confident about my skills and abilities says to me, "I know, you can make a jellyfish! A Portuguese man-of-war! There's a picture in the National Geographic, and I can draw it out for you! You can do it!" Now this may sound odd, but my sweetie knows S. very well and we discussed her amazing artistic talents while we admired the gorgeous print of birds that she made us and is over our fireplace. She would love it! I think. First baby though, that could change things. We decided to make a go of it, something really different for a very special baby! I started to talk about this idea at the shop and I got some strange looks and responses, not a traditional gift I know. But as always Mary egged me on knowingly, and I got even more excited! I left that day with three MORE colors of Handknit cotton, a pattern for the curly scarf, some velcro and a plan. 

Sort of.

So that's it, my Man O' War Mobile for the newest little man in our lives! Now is the time where I thank everyone who helped me create this gift; my sweetie- he's full of bright ideas, my coworkers who showed me the way down an overwhelming and delightful path of yarn, every customer who needed help and ended up teaching me something new too- love the sharing, Mary, Mary, Mary!- who is an inspiration, a gift and a killer resource and of course S. and J. for making me such a beautiful baby boy to knit for! By the way, he loves it!

Yes, I made the hat. I can't help myself- he's adorable, and kind enough to model for me!

Happy Thanksgiving! See you at the shop!

Here goes!

Welcome to our new shop blog!

First, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our lovely customers and supporters. This blog will serve to feed our local yarn community with info, opportunities for yarn fun, and lots of laughter. All three of our stores will be contributing to this effort. I am delighted to welcome you to Carrboro, Greensboro and Raleigh all in one convenient location.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your knitting!

Coming soon... Who wants to see what happened to these cute little fishes?