Win a $50 Gift Certificate! (good for 2 classes)

*****Congratulations Debbie G. of Rockville Centre. Two-year-old Henry pulled your name as the winner of  Facebook/Blog $50 gift certificate! Looking forward to knitting with you.   10/7/11*****



There are 2 ways to enter:
1.  Click below and leave a comment with your name here.
-OR-
2. Visit my Facebook fan page and leave a comment with your name there.

Don't delay!  One lucky winner will be selected at random on Friday, October 7.
And, of course, my current students are encouraged to enter to win too!

Fall is here; it's time to knit!

(Click "comments" below.  Leave one with your name, and hopefully you'll be the winner!)

Update: Child's Hooded Cardigan Sweater

I worked this one in Berroco's Peruvia Quick - 100% Peruvian Highland Wool in color Olive.
Sizes 2T, 4T and 5-6T.

On My Needles: Child's Hooded Cardigan Sweater

One-by-one Cowl

One skein.
One-by-one rib.
ONE HOUR.

MATERIALS
1 skein of Knit Collage Pixie Dust in Antique Garnet colorway.  145 grams, 35 yards.
Set of size US 35 needles

BEGIN
CO 8 sts.
Row 1:  *k1,p1; rep from * to end.
Work in patt, (1x1 rib) repeating row 1, until the skein is nearly finished.
BO in patt.

FINISHING
Lay work flat, then twist one end 360 degrees.  Keeping twist intact and using tails, sew the CO and BO edges together.  Enjoy!

NYC Yarn Crawl (and a Yarn Sprint)

The 3rd Annual NYC Yarn Crawl is approaching - September 30, October 1 and 2nd.

It is FREE, and no purchases are necessary in the dozen-or-so shops that are participating.  Every crawler receives a free raffle ticket, and prize baskets of gorgeous yarn are valued at $350 or more! You can read more about it here:  http://www.nycyarncrawl.com/home

Rather than crawl, yesterday my mom and I sprinted to SOHO for a quick trip to our beloved yarn and fabric shop, Purl.  She handed the garage attendant the key and said, "We'll be back in an hour!"  I picked up one skein of Knit Collage's Pixie Dust in Antique Garnet for a cowl.  Pixie Dust is handspun of wool, mohair and camel fibers.  I also took home two skeins of Anzula's For Better or Worsted.  FBoWorsted is a superwash wool, cashmere blend with a touch of nylon for a beautiful sheen.  I picked hand-dyed color Terra Cotta for a baby sweater.  LOVE.

Not up for a crawl or sprint?  You can get yours online here.

$90,000??!!

Bloomberg Businessweek, August 15-28, 2011


HANDICRAFT WEBSITE ETSY
Etsy.com, the online market for all things handmade, has 10 million items for sale.  Among them: a hand-knit coffee mug cozy ($13); a vintage Underwood typewriter modified to work as a computer keyboard ($799); a set of pickle forks ($60).  The oddball mix spawned Regretsy, a blog that commnets on eccentric Etsy finds.  The tagline: "Where DIY meets WTF," Regretsy may be an indicator of Etsy's success.  Since its founding in 2005, the site has helped turn the artisanal, locally source, bespoke-authentic movement into a viable business, at least for itself and a handful of its 800,000 vendors.  Sales hit $314 million in 2010, the first year Etsy was profitable.  Etsy freely acknowledges most of its vendors won't make a living on the site.  Yokoo Gibraan, who knits scarves for Etsy ($50-$150) in her Atlanta living room, is one who does.  "I work around the clock" to make about $90,000 in annual sales, she says, "but knitting isn't stressful - it's the best job I ever had." 
-Susan Berfield, Bloomberg Businessweek


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On My Needles while on vacation...

Aaaaahhh...a week on Fire Island with my family.  I was even able to sneak in some knitting on the beach and knitted this cowl - start to finish.  I'm not lying when I say it's a quick knit!

I could have worked on one of my other projects, but this one's perfect for the beach.  I have the pattern memorized, and it's easy to put down and pick up when I need to refill a sand pail with water or rescue a sand crab.  :)

Class resumes next week.  Hope to see you ladies!


Tuesday, August 16th, 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Wednesday, August 17th, 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Please RSVP a day or two prior if you would like to join me.  Thanks!

On My Needles: Rosette Lace Scarf

I'm calling this one the "Ultimate Lace Challenge" for my knitters.  

So, which of you ladies will be first?!

Welcome *new* knitters!

A warm welcome to my *new* knitters from Spring and Summer 2011:

Jane
Joanne

Katherine

Lynn

Margaret

Maureen B.

Maureen Q.

Mary
Meghan

A couple of them came to me already knowing the basic stitches.  A few had never held a set of needles.  Nonetheless, they are all doing fabulous with their projects.

At Tuesday evening's class, three were working hats in-the-round and on double pointed needles for the first time, one was working the Lattice Stitch Cowl, one was working the One-piece Baby Cardigan for her first grandchild-to-be, and one was learning the purl stitch.   I am so proud of these women and their dedication to their craft!

Thank you, and welcome to the club!  -k.

On My Needles: Cabled Baby Booties

Straight needles and mock cables make these little guys so much easier than they may appear!

On My Needles: Organic Cotton Market Tote

In a few weeks, I hope to fill this one with some goodies from Rockville Centre's farmers market.

PS - I love to knit lace!

On My Needles: Cabled Drop-stitch Mobius Scarf

After spending four sessions in July teaching my knitters to fix their knitting mistakes, they may think I'm completely nuts when they work this project.  Just before binding-off, we'll drop a few stitches all the way down to the cast-on edge.  Yikes!

When it's finished, it can be worn as a mobius scarf (think: long, twisted loop),  as a cowl when looped twice around the neck, as a scarf, or around the shoulders as a shawl.  Talk about a multi-purpose accessory!  

Welcome Baby Isabelle!

Meet sweet baby Isabelle who was welcomed by my friend (and knitter) in June!

Here she is modeling a beanie with earflaps and I-cords knitted in seed stitch.
I worked this one in Cascade Yarns' Cash Vero DK - extra fine merino and cashmere, as soft as a newborn baby's skin.

Thanks to Isabelle's mommy for sharing her photo.  :) 

Update: Lattice Stitch Cowl

You're sure to be a master of cables and knitting in-the-round after completing this beautiful pattern.

1 1/2 skeins of Cascade Yarns' Eco Duo, a baby alpaca and merino wool blend
Size US 10 or 10.5  circular needle, 16" length. Any longer will not work!
1 or 2 classes, dependent upon experience = $25 or $50 (+supplies)

Blocking Basics

The bottom band of this sweater has been bothering me; it was always creeping up.  (See above) So I finally blocked it.

There are several methods for blocking.  Since this yarn is 100% baby merino wool, I went for my favorite - the wet blocking method.

Soak the item in a bowl of room-temperature water for  a few seconds while squeezing the sweater.  Do not wring or twist.  Do not use hot water.  A few seconds is enough - just enough time to snap this photo.  Squeeze excess water from the work, RESHAPE and lay flat to dry.  A few rust-proof pins may be necessary, but my sweater behaved just fine without being stuck.

For more blocking basics, visit Interweave's tutorial here.

Learn-to-Fix your knitting mistakes

Empower yourself and join me for a special session!  
All my knitters are encouraged to attend.

Tuesday, July 5 at 7:30pm 

or

Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30pm 

or

Saturday, July 9 at 10:00am 

or

Wednesday, July 20 at 7:30pm 

$25 + your supplies

Some techniques you will learn-to-fix are dropped stitches, running stitches, to turn a knit stitch into a purl stitch and vice versa, to un-knit, and when all else fails, how to frog! 

You will need to knit a small swatch* before class that will be used in the lesson. 

Please reserve your seat asap!  (Class size: limit 5)

*Swatch instructions:  

CO 12 sts.   Work in 2x2 rib (*k2, p2; rep from *) for 8 rows.  Switch to St st (Stockinette stitch) and work for 8 rows.   Please bring a crochet hook if you have one.  The bigger the better.   If you purchase one, metal is preferred.  To make the lesson easiest on yourself, I suggest knitting the swatch with chunky yarn and large needles (size 11, 13 or 15).  If you need some chunky yarn to work this swatch, please let me know.  I have some extra. 

    

Another Bella Shrug

Since the Baby Janes don't require a ton of yarn, I knitted this shrug with the remainder of the Manos de Uruguay silk blend yarn.  My brother and sister-in-law picked it out for me while they were in Marfa, a wonderfully quirky town in Texas.  If you love the silk/merino blend as much as I do, I bet you can find some at a LYS (local yarn shop) or order some here from PURL in NYC.

The pattern is sized for 3 months all the way up to child size 12(!) and is one of the most well-written patterns I have worked.  I get a ton of compliments on this shrug.  I bet you will too.  The pattern is available here on Ravelry and is WELL WORTH the $5 bucks for the download.

Let me know how it goes!  (Not a knitter, coax that aunt who knits to work one up for you!)

And here is baby Bella herself modeling the original Bella Shrug.  She's just the cutest thing!!  Thanks to her mommy for sharing this photo.


(Click below if you would like to leave a comment.  Thanks!)

On My Needles: Lattice Stitch Cowl

This one is knitted with a 16" circular needle and a cable needle.  It's my first time knitting with Cascade Yarns' Eco Duo, a baby alpaca and merino wool blend - SUPER soft.  Both fibers are undyed, so the colors come straight from the animals!

I have about 6 of the suggested 27 inches complete.  I'll be sure to show you when it's finished.

(Click below if you would like to leave a comment.  Thanks!)

Color Block Blanket

Knitted with love for my cousin Erin who is expecting her first baby in August.
Before shopping for the yarn, I took a peak at her gift registry to coordinate the colors with her Pottery Barn Kids' Madras Bedding.

This is a great project for beginners to really perfect their knit and purl stitches.  There are a few tricks along the way, including the Provisional Cast-on, to keep things interesting.

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Meet the Mariner

The Mariner Pullover from Interweave Knits magazine, Weekend 2010 issue.
Sizes 6-12 months...all the way up to women's extra-large!

I knitted this one in Kraemer's Perfection Worsted yarn in color Fauna, a pale grayish-pink.  It's adorned it with mother-of-pearl buttons.  Perfection is a superwash merino and acrylic blend.  Machine wash, tumble dry.  That's perfection in my book!

The stitch pattern running down the front is Half Linen Stitch and requires a technique called "short rows" - something that is common is when knitting socks.  The sleeves are worked as cast-on extensions of the body, so when you bind-off, there's very little sewing to be done.  For those of you who have knitted the One-piece Baby Cardigan, this will sound very familiar.

(Click below if you would like to leave a comment.  Thanks!)