Gifts2Knit

Jill and I compiled some patterns for unique gifts. These are all quickies and great stash busters!

Gifts2Knit $9.99
Five Gift Projects in Worsted Yarn
Yarn Cost Less than $10 Each
Knit Up in Under 4 hours

* Felted Pouch
* Eyecover
* Luxury Eyelet Rib Collar
* Soap Sack
* Holiday Ornament
* Bonus pattern:  Crocheted Holiday Wreath

All projects used worsted yarn–these are great stash busters!

This is an e-book download only. No shipping. Check out our yarn special too!

New Yarn, New Events

In the shop, we received new Malabrigo yarns: Aquarella and Twist. What delight!

Both cost $14:
Aquarella is not a new yarn, but new to the Y2Knit yarn shop. 65 yards of thick/thin wool in "water color" dyes. Stunning and hard to see in this pick (to the left), so stop by!

Twist is new to Malabrigo and beats everything they have done in my opinion. It's a plyed baby
merino (lace, 8 strands). 150 yds and a worsted to bulky weight.

I've already knit up a scarf in Aquarella, which is a thick/thin soft wool (is soft redundant when talking about Malabrigo?). I took an "old" design of Jill's (which are often at their best a few years after she designs as she tends to be ahead of fashion times) and reworked it, with only minor revisions. I like the affect and the yarn is delicious. I knit this in just a couple of hours of knitting time.

Felt balls made the perfect embellishment, though beads would do nicely too. This makes an artful accessory with interesting textures, color and movement.

Scarves are a great way to make old outfits seem new and a lot less work than a sweater!

My grandma went to Tuscany and I got a sock monkey

We had a wonderful time in Montisi, as always. The weather was great, though cooling towards the end of the week. We drank wine, ate wonderful food, connected with new friends and old and enjoyed watching the activities of village life.

I knit some swatches and ripped alot on some baby socks, which I finally finished on the plane. I knit a sock monkey for Zane, which I stuffed and finished when I got home. He's pretty cute!

Great Teachers

Jill and I are great teachers. We know that and some of you know that.

A couple of days ago I taught two classes at Knitter's Day Out in Central PA. I taught a three-hour class I call Whoops!, which focuses on fixing mistakes. We cover everything from dropped stitches to fixing stitch pattern errors, including dropping down several stitches several rows. It's fun because the knitters get to make mistakes and have support while they learn to fix them. Most of the class were fairly experienced knitters with varying degrees of confidence on this topic. After class, several students went out of their way to tell me how helpful the class was to them and to tell me what a great teacher I am.

After a quick lunch, I taught Short Row Shoulders and Sleeve Caps for three hours. Again, the class was full of competent, experienced knitters ready to tackle one of the more complex techniques in knitting. We knitted, wrapped and picked up wraps, creating beautiful sloped shoulders and sleeve caps. No visible wraps or holes. One woman said, "This morning I took a short row class. After taking your class I know how to work short rows and I understand what I am doing." Another said, "I love the way you teach and it was clear you knew your topic because you never read to us from the handout, you just taught us." (thanks to Jill for the great handout and charts)

Back at the Y2Knit booth after class, several students came to me to tell me how helpful they found the class. A couple want to bring their knitting group to the shop for a class, which I look forward to teaching.

I love these opportunities to teach--at small conferences like KDO, at other yarn shops, at the Y2Knit yarn shop--wherever I can. For me, I hope to help knitters get over whatever keeps them from progressing with a technique. I want to open doors for them. I also love the aspects of working with women to build confidence in this small part of their life. I hope to inspire creativity and ways of being with our knitting and life.

For those of you who couldn't take the classes at KDO, I offer lots of classes at the shop. I'll teach whatever knitting class you want. I know my stuff and more importantly, I am a great teacher!

Knitting for Comfort

Knitting for others has the potential to impact the knitter as much as the intended recipient. Something of us is knit into every stitch and when we knit with special intentionality, the product carries this with it.

I just finished a shawl for my sister Sally who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a breast cancer survivor of 13 years and this is a different kind of cancer. What are the odds she would draw this lot again? My thoughts when I learned of the diagnosis is that I wish I could take this one for her (really? probably not--I'm not very heroic), but I instantly realized that's not one of the options.

Turns out the options aren't great, but then, life is. So anything that gives more of that is just wonderful. Sally can see it that way--that's one of the gifts she's been given. She has new/different support this time with a husband, twin boys, and many friends, including other survivors.

Knitting the shawl, which is not particularly remarkable knitting but some great yarn and colors, gave me an outlet for my frustration and anxiety about the situation. I could turn that into peace and comfort for Sally. I shared with her last night on the phone that I kept getting asked by customers what I was knitting and that I must have shared her story with 30 people. Thirty more people to support her in this situation. That was my (unknown at the time) intentionality in knitting this shawl.

It goes in the mail today with this note:

This shawl brings you

• comfort
• healing
• centering calm

Thanks to everyone who asks and cares about Sally. After another biopsy Tuesday, she's still waiting for a treatment plan, which leans towards bilateral radical mastectomy. The only way to ensure that she doesn't get breast cancer again. Because life is so worth it.

New Yarn!

Brushed Suri Alpaca



Picoboo


We usually fax orders to the yarn company, which works great EXCEPT that the fax machine had been storing, not sending, faxes. We caught up with that problem, got the stored stuff sent and had a huge UPS and FedEx delivery yesterday.

* We've got new colors in **Poems**.
* New Frog Tree colors in **Picoboo** (lush cotton/bamboo), the **Suri Alpaca** (perfect for [Tiffany][1]) and **Meriboo** (merino/bamboo, but doesn't it sound like some animal you'd run into in on the tundra?)
* More **Felt Balls**
* More **Sari Ribbon**
* New colors of **Eco Wool** from Cascade


Stop by for inspiration. The new colors are wonderful. (pictured above: Meriboo)

Yak Yak Yak

When I read on Ravelry about YakMan's contest to see what people could do with a Bijou Basin Ranch sticker, my immediate thought was that I would put it over Rachel's mouth. It was one of those momemts when she was talking too much (there are many of those).

Then I remembered she has this t-shirt that says Yak Yak Yak. So put it all together and here we go.

You can participate in the contest too! If you're local, I have a few extra stickers, which, while I could easily use them again on Rachel, there's probably some law against doing that!


I wouldn't do this with just any old sticker, however. We're very fond of BBR and love their yarn. Jill designed Diamond Laces out of the Bijou Spun yak/bamboo. It's too delicious for words.

We've got (Felt) Balls Contest on Ravelry

Check out the We've Got Felt Balls Contest on Ravelry. Show us yours!

The beaded felt balls pictured here beg some creative knitting or crocheting to set them off in some playful accessory.

In the shop, we've got new yarns, felt balls, more on the way. Favorites so far are Nimbus and Opus from Zitron--oh so soft and yummy colors.

We've got sock yarn galore, including Zauerballs (not feltable) and other lovely colors. Do come visit for inspiration.

We're going to celebrate Angela's winning first place in the Dye For Glory contest with her beautiful sock yarns. Join us on October 3 for a Serendipitous Ewe Trunk Show and Celebrations!

Maybe not always new

When it comes to yarn, I love to have new things and to see colors change. It keeps the options alive for me. However, sometimes we're sad to see something go. Such was the case with Zitron's Lifestyle Color, a self-striping superwash merino in great colors.

The good news is, it's back, this time as Ambiente. This is the same high quality yarn, offered in the same five color combinations! It is 100% Merino Wool Superwash wool, with 170 yards per 50 gram ball. It works up on US 3-5 needles, yielding 5.75-6.5 stitches per inch.


Denise Interchangeable is offering change too, with an interchangeable crochet kit. This will be awesome for Tunisian crochet/cro-hook work. The kits include 12 individual hooks, sizes F5 (3.75mm) to 19 (15mm) and 7 cord lengths, 2 each 3" and 5", plus 1 each 9", 12" and 16". What's not to like about this!

Babies and Flowers

Not as much knitting as I'd like the last couple weeks. I took a few days after NWNM in Seattle and went to Bellingham to visit family, which includes 15 month old grandson Ian (not pictured). I was surprised to endure record heat in the Northwest, especially after 60 degrees and rain last year.

Back home and settled in waiting for Baby Boy Messiter to be born mid-August. Zane Carlos made an early appearance on August 3 at 7 lbs 10 oz and 21.5 inches--clearly ready to join us. Proud parents and grandparents!

I'm a bit distracted by my garden too. Not only is it absolutely beautiful right now, but there's lots to harvest too. This week's focus has been on herbs, gathering them in the cool morning and setting to dry.

The colors inspire me. I want to knit yellow, pinks and corals!