Glomitts

For Linh, who likes to do outdoor photography, even when it's cold. First pic is the top side, second is the bottom side with one open for easy access to camera buttons.

Lucky Baby!

Ian is now 8 months old. I had this idea for a sock/stocking and made it up for him. Leftovers became the hat (Y2Knit's Top Down Ear Flap Hat). I worked this toe up so that the entrelac formed an edging at the top.

I used Malabrigo Chunky.

Y2Knit, transformed

This last weekend, the Y2Knit Yarn Shop was transformed as we held the 4th annual Holiday Open House and Artisan Sale. Friday night was Old Tyme Christmas in Funkstown, and for the first time since Y2Knit has been here, there was no precipitation. Crowds were out to greet Santa and visit the shops, which were open until 9. Y2Knit had a steady stream of customers and lookers.





Featured artists: FLY's silver jewelry, Coles Pottery, collage art by Julie Cantrel, Penguin Forge, Kumiko Nuss clay artistry, woven scarves by Diane Silas, APPLES silver and glass bead jewelry, Millhouse Candles, Miriam Gordon photography and Cedar Ridge Soaps.

Felted Stocking

I saw a picture of a felted stocking and couldn't resist working up some leftovers I had. It was huge before felting, just right after. I cast on 52 stitches, worked 5 purl rounds at the beginning, then inc 4 sts in the next round and knit until it was 18" long. I then worked a short row heel and knit the foot until it was 7" long. I worked standard toe decreases until I had about 32 stitches, then worked decreases evenly around (first round k2, k2tog, next round k1, k2tog, next round k2tog) until I had 16 stitches. Cut yarn, draw through stitches, work in ends. This took only a few hours to create.

My text can't be read on the pictures:
On the larger, pre-felting, 23" from top to heel, 18" heel to toe, 17" circumference. After felting, 14" top to heel, 11" heel to toe, 12" circumference.

Fair Isle Mittens Class

This project was engaging and interesting. I think that everyone learned a lot. It was fun to see how the use of color changed the look of the mitten--all were beautiful.

We'll be offering this class again January 7 and 21.

Yarn used: either an alpaca(locally grown)/merino blend in natural shades or Lamb's Pride Superwash Sport (sport weight is new this season) in kiwi, brick, brown, blue, purple and white)

More on Tuscany--I have pics!

Here we are having a workshop outside under the grape arbor. The weather was fantastic, allowing us to be out every day. That is a swimming pool, but it was too cool to use it.










Via Umberto, the main street in Montisi.





























The other street, Castello, which winds up to the tallest part of town where soldiers used to stand watch for invaders.




Jill gives a blocking lesson.














Alessandro cooks a meal while Rose helps. (Tough job, but someone had to help him)

Reflections on Italy

I can feel parts of my almost four weeks in Italy already slipping away. I will have pictures available soon.

I come away mostly with a feeling of richness from my experience. I met wonderful people, made new friends and acquaintances, and earned a "ciao" on the streets of Montisi.

For a chronicle from one of the participants in week 2 of the Y2Knit Experience Tuscany, please check out Fae Hamilton's blog. She captured many of our experiences well, so it seems silly to be redundant. The rich experiences seemed to just keep coming.

Two special events stick out in my mind:

• On Sunday, Oct 5 (Jill's birthday), one of the contradas (neighborhoods) had a fundraising lunch. Tables were set up in the piazza and we enjoyed platefuls of lasagna, tripe (well, not too many platefuls of this delicacy), spinach and meat, desserts, and wine. We got to watch the locals, meet other foreigners, and be part of community life. One older gentleman came up to me and told me my daughter Rose was bellisima (beautiful). We later saw the son drive off in a sporty black convertible. She missed her chance!
• On Friday, Oct 17, we attended another dinner at the local bar/theater/hang out. Menu was much the same, with special vegetarian plates for me. After dinner, Liz Cochrane, a Brit living in Montisi sang, then there was karaoke and dancing. No marriage proposals, but a really good time was had by all. It turns out that Friday the 17th is like Friday the 13th in the US, so turnout was light. We were glad we were able to boost the numbers.
  

I loved connecting with local people, both Italian and ex-pats. We had heard about Brian, originally from Boston, now from Amsterdam and Castelmuzio, Italy. He works for Bruce Kennedy, the harpsicord maker. Brian makes the keyboards, assembling them in his shop in Amsterdam, then finishing them with the instrument in Castelmuzio. Brian is also a knitter, though he knits less now that he is into woodworking in a serious way.

One evening Brian called to suggest he bring some cookie dough and join us for dinner (dinner was homemade pici, a local pasta with a homemade red sauce, salad, and cake, all preceded by bruscetta with tomatoes and olive oil--cooked by Alessandro). Since this menu clearly needed more calories, I urged Brian to join us. His cookies are fabulous and we all enjoyed his company. We had to walk to Castelmuzio the next day (3-4 km - mostly uphill) to work off some of the cookies we ate.

Because we didn't have a car, we were able to eat and drink merrily and walk most of it off. The food is all local, homemade and fresh, and essentially nutritious. We purchased wine by the gallon from a local winery. Most missed the new olive oil, though the last few days some was pressed and sold to us. I can't begin to describe it. . . the color, the smell, the taste are not like olive oil as most of us know it.

While being in Montisi, a small country village, allowed me to connect with people, I also enjoyed a couple of days in Rome, where I was anonymous and could just take in the sights. Mom and I enjoyed several good meals, gelato breaks, and sightseeing.

It's good to be home. Abigail is thrilled to have me home and I look forward to reconnecting with everyone here.

Greetings from Montisi

The weather is lovely at 70-75 during the day and really cooling off at night. BRING LAYERS! We did have a couple of cool days and really needed all our layers.

Everything is wonderful and we're getting the rhythm of village life (slow, shops are open when they want to be, not always regular hours as posted). Locals recognize us and greet us. We are helping the local economy so they like us.

Today Ivo, who comes to take care of the Villa garden, brought us broccoli, radichio, melon, fennel and greens from his garden. The produce and food are wonderful. Some of the things we have done: shop at the farmer's market, eat at a local restaurant (Tiramisu to die for), olive oil tasting, wine tasting (both with the local somalier and on our own), visit a winery, lots of walks to see local sights, go to bakery, etc. The people of Montisi are friendly and helpful.

Cobblestone

This yarn has me captivated. The colors are so wonderful--there's a couple more colorways beyond those pictured here. I want a sweater out of this yarn, but what color do I choose? I like them all!

Cobblestone is a new yarn in the Fibra Natura line. 100% superwash merino wool, this yarn is squishy soft. It's a sport weight, 153 yards for $8.99. Come in and check out the colors. We made some fingerless mitts. It would also be great for a hat, a scarf, or a sweater. I'd use this for a baby blanket or garments too. It even smells good!

Alpaca, silk and cat

We have a marvelous new yarn, Adagio from Skacel. This 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk is so soft. It's a dream to knit with and the colors are great too. The silk adds the lovely sheen. Colors are, from left to right, black, light gray/cream, magenta, turquoise, teal, gold/camel, red, coffee. It's fun to think about which two colors would work together in this scarf.

I'm knitting a reversible scarf. On one side it's horizontal stripes, the other is vertical. Very easy and effective with the two teal colors.


100% spoiled cat, Abigail always wants to be in the middle of whatever is going on. On Saturday, while Sandy, Rachel and I sat knitting, she climbed into a basket that is too small for her but she turned and turned until she had corkscrewed herself into it. Of course, we admired her, so the results were worth her effort.

Knitting Party

I recently helped with a birthday party/overnight knitting retreat. The theme was "all things knitting," which as you can see, included the cake.

We dyed yarn with kool-aid, learned some new knitting techniques, needle felted, wet felted, and ate lots of good food. Fiber makes a great party theme!

Wonders never cease

I have had customers come in the shop to buy wool for soakers, which are a cloth diaper cover. While I am supportive of any kind of knitting and of the use of cloth diapers, I never pictured myself making soakers. However, Ian needs them so I rose to the call of duty and made the first pair. SO CUTE!! I'm working on a pair in the next size and waiting feedback on the fit of this pair. I think he can use 2 pairs in each size, but I'll wait to be sure the parents like them first. I know he will love them because his Grandma made them for him.

I got the pattern from Curly Purly. You can read more about soakers.

Northwest Needle Market

Jill and I just returned from the Northwest Needle Market, held last weekend at an Embassy Suites Hotel in Tukwila, WA, just south of Seattle. It was interesting to be in the NW as we grew up in Olympia. I hadn't been there for 2 years and was reminded why I don't visit as much when it was 60 and raining on Tuesday. Too cold for July!

It was fun to see friends and other vendors and to meet shop owners. We were selling our patterns, book and teaching classes. We both love to teach so that really made the event fun for us.

The highlight of the trip for me was meeting my 3 month old grandson, Ian. He came to the Embassy Suites to visit us both days we were there and I was able to stay with the in Bellingham for a couple of days as well. He appropriately showed up in a shirt I had knit for him (not pictured here) and he gets to change several times a day due to all the body fluids that escape and make messes.

Our mom, Jane Lewis, was able to join us for this trip, flying from SF with Jill. She loved all the people watching and conversations with customers. She can get a life history in record time! She particularly enjoyed seeing Kirsten Muench of Muench Yarns and we loved meeting her 2.5 year old, George, for the first time. We've seen pics and heard about him, but there is nothing like the real thing!

Visions from Turkey

Jill and I were provided with an opportunity to travel to Turkey for a week and it took us about 2 seconds to say, "yes." Turkey has been on my list of places to visit, and we hope to host a Y2Knit Experience in this wonderful country soon.

We joined Hal and Jean from Universal Yarn (perhaps Hal got tired of us asking to travel with them on one of their trips to Turkey) in Charlotte, NC and flew into Istanbul. Hal took us to a restaurant on the Sea of Marmara (paradise!) and introduced us to some Turkish dishes. He was most proud to share the Iskenkar gyro, made famous in Bursa, where we were headed next. He was very gracious about my being a vegetarian!

We took a ferry from outside Istanbul, across the Sea of Marmara, to the south shore, where we drove to Bursa. Most of our time in the van was with a great driver, Shefeq, who has a reputation of "getting there on time," even if there's not much time to get there. We think he was concerned we might miss the ferry, so the last stretch of windy, hilly road was covered quite quickly!

I loved the drive from the ferry to Bursa. We passed one of the world's largest acrylic factories, then drove through hilly country with olives and vineyards, reminiscent of Tuscany. Fruit stands boasted melons, peaches, apricots and other seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as local olive oil. Shefeq does not stop (except at stop lights).

Once we settled in at the hotel, we all took a walk and Hal pointed out some sights in the neighborhood. We stopped at a hilltop cafe with outdoor seating for a snack. While enjoying the scenery, we ate ice cream served in a melon, an answer to Jill's statement that she would love some fruit or ice cream.

Back at the hotel we put robes on and headed for the thermal baths. I removed my contacts, so I really don't know the reactions of the guests who were there for the wedding. The baths (hamam) are awesome, the water coming from natural mineral springs. You soak for a bit, then an attendant scrubs you. This major exfolliation left us feeling satiny and renewed. It was easy to sleep after that!

Monday meant work, and we spent the next three days in the offices at the mill. I will just say here that seeing major manufacturing of yarn was interesting and educational.

Tuesday morning we visited the women who knit samples. We had met Shukran on Monday. She has taught women to knit, found other knitters, and created a knitting school. The knitters meet in an apartment and spend time together while they knit. They can get help and share techniques.

I had insisted that we have this opportunity as I had heard about the knitters. Hal went with us and was able to translate, though this proved to be almost unnecessary as we discovered the universal language of knitting works very well for communication.

Within minutes we were showing each other what projects we were working on. Thanh's yarn was tangled, and she immediately had help. We "talked" about our knitting style (I think that every style was represented in the room), what kinds of needles we like best, and, of course, what kind of yarn we like.

One of the women shared that she had been one of the first to learn knitting through Shukran and that she loved getting together with other women to knit most days. When her husband lost his job, they were grateful for her income. She has even taught her 12 year old son to knit. She said, "I love knitting!" Apparently, having a place to go to knit is an excellent motivator for getting housework done. The faster you move through that, the sooner you can sit down and knit with your knitting friends.

The sock sample knitter turns her heels a bit differently than US knitters, so she came in and demonstrated while Jean and Jill took notes. Shukran is seated in the background. She was very quick and told us that she has knit socks on a quick deadline when necessary, starting a sock (always toe up) after putting the family to bed and finishing at 3:30 in the morning. I think she was the one who told us she hurries through her housework and cooking so she can knit.

This was a rich experience I'll hold for the rest of my life. I look forward to visiting the knitters again. They told us they'd teach us some cooking next time, and we're all over that!

It's the pink house on the corner!

Ray Smock took this great picture of the Y2Knit shop and my home. I'm so lucky to have the florist and garden shop across the street as there are always flowers to look at. My yard has grown significantly since this picture a couple of weeks ago.
It's always interesting how many people notice the hat on the fire hydrant after walking by it many times. The hat has been there since the first sign of spring, replacing the winter hat and scarf. Also near the fire hydrant is my "BAY-WISE" sign, which indicates my yard and garden are certified as bay friendly. I garden 100% organically, have two rain barrels, and try to maintain only non-invasive species. I am learning which perennials are native to the area and fostering their growth in the garden.

In the back garden, I have little icons of interest. This one was given to my by a friend. The outstretched hands reminded me of someone holding yarn to be wound, so that's what I decided to depict. In the winter this garden god wears a colorful hat.

So what's all this have to do with knitting? Not much! But it is part of the scenery visitors to Y2Knit see when they arrive and walk to the shop entrance. Keep your eyes open!

All weather is good for knitting!

I read this statement today and it's true for me. We're having record heat, which makes me wish I had a pool membership. This morning it was blessedly cooler and I could do some weed management in the garden.

Jill and I were in Columbus at the TNNA trade show over the weekend. I think it was hot there too, but we are in the convention center from 8-8, so we weren't out in any awful weather. We had such fun networking and connecting with people. We went out one dinner with some of the Association of Knitwear Designers members, including Chrissy Gardiner, Gwen Bortner, Myrna Stahman, and Chris DeLongpre . Another dinner we went out with friends Kennita Tully (designer), Barbara Paley (Stitch n Pitch fame) and Margaret Fisher (designer) and are pictured here at Barcelona, a fabulous restaurant we found. Our waiter, Dave, is a knitter! He picked our brains on some knitting problems he was having and brought us a complimentary decadent chocolate dessert.

Another dinner we had a great meal with our friends Mary and Michael from Ashland Sky, Lenore Plotkin from Stitcher's Dream, Kim Smith from Knitting Matters, and Jodi Lewanda, another designer. Yummy food and great company.

Spring Knitting

It was wonderful to have a pleasant holiday weekend. I enjoyed sitting outside and moving some of my knitting projects along after spending several hours working in the garden. We had so much rain the last week , that there was plenty of clean up. The low hanging branches of the tree were making me feel claustrophobic, so I got up on the ladder and sawed off some of them.

Universal Yarns has a lovely cotton/linen blend, Summer Linen that I am working up in the Eastern Lace. Stop by and finger it--it's lovely! I like working this pattern as every row is different over a 26 row pattern repeat, but it's not that hard to follow and keeps me engaged. I have other knitting that is not as interesting and I am les s likely to pick it up.

I'm also knitting Jill's design, Lattice Lace. WHAT A FUN KNIT! I love it when a pattern is so enjoyable I can hardly sleep for wanting to pick it up and work it. This is a great wrap that is easy to wear and, as I've said, fun to knit.

New Yarn

It's always fun to get new yarn in the shop and I sometimes forget to let everyone know.

For the sock knitters, we just got in some Lorna's Laces (pictured here - Jungle Fever in Y2Knit colors!). The colors are dreamy!

With warm weather upon us, I've ordered some summery yarns, all of which come in many beautiful colors:

• Flax - 100% linen, the yarn we're using for the Market Bag
  
• Summer Linen - 50% cotton/50% linen - I've cast on for Eastern Lace in this soft yarn
  
• Cotton Blossom - cotton with a rayon twist
• Links - 100% organic cotton (worsted weight) - we suggest Jane's Bag and Scalloped Bath Set (pictured below)
• Cottonwood - 100% organic cotton (DK weight) - make up Flirty Tank

Scalloped Bath Set in Links

Knitting Navy

This afternoon I had a pleasant visit from Rachel, who plays with the Navy Band and has a performance in Hagerstown this evening. Rachel learned to knit a year or so ago from Navy Band co-workers and quickly became infected with the bug.

She told me that on a recent band tour, the knitting band members taught others how to knit. They soon had a large knitting group! Go Navy!

What a Spring!

This has been quite a spring. On top of all the daily events of my life, the shop and Y2Knit, three major events transpired:

• My youngest son, John, married Quy in a wonderful ceremony on March 29. Of course, the weeks and months leading up to the event were full of planning and activity. My week started with picking up my mom at the airport Monday evening. I hosted a rehearsal dinner on Friday, with a Mexican fiesta theme. My brother and sister-in-law did most of the cooking, we added Frankie's tamales and the meal was perfect. Jill and others set up while I was at the actual rehearsal.
  
  The next day had three main activities: the Vietnamese wedding at Quy's parents, a church wedding (yes, the women changed clothes) and finally, a large reception at a Chinese restaurant.
  
  I concluded the week of activity with a two day visit by my brother and sister-in-law in Funkstown.

• Jill and I took a business trip to Italy April 10-16. It was kind of a whirlwind, but also very relaxing.
  

• On April 19, my second grandson was born. Ian Roberts is the first child of his parents and arrived via c-section as he had a 16-inch head and weighed 9.5 lbs.

  
  

Tuscany Travels

Where to begin? Everything about this trip was amazing. Jill and I are so glad we went! Not for just the obvious--who doesn't want a trip to Italy, but because we were able to really get feel for Montisi, to meet some people there, and to find more suitable lodging. This means we can offer about 4 more beds each week, so if anyone is interested in joining us for the Y2Knit Experience Tuscany, let me know ASAP. We've also reserved the Villa for October 09.

Montisi is a village on a ridge, as are all the villages in the area. At one time it was a fortified village, with a wall and lookouts, which still remain. Curving streets make it seem bigger than it is, home to 315 people. While small, there's a lot of activity, and much of it takes place in the streets so we were able to take it in.

On the main street, just two doors down from the Villa Maddalena are two cafe/bar places, each different, but offering coffee, beer, wine, sodas, snacks, newspapers and magazines. Even locals drop in for a quick drink and to catch up on the latest news of the village. There are clearly peak times (early, midday and about 6pm) when regulars stop in.

Amazingly for such a small town, Montisi boasts three B&B (agrico tourismo) and two fabulous "slow food" restaurants, where the food is local, natural, often organic. We couldn't believe we could eat so well!

We were able to meet locals, both native born and ex-pats, so we developed some resources for making our stay there memorable. I have to say, I miss it already and can hardly wait to go back.

greetings from rome!

Jill and I are in an internet cafe in Rome after a fabulous lunch (fried artichoke, pasta, eggplant parmigiano) and we are on our way to Piazza Navona, hoping to find a pastry shop I remember from years ago when I was here with my daughter,Rose.

We had an amazing time in Montisi--more about that later. The pace and lifestyle of Tuscany is amazing and we look forward to sharing about it with you. We have eaten really good food and walked miles. The countryside is spectacular and because Montisi is on a ridge, you can see in all directions.

Tomorrow we fly back and we,ll be posting more once weàre ate familiar keyboards!

Welcome Spring Potluck

We had a great turnout and fabulous food for the Welcome Spring Potluck. What good cooks in our midst! We had another rowdy game of Knitionary (with a charades option). I'm sorry we don't have a picture of Heather's "Superman" charade. She's quite a good flyer!

Phyllis read a wonderful poem, that several wanted the words to. It's got a Zen-like call, a good reminder of the season, and anytime: to be still once in a while.

Think Like A Tree

Soak up the son
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Fell refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of
spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for
the sky
Be still long enought to
hear your own leaves rustling.

Karen I Shragg

Spring is here!

Spring is not only here in the form of daffodils and crocuses, but we've got spring yarns too! I love the arrangement of pastel Cottonwood (Fibra Natura from Universal Yarn). It's 100% organic cotton dyed with natural dyes, except for the colors which do not require dyes.

Knitters are using this yarn for babies as it's very soft. It knits up at about 5.5 sts to the inch on a size 3-5 needle. We've also had it knit up in Y2Knit's Flirty Tank. You won't find a lovelier yarn for a facecloth, for baby or mom.

Keeping the spring theme, Jill and I purchased a couple new yarns at the trade show in January. Cotton Blossom from Farm House Yarn is a worsted weight cotton with a rayon twist which gives a nice sheen. We'll have our pattern, Star Mesh, available soon. It's lovely in this yarn and perfect for summer wear.

Another new yarn is Evolution from Chameleon Colorworks. Evolution is a stretched Merino. The stretching is a mechanical process, which makes the wool shiny and soft. It doesn't have the stretchiness, but seems to have good memory.

We're combining these two yarns in an Italian Summer Shawl pattern--the combos are fabulous. We'll share soon!

Free Form Knitting

Sandy D'Onofrio and I have been working on some free form knitting in our spare time (she has much more of it than I do!). Her piece, pictured at left, is "Miami." The colors were so Miami-ish and she added textures, beads, pockets for seashells, etc. It's quite a magnificent wall hanging.

My piece actually has "growths" on both sides, but they aren't visable here. I ended up draping this on a curtain rod and around the radiator pipes in the classroom area. It's much better in person!

The nice thing about free form knitting is there's no pattern, no right or wrong result and no known outcome! We mostly knit in short rows, creating wedges that gave the pieces dimension. Then we added pieces as we went, just knitting them in. Sometimes I would have 6 needles in my piece at once, working in different directions. I did no sewing.

Some of the pieces were knit first, then joined as I knitted.

Teaching in Ohio

I drove to the Youngstown, OH area on Friday with my daughter Rose. I taught at the Western Reserve Knitting Guild on Saturday to about 32 knitters and at the Witty Knitters of Warren Sunday to 16 knitters, four who were repeats from the previous day. Morning class was Continental Knitting; afternoon was backwards knitting and entrelac.

I was so impressed by the intensity of everyone both days. The knitters did not have to pay for this class or their meal--it was part of their annual program that was paid from earnings from Knitters Fantasy, an all day knitting conference and market that the guilds host. Yet they came, they sat, and they knitted like their lives depended on it.

Both guilds were excellent hosts and while all the knitters were experienced, they presented enough of a teaching opportunity to keep me more than fully engaged the entire time.

It was fun to visit Kay Thompson's Knit Wit Yarn Shop in Salem. I've known Kay for a few years as a fellow vendor at Knitter's Day Out and as a customer at TNNA. Her husband, Barry, has taken one of my business classes, so it was good to see him too. She stocked up on Y2Knit patterns and sold Rose a ball of yarn and some needles as she had forgotten the instructions for the project she brought. We all enjoyed a good dinner at the Green Rose Bistro behind the shop.

I'll post pictures as soon as I have some, since they are on the cameras of others.

Punk sweater

Sandy D'Onofrio from Shepherdstown, WV is a prolific knitter and precise pattern tester (we use her often, so if you work a Y2Knit pattern without errors, you may have Sandy to thank for that!). Sandy has a college-age granddaughter that is the lucky recipient of this sweater. Too cool!

Helmet liners head to Iraq

John, the army guy who inspired our local helmet liner project came by on Thursday with his wife Melissa. They took away 150 helmet liners that he will take to Iraq. More hats have been delivered (like probably another 100), so if anyone knows a direct contact we can ship to, that would be great. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Back from TNNA!

Jill and I had a great time at TNNA, as usual. We didn't get out to enjoy the lovely southern CA weather, as many have asked about. It was nice, but we only were outside in the morning and evening on our walk to or from the convention center.

In addition to setting up and manning our booth for three days (we are on our feet from 10-6!), we scout the hall (walking on our feet) looking for new and interesting yarn or related products. Not as much this time as others, though this show is smaller as the yarns being shown are mostly spring/summer yarns, not wool.

We're excited about the organic cotton from Malabrigo. Grown and spun in Peru, it is dyed in the same manner as their merino and the colors are great. We chose an earthy palette and some spring colors. Yummy!
Speaking of Yummy, Universal Yarn has a new sock yarn called Yummy and the colors are just that. We've already designed in their Sea Song (cotton and sea cell) and have worked up several of our patterns in other Fibra Natura yarns distributed by Universal. The design, Sea Song, was in the fashion show and the pattern will be available soon. I don't have a picture yet, though you can glimpse it at the far left of the picture here--a salmon color.

Also in the fashion show was a new design by Jill, MustHave Lace Top. I'll get a picture up soon! It's in Kraemer's Sterling Silk & Silver.

We bought some yarn from a new company, Chameleon Colorworks. We're trying their hand dyed Optim, a stretched merino. More to come on that when we have it on hand.

Other orders included some handmade stitch markers, new sock yarns from Skacel and some cotton from Farmhouse Yarn to support one of our new patterns.

Great to go--great to be home!

Helmet Liner Update

Right now, I have about 40 helmet liners that local knitters have dropped off at the shop. Melissa was in yesterday for Charity Knitting, very excited because John will be home on leave from Iraq next week. When he goes back, he will take whatever helmet liners we have collected and distribute them.

Another customer, Jennifer Marble, has been knitting liners and sent one to her son, who is in Iraq with the MD National Guard. She brought me copies of emails he sent; the relevant parts follow:

"THESE HATS ARE AMAZING!!!! Did you knit them yourself? They're wonderful, I can't even describe how cool they are. Hopefully they are either very durable, or can be found/recreated again because I promise we'll wear them constantly. "

"The hats are so amazing, all I think about are these hats. Eventually, I would like one a little smaller to see how that fits, but these are already amazing how they are. They're probably the best gift I can remember getting in a long time. "

Once again, the power of knitting!

Thanks to everyone who has worked on this project.