Summer Interns Arrive

Our 8-year old nephews, Elvis and Van, arrived Wed afternoon, chauffeured by their father. A bit road weary, after a 5 minute refresher tour of the house, they were begging to wind yarn. The last time they were here, four years ago, they wound yarn and put price tags on yarn, so they had a memory, apparently pleasant of that activity.

Thursday, they helped with customer sales, wound more yarn, priced yarn, put together a large mailing for our Y2Knit Experience Buffalo participants. It was another hot day, so we didn't go out until the evening, when it cooled down. We rode bikes around Funkstown, which is much hillier than their neighborhood in Chicago. The best part was getting the bikes to the top of the big hill in the Funkstown Park (site of the historic Battle of Funkstown) and coasting to the bottom. Very fun. The boys then tried the tallest slide, which Elvis felt rated 4 out of 5.

Sally, their mom, had sent a long a jigsaw puzzle, knowing how much I love to do those. We've had our nose in that this morning.

The Battle of Funkstown reenactment is of an actual battle that took place in 1860. It's an interesting event, which includes the street enactment in front of the Y2Knit yarn shop. This is a "for show" battle in that there never was a battle in the street, rather on a nearby hill. They have a few battles there over the weekend too. Now that hill is part of our nice Funkstown Park and the reenactors set up camp there for the weekend. Some of us returned to the park in the evening for more 97th Regiment String Band music and fireworks. All in all, a very nice day.

The pics are of the soldiers waiting by the side of the shop. The woman standing behind the artfully arranged bayonets is this yarn shop owner, pictured here with Bryce, Heather Henry's son. Heather took these pics.

We have some really cool new yarns, including SilkIndian, 100% worsted weight spun silk. It's pretty dreamy. Sandy knit up the Gossamer Scarf. The pattern comes with a flat gossamer, as pictured, or with a bell/in-the-round gossamer. Both versions are classic and will jazz up any outfit. Try this on and you'll truly appreciate the luxury of silk.

This project is quick to knit and makes a great gift. Pictured here is a variegated color, but we have solids too. We'll get them on the web soon. I love the way the colors make it look like the neckband has beads on it. There's nothing like silk.

This yarn is one of the featured yarns at Y2Knit's Speed Dating! on August 10.

From lunch to launch: The evolution of the Azalea Shawl pattern

The Azalea Shawl, knit with Bijou Basin's Yak Laceweight, keeps its mid-century origins a secret. (Photo: Y2Knit)

Knitters have often asked me what the process is behind each of my designs. It’s hard for me to describe, because quite frankly, I’m thinking about designs all the time — well, designs and food. I usually have about 10 projects going on at once, most of which are begun in response to something that’s happening in fashion.

I love to take vintage stitch patterns, tease them apart and reinvent them as something modern and accessible. I look at a piece and can sometimes deconstruct it into four or five projects in my head. I mentioned this to Susan, and was taken aback when she said she is too literal to do that. I thought that was what everyone did!

My Azalea Shawl pattern draws its inspiration from First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel, a vintage book I bought around the holidays. I’m not a “doily” kind of gal — in fact, my personal style is modern, clean and crisp — but I love the stitch patterns. I have the republished 1972 version of the original 1953 edition.

I can easily see beyond the “vintage” aspects of a pattern, even when it’s described as a “Luncheon Set” and comprised of a “centre piece, place doily, plate and glass doily.” I really loved the unique hexagon shape created by the increasing azalea petals.

I focused on the placemat, analyzing its stitch pattern. I quickly realized that if I added more pattern repeats and repetitions, and increased the needle size while working outward, I’d end up with a beautiful shawl with the fluted edges of a real azalea flower.

By February, I was ready to start the knitting. I had been swatching using leftover laceweight yak from bijou basin (left over from a Great Wall of Yarn swatch in January), so I emailed Carl Koop at Bijou Basin Ranch, and he was kind enough to give me lots of yarn!

I imagined that I would knit this myself, but reality quickly intervened and I sent the yarn and pattern to a knitter in early April to make up the sample.

So there you go… from vintage placemat to modern shawl in a matter of months.

The shawl's inspiration was the 1953 Azalea Luncheon Set. (Photo: First Book of Modern Lace Knitting)

Balloon Bird

Skacel sells this interesting pattern for making Balloon Animals. A shaped tube is created, then twisted into the desired shape. I made the easiest in the set of animals, the little bird. I think my two year old grandson could play with this, learning to twist it into the proper shape. Since I get to see him next week, I better make another. This one is the shop sample.

Pattern at Y2Knit
Yarn in your stash or at Y2Knit.