Nana's Knitting Shop

Knitting tales of a lifelong knitter
and yarn shop owner.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Show Me State, My Foot!

We went fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks and I'm very sad to report that the Show Me State had no fish to show me! 98 miles of lake and only 3 fish in it! Dad actually caught two and Stevie caught one, but alas, not me. We even hired a professional for two days and even he couldn't find us a fish!

So when the fishing gets tough, what do the tough do? Knit like a lunatic, of course. I'm happy to report that I finished two sweaters and another square of my obsession, the Great American Aran Afghan.

Here's the Rosenviol from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's new book, knit with Malabrigo worsted in the lovely Velvet Grape colorway. (If you'd like to make this sweater, be warned, there are errors in the pattern.)



The latest square!

Fringe Frenzy is done, but it's blocking as I write this so no picture yet...

What else do the tough do when in the Show Me State? They go to the Bridal Cave, of course. It's a beautiful cave in Lake of the Ozarks and they've been holding weddings in it since 1949! We got there a little early which gave us the chance to look through all of the wedding albums, each and every wedding by year. Suffice it to say, it's a special, very special couple that gets married in a cave!

With the silliness out of the way, I once again need your help for a very good cause. Last year, we knit prosthetic breasts for Y-ME. The Little Company of Mary Cancer Center would like us to knit prosthetics for their patients. We'll once again use the pattern written by the very clever Beryl Tsang and I will be hosting a Donation Knitting Night once a month for a year beginning on Tuesday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. and every 4th Tuesday after that. Click here for all of the details.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Going Fishin', New Employee, New Stuff!

As many of you know, I'm going fishing next week. In addition to my darling Cory, my magnificent sister Kay will be working the Shop. You've met Kay on these pages before, here and here.

You must stop by next week and meet her. You can not only meet her, but you can see all of the new things I showed you on last week's blog.

New yarn includes:

Malabrigo - gorgeous kettle-dyed merino from Uruguay in both lace and worsted weights.

Baby Bamboo - a ridiculously soft, machine washable baby/DK yarn that is a bamboo/wool blend.

Noro - new Kureyon and Silk Garden colors and a new yarn for Nana's called Niji, a beautiful wool/silk/mohair blend.

Gypsy Girl - incredible hand-dyed sock yarn. You have got to see the color combinations of this Superwash merino. They are magnificent.

New books galore! We have new books by Noro, Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton, Debbie Bliss, Ann Budd, and Vicki Square's new Knit Kimono.

And this is only the start of the new Fall lines! The Cascade, Rowan and Tahki Fall offerings are on their way.

Come in! Meet my wonderful sister and see what's new. Don't tell Cory, but Kay is secretly vying for Employee of the Month. Since Cory's always been the Only Employee of the Month, she's not used to the competition. Go, Kay, go!

I can't wait to post the pictures of all my fish. No blog next week.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

New, New, New!




New yarn, new books, new patterns, new square, new classes!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Afghans and Talent

Thank you to all who participated in our Talent Show. The random drawing was on Saturday and Deloris W. won the classes and Anne B. won the gift certificate! Everyone's projects were so beautiful, I'll be sorry to see them go home.

We're making serious progress on the Great American Aran afghan! Here are the squares we're working on so far.




Aren't they amazing? Unfortunately, the pictures don't do them justice, they're not different colors, really. They're here in the Shop so stop by and see them!

I'm working on the first "hard" one and I expect to be done very soon. Everyone's making great progress!