Big Clearance Sale!

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, February 20 and running through Saturday, February 21, we're having a big clearance sale! Take up to 75% off yarn!

I'm chalking my latest knitting frustration up to big sale planning; I'm having an amazing amount of trouble counting to 8.

I'm working on the Santa Fe Wrap I showed you last week. I'm knitting the tie panels which consist of 4 rows and two colors. Row 1: With A, *k8, p8* rep from *. Row 2: With B, knit. Row 3: With B, *p8, k8* rep from *. Row 4: With A, knit. Sounds incredibly simply doesn't it?

Well, apparently my brain is pulling a Roland Burris because I always seem to forget what row I'm on! Every couple of inches, I end up ripping back. Fortunately for me, the fate of a tainted Senate seat doesn't rest on the fact that I keep forgetting what I've already done. And, I can keep changing my row story without publicly looking like a fool (although I do feel rather foolish).

In other knitting news, Elijah the toy elephant, otherwise known as Elijah Minnelli, Elijah Doolittle, and Harry Elephante is progressing nicely. At last night's class, I took pictures of two tiny elephants in progress.

They look like little gourds, don't they?

See you at the Sale and don't forget to check out our March Class Schedule!

At Last!

It's done, it's done, it's D.O.N.E. This is the last square of the Great American Aran Afghan. Whoo Hoo!


This is the Janet Martin Square which is cables surrounding a fish. The fish is supposed to have a bobble eye, but I wanted to leave it open to interpretation. I'm thinking without the bobble eye, it looks like a pineapple which is a little more appealing to me.

All 20 squares are done and now comes the job of sewing them all together and putting on the border.

As you know, 20 of us having been working very hard on this gorgeous afghan for 20 months! I can't tell you that all 20 knitters have finished, but many have. It was a great project to hone everyone's knitting skills. We've learned every cable possible, how to read charts every which way, and every kind of increase and decrease. An unexpected new skill was how to recognize pattern mistakes (and there were many). Everyone involved is now a professional ripper and frogger and as we put it together everyone's finishing skills will be incredible.

Needless to say, we are going to have one heck of a party very soon.

Now on the needles (yes I know, something new again) is the beautiful Santa Fe Wrap by Carol Lapin. Ten of us are working on this wrap as a Knitalong. It's a mighty fast knit and incorporates both mosaic and shadow knitting. Here's a picture of the front:


And here's a picture of my back which is complete:

It's pretty nice, isn't it?

I've just published the March Class Schedule and we've got some very fun things going on. Lace, Technique Workshops, Amigurumi, a Felted Bag, oh my! Check them all out here.

Wooly Booly!

The Latvian Vest for Dad is oh so done! I was concerned about the fit as my gauge got a little wonky once I started knitting, but I kept on keeping on and finished in pretty record time!

In order to get the most of my blocking, I used a Wooly Board. Having never used one before, it took a bit of time to put it together, but my oh my was it worth it!

Wooly boards have been around forever and are used to block fair isle sweaters. They stretch the fabric just enough to flatten out the knitting and make a beautiful fabric and as a bonus for me, I was able to get enough inches for my lovely vest to fit Dad!


Here's a picture of "jumpers" being blocked on wooly boards from the Shetland Museum:


I love knitting! There's always something new to try.