During the Massachusetts and New Hampshire vacation weeks, Love.Yarn.Shop. will be offering a Kids’ Knit on Thursday, February 18th and February 25th from 1-3. Children receive a set of knitting needles, yarn, button, crochet hook, and instructions for making a headband. Katie will get everyone knitting! $15 for one session. Call the shop to reserve a place: 869-2600.
Woolzie is a handspun yarn from Enfield, New Hampshire. Patty Williams and her husband run Aker Fiber Farm where they raise Corriedale sheep and English Angora rabbits. Love.Yarn.Shop. is pleased to be able to carry a handspun yarn at a reasonable price. Visit their website Akerllc.com to find out more about their products and events at their studio in downtown Enfield.
While awaiting my order from Round Mountain Fibers, I’ll be featuring them at the Yarn Tasting on February 12th. Hand dyed in Brattleboro, Vermont, these superwash merino yarns are scrumptious. You’ll particularly enjoy the fingering weight colorway, Kestrel. Join us from 5-7 for nibbles and sips and a great feeling yarn.
Knit or crochet a little red hat, or two, or twenty! Next month is February and the American Heart Association is calling for knitters and crocheters to make enough red hats for every newborn in participating hospitals to raise awareness about heart disease and congenital heart defects. Guess what? Both Littleton Regional Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth are participating, so here’s your opportunity to do a small thing with great love. How lucky are you to have such skill!
More information can be found at Heart.org
These little pouches are great for walking around knitting. I use this one in the store. I remember seeing Jill Brewer walking around the after-school program with her ball of yarn tucked under her arm, assisting kids, knitting away steadily. She could have used one of these. Are we multi-taskers or what? In fact, Amanda Lilley made similar pouches for awhile and I still use hers. These Go Knit pouches have a snapped loop to hook to your belt loop, purse, backpack or chair. The water resistant, lightweight nylon, keeps your project protected from the elements (i.e. cats, dogs, and sticky fingers).
Another project bag in the shop is from Della Q–Edict. Each of these little bags has a knitter’s or crocheter’s saying going up the side and a small pocket inside. They are drawstring and really reasonably priced–only $10!
Both project bags are great gift ideas for you! Time to drop a few hints around to your friends and family…
I designed “Everyone’s Hat and Scarf” with this question in mind. I showed my mid-fifties friend the hat with a pom pom and he said, “I like it, but get rid of the pom pom.” Maybe it’s an age thing. I had a young male knitter in who is making a slouch hat. I asked him about the pom pom. He said he’d probably put one on. Pom poms are fun. Not all men are. So the pattern is out: with reversible cables, the hat can be turned up to a conservative watchman’s cap; it’s long enough to be a slouch, either can be with or without the pom pom. The scarf is long enough to be worn as a scarf that can be wrapped several times, or as a cowl that can be wrapped three times. Something for everyone. Next question on my mind? Do men wear fringe?
The pattern can be found on my Etsy KISSpatterns shop.
The 2015 Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting has plenty to offer, but the best section, for my taste, are the six patterns knit with bulky yarn on 10 1/2 –or larger–size needles. The cropped poncho with diminishing cables and rolled collar would look great on anyone, any age. My personal favorite is the open seed-stitch, short-sleeved cardigan, but the tunic with a lattice pattern has my name on it, also. Nothing like an excuse to wear leggings in winter.
You’ll find several beaded shawls, a tunic, gloves, and wristlets in the section “The Bead Goes On.” Special knits for special occasions this winter.
I’m all about reds and “Drama Queens” has some yummy cowls and shawls knit in rich crimsons and pinks to warm you up for the holidays.
If you think Vogue Knitting is full of difficult and esoteric patterns, it’s time to look again. At $7.99, you can’t beat the variety of patterns found inside their covers. There is something for every knitter.
Biba–a popular clothing store established in the 60’s in London–was the theme for this issue of Pompom. The style is Art Deco with a little glitz thrown in. The sweater on the cover is by far my least favorite pattern in the book. There is a suffragette cloche–just in time to wear to the movie–a hip, slinky “cold shoulder” sweater by Cirilia Rose, a fabulous pair of socks, aptly named for the founder of Biba, Hulanicki, and six other beautiful patterns.
There has been a lot of press about the health benefits of knitting and this issue of Pompom is no exception. The article, “Knitting the Blues,” will make you feel right about curling up with your knitting and participating in swaps on Ravelry. If you are a dyer, you will probably understand the article, “A Chemical Romance,” more than I did. The article tracks Lora Angelova’s career in chemistry, settles into a discussion of organic colorants, and ends with a description of her own, more or less haphazard, dyeing adventures, which seem to have given her a new respect for hand-dyers.
All in all, the new Issue 15 of Pompom is well worth the $10.95 and can be found at the shop!
Maybe everyone else already knew that Roquefort was made from ewe’s milk, but it took a tea towel to inform me. I was in Mark’s and Spencer’s in Southampton, England, when my eye was caught by a blue sheep on a tea towel (I have a weakness for tea towels and sheep, so I made a bee-line for the linens). The title was Roquefort, which further intriqued me, as I love blue cheeses. I knew about goat cheese and, of course, cheeses made from cow’s milk. Why didn’t I know Roquefort, and other cheeses, were made from sheep’s milk? Apparently references to Roquefort date back to 79 AD, though the tea towel says “depuis 1875.” It goes on to tell us that the sheep’s cheese is naturally aged in caves. Needless to say, I bought all the towels they had, and have them for sale in the shop!
Love.Yarn.Shop. 