5 MORE DAYS!

Hi knitters,

We have 5 more days to go. Just a quick reminder... There are NO classes on the 24th (Wednesday) 25th(Thursday) or 27th( Saturday). I am closed the 24th 25th 26th, 27th and 28th. I am also closed on the 31st( Wednesday) and 1st (Thursday) which means there will be no classes on these days either. Hope to see you all again in the new year! Yesterday I bought the Vouge Knitting Holiday 2008 magazine and since the pattern I choose was wrong (of course) I decided to go to their website and see if they had any corrections. I found several pages of knitting tips and stitch patterns, help and lots of other stuff. I am posting the link here in case you would want to check it out. http://www.vogueknitting.com/node/74

The picture below is a purse Michelle made. She used Berroco's Medley. It came out great!

Carol from JoAnne's class made this great Christmas stocking. Its hard to see in the picture but each section has a different stitch pattern. She used Crystal Palace Aran. Its beautiful!

Well that's all I got for ya today. At the moment I'm a making a Alternating cable bangle with beads for a little Holiday gift. I will post the pictures one of these days. Have a great Holiday! Donna

PERFECT KNITTING WEATHER!

Hi Knitters,
Hope your week is going well. With this cold wet yucky weather its perfect to hang around inside and knit or crochet. Below, Sandy made an Entrelac scarf with the Skacel Murano. It came out beautiful! The colors are great. Because Murano has so much yardage (262 yds) she was able to make this scarf 57 in. long! If you want to give it a try, click on the link below.
http://www.allisonknits.com/entrelacscarf.pdf

Pat, Tuesday and Saturday's teacher made these two cute stuffed animals. The horse used Encore and the pattern came from the Lionbrand website and the gecko was made with Crystal Palace Taos . It's stuffed with catnip!

Its cutie pie Jackson! Look what he is wearing. He got his own Swell Hat! Now he can match dad.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTswell.html

That's all for now. Remember the holidays are close, so there are several days that I will be closed and class will be canceled including, Dec. 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. I will also be closed the 30th and 1st. Have a great weekend... Donna

ITS DECEMBER ALREADY!

Hi Everyone,
Time for our top ten quick Holiday gifts.

#10. http://www.purlbee.com/cashmere-cowl/ You could use Crystal Palace Kin Merino. 1 ball will do it

#9. This is a great book for beginners and advanced alike.

#8 I thought this was real cute. Especially if you have been invited to a Holiday party and just want to bring a little something as a hostess gift. We all have dishcloth cotton hanging around.

http://jenniferhoel.wordpress.com/2

#7 We don't have much time to knit a whole pair of socks, but these Yoga or Pedi socks would be great! http://www.justjussi.com/images/Yoga%20socks%20pattern.doc.pdf

#6 these 4 scarves will work for men or women.

http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/scarves/sequoia-cable-scarf.html

#5 Here is a great pattern. You can use it as a hat or cowl.

http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/grylas_howl/grylas_howl.html

#6 I just threw these in because I like them!

http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/kertasnikir/kertasnikir.html

#5 This is quick and easy. It only uses 100 yds of worsted! http://www.cyn.ca/knit/patterns/bamboozled/

#4 This is sooo cute if you have a new baby in the family for the holidays
http://home.howstuffworks.com/easy-baby-knitting-patterns2.htm

#3 If you need a gift bag. These are quick to knit

http://knittingpatterndepot.blogspot.com/

#2http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTchevette.html Love this!

#1 I like this alot. Its fast and can be for men and women. Kids and teenagers love it also. So its for anyone and everyone!

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTswell.html

Have a great week! Knit on Donna

THE DAY AFTER

Hi Knitters,
It's hard to beleive it's the day after Thanksgiving already and Christmas is right around the corner. YIKES!
I have a few things to show you from the classes. Below are a pair of Pedicure socks that Kathy made to match the pink flip-flops. She is going to give them as a gift for the holidays. They are great and I sure hope the lucky recipient appreciates all the hard work she put into these! She used Regia sock.

This is a beaded bag that Athena made for her daughter. She used 2 strands of Brown Sheep worsted held together and she added a lining that we all LOVE! Great job! (if she doesn't want it, I will hang MY stocking on the porch!)

This is Dottie modeling her shrug she made with Plymouth Encore Chunky. It came out great! (and NO it doesn't look like an armadillo)

Below is a scarf that Susan is making using Plymouth DK. It's the Drop Stitch Scarf pattern that JoAnne's class made a few weeks ago. I also took a picture of a pair of socks that she made with the 2 circ. but it seems to be missing at this time. She put alot of hard work into those socks and as soon as I figure out where the picture went I will post it.

Below are 2 pictures of the crazy scarf I made. It looks much better in person...lol... I couldn't get a decent picture! Ya can't see the glitta and bling! I gathered all my scrap yarn, ya know all the partial balls we all have laying around and separated them into a color palate that I liked, then I CO 120 sts onto a size 17 /16" circ. ( you could use a 15 or 13 or even an 11, whatever you have) and left a 6" tail. I knit to the end and left another 6" tail and then cut the yarn I was using and started at the beginning with a different yarn. I repeated this process until it was as wide as I wanted. Then I laid it on my dining room table and tied the tails together in 5 groups. Never in a million years did I think my teenagers would like it. OMGoodness, they did! I have made 3 more so far. Lynzee wanted blues and browns like mine and Kallie wanted browns and pinks. I didn't realize I had so many blue, brown and pink yarn hanging around. Oh by the way, when I made the kids I CO 80 sts. If I had made there's 120 they would be falling over it. Doubled and wrapped around my neck the 120 comes down to my mid-thigh.



I am attaching the December Calendar to the email I am sending all of you. After the Christmas holiday there are several days I will be closed. Please make a note of these days as the classes will be canceled. Have a great weekend! Donna

THANKSGIVINGS ALMOST HERE!

Hi knitters,
Just a short post this week. Below is a picture of a baby sweater that Wendy is JoAnne's class is making for a friends new baby due close to Christmas. The pattern is located here if you want to give it a try: http://www.purlsoho.com/_gr/our_books/childplacketsweater.pdf It's so cute and pretty easy! She is using Plymouth Dreambaby DK in cream.



This a picture of the finished beaded hat I made from the ODESSA HAT pattern. I changed it around a little. I didn't want the holes so open so I used worsted weight with size 3 16" circ. for the ribbing and size 5 16" circ. for the rest of the hat. Also, I used 110 4mm beads instead of the 6mm beads it called for. I love it and it fits great!

A few things to remember: JoAnne's class on Wednesday Nov. 26 is canceled. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you. I assume we all will be busy preparing for Thanksgiving. I will be closed Thursday Nov. 27th for Thanksgiving so Diana's class Thursday evening will be canceled also. I will be here Friday and Saturday the 28th and 29th. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Donna

Hi Knitters,
I have lots of pictures and questions this week. First, If you didn't know already Northampton Co. has a local no kill animal shelter located on the outskirts of Easton. http://www.spcanorthampton.org/
Since they are a no kill shelter they have more then 400 cats at this time and more come in everyday. They are in desperate need of cat food. If you happen to be out food shopping they would love it if you could pick up a bag of cat food to help feed all these hungry cats. Although they appreciate anything you could donate they are requesting bags of food WITH NO COLOR ADDED. Lots of cat foods have red and green coloring added. The cats have a hard time tolerating this food. So, If you can find it in your heart to grab a bag of cat food (brown) on your way, the cats and people that take care of them would really appreciate it! You can drop it off here at the shop (828 Main St Hellertown) and I will get it to them. Please, Please, Please, around the holidays we all remember people that need food....Animals need it also!


OK onto knitting. These first pictures are of LOTS of hats and mittens that Joyce has spun and then knitted for her lucky family for Christmas.

These two pictures below are of Carol's projects. The first is a froggy sweater she is finishing up for her daughter and the second is a door mitten that JoAnne's class is doing. The pattern is written to be felted but Carol is not going to felt it. She is going to use it for her stocking. Great Idea!



This is a picture of Carol with her hat/ neckwarmer on. It has a draw string at the top so you can wear it as a hat then untie it and use it as a neckwarmer.

Below is a hat that I'm making with beads. I found the pattern at http://www.grumperina.com/ Its called the ODESSA HAT. LOVE IT!vThe pattern calls for DK weight but I wanted to use it to keep my head warm while I'm out in the cold so I went down to size 3 and 5 16" circ. needles and size 4mm beads. I used Berroco's Jasper 100% wool because I love the colors and the feel of the yarn. Its soooo soft and nice to work with!

NEWS....I had two Women from the Allentown Art Museum stop in today. ( They teach needle felting there) We started talking about needle felting and I was wondering if anyone would like to take a class in this fun hobby? http://blog.betzwhite.com/2006/06/mama-bird.html This website shows you what I'm talking about if your not sure. I think this would be a fun class. If you have an opinion or some feedback just comment to this blog or send me an email at joyseegirl - at - enter dot net. Have a great week Donna

INFORMATION

Hi knitters,

I decided that this weeks post would be about information. I have found hundreds of new sites with knitting and crochet info recently. This knitting shop located in Canada has some of the best sites compiled in one spot. http://www.knitomatic.com/beginners.html#magazines They have anything you need to know about knitting and crochet at a mouse click! Also, If you are doing a pattern that calls for a W&T (wrap and turn) or short rows, don't be afraid to give it a try. Cocoknits http://www.cocoknits.com/info/tutorials.html has one of the best tutorials on short rows. I have used her method and it works out great. Much easier then others I have seen.

I am also adding a few sites where I have found some great patterns. Glampyre knits has a top down raglan pattern available for free if you are thinking you would like to make a warm sweater for these chilly days. http://glampyreknits.tripod.com/glampyrephotos/id44.html I thought this was cute. http://www.freevintageknitting.com/baby/snow-baby-pattern.html If you scroll down below the pattern and along the right bottom side you will find tons of vintage patterns like my grandmother used to make. Some of them are things you should make for your little ones when they aren't old enough to say NO! (HAHA) Here is a site that has 9 cowl patterns with pictures http://frayedattheedges.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-hut-for-cowls.html If you want to make a raglan sweater custom, here is the pattern for you http://www.woolworks.org/patterns/raglan.html you can use ANY needles and ANY yarn. This pattern shows you how. If you want to make a scarf with beads, here is a great pattern http://brouhahaknits.blogspot.com/2008/01/shazam-free-pattern.html I am attaching a beaded hat pattern also.

Onto some class pictures. The first picture is of two sets of fingerless gloves and a pair of men's fingerless gloves made by Emily. We have seen some of her work before on this blog. Most of it has been socks. She's branching out! She used Crystal Palaces Aran 100% wool and they turned out great! The second and third pictures are of a beautiful sweater that Sandee made. She used Mission Falls Superwash wool. Sandee put alot of work into this sweater and it shows. Its beautiful and since it fits her perfect, that's even better!

Sue is almost finished with this adorable sweater for her grandson. She used Encore worsted in the cutest colors . Its hard to tell on your comp. but she did a great job picking the colors.

Below is a earflap hat I'm making for Kallie and Sean. Kallie wants the blue as the main color and the black as the contrasting color and Sean wants the opposite. I got the pattern on Knitty. I have posted the link so you can print one out for yourself if you know anyone that would like it. I'm thinking I am going to have to take it out and redo it because as you can see from the first picture the black starts very high up and I think its going to be to tall for Kallie. I think it needs to start about 2 inches lower. You could use Plymouth's Encore or Galway, Berroco's Comfort, Ultra Alpaca, or do the main color in Berroco's Jasper and a solid contrasting color. There are lots of options for this hat. Best of all.....kids love it! On the earflap you have a choice to do Peace signs or not. Peace signs are kinda big with kids so they loved that too.
http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTswell.html

I hope you all have a great ending to your week. The Knitwit!

TO COLD FOR ME, GREAT FOR WOOL!

Hi Knitters,

I have a few pictures of things customers have made recently. Below is a candy corn washcloth from JoAnne's class. To cute!

These two pictures are of a afghan that Carol made for her son Charlie for his birthday. She used Berroco's Comfort and as you can see she did a great job!

Sandy made the hat with sequins and Crystal Palaces Taos. Very glittery! My kind of hat. The socks were made with Cascade's Fixation, and I sure can't remember who made them...lol...but they do look good! I apologize to the person who did all the hard sock knitting. Maybe Sherri? It's comin to me...Probably after I post this and email it to everyone THEN I will remember.

Here is what I am working on this week. I know it seems kinda lacy and uhhh, not warm, but I thought it would be nice to wear inside with a warm sweater and then in the spring also. (Multi-functional) You cant beat that, or even to send to someone in a warmer climate say, Arizona for Christmas. I am attaching the pattern. I am using SWTC TOFUtsies sock yarn. You could also use 2 balls of Plymouth's Happy Feet DK and cast on less or any left over sock yarn that you have hanging around. Its a multiple of 2 sts + 7 so it's pretty easy to change. Hope you all have a great Halloween. Donna

Hi Knitters,

I have lots to show you this week. Sally from Thursday nights knitting class finished lots of projects. The first picture is a felted knitting basket made with Brown Sheep's Bulky and its huge. You cant tell to good from the picture but you can fit a small child it! Second is a purse that is made with Plymouth's Galway. The colors are great! Third is a neckwarmer and scarf all in one. It's made with Berroco's Ultra Alpace Light. Fourth was orininally a eyeglass case but, you know how felting is, sometimes it comes out perfect and sometimes not what you expected at all. Sally made this larger then expected eyeglass case into a very cute purse. Just big enough to carry keys, phone and money. (Sorry, I cant remember what it is made from.) GREAT JOB SALLY!

Below is a baby earflap hat I made from sock yarn. I'm sure you could make 2 out of one ball of Regia Self -Striping or just use your left overs, add them together as you go and make a very cute baby cool and warm at the same time. It just so happened I was looking for a baby and BAM! In came Jackson! Remember awhile back I posted his newborn picture...I can't beleive he is soooo big already. Man it goes fast. As you can see it fits him to perfection. (dont know how that happened) Can't forget his Mama Steph there in the backround trying to sneak out of the photo. GOTCHA!

Last but definatly not least, the picture below is from JoAnne's class on Wednesday nights. Remember the cable bags they made not to long ago? Well they finished their bags using Fantasy Naturale. Perfect timing to finish the Basket Weave scarf using Berroco's Ultra Alpaca Light. They came out GREAT!

The second picture is of a slipper that I made using 2 strands of Plymouth's Galway held together. They took just ONE ball of each color with some left over, problaby enough to make a pair of short fingerless gloves that I sent out a few weeks ago. If you want to learn how to wrap and turn, Pick up sts and use 2 circ. needles this is a great pattern to learn it on. One of my GREAT customers Carol let my in on the pattern. She found it here at http://www.cocoknits.com/ Click on knit, then go down to accessories, click on Malabrigo Loafers. I bought the pattern and love the slippers. They fit great and are cushiony too. (is that a word?)


I hope all of you have a great weekend. This Sunday Hellertown kiddies will be trick or treating from 4-6pm so be careful out there and stop by....We are giving out candy!