Happy Holidays!

Thank you everybody for the candy, the cookies, the flowers, the presents, and most of all your friendship! Have a Merry Christmas!

Holiday Hours

Along with drinking and eating, we know that knitting is a great holiday stress reliever. Here are our holiday hours so you can get your fix when you so desperately need it!

We will be closed Sunday, December 23 through Wednesday, December 26.

We will be open Thursday, December 27 through Sunday, December 30, but only 12- 5 pm. Stitch and Bitch is canceled this week.

We will be closed Monday, December 31 and Tuesday, January 1st.

After that, our hours will be the same: Everyday, 11 am - 6pm except for early on Wednesday at 8 am and late on Thursday until 9 pm.

Have a happy holiday!

Goings on

This past Saturday I was at the Rainbow Blossom Green Gift Fair. It's a great idea: get a few area businesses and artists together in one place for holiday shopping you don't have to feel guilty about. I brought some Lantern Moon baskets and needles (fair trade), Blue Sky Organic Cotton, O-wool, Perdues in Paradise Alpaca, and a few skeins of Farmhouse Yarns Lumpy-Bumpy (just some of our organic fibers). We also had a few of our handknits (sweatshop free and all). Here is the (overcroweded) table I set up.


On Sunday, Whitney finished the first half of her leaf scarf from the '06 Interweave Holiday issue. She is also teaching this class, starting Friday, January 4th. Read the description here for more information.

Here's a close up of her work. She's using Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere. Yowzah!

What I'm Into...

This week, I'm in Velocity's "What I'm Into..." column. Guess what? I'm into yarn and knitting. You can read the full article here.

Good Folk Fest 2007!

This weekend was the Good Folk Fest down at the Mellwood Art Center. Suzanne and I were there, selling our handmades.

Here is a picture of our booth. Suzanne is trying very hard not to notice that I'm taking a picture of her.


You probably recognize most of it. It's all from the shop. A lot of our customers came by this weekend and were overcome with recognition. "I remember this! I took that class! Wow, you haven't had this yarn for over a year!"

It was hard to pretend to be a "professional knitter" all weekend. Folks would come by and ask, "Did you knit all of these scarves?" And I would answer, "Yes. I mean--Irene knit that one for a yarn trade and my mom made those two, and I think I made that one when we moved that yarn to the sale bin--" And the ladies would just stare at me and slowly start to back away.

When I wasn't confusing people with my inability to answer a question, it went pretty well. Overall, the weekend was a success. Met a lot of great people, listened to a lot of great music, and generally had a great time. Good Folk Fest? More like Great Folk Fest!

Even Suzanne's son Zack had a great time!

Give Knitting!

Heifer International (www.heifer.org) is an organization dedicated to ending poverty and hunger in the world through sustainable giving. The theory is that giving a way to make a living is a more successful way to help those in need.You can purchase plants and animals that will be given directly to families in need as a "living loan." Every family and community that receives assistance promises to repay their living loan by donating one or more of their animal's offspring to another family in need. This practice ensures project sustainability, develops community, and enhances self-esteem by allowing project partners to become donors.

This year, the Knit Nook wants to raise enough money for a Heifer Knitting Basket--two llamas and two sheep that will help four struggling families earn a living wage. From shearing to spinning, weaving and finally to selling woolen goods at market, the gift of a Knitting Basket will help struggling families earn extra income to break free from the grip of poverty and hopelessness. Over time, as that gift multiplies and more animals are passed on to help others in need, entire communities will be warmed by the precious wool of a Knitting Basket.


A Knitting Basket costs $500, but we have faith in the generosity of knitters and know that we can do it in time for Christmas!

And when you give a gift, you'll get a stamp on your Frequent Buyer Card! It's just our way of saying Thank You!

Please click here to find out more about Heifer!

A Wedding on the Way...

Ross asked Whitney to marry him and she said yes! Congratulations!

Let's Hear it for the Boys

I've noticed that a lot of guys have been coming into the yarn store lately. I know what you're probably thinking: you've seen guys in the yarn store before. In fact, you brought your boyfriend/brother/husband/father to the yarn store and he stayed all of five minutes before high tailing it to the coffee shop next door.

But that's not what I'm talking about. Lately, there have been more guys coming in and buying yarn for themselves. Because they are knitting! I know, I know. I shouldn't be surprised. Wasn't knitting all about the boys hundreds of years ago, all about manly bearded fishermen repairing nets and knitting socks? But there does seem to be an alignment of the stars. Last week we had more men than women in the shop actually shopping for yarn and two of the guys were on crutches.

The time just seems right all of a sudden. First of all, Son of Stitch and Bitch is here. Not only are there tons of guy-friendly patterns, but quite a few of the designers are men.



Another thing bringing male knitting to the forefront is Brooklyn Tweed who has really taken off as a knitwear designer. The sweater du jour (besides the ever-knitted Central Park Hoodie) is the Cobblestone (from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits). Cobblestone has just enough to keep it interesting, but is less fussy than other sweaters that my husband would positively refuse to wear. Knit in the round, this sweater is also super fast! Here's Wendi's husband Jim modelling his. (PS: he's also a knitter!)







And speaking of Brooklyn Tweed, Whitney knitted his Hemlock Ring Blanket out of Debbie Bliss superchunky cashmerino. What a great idea to adapt a doily pattern for a lap blanket!







But not every guy is happy to be at the yarn store. Here's Ruth's baby, Sam. He's enjoying the hand knits, but just not very happy to be at the shop now.

But don't worry, Ruth. There's still plenty of time to raise him into a fine knitter!

FO: They Just Keep Coming!

Once upon a time, Margie bought some blue yarn. (Yeah, I know, you've heard this story before, but this one has a different ending.) Margie bought Rowan Scottish Tweed to make a sweater, which she did. She knitted a beautiful cardigan with indigo button bands. But it wasn't quite right. Was it too big? Too small? Too hot? Not quite what she expected? All of these things have happened before to Margie's, so pick a reason and that's why she decided to rip it out. But what became of the yarn? Some of the yarn went on to be a French market bag with fair isle, but it was a disaster. Should she make another bonnet hat? Margie just wasn't sure.

But then her oldest son asked if she would make him a sweater vest. "Well, okay," Margie said. "But you better be satisfied with it, however it turns out!" (A strange request coming from Margie, but that's the difference between knitting for yourself and knitting for somebody else.)

Lucky for Marty, the sweater vest came out just fine!


He even stopped by the shop to show us. He even said, "Tell my mom I stopped by wearing the vest!"

He even brought Irene for a witness. Look at the two of them: those Mudds were just born to wear hats!

In other knitting news, Wendi came to last week's Stitch and Bitch wearing her Wicked sweater by Zephyr Style, knitted out of Art Yarns Merino.

And Pam stopped by in her Calmer vest. The pattern called for a wool tweed yarn, but Pam substituted a cotton/acrylic blend to make it a more versatile piece. And doesn't she look festive?

And here are Leslie and Heather showing off their fingerless gloves with a dainty Queen wave. Leslie's is made out of Mission Falls wool in one of the new tri-colors and Heather's is Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran. Don't they look Fetching?

Finished Objects and New Yarn!

Since the weather has cooled down a bit, a lot more hand knit sweaters have come out of hiding. Mitzi showed up in her Katia Jamaica pullover like it wasn't a big deal. She did such a good job, half the folks in the shop at the time didn't realize she had made her sweater.


Cindy has continued making Buttonhole Bags like there's no tomorrow. I love this combination of Gray and Yellow Lamb's Pride and the Louisa Harding Flotsam (now 30% off).

And remember the hat I started making from two failed and frogged projects? Heather loved it and decided to make it for a friend, with some Fetching fingerless mitts to match.

And now for the new yarn!

The Naturwolle is a beautiful variegated yarn that felts like a dream and works up to the same gauge as Lamb's Pride Bulky. (I made this felted bag last year at the movies. Literally. I knitted the bottom waiting for the lights to dim, picked up the stitches in time for the previews, and was knitting the straps in the car on the way to the pizza place.)

Just check out all the amazing colors.

And you may all remember the O-wool hat Cindy was working on before.

Well, the O-wool came in this week. Check out all the beautiful colors!

A Cavalcade of Pictures

I have taken so many pictures in the last two weeks that haven't found their way onto the blog yet. So instead of crafting individual blog entries to showcase one or two pictures, I decided to load up one entry with as many images as blogger will allow and just describe them. (If this isn't evidence that I need a Flickr account, I don't know what is. Plus, Ravelery won't let you post non-Flickr photos.) Let the Cavalcade begin!

Suzanne spent last weekend spinning at the Little Loom House booth at St. James.

She also tried to sell some of her crocheted items (like this beautiful skirt), but unfortunately it was 150 degrees outside so not many people were in the market with hats and gloves.

As you all may know, Ruth had her baby this week. As far as I know, Holly is babyless at the moment, but she does have this beautiful Berroco Plush sweater that Jane made for her. Maybe she can have Bob practice dressing the panda until Vowella is born (since the only clue Holly has given us is that her baby's name begins with a vowel, that's what I've been secretly calling her in my head--ridiculous since Vowella doesn't even begin with a vowel!)

Nicole came in last week with her new baby, Jillian. Look how happy and healthy they both look!


And Leo came back to visit. By now he's old hat at visiting the LYS. Figuring on how young he is, and how he's been to the shop two or three times totally a couple of hours, he has probably spent a significant percentage of his life at the store. I know how ya feel, buddy!

The hot weather has made a lot of folks dig out smaller projects out of their stash to finish. Shelley is doubling Pastorcita for this scarf. Isn't it amazing how it's patterning up?

We got a huge shipment of GGH yarn. Cindy decided to make another cabled hat out of Bel Air. It's very soft.

And finally, it's cold enough to wear those sweaters we made last spring and summer. Here's Mitizi in her Blue Sky Cotton Fitted Tank. (She refers to it as "The Great Pumpkin" but regardless looks absolutely adorable on her.)

And here is Colleen in her Central Park Hoodie made out of Cascade 220. This is what happens when you're a teacher and you spend all summer hanging out at the Knit Nook. You go back to school wearing one of these. (Just ask Irene; the same thing happened to her.)

And Cindy has been hard at work knitting felted bags. She's been coming up with interesting novelty yarn combinations. In this one, she's combined Lamb's Pride Bulky with Louisa Harding Coquette, a sequined yarn. It really looks fantastic!

There has been general Entrelac Hat craziness. Here is my latest one, knit out of three colors of Debbie Bliss Rialto.

And here are three more I made, two out of Noro Silk Garden and one out of Noro Kureyon.



Wendi is making something that shall remain nameless (to protect the innocent).

While Mitzi is starting a Central Park Hoodie.

In fact, Rebecca caught the Central Park Hoodie bug as well. They are both making theirs out of Cascade 220 (see the bit about Colleen to get the appropriate hyperlinks).

Rebecca also made a few Umbilical Cord Hats from Stitch & Bitch out of the Mission Falls 1824 Cotton.

And she is working on a very collegiate Harry Potter-ish scarf out of Cascade 220.

Margie finished her Spiral Boot Socks. In fact, in other Margie/knee sock related news, she is salvaging the infamous Flame sock so that it will fit her son. Now she's talking about adjusting the gauge on her second knee sock. Godspeed, Margie!

And Jess spent last Stitch and Bitch cutting up plastic bags to make this. I always find knitting with things besides yarn very difficult. (I also feel that knitting with yarn is sometimes difficult). Good luck, Jess!





Whew! That's all I got.