SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE!

[annoying male announcer voice--think car lot commercials or monster truck rallies]:

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

THIS SUNDAY!

THE KNIT NOOK SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE!

EVERYTHING AT THE KNIT NOOK WILL BE ON SALE!

YARN, BOOKS, BAGS, NOTIONS!

EVERYTHING WILL BE 15% - 75% OFF RETAIL PRICE!

THIS SUNDAY ONLY!

BE THERE!

[sped up voice like at the end of prescription medication commercials]:

Sale is only this Sunday, February 1st, 2009.
Offer does not extend to gift certificates or class registrations.
All purchases will be final. That means no refunds or exchanges.
Please ask your doctor before you attend (kidding, just seeing if you were paying attention.)

We are Open!

I tried my hardest to be open on Tuesday. I was here at 10:30 and I shoveled the sidewalk in front of the store. I waited patiently behind the computer, phone beside me. But nobody came in. Nobody even called to check if we were open. When the mailman came to deliver the mail, he said, "Wow, I didn't think you'd be here! Everybody else is closed."



I stared out at the snow covered ground, and the sleet that was starting to fall (ah, the much talked about "wintry mix") and at a little after one in the afternoon, I went home.



If I was unsure if Tuesday was a snow day or not, Wednesday could not be denied. So we remained closed.



But now it's Thursday. The side roads are still pretty bad, everything is covered in ice, and between this and the hurricane last fall, I don't think we'll have any trees left come spring. But two days closed was enough. The novelty has worn off. We officially have cabin fever. So, here we are. Business as usual. Stitch and Bitch until 9 pm.



In other news, our Intro to Intarsia class begins Sunday, February 8, 6-8 pm. Tonya will show you how to read a colorwork chart (or design your own), use bobbins, and embellish your colorwork with duplicate stitch. Here is a picture of her tote bag still in process (it's a bird). The finished object should be displayed in the store by the SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE!!!

Did I mention that THE SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE IS THIS SUNDAY AND EVERYTHING IN THE STORE WILL BE 15% TO 75% OFF?!!

Sorry for yelling, I don't seem capable of talking about the sale in a normal voice.

Hat & Mittens: Crochet Edition

Nothing quite puts you in the mood for knitting like a snow day.

(Even though, here I am, at the shop. Nobody's here. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just close up and go sledding like the rest of you all. If you show up today and I'm not here, then check the big hill at Cherokee park.)

So knitting and snow days. But what about crochet? Crocheters aren't only about doilies and granny squares. They need to keep warm on snow days too.

Suzanne will be teaching Hat and Mittens: Crochet Edition Wednesday, February 11, 18, and 25, 6-8 pm. Here are some examples of her handy work (and they are also free patterns on her website) even though your hat and mittens are allowed to be grown up sized and all one color. Check out the class schedule for more information.




And those are her adorable children modeling the handmades. (What's the crochet version of handknits? Handcrots? Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?)

What is it?

Is it the beginnings of a baby blanket?

A scarf knit at a gauge so tiny that only Liz would attempt it?

It's Flat Feet, our newest sock yarn from Conjoined Creations.

See? It's even living with the other sock yarn, so it must be true.

February Lady Class

Based on the Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, the February Baby Sweater, from The Knitter's Almanac, Flint Knits has adapted this sweater for "a grown ass woman." (Wow, could I get any more links in that sentence? I was tempted to link "grown ass woman" to something hilarious, but I couldn't think of anything.)

The February Sweater Class is a six week class that will meet Friday, 6-8 pm, starting on February 13. Check The Knit Nook class schedule for more information.

While you can see almost 4,000 February Ladies on Ravelry and read over six hundred blog posts about it (this sweater is a phenomenon, people!), Becca was good enough to model the example we've got in the store.

Top down and a swing jacket construction makes this a very versatile sweater. Look, you can even be pregnant and wear it!

Becca enjoyed wearing this sweater so much, she kept it on well after I put the camera away. She even finished sewing up her first baby sweater, from The Knitter's Book of Yarn and knit out of Blue Sky Cotton while wearing the February Lady.

She did a superb job in her seaming, and it took almost no time. I suspect that while wearing a February Lady sweater, knitters of all skill levels suddenly become excellent finishers. I have heard that while wearing a February Lady Sweater, knitters are known to knit so perfectly that they never need to knit gauge swatches and they never drop stitches or make any mistakes. True, the magical properties of the February Lady are still unproven.

But if I were, I'd make one just in case.

It's time for a Change...

It's a new year, we've got a new president...isn't it time for a new knitting bag?

We just got a shipment of Namaste bags. They will also be 15% off during our Super Bowl Sunday Sale. If they last that long.

Speaking of Hermione...

Schaefer names their colorways after important women. Look who we found in the company of Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks.

The yarn is beautiful, but we decided that it is a little too colorful for Hermione. We imagine her in something a bit more subtle and conservative. This color looks more like Luna, or even Ron. (See, Becca? I poke fun, but I'm no muggle!)

Let it Snow!

We will be open today, in spite of the snow and Martin Luther King Day. Also, the spring class schedule is posted on the website, and it will be emailed out today or tomorrow.

In unrelated news, here is a hat and scarf I made for a friend who moved to upstate New York a while back. The natural colors are Perdues in Paraidse Alpaca (so some Kentucky fibers could keep her warm in her new home) and the red is Misti Alpaca Worsted (because red is an awesome color). The hat is knit and the scarf is crocheted, but the zig zag patterns match each other perfectly.

Be Careful!

Last night, Cafe Mimosa caught fire. As of right now, Bardstown Rd. is closed and the power is off for blocks. That includes The Knit Nook. Hopefully, we'll get power by 11 am, so it will be business as usual. If not, we'll open a little later today.

In the meantime, we give our love to Cafe Mimosa and wish for a speedy recovery! Check out the article in the Courier Journal if you want to learn more.

Fox in the Morning

We were on TV this morning! If you missed it, check out this video. Keith is a natural knitter!

The Hermione Sweater

Because Becca is such a dork--I mean, FAN of all things Harry Potter, she knitted up Hermione's Sweater from the new movie. She adapted a yoked Fair Isle sweater from the Book The Best of Interweave and knitted it NOT out of Cascade 220, but Rowan Pure Wool Aran.

Wait, the new movie hasn't come out yet? That's because Becca went trolling for publicity photos of the new movie, found a picture of the sweater, found a chart of the pattern on Hermione's sweater (because someone is a bigger FAN than Becca), and adjusted the sweater pattern to house the fair isle chart. She did this all in time to wear it during the movie when it was supposed to be in November. But now that they've moved the release date to July, there's only question: is Becca such a fan that she'll wear her wool Hermione sweater in the summer? I wouldn't put it past her.

Check this out

The Museum of Scientfically Accurate Fiber Brain Art.

It kind of reminds me of the crocheted Great Barrier Reef, that I blogged about here.


And didn't I do good this week? I blogged everyday!

Irene is awesome, part 587

Irene knit a pair of sneakers. She even cut up an old pair, reused the soles, and attached them to the knitted shoe by making holes with an awl. Even the laces are I-cords. And the Fleur di Lis emblem is an old playing card.

The design is her own (of course) and the yarn is a hodge podge of scraps (I'm sure there's some Lamb's Pride in there). Every time I have scrap yarn I don't know what to do with, I give it to Irene, because I know the yarn will eventually have an interesting home.

I have a feeling that one day, Irene will be a famous fiber artist, knitting things like this, and then we will all get to say we knew her when!

This will make you jealous

Sandy knit this bag. Seriously. She knit it. She felted it. She needle felted it. She sewed it. She found the handles. She sewed those. If you think you are as good as Sandy, here are the specs: Ravenna Satchel from TinkKnit.com (the link will get you there), knit out of good ol' Cascade 220. In fact, if you think you're as good as Sandy, we're expecting a new shipment of Cascade 220 in today so you can get started on your Ravenna immediately.

Oh, you have other things to do? You still have that sweater that needs sleeves? A baby is on the way who needs a garter stitch blanket? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Colourscape!

Even with all the craziness of the holidays, I managed to finish a sweater. From casting on to seaming, the whole thing took me a week. Now before you try to throttle me with your own unfinished projects, let me just tell you that US 10. 5 needles and a beautiful variegated yarn go a long way. It's the new Kaffe Fassett yarn from Rowan, Colourscape Chunky.

Check out these colors--er, I mean colours! (I love blogging with a British accent. It's brilliant!)

It's delicious enough to eat. Maybe that's why I chose to knit the sweater out of Candy Pink.

The pattern is from the new Colourscape book. I made the smallest size and it only took three hanks. The sweater was knit in two pieces. The bottom was knit bottom to top and the sleeves and top were knitted side to side. Notice how it stripes differently. The great thing about the patterns in this book is that they take advantage of the colo(u)r changes in this yarn. I loved working with it so much, I'm already fantasizing about my next project. I think there might be an entrelac scarf in my future!

January Events

Hey y'all!

You thought I was fooling when I said that my new year's resolution was to be a better blogger, but here I am!

Tomorrow, I'll have a post about some new yarn and patterns, but today I thought that I would give everybody a heads up about upcoming classes and events.

This week:
We've got three classes starting this week. These are the only classes happening this month (besides our Beginning Knitting and Crochet classes on Saturdays) so now's your chance!

Hat and Mittens starts tonight at 6 pm.
Top Down Sweater starts on Wednesday at 6 pm.
And Basic Socks starts this Friday at 6 pm.

This month:
We might be on TV again this year! Nothing is final yet, but I'll post about it when it becomes official.

And our SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE will be on Sunday, February 1 (I know February is not technically this month, but the sale is less than a month away!) Everything in the store will be 15%- 75% off! We'll be opening at 10 am, so come early for deals!

Also, expect our new class schedule to be emailed and posted by the last week of January. We have a lot of new classes in the works, including Needle Felting, Crochet Socks, and the February Lady Sweater. Stay tuned!

Lots of Sugar n Cream!

When I was working on Friday, a HUGE shipment of Sugar n Cream came in - something close to 200 balls in approximately 30 colors. Frugal fannies take note: the solids and ombres are only $2 per ball; stripes are a mere 50 cents more. That means you can buy 18 balls (like I did) for a little over $30. Browse the Mason Dixon books for inspiration!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We would like to thank everybody for your continued support and friendship (and for the various candies, chocolates, cookies, and other presents you dropped by during the holiday season!) We could not do this without you, and everyday we are reminded of it!


One of my new year's resolutions is to be a more proactive blogger (honest!) It's like I'm starting a diet: I am so eager, I imagine how awesome I will be by summer, and I'm also thinking about starting for real on Monday. (I don't know about you, but I can't change my life drastically mid-week.) So look forward to a year full of frequent posts, lots of pictures, and free patterns!

This is a picture of me in my Halloween costume. I was "A Knitter's Nightmare" or in layman's terms "A Big Tangled Mess of Acrylic Yarn and Plastic Needles." Even though it is January, this picture seemed to sum up my frazzled frame of mind the last few months, so I thought it fitting. (Also, I'm in my pajamas and I left the digital camera and all photo-worthy projects at the shop.)