Charity Knitting: Center for Women and Families

The Knit Nook is currently accepting hand crafted items for the Center for Women and Families. Knit and crochet hats and scarves of all sizes are welcome. The Center helps women who have encountered domestic violence and sexual assault, and also has resources to help women with financial troubles. Help keep these women and children warm with a colorful hat or scarf that lets them know that we care.

Hats made of all materials are accepted, but please tag items that aren't machine washable so they don't accidentally get felted! We'll be taking the first batch down the first week of November, and another batch right before Christmas.

Spotlight on yarn: Andy's Merino II

Hey, all! This is Tonya, stopping in to post on the Knit Nook blog.

Sometime this summer I decided that I needed to knit (or crochet, theoretically) with every yarn the store carries. I tried to tell myself that it's because I need to know about the properties of various yarns as a yarn store employee and knitwear designer; it's really just a justification to buy yummy yarn! I thought it would be fun to spotlight some of these yarns on the Knit Nook blog.

My husband came into the store last week to bring me lunch, picked up a skein of Andy's Merino II, and requested something made from it. I was more than happy to oblige.


The Knit Nook has recently started carrying Farmhouse Yarns, which are all hand dyed and absolutely beautiful! Farmhouse Yarns is a small, woman-owned business based in Connecticut - I recommend going to the website and learning more about the company. One of my favorite things about this yarn is that the tag on each hank has a picture of the actual sheep the yarn comes from - here's Andy of Andy's Merino II:

Photo from the Farmhouse Yarns website.

Andy's Merino II is, in my opinion, just as soft as Malabrigo (which we all know I love!); I don't think I would know the difference if I had my eyes closed. The colors are oh-so-vivid and knit up beautifully. I'm thinking this yarn would be great for felting, and may have to knit up a pair of felted slippers in one of the great colorways! This yarn just came in, but it's already getting a lot of play - Cindy just made a Thorpe out of it, and Holly cast on for some garter stitch mitts. If anyone is curious, the scarf I'm making is the Yarn Harlot's One-Row Handspun Scarf, a super easy scarf that's a great next step if you're tired of garter stitch and ribbing.

Bonus: here's an article about Farmhouse Yarns on Crafting a Green World.

We're Back in Business!

The Knit Nook has power! Unfortunately, we don't have working phone lines, so you can't call us, email us, or use your credit cards. But if you want to hang out with a bunch of out-of-work teachers, we're the place!

Hope everybody is doing well and getting their fridges clean and power back on!

What a Storm!

Wow, was it windy yesterday or what? Just like a lot of the Highlands, we had trees fall down and take out our phone and power lines at the Knit Nook yesterday. We had to close and reschedule the Cables class for next Sunday, 6-8 pm.

Today, we're still without power. I'll be going in today to check out the situation. I might even stay a while (it's going to be dark, but I can still take cash and checks and hang out with my braver knitters), but if the power is still not on by this evening, I'm going to reschedule the Socks class to another time. I'll call everybody and let them know.

Anyway, it's been a while since I've blogged regularly, so maybe this is a sign that I should get back in the game. I've got enough pictures from this summer that I haven't put up yet, including our Stitch N Pitch from back in July! But since I don't have those pictures on the computer yet, and part of the reason I have been so bad is that I was gone for two weeks on vacation, and because blog posts (even one's about storms and cancellations) without pictures are boring, here's a picture of me and Jonathan on the beach. Enjoy.

Irene's Bloody Knitting

Like many girls before her, Irene has developed a healthy appreciation of Johnny Depp. But instead of watching all of his movies and hoping that Winona Ryder would just go away as we used to do, Irene watches his movies over and over and appreciates his acting ability. And his collaborations with Tim Burton. And his charisma. And his timeless good looks--I mean, acting ability!

But Irene has taken her Depp obsession beyond the limits of normal teen awe. She's a knitter, after all. She's the one who did painstakingly knit his face into the side of a tote bag.

Irene, a huge fan of Sweeney Todd, has taken to knitting meat pies. Disgusting, grotesque, terrifying meat pies.

Can't believe a girl so innocent looking is capable? Here's a closer look.

Yep, that's a mouse. Standing on a pile of bloody gore oozing out of the meat pie. And yes, the mouse is chewing on a discolored finger, poking it's way out of the rotten meat pie. On the other side, you're missing a couple of cockroaches and another finger. Irene has even written the whole pattern down for us. I promise to have it up on the website in time for Halloween.

(Thanks, Ruth, for the pictures! Keep 'em coming, y'all!)

Margie's Hemlock

Somebody once said that they had quit reading knitting blogs. When asked why, the person said, "They just make me feel bad about myself." And everybody sitting and knitting around the table shrugged and nodded because we'd all been there. It's like flipping through a Martha Stewart magazine can make you feel bad about your garden. Except at least in the case of Martha, we can reassure ourselves that she has a staff of double digits or more helping her, so of course her roses look better.

But then you read Brooklyn Tweed and see that he's made a gorgeous vest in a weekend, and he doesn't have a staff helping him knit, and it's easy to look down at the sock you've been knitting and unknitting for a month and feel like quitting.

Margie felt like quitting. She started her Hemlock Ring Blanket in Debbie Bliss Stella (light blue, of course), and the triple and quadruple increases were a nightmare and the pattern was vague, and each row took an eternity. But she plugged away.

And here it is.

It's blocked and beautiful, worthy of the best knitting blog. So next time the internet makes you feel like throwing your needles away (or at least unplugging your computer), take the Hemlock. Not like Socrates, but like Margie.

(And thanks to Holly for the pictures! The blog looks great!)

Yoda the Baby Sweater

First of all, apologies to everyone for abandoning the blog. My home computer died, so I've been at a loss on how to get pictures from the camera to the blog. (And a blog post without a picture is no fun.) Thanks to Leslie (for knitting the sweater) and Ruth (for taking and sending me the picture) for getting me back on track!

So, what do you knit for the Star Wars-obsessed new parent? Why a Yoda hoodie of coarse! Check out the gray fun fur in the ears. A wrinkly little baby face can only add to the effect. Great idea, Leslie! And because I haven't really resolved the photo issue, please send me pictures of your knitting escapades. I'll post them on the blog!