The Knaughty Knitter

Have you ever dyed?

Hand dyed yarn is a joy to knit with.  You can do your own without too much mess and chemical knowledge - just use Kool-Aid.  No need for dedicated dye pots and microwave and the kids can help out.  There are tons of tutorials on line for how to do this.  But here's how I usually dye with Kool-Aid and it seems to be a bit different method than most.  Use the one that you have to add sugar to, not the artificial sweetener kind. Set your yarn (wool or silk or fiber to spin) to soak in water. No vinegar needed - Kool-Aid is acid enough by itself.  Seriously, don't drink the stuff.  Get a large pot and fill it with water, heat to boiling.  Turn off the heat, pour in a packet or 5 of Kool-Aid depending on how intense you want your color and how much wool you have. Squeeze most of the water from your yarn and gently place it in the water, cover and let set about 20 - 30 minutes until the dye is absorbed.  If you gently stir it a time or two you will be sure to get the dye onto it evenly, but for a kettle dyed look, just let it set in one place.  You can also sprinkle another color onto the wool and if you leave it set with no stirring, you'll have spots of different color on your yarn.  Let it cool, rinse, hang to dry and you can knit your pretty yarn.

This bag was made from Kool-Aid dyed yarn before I opened the store (10 years this week).  Never fades...

Oh and the point of all this.......I got a LOT of dyeable yarn from Brown Sheep last week and thought I'd put it on sale for a bit.  The weather might hold for a while yet to do some outside dyeing so come get it.  There's Burly Spun, Bulky and Worsted Lamb's Pride and it is 15% off through Saturday this week.

Reywa Yarn

has arrived.  Reywa is the Tibetan word for hope and that is what they do.  The profits go towards funding education for Tibetan children.  They are a fair trade company.  Their yarns are heavenly.  We now have Bloom - a lace weight 50% yak/50% silk yarn that feels so wonderful. I am hurrying to finish two other shawls so I can started on something in this.

Tis the season

for big cowls.  Here is one I really love wearing, made from 2 sk. Brown Sheep's Burly Spun yarn. 
The cream is the softest - the dyeing process makes the wool a tiny bit less soft.

There are several big yarns at the store, knit them on everything from a size 15 to a #200 (yes there is such a thing)

 

 

New Knitting and Crochet Teacher

I am excited to announce that we have a new Knitting and Crochet Teacher.  Wayne Hass is a patient and knowledgeable teacher and does beautiful work.  Here are some pics of his work and a little information about him:

Wayne was introduced to crochet by his grandmother, when he was seven years old and has over 30 years experience. He has made MANY afghans for family members and friends, but he most enjoys crocheting with thread doing filet crochet and making doilies. His grandmother taught each of her grandchildren how to crochet, but she always expressed an interest in Wayne learning to knit since he showed a lot of interest in fiber arts. Soon after his grandmother’s death in the mid-ninties, he purchased a book and some knitting needles and learned.

He has spent the past 15 years developing his skill as a knitter, and he has made numerous types of knitted garments and accessories, from sweaters for family members—including his two dogs, Stella and Blanche—to hat, scarves, mittens, and socks. He is skilled in various knitting techniques including, lace, fair isle, and double knitting. He has taught many of his friends and some family members to knit and crochet, including his mother.

 

  
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The Knewsletter

Hi

 

It’s almost May!  I am back from my Staycation.  I made stuff, stuff I usually don’t have time to do.  It was great.  It is gardening time, so lots of folks like small knitting/crochet projects that don’t require too much thought or energy after a day out working, or that you can transport to the porch and sit and knit, drink a glass of wine and talk to the kids and hubby/friends.  The first dishcloth pattern will be coming in your email on Monday, May 5^th.   You can also get it in on our Facebook page and at the website.

                       

I am working on a shawl sweater (Anthology) from the Nicky Epstein book Block by Block.  The book has some lovely patterns and a lot of knitted block designs you won’t find elsewhere.  There will be a 6 week class this summer. I will be teaching a lot of advanced techniques – fair isle, intarsia, duplicate stitches, some interesting shaping and cables and cording and embroidery on knitting just to name a few. I will be substituting some blocks in the pattern so you learn how to do that too. Yarn must be purchased here for the class, but the book is less expensive through on line sources. (I can order for you if you don’t do online purchases). The class is on the schedule already, and a couple of folks have already signed up.  The yarn used in the book is Berroco Ultra Alpaca worsted – 12 skeins total.  This means a whole bag of one color and a couple of skeins of contrasting colors. It is a lot of yarn.  I am ordering from Berroco on May 13^th. They are increasing their prices after that.  So if you would like to get your base yarn for the project, now’s the time to order it.  If you order a whole bag of Berroco yarn – any yarn, not just that one – and prepay it I will give a 10% discount on the order.  I have color books here that you are free to look through and if you come in when I am here I will help you figure out your colors for the project. 

 

On May 3^rd  the Williamson County Library in Franklin will be having a Make-A-Thon from 10-4.  We’ve been invited, so Lisa will be out demonstrating weaving and spinning and knitting from 10-1. You can go and sit and knit (or whatever) with her.   It’s a lot of fun and you meet new people.  There’ll be lots of different folks making things – 3D printing, robotics, woodworking, photography, sounds like a wide range of demonstrators.

                                                                                          

Do you know about Wraps for Hope?  They are a local charity for providing women with warm shawls when they are going through chemotherapy for breast cancer.  You can find contact info on Facebook if you would like to donate shawls, yarn or anything else.  For the months of May and June, I will give a 10% discount for those donating shawls you’ve knitted or crocheted.  Bring in the shawl you have made from our yarn and are donating so we can get a picture to put on the website and we’ll give you 10% off yarn for another project that day.

 

Soon it will be time to be thinking about entering your knitting or crochet or spinning or weaving into the State Fair.  It is a fun thing to do and you can win stuff.  The entry forms are due in the late summer usually so the forms aren’t available yet but it is time to start something.

This is great

Dorothy make these incredible and creative purses.

This one is an Easter basket that, by switching lids, can become a garden patch or a picnic basket as the spring progresses.

OMG

The New Noro Magazine is here!  It is awesome!  There's knitting and crochet.....there are 11 of them, get 'em while they are still here (Yes I took one for me)

 

Yeah

Robin is going to teach a class on How to Read a Crochet Pattern! 4 people have asked me about this class this week and so here it is.    It will be at 3pm on Friday, March 1st.

Other classes of interest are:  

Beaded Necklace class, also by Robin, on Friday Feb 15th.  Learn to use beads in your knitting.  We have a few kits left for this one, but it you want you can also use other yarns and beads.

I'm doing a design your own top down sweater class February 9 & 16 too.  You can make a simple top down sweater, add stitch patterns or colorwork and have something no one else will be able to duplicate. 

The next monthly KAL is Feb 9th - the Ten Stitch Scarf which is an exercise in short rows.  This is a fun scarf by Frankie Brown who has a lot of great patterns on Ravelry.  Please print your own pattern and come on in to the KAL for help getting started. 

We are meeting for the Sky Scarf KAL on Tuesday, Feb 5th at 4pm if anyone wants to come and share.

 

Handspun Yarns and more

I was looking at an old Knitscene a little while ago and found an article about Knit Collage - a relatively new company whose yarn I love.  They hire women in India who prepare the fiber and then spin every skein.  They are a fair trade company so they pay a living wage to the women there. Often folks come in and are shocked at the price of hand spun yarn.  But think of the labor involved in just one little skein.  One of their lines is Rolling Stone and has little bits of other fibers and sparkle and other things spun in.  Gypsy Garden has little flowers in it as well.  All those those things require an extra step in preparing to spin and more time and attention in the actual spinning.  A single skein of 35 yds can take an hour or two just to spin.  Even my own handspun here at the store with fewer fancy elements requires a lot of time and energy.  Often it is hand painted fiber (mine or someone else's) and then spinning 4 ounces of fiber can take a couple of hours or all day depending on the thickness.

Enough lecturing now....Here's my latest thing - the knitted version of the Sparkly Cowl that I put out on Friday.  The crochet version can be purchased in store or on Ravelry.  I will put the knitted version up this afternoon.    I must confess I like the crochet version better - it was faster.  Sorry for the picture, this camera won't do the colors very well....It is really a nice Christmas Red with Shiny Bits......I did this one in Plymouth Aire - a super soft Alpaca yarn that feels awesome.

 

Robin's pick for this week

is an adorable baby hat from Cascade's 60 more Quick Baby Knits.  All the patterns in the book are made of Cascade 220 Sport.

We have LOTS of buttons to choose from here too.

And......my pick of the day is this cowl.  I made it Wednesday and the pattern is up on Ravelry now.  It is crocheted and I am working on the knitting version too...should be up by Monday.

And....just one more thing....We got a new yarn in today.  A superwash wool single that self stripes...by Elsbeth Lavold....it's a good thing.