Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Summertime is just around the corner.  Before we know it, we’ll be going out to the lakes, enjoying the longer days, lamenting all the insects, and trying to avoid sunburn!

Some people think of knitting and crochet as solely cool-weather activities.  Perish the thought!!  While I agree that you would not want to have a heavy wool sweater or afghan on your lap when it’s 80 degrees outside and that sunshine and 75 degrees is certainly more suited to hiking and swimming than sitting indoors with yarn, there is a place for yarn crafting during the summer months.

As the day winds down and you’re sitting and enjoying some restful time with your family, it’s nice to be able to still be creative while letting your body recover from the activities of the day.  And knitting and crochet can be that creative outlet.

Cotton and cotton blends are great choices to for knitting during the warmer months of the year.  And you can make some very useful items.  Hats are one of the most popular things to make during the warm months of the year.  Bags and purses are another popular choice. 

One of my favorite things to knit right now is cotton sweaters.  I’ve already written about how much I love c2knits.  I’m loving the Zoe sweater I’ve already finished and I think I’m really going to love the Sophie when it’s done.

And, of course, you can always start early on your fall and winter knitting and work on some socks or a wool hat.  They’re nice and small and easy to work on even when the weather is warm.

Need more ideas?  Stop by The Knitting Nest and we’re happy to help you find some fun summertime yarn and patterns.

A Few of My Favorite Things–c2knits

Despite the recent temperature drop and threat of snow for us here in and around the Northwoods, spring really IS on it’s way.  And that means knitting short-sleeved sweaters, bags, hats, and other spring and summer items.  I’m especially excited about this because I really have very few spring and summer knitted items in my wardrobe.  How has that happened if I’m such a dedicated knitter?  Simple.  I give away much of what I knit.  This year, though, I decided that I wanted to make some sweaters to put in my own wardrobe.

My first sweater is a top-down short-sleeved raglan T-shirt made with Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton yarn using c2knits pattern Zoe.

I love the sweater and the pattern!  The pattern is easy to read.  It tells the knitter exactly where to put the stitch markers and how and why to use two different colors of stitch markers.  There is some flexibility in making the sweater a bit more fitted by casting on fewer stitches under the arms (which I’ll probably do next time), but that really doesn’t add complexity if you just want to work the pattern as written.

One issue I had was that the sweater turned out longer than I’d like, but that is because I was lazy and did the measurement while holding the sweater in my lap.  Next time, I will get up and measure the sweater while laying it out on the table.

The other issue I had is that the pattern called for the edging on the bottom to be done in reverse stockinette.  I have never had success with this kind of cuff on the bottom of a sweater – it always flips up unless you steam iron it every time you wear it.  I was very loathe to try it again, so I tried doing a hem, but that was flipping up as well.  I ended up switching to smaller needles and just finishing it in stockinette which made a nice rolled edge, which I also like.

Since I loved this pattern so much, we’re carrying several of the c2knits patterns in the shop.  I’ve got another sweater on the needles using Sierra (a cotton/wool blend) that I think is going to be lovely as well.

Stop by the shop and check out our new patterns and we’ll help you find a wonderful yarn to complement the pattern and give you a great new summer sweater!!

Thank You!!!

The Knitting Nest has had a great first quarter of 2012 and we have you, our customers, to thank for it!! 

• Thank you for showing confidence in a local business! 
• Thank you for keeping your business here in the town of Weyauwega and in Waupaca County! 
• Thank you for telling us what other products you’d like to see in our shop! 
• Thank you for just stopping to look and to chat with Patrick and Catherine! 
• Thank you for telling your yarn crafting friends about us! 
• Thank you for coming back again and again!

Thank you!!  And we look forward to serving you many more times as The Knitting Nest grows.