More Than Just Selling Yarn

Saturday at The Knitting Nest was a great day.  Not because I was there – I was actually at home with a migraine.  Not even because of the tractor pull on Main Street, although Patrick tells me that I missed some great small-town Wisconsin fun.  It wasn’t even great because we sold yarn, although Patrick did have several customers, which is always nice for a retail shop.

Saturday was great at The Knitting Nest because we got to be part of something bigger and more important than selling yarn (or even the tractor pull).  It started when Brandy, a friend and customer of The Knitting Nest, posted on Facebook that she needed a bunch of red embroidery floss for a project that one of the Girl Scouts in one of her troops is doing to help prevent bullying.  Girls are going to make friendship bracelets to give away while encouraging other girls to “be friends, not bullies”. 

Patrick thought this was a great project, so he offered to purchase the embroidery floss at our wholesale cost and donate a couple of boxes to the project.  He then posted on our Facebook page that people could purchase the embroidery floss from us at our cost and we would get it to Brandy for her project.  By the end of Saturday, The Knitting Nest had purchased 13 boxes of red embroidery floss for this project.

Thirteen boxes of 24 skeins of floss is only 312 skeins out of 1600 skeins needed, so we only donated 20% of the total for this project.  But, that is 312 skeins that weren’t donated before Saturday morning. 

Why am I telling you this?  To shout about how great The Knitting Nest is?  No.  You already know that!  My reason for sharing this story is to point out the importance of community brick-and-mortar retail shops.  The people who participated in this event are part of our community, just like the people who made chemo caps last month for our knit-a-long.

Community retail shops are invaluable parts of the local economy, but they are also part of the volunteer and charity work of the community.  The next time you stop in at your local coffee shop or other small business, look around; you’ll probably find that they are promoting one or more community and/or charity events or projects.  Supporting local businesses means more to your town or city than just a skein of yarn or cup of coffee – it’s being part of your community’s life.

 

A Few of My Favorite Things–My Kind of Saturday in Kollage Riveting

 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have knitted items with that same comfortable well-worn feeling as an old pair of jeans?  You can!  Kollage Riveting yarn is made from recycled blue jeans (80% post-consumer content) and it feels amazing!!  Right now, we carry the DK weight in night denim, lava denim, forest denim, sand denim, and pebble denim.  You have to see and feel this yarn to believe it!

Kollage also sells the pattern “My Kind of Saturday” which is a one skein lacy cowl.  So, of course, I had to make one.  And it is just luscious.  We have had customers pick up the cowl and ask if it is silk!  No, it’s not silk.  In fact, after I was done with it, I machine washed and dried it!  The pattern is well written with the lace pattern both written and charted.  (And, it doesn’t use the whole skein, although it does use more than half, so you can’t quite get two cowls from one skein.)

 

Kollage is very clear that you need to swatch and block your swatch before you start your project.  Riveting is easy to care for once it’s knit up, but the row gauge tends to shrink on blocking so you have to take that into account before you start your project.

Stop in and check out this yarn soon!  We also have several more patterns from Kollage written specifically for this yarn.  We look forward to seeing you!!

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.

Chemo Cap Knit-A-Long

Did you know Gayle Robbins?  No?  Let me tell you about her.  I only knew Gayle for a couple of years, but she had a big impact on my life.  I met her when I was volunteering at the Senior Nutrition Site here in Weyauwega.  Gayle was (I think) the part-time site manager for a while until they found someone who could take the job full-time.  But, she was still around as a volunteer.

Gayle and I shared a love of fiber arts, particularly knitting, although Gayle was very skilled in crochet as well.  Gayle had won numerous awards at the Waupaca County Fair for her work (as well as some awards for her lovely photography).  So, knitting is what brought us together.

When I met Gayle, she was about 6 months or a year out of her course of chemotherapy from breast cancer.  And, yes, she had lost her hair during her chemo.  But, being a knitter/crocheter, she just made herself some hats.  In fact, she liked hats with brims, but the yarn wouldn’t always cooperate, so she would thread some craft wire through the edge of the brim and shape it the way she wanted.  Ingenious!

Not only did Gayle make her own chemo caps, but she also made some for the people she met at her chemo sessions.   Especially in our Wisconsin winters, being without hair can be more than a little problem, so a hat is more than just a fashion item.

Gayle was very supportive of Patrick’s and my plan to open a yarn shop.  She had some business background and gave me some good information as I was trying to write our initial business plan.  She and I had also talked about how the shop would have a sitting area where people could come and knit or crochet together along with Stitch Night (Thursday evenings).  And she was very excited about the idea of doing some community/charity knitting projects.  And why wouldn’t she be?  That was right up her alley – right along with making chemo caps for others, helping in the community garden, volunteering with the senior meals, and I’m sure lots of things I don’t even know about.

In July (2011), Gayle was diagnosed with recurrence of her cancer and she started back with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  Our shop opened in the end of August.  Gayle was able to visit the shop several times before she became very sick in January.  I visited her late in the fall at her home and we sat and worked on our knitting and crochet projects together while we talked.  That’s what yarnies do, right?

On February 1, Gayle passed from this earth to Heaven.  We lost a dear friend that day. 

In her memory, the Knitting Nest is doing a chemo cap knit-a-long.  Gayle’s husband, Steve, has brought some of Gayle’s stash (the mark of a true yarn crafter – she had quite a stash!) to The Knitting Nest to donate for knitting chemo caps.  To join us, all you need to do is stop by the shop and pick up some yarn and a pattern (if you need it).  Knit or crochet as many caps as you’d like, drop them off at the shop before May 1, and we’ll deliver them to the chemotherapy center at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Appleton.  Very easy – and incredibly helpful.

Cancer is scary.  Hair loss is just one more thing to worry about for someone dealing with chemotherapy.  Sure, they could go buy a hat somewhere, but getting a handmade hat says to them that someone cares about them enough to try to make this process a little easier for them.  So, the next time you have a few minutes to stop by The Knitting Nest, come in and pick up some yarn and a pattern to make a chemo cap and show some love to someone who’s having a rough time.

 

A Few Of My Favorite Things–Marina, Flora, and Tundra Glitz

We’re having an obscenely warm winter here in Wisconsin, so we haven’t needed to break out the heavy-duty coats, scarves, and hats every day like we usually do.  In fact, this has been the perfect year to wear purely decorative scarves.  And the Knitting Nest has just the yarn to make them!

Marina and Flora are two specialty yarns made by Universal Yarns that make it easy for even the most novice knitter to create fancy scarves to brighten up any outfit.  Marina is a ribbon yarn with large holes that makes a ruffle effect when knitted or crocheted.

 

Flora has smaller holes that require less precision when knitting and give a more lily-type look to the scarf.

Tundra Glitz is a sparkly ribbon yarn with holes along the top for ease in knitting and crochet.  It forms a more dense material with lots of shine.

Any of these yarns will make great scarves.  And you can use your imagination to make all kinds of other items as well – the sky is the limit!  Come check them out!