UFOs Run Amok!!

I am drowning in UFOs – “unfinished objects”!! I’ve been trying to simplify my life, limit choices, etc., etc., but can’t seem to apply that philosophy to my knitting! It looks like I need an intervention. NOW!

Here’s just about everything out on the table. (The closed The Knitting Nest bag represents gifts I’m making that I’m not going to show on the blog because my kids are going to catch on to what I do on the computer one of these days!)

Yeah. I know. The first step is to admit you have a problem. And I do – I knit for myself and for the shop. And I have knitting ADD. And I like pretty yarn and patterns. That’s three problems. Well, let’s go through these one by one and figure out what I need to do.

Fair Isle sweater from Knit Picks kit. I actually made one of these and accidentally felted it. I still have enough yarn that I’m doing another one. Right now it’s in a box with cedar balls because I have other projects that keep taking up my time. But, this project is teaching me lots about doing Fair Isle work, so it’s definitely something I want to finish. Hmmmm. Keep in box for now. Work on after Christmas.

Hidden Treasure Pocket Sock in Kollage Luscious yarn. I made the model for our sock class out of some Universal yarn, but I hadn’t used any of the Luscious, which is a cotton/elastic blend, so I figured I’d just throw together a pair of these socks. Well, they do go quickly, but I’ve been interrupted a zillion times. I’m up to the pocket which will take very little time and then I can do the second sock. Definitely keep in the rotation.

Drummossie entrelac sock in Cascade Heritage yarn. I love this sock. This is the second of the pair and I’m making it using backward knitting instead of turning to do the purl sides. I’m motivated to finish it to see how the gauge works out. I’ll definitely get this one done soon.

Green lace socks for my daughter. She chose a pair of socks a year or more ago for me to make for her that have 5 (yes, 5) different charts! I finally finished the first sock last spring. I still haven’t cast on the second. It needs  to be done by this spring, though. Stays in the rotation. This . . . this . . . is why I need to knit socks two at the same time!!

Another reason for me to do socks two at a time – this sock from the Knitty website. It’s knit from side to side using Judy’s Magic Cast-On to start and kitchener stitch to end. Totally cool. And I used some of my favorite Regia Yarn. But now I need to make the second sock. Unfortunately, since it’s not remotely shop model-ish, it’s a low priority right now.

Ah, silk! My mom wants the silk model up in the shop, so instead of making another, I decided to make Wingspan in silk. I love it and I’m almost finished. This is one of the few projects that is only unfinished because of space/time constraints.

This little puff of wool is supposed to be a change purse one day. I pull it out and work a few rows every few months. I’m not sure it’s ever quite going to grow out of being a bit of fluff, but I’ll try.

Bamboo sock yarn sock. This is a new sock yarn that we’re carrying in the shop, so I need to whip up a sock and block it to see what I think of the stuff. As you can see, it doesn’t really even qualify as “unfinished” – it’s “unstarted”. But it’s a moderately high priority.

I love Cascade’s Baby Alpaca Lace yarn, so I’m making a shawl from it. But, it’s clearly in the UFO category right now. It’s not remotely “mindless knitting”. I have used my lifelines more than I care to admit. Definitely a piece to keep in the rotation, but only when I’m feeling up to putting some brain power behind the needles.

My “Live, love, knit” sweater. It doesn’t look much like a sweater right now, does it? I’ve only been working on it for six months. Why did I think I should make a sweater out of Ultra Pima Fine? Perhaps because I’m crazy? Perhaps because I love the yarn. Either way, I’m about halfway up the back. It’s more of a spring sweater, so I may not worry too much about it for a few months and spend more energy on something like the Fair Isle – which is much more of a winter item.

Spiraling Organza Scarf. My daughter came up with an idea to use some of the novelty yarns with traditional yarns, so I’m in the process of making a tube scarf with Organza winding up around it. So far, I’m loving the effect. This is a great project for me to work on when my hands are tired of the small needles, and I anticipate I’ll finish it in the next week or so.

I think I have these a little better prioritized in my head. And I won’t be starting anything new (except a Christmas gift or two). I’ll post my progress and see if I can’t get down to something more manageable in a few weeks.

How are you doing with UFOs? Maybe we can encourage each other and have fun at the same time!!

Observations on Entrelac

We’re in the middle of Sock-A-Palooza at the Knitting Nest and our advanced sock class is made using entrelac. Entrelac (or interlace) is a wonderful technique that makes a basketweave type effect in knitting. It looks incredibly complicated but really only involves knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, and picking up stitches. It’s getting everything in the right order that makes the entrelac work!

I’m not going to try to do an entrelac tutorial for you – there are several good ones online. But, I did want to share a few things that I’ve learned over the years, and especially, more recently, as I’ve gotten things ready for our entrelac sock class!

1. I almost hate to admit it, but learning to knit backwards (knitting from the left needle to the right needle instead of turning the work) really does make entrelac go faster. Why do I hate to admit it? Because I used to just turn my work because I didn’t want to bother to learn to knit backward. I was lazy. And then Patrick went and learned backward knitting. “Curse you, Patrick the Knitter!!” Of course, I could not let it stand that my husband could do a knitting technique that I couldn’t do. So, I learned it and I have to admit that it’s faster. Blah.

2. Entrelac can be used successfully with solids, stripes, and patterned yarn. I did one of my early headbands making each row a different color, which was fun but required entirely too much work to deal with all the ends. I think my favorite is to use variegated yarn like what I’m using now (Cascade Heritage Paints). But, I might change my mind on my next project.

3. Entrelac is an art, not a science. Every entrelac pattern is different which can drive someone like me a little crazy. I’d like for them all to decide about whether or not to slip stitches and how to do the decreases, etc. But, designers have different ideas about what they like. Now that I understand what they’re doing, I’m feeling more comfortable deciding whether or not to slip the first stitch (which most patterns say) or not (which the book I like says). But, the pattern designer is not going to come and inspect my work and grade it!!

4. Don’t make socks with entrelac on the bottom of the sole. Yes, I have a book with a pattern for such socks. Yes, they were fun to make. No, they are not fun to wear. No matter how soft the yarn, you still end up with ridges all over the bottom of your foot and it’s just not comfortable. I wore them as sleeping socks for a while.

5. My gauge is different with knitting backwards than it was when I was turning my work. When these socks I’m making become useful socks and not shop models, I hope I can block them into the same size. The moral of the story for you is to not change technique dramatically between one sock and the other.

There are my observations for the day. What have you experienced with entrelac or other techniques? If you’re interested in learning entrelac, just let us know at The Knitting Nest. Our entrelac sock class is already in progress, but we’re happy to set up lessons or other classes if groups want to learn a technique!

A Few of My Favorite Things–Knit Noro Accessories and Debbie Macomber Gerbera Print Yarn

Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Gerbera Print Yarn from Universal Yarn has to be one of my favorite variegated yarns.  It is 100% wool, single plied, worsted yarn, but the colors are what make it stand out.  Each colorway has several rich colors that complement each other and give a beautiful effect when knitted.

The Knit Noro Accessories book is full of beautiful patterns originally knit in Noro yarn.  However, they work up beautifully in many other brands of variegated yarn, particularly Gerbera Print yarn.  There are a variety of types of accessories in the book and the patterns are well-written and easy to follow.

I chose to use Gerbera Print yarn in color 204 – Lazy River – and the pattern Riverbed Rib Hat.  I’m immensely pleased at how it looks.  The colors are bright and beautiful and the hat fits very well.

The next time you are looking for a book of patterns for accessories, particularly for variegated yarn, you really can’t go wrong with the Knit Noro Accessories yarn.  And I really love the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Gerbera Print yarn and I think you will too.

Come check out both items at The Knitting Nest!!  We’d love to see you!!

Update–October 23, 2011

What’s up at The Knitting Nest these days?  Glad you asked!

• Our second session of Beginning Knitting started yesterday with two students!
• Upcoming classes include Crochet Amigurumi, Beginning Crochet, and My First Sweater.  Stop by The Knitting Nest to get signed up!
• I finished knitting my swirl jacket from Knit, Swirl.  Now it’s time to block it!  I’ll post pictures when I’m done!
• I’m currently working on a cardigan using some of our local wool and a Cottage Creations pattern.
• Christmas is coming!!  Make sure you have everything to make those Christmas gifts.  We also have some pattern books for Christmas stockings.
• We have a “Wall of Fame”!  If you’ve made something with some yarn or a pattern from our shop, send us a picture or stop by the shop and we’ll take a picture and put it on our “Wall of Fame”.  It’s a great way to show off your work and inspire other knitters and crocheters!
• Don’t forget BooFest next Sunday from 4-7pm!  We’ll be dressed up and have candy and finger knitting for kids!

Are there particular products you’d like us to consider carrying or classes you’d like to see taught?  Just let us know!

What projects are you working on?  We’d love to see pictures, too!

Update–October 8, 2011

 

Sorry about the length of time between posts – we’ll just chalk it up to migraines.  But, now, on to the fun stuff – what’s been going on at The Knitting Nest!

• Old ‘92 is here!!  Come check out this gorgeous hand-dyed (and man-dyed!) yarn in worsted and bulky weight.
• Our first Beginning Knitting class is finished and was a great success!
• I’m almost finished with my swirl jacket from Knit, Swirl.
• A couple of customers have brought by projects that they’ve finished with Knitting Nest materials.
• We’ve got several classes coming up – Knitting 911, How to Read  Knitting Patterns, Crochet Amigurumi, Socks, and Sweater.
• Books!!  We’ve got a bunch of new books – come check them out!
• One of the new books is about brioche knitting.  I’ve made one brioche scarf and I LOVE this technique.  The book is all about brioche – single color, two color, cables, etc.  I don’t know enough about brioche to teach it, but I think a group of us could learn about it together and have some fun.  Whatcha think?
• I’m starting to work on things for our Christmas decorations and talked to Cathy from Premier Petals about some of what I want to do.  It’s going to be beautiful!!

What’s up with you?  Let us know what knitting and crochet projects you have going?

Three Weeks In and Having a Blast!!

The Knitting Nest has been open for three weeks and we’re having a great time!

• The website is up and working.
• Patrick should have a class list up by the end of the day on Monday.
• Our first class starts tomorrow (Monday) and is full!!
• Yesterday was a very busy day.  I think there were only about 15 minutes at a time that we didn’t have customers
• So far, we don’t have any one particular yarn that is selling better than the others.  Customers have been purchasing  a wide variety of items.
• I’m developing a better relationship with the cash register, although it did scream at me once yesterday and I had to get Patrick to help me out.  But, we’re making progress.
• We are getting more yarn next week!!  More info when it comes in.
• Don’t forget Thursday night’s Open Stitch Night from 7-9pm.

If you haven’t stopped by the shop yet, come on by to say Hi!!

Works In Progress–September 2, 2011

At the moment, I’m working on two knitting projects as well as sorting out class information.

This is a baby blanket made from Cascade Cherub Aran weight yarn with a pattern from 60 Quick Baby Knits.  The original pattern calls for Cascade 220 Superwash, but we don’t have the Superwash right now.  It is working up beautifully in the Cherub, which is a very soft acrylic/nylon blend that is machine washable – perfect for babies!

Knit, Swirl was apparently the hottest new thing at TNNA this year.  We got a copy of the book for the shop, but couldn’t order any more because they’re out of stock due to a second printing.  The “swirls” featured in this book are coats that are knitted in a very large circle starting at the outer edge.  In the center, about half the stitches are bound off and the bodice is knitted flat.  When the knitting and blocking are done, only one seam has to be sewn.

I made the swatch for my swirl last week and started knitting a few days ago in Cascade 220.  The outer rows of the swirl have more than 500 stitches each, so progress looks a bit slow at the moment.  The swirl is so popular that there is a Ravelry group devoted to it!  I’ll definitely post more pictures as I go!

 

What is your current project?  Anything exciting?!

The Window

One of my absolute favorite things about our shop location is that we are on Main Street and we have a huge display window. Not only does the window take up most of the front of the shop, but it’s got a very large windowsill, making it ideal to decorate. For people walking or driving by, it will catch the eye if it’s decorated well.

I’m not the most visually artistic person, so I was a little concerned about how we were going to make this huge window look good. Patrick and I were also hesitant to put real yarn in the window because it’s not UV protected.

Not to worry, though! Cathy Speigelberg from Premier Petals and Kasi Pagel from Focusing Life Photography, both Main Street businesses in Weyauwega, came to our rescue! I asked Cathy for help in doing the window and she was more than happy to oblige. Later that day, she came by with Kasi with lots of ideas. One of them was that Kasi would take some yarn to her studio and photograph it so that we would have pictures of yarn instead of actual yarn in the display.

The night before we opened, Cathy came over and made our window look just gorgeous. She used a Fall leaf garland, some wooden apple buckets, three pots of mums, the framed photos, and some magic to come up with this:

Is this amazing, or what?!! I am so excited that other Main Street businesses are supportive of our little shop. I am so grateful to Cathy and Kasi for putting together this beautiful display!

Our First Day!!

We made it through our first day of business!!  Not only that, it was a great first day!  I didn’t take any pictures, but here are some of the highlights.

• Cathy from Premier Petals came over last night and decorated our display window.  (I’m sorry I don’t have pictures – I’ll get some tomorrow.)  Kasi from Focusing Life Photography had taken some photos of a few skeins of our yarn and had them blown up.  Cathy used the three large photos, some autumn leaf garland, some mums, and some baskets to make the window very fall-like.  It’s beautiful!
• Patrick and I went to the City Council meeting last night and briefly told the members about our shop and handed out cards.
• We got a call today from a newspaper reporter about doing a story in the local paper (which they do for all new businesses).
• We had times today of being completely empty and quiet and other times with as many as eight people in the shop.
• Christopher was the primary operator of the cash register today.
• We are using Square Up for credit card transactions and are very happy with how it is working.
• We knew many of the people who came in today, but definitely not all of them.  We met some tourists from Chicago as well as people who learned about our shop from Facebook.

We had lots of fun meeting people and talking about yarn all day!  Here’s hoping for many more good days selling yarn!

And We Open Tomorrow!!

 

Tomorrow is the Big Day!!  At 10 am, The Knitting Nest opens it’s doors to the public!  So, what are we up to today?  You guessed it – we’re finalizing all the little details.

- Signs to remind people that we have baby yarn, buttons, and sock yarn in the back room.

- Cleaning the window and the front door.

- Last minutes organizing and straightening of yarn and notions.

- Knitting models

- Display window – Cathy (from Premier Petals – down the street) is coming over this evening to set up the window with some help from Lydia.  I’m so glad there are artistic people who can help make our wonderful display window beautiful!

- Social networking (that’s my job!)

We can’t wait to get started on this new adventure of entrepreneurship!!

Progress–August 19, 2011

WE OPEN IN FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!

It’s really hard to believe that we are less than a week away from opening.  Wow.  Here are the most recent events:

1. We have a sign!
2. All of our needles, hooks, and notions are hung up.
3. I am still working on a shrug and a blanket as shop models, but we have several others that I washed and set out for blocking today.
4. We have a Ravelry group!  If you are a Ravelry member, go to groups and look for “The Knitting Nest Weyauwega”.
5. We hosted the Chamber’s Business After Five on Wednesday and had a chance to meet several new people and show off our little shop!
6. We will be putting up the window display on Monday evening.  More on that later!

Four more days.  Oh. My. Goodness.  We hope to see you then!!

Progress–August 11, 2011

The Knitting Nest is starting to look like a real yarn shop!!  Here is our current status.

1. All of the yarn has arrived, is priced, and it put away (except for the few backordered items and the local wool).

2. Patrick put up the wire rack for needles, and most of the needles are priced and put up.

3. We have some amazing glass buttons from Blessings Glasswork.

4. Our sitting area is complete and ready for customers.

5. The sign company has our logo and the plastic from the old sign – we should have the new sign with our logo in a few days!

6. I’m working on lots of shop models – more on that later.

7. Patrick has learned to use the cash register and Square and is teaching the rest of us.

8. We are hosting the Weyauwega Chamber’s Business After 5 next week!

We open on August 23rd and can’t wait to see you!!

Yarn, yarn, and more yarn!!

Our yarn started arriving last week and we’re sooooo excited!!  Patrick and Christopher unpacked all the Universal Yarn that came yesterday – 4 very large boxes!  (I’m kind of bummed that we didn’t get the pattern books yet, but, they are for the new season, so they haven’t shipped yet.)  Christopher has been putting together wire cubes and pricing yarn.  At the end of the day today, he said, “After using the price gun all day today, it’s now more of a tool and not so much a really cool thing.”  Yep, it’s a tool.  And my boy got a lot of work done today.

I spent the day today finalizing our needles and notions orders.  After that, though, I decided which models I want to make for the shop.  And that involved yarn!!  Lots of yummy, luscious yarn!  Can you tell that yarn makes me happy?!

So, here are some pictures of our yarn (hopefully, starting in 27 days, to become our customers’ yarn) along with Patrick and Christopher working on getting it all into inventory and priced.  And, of course, a picture of Christopher with a price gun.  He priced me today at $5.00 – which is much better than yesterday, when I was $0.50!

 

And the Cascade Yarn comes on Thursday!!

A Busy Day

This has been a very busy day for The Knitting Nest.  Every day brings us closer to our opening!

1. We got our Lavishea order this morning!  We got a display box and testers in each scent along with a complimentary “Man Bar”.  We’ve put the  box in our window so people can start to see some of our products.

2. Patrick and I ate breakfast this morning at the Pine Café, a little diner next door to the shop that is only open in the morning.  Not only did we get a yummy start to the day, but we met the owner and let her know about our shop.

3. The Knitting Nest joined the Chamber of Commerce today and Patrick went to the meeting at noon.  We’re becoming part of the community!

4. Patrick made a lot of good contacts at the Chamber meeting today, one of whom stopped by the shop to drop off information about his products and services.

5. Our order from Mango Moon arrived!!  We got Recycled Silk in worsted weight and DK weight as well as Bumble Bee in three colors.  They also sent me a sample of Pastiche, which I LOVE!!  (Maybe we’ll get some Pastiche the next time we order.)

6. A woman from another downtown business stopped in to say that her 8 and 10 year old daughters are learning to knit and are very excited about our opening.

7. Patrick signed us up to host the Chamber’s Business After 5 for the month of August.  We’ll have lots of community business folks through our shop that evening – more ways to get the word out about our little shop.

8. Patrick has the computer, cash register, and Square Up all set up.  We also got a price gun and labels.  It feels so official!

9. Patrick and I went to the Weyauwega Fiber Arts Circle meeting tonight and really had a great time.  Chris, the owner of the Coffee Klatsch was working on a beautiful glass mosaic tabletop.  (I realize that glass is not a fiber art, but we don’t discriminate, even based on craft!  Besides, we like Chris!)   Brandy, whom I had met online, but not in person, came for the first time tonight with her spinning wheel.

10. Brandy taught me and Patrick how to use our drop spindle!  We’ve had it for over a month but Patrick and our daughter couldn’t quite get the hang of it.  Brandy was good enough to show us how to spin the roving into yarn and to help us fix our mistakes.  By the end of the evening, Patrick and I had both made a respectable-looking section of  single-ply yarn!

Yep, it was a busy day.  And now, I’m going to relax for a while before bedtime.  And have happy dreams about beautiful yarn!

WIP–Works In Progress–July 19, 2011

 

While we’re waiting for our yarn and other stuff to arrive and while it’s about a zillion degrees outside, I’ve been working on a few knitting projects.  I’m about over the “Fair Isle sweater debacle of 2011”, but I’m not quite ready for more colorwork.  Besides, I need to make things for display in the shop.

This is a Mobius scarf that I made from some yarn from local sheep.  (No, we haven’t gotten our yarn back from the mill.  I bought this skein from the woman who owns the sheep a couple of months ago.)  The technique isn’t hard once you learn to do the cast-on and it’s really quite fun.  This one is probably going to be a model in the shop for a while, but I may confiscate it or knit another one for myself since my current scarf, while also a really cool Mobius, is made from a cotton blend yarn.  Up here in the Great White North, a wool scarf is definitely a good idea come wintertime!

The Mobius scarf is a circle with a half-twist in it.  Some people have called them Infinity scarves since there’s no end to it.  The rows of stitches are also longitudinal in the Mobius scarf instead of horizontal as in most other kinds of scarves.

When we were at camp, I was working on some bookmarks out of cotton crochet thread, and one of them used a stitch pattern that is a variation of brioche stitch.  A few days ago, I looked up how to do two-color brioche rib stitch.  It was a little tricky to learn and I had to rip it out a couple of times, but I’ve finally got the hang of it.  And it’s totally addicting!!  I like how the two sides are different colors.  I’m making this with Cascade 220 worsted weight wool in black and red, the colors of the local high school, so it will fit in nicely with our first window display.

My current project for decorating The Knitting Nest is a knitted and felted “nest” (aka bowl).  I came across a free Ravelry pattern that uses the Mobius technique for the rim of the bowl that I’ve modified to use with worsted weight yarn.  I’m using a bunch of leftover earth tone colors from different brands of yarn.  I hope that it ends up looking kind of irregular, like you’d expect a bird’s nest to look.  When it’s done, we’ll put some stuffed birds into it for a shop decoration.

The picture is of the rim of the bowl.  It is knit with the basic Mobius technique but instead of having 1/2 a twist, the pattern had me put in two more full twists (or 4 half-twists) for a total of five half twists.  Now I need to pick up stitches around the rim to knit the body of the bowl.  The twists are supposed to be equally spaced so that it looks like flower petals.  So far, I’ve done the picking up stitches twice and ripped it out both times.  Deep sigh.  I think this will look great when I’m done, but it may be a challenge until them.

I’m also working on a pair of socks for my daughter made from some KnitPicks wool.  And, I’m making a pair of socks using the “two at a time socks on one circular needle” for the shop using Heritage Paint sock yarn from Cascade.  Pictures of those projects to be posted later.

What are you working on?  Anything fun and exciting?  The Weyauwega Fiber Arts Circle meets Thursday night at 6pm for crafting at The Coffee Klatsch in Weyauwega.  You are welcome to come and bring whatever you are currently working on!!