Sandy and her new sweater
Hello. Sandy is so happy with her newest sweater! She made the Knotty Wrap Top by Gardiner Yarn Works out of Cotton Classic. Her yarn choice was excellent as the cables really pop and the texture of the sweater is perfect for the spring.
Great job Sandy!
Not only do we have the Knotty Wrap Top pattern and others at the shop but Chrissy Gardiner (Gardiner Yarn Works) will be sending some patterns and samples for our Maryland Sheep and Wool Booth.
- Jolene
Howdy! I just wanted to share with you this month’s wonderful “Felted Flowers” class. It was so much fun– a wonderful group of folks gathered to get out some stress and stretch their creativity by combining love of horticulture and fiber!
This class combined both knitted & wet felted construction and also needle felting.
Needle felting is in a word, awesome. We regularly offer an introductory class which acquaints you with tools and materials and gets you on the road to various genres of creating with needles and fiber. We stock a full range of tools– needles of different sizes and shapes, multi-needle tools, foam, beginners kits, and BEAUTIFUL rovings ( solid and hand painted) in many colors. Look for upcoming classes to include “painting with fiber” and also “sculptural needle felting” where we will work with form and figure. leave a comment or call the shop if you would like more information.
See you soon!
Dawn
Lace with Stitch Markers
Recently I’ve been working on this fabulous cardigan, knit from the top down, out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Color Durfee (#6270). Everything was moving along quite well - fast progress, correct number of stitches, soft compliant yarn - until it was time to start the simple seven stitch, four row repeating lace pattern.
I thought, “It’s only seven stitches. I can count to seven. I’ll be fine.” Big mistake. The first four row full pattern repeat went well so I was lured into thinking I could do all 12-14 inches that way. By the time I made it to the third row of the second full pattern repeat, my counts of seven were off and I was lost in a sea of SSK’s, K2tog’s, and YO’s. (Disclaimer: I do not knit much lace and this was my first attempt at an all-over lace pattern.) I know now I made a beginner’s mistake. After ripping out several rows and trying again, twice, I was finally frustrated and angry enough to take the lace all the way out, including all my beautifully divided-onto-scrap-yarn stitches. This time around I put stitch markers in every seven stitches and while I felt like a lousy knitter, I was finally able to keep each seven stitches in pattern and smoothly forged ahead with my sweater. Why hadn’t I put them on my needles in the beginning!
In my picture you’ll see a small sampling of one of the sleeves of this sweater and while it’s hard to see the lace pattern due to my personal choice of color, you can clearly see my demarcated groups of seven. The beaded one marks the beginning of each round as I’m knitting the sleeve in the round. In general, my personal choice for stitch markers are small elastic hair bands and my husband’s late grandmothers’ traditional plastic rings (just like the Clover ones at the shop). If you’re looking for more interesting markers than the Clover ones, we have beautiful hand-beaded stitch markers at the shop as well.
The lesson I want to impart: Next time you start a lace project, have an abundance of stitch markers handy and don’t be ashamed to use them as they’ll save you time and sanity!
Risha
PS: Curious what my project is? Check back next week for the reveal!
Cassidy sweater in Inca Gold
Hello. I am so excited to show you my newest FO! This was the Knit A Long that several people participated in over the past couple of months. The pattern is by the very talented Bonne Marie Burns. The yarn is Berroco’s Inca Gold in the Terracota colorway. The Inca Gold is a worsted weight yarn with 80% Merino and 20% silk. It was so nice to work with and I feel it really held the cables well on this sweater.
I did do some modifications on the sweater. I kept the sts live on the shoulders after completing short rows as I feel that a three needle BO would hold up better for me. Another modification I made was I kept the sts live as I moved from the back to the hood. While this made the knitting easier I am not sure it was the best choice because I think that strength needed to be there. I may go back and do a single crochet along that section for reinforcement. The last modification that I made on the sweater was do pick up all of the sts needed for the button bands and hood onto one 40″ circular needle and worked a multiple of 4 sts in 2X2 ribbing. This eliminated the seam at the top center of the hood.
Some others in the Knit A Long made different modifications and some made no modifications at all. I would love for them to share here once they are complete their project!
The next Knit A Long will be a summer tank knit with racer-back styling and lace panels at the sides.
It is called Sebring; come join us!
Sabring Tank - Knit A Long
- Jolene
Cloverhill's new stash of roving!
Gone are the dark, sad days of Cloverhill where roving was as hard to find here as a man in a yarn shop. So I’d like to wish a warm welcome to our brand new (and much brighter!) selection of dyed corriedale roving!
Both in solid colors by the ounce and whole rolls of striped and blended colored roving, we’ve got what you need.
Very pretty! See for yourself… that is if you think your retinas can withstand the optic overload….
Cheers!
–Matt
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