The Pet Parade (sponsored by the Altamont Library) was on Saturday morning in Orsini Park across from the shop. It was so cute to see all the different size dogs, participating in various agility exercises.
This guy very nimbly jumped over the low pole:


But this guy, uderstandably, had a hard time getting over the high pole:

....so he went under. I think they should have reversed the order.


Meanwhile, at the shop it was a busy class day:

The participants of the Felted Sheep Tote class were here to needle felt their felted bags. Carol is making a cute sheep with a hat and shoes! Here is her work in progress:


And here is Cheryl's also-cute sheep:




And Allison went a different route, with a flying pig!:



Allison had a busy day at the shop, becuase she was also here for a stranded mitt class. The participants of that class had also taken the Anatolian Flip class to learn about stranding. Here are their results:

Allison with hers:



Linda's (she made two!) and Mary's:

The Anatolian Flip is a hat that could also be turned upside down and used as a purse! We will be offering this class again --- everyone in the last class agreed it was an excellent class for learning about stranded knitting and they learned alot.

Customer Show and Tell:
Allison has been REALLY busy... here is her Starcrossed Cabled Hat made with Cascade Autunno:




Eleonora's 8-hour baby blanket made with Encore Colorspun and a fuzzy other yarn:




Susan's socks made with Mini Mochi:



Barbara's Ishbel made with Cascade Alpaca Lace:



And Kathy's Leaf Pattern Fingerless Mitts made with Noro Kureyon:

This pattern coordinates with the hat, socks, scarf and shawl patterns designed by Deb Anderson.

Fashion Show-and-Tell re-cap

What a fun night! Lots of great projects and inspiration for future projects. Yummy munchies and great prizes raffled off. I've had several people tell me what a great time they had! For those of you who did not make it, thank you thank you thank you for your support these past two years -- I couldn't have done it without you!

Here is a link (I hope it works) to pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25032028@N04/sets/72157623983359345/

For those of you who asked, here is a link to the recipe for the BLT Cherry Tomato Bites - so yummy! http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/BLT-Bites-Stuffed-Cherry-Tomatoes-273264

And, I know it's early, but I got in these GREAT 2011 Calendars by Franklin Habit! Start your holiday shopping early!

Adorable, funny cartoons about knitting....

And some more show and tell:

Jana's adorable car seat blanket (the hole is for the seat belt!) made with Encore Colorspun:

The pattern is from the most recent Creative Knitting magazine.

And I completely forgot to ask this knitter's name! Thorpe Hat made with Malabrigo Chunky (I don't have that at the shop, but I do have the Malabrigo Worsted and the Silky Merino!)

Slightly off topic...

A few days ago, I made a pizza that Paul said looked so good he thought we should take a picture of it for me to put on the blog....

It was quite tasty. (Pillsbury pizza crust, but some day I will make my own. In my spare time.)

And that reminded me of the meal I made when my mom came to visit a couple of months ago and she said the same thing.....

(apricot sesame glazed pork tenderloin, bleu cheese au gratin potatoes, and green beans)

Again, quite tasty! I forgot to blog about it though. She specifically wanted to send the picture to my uncle Bob to show him what I made in the pots and pans he gave us for our wedding. We spent about 10 days trying to figure out how to post it on her Facebook page (ok, it was really about an hour an a half).

Back on topic (yarn, the shop etc....), here is one of our Brimfield finds:

...which I spent today putting a clear finish on. And, a sneak peek in the background of the new shelving!

I've been spending the last few days getting ready for the 3rd Annual Fashion Show-and-Tell (and Anniversary) Celebration. In case you haven't had enough reminders from me, it is tomorrow - May 19 - 6-8pm. Food! (the appetizery kind) Prizes! (the good kind) Hope to see you there. I'm slightly concerned about seating, so if anyone happens to have a folding chair and wants to bring one, please feel free. (you could leave it in the car until it's determined we need it...)

What is on my needles?

First, what recently came OFF my needles...

The Kromboommsloot Snood from the Knitting Brioche book:

Made with Debbie Bliss Fez (wool and camel). A very cute, slouchy hat! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the yarn. I can't say it enough. It is so soft and was a really nice squooshy feeling yarn for this pattern. A class to make this hat is coming up. Knitting brioche is a very pretty and interesting-to-knit technique!

And I made this Woodstock Knits Market Bag kit in two days... talk about a quick knit!

A very easy pattern to follow, this is a great bag... I've got a few more kits in the shop and more will be on the way. Perfect summer knitting since it is cotton and you can use it to bring to the beach (not just the market!). And really nice cotton to work with -- it is soft and not hard on the hands like cotton can be sometimes since it doesn't have much give.

Now to what's ON my needles:

I started the Vine Bolero( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vine-bolero ) with Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool:

So far, I'm really liking it, once I got used to how to set up the pattern. The designer was good at giving some tips for how to do this. I'm looking to have this as a class in the summer.

I also started the Shalom Cardigan ( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shalom-cardigan ) with Cascade Eco + :

This is a chunky weight yarn and is going very quickly. Love it so far.

Customer Show-and-Tell:

Max's Constant Companion bag which she made in a class here at the shop:

Knitted in three beautiful Cascade 220 colors!

And Allison's Sheep Tote, also made in a class here at the shop (soon to have a needle felted sheep on it --- more pics to come):

Made with Lamb's Pride bulky -- can't wait to see the sheep!

A gorgeous day for Brimfield!

Paul and I went to Brimfield on Tuesday... it was a beautiful, sunny day! Brimfield is a HUGE antiques show in Brimfield, Mass (near Sturbridge). So many vendors, you can't see them all in one day. We try to go every year and usually look for our favorite vendors. This is one of mine, although I have yet to buy anything there! I just love the look of her booth. Ribbons, buttons and beads.... all color coordinated. It's just stunning:

After we were done looking around and purchasing (you will see my purchases at the shop soon!), we had our usual lunch -- Paul had his Pilgrim sandwich (turkey dinner on a roll) and I had a falafel wrap. YUM! And believe it or not, that's all we had! No kettle corn, no ice cream.

From there it was on to IKEA in New Haven, then home (350 miles later!). It was a tiring, but fun day.

In the car, I was able to finish my Jared Flood Turn a Square hat:

Made with Aslan Trends Artesanal (cotton, alpaca, nylon) -- I love how it came out, although my picture is pretty sad! I didn't have a head at home (Paul was busy).

I also was able to almost finish my Siesta shirt:

The only thing left to do is the applied i-cord to the neck, sleeves and bottom. I didn't realize until later, when I was looking in Ravelry, that I could have done the i-cord bind off on the bottom. Argh. I tried working on the i-cord once we got home but was having trouble picking up the stitches so I'll try again later today with a smaller needle. Can't wait to see the finished product - the i-cord will really make it look nice and neat.

Finally, I worked a little bit on my brioche knit hat -- sorry, no pics yet....

Overall, got a lot of knitting done, which I hadn't been able to do for a while - LOVE long car rides for that!

Customer Show and Tell:

Kathy's pretty stranded gauntlet mittens which she made with the Rialto DK in a class here at the shop:

And her Syracuse-colors double knit hat, made with Cascade 220:

And finally, her gorgeous Ishbel shawlette, made with Cascade Heritage sock yarn:

Laura's adorable baby hat, which she is test knitting for the designer:

Mary Kay's cute bolero sweater, made with Crofter DK:

Sue's crocheted scarf, made in the Crochet 101 class:

Then she went on to make book marks and washcloths!:

Wilna's Periwinkle Sheep socks in the "Rooster" colorway:

Wilna LOVES this yarn and says it's the only one she will make socks in now!

Speaking of Show and Tell, don't forget that next Wednesday, May 19, 6-8pm is the 3rd Annual Fashion Show and Tell Anniversary Celebration at the shop! Come show off your knitted/crocheted/spun/woven items, enjoy some munchies and win some great door prizes!

Needle Felting Frenzy

While I was away, there was a Needle Felted Flower frenzy at the shop! (I hope I read Jana's notes correctly to document whose flowers are whose...)

Laurie with one of her flowers:

And her other flower:

Pam's:

Christa's:

Karen's :

Heather's:

Heather's on her bag!:



Lynn's hearts:

Which she put onto Mother's Day cards!:

And more customer show and tell:

Eleanor's Done by Monday afghan made with Encore:

Robin's Urban Bag:

Lisa with her "The Easy Scarf that Makes You Go Wow" scarf made with Buckingham, and Robin with her Luscious Lace scarf made with Ella Rae Lace Merino:

Sheila's child's hat and sweater:

Stevie's lion and horse washcloths:

And her zebra washcloth:

She took the lion pattern and modified it to make the horse and the zebra - so inventive!



Elizabeth's Baby Suprise Sweater and booties, made for her upcoming baby!:

Jana's baby blanket made with the Eco Cotton for a friend's upcoming baby:

Barb's 8-hour Baby Blanket made with Encore colorspun:

Nancy's double knit hat with the octopus motif!

and the other side!:

Joanne with her Adult Surprise Jacket made with the Cascade Autunno:


All of them are BEAUTEOUS! Keep em coming!