Bird Houses

Yvette taught the Wet Felting 101 class this week and participants made bird houses!

Balloons, roving, soap and hot water....

Once these are dry, they will cut a hole and pop the balloon...

Some of the participants are then planning to needle felt a design on it. Hopefully they will bring them back so I can take pictures of the finished projects.

I have made some progress on my Brigid Jacket but no pics to show yet. I have now finished the back, both fronts and almost one sleeve. The Budding Apple is coming along, but slowly. Hopefully I'll have time to work on both this holiday weekend.

Have a nice holiday weekend everyone! I hope to show you some pictures from Musclepalooza (I'll explain later) as long as the weather holds out....

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL:

Julie's scarf made with an alpaca yarn:

Sue A's socks made with other sock's leftovers:

Melissa's first sweater!:

Liz from Peace Love & Yarn's shawl made with her own hand-dyed yarn:

And her Mitered Crosses blanket square made with Noro Silk Garden and another yarn that I can't remember!:

Nancy M's linen stitch cardigan:

Laurie's Multnomah (with a pretty eyelet modification in the body!) made with Periwinkle Sheep's w i n k yarn:

(This picture isn't picking up the very pretty silvery sparkle!)

Kathy L has been VERY busy again:

Her Multidirectional Scarf made with Chaiten (100% silk!):

Her Traveling Woman (4 repeats of A, one of B) made with Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors sock yarn:

Cedar Leaf Shawlette made with Royal Alpaca:

Another Cedar Leaf made with Pima Tencel:

And there was a third Cedar Leaf made with Jeanne that we didn't see before she gave it to her mom!

Carol's Nancy's Scarf made with Royal Llama Silk:

Linda's adorable Watermellon sweater (a Never Not Knitting pattern), made with Cotton Rich DK:

Summer inspirations

How about these next few patterns to give you some inspiration for your summer knitting?

I'm continuing work on my Budding Apple Shawl:

This is the pattern we are doing for our current knit-a-long which started on Saturday. (Yes, that's the same picture from the last post - I haven't gotten too much farther!) We have several people participating! So far the biggest grumble is about casting on. The shawl is knit from the bottom up, so you have to cast on at least 250(million) stitches. I am doing the medium so I had to cast on 370 (million) stitches. I turns out that I cast on about 1,000 (million) stitches since I started over three times. Somehow I just wouldn't accept the fact that the long-tail cast-on might not be the best to use in this instance. It's never too late to join in on the knit-a-long and we're available for help when you get stuck!

Meanwhile, have you heard that Noro Taiyo is on sale this week? 20% off! I wanted to showcase this yarn because it's a nice option for summer knitting. A worsted weight Cotton/silk/wool/nylon blend with 220 yards per ball. With your purchase this week, you'll receive a copy of the free Multidirectional Scarf pattern which can be made with one (or two) balls of Taiyo.

Here is Trudi in her adorable short sleeve cardi which can be made with 2-3 balls of Taiyo:

This is also a free pattern found on Ravelry here: Gilet court d'ete

And here is Robin in her recently finished Siesta Tee (that one's free too!) made with Cotton Rich DK:

If you are interested in participating in a class for this tee, let me know and we'll put one together!

Customer Show and Tell:

Darla's husband, Charlie needle felted a lining for this pool stick case:

.....which he made!:

Isn't that wood gorgeous?

Mary Kate's Multnomah Shawl (another free one! You'd think I didn't want you to buy patterns at the shop -- which isn't true. I do want you to buy patterns at the shop too!) made with Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors sock yarn:

Stevie's slipper socks which have mohair knitted into the bottom for extra warmth and cushiness!:

Mari's Stranded Tam made in a class here at the shop with Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden:

Susan's wonderful shawl made with many different colors of Cascade 220:

More Purple

In Mandy news, we've received the Thundershirt and she's been practicing wearing it. We are expecting some storms over the next few days so our fingers are crossed that it will help! In the meantime, she's getting a little better at claiming her spot when Phoebe takes it:

I'm finally getting some knitting done! I've got the back and both fronts done on my Brigid Jacket and will be starting on the sleeves today.

I also started the next Knit-a-Long project, which I'm announcing... now! Budding Apple by Anne Hanson: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/budding-apple

I thought it was the perfect project for spring - a very pretty lace shawl. Shawls have been popular lately and I love this one since it has some patterning in the main body as well as teh edging. The pattern calls for a fingering weight but indicates other yarns would be fine, too. So, I'm trying it in a DK weight cotton to have as a nice weight for summer. I'm using the Cotton Rich DK (5 skeins). Who wants to join me in this knit-a-long????

And, starting off the set of finished purple projects (good to know I'm not the only one who likes purple!)..... I've finally finished my BFF socks! In plenty of time for my friend's birthday. Good thing I started them in February....

Made with Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors sock yarn in "Envy".

Alison's Sugared Violets shawl, made with Periwinkle Sheep w i n k fingering weight yarn:

This yarn is perfect for this pattern! The little bit of sparkle in the yarn is just gorgeous. Find the pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sugared-violets

Mary M's Multnomah shawl, also made with Periwinkle Sheep watercolors sock yarn (in Poiple):

Laura's cute baby sweater:

Jean's Cedar Leaf Shawlette, made with Malabrigo Silky Merino (and modeled by Jana!):

Jean's Triana scarf made for Jana for her birthday!:

Sally's Traveling Woman shawl, made with hand-dyed yarn from Peace Love & Yarn:

Fern's Guernsey Wrap (a pattern by Jared Flood)- in-progress, made with Cascade 220:

Pasta???

I went to CT to see my mom for Mother's Day. I took her to lunch (but we didn't have pasta as the title of this post may imply -- more on that later) and we also went to see my sweet nephew Evan play soccer:

He's the one in the middle. So cute, with his shirt tucked in. Evan and his brothers gave my sister the sweetest Mother's Day cards! It was a beautiful, sunny day and so nice to spend some time outside.

If you weren't at the knit-in last week, you were probably the only one... look at this crowd:

As always, lots of fun!

And check this out:

Pasta making at the shop????

No........

Button-making!:

Libby's finished buttons:

Zen's finished buttons:

Great accessories to adorn knitted projects! We're looking to schedule a bead making class next - to use in your knitting or to make stitch markers. How fun would that be?

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL:

Yvette's wet felted bible cover, which she made for the young man she sponsored for his confirmation:

Mary Kate's socks, made with Zauerball sock yarn:

Alison's shawl, made with Periwinkle Sheep sock yarn:

And her adorable needle felted gnomes:

Darla's first sock, made with Plymouth Coffee Beenz:

And check out Jean wonderful knitted chickens and eggs!:

Mary Jane's Flounce scarf:

Heike's steeked wrist warmer: