Just show and tell....

The Wintergreen Fingerless Gloves was a great success! Here is the work the participants did between the two class sessions:

Aren't they pretty?

More Show and Tell:

Iryth's adorable double knit dog paw hat:

Stevie's first completed felted bag project for the Knitting Olympics:

She has one more to do.....

And her very cute snake and turtle eggs (1st picture), complete with snake and turtle inside (2nd picture)

Jana's very soft and sqooshy Dashing Fingerless Gloves made with Cashmere 5 by ArtYarns:

Jan's second Einstein coat, made for her sister with Encore Chunky:

And her very pretty Mobius Cowl made with Noro Kochoran in the class here at the shop:

Diane's adorable squirrel sweater made with Encore Worsted:

Kathy's very cool Bloody Stupid Johnson Hat (see howthe cable just sort of falls apart?):

More Yarn Shop Visits

On Valentine's Day, Paul and I went back to Geneva, NY and Seneca Lake for an overnight trip. We stayed at the same hotel, The Belhurst, but had a different room... it was called The Carriage House and it was it's own little one room building:

Very cute and comfy.

We sat at the bar again to have dinner:

And had this nice view of the lake:

A nice, relaxing day.

On our way out we, of course, stopped at some yarn shops. Paul, in doing his usual internet search for shops (his job when we go away) found:

In Ithaca. Their customer, Connie Chang Chinchio, is a featured designer in the most recent issue of KnitScene (which I hope to have back in stock today - it's a GREAT issue and flew out the door!). So, of course I had to buy some yarn:

Rowan Felted Tweed.

To make the Tudor Henley pattern that Connie designed from the magazine:

Knitting Etc. was a very nice shop with lots of yarn. They had a nice big table in the middle of the store for classes (a crocheted afghan class was going on when we were there).

Almost forgot, I also got these cute stitch markers made by someone local:

Then, as we made our way along to Geneva, we stopped at Finger Lakes Fibers:

In Watkins Glen. Also a nice shop! The owner was there as well as an employee and they were both very friendly --(I forgot to get a card and forgot their names!)-- and they were both familiar with Altamont, promising to stop in the next time they are in the area. The owner of this shop owns another shop, Green Mountain Fibers, in Rutland, VT and previously owned, but just closed, Needleworks Fine Yarn in Greenwich, NY.

I found these goodies there:

Anne sock yarn by Schaeffer and this very cute Dream in Color Tulip sweater kit!

Knitting Olympics Progress:

I'm getting a lot done! The car rides were very helpful and I got my hand-dyed socks finished (I had needed to knit the second sock and I got that done in two days.

This is the yarn I dyed used the Louet Sock Dyeing kit. So much fun! I'm going to be scheduling another class on this in the next session.

I've also gotten another swirl done on my scarf. I'm trying to do one a day so it won't seem overwhelming having to knit 11 swirls (thanks to Trudi for that suggestion). And I'm making great progress on my Heather Hoodie Vest. Got the hood done. Now I just need to do the sleeves (short) and pick up 258 stitches for the button band/hood band.

I was dying to start something with my new yarn, especially the Tudor Henley, but I restrained myself.

And, finally, here is a picture of Paul in his snow plowing hat:

He insisted on the sunglasses. It's a little big/loose so my plan is to soak it and then put it in the dryer for a little bit (fingers crossed). It snowed yesterday, and he plowed. BUT, it was apparently too warm for the hat (34 degrees). Not sure what the threshold is, but hopefully he'll get a chance to wear it before this winter is over.

Progress already!

Before the end of the opening ceremony, I had my first WIP finished! The thrummed mittens:

Full disclosure, I picked the project that I knew wouldn't take me long. I only had about 2 inches of the 2nd mitten and the thumb to get done. That's ok, though -- it gave me incentive to keep going.

Today, I've gotten one swirl out of 11 done on my Swirl Scarf. My plan is to try to do at least one per day in addition to the other things I'm working on.

Customer Show and Tell:

Sandy's fire breathing dragon scarf, made for her grandson:

How absolutely adorable is that??????? He's breathing fire!!!

Sheila's felted hat made with Noro Kureyon:

Gorgeous!

And Lois' TWO cowls that she made after taking the Mobius Cowl class last Sunday:

She's working on her third now!

How are YOUR olympics projects coming along?

Love-ly yarn

(Yarn picture from Romney Ridge Yarn Co.)

Saw this and couldn't resist sharing it with you. Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, so the Knitting Olympics start today, in just a few HOURS in fact! It's so exciting. What's great about my picking to finish some works in progress is that I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH MY WORKS IN PROGRESS! Usually I see them there and think "I really should finish that" but I don't feel excited about it. And usually there is something else I HAVE to get knit for the shop or a class. But now, I've given myself this challenge and my enthusiasm is renewed. I think I'm going to start by finishing my thrummed mitten, but I might change my mind and work on my hoodie vest. I've still got some time.... So, I'll be posting my progress as we go along and, again, feel free to comment here on how things are going for you. When you post a comment, you can just post as "anonymous" and you won't have to worry about a username etc.... If you want to leave your name you can put it in your typed comments.

What I'm working on:

I finally finished Paul's endless snow plowing hat however now I'm having trouble getting a picture of him in it. Yesterday wasn't a good day apparently, but today might be. As soon as I get it, it will be posted.

I started this Easy Bulky Sweater by Yankee Knitter Designs, with the Kids Rock (a new yarn! acryllic and therefore washable and dryable - perfect for kids things):

It really is easy and since I took this picture I've finished the front too (this is the back) and just started on the sleeves. Look for this as a great first sweater class in the next session! (I'm going have to put it down soon, though since my WIP's are waiting!!!!)

Customer Show and Tell:

Lynn's beautiful mobius cowl, made in the class here at the shop, with Noro Kochoran:





Kathy's shawl made with Kathmandu Aran using a pattern from the Friendship Shawls book:

Wonderfully soft, since the yarn has some cashmere in it!



Barbara's afghan made using the Learn to Knit afghan book by Barbara Walker and Encore worsted yarn:

She recently got back into knitting and used this book to help her learn some new stitch patterns. The book has 65 squares to knit but she chose 8 and knitted them each 4 times.



Stevie's fingerless mitts made with Malabrigo Silky Merino (a yarn coming soon to the shop!!!)

This is a wonderfully soft yarn - you'll see....


Happy Olympic Knitting!

All kinds of stuff

First of all, here are some of my Knitting Olympics WIP projects, ready and waiting....

It's so tempting to just get started, isn't it? The aniticipation is killing me - I'm not a very patient person when it comes to things like this.

This past weekend was the beginning of the Wintergreen Mitts class. A pretty, stranded mitten worked on size 0 needles... here's what happened to Kathy:


Ok, my focus was not great - but one of her needles broke in half mid-row. She was unflappable though, and easily replaced it with a spare (luckily the Brittany's provide an extra just for this purpose - they are soooooo skinny!).

And look what Linda made for me:

A miniature yarn shop! In addition to being a knitter, she is a miniaturist. So adorable. I put it next to this little lotion bottle so you can get an idea of how small it is. Thank you Linda!

What I'm knitting.....

My finished Sniffle Mitts! I love them. The tissue pockets were a little challenging for me, especially since I took a short cut and didn't do the basting stitches. Next time, I'll do the basting stitches.

And I'm still working on the endless hat for Paul. I'm hoping to finish it today. It is one of those hats that has a neck part too - you pull it over your head and there is an opening for just your eyes. This was it will cover his nose and mouth and be nice and warm for when he is plowing. If he ever gets a chance to do that again this winter. We're supposed to get a few inches today but who knows if it will be enought to plow.

Speaking of which, the weather is supposed to be iffy around knit-in time, so if you are reading this during the day and are planning to come to the knit-in, give me a call around 4pm to see if we're still having it!

Customer Show and Tell:
Pat's scarf made with a very soft chenille-y yarn:

And here hat and scarf set made from the One Hour Scarf yarn; and her blanket made from stash yarn:

Nice and comfy...

Wilna's almost done Baby Surprise Jacket:

So cute!

Kathy's "A Noble Cowl" made with Louisa Harding Kashmir DK:

She was making this at the same time I was making mine! Beautiful and soft, too!

And Kathy's Pebble Yoke Baby Sweater and Hat, with Saartje's Bootees, all made with Sirdar Baby Bamboo DK:

What an adorable set!

Karyn's Capitan hat - a pattern from Ravelry:

Cute, huh? I forgot to ask her what yarn she made it from.....

Sue's beautiful Waterfall Beaded Scarf:

Sally's "Nancy's Scarf" made with Baby Alpaca Grande:

So soft! Robin will be teaching this class March 13, 9:30-11:30 - call me at the shop if you are interested in taking it.....

Sue's cowl made with handspun yarn she got in a swap on Ravely (yet another fun thing to do on Ravelry) and her Fetching Fingerless Gloves made with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the class here at the shop:

Gorgeous!

Lisa's scarf and hat made from patterns in "A Fine Fleece" with Cascade Heritage sock yarn:

So pretty!

Mary Kate's warm and toasty Thrummed Mittens made with Ella Rae classic:

She made this in a class here at the shop!

Patti's sock:

She working on the other one....

And Maryann's Double Basketweave scarf made with Mushishi:

Pretty yarn!

The Knitting Olympics starts in 2 days! For those of you taking the Ravelry 101 class, I realize that the opening ceremonies overlaps a little with class (they apparently are starting tv coverage at 7:30 ---- I had thought it was going to be 8 or 9), so feel free to bring your project to start casting on in class.....

Knitting from an engineer's point of view

Paul and I were having a conversation the other day and he said "Hey! Knitting follows the first law of energy." Remember, he is an engineer and learned this in one of his engineer-y classes in college. Or maybe it was physics in high school. Can't remember. Anyway, the first law of physics states "Matter is neither created not destroyed - it just changes form." And as Paul pointed out, it does apply to knitting. Fleece turns into roving which turns into yarn which turns into a scarf. It's so interesting to see knitting from his point of view - he is very technical, organized and detail oriented. I'm still trying to convince him to learn to knit - then it would get really interesting!

My Sniffle Mitts are coming along nicely. The mittens are done. I just have three more panels to make for the pockets. Then I'll sew them on and they'll be done.

Still pondering my Knitting Olympics project and still leaning toward challenging myself to finish my unfinished projects. But, I'm itching to start something new too!