Be Our Guest

On Wednesday night at the knit-in, we welcomed Emilia Laime, Director of the La Imillia Knitting Group in Arani, Bolivia. That's her in the hat (which was crocheted...I think...out of thin thread and then coated to make it strong...wow!) and her translator and business associate Tamara Stenn who owns KUSIKUY Clothing Company in Brattleboro, VT. KUSIKUY commissions La Imillia to knit designs out of the native Alpaca from Bolivia. These hand knitted items are then sold a boutiques and high end specialty stores in NYC and LA.

Emilia's work was just gorgeous and what was even more amazing about it is that all the women in her company knit on size 3 needles...yup...everything...from the hats, mittens and sweaters. And...they knit them fast. Most of them learned to knit at a company that paid them by the sweater so their incentive was to knit them as quickly as they could. And...they are gorgeous. I'll be wearing one of them at the shop this weekend as the samples were for sale and well...a few of us couldn't resist!

Below, Tamara is wearing the hat and scarf that she commissioned Emilia's company to design and knit. She asked them to come up with something for children and they came up with the gorgeous tiger mittens, hat and scarf. It was too cute.

I wish I had taken more notes but it was just so fascinating that I forgot. Oh well... I hope those of you that were there enjoyed the talk and her work. Anyone that was there, feel free to leave comments at the end of the post for the rest of us. Any tidbits you remember would be great!

Now...on to customer show and tell...

Isn't Karen's Leaflet Cardi just gorgeous. That was the KAL we did at the end of the summer and she knit it in that beautiful color of Pastaza.

And Annie...she made something for herself for once. I believe she'd been working on this for quite some time which makes it even more special. We all oohed and aahed over it on Saturday. It's Deb Anderson's leaf pattern shawl in Noro.

Take a look at all Mary Kate's mukluks. I do believe that ALL of her family will be getting these for Christmas this year!

Here is Libby's B4 bag made in class at the shop. That picture does not do it justice. The color combination is so nice. Notice those needle felted buttons. She made those in another class at the shop. They match perfectly!

And here is Teri's lockspun. She spun and dyed this herself. It is just beautiful. She started knitting a scarf with it at the knit-in on size 19 needles. Our guest, Emilia, got a big kick out of the size of those needles. Compared to the size 3 she's used to, they looked like tree trunks!

Well...that's all for now. Have a great weekend. Hope to see you at the shop soon!

Rhinebeck and other things

Well...it's been a while since I've posted...mostly because we were getting ready for Rhinebeck.

I didn't take very many pictures when we were there because we were very busy. These are a few from my mother and Kevin's sister. Jana and I setting up. Can't believe I was smiling...must have been a smile of confusion. Oh boy...where to put things!

And below...me, Cece, Joan and Jana in front of the Jessalu bags. We just couldn't get over how cute they all were. Again...we're smiling...must not have been too bad. At this point, maybe we were almost done setting up? Phew...

And me and Joan. I'm wearing Jana's Pagewood Farm Handspun Bouquet hat. Isn't it just great?!?! By the way...it's not too late to order one of these skeins!!!

Well...I guess that's it for Rhinebeck pictures. Next year (and yes...there will be a next year) I'll try and take a few more pictures throughout the weekend.

Now...onto some show and tell...

Here are Sheila's socks made out of the Ella Rae Amity Print. These are just great!

And, I think this is Mary Kate. That shawl is just beautiful.

And Jan's sweater that she made in the Top Down Pullover class at the shop. It's made out of the Encore Coffee Beenz and is just lovely.

Beth's beautiful baby blanket.

And Joan teaching Courtney's son (whose name escapes me right now) how to knit during last week's knit in. So cute. He was doing very well when he left.

Sorry about this picture. One because I can't get it to rotate and two, because I don't know whose it is. It's just beautiful though. Leave a comment if it's yours!

And here is Ronnie's dishcloth made in the beginner's class at the shop.

And Joy's dishcloth, also made in the beginner class. Good job to both of them! Welcome to the knitting club!

That's all for this post. Have a great week and a very Happy Halloween!

Party!!!

Well...after 2 months of owning the shop (can you all believe it's been 2 months???) we finally decided to have the "official" turnover from Liz to me. So, Friday night, we had a little party to celebrate. We had a very nice crowd of about 30 people with some great food from our local orchards and vineyard. Thank you to those of you that contributed snacks as well! Everything was just yummy!

So, this is the official handing over of the yarn. And...if you look closely...the needles are upside down. Ooops...oh well. If you can't tell, we weren't sure which camera to look at. I wonder if anyone took a picture where we were both looking at the same person.

And, below are Liz and I and the "shop girls". I couldn't have made it through these last 2 months without all of them and I really appreciate everything they have done for me. So, thank you to Robin, Joan, Yvette, Jana and Liz! You are all wonderful!

So, as many of you know, one of the big reasons why we put off the celebration for so long was because of the friendship quilt being made on the sly for Liz. It took a while to coordinate everything, of which I had nothing to do with other than making my one square. So, for those of you that contributed, I know that Liz absolutely loved the quilt and if you check out her blog, I'm sure she'll be posting something about that soon. But, once Joan actually pulled it out of the bag and we all ooo'd and ahh'd over it...there were ends to weave in!!! So...how do you like the teamwork??

Here is a close up of the quilt. I have MANY more pictures, thanks to Christine who took the pictures on the shop camera. I will put a slideshow together for the knit-in on Wednesday. I just couldn't upload them all here.

Again, thank you all for coming in last night. I hope you had a good time. I know I did!

So, on to some customer show and tell. Today Karen taught a felted buttons class. Here are the ladies looking like they were having a good time. And Janell with the BIG needle...YIKES! I'm happy to report that no one needed a band aid.

Here are the bottons they all made. Aren't they just gorgeous????!!!!!! I was so jealous that I wasn't taking the class!

And, here is Mary's scarf that she made in the beginning knitting class that Robin taught last month. Isn't it just great? What a nice fall scarf!

And, another beginner, Kate, and her ribbed scarf made out of Riva. I think we've got them hooked. What do you think?

Stevie is up to her cool tricks again. Don't you love the tiny crab finger puppet she made for Sally? How does she do that?

And last but not least, Janell's very pretty pink socks.

Have a great week everyone. Don't forget to check out the slideshow at the knit-in Wednesday!

Out for a Sunday Drive

So, most of you know that Kevin and I have a farm. Well...it's actually his farm, I'm just the rake girl. This Sunday was part of a beautiful stretch of Fall weather which means it's time for second cutting. So, I figured I'd show you all how I spend many a Sunday in the summer and into the fall. This is my rig, which when driven right, makes those pretty rows below... which Kevin is gobbling up in his baler. Doesn't that look like fun???

So far we've baled 775+ large rounds bales this year. It takes a lot of hay to feed 100 head of cattle!

Now onto customer show and tell...

This is Sally's scarf made from a Woodstock Knits kit. It's so nice and soft...just lovely!

Look at all these Aviatrix hats. Aren't they adorable? I'm sorry, I'm not sure whose they are though. Anybody?

Here's Sue Z's KGA's Blooming Felted Bag made during a class at the shop. It's just great. Love the button too! You can learn to make a button like that next Saturday 10/1 in Karen's class!

Cathy's Noro Striped Scarf and Noro leaf hat. Just beautiful.

Take a look at Allison's knitted cuffs with the needle felted embellishments. Aren't they cool?

And her knitted gauntlets with those fabulous ribbons.

And Kathy L's been up to her ears in knitting again! The slippers were made during Trudi's class here at the shop and the hat is made out of the new, wonderfully soft Eco Duo. Sorry...I forgot what the scarf was made out of but it's so beautiful.

And Mari's top down sweater also made here in class. My picture of it doesn't do it justice. The color of it is just great for the fall!

99

This is a picture of my Grandmother taken by my cousin Carin, the photographer extradinare. My Grandmother died this week at the tender age of 99 and 7 months. My family will miss her and I want to thank you for all your kind thoughts and words this week.

The last two weeks have been very long for me between Kevin's parents being flooded out of their house because of Irene and the death of my Grandmother. Hopefully we'll get caught up this week and maybe start some kind of routine.

So, if I haven't posted in a while, it's in part because of my crazy life in general. But, people have been knitting around me so I do have pictures to share below. Everyone just amazes me with the lovely work they do.

I'll do my best to keep up with the blog but it probably won't be as frequently is Miss Liz did so bear (bare? which word should I use here English teachers?) with me.

So...on to some customer show and tell...

Jana's Blue Lace Shawl. I think the name of it is Eilli...that's what I had written down anyway. She knitted it with the Peace Love and Yarn. It's absolutely beautiful.

Heike's Morning Surf Drop Stitch scarf made with Tussah Silk. It's lovely and she was so excited to show it to me.

Kathy's mits made during class here at the shop. She made them with two colors of the new Cascade 220 Sport.

Laurie and Kathy's Leaflet Cardis, knit during the knit-along at the shop. There are still some more of us hoping to finish soon...me included!

And...Kathy's Mukluks...she's been busy as usual.

Annie's slouch hat made out of Cascade Eco-Duo. Have we mentioned how soft this yarn is???

Sheila's Gilet vest made out of the new Nadeshiko yarn from Noro. It's just beautiful.

Libby's Lana Grande Hat. So soft and squishy and is a very quick knit...

Needle felted flower from Trudi and Karen's class. Not sure who made it but it's very pretty.

Needle felted dog. How cute is that?!?!?

More hats from Annie! She's on a roll!