Crazy for Ewe
Knitting the floral trend for fall 2021
Rowan is featuring a glorious collection of everything I love most about Kaffe Fassett in Say it with Flowers. The motifs are familiar timeless classics - Persian Poppy, Turkish Carnation, and Damask Rose, to name a few. Rowan has given Fassett the freedom to design not only the garments, but an entire palette of Felted Tweed to enhance the existing Felted Tweed color range and provide the additional tones to make the designs sing.
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Noro Madara - a sleeper of a yarn
In high school, my twins, Katie and Johnny, had entirely different friend groups, so they didn’t socialize together that much. But one year, a boy a grade ahead of Johnny invited him to a Halloween party. Johnny was pretty sure he wouldn’t know very many people there, so he asked his sister to go with him. Katie wasn’t at all jazzed about the idea, but she wasn’t doing anything, so she deigned to go. Afterwards, Katie said it had been one of the best parties she’d ever been to. She admitted that she’d figured it would be a bunch of boring guys standing around awkwardly, but she said they’d had cool decorations, they’d played good music, and that the kids were all really nice and fun to talk to. She added, “I guess it was so much fun because I wasn’t expecting anything
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Creating a hand-knit wardrobe
In June I had lunch with Barbara, the new head of tourism for St. Mary’s County. She and I had chatted briefly over the course of several months when she attended the LBA meetings. She knew I owned the yarn store in town, and said that I should make an effort to wear the things I knit. “It would be great advertisement for you,” she offered.
I was like, “What do you mean?”
She thought for a minute and said, “Well, I guess I did move here in the spring,
The power of color
We had a lovely knitter in the shop some years ago looking to knit for a basic sweater. “Top down,” she said, “with a round neck and long sleeves,” and added, “Preferably worsted weight.” Ginni found her a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern for a basic top-down sweater with a jewel neck and long sleeves. And what do you know--worsted weight. Perfect, huh?
The knitter looked at the pattern and slowly shook her head, “No, this one is not right.”
Unflustered, Ginni said, “Ok, so I can find you a pattern that is right, can you tell me what it is about this one that is not right?”
It's okay to take a knitting break
Did you get a puppy during the pandemic? A lot of people did. At least that’s what my friend, Norma said. She’s a vet, and she said that she has spent almost all of every day for the last year seeing new puppies. Of course. We’re home more, and we have time for a puppy. What could be nicer?
Other people started knitting. Some started knitting again. They learned a while ago and were regulars in the shop and then they weren’t. And now they are
Knitting for real women, not paper dolls
As a little girl I played with paper dolls. First little Betsy McCall from the back of my mother’s magazine, and then with those more luxurious ones the dolls printed on actual cardboard. I’d sit on my bedroom floor, legs wide, hunched over the books with safety scissors that were never quite sharp enough or pointed enough. My little hands were too clumsy to do a neat job, and there would be white bits clinging to the edges. Sometimes I’d go too close, ruining the illusion once the clothes were on. Worse, was when I’d lop off one of the folding tabs that held the clothes on the doll, or even one of the doll’s hands. You can see why I did not grow up to be a surgeon. Paper dolls were easy. Nice
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Intarsia -- a knitting trend that's here to stay
What do you think of when you hear the word trendy? I think of fleeting fads and foolish looks that you’d be embarrassed to have worn years later. Being trendy, however, is very different from an awareness of fashion trends. Unlike fads, fashion trends are more general developments and changes in the way people dress. Developing slowly over time, fashion trends often become more or less permanent. Even those of us who cling to a fierce sense of personal style can incorporate aspects of fashion trends into our wardrobe.
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Washable Wool vs Superwash Wool
We all have horror stories of beloved sweaters, blankets, scarves,, and more, destroyed by careless washing. I have done it myself, as I’m sure you recall from this blog post. In our effort to avoid felting them into oblivion, we treat our our beloved handknits with great care - perhaps too much care.
Wait, what? You can treat a hand knit with too much care? Yes, you can. Let’s talk about two main mistakes we make with our wool garments, and what to do instead.
Noro Haunui Yarn - an exceptional and exclusive fiber
I talked recently about sustainability and the different yarns in the shop that contribute to greater sustainability in the fiber world. First on my list was Noro, a company whose deep respect for nature flows through every fiber in every skein of every yarn.
Mr. Noro talks about the minimal processing his yarns undergo and the importance of maintaining the aspect of the raw materials that go into the fibers. You will absolutely see tiny bits of silk noile in Silk Garden, poofs of angora bloom from Okunoshima, and an occasional bit of dried grass will probably show up in Kureyon or Ito. It's part of the aesthetic, and it helps keep the yarn
Why do a mystery knit?
If you're new to the shop, you may be wondering, "What is a mystery Knitalong?" In its purest form, it's where you sign up to knit something, but you don't know exactly what that something is. A mystery knitalong is an act of faith. Signing up is a statement that you trust someone enough to follow them on a trip to you-don't-know-where through all manner of you-don't-know-what.
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Knitting a capsule wardrobe
A capsule wardrobe is a carefully curated collection of 30-40 really quality pieces that all look great, fit well, and go together in a myriad of ways, typically for a particular season. It’s kind of the holy grail for women who stand in front of a closet brimming with stuff and still have nothing to wear. It’s a great concept, but what about the stuff we knit? Do they fit in? How do you make it all work?
The answers are, yes, handknits definitely fit, and you have to make a plan and get some basics. Let's look