Woolbearers is closed on Monday, but we are still there in heart and mind, ordering, writing, catching up. I'm sitting on the couch in our den, Guns of Navarone on the tube, surrounded by four dogs watching me. I still have my pjs on and it's after noon. I'll get up after I write this and get ready for the day.

I haven't written much due to life getting in the way. But I have started and am close to finishing several projects that are really exciting to me. For some reason, I am really loving entrelac, so I am doing yet another bag (in Nashua Creative Focus Worsted), which will be the third. I'll post a picture of the second one when I get into work tomorrow. I think it is so cute, and those that know me know that I am usually nervous about anything I finish. It's done in one yarn that is space dyed. I love the effect. We are now carrying flower pins that are embellished with rug hooking and hand dyed silk ribbon, and I use one of the flowers on the bag. It's wonderful.

Then I started a pair of socks with entrelac cuffs. We dye our own line of fingering weight yarn in forty colors, and it just takes a few yards of yarn to do a row of squares, so we are going to package entrelac sock kits instead of our customers having to purchase whole skeins of solid color yarn for each color used. Look for the kits this fall! (Hopefully!)

I also am knitting a baby sweater our of Mission Falls cotton. It is just fabulous to work with. Mission Falls cotton is so soft and textural. Much of the sweater is done with seed stitch and the yarn enhances the stitch. Started a second one out of our own hand dyed cotton boucle yarn. It is gorgeous.

Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006 issue is becoming my favorite. I finished the woven scarf on the cover in Nashua Creative Focus Worsted, and started the lacy top of Jamieson DK weight shetland. Have the front done and if I could shut my mouth for five minutes instead of talking nonstop, the back would be done soon. I also started on the entrelac wrap sweater in our hand dyed Lanamira cashmere blend. (entrelac again). This will be the first thing I have done in the Lanamira besides a swatch, and I'm excited about working with it. It is so soft and wonderful!

There are a few more things in the knitting bag that are needing attention, a few that are close to being finished, and few that I think I might scrap, just because they have been in there so long that I forgot what I was doing with them. One is something out of my handspun yarn and I wonder what I was thinking....it has the hand of a porcupine and I was doing a shawl. Oh well, live and learn.

We are going to motivate now and go see my daughter in Deptford. The last time I went down there, her little blind dog bit me in the mouth which required reconstructive surgery, another reason I haven't written much. It looks pretty good! The surgery required a little pulling over of the skin on my left cheek, so those frown lines are gone. However, the one's on the right are still there, so I look a little like Bert Reynolds when I smile. I always liked him.

While Suzie is away I thought that I'd post our latest newsletter:

WOOLBEARERS WINTER 2007 NEWSLETTER

Wow – have you been to the store lately? There’s so much yarn you can hardly get down the aisles. We’ve really packed it in --- knowing that you want to have the most variety and highest quality yarns. If that isn’t incentive enough --- we will be having a sale on Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, 2007. If you can’t make it to the store, you can now shop online at www.woolbearers.net.
Yarns
For all you Uruguayan yarn fans – we are now carrying Malagbrigo yarns, Sheep Shop yarns and we are getting in a brand new Uruguayan yarn from a company called Punta del Este. We are getting their fingering weight yarn (wool with a touch of cashmere), a bulkier weight and a linen/alpaca blend – all space dyed in yummy colorways. From Classic Elite, we are getting Classic Silk, a cotton/silk blend and Sundance another cotton blend. Wool in the Woods is coming out with a handpainted cotton chenille blend in 6 different colorways. It will be great for baby blankets. Skacel has a silk blend called Urban Silk that we couldn’t resist in 5 colorways. We are getting Bamboo tape, Summer Tweed, and Handknit Cotton from Rowan along with a ton of new pattern books. We already have our Ecological Cotton in from Nashua. It is naturally dyed pima cotton on 6 different colorways – very soft and knits at 5 stitches to the inch. A pattern book to go with the yarn is forthcoming. We already have our Silk Shire, Royal Bamboo, and Linen Isle from Plymouth. Have you seen Plymouth’s answer to Noro Silk Garden – it’s a self striping yarn called Boku. We knit a small sample and it’s really nice yarn and it felts wonderfully! Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece just arrived in the store – there are so many colors to choose from. We also found a new yarn company while we were at Stitches. They are called JoJoland and we have their sock yarn – a cashmere/merino blend and their Entrelac Shawl Kits. We have tons of Woolbearers’ handpainted yarn. Our latest addition is our new sock yarn. The undyed yarn comes from Cestari farms in Virginia – it’s nice and lofty, even when knit on size 1’s.
Equipment
If you are a spinner or are thinking about it, you must come in and see our latest addition – the Victoria Wheel from Louet. It’s only 6 ½ pounds it folds up, has its own backpack and comes with a Lazy Kate. We are also getting in Aurora’s “Nifty Swifts”, table top swifts to help you wind your yarn. We carry all Schacht, Louet and Ashford products for spinning and weaving. Try out the new circular glass needles – they warm up in your hands.
Classes
We’ve got loads of classes. We are so lucky to have Uyvonne Bigham teach two Machine Knitting classes for us. We also have Nelda Davis coming for a spinning – fiber prep workshop. Other classes include the popular Rug Stomping class and Yarn goddess classes taught by Rosemary Dunaif. Susan Maruska is teaching a needlefelting class. We have sweater classes – Wallaby and Side to Side; lots of Entrelac classes, slip-stitch, cable, sock, spinning and weaving classes. Check the class list for more info.

We are having the Following Trunk Shows: “Noni Felted Bags” Jan. 24-31; Jordana Paige Knitting Bags Jan. 29-Feb 4; garments from Nicky Epstein’s “Edge” book series – March 13-19.
Remember – the first Friday of every month, is our knitting meet-up group meeting, starting at 6 pm. The South Jersey Handspinners are now meeting at Woolbearers the first Sunday afternoon of the month at 1 pm. Join our yahoo group “Twisted Woolbearers” for up-to-date information.
If you are receiving this by “snail mail” please send us your email address. We won’t be using snail mail anymore. Thanks.

Myra & Suzie

Join Our Lace Scarf Knit-along! Last weekend at Woolbearers we held a lace scarf class taught by popular knitting teacher, Gwen. There was some discussion about all the techniques that are involved in the pattern, which got my interest. The collection of lace scarves and shawls by Margaret Anne Halas are each more interesting than the next. Gwen chose Oak Leaf, shown above, for the class. She knit one in Hand Jive Knits and another in Turquoise Jeans by Claudia Handpaints shown above before blocking. Ellen's scarf in Chocolate
Covered Cherries Claudia Handpaints is about three inches into the tails. My scarf is done in JoJoland Cashmere blend sock yarn and I am just beginning the tails. I only had size three needles when I started it (I own a yarn store) so the lace stitches are a little closed. I cannot wait to do another one on bigger needles, out of Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

Please join us as we knit these interesting and beautiful scarves. Margaret Anne Halas patterns are available online at our online store .

I'll keep you posted about the progress of the knitters at the store and hope you'll keep us posted about your progress.

Don't knit with white yarn while eating pizza .... and other wisdom from the old country. Woolbearers held our first annual Finishing Frenzy tonight from 6PM until midnight. Twelve gals got together with unfinished projects and diligently knit until we couldn't see clearly, which often happens in older people. We ate the pizza, we drank the soda. It was all good. And we really did get knitting done! Joanna finished the hat she making for her boyfriend, Rich.

The Market Basket Bag is finally done and felted. In this rare, never before seen photo, my partner, Myra, can be seen to the left of the giant bag.

The smaller bag was knitted by Sabra. She used several different yarns which all felted beautifully including Nashua and Brown Sheep. It's about half the size of the larger.

Oh Mr. Elda, why are you still in my thoughts?

Friday night we hosted our 'monthly' knit in, attended by what will forever more be known as the wildest group of knitting women in Jersey. Occasionally, the conversation strayed from the usual comparison of the latest yarns and needles, to the clothing preferences of retired husbands. Needless to say, it was one of the most amusing evenings we have had, but I still wonder how I will ever get that vision out of my head? And also, thank you Bean.

In a saner moment, we sang Happy Birthday to Joanna, ate delish cake from the Acme bakery, and showed off some truly beautiful knitting.

I have had the luxury of knitting most of the day because I am home sick. Unfortunately, the yarn I need is at the store, so the kimono jacket has been put aside once again and yet another project has begun!

We got some interesting yarns to dye this month, among them a cabled composite yarn made up of a fancy boucle of silk and rayon plied with a synthetic boucle. As a test, I soda ash dyed some of it in the Gold Dust colorway which seems to be a favorite with our customers. It is very bulky.

Sabra showed me a pattern in a book by Elizabeth Zimmerman that caught my interest. The body is knitted in one piece from the bottom up, and then stitches picked up around the armholes and the arms then knitted. Sort of like the Garter Stitch Vest in Folk Vests, which I am also knitting. I thought the sweater would be great in this new yarn. The sizing is done by varying the yarn gauge.

I cast on 120 stitches on size eleven needles and went to town. After about four inches, I thought the yarn would really look great in a ripple sort of stitch, so I did a row of a similar stitch I saw Lily Chin do on the Knitty Gritty TV show on the DIY Network, but it was too tedious to do on that many stitches, so the rest of it will be in garter stitch. Will let you know how it goes.

Getting projects finished, finally, before the holidays has me chomping at the bit to finish more so I can start another sweater. I think I want to do something in the Jamieson shetland.

The Long Sakiori Vest from Folk Vests took me longer than I thought it would. The body is really easy, the back is done in two separate pieces and then joined together. After you finish the fronts and attach them to the joined backs at the shoulders, you pick up stitches around the neck to midchest, knit in seed stitch for a couple of inches, put those stitches on holders and pick up the rest of the stitches from midchest to the bottom of the fronts, put the stitches on the holders back on the needles, and knit six or so more rows in seed stitch. For some reason, I had trouble getting the seed stitch trim to lay flat, so the corners curl. I blocked it to death, and short of cutting some of the stitches, the fronts don't hang right. It still looks very lovely on the dummy, but because I am becoming somewhat of a perfectionist wannabe (thanks to the influence of my partner), I can't stop tugging on the fronts. If I make it again, I think I should add some stitches. It is VERY flattering to wear.

The next thing to get finished gave me the most knitting fun I've had since the Best Friend Jacket from the Knit Stitch and that was the entrelac Market Basket bag from A Knitter's Dozen Bags. I made it in Nashua Bulky and Manos del Uruguay. The squares done in the painted Manos look spectacular. The bag felted wonderfully. Can't wait to do another entrelac project. Gwen is teaching a class on an entrelac vest that looks really fun. It's a great technique to do with handpainted yarn.

So now I have the Kimono Sweater to finish and the Garter Stitch Vest. Easy to knit. The sweater is the first I have done that will actually be big enough to fit me, and I'm not thrilled with the amount of yarn it is taking! So much easier to do a size small rather than the large. (or xl......) Better get back on the diet.

Pictures of all of these things later.

Who's a Lady?



Many years ago when I was a young mother, my operating room job allowed me to wear jeans to work everyday, since I would change into scrubs when I got there. Day after day, my little two year old daughter, would see me wearing clothes similar to what her father wore each day as he went off to classes. One night in mid December, we were preparing to go to a formal Christmas party the hospital I worked at hosted for its employees each year. I made the dress I was wearing, a long, white velvet halter dress with a short little jacket. As I was standing at a mirror doing something, I don't remember what it was, but I was already dressed, I noticed that my daughter was standing next to me, staring intently up at me. "Mom, are you a lady?" she asked, increduously. It occurred to me that the poor kid had never seen me in a dress and watched enough Sesame Street to know that ladies wore dresses.

Only a few years before that, I wouldn't have gone out for the evening without white gloves on. We were talking about white gloves during our knitting group meeting Friday night, and these pictures are the result of that talk. Cate went to Columbus Flea Market this morning and found white gloves, both short and long, still in the original packaging, which had to be from the sixties and seventies. Joanna said they are hard to knit in, but Cate thinks they might work if you are using bamboo needles. I felt so glamorous!

Woolbearers hosts a knitting group of great gals from all over Burlington and Mercer counties. Once in a while even someone from Camden will venture out to the hood to knit with us in the evening.

Last night we had the biggest crowd ever with 17 women squeezed into the space. The pictures speak for themselves. Anyway, it was fun and seeing the different knitting projects was inspiring.

Today was a beautiful weather day and a wonderful yarn arrival day. First, Fed Ex came with a couple of giant boxes, one of them from Brown Sheep. It barely was on the shelves for an hour when new customer, Ann, came in and bought lots of it for a rug she is knitting. It turns out her daughter works at a wonderful yarn store in Colorado. People are so interesting.

Then, a few hours later, our favorite UPS driver arrives and with him a giant box from Plymouth Yarn. Opening the box was like Christmas. We got lots of colors of Linen Isle, a cotton, linen and acrylic blend, very soft and lustrous for $4 a ball! I still think that low price is a mistake. Also, a 100% silk yarn in six wonderful colors, and a colorful collection of bamboo yarn. Finally, we got their bulky baby Alpaca which is super soft, and more colors of an old faithful, Yukon, a super bulky mohair blend.

Old friends Gwen, Janet, Jane, Nina and Debbie came in today, as did several new gals in addition to Ann. It made me feel really lucky to have been in the store today because yesterday a REALLY old friend, Pat, one of our first customers, came in and I was off for the day and missed her. There is a fine line between customers and friendships in many, many instances.

The entrelac purse I am doing is coming along well. Adding the Manos tier seems to be making a big difference. I am anxious to get it done and start another project with Wool in the Woods Pizazz. I found it when we were moving things around in the store today and it really knocked my socks off. I hope I have enough of the colorway to do something fun, like a vest.

Speaking of vests, I finished (almost) one of two vests I'm knitting from Folk Vests. Still have to do the side pieces.

More later.

Stitches.... what can I say about Stitches? I could say that our customers really enjoyed the bus trip we arranged for them. Forty-five excited women on their way to yarn nirvana, plastic and paper ready to depart from their wallets. I could say that it was a nicer venue than Atlantic City; bigger, better lighting, enough chairs and tables to sit and relax between purchases and more food and snacks available. Our customers seemed thrilled with their buys. They are still emailing about the fun they had and the yarn they bought.

But I could also say that I was disappointed in Stitches. I felt badly for some of the small businesses who don't have their own product to promote; Webs was there with phenomenal discounting and who can compete with that? Truly, I wouldn't be surprised if some day I hear that Webs is franchising. I just hope they don't open a branch in my town if it ever happens. I thought it was interesting that the same women who won't shop at Walmarts because they undercut local businesses didn't bat an eyelash at buying from Webs.

So what did I buy at Stitches? Nothing. That's right, nada, nil, nothing. I even gave myself permission to buy whatever I wanted and ran through the show one last time before we left, and there was nothing I wanted. I think I already have everything I want in Woolbearers!

Woolbearers bought some gorgeous angora lambs wool, hand dyed from Shady Side Farms, the people that do our spinning for us, and her booth was one of the few I saw that had something really different and unusual. DoneRoving Farm had some really pretty rovings and handpainted yarns. The new Noni Bag patterns and samples gave me a thrill. I can't wait to get them in the store.

We ordered glass circular knitting needles that our customers bought and were raving about at the show. We gave them a wish list to write down anything they saw that we should stock and I am anxious to get those back to see what we should get.

Maybe by October 2007 I'll be excited about going to Stitches again.

The photo of the bag is the result of a mother in the United Kingdom being inspired by the picture of her daughter's bag, which she saw in this blog. I love that! She saw the picture (Joanna's Noni bag), her daughter sent her yarn, and she took off with her own creation. What a great way to nurture one's creativity.

The story made me miss my own mother in Michingan, and although she doesn't knit much anymore, we inspired each other to bake bread this weekend and talk on the phone during the process.

Inspiration to create fiber art comes from many places. I have the type of design imagination that often is unrealistic in its composition. I see in my mind's eye something that I want to create. The next step is to figure out the method of execution.

For instance, a few years ago I wanted to weave fabric upon which I could then silk screen images that reminded me of Manhattan. However, the images I drew looked too juvenile, so I scratched trying my hand at silk screening and decided to photocopy old postcards I collected onto transfere fabric and then iron those unto the woven fabric. That didn't work either because the postcards were too detailed and the transfers at that time didn't do well with detail colored photos. I forgot about the project until recently. Myra found transfere fabric made of cotton that you run through your printer. I think I'll copy the postcards onto the fabric and sew the copies onto a jacket I will construct out of woven fabric.... let's face it, I am no artist. But I have the desire and inspiration to creat.

Seeing someone else's design, either in a pattern or in the finished work always inspires me. That must be universal and is responsible for all of the unfinished projects I keep hearing about. The desire to create moves at a faster pace than the process allows. This is why I bought the knitting machine, sock machine, and keep looking at the automated looms. Not as satisfying as doing it with one's own hands, however.

Real men prefer knitters....
because it means they may get a great sweater to wear. This dapper gentleman is Stanley, husband of Harriet, an expert knitter with an eye for color and design. She choose Rowan Aran Cashsoft in Charcoal and a handpaint from Schaffer to strand together for this sweater. Doesn't he look handsome? The two of them are a beautiful couple

We love it when husbands, boyfriends, men friends and the rare, man knitter come into the store. We get to hear their opinions and see what choices they make. They love beautiful yarn as much as we do. One couple who come in regularly from the shore spend time finding just the right color for his socks. They love Mission Falls 1824 Superwash Merino. When we order more yarn, I always think of them and their next visit! Men also love the tools we use. They spend time looking at the looms, wheels and handmade needles we carry, examining them and trying to figure out how they are made or work. It's fun.

Color&Abundance .... abound in Woolbearers. I am in the midst of four major knitting projects and as many smaller ones. It is directly related to the amount of color I see every time I walk into the store! Not too long ago, I only had one thing on needles, and then the store sort of exploded with yarn, and I could no longer contain myself and had to start several things at once. The projects are...
1. Sakiori I from Folk Vests of Woolbearers Hand dyed wool boucle in the colorway Amber Lace.
2. Simply Garter from Folk Vests in Woolbearers Ringspun in colorway Women's Intuition. This started out as a gauge swatch for another project, but I liked the colorway so much, I decided to do this piece as well.
3. Kimono Cardigan by Dovetail Designs also in ringspun, colorway Softfall. Just has to be seen, words don't do it justice. I CANNOT wait to finish this sweater!
4. Garter Lace Shawl from Shawls and Scarves, in my handspun yarn. This piece is supposed to be an example of what students will accomplish in our Sheep to Shawl class, if I ever get it done. It's fast and easy, but not as fun as the last project to knit.

I like knitting simple things that showcase our yarn's beautiful colors. Sometimes simple doesn't necessarily mean easy, however. The Sunrise Circle Sweater is a good example of something that is beautiful in it's simplicity, but took extra concentration as each row was different. Hence the eight pages of instructions. I am hoping to find the time to knit it in hand dyed yarn.
Another example of a good technique to use with hand dyed yarn is the slipped stitch. Our customer Gwen, has been knitting with hand dyed yarns using the slipped stitch and the effect is amazing. The color shift behind the slipped stitch gives the effect of stained glass.

more later.....

Noni Bags keep inspiring us to knit! This one, knitted by Myra, is a special favorite because of it's gigantic flowers. I'll have to get a picture of the back with it's equally huge flower.

Our lovely customer Joanna.... and her lovely camisole of Woolbearers Lanamira. Surprising that just a hint of cashmere can make a yarn so soft. I love the waves of color.

I did feel just like a genius.... just as Sally Mellville says you will when you knit her Einstein Coat. This was a very easy, fun piece to do. A couple of weeks of knitting and four skeins of Woolpak 14 ply, and there you are! It's hanging against a background of Lopi to the right and Woolbearers Delaware Valley to the left. Isn't it colorful? I just love our yarn. It's so difficult to limit myself to one or two projects. Each and every time I go into our store, I am surprised by the abundance of yarn!

Felted Tapestry Capelet.... knitted by our customer Joanna, of Jamieson DK Shetland. Isn't it beautiful? The collar is taken off of a sale sweater she found. Perfect.

Still life.... a woman and her yarn.... will not be separated. Linda brightens our day with her lovely smile and kindness and encouragement. She loves our yarn and lets us know as often as possible. That is all handpaint in those bags.