Several months ago I wrote about a knitting needle stabbing me in the knee as I was leaving the store and complained that it really hurt. Well, I just read about a fellow knitter who was carrying her knitting bag, tripped and fell and was stabbed by a needle that almost pierced her heart and she lived to tell the tale! It was a Brittany needle no less. You can hear Ellin Klor's story here. Maybe those guys making the TSA rules about knitting needles weren't so wrong after all.

The last Knit to Fit class of this session was last Saturday. Some of the gals completed their sweaters, others were in different stages. All of the sweater are wonderful examples of what you can do without a pattern -- all you need is your imagination.

Here some of the students are examining Linda's finished sweater. She made it out of Bambou Soft and opted for 3/4 length sleeves. Knit to Fit indeed.

Here's Julie's creation out of Manos silk/blend She decided to do a rib pattern to avoid pooling, as this does happen sometimes with hand dyed yarn. Great job!


Jeanne used Cascade Dolce and a beautiful pattern stitch to show off her beautiful sweater.

Susan is partially done with hers. She is working with Rowan Felted Tweed. I just love the stitch she chose and love that buttonhole!



Carolyn is almost done with her Cascade 220 sweater. So nice to be able to try it on as you are knitting.

Hannah is wearing her finished cardigan. She wanted to replicate an old sweater that had worn out and she did a great job. This one is out of Cascade Eco Wool.

Sunday we had our knitting group and some old friends came to visit as well. Here, Phyllis is casting on for another baby sweater, while Linda looks on. Kelly, Linda, Brooke, Donna, Tola and Elda are knitting away.

Kelly started crocheting a rug and is in the finishing stages of her Autumn Aster Manos sweater from a pattern in the Interweave Summer 2008 issue. Pattern is by Michelle Rose Orne.

Judy and Marian are knitting away. Everytime Marian wears the Shrug she knit from a Plymouth pattern, somebody else wants it. I think this is her third or fourth one.

Ruthie stopped in to pick up more Malabrigo and to show me her completeld Malabrigo vest and of course it is purple!

Here is a picture of the bride. Joanna got married on Friday and still found time to come and knit at Woolbearers on Sunday. Here are some pix of her shawl -- which must be seen in person to be appreciated. It is absolutely fabulous.

Yesterday was like Christmas all over again. There were tons of boxes all over the place. Here is an order from Brown Sheep. Lots of Superwash Worsted weight Lambs Pride. I made a Positano Tote from the Interweave Knits Winter 2008 issue out of it. The superwash yarn will be great for one of our upcoming classes - Xtreme Sock Knitting. Take a look at our class descriptions if you are interested.

But the best part of the opening boxes was seeing all the new spring yarns that have arrived. Bernadette got busy and shelved all the new yarns.
I've been waiting for Classic Elite's Sprout -- it's a bulky weight organic cotton -- 3 or 4 skeins is all you need for a summer top.

Baby Bunny from Plymouth is a 5 stitch to the inch cotton/modal blend. Modal is a rayon like substance that is very soft and supposed to be resistant to shrinkage and pilling. Come in and squeeze the Baby Bunny. Pattern support is great too!

We just reorderd our Crystal Palaca Bunny Hop -- here are some new colors. This yarn is great for baby blankets.

Love the SilkyAlpaca from Classic Elite. It's a laceweight yarn -- 430 yards for $9.95. Can't beat that!

Got some new colors in of Rowan's Purelife Organic Cotton. It's a DK weight and now they have a new pattern book for the yarn and of course, since it's Rowan you know the patterns are great. I just started knitting up one of the cute little animals. Nice soft yarn and great stitch definition.

The folks at Frog Tree are branching out beyond alpaca and wool. Here is their latest -- Picoboo -- it's a cotton/bamboo blend at 5/inch.

Mystik from GGH is a rayon/cotton sportweight blend. I think it will be great for shawls and such.

I finally brought Berroco in -- along with all the great Norah Gaughan patterns. Here is the Pure Pima in about 20 colors (still waiting for a few). Its a dk weight cotton.
I couldn't resist Misti Alpaca's cotton/silk blend. It's a worsted weight yarn and would also be great for baby blankets among other things. Sooo soft.


Another new Rowan yarn called Lenpur -- a linen/cotton blend -- and of course great Rowan pattern support.


There's lots more -- come in and see for yourself.

We had a wonderful class in learning how to weave on the Knitter's Loom. Here Amy and Mary are warping their looms. Trish tells me that warping a Knitters Loom is so much easier and less time consuming than warping a "regular" loom. In a three hour class these gals all had their looms warped and were weaving away.

Death by Spinning Wheel. Yarn shop owner wear may hats, knitted or otherwise. We are yarn pushers, teachers, bookkeepers, vacuum cleaner operators, hostesses, and social workers to name a few. One of the jobs I frequently hate is negotiator. Yesterday, one of my newer customers came back in. Last week, she bought a spinning wheel. Not just any wheel, but my Schacht Double Treadle. I think it's the best wheel on the market. It's the one I own. I always talk it up when I am asked about spinning wheels. It is pricier than most, but well worth it. I always say that it's the only wheel you will ever need. You may want other wheels as well, but you don't need them if you buy a Schacht. So, I was really delighted when this customer walked in and said that she wanted to buy it. She came in two Sundays ago and purchased said wheel and I thought everyone (including me) was happy. Well, she came back last Sunday and said that the wheel was literally killing her. It wasn't that it was this wheel in particular, but any wheel would be the same problem for her. You see, she has asthma and allergies, can't take medication, and when the wheel is working, it kicks up fiber into the air and her throat closes up. It took her a few tries at the wheel to figure out what the problem was. I told her to try wearing a mask when she spins. My son thinks she should wear a Darth Vader mask. I think that's too extreme, although I do like the image of Darth Vader spinning my hand dyed merino. So if she wants to return it, what am I to do? Of course, I don't want to be blamed for her death; (I wonder if Schacht has an insurance policy -- I must call them) I will take the wheel back if the latest remedy doesn't work. It will sell another time, I'm sure.

Friday night was our knitting group meet-up. Here are the latest projects, some in progress, others are actually done!

Donna's sweater knitted out of Artful Yarns Shakespeare.

Rachel's Peacock shawl out of Lacey Lamb. Love the color!

Brenda finished her Baby Alpaca Grande vest.

Gwen is crocheting with our newest cotton -- called Algarve from Skacel. It is self striping and runs about a sport-DK weight. Great colors!

Here is a Hallowig (pattern from Knitty.com)

Don't you just love Barb's intarsia socks?

On Sunday, Teri stopped in to pick up some yarn that I special ordered for her. I asked her to bring her latest creations and of course she did. Hopefully, Teri will be teaching another class for us again in lace knitting.

Old Friends. Everyone who knits these days has joined Ravelry, or at least they ought to. I finally gave in and joined Facebook, thinking I would find some of my old college friends. Instead, I found gals that I was friends with in 7th grade. Yes, we all went to high school together, but I don't remember high school. It's all a big blur now. But I do remember 6th and 7th grade. We got together last weekend, since Nancy was flying in to town to see her mom. It was so wonderful to see them -- I hadn't seen any of them in over 40 years! We talked for hours. I can't wait to get together again. Nancy asked me about how to teach her mom to knit who is a lefty. I told her that I teach lefties to knit continental and that usually works. If anyone has other ideas, I'd love to hear them. I had to leave a little early to see my 90-year old Dad. Of course, he had to wear his Woolbearers hat.

On Saturday, we had a few classes going on. In my last post, you couldn't hardly see what the felted entrelac gals were knitting. Well, this week -- most of them finished their bags and are waiting to felt them..




I love the fact that everyone used such different color combinations. Even though they used the same pattern, each bag looks completely different.

Judy finally finished her first pair of socks. These may also be her last!

Here, is one of Tola's latest creations. She double stranded some Diamusee Fine with Cascade Heritage. Great socks!


Robin finished her Adult Surprise Jacket -- guess which entrelac bag is hers.

Harriet loves to knit sweaters for Stanley and he loves showing them off. This one is made out of Knit One, Crochet Too's Linus.

New Kauni Colors on Cones and in skeins

New sock kits from Mountain colors -- one skein of Bearfoot and a sock pattern.

New bags from Betz Designs