Carpet Bags

One of the stops at TNNA was to see Megan at St. Clair Designs. We have three new Carpet Bags in the store.

Bev tried really hard to take the brown bag home with her but I fought her off. I think this might be the one I want.

These bags are sewn by Megan-not in a factory and her father makes the oak handles for her.

There were more goodies in my suitcase. Shawl pins from Jul.

Tendril Fermoire

French for closure, this pins work with knitted or woven fabrics. Handmade in white bronze with semi-precious stones.

We received a shipment yesterday with more Coat of Many Colors kits from Mountain Colors-this is the cover jacket of the knit Swirl! book.
I showed this from Columbus but here is a larger picture. The Clematis colour way. I like this one too!!

Tonight we are heading to the parents for the last minute 'to dos' in the house. Tomorrow night will be their first night sleeping there.

I have no personal knitting to report. I didn't take anything with me to Columbus because I knew there wouldn't be time. Last night I was way too tired. Maybe this weekend there will be some pictures from my needles.

Coat of Many Colors-It's Done!!

Jane just sent me an email-it's done! I was going to wait until tomorrow to share but I'm so excited by the finished product that I couldn't wait.

 It is amazing!!

 I love how it sits in the back. The yarn drapes beautifully.

Mountain Colors did an amazing job putting together this colour combination.

Thank you Jane for sharing your work along the way. It sure made writing posts easy.

Coat of Many Colors-Almost Done

Yesterday afternoon Jane brought her knitting in for me to see. The Coat of Many Colors from knit, Swirl! This is the Clematis colourway. I have added the kits to the website and more kits are on order.

The finished product is going to be beautiful. Jane is going to look sharp wearing this at the Knitters Fair!!

It is time to sew up the sleeve seams and across the back shoulder. You can see the gap where Jane's shirt is showing though. This will be sewn.

There are a lot of ends to sew in but when you see the finished jacket it is totally worth it.

Here are a few answers to questions you have been asking

1. Is it hard to knit? All you need to know is knit, purl, increase, decrease, cast on and cast off.
2. Is it challenging? Yes. You are starting with a lot of stitches (over 600) and decreasing every row. The garments in the book are a leap of faith. As you are knitting you have no clue how things are going to work and you have to trust the pattern. This is not a pattern that you can make changes to. You have to work it as the book says. Remember, challenging does not mean hard. It just means that this isn't something you are going to knock out in a couple of weeks. You have to watch what you are doing but the end result is something that people will stop you on the street to look at.
3. Is the pattern easy to follow? The patterns are very wordy which is a good thing. Each step is explained very well. There is also a chart that shows how many stitches you should have on every row.
4. Are there any tricks? Stitch markers is one. The pattern says to put stitch markers in certain spots and these are a life saver. Photocopy the chart. There are many pages to each pattern and this way you can lay the chart out as you are reading the pattern-this will show you the number of stitches. Make lots of notes. This way you will know exactly where you are if you lay your work down for a couple of days. 

I laid the book out and took a few pictures for you of the graphs. These aren't clear on purpose-I'm not trying to share numbers with you. I just wanted to show how well written and knitter friendly the patterns are.

This is the graph for the sleeves. It makes absolutely no sense looking at it but when you are knitting the coat it makes total sense.

While Jane was in the store she picked up yarn for another project. Thank goodness someone is getting some knitting done. There should be boxes arriving soon from Lynda and Wannietta as well. More knitting pictures because there hasn't been anything from me. I'm thinking of knitting a scarf just so I have something to show off.

Orange is the New Awesome

This came in an email yesterday from Namaste. I'm getting the Mini-Messenger (pictured on the right) for traveling.

I called Namaste to get the bags on order. Nancy told me that the colour is beautiful in real life. I also asked if we are getting anything new for fall. I can't tell you the answer but watch my blog June 23-24.

Jane just emailed me this picture. The knitting is done.

Okay..so have finished the knitting. Hooray!!!   Now will have to sew in 1001 ends.  That will have to wait a day or so. Kind of buggy eyed right now. The end result I think will be beautiful. 

It is amazing!! Can't wait to see it done.

I don't have any knitting to report. Last night Beth and I did some running around for mom and dad. We bought the rest of their towels, bedding for the upstairs bedroom and then their TVs. We didn't get home until 10 and I was way too tired to look at my needles. It is starting to set in that the Breezy Cardigan won't be done in time for TNNA. Luckily I have a closet full of sweaters-I will find something to wear. :)

Good day to be knitting

What a crummy day today. It is pouring rain and cold. It's one of those days to be sitting in front of the fireplace working on your knitting.

Jane worked yesterday afternoon and brought the Coat of Many Colors for me to see. The sleeves are started.

You can see the needle lying on top of the work-these are the stitches that were cast on for the sleeve.

Mom and dad's townhouse is almost ready. I was there yesterday because the hardwood floor is finished. Unfortunately it is covered in cardboard so no one damages it.

The railings were getting the second coat of stain yesterday. They are a dark grey colour that matches the hardwood.

Mom and dad didn't want a fireplace but Beth and I wouldn't back down. They are going to love it. My guess is that it will be on all winter.

When Beth and I were at Terra the other night we ordered a plant for the front step of their townhouse. Last night we picked it up. At the entrance there are two pots like this-I want them for the front of my store. Beth laughed very hard and said 'in your dreams'

It was a day for crossing a few things off the TO DO LIST. I hate that list.
-at the end of this month we travel to Columbus, Ohio for TNNA-where I see the new yarns, books and accessories for fall. We changed the day we are going so I had to change hotel reservations
-book a hotel room for TNNA in February-Long Beach, California. It seems a long way off but before you know it the hotel is sold out and it is right beside the convention centre and across the street from California Pizza Kitchen. It doesn't get any better than that.
-count some yarns (tosh sock and Noro Taiyo Sock) and get the website updated
-place orders

It is much later in the day and the rain is really coming down again. For a while this afternoon it was just slight dripping but now it is buckets.

I'm going to put the computer away and get to some knitting. The Breezy Cardigan isn't going to knit itself.

Coat of Many Colors

Yesterday was a busy day. Bank and post office to start the day. Then a trip to see Trish and have my hair done. I called Beth as I was leaving and we met at home to head to the golf course. Yes, we did golf in that heat. It was a great day. The course was empty-like it was ours. I beat Beth on the front nine. This is a rarity. I was 8 and Beth was 6 when we learned to golf. She has always been better than me. I quit when I was 13 and didn't pick it up again until I was 20. I was studying to be a Chartered Accountant and thought it was something a Chartered Accountant should be good at. Now it's just a fun day out. We got home around 8 and it was time for bed. It was seriously hot on the course and I was wiped out. There was no way I could sit down and write a post.

When you go to bed early you get up early. More parcels were packed and were delivered to the post office on my way to work. I was early and started on chores and ordering yarn.

I had no clue what I was going to show you today and then Jane came in with her knitting. Perfect.

I love the colours and how they are blending together.

Jane set it on the floor for me to see her progress.

It is hard from the picture to understand how it is going to be a cardigan. Jane put it on so that things make more sense. I looked at the pictures that I took at TNNA and I think we put this on Jane upside down.

Jane has some rows to knit and then she will start casting on for the sleeves. When the sleeves are done there is one seam to sew across the back neck.

Hopefully Jane will take pictures when she starts adding on stitches so that you can understand a bit better. This is one of those projects where you just have to have faith that it is going to work.

It is beautiful. If you can't make it to the store to see it when Jane finishes we will have it at The Knitter's Frolic, Knitting Camp and Woodstock Fleece Festival. This is definitely a garment we will be showing off.

There are 7 colours combinations for the coat. Jane is currently knitting Clematis.

It is time to get back to work. I placed some orders this afternoon and there are a few more to do. Then it is time to get to the website. I haven't spent enough time on it lately.

Jane has been busy

The Coat of Many Colours is growing. As you can see Jane knits very fast.

Well...we are finished going round and round. Am now going back and forth. Have started the collar decreases. Getting a bit cumbersome on my lap..but the good thing is, there are less and less stitches at this point. Love the colours and the wool is beautiful to work with. After I finish this one..I may have to make another 

I can't wait to see it. I'm glad that I picked this colour way.

We are expecting the new Kim Hargreaves book Indigo sometime this month. I just called the supplier to see when it will be arriving but they don't have a date for us yet.

They better hurry-we are almost half way through May.

The garments are fabulous.

When I go back through my old Rowan magazines I am still drawn to the garments designed by Kim.

There will be two new Kim Hargreaves books coming for fall
Quirky in August
Enchanted in October

I just spoke with Rebecca at madelinetosh and they are going to get some yarn shipped to me very soon-hopefully next week. Vintage, sock and merino light. Not all the colours of merino light that we are out of but a good start
-badlands
-baltic
-betty draper blues
-bloomsbury
-calligraphy
-charcoal
-composition book grey
-cove
-dalia
-envy
-glazed pecan
-hickory
-jade
-kale
-mica
-nutmeg
-onyx
-persian rose
-rosewood
-terra verte
-thunderstorm

Mark your calendars for the beginning of June. There is a surprise coming that I haven't talked about yet.

From the publishers of Vogue Knitting - the preeminent publisher of knitting titles in the world!

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NORO Knitting Magazine will contain inspiring articles, both drawing form interesting topics in the knitting world and from Vogue Knitting's wealth of technical knowledge and expertise, as well as the latest news, products and yarn information. The magazine will showcase over 40 original designs, and complete instructions for creating these beautiful knits will be included.

The homeowners meeting last night-there isn't much good to say about it except for the fact that I got to knit for 2 hours. My cardigan is on addi turbo needles. The questions started getting stupid and repetitive which got me knitting faster. Beth gave me a dirty look and said that my needles were clicking very loud.

My rearranging in the store is pretty much done. Garments and yarn have been moved. Now it's time to make up some kits that we are out of. I might knit some as well. The cardigan is not growing fast enough for my liking.

Coat of Many Colours

Jane has started a new project for the store. I asked her to send pictures so that I can share her progress with you. She even wrote out a post for me. I like this idea. Hopefully she will keep taking pictures and writing about the knitting as it grows.

This  

is going to be this.  It is mindless knitting right at the moment. After the initial casting on so many stitches and then making sure it is not twisted..it really is just knitting and purling. Will see how it grows

Melo made it through surgery fine. He came home with an ugly cut up ear and very clean teeth. We left the cone off for a while because he was just lying on the floor sleeping. When he woke up he shook his head which caused his ear to bleed. We put the cone on him which made him very sad. He asked that I don't take a picture-he looks so sad and silly in the cone. We stayed downstairs with him and I had to put my knitting away because he just wanted me to rub his head. Beth is working from home today so that he can relax. Actually, we didn't know how we were going to get him in her truck with the cone on. He has no clue how to move with it on.

Here is my knitting so far.

June 20 is going to be here before I know it. My fingers better start moving quicker if I am going to get this done!