Natural Stitches: Knitting On

The February newsletter just went out last night, but already, we have so many more new arrivals to add!

• From Interweave, a special magazine, Knitting Traditions, that explores historical knitting in many cultures.
• Here at last! Eco Duo is back in three colors, including the new colorway Storm (perhaps appropriate for using during the snowstorm this weekend?) and the much-beloved Koala.
• DVDs, including series 100 of Knitting Daily and Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Around.
• Lots and lots and lots of new books, such as Spinning Llama and Alpaca; Knit Green; and Knitted Pirates, Princesses, Witches, Wizards, and Fairies.
• Big restocks of Marble, Lorna’s Laces in Steelers Pride (hey, we can call it Penguin Pride too), Cascade 220, and Berroco Vintage.

We’re hunkering down for the snowstorm that’s supposed to be arriving this afternoon. Do you have enough yarn to weather the storm?

“Drab to bleak is a perfectly valid color selection!”

I love gray, and so does Kelli! These colors were inspired by the winter sky, and served as a good reminder to me that beauty can be found in the darkest part of winter. For all of the others who love “drab to bleak,” we salute you!

Every so often, I like to check in with the staff and see what they’re working on. I asked everyone to pull out the project that’s on top of his or her bag.  Some of us got very enthusiastic  and pulled out every project, thus proving the fact that we are NOT monogamous knitters. All links go to free patterns, so we hope you find some inspiration for some new ideas.

Anna: I’m making my son a sweater in Berroco Vintage from the Cabin Fever 1-2-3 Top Down pattern, available in the store. This is my first project with the Vintage, an acrylic/wool blend, and I am a convert!

Carla: I’m working on 2 sweaters both of which I’m designing so no patterns for them yet.  I’m also doing the Saroyan which turned out so beautifully for Anna, only with two strands of Ranco Multy held together. And I am doing The Imagination Cowl; I’m using Ty Dy sock yarn and it’s coming out amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anna's Saroyan, knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino

Kelli: I’m working on the Citron shawl, the Gifted Mittens in Malabrigo Chunky, and Mr. Greenjeans in Dream in Color Classy.  I guess I’ve graduated from 1 project at a time!  :)

Martha: I am working on the brand new Doctor Who/David Tennant Illusion Scarf as seen on Ravelry. I’m using Cascade Eco Alpaca in Baby Camel and Dark Chocolate. For those who know, I’m a little bit obsessed with anything Doctor Who especially Number 10. So far I’ve had two rip once, as I didn’t like my edges and I ended up dropping down from an Addi #7 to a #4. I’m not even 20 rows in but the yarn is wondrous and the pattern is pretty easy to follow until I forget when to knit and when to purl.

Melissa: “Shawl Collar Baby Sweater” from The Expectant Knitter in  Cascade 220/Berroco vintage.  I’m LOVING it, but altered the pattern to pick up and knit the collar rather than sewing it on.  Really needed help with that, thank you Carla & Yvonne!

Steven:  Squirrel Sampler Mittens by Adrian Bizilia in Jamison’s Shetland Spindrift Pine and Burnt Umber, a top-down sweater from Carla’s Top Down Sweater Class handout, and a Dandy Neckerchief. And I just finished a Turn a Square by Jared Flood in Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden.

Teri: “Milky Way” or an 8′5″x8′5″ square afghan - the last of stash yarn called Nancy. i’m about 2/3’s of the way through the body (started skein 28/40 yesterday) so i’m at the resigned stage of a large project.

Yvonne: The project on the TOP of my knitting bag is the Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan by Pamela Costello.  I’m knitting it for my husband and using Eco Wool in the “mocha” colorway.  The other project on TOP of my knitting list is my Discovery Sock, made of our new Abstract Fibers in the “Asia” Colorway.

Excuse me, this is MY knitting.

One of my goals for “Expand Your Fiber Comfort Zone in 2010″ is to block my own stuff and not leave it to sit in crumpled up Giant Eagle bag or hand it over to Yvonne to block. [Note: Yvonne really will block your stuff for a very reasonable price; email her at yvonne@naturalstitches.com for details]. This past week, I blocked two shawls on my own and did a great job, except…..my cat would not leave the shawls alone. My old grumpy orange lady insisted on sitting on the shawls, and no amount of persuasion would convince her otherwise. My blocking space, unfortunately, is in the dining room, which can’t be shut off from the rest of the house.

Panicked, I emailed Yvonne: “how does one keep one’s grumpy, overweight cat off of one’s shawls?”

Yvonne replied:

• Option A: Provide your cat with another soft, comfortable place to sleep — an old dish or hand towel, or perhaps that unfinished sweater from the ‘What Was I Thinking Period’ of your knitting career.
• Option B: Provide your cat with something he or she likes, such as tuna or catnip, preferably in a room away from the shawl.  This, however, does not guarantee that he or she will not crawl to the shawl later in a catnip- or tuna-induced stupor and have a nap to wear off the effects of the chosen drug.
• Option C:  Block your shawl in a cat-free area.
• Option D:  Hand your shawl to a good friend and ask her to block it for you, as you have no cat free area and aren’t willing to have any shawl smell like “tuna cat”.

We’re so fortunate that Natural Stitches is right across from Trader Joe’s.  We make regular stops there after work for groceries, and often, I find myself with a bag full of goodies with no plan in mind for them. This is when I play with ingredients and hope it turns out for the best.

Last week, I had a round of polenta, a package of chicken sausage, a jar of pesto, a bag of baby spinach, and a log of goat cheese. This is what I did:

Cut the sausage into slices and saute in a small amount of olive oil. Set the sausage aside, and slice the polenta into rounds and saute in the same pan until a light crust develops. Then take half the bag of baby spinach and saute until it wilts.

Spray a 6×9 pan with Pam. Layer the polenta, sausage, and spinach and top with spoonfuls of the pesto. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Set the broiler to high and broil until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.  Enjoy!

Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, has been declared a day of service. Here are some ways you can be of service with your knitting or crocheting.

• From our newsletter, one of our customers is organizing Hats for Haiti. Kelly can be reached at ABAFASI@gmail.com.
• Some designers on Ravelry have chosen to donate some of the proceeds of their pattern sales to Haitian relief efforts. Click here for a list of patterns you can purchase to help.
• Click here to read the Yarn Harlot’s Knit Signal to benefit Doctors without Borders.
• Finally, closer to home, we are still accepting donations for the residents of Ward Home, a non-profit organization that helps teens in foster care transition to independent living.

In our last newsletter, David wrote a lovely review of one of our newer yarns, Cascade Eco Duo.  We’ve had several requests asking for the name of the pattern he used. It’s the Man (or Anyone) Cowl from the This Boy Knits blog.  We hope you enjoy this beautiful and functional (it’s great for keeping out the cold!) pattern.

In the December newsletter, I asked the staff what their plans were for holiday knitting. Now that we are past Epiphany and Orthodox Christmas, I thought I’d check in and see how everyone did.

Anna: I abandoned the fish hat as it’s the most boring thing invented in knitting (sorry, Charissa), but I finished all the other toddler hats and the Peaks Island Hood.  Here’s Yvonne modeling the unblocked project:

Martha: I got the two Christmas Stocking that I needed to finish done and in the mail on December 22nd. Never mind that I had WAY more than a year to do these. [Ed. Note: See Martha's New Year's Resolution]

Kelli: I actually did finish!!!  With 3 days to spare I finished the sweetheart top from hemp4knitting and it turned out better than I could have hoped!!! Here’s Kelli’s sister modeling the sweater:

Yvonne: Holy heck, no. But you knew that would happen.   But you know that.

• An Adamas Shawl:  Not done.  Not even close.
• A prayer/comfort shawl: Done, on Christmas Day.
• A beanie for my older son Robert: Not done, because he changed his mind.
• Socks for my younger son Matthew: 1/3 of the way done, because I was working on the prayer
• comfort shawl, after my friend’s husband died.
• My husband has asked for a sweater: Like this was ever going to happen in the first place.
• Plus I want to make something for my mom: I made her a pair of mittens (thank you for the Kate Gilbert Gifted pattern!) and a cowl of  Malabrigo Chunky, and she LOVES them so much.  Also my stepfather asked where his were!
• Finally, I bought LOADS of worsted weight sock yarn to make socks for the family: Yeah, again, not even close.

How did you do?

It’s the time of year for resolutions, but yet when I sat down to make mine, I realized that so many resolutions are phrased in the negative. Resolutions that I might have made were things like “I will not cast on for new projects before finishing old ones” or “I will not buy sock yarn in 2010.” I came to the conclusion that resolutions of this sort only set me up for failure. (Note: I broached the idea that I would knit only from stash in 2010 to my coworkers and they looked at me and laughed and laughed hysterically like Snoopy and Woodstock in the Peanuts cartoons.)

So this year, we are not making resolutions we can’t keep. We are focusing on the positive and stretching our skills, striving to learn and grow all the time. Our theme for this year is “Expand Your Fiber Comfort Zone.” Along those lines, I asked the staff what goals they’ve set for themselves for 2010.

Anna: I am going to make some colorwork mittens, complete a toe-up sock (perhaps finish my Cat Bordhi Personal Footprints sock), and learn how to do a picot hem without handing it to Yvonne and crying “fix it!” I’m also going to finish my poor husband’s Cobblestone, which has been on the needles since 2008.

Carla: I am going to knit the Elizabeth Zimmermann Green (or lost) Sweater. As this project involves steeks, that is how I am going to Expand my Comfort Zone!!!!!It is knit in worsted weight, in the round, with mitered hem, kangaroo pouch neckline, phony seams, and steeked. [Note: Please continue reading for information on how you can Knit A-Long with us on this ambitious project].

Kelli: I want to continue to enjoy what I do and keep on learning new skills.

Martha: I resolve to knit at least two pair of socks for myself and at least START on a Christmas Stocking so I’m not scrambling on December 22nd to finish one in time.

Monica: My plan for the New Year is to hopefully get more of my “ready-to-go projects” started and worked on before I buy more yarn and find new things to add to the queue. I have the yarn for at least half of my Ravelry queue already, so I need to remember to prioritize my paycheck for things other than going right back to the shop.

Steven: I would like to learn Fair Isle and steeking. I also want to knit an entire garment in the Continental method.

Yvonne: My New Year’s resolution is going to be to finish some of those UFO’s that I have hanging around the house for no good reason. Goddess Anniversary Shawl (almost 2 years old) needs to be DONE. Also I need to finish the monkey socks (going on 3 years here) that I need to finish. One is done, and I’m at the heel for the 2nd one! What is my problem!!?? [Ed Note: Um…] I would also like to learn colorwork – I’ve never done anything other than inserting a stripe, and even that wasn’t a jogless one.

What’s your resolution?

On Facebook, I’ve been noting how many handknits we wear on random cold mornings. This morning is so cold, I thought it merited a blog post of its own. Brrr! Today our handknits include a Spiral Ribbed Hat and Elizabeth Zimmermann Mitered Mittens in Malabrigo, a Darkside Cowl also knit in Malabrigo, a Boneyard Shawl in Mochi Plus, and a Noro Striped Scarf in Silk Garden and Cascade 220. It’s cold outside, but we knitters are warm!