Major Knitter

Little Bunny Cosy Class

The second class I'll be teaching this month is for the slightly more involved Little Bunny Cosy by Julie Williams

Saturday, March 21 - 11:00 a.m. 

 

3/21 - You'll make the bunny in a striped sweater.  Beginner-Intermediate skills. Knit flat.  Sewn together. Skills: + k2tog, K3tog, P3tog, inc, M1R and M1L.  Supplies:  fingering weight yarn x3 colors, US size 1 and 2 straight knitting needles, tapestry needle, black worsted weight yarn for eyes and mouth, small amount of fiber fill.

 

Hoppy Easter!

Contact Westport Yarns today to sign up for the class.  

Westport Yarns
582 Post Road East
Westport, CT 06880, US
+1 203-454-4300

Learn How to Knit Your Own Easter Egg Heirlooms

I'll be teaching my first class at Westport Yarns this Saturday, March 14th from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

You'll make either the chicken or the solid bunny.  Pattern for both cozies provided.  Knit flat.  Sewn together.  Beginner knitting skills +K2tog, turn, K3tog, basic embroidery.  Supplies:  worsted weight yarn, US Size 6 straight knitting needles, yarn needle, googly eyes,  small amount of yellow felt for the beak, sewing needle and yellow thread, accent yarn (black, pink, white for bunny eyes, nose, whiskers).  

*Note - for the chicken you'll also need a US Size 1 or 2 straight knitting needle and fingering weight yarn for the crown.  If you know how to crochet, you can also crochet the crown with a B or C crochet hook.

 

These are cute and simple decorations that make such a hit.  I am often asked to make and sell these decorations.  Come take the class and you can learn how to knit your own!

Hoppy Easter!

Contact Westport Yarns today to sign up for the class.  

Westport Yarns
582 Post Road East
Westport, CT 06880, US
+1 203-454-4300

 

 

 

 

 

Finishing Friday: Mom's Cabled Mitts

I have a wonderful group on Ravelry called Finish or Frog It Friday.  I've been virtual friends with the knitters there since 2009 and we encourage each other to finish WIPs and UFOs on a regular basis.  Sometimes we even take a deep breath and let other knitters know it's OK to frog a project that just isn't working and repurpose the yarn.  It's been a blessing to learn that you don't have to finish something just because you started.  Before I started this group, I used to have around 15-20 WIPs or UFOs in my Ravelry queue.  Now I generally keep it to under 6.  I have discovered that I need about 6 projects on the needles at any given time to keep things interesting.  I have never been a monogamous knitter.  I know some people swear by that, but not me.  I get bored.  I need to work on different types of projects for different occasions: gifts; obsessions; socks; blankets; and more.

This week I finished a fun project: Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen.  They were displayed as a suggestion at my LYS, Westport Yarns, for a one skein wonder with one skin of Juniper Moon Farm Stratus.  I'm always a sucker for a sample and something quick and easy - so I bought a skein of red and boom - a FO!

I like the way these turned out.  The yarn is scrumptious which makes them even more fun to wear.

And I had enough yarn to make them longer for my extra large hands.  If I were to make another pair, I'd probably buy a second skein, make them about 2 inches longer on the wrist (because I like long mittens) and I would make closed mittens instead of fingerless mitts.  I always like the look of fingerless mitts... but I've never actually worn them.  They were fun to knit and I'll definitely knit another pair someday.

 

Mom's Cabled Mitts

I went to my LYS - Westport Yarns - last month and bought the yarn with the suggested pattern Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen.  After a false start last month, I started over again this week.  I was nearly finished, but the mitt wasn't tall enough for my women's extra large hands.

Normally, I would pull out my handy kitchen scale at this point and weigh the right mitt and weigh the remaining yarn and see if I had enough to make them a little longer.  Unfortunately, my scale is on the fritz (Read that to mean that it's time to change the batteries and I can't figure out how to open the battery pack).  So instead, I'm doing this the old fashioned way.  I put the nearly finished mitt on a spare set of needles and went back to the skein, and cast on for the left mitt from the opposite end of the skein.

And I'm being extra careful to count meticulously so that the mitts match.  And I actually remembered to place the thumb on the left side for the left mitt so I won't be stuck with two right handed mitts.  

Stay tuned to see how this old-fashioned method of yarn usage works.  

Hurry! Buy Your Favorite Knitter the Perfect Gift TODAY at Westport Yarns!

I stopped into my neighborhood LYS - Westport Yarns - today and discovered they were having a trunk show for a local ceramic artist - Jon Puzzuoli - who had some gorgeous pottery to include several lovely yarn bowls.  

My knitting friends and I have been talking about how we have everything but could all really use a yarn bowl.  I couldn't resist.  I bought myself a present mostly because I'm currently using a plastic container as a yarn bowl.

Yikes!  It's functional, of course, but not very glamorous.  And Jon has so many gorgeous yarn bowls to choose from.

Here are just a handful of the yarn bowls he has for sale at today's trunk show.

Look how much happier my knitting looks inside Jon's pottery.  And I like how the bowl looks like the letter J - for Jennifer.  

Jon will be at Westport Yarns today until 5 p.m.  Otherwise you can find him on his website HERE.

Tell your spouse, parents, children or other gift giving friend that this is on your wishlist.  You'll be glad you did.

Happy knitting!

 

Prepare for Snowmageddon!

Finally!  Here's an emergency preparedness video that actually makes sense. 

 

Thanks to my friend Jay for sharing this with me.  If you live in the Connecticut area - check out this LYS - In Sheep's Clothing in Torrington, CT.  Any store clever enough to come up with this sort of a viral campaign deserves more business.  

Stay safe. Stay warm. Stock up on your yarn now. Snowmageddon is coming.

 

Cephalopod Trunk Show

Today, Saturday, May 11th, my LYS Westport Yarns is having a Cephalopod Trunk Show.  Woohoo!  I couldn't make it so I went yesterday and bought two lovely skeins of fingering weight yarn for socks.

I bought Skinny Bugga - which is a mix of merino wool, cashmere and nylon.  It looks scrumptious!  This fits the category of yarn too pretty to knit, but I promise to knit it up into something very special.

Westport Yarns    
Saturday, May 11th
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Meet Sarah Eyre, Owner/Dyer
Cephalopod Yarns

I hope you can make it.  If you do, say hello for me! 

Beaded Rib Hat

When I was going through my stash to find the cashmere yarn for BF's Valentine's Day socks, I discovered two skeins of black bulky Lobster Pot cashmere.  I must have erroneously purchased these thinking they were worsted weight - intending to make another pair of socks at some point for BF.  

Well, fortunately for me, two skeins of bulky Lobster Pot cashmere yarn is just what is required for Laura Hein Eckels Beaded Rib Hat - available excusively from my LYS Westport Yarns.

And what's better than wearing a very warm cashmere hat in the dead of winter?

So call Westport Yarns and order the pattern today.  You'll want to make more of these hats.  This is my third and I already have more planned down the road.  I have some leftover Cascade Eco+ in a denim blue that I think would make a lovely hat and scarf.  Please tell Laura I sent you!  She'll be thrilled.

That's What Friends Are For

This past summer, two members of our knitting group moved out of the state of Connecticut.  It decimated our knitting group.  We knew about Lisa's imminent departure for two years.  So in January, we started planning a group farewell gift and celebrated with a farewell luncheon where we delivered our friendship blanket.  It was wonderful.  In contrast, Estella, found out she was moving and was gone in less than two weeks from start to finish.  Our heads were still spinning with the news and we barely had time to get our acts together to manage a farewell breakfast.  We knew we wanted to also do a big friendship gift, but there just wasn't time.  

So last week, our expedited (yes - five months is expedited in my opinion for a group project!) gift was finally shipped to Estella in a festive holiday shipping box.  Estella wrote to say that a surprise arrived and she put it under the tree.  

Someone immediately came up with the idea to have her open up her gift via a Google+ Chatroom (or Skype).  So at our Wednesday knitting group, we dialed both Lisa and Estella into our joint video chat and watched Estella open her gift.

 

Estella was tickled pink.  She makes blankets for her family, and they always fight over who gets the blanket.  This one will be just for Estella.  She's already told them!  And each time she wraps up under her friendship blanket, she'll be getting a hug from each and everyone of us in her Connecticut knitting group.

Details:  Sampler Blanket pattern from Westport Yarns
Yarn:  5 skeins Cascade Yarns Eco+ - Sapphire
Needles:   US Size 10.5
Knitters:  five friends
Blocker:    one friend
Crocheters:  two friends (one for seaming and one for edging) 

Enjoy Estella!  All eight of us wish you all the best and miss you dearly!

Second Verse, Same as the First.

OK.  Not really.  But I did knit up another Beaded Rib Hat designed by Laura Hein at my LYS - Westport Yarns.  Instead of the Lobster Pot Cashmere Bulky, this time I used Lamb's Pride Bulky (85% wool 15% mohair)

I used a US Size 8 needle and 1 skein of the Lamb's Pride Bulky.  Since I knit loosely, I modified the pattern by only casting on 72 sts.  

It's a very warm hat and the pattern is unisex - so it's doubly useful.

Whether you're knitting in Lamb's Pride or Lobster Pot - no matter which one fits into your budget - you'll love the way they both knit up for Laura Hein's Beaded Rib Hat.  It's only available at Westport Yarns.  Give 'em a call today.  You'll be glad you did.