knitch

August 19, 2011 

 

Quick Links
  
  
 
Find us on Facebook

 

 Events

Toy Knit Along:

Tuesday, Sept 6: 1-3 

 

OPEN KNITTING: 

Wed: 1-3PM

 

 1st and 3rd Thurs:
5-8 PM

 

Fall Evening Open Knit hours: 6-8


  
A Dispatch from The SOCK SUMMIT
Attaining Giddy Heights in Portland,OR

When the music began to play, suddenly the people milling around outside the Portland Convention center spontaneously began dancing--and each dancer was waving a skein of yarn.

Had everyone gone mad? No--it was just the Flash Mob for Sock Summit 2011, a gathering of hundreds of sock-knitting aficionados, sock-specialist instructors, and vendors of sock yarns and supplies.


knitch customer and friend Ginger Goral attended the Sock Summit

for the first time ever this summer--not solely because she loves to knit socks, but also to participate in the flash mob--a "Bucket List" dream she's had ever since she saw the "Sound of Music" flash mob video, set in an Antwerp train station.

 

 

Ginger spent over 5 hours perfecting her dance moves using the practice video so she would feel confident enough to get right up front in the mob. You'll see she succeeded--in the video, she's the blonde in a grey and purple mottled t-shirt, just behind the lead-guy's left shoulder, waving a hot pink skein.

"It was dramatically fun," Ginger says.

Although the flash mob was truly the thrilling highlight of the event for her, Ginger also enjoyed hanging out with hundreds of people knitting in public. They were knitting socks, of course--but were they knitting anything else?

"It should have been called the Sock and Shawl Summit," she says. "Everyone seemed to be knitting--and wearing--small, lacy triangular shawls."
(Not coincidentally, perhaps, shawl patterns of this type often call for "sock yarn.")

Did she notice any other trends in sock knitting? Popular yarns available from the Marketplace vendors included lots of hand-painted yarns and many dyed with natural dyes.

 

Our newest sock yarn fits right in with the trend:
Hand-dyed in California, Pagewood Farm's "St. Elias" is a blend of 80% Bluefaced Leicester wool/20% nylon. The subtle colorways will remind you of the  late summer and early fall landscape.

Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Greetings!
 
 

 

Fall yarns Although it's still early August, on some of these fine mornings, the feel of Fall is in the air

 

The feel of Fall is in our back room, too, where boxes and boxes of  Fall yarns are arriving daily.  

 

We'll be spending the next few weeks receiving them into inventory, tagging them, and rearranging our shelves to accommodate all the new offerings.

 

A sneak preview includes:  

  • a second worsted-weight superwash wool from Cascade
  • new yarns for this season from ROWAN plus pattern books to go with them
  • and many more...stay tuned. New samples are on our needles, too.

We will be CLOSED Monday, September 5th for Labor Day


Fall/Winter shop hours resume after Labor Day:

Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday: 10:00-5:00

Wednesday, Thursday: 10:00-6:00

Sunday: 12:00-4:00

 

Our September-November class schedule is in the works and we expect to have a full listing posted next week. There are two opportunities to learn to spin your own yarn. 

 

ALSO: We had interest in the Tunisian Crochet classes, but not enough to fill a class this summer, so we have rescheduled them for the first 2 Saturdays in October (10/1 and 10/8). You can view samples in the store.  

 

REWARDS customers: Remember, every time you redeem your $15 Reward, you have a chance to enter our end-of-year drawing. Last year, we gave away gift certificates, retired store samples, free classes, and other good stuff.  

 

 


Update on Toy Challenge
Plus NEW Toy Knit Along

knitch is partnering with PB&J (Pals Bring Joy) to collect as many knitted and crocheted toys as we can to donate to the oncology wing at Milwaukee Children's Hospital.

 

Our goal is to collect at least 140 toys to carry the need for 35 toys/month through this year's holiday season. YOU can help! 

  

Robbie and Gail of PBJ hosted a Toy Knit Along at knitch last week, where some new and some seasoned knitters exchanged ideas and enthusiasm for the project. Join the group for the next TOY KNIT ALONG on Tuesday, Sept. 6, from 1-3. 

 

August Toys
The second batch of donated toys for Children's Hospital 

 

Check out our window display of the toys that have been donated so far. We started with a delivery of 18 toys that were given directly to Robbie and Gail and we are now over one-fourth of the way to our goal, with 41 toys!

Thanks everyone!

 

Follow the toy-knitting thread on our discussion board on Ravelry 

(you must be logged-in as a member of Ravelry)

 

Remember: the knitter or crocheter who donates the greatest number of handmade dolls or animals BEFORE SEPTEMBER 15th will earn a $20 gift certificate to knitch.

 

A NOTE OF APOLOGY: if you have donated a toy, please remind us next time you are in the shop, or with an e-mail.  

We've accidentally misplaced our record of donations...    

 

Call 262-646-5273 for more information or e-mail [email protected].

 

 

Show and Tell for Back-to-School
Fair Isle, Wisconsin Style

Debby Price, a student in the Fair Isle Mitten class at knitch last winter, took the basic class mitten design and ran with it. Here's her version of hand-warmers for the coming football season that really show some team spirit:  

 

Bucky Mittens

Debby knitted in a "Go Bucky" slogan and a vertical band of smaller flowers to replace the larger flower design of the original mitten. Note the "W" pattern on the cuff, too.   

 

You can almost hear the band playing "On Wisconsin"...