Le béret - c'est fini!

That's right! Last night Sophie finished her first real knitting project. The beret from The Charmed Knits book, knit with Berroco Vintage Wool.

She knit the hat on a 16" circular, and did really well with the decrease rows see how nicely they line up?

(We only had to knit backwards a few times to fix mistakes - she has a habit of talking while knitting, and that's not always good when you are needing to pay attention to decrease counts!) Last night she mastered double pointed needles and was thrilled to model her beret for us. Now she just needs to figure out how to wear it - as berets allow numerous styling options.

Helen should be finished hers this afternoon. Next up, preemie hats. Then they can practice an entire project on double pointed needles.

A little birthday knitting

Ten years ago today I was 3 and a half weeks away from my due date with twins. I had a checkup, as my blood pressure had been climbing and they were worried about pre-eclampsia. At my checkup, the doctor came into the room, after running some tests, and very calmly told me that my blood pressure was super high and I needed to check in to the hospital within the next couple of hours so they could induce labor. Marc and I headed home to pack a bag (hadn't even done that yet) and drive 10 minutes to the hospital, not even needing to break the speed limit along the way.

The next 7-10 hours went quickly, and just after 9 that night, I was taken down to the emergency room to join the 22 or so folks who were on hand for this "multiples" birth. Nothing like a small, intimate birth! I think I had 8 or so people tending to me, and then there were at least 6 people on hand for each baby. At 9:37 pm Helen made her entrance, followed at 9:55 pm by Sophie. They were whisked away to the NICU... and the rest is history.

So today is the big double-digit birthday. When I asked them what they wanted to do, they both begged to knit all day! If you think about it, wouldn't that be the greatest gift?!

Right now they are sitting upstairs in Sophie's room in their new bean bag chairs... knitting. They were so excited after last week's knitting camp, that they bought the Charmed Knits book. (We're reading the 7th Harry Potter book together, aloud, and it's Harry Potter talk, all the time, around here these days!) They are each making a beret from the book, with Berroco Vintage Wool, and following the instructions all by themselves, with only a few questions so far.

Kids Camp - Days Four and Five

A quick post here, before I head off to a special 9am showing of Harry Potter... and then the car is packed and we're hopping in for our drive to Maine, which should be grey, dark, wet and dreary (what else is new?) The Enchantment Camp that Helen and Sophie went to earlier this summer (here's Sophie in her wizard robe the last day of that camp) has arranged a special showing of the new Harry Potter movie for all of the kids who attended (or will be attending) the Enchantment Camp this summer. So we'll be in the company of many underaged robe wearing wizards this morning. And phew, I finished the book just last night, so I'm ready.

What an amazing week we had. We had the best group of kids at our first kid's knitting camp! They were so much fun, and they learned so much!

Thursday was spinning day. Shawn taught them the basics of spinning and showed them how fun and easy it was. They had some different types of fiber and some dog brushes

and wire coat hangersand with a bit of elbow greaseand determination made their own yarn!

Their felted objects were still drying, but looking good! They made soaps, flowers and balls. Shawn made some peas in a pod, see them?

Then Friday was the last day. They learned a few more knitting techniques and finished up the week by using the ball winder and swift on their own dyed yarn. Once the balls were all wound, they played Knitting Jeopardy. Our front window doubled as the Jeopardy board, and check this out... the kids went right for the more difficult questions! Shawn made up some great questions, really testing what the kids learned this week. And they all did so well. They not only learned how to knit and purl and cast on and bind off and follow a pattern, but they learned so much about fibers, and felting, and dying, and spinning. They had a great time playing the game. One team was the knittersand they played against the purlers, of course.Next summer we hope to see this great group back here at kyarns for Knitting Camp Level 2! Keep knitting kids! And come back and show us how far you've progressed!

When in doubt, resort to cashmere

Things in my neck of the woods have been hectic recently. I find that the time leading up to the kids' April school vacation is always that way. I guess it's good in a way, because then I'll really enjoy my vacation, right? One hopes!

Anyway, I've been busy in the evenings, and haven't found much time to knit. Some nights I am doing computer work, and after dealing with spreadsheet after spreadsheet, I find I am so mentally drained that it's time for bed.

Other evenings I've been trying to find some time to exercise. Easier said than done! And so as much as that is necessary for my overall health and well-being, it certainly takes time away from my knitting...

The only real knitting I've gotten done, is during our Harry Potter Read-Alouds... I got the girls the first 6 books for Christmas this year. BEST present I've ever gotten them. And they completely agree. They don't normally like anything scary so I really wasn't sure how they were going to react to the books. They LOVE them! During the Christmas break we got through the first two books, and now we are almost finished book 4. We don't do it every night, but we try to do it 3-4 times a week.

Reading aloud is hard, and reading Harry Potter alound is even harder. Plus, at the end of each chapter, when Marc and I are ready to put the book down, the girls scream "PLEASE!!!!! Just one more chapter!!!! PLEASE!!!!" And we usually give in. So reading time goes from 30 minutes to sometimes an hour, or even an hour and a half. I can only knit when Marc or the girls are reading, but since we all trade off that gives me ample time. And my special project for Harry Potter nights has been my Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Him (really for ME) kit. I am doing a simple stitch pattern that is so easy it's almost impossible to mess up. The yarn is luxurious and I'm almost halfway through! Unfortunately I am thinking it's going to be next fall before I get to wear this. But it's a classic, so I'm not worried.

We have sold SO many of these kits this year. And a little birdy told us they might be coming out with kits... for HER. So that means new stitch combos and more colors. Oooh la laaa!

Harry Potter is in our classroom!

Well, not in the flesh... but Opal Harry Potter sock yarn is here! It's not what I was going to post about today, but it's sort of so exciting that it gets top billing here. Exciting things do not always come without drawbacks though - and we had a minor one. Only half of our order LEFT Opal to be shipped to us. When we (and they) realized this today, the problem was resolved... the other half has now shipped and will be here by this time next week.
Don't be disappointed... be thrilled! We weren't even supposed to get this yarn until October 15th... and today is, what? The 1st! So even with the snafu, we will still have the rest of our October shipment a week before we should have.

Now onto my actual post. I finished my "half" afghan in Manos. I made the Adventurine throw out of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica. It's in the Manos del Uruguay Geometry book. You see, it's for a shop sample and you can TOTALLY get the idea what it's going to look like from just half of it. So by only having to knit half, it leaves me more time to knit other shop samples. Anyway, I finished knitting the squares, blocked them all and seamed them together. It looks amazing, and it was a lot of fun to make. I especially loved the seaming. Wait! Why do I hear you all groaning? It IS fun if you know how do it right. I've been knitting for almost 26 years now and in the beginning I didn't know how to seam properly. I hated seaming and you could tell by looking closely at my FOs. But then somewhere along the way I learned how to do it properly and what was dreaded, became fun and satisfying. I can't even remember when that was, it's been way too long now.

I tell you, if you ever take a class, JUST ONE knitting class, please let it be a finishing class! Your seams, your buttonholes, your increases and decreases, your picked up stitches... they will all thank you a million times over for taking that class. And most importantly, you will thank yourself!

Our finishing knitting classes here at the shop have always been popular. Yet this past month, we had two finishing workshops (on seaming) that did not run due to poor signups. I think a lot of people can't be bothered to spend an hour or two learning how to finish properly because they really think they are already pros at finishing. We see quite a good number of knitted items at the shop that look hand made, rather than hand "crafted." Once you've completed a gorgeous seam, you can spot the bad ones from a mile away.

Most of the folks who have ever taken our finishing classes usually leave with a sick feeling in their stomachs... not because they didn't enjoy the class! But because they literally feel SICK just knowing all the things they've made that have been so poorly finished. And SICK because it is so easy to do it right, but they didn't ever want to take the time to learn.

If you can't make a class - don't worry. Their are several books out there that have great instructional sections on finishing. Heck, you can even find entire books dedicated to the subject. My favorite is Nancie Wiseman's The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. In this book you will find excellent information on all aspects of finishing - and yes - there are great illustrations for those of you who are visual people, like me. I keep my copy right beside my knitting chair - and after all these years of knitting, I still refer to it often.

Harry Potter & Jojoland

I just called this morning to place another order for November delivery of Opal Harry Potter sock yarn. We've sold so much already, and a lot of our local customers who don't use their computers as much haven't even really heard of it yet. I predict that even though we're ordering a lot more in each color than we've already sold, it will sell out quickly.

I checked on Opal's website and we are the only Harry Potter store in Vermont! There are a lot in Maine and New Hampshire, but I'm surprised that not more stores signed up as program stores.

If you haven't reserved your Opal Harry Potter sock yarn yet, it's not too late. The October shipment is long gone, but we can have your yarn in November, over a month before it hits other stores. And we are still offering a free set of bamboo double pointed knitting needles with every THREE balls of Opal Harry Potter sock yarn purchased.

Fall is definitely in the air here in Vermont. Vermont is known for it's amazing fall foliage. With just the right combination of climate, soils and tree species, our fall foliage is spectacular, and we have years and years of tourist data to prove it! People come from all over the country to see our leaves. It's definitely my favorite time of year, I only wish it lasted a little longer! There are some days when you can be driving anywhere around here - but I usually find it's between here and the Stowe/Waterbury exit - that the leaves are so brilliantly colored on the mountains and hills along the highway - in different shades of reds, golds, oranges, greens and browns - that they appear so incredibly 3-dimensional. Almost un-real! And then just when you've decided that it's at the peak (is today peak? yesterday was peak! no tomorrow will be peak!) we get a windy fall day and -poof- it's over. Sad!

Another great thing about fall is that we get to start wearing all of our handknit sweaters! I've been wearing some scarves and shawls around the shop recently - because I find it so hard to dress since it can be 35 degrees in the morning and 75 in the afternoon. I usually wear a t-shirt, and then I can wear a sweater in the morning when it's still cold, but switch to a shawl or a neck scarf in the afternoon.

Speaking of shawls, I just ordered Jojoland yarns today, so we will soon have the Melody and Ryhthm yarns (and their cashmere!) and the Swirl shawl patterns. The Swirl shawl is a beautiful shawl and it's fun to make. We've had a lot of people asking about it recently and my rep just happened to be coming today, so we're getting it. And don't worry - we are going to sell the patterns by themselves, meaning you don't have to buy the yarn and patterns bundled in a kit. That's just not how we operate here. I'll let you know when it all arrives!

In the meantime, get out there and enjoy this gorgeous fall weather...

Harry potter favorites

Pre-orders for the Opal Harry Potter sock yarn are certainly going strong, as we've sold way more than the first (October) shipment. But I've just placed my reorder for November, and David, from Opal, says we should have it by mid-November, if not a bit earlier. Our official licensed and Warner Brothers sanctioned Harry Potter sock poster arrived today. People are really excited about this yarn! I mean hey, if you have to wait until next summer for the movie, you can at least get a head start on your socks! We are offering free bamboo sock needles (size 0, 1, or 2) with the purchase of every 3 skeins of HP yarn. Who doesn't need extra sock needles?

So far all of the colors are selling FAST. But the 3 most popular ones are Tonks, Hedwig and Dumbledore, all tied for the lead. Following in a very close second is Harry.

Last night I worked on my Rocketry baby blanket. I'm using the Dream in Color Classy yarn that was left over after I made the Rocketry baby sweater. Again, I am taking much creative liberty with this pattern! I like the idea of making 6 randomly striped garter squares (worked modularly) but having already knit a garter stitch afghan in strips... and dealing with the seaming issue... thanks, but I think I'll pass on that. A much smarter way to deal with this, is to piece the squares together as you knit. It makes a much nicer seam from one square to the next.Modular knitting is fun! Look at the scarf Barb just made with Berroco Jasper! It's the Iknitiative Cornerstone Scarf pattern and it's really cute. Just needs blocking... And while we're viewing one of Barb's projects, check out this one! This is the gorgeous Christmas stocking that Barb for one of Barb's knitting classes this fall. She used 3 classic colors of Cascade 220 Wool yarn and the result is spectacular. Don't you think? It kind of makes me want to make one for my husband, since he's the only one in my family without a handknit stocking... we'll see.

Harry Potter Opal sock yarn

Okay… the Harry Potter lowdown, straight from David, my Opal Distributor.

The Opal Harry Potter sock yarn is avaible for preorder! Because our yarn shop is what they call a “program store” and committed to the entire Opal/Harry Potter program, we are guaranteed 1/2 of our order (remember - they had flooding in the factory and production was affected!) This amounts to 1 bag (10 skeins) of each color (8 colors in all), and we will be getting it sometime in the beginning of October.

As a program store, should we need to reorder any of these 8 colors, we can (and will!) do so. These reorders should arrive in November.

The yarn is online (yes, there are pictures of completed socks!) for preorder for any of you who are interested.) Credit cards will not be charged for the yarns until the day they arrive here. They’ll ship out the same day (or you’ll get a call that they are ready for pickup.)