Saturday, March 27, 2010

As promised we have completed our first prize drawing for our followers. The winner is Kelly Perkins and she will be receiving 1 skein of Opal Hand Dyes in the Leafy Forest colorway.


Congrats Kelly please call the store at 515-222-9276 to make arrangements to get your prize!

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Wrap Group -- Mar/Apr #4

Hey Wrappers!

I wanted to give you another hint that will help you as you are working on your One Skein--A Stole project. After completing the row following a wrap row, tug the stitches down evenly to open up the drop stitches. This will make the work less messy as you go.

Also, if you are ready to start another stole and have some sock yarn laying around, this is a great stash buster project!

As always, comment on this post with any questions or concerns.

Wrap On!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Knitted Together customers enjoy a good party!

Last Friday night we opened our shop up for a fun evening event. We had a wine tasting as well as what we called a "yarn tasting." Both were a big success with over 40 knitters present! The wine came from WineStyles of West Glen, a shop owned by some friends. For the yarn tasting, I created kits for a skinny scarf that used 16 different yarns that our customers may not have ever tried. The kits were sold out in 5 minutes and I've already seen some completed scarves. There are some truly creative people out there. For those of you that didn't make it to our first Friday Night Knit Club, we will have the next one Friday night, April 23rd from 6-9 PM.

We will have our first prize drawing for Followers this Saturday morning and announce it on the blog about noon (Iowa time). You have until Friday at midnight to become a follower for this prize if you haven't already joined us. The winner is getting one skein of
Opal Hand Dyes in the Leafy Forest colorway. It would be beautiful for a gorgeous leaf patterned sock or shawlette.


Monday night I made a quick meal out of salad and Spaghetti a la Philly. I found the recipe online, but I'll type it in here. It was quick and a big hit at our house!

Spaghetti a la Philly

  • 1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
  • 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
  • 1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
  • 4 ounces (1/2 of 8-oz. package) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
  • 2 Tbsp. Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet. Stir in sauce and cream cheese; cook on low heat 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce is well blended and heated through, stirring frequently. Drain spaghetti. Add to sauce; mix lightly. Place on platter (or plate) and top with Parmesan.

Happy knitting!
Nancy

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Wrap Group -- Mar/Apr #3

Hi Wrappers!

In this project we use a triple dropped stitch. For those of you who are wondering how this stitch works or for those of you who are a little scared to drop the stitches, we have created a how-to video to show you the process of the triple dropped stitch! Enjoy and let us know if you have any other questions or comments!

Wrap On!


Friday, March 12, 2010

The Wrap Group -- Mar/Apr #2

Hi Wrappers!

I hope that you all got your One Sken-A Stole! project cast on without any problems. We are all enjoying this project in the store. Terry is doing hers in the Noro Silk Garden Sock. Mardeen is making hers from Dream in Color Smooshy and Kris made it in Artyarn's Silk Rhapsody. OH MY! Major YUMMY.

Keep your eyes open for an exciting new tip on next week's blog. And as always... If you have any questions or comments let us know by commenting on this blog posting.

Wrap On!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

TODAY SHOW: Knitting in the news!

This morning I was watching the Today Show while I had my breakfast when Jane Pauley (former Today Show host) came on with a wonderful story about knitting and life transition. It's about a woman named Betsy McCarthy who worked in a very stressful job and gave it all up for knitting. Throughout the interview McCarthy knits constantly! Check it out. Her story reminded me of myself in some ways ... except the part about the former 6-figure salary. :)

FYI Followers and Followers-to-Be: We will have a drawing for Followers very soon! If you haven't signed up yet, please click the "FOLLOW" button on the bottom left side.

Friday, March 5, 2010

The Wrap Group -- Mar/Apr #1

Hi Wrappers!

March has come in like a lamb, and aren't we grateful?! Our wrap for March and April is an easy, breezy stole that you'll wear now into spring and summer. It is called One Skein-- A Stole! by Katja Jordan and it is a free Ravelry download.

The designer specifies one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn resulting in a 60" wrap. I used Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn instead, which has less yardage, so I bought 2 skeins. Using 1 1/2, I got a 72" wrap, plus enough for a long knotted fringe! I also think it would be wonderful in Classic Elite Alpaca Sox, Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, or Ella Rae Lace Merino. Any fingering weight yarn will work up beautifully.

To get you started I have a few hints to help you out:

Hint #1: I knit nearly everything on bamboo circular needles but switched to straights because the triple wrap stitches were getting tangled up on the cable of the circulars.

Hint #2: I usually pull yarn from the center of the ball. When using Noro Sock, DON'T! It tangles like crazy. In fact, it tangles quite a bit, pulling from the outside of the ball. Next time, I think I'd have Nancy wind the yarn.

Hint #3: Keep your cast on and knitting loose. Likewise for the bind off.

If you are knitting along with us, we would love for you to comment and let us know what yarn you chose for your project. And keep in mind that if you have any questions about yarn choice or how to get started you can comment on this blog and I will do what I can to help!

Wrap On!!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Calling all followers and followers-to-be!

I would love to have everyone that reads or occasionally reads my blog to become a "follower." We will be having prize drawings and they will be for followers only. The more followers we get the more often we will be able to give prizes away. Sign up to follow me soon if not today!

I'm really close to finishing my first toe-up sock. It was a stretch for me since I have always done cuff down. The heel was my biggest issue, because I like a slip-stitch heel flap and a lot of patterns that I looked at had short-row heels. Anyway, thanks to Jean who works for me and also teaches our Toe-Up Sock Class, I got through the heel and I'm nearly done with the cuff.

I've picked out a couple of WIPs in my collection to work on, too. I've made it halfway through on my Stork's Nest Scarf and it's looking really nice. I also am working on my Revontuli out of Zauberball Crazy. I think It's going to be really beautiful, too. I put it away about 5 months ago and basically forgot about it... The other day someone reminded me about it, so I got it out today and will dive in and try to finish the remaining 20 rows!

My friend, Kelly recently had surgery and has been off of work. She's been getting out more and more and everytime she comes into the shop she has baked something delicious. I told her she's going to kill me! Last week she brought in Dutch Letter Bars. They are wonderful! I asked Kelly for the recipe, and if I could share it. She gave me the recipe and I made them this weekend and now I'm going to share the recipe with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did.

Dutch Letter Bars
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 stick margarine, softened (do not substitute either of them, you need one of each)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 can Solo Almond Paste
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
Cream the butter, margarine and sugar together. Add eggs to mixture, then *almond paste, and finally flour, mixing well after each addition. Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with white sugar. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and share with your knitting friends!

*pinch off small pieces of almond paste and add in to the batter or it is hard to mix well! Using a stand mixer works really well!

FYI: You can find the Solo Almond Paste in the baking aisle near the pie fillings.