Friday, July 23, 2010

The Wrap Group -- July/August #4

Hi Wrappers!

I've been really busy working on the kit for tonight's Friday Night Knit Club (FKNC), so I'm going to tell you a little about it just in case you want to come get one. I think it would make a great closure for one of your wraps. I designed a flower pin that you can felt or not felt out of lovely Cascade Cloud 9 (50% merino, 50% angora).


Here's my short list of s
ome of the uses for a felted or knitted flower: make it into a pin as I have, wear it on a knitted hat, attach it to a felted purse, wear it on your winter coat, attach it to a shawl or wrap as a closure, or tie it onto a gift bag for a friend.

Since we chose a "fiesta" theme for tonight's FNKC, I'm making a couple of Mexican dip recipes that use one of my favorite canned tomato products, Ro-Tel Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies. I use it in my homemade soups and chili all winter!

The recipe I'm sharing with you came on the back of the large box we picked up at Costco. It's delicious!


Black Bean Salsa
Makes 12 servings (1/4 cup each)
  • 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (10 oz.) Ro-Tel Original diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained
  • 1/2 cup whole kernel corn, frozen or canned
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve with tortilla chips, tacos or burritos, if desired.

Happy knitting!

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Wrap Group - - July/August #3

Hi Wrappers!

This past week I've spent time working on another new wrap, plus working on a kit for our Friday Night Knit club, so I've been really busy. The new wrap I'm working to complete is called Opal and is from a book called Winter Blooms by Kim Hargreaves. It's basically a very quick knit, requiring only 4 skeins of Kid Silk Aura (so less than 400 yards). It's just so soft and super light. I think it will be wonderful to wear this fall and winter. It's triangular and has a really pretty picot edge along the two sides.

Several of our newer Knitted Together knitters are working away on the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. It's a nice transition project for new knitters that want to make something that isn't straight. The good thing about that pattern is that you really can do any number of rows of garter stitch and stockinette stitch. It's just a matter of looking at it once in a while to see if you need to vary your rows again.

As a bonus project I'd like to suggest Coquille a shawlette from the new issue of Knitty. It requires 3 skeins of Crystal Palace Mini Mochi to complete it. We have 3 colors in stock now with more on back order. Lots of new colors will be coming!

Next Friday is the Friday Night Knit Club and I want to invite you all to come. We are feeling a little like a fiesta, so watch for our newsletter soon. You may want to get one of the kits this time, since the project would make a great gift. (And no, it's not a scarf this time!

Keep on knitting,
Nancy

Friday, July 9, 2010

The Wrap Group -- July/Aug #2

Hi Wrappers!

I really like the look and feel of my completed Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I love the Rowan Colourscape Chunky yarn so much! But I did discover some technical things that I would change on my next shawl. When you work the wrong side rows, knit or purl the yarnovers (yos) that are along the shawl edge through the back loops so the holes close. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care for the yos along the edge! I also didn't like the inconsistency of the bumps on the center stitch of the garter sections. I would always Purl the center stitch on the wrong side of ALL sections.

I hope you are staying busy with your knitting. Stop by the shop and check out my Simple Yet Effective Shawl.

Nancy

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A rainy Fourth makes way for knitting!

We've had so much rain in June that we nearly flooded. Then we had one week of no rain. Of course that wasn't going to last, nor would we want it too! But, we had rain on July 4th and it was tropical for temps and moisture. Just plain gross out...

With all the rain and gross weather, I did a whole lot of knitting. I finished my Damson, but nearly wasn't able to. I could tell I would run out of the Ella Rae Lace Merino yarn I chose to use when I got to my bind-off, so I cut it and used some Malabrigo Sock (which is the same yardage) that looked
similar in color to my shawl to bind off. I've heard that yarn companies are allowed a certain percentage for shrinkage in the amount of yarn on a skein, but I think that there was more shrinkage than should be allowed. That or designer Ysolda Teague used every yard of the skein of Malabrigo Sock that she used for her sample. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has had trouble completing Damson with 440 yards. I think it could be an issue with Ella Rae Lace Merino ... someone else at our shop had to buy more yarn to finish the Damson she was making with ERLM yarn in a different color. She was even shorter than I was. We both got gauge, so that wasn't the issue.

I also worked hard on finishing my Simple Yet Effective Shawl for the Wrap Group. I will end up using about 2 1/2 skeins, so if I have enough I may add a simple edging.

Yesterday I pulled out my Swallowtail Lace Shawl from Evelyn Clark. I was happy to get back to it! Maybe I'll knock another WIP out.

We look forward to seeing you in the shop whenever you can make it. I know it's hard when everyone is so busy in the summer. Have a good one, and keep on knitting!

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Wrap Group -- July/Aug #1

Hi Wrappers!

It's Nancy here --- I had a terrific vacation last week and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to go. I got lots of knitting done while I had my stay-cation!

At Knitted Together we have some news to pass on. Carol won't be leading the Wrap Group any longer. We want to thank her for over 2 years of help in our shop and her wonderful work leading the Wrap Group. We wish her the best in all that she does. I've always told her she's a terrific cheerleader to all of you! I'm sure she'll be missed.

I'll be leading the current wrap project, and Jean may lead some of the future ones. If you haven't had the opportunity to meet Jean yet, I know you'll love her as much as we do. She's been a customer of ours since the beginning and she and I became good friends from the beginning. Our friendship has grown even more as she has been working for us (since November 2009). Jean is never afraid to try something new; as a matter of fact she seems to enjoy a challenge. She's very smart and researches anything that she doesn't know how to do. In my opinion that makes her a fantastic teacher.

Our new project for the Wrap Group is the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I started mine yesterday and I'm making it out of 3 skeins of Rowan Colourscape Chunky. That yarn graduates in colors similarly to Noro. It's really going to be beautiful. I chose a really pretty blue called Northern Lights. The pattern calls for a chunky weight yarn and size 11 needles, so I could have also chosen Noro Iro or Noro Kochoran which also would have lovely color variations as well. You can also use a lighter-weight yarn such as Noro Silk Garden or Silk Garden Sock for a fun lighter-weight shawl.

As I've been knitting the pattern, I've occasionally worked a row with yo, k2tog across for some fun eyelet holes between garter ridges. I'll probably only do that every now and then. I'm thinking about warmth for wrapping up in this winter...

We hope you'll be able to find the time to join us at the shop or here on the blog as we work our way through another wrap. If you have any questions or comments about our new project, I'll sure try to help you!