Madison Knitters' Guild Knit In and Knitting Galore!

Hi, Knitters,

The classes and registration information is up for the Madison Knitters' Guild Knit In! I am teaching on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21 and 22, 2015 at the Alliant Energy Center (or the Coliseum for the old-school Madisonians) in Madison. There are so many great teachers and a fantastic marketplace. The prices are very reasonable for the classes, many places I teach charge double or even triple the class fees being charged at the Knit In. Some of the teachers include Patty Lyons, Joanna Johnson, Sheryl Thies and Annie Modesitt. There are many others instructors with interesting and fun class offerings.

I hope to see you there! Click here for more information about this great Madison Knitting event!

I'm off to New York City in a few days to teach at Vogue Knitting Live. I can't wait. In addition to teaching on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I am speaking on a panel discussion at noon on Sunday. The panel is being led by Trisha Malcolm the editor of Vogue Knitting. And on Saturday night I am doing a book signing at the Knitty City booth #710 in the marketplace at 5pm!

A couple of my classes have been sold out but this keeps coming and going so I think numbers are still shuffling about. If a class is sold out be sure to request the class you are interested in. Sometimes I can change the numbers to allow more in the class if they aren't already too high. It's worth contacting the people at Vogue to check.

It's going to be a jam-packed weekend of fun. Click here to find out more about VKLive in NYC!

I am also teaching at Vogue Knitting Live in Pasadena, California in April! 

Click here for more information about VKLive in Pasadena.

Now for the socks in the photo above. I finished these last week and I love them. The yarn is from ColoringBookYarns on Etsy and the colorway is BMO. The heels are knit in Opal Solids in Black. These were really fun to knit. The yarn is wonderful.

Click here for Coloring Book Yarns on Etsy!

Pattern: How I Make My Socks

Needles: US size 1 dpns

Sock blockers: From theloopyewe.com

To make the heel flap a different color I leave the Main Color attached and start knitting the heel flap with the Contrast Color. I work the heel flap and turn with the Contrast Color and cut the yarn. Then I go back to where I left off with the Main Color and continue on picking up the gusset stitches. It works well to not break up the striping pattern on the rest of the sock and if you are concerned about not having enough yarn it gives a little more leeway.

As for an in-progress knitting update, I finished the first sock in the most fantastic rainbow gradient I've ever seen. The yarn is called Rainbow Gradient and it comes in the Gradients Matching Socks Sets by KnitCircus. It is truly beautiful and I love that the two yarn cakes are exactly the same so my socks will match perfectly without having to do any extra work.

Click here for Knit Circus Yarns!!

US size 1 dpns

Pattern: How I Make My Socks

I knit an 8-inch cuff in hopes that I would reach all of the colors and it worked. I could have gone with a 9-inch cuff. I wear a 7.5 US women's shoe size. 

I started a pair of Broken Seed Stitch Socks yesterday. The pattern is free on Ravelry.

Click here for the Broken Seed Stitch Socks pattern by handepande!

I am knitting them out of some really old Koigu that I purchased at Purl Soho maybe 8 years ago when I was in NYC on an early book tour. I lost the label so that's all I know about it. The contrast is a tan color in the Opal Solid Series. The combination is a good one. 

I don't like pooling at all so the contrast color and stitch pattern is a good mask for variegated yarns that pool. You can see that the rusty color is pooling but it actually looks kind of cool using this pattern. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Lastly, I finally got started on a shawl project I am collaborating on with Jaala Spiro, the dyeing genius at Knit Circus Yarns. I am using the Come What May Gradient that comes in a 600 yard skein. I can't tell you how much fun this is to knit. I have a good start with a little easy lace and we'll see where this takes me. I have lots of ideas about how the shawl will grow from here.

Click here to see this skein on Knit Circus Yarns on Etsy!

I'm not sure when the new pattern is going to be released but I am hoping in the next couple months. I'll post about it when it is available.

Have a great Sunday! It's all about the Packers around here today (not for me so much but for other members of the family).
xo ~ susan

Badge of Love: Darning

Hi, Knitters,

First, the winner of the Fab Funky Fibres Autumn Rainbow self-striping yarn is.....

Cori or irocknits on Ravelry!! By the way check out Cori's photo in Instagram of the 9 sweaters she finished for Christmas gifts this year. It is pretty incredible. Click here to see!

Congratulations to Cori! Thank you to Elaine of Fab Funky Fibres for the skein of gorgeous yarn to give to one of you. Thank you for the enormous response to the giveaway. I will have another one very soon. 

One more quick news-type thing, in February I am teaching at the Madison Knitting Guild event called Knit In! Click here to see the class options and to get more information. It is open to everyone! I'll talk more about this soon with more details but register early if you want to get in. My classes were huge and filled quickly last time I taught at this fun event. 

Today I have a video tutorial on darning for you. I am no expert but I have occasionally darned holes in socks and I get asked about repairing worn holes in socks so I thought I'd share.

My future daughter-in-law, Miss Molly, knit these adorable socks a couple of year ago. Last week she sadly told me that both socks suddenly had holes on the bottom of the heels. It's kind of funny how they wore out exactly at the same time and in the same spot but they did! I told her to bring them to me and I would try to darn the holes for her.

A few quick things about the video. Warp and weft were the weaving terms I couldn't remember. Also, the yarn has become slightly felted from washing and wearing so you can see the I struggle a bit to get the needle through the stitches. Be patient if your sock is slightly felted and use a sharper or finer needle to make it easier.

Make sure not to pull any of the strands too tight while darning. Pulling too tight will distort the natural shape of the sock. The darning egg comes in handy for keeping the fabric as it would be while wearing the sock but it isn't necessary. You could use a small ball, a tomato pincushion, or something else rounded. Remember those EOS lip balms I recently talked about.... two purposes in one!

If you can't see the video for email subscribers click here to view the video on YouTube!

Click here to see my YouTube Channel with dozens and dozens of tutorials and knitting videos.

The sock yarn used for the socks in the video is Vesper by Knitterly Things (one of my favorites) in the Shamrockin' colorway. The pattern used for the socks is How I Make My Socks found both on Ravelry and my blog.

A couple of more quick thoughts or options on darning for you:
1.  If you notice that the yarn is getting very worn and thin in a certain spot on your sock but it hasn't broken through to create a hole yet you can darn over the top of the threadbare spot using this same technique before it breaks open. This is called surface darning.
2. For this same kind of wearing thin of the fiber but not a hole quite yet you can duplicate stitch over the threadbare stitches to reinforce them before the worn spot becomes a hole.
3. If the darned spot is on the bottom of the foot do not use any knots and try to weave in the ends so as not to create any unwanted ridges in the fabric.

My final thoughts on darning are to just do it! You can see that my darning isn't perfect but it works just fine to extend the life of the beloved handknit socks. The darned spot will wear in so that it will feel undetectable to the foot after awhile in my experience.

I've shown you in the video how I have darned my own socks through the years and this technique works really well for me. There are lots of other ways to darn socks. I remembered reading an article by Kate Gilbert of Twist Collective awhile back and when I searched it popped right up. Kate created a great tutorial showing several different darning techniques. It is extremely helpful and clear.

Click here to read Kate Gilbert's tutorial post called Darn It All!

I love a darned spot on any sort of knitwear. It is a badge of LOVE. A darned spot is something to be cherished. There is a charm to a darned sock, mitten, or even sweater elbows. I prefer to darn my socks in different colored yarn to remind me how much I have worn and loved them.

Back in 2013 I did a blog post sharing the darning of a pair of handspun socks. Click here to revisit the post and to see the darned socks!

And if interested, click here to see another sock I darned where the darned spot turned out like a heart! It's very cute.

Please let me know if you have any darning tips or techniques that you've used to repair your knit items. I'd love to hear about it.

Have a great Sunday and start to your week, dear Knitters.

xo ~ susan

Fab Funky Fibres Giveaway!

Hi, Knitters,

I hope you have all had a good holiday season so far. It has been busy and full around here. Along with hosting Christmas for my side of the family we've had a birthday leftover lunch for my niece and a Packer-viewing game crew just left. We have had lots and lots of family and friends at our house over the past week and I love every minute of it. It's been a lot of cooking, baking, talking and eating. My husband's birthday is tomorrow and then New Year's Eve, my son's girlfriend is coming to visit for a few days... and so it continues. 

And in two weeks Vogue Knitting Live in New York City! Come see me! I can't wait to teach at this event. It is one of my favorites.

We have taken down all of the Christmas decorations and tree (the needles were collapsing in piles on the floor every time someone walked by) but I snapped a few photos before they were stored away for next year. 

Alan Dart Yuletide Gnome above!

Hope your days were merry and bright..... 

Now for some socks.

Do you remember these stripey socks I knitted a couple of years ago? I used to have this photo on the header for my blog. The yarn is in the colorway called 15 Color Rainbow and it is from an Etsy shop called Fab Funky Fibres. The colors are saturated and the stripes are clean and crisp. Elaine does one of the best dye work jobs I've seen. She lives in England. The skeins are a bit pricey but worth every penny in my opinion. Each of her striping skeins is about $38 plus shipping.

Click here for Fab Funky Fibres on Etsy!

 

Every once in a while I hop over to Fab Funky Fibres to see what's cooking with her yarn. Elaine has a yarn colorway with 23 different striping colors that I purchased. It is called, I Believe in the Impossible. It's the skein on the left in the photo above. Elaine sent me a note saying that she sent along an extra skein called Autumn Rainbow to give to one of my blog readers. 

Thank you, Elaine! You are very generous.

The 23 different colored striping yarn is extraordinarily beautiful in the skein but when you see it knit up...

(photo from Fab Funky Fibres, I Believe in the Impossible)

... it is exciting! I can't wait to dig in! Elaine added contrasting cuffs, heels and toes. You wouldn't have to but it is pretty this way.

Directly above in the photo is the skein one of you luckies will win!

From Elaine of Fab Funky Fibres:

Autumn Rainbow a little taste of Autumn Colours knits into 6 rows of knitting per colour depending on your tension for a fab and funky fusion of colour:

75% Superwash Merino 

25% Nylon
4 ply Superwash

Autumn Rainbow is a 100 gram/464 yard skein of fingering weight yarn. I counted and I think this giveaway skein has about 15 different colored stripes.

  

 (photo from Fab Funky Fibres)

Here is what Autumn Rainbow looks like knit up! Stunning! The knitter that gets this skein is going to have so much fun.

To enter to win the skein of Autumn Rainbow striping sock yarn from Fab Funky Fibres, please leave one comment on this blog post. Be patient for your comment to appear and only click post one time. There is a delay in posting to the blog post. In your comment you must leave either your email address or your Ravelry ID or username so I can contact you if you win. 

I will be back in a couple of short days to randomly select a winner. 

Good luck and let the comments begin!

xo ~ susan

Early on the Eve

Hi, Knitters,

I awoke very early on this Christmas Eve morning to finish the toe of the last of the socks to be gifted tomorrow. Much coffee has already been had and I am pleased as punch to finish the pair. These are going to a family member who requested only a pair of handknit socks from me. 

The wish is granted. 

The yarn is Patons Kroy Socks in the Singin' the Blues colorway. It's unanimous that everyone around here loves the stripes and colors. I've had two more requests for this same yarn and more socks. I'll need a quick breather and then maybe I can come back to it again. It's definitely a good unisex colorway.

I'm so excited for Christmas this year. It all feels so good and happy. Having my grown kids home and tucked in their beds makes me feel whole and content. There is so much excitement and change going on in all of their lives and it is fun to see who they are becoming as young adults. I looked across the dinner table filled with our mostly adult children and asked my husband, "Can you believe we did this?" 

We are all enveloped in home and love. 

I hope love surrounds you this holiday season and for the rest of the new year to come. Thank you for sharing so much with me, sweet Knitters.

See you on the other side.....

xo ~ susan

Gonna do some knitting....

Hi, Knitters,

I'm in full-swing Christmas-mode right now. Are you in your holiday-mode, too? 

Time is short. 

Knitting is long. 

Sunlight is none. 

It is very difficult to take good photos when every day is gray and foggy. It is dark, dark, dark all day long. I miss the sunshine. Today I did my best with the trusty camera and I want to share some of what I have been working on.

I am not going to link everything today to save some time. Please google for the links if you are interested in anything I have mentioned in the post. Thank you for understanding.

Well, I am so happy to have finished the Tinsel Socks. I used Desert Vista Dyeworks Holiday Stripes mismatched on purpose half-skein set and carried the sock yarn with a glitter-y thread of tinsel from Kreinik Thread. The socks sparkle and shimmer like no tomorrow. 

The shoes are Birkenstocks in the Bern style and they are wool. 

The socks are so elf-like. I truly love them.

For my son I have completed a pair of smart looking Kristin Nicholas Regia Garden Effects socks.

Heels and toes are in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.

The Regia will hold up so well and they look really cool. I am excited to give these to him.

I have this first sock completed past the heel and gusset and onto the foot. This pair is a gift for Christmas day. 

The yarn is Patons Kroy Socks in the Singin' the Blues colorway. I kinda love it a lot.

Will I get the pair done for Christmas? Time will tell.

I have recently picked this back up in my hands, the Rainbow Gradient sock set by KnitCircus.

Yeah. These are going to be really good. I have knit an 8-inch cuff so that all of the colors will be reached by the time I get to the toe. I hope it works. I think it will.

The needles are Signature Needle Arts dpns, 6-inch length. I always order 5 needles.

12 Holiday placemats are completed! I have way more than 12 people coming for Christmas dinner but it's a good start for this year anyway. 

I may have some more non-holiday fabric placemat sewing in the works for gifts. I am hoping to get it all done in time.

I used the rag quilt technique with batting. There are videos on YouTube showing how to do this.

My husband brought home an Ugly Christmas Sweater DIY Kit from work. It was some sort of gag gift. Old TC had to make it. She designed the lay out, I glued. See all of those little glitter ornaments and jingle bells next to the Santa? Those still need to be sewn on. I will do this later today. I'm pretty sure this will get wrapped up and given to someone on Christmas morning.

Yesterday my husband took the day off from work to go Christmas shopping with me. We actually got a lot done and it was fun having him with me. He's a good guy, neither of us are great shoppers but we muddle through somehow.

I'm going to leave you today with a short song called Knitting. 

"On a farm, in a barn, feeling lonely but I've got some yarn..... 

I'm gonna do some knitting.

I need to do some knitting."

Knitters always have company and that is good.

xo, susan

Tinsel Socks

Hi, Knitters,

Things are getting busier around here these past few days. My college kids are coming home for their winter breaks from school so there is extra hustle and bustle going on. I am trying my best to avoid going to any sort of mall and I think I might win the battle this year. There is no snow on the ground and it has been gray, foggy and raining. It's so strange. 

I have finished exactly one dozen holiday-themed rag quilt placemats as of yesterday. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I am hosting our big extended family for Christmas dinner this year so I can't wait to set these new placemats out on the tables. That will be festive and fun. 

I started knitting a pair of Christmas socks a few days ago. I think it was last year when I purchased a set of two 50 gram sock skeins that were for a mismatched pair on purpose kind of thing. The set is from Desert Vista Dyeworks. This shop has so many great colorways and striping sock yarns. Be sure to check it out.

The set of skeins I purchased is called Holiday Stripes. You can see the skeins before I wound it all up by clicking right here.

So I had this idea about making some Tinsel Socks by adding holiday colored glitter thread to the Holiday Stripes yarn. I was recently sent a box filled with Kreinik glitter threads and reflective thread that can be added to knitting or other things or embroidered, etc. Click here for Kreinik threads! Thank you to Kreinik for the generous gift.

The thread I'm using is called Twist and it doesn't change the gauge at all for knitting when carried along with your yarn. I have been asked if it is scratchy and the answer is no. The thread is not scratchy at all but it does change the texture of the knit fabric slightly. It is remarkably still soft considering the addition of a metallic thread.

The socks are knitting up super mismatched, unexpectedly so! The white is different and the green is very different. The lengths of the stripes are different, too. I love it all. I am using green Kreinik Twist on one cuff and foot and then switching to the other skein with red Kreinik glitter thread on the heel and toe. Then I am reversing this for the other sock. One sock is mainly green tinsel and the other is mainly red tinsel.

It has been a super fun Christmas-y project. Tinsel Socks! And to make it even more fun I have been carrying around the Christmas sock project in a Santa project bag from LoveSockWool on Etsy. It's really cute all around.

I am using Signature Needle Arts dpns in size US 1 (6-inch needles). I am using my own free sock pattern called How I Make My Socks.

The socks are so sparkly. It is very hard to capture the amount of glimmer and sparkle on camera. My daughters both love these socks so much. TC is just waiting to wear them. Maybe you still have time to knit some Tinsel Socks for someone special? Or is it too late? 

Or maybe for next year!

I hope you are surviving the holiday rush, dear Knitters. I love this time of year.

I'll be back soon with more.

xo ~ susan

Tons of This, That & Gift Ideas

(photo from marthastewart.com)

Hi, Knitters,

I have lots and lots of links for you today. I hope you are all doing well and knitting away. It is weird that we don't have too much snow here in Madison just spotty patches of snow here and there with none coming on the horizon. Ah well, such is the weather. Do you have snow? I think Maine has lots of snow. I've seen some pretty good Maine snow photos this year. 

So here we go with the linky-links for today.

Martha Stewart has a free pattern up called Cozy Mittens shown in the first photo. They are in worsted weight yarn, knit flat in garter and seamed with crochet. The mittens have an unusual construction. I'd like to try them because they are so cute and homespun-looking. You might like them, too.

Click here to see how they are constructed here on Instagram. I reposted this photo from @urban_farm_wife to show her mittens in progress. 

Click here for Martha's Cozy Mitten free pattern!

My friend, Kriste, gave me this adorably sweet and dainty ceramic flower necklace at the Knitting Pipeline Retreat last September. I love it and wear it all of the time. Thank you, Kriste. Plus the card has foxes....

Click here for the Jo Lucksted Ceramics Etsy Shop!

(photo from woolful.com)

There is a new audio podcast in town and it is called Woolful. Ashley does a great job interviewing interesting fiber-talents. She has three episodes up. Ashley also has a cool mercantile up with fascinating farm wools with stories.

Click here for the Woolful Podcast!

Click here for the Woolful Mercantile!

I have a new color block hat pattern in a great book by Tanis Gray called 3 Skeins or Less. My hat is made in three colors of Shelter by Brooklyn Tweed and I designed it for a man. The book has the hat photographed on a woman. I guess it could be unisex. It is a fun hat with stranded color work and very simple knitting. 

This would be a good project for those leftover odds and ends of worsted weight wools. The photo in the book has the hat perched on top of the adorable model's head but it is designed to be a regular beanie pulled down over the ears for warmth. 

The book is wonderful and jam-packed with accessory patterns. You should check it out!

Click here to see all of the 25 patterns in the book on Ravelry!

Click here for the book details on Amazon!

I found the Alan Dart Yuletide Gnome I knit years ago and set him out for Christmas. Alan Dart is an amazing toy designer that I have loved for many, many years. He is so talented. 

I knit my gnome in Cascade 220. The beard yarn is now discontinued and I don't know where to find similar yarn. Look in the finished projects on Ravelry to get ideas.

Click here for the pattern information for the Yuletide Gnome!

I was gifted this beautiful self-striping yarn and stitch markers from the owner of the Knitting In France shop on Etsy. The yarn is squishy and beautiful. The colorway is called Bounty. The dark section is more brown than it is looking in the photo. I love it very much. She sent two skeins so at some point I'll be giving the other one away. Thank you!!

Click here for Knitting in France on Etsy!

I was also gifted self-striping sock yarn from Lise. Thank you! This beautiful squishy yarn is called Dance with the Wind (the purple), and If you think you can, you can! (the gold). 

Click here to find out more about Zenitude Yarns and Fiber!

I finished up a new shawl design yesterday and I used a lot of stitch markers along the way. I am blocking today. I can't wait to see how it blocks out. 

I noticed my Little Skein stitch markers need to be put back in their correct corked bottles so they can be sets again. These are some of my favorite stitch markers and they would make the perfect gift.

Click here for Little Skein! 

Costco has these packs of my favorite lip balm, eos. Stockings will be filled with eos at my house this year. Eos is sold everywhere, Target, CVS, Walgreens, grocery stores, etc. I first discovered eos at The Loopy Ewe Spring Fling when Sheri put it in the goodie bag. Now I collect them and run out often.

Click here for eos (evolution of smooth) website!

Coffee and Doughnuts anyone? It's 4 oz. of Polwarth waiting to be spun.

Hey Lady Hey is taking over my world with her amazing color and patterns! She is super talented.

Click here to see Hey Lady Hey on Etsy!

(photo from Hannah's site, Knitbot)

The amazing Hannah Fettig sent me her new app called Stashbot to review. It is really cool for sweater-knitting peeps on the go or to use anywhere really. She explains it better than I ever could but it is cool, well-designed, super handy and pretty much genius. And there's even a video to help you understand. Thank you, Hannah!

Click here for more information on Hannah Fettig's Stashbot App!

I've listened to three audiobooks in the past few weeks. The first is the novel The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. It was a good listen and I liked the narrator's voice. It's a different-type story, kind of like an almost-fairytale at times due to some magical things that happen. It was entertaining and charming.

Click here to find out more about The Sugar Queen!

Okay, Ann Shayne of the Mason-Dixon Knitting duo, pretty much blew me away with her reading of her debut novel Bowling Avenue on audiobook. A long time ago I started reading the book and enjoyed it a lot actually but never finished it for some reason and not for the book's fault. 

Recently I was looking for a few audiobooks to listen to and saw that Ann had narrated Bowling Avenue. I had to get it. I love Ann's southern accent and sense of humor so I knew her narration was going to be good. This novel is a family-centered story set in Nashville (Ann's hometown) with lots of interesting twists and turns and secrets revealed. I LOVE this book. I hope she writes more to make it a series.

Hearing Ann's take on this story in her own voice was nothing short of funny, charming, heartbreaking, warm, sweet, thoughtful and again, funny. Please listen to this book if you get a chance. Ann is amazing and she is one of our very own.

Click here for more information on Bowling Avenue!

Click here for Mason-Dixon Knitting!

The 2 Knit Lit Chicks Podcast is a mother-daughter audio podcast about knitting and books equally. I love this podcast and never miss an episode. I have read so many books due to their recommendations. The Farm is one of those books. This one I listened to on audiobook and I could not stop. This is a suspenseful, intriguing story about a very unusual family in both Sweden and London. It has adult themes and it takes twists and turns that you can't predict. I really enjoyed this book and the narrator has a great voice and accent. It's so good.

Click here to find out more about The Farm by Tom Rob Smith!

Click here for 2 Knit Lit Chicks!

Also, on a different note, there is a new Sock Knitting E-zine that is out! It is really good and I recommend it for anyone interested. It would make a great gift. There is a subscription available or individual issues are available. I was gifted the first edition and I am impressed. The issue is packed so full with information, interviews, 7 sock patterns and more.

Click here for the Addicted to Sock Knitting EZine!

Lastly, a sweet friend and neighbor of mine who I have known for years asked if I could pop over yesterday to meet her mother-in-law Lois. Lois is visiting from Colorado and she is a voracious knitter and a reader of my blog and books and such. 

Well, I went to my friend's house and was greeted by Lois in such a fun knitterly way. She had her iPad armed with photos and patterns to share. I just loved her. She enthusiastically showed me some of her preemie hats. Lois knits loads and loads of preemie hats that she donates to a local hospital. She has adapted some of my baby hat patterns and some other patterns so they will fit a preemie-sized head which is about the size of an orange. Lois' enthusiasm for donating her adorable preemie hats and for knitting in general makes me so glad to be a knitter. She was so warm and friendly and giving. It was a fun visit. 

Here is Lois' email (slightly edited) to me telling how she adapts patterns and sort of pieces them together and which patterns she used for the bow hat in the photo:

Hello, Susan,

Thank you so much for stopping by to meet me at my daughter-in-law's home. I have been a fan of yours since I discovered your book, Itty Bitty Baby Hats.

I looked a little closer as to the origins of the preemie hat I made (that you photographed) and discovered that I purchased the pattern with the bow, Preemie Hat with Bow on Etsy, from The White Daisy Designs. I used her instructions for the bow. I used the free pattern, Big Bow Hat, at cbraden7.blogspot.com/2013/09/big-bow-hat.html?m=1 for the idea of knitting a contrasting ribbon, but I used seed stitch to make it stand out.

My sister, Mary and I knit hats for preemies at Memorial Hospital in Colorado. We are inspired by your patterns and love your books! We like to adapt full-size baby hat patterns to fit preemies. Your designs lent themselves to this treatment.

Best regards,

Lois
P.S. Thanks for the wonderful gift, the potpourri and the two cute sheep cards in the cloth bag with the adorable sheep tag!

Thanks to Lois! It was great to meet you.

Alright, Knitters, that should do it for today. There is so much fun going on in our lovely community and just not enough hours in the day to get everything in.
xo ~ susan
p.s. I am not on any affiliation programs with Amazon or any other organizations so I don't get any benefits or money when you click through any of the links on this post or my website in general (with the exception of the Craftsy links on my sidebar for my specific classes. Those are links that Craftsy provided me and they are tracked through Craftsy).

Snip & Fringe

Hi, Knitters,
A reminder for you: The coupon code for $1 off on the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 2 is still available for a few days. The coupon code is: YOWZA2

Click here to see the pattern info or to purchase the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 2!

Winners have been selected for the Shoe Candy sock pattern giveaway!! Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone for entering!

agileknitter, the designer of Shoe Candy sock pattern has generously upped the ante to 3 winners! agileknitter or Leah will be in touch with the winners to gift them the pattern.

Here are the 3 winners:
pawsandknit
gathersnomoss
grandknit

From Leah, the designer of Shoe Candy:

A huge thank you to Susan for sharing the news of my new pattern and to this awesome group for your kind words. I so appreciate your feedback.

As a small token of my appreciation, I’m offering a code to this group (you have to be a member of the Itty-Bitty Knits Group) for $1 off any of my patterns. The code is IBK LOVE and is valid today through end of day Sunday, 12/7. You can view my pattern page here.

Happy Knitting, Leah

~~

Another news-type item is that the classes and early registration is open for Yarnover 2015! I am so excited and honored to be teaching at this fun Minneapolis event. I have been hearing about how wonderful and fun it is for years. It is a one day event and from what I hear it is huge.

Click here for all of the information on Yarnover 2015!

The event is hosted by the Minnesota Knitters' Guild but it is open for everyone (from anywhere!) but you do have to be a member of the guild.

These are my classes:

Morning: Build-a-Toy Workshop

Afternoon: Fair Isle Fingerless Mitt Design Workshop

You can read all about these in the brochure linked below!

Also new for 2015:  The deadline to join or renew your membership and qualify for early registration is December 16th rather than December 31st.

Here are the Yarnover 2015 details.  Please check back here for updated information as it becomes available: 

• It will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015.
• The Meet the Teachers Dinner will be held at the Marriott Hotel Friday, April 24, 2015.  The keynote speaker is Amy Herzog, author of Fit to Flatter. She is delightful, as you will soon experience for yourselves.
• Early registration will begin on January 10th, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. CST for anyone who joins or renews membership by December 16, 2014.
• The 2015 Yarnover brochure is finally here!

Now for the topic at hand. I have been making rag quilt placemats since last weekend. Last Sunday I made 6 rag quilt placemats. I have made quilted placemats for years, the regular kind with the binding on the edges. I love making those bound placemats and these are probably the most used handmade item in my house. They wash and wear like nobody's business. I love them.

By the way, I have seen place mat written as two words and one word. Which is correct? I prefer placemat so that is what I'll use.

The idea for the rag quilt technique came from watching The Knitgirllls Podcast where Leslie shared her gorgeous rag quilt on the episode. She is a beautiful sewer. It seemed like a much quicker technique and with my regular-sized old sewing machine an easier quilt project to maneuver. 

Each square is sandwiched with batting and backing and then quilted separately. Then the squares are sewn together in strips with exposed seam allowances on one side of the quilt. The outside edges are seamed together by just zipping around the quilt. Now all of the exposed edges and seam allowances are clipped to create fringe which just gets better and better with each washing.

Here is the video I used for instruction:

Here are some of the new placemats I have been sewing. I use a favorite placemat as a pattern template for the size. I just lay the old placemat on top of the fabric and cut the fabric. I don't measure (honestly, I have never measured these placemats ~ please don't ask me to measure for you:) and if they are a little different in size I don't care at all. I use straight pins to keep the quilt sandwich together before I sew it together. I don't worry much if my sewing lines are perfectly straight or even. It is all done in the spirit of ease and fun! No worries about perfection at all, I just let it go.

I am using up a few packs of fat quarters that I've had sitting around for years. They are totally mismatched fun. Everyone loves looking at the different fabrics and as I've said so many times I love mismatched handmade items. I mismatch on purpose all of the time. Each side of the placemat is a different fabric. Some of the other sides are solids.

I am having so much fun with this sewing project that I decided to make a Christmas-themed set of placemats. My goal is to get 12 Christmas placemats done for the holiday this year. I have four done so far. TC and I went to JoAnn's last Sunday armed with coupons. She helped me pick out a stack of Christmas fabrics. We had so much fun picking out the pairings. She spotted the Frozen fabric (lower left above), it's of the snowman, and she really wanted it. It was so expensive. I needed a 1/2 yard for two sides of the placemats. The fabric was $23.99 a yard! A Yard!

We almost put it back on the shelf but then I saw that all fabric was 50% off so that dropped the price way down. It was still outrageously expensive but more palatable for half a yard. It is not 100% cotton either. I don't know what the fabric content is exactly but it has a more polyester feel to it. It won't ever fringe as well I am sure but TC loves it. How can I say no to a high school teenager who still loves Disney musical movies? I'm with her.

Leslie from The Knit Girllls recommended that I get these Fiskar spring action snips made for making rag quilts. She said it would save my hands. I ordered them from Amazon, click here! Even for the smaller sized placemats these snips are nothing short of a miracle. I never would have thought that there was a tool for clipping a rag quilt but here it is. The clipping is the most tedious part but I don't mind it. The smaller the snipping the better the fringe will be (like an 1/8-inch is better than a 1/4 inch is better than a 1/2 inch for the fringes).

Next up I am going to make a big huge rag quilt. I want to make a quilt to fit on my bed and this rag style is going to be it. 

You can see the stack of freshly washed fabric I am using by clicking right here! It is a gorgeous selection of fabrics from Heather Ross. I have more of her fabrics ready to add in as I get there.

Okay, off into the weekend we go! Have a good one. Are any of you sewing right now? I'd love to hear about your projects, knitting too.

xo ~ susan