Author: Nancy N

Now is the time to start thinking about knitting for Christmas gifts. Based on my personal experience, waiting until November is not a good idea.  I have lined up  some classes at Silk Road Textiles that make quick and easy gifts for Christmas or anytime!  We are doing the favorites: Felted Clog Slippers, Mobius Scarf, Toe Up Socks, A Simple Hat, Rigid Heddle Houndstooth Scarf plus two new ones, a felted bag and the hottest trending pattern on Ravelry, the Pop Blanket.

Check out the list of upcoming classes

 

 

 

Just got home from TNNA where I suffered from camnesia (forgetting I had a camera), so I have no pictures.  It was an overwhelming experience with the amount of yarn and related knitting stuff to see.  Amy and I met Casey of Ravelry and I got to see Cat Bordhi spin yarn by rolling it around on the floor.

Not many yarn samples were given out (darn!). But I cam home with lots of  small fiber samples and a Louet drop spindle kit that I won in the silent auction (I outbid Annie Modesitt by $5) and got a spindle, 1/2 of roving and a sample of Soak wool wash for a $15 bid!    I had 2 great classes with Sally Melville (of The Knit Stitch series of  books) Class 1 was on Intarsia.  Class Two was multiple ways to carry 2 yarns for Fair Isle knitting–one yarn in each hand, both in right, both in left, and the Andean method (where you strand the yarn around your neck and manage the working yarn with your left thumb)  purling all the stitches in the round.   The Andean method was new to me and works really well.   I knew most of her tricks already, so its good to be validated in my self taught ways, and it was great to see how someone who is a professional teacher manages a classroom and approaches the methods with the students.

I also had a class with Lorilee Beltman on continental knitting.  She does it slightly different than me, so again its good to have another approach and to feel like I can handle a class of 10 or more people learning something new.

So, off to soak my feet think about more class ideas for Silk Road Textiles!  They have a bunch of new yarn coming in soon too!

I am going to The National Needlearts Association trade show this weekend for my first time.  I am really looking forward to it.  I am taking 3 classes from nationally recognized teachers so that I can learn how to teach them to others better.  I will post a couple of times over the weekend if I can.  I can’t wait to see all the exhibits and am meeting with Schact to discuss becoming a dealer of Rigid Heddle looms!

Here is the stocking for the other nephew that needed major correction.  

 

 

 

 

 

In this case, it was operator error.  I forgot to leave a place to duplicate stitch his name.  The chart has a heart and holly leaves, and says to leave it blank if you are going to add the name afterward.  I just blindly followed the chart this time.  You can see that I have already threaded the circular needle below the heart and leaves in preparation to cut the top of the finished stocking off.  The stocking is knit cuff down and has a hem, so the trick this time is that I need to knit upwards and make the hem going the opposite direction it is normally knit it.

You only need to snip one stitch above the “lifeline” and unravel around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top is removed and ready to put on the correct needle and to be re-knit the opposite direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After re-knitting, the named wss duplicate stitched and the stocking was hung by the chimney with care.

 

Well, not my dog exactly,  my brother’s dog chewed a hole in the Christmas stocking I made for my nephew so I had to do surgery.

I threaded two smaller circular needles into the stitches above and below the hole to act as lifelines to prevent unraveling when I cut it in half (just like a tourniquet stops bleeding from a severed limb).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out the whole section of knitting where the hole was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I re-knit the section and grafted the two halves together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All finished and almost as good as new.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also knit a stocking for his brother for his first Christmas last year that was not without its own problms.   No dog involved in that one, just a huge chart reading error on my part.  I always tell my students that the only reason I know how to fix mistakes is because I make them all the time.