Close Knitters

It’s sale time at Close Knit! Lots of goodies are on sale this week.

This is just a little of it, there are lots of books on the clearance table, too.

The big question is, Is there anything good? Depends on what floats your boat. How about cashmere?

Charmed, from Classic Elite. Lovely soft, heathered cashmere. There are several scarves, hats, mittens and fingerless gloves in that basket.

Is there enough of anything to make a sweater?

Dolly, from Cascade’s Bollicine line, is a sport weight wool. It’s great for sweaters or vests, with a good twist for nice stitch definition. There are only a few of the colors visible here, in the bin are other blues and grays. Think of lighter weight sweaters or vests.

What else? A little bit of everything, from Kaffe Fasset Coulourscape to sock yarn and bulky yarn for fast baby afghans.

Come check it out- it’s all on sale until March 6.

We’ve had several of the Colinette Ab Fab Throw kits in the store.

They are beautifully put together by Colinette. They all have several skeins of Mohair, a couple of worsted hand dyed skeins, a boucle, and a nylon tape. There are lots of textures and a wonderful range of colors.

Virginia Snyder has been having a great time with them. She started with one for a family member, but her co workers keep asking for them, too.

She brought two in to share with us.

She says that this one isn’t really ready for it’s close up yet, she hasn’t gotten the fringe on.

This one has been fringed. While the unfringed is beautiful, the fringe really does add to the overall effect.

Come in to see the new spring yarns, we have multicolored silks and one made out of sugar cane! Lovely colors, soft and drapey.

The Sweater Support Group meets for the first time this Thursday evening, from 7 to 9 pm. The store isn’t open for general shopping, this is an opportunity to work on a sweater and get a little help at the same time. It’s a drop in class, so no need to reserve space. There is a $10 fee.

Three summers ago we organized charity knitting, using patterns from Knitting For Peace. The store window was full of doves, and we sent off chemo caps, tiny hats for premies, and two afghans went all the way to Afganistan.

Wednesday morning was the designated time to stop in and knit. Some knitters came once, some came a few times, and some decided that they were having such a great time together that they have kept on knitting together.

Their knitting experience is vast. They settled on afghans, knitting squares and crocheting them together. As so many other knitters have noticed, social knitting is best when the knitting is simple enough that it doesn’t interfere with good conversation.

Here’s the most recently finished-

Since it’s all wool Afghans for Afghans is a good destination for the blankets. This one isn’t complete, but you can see the arrangement of the colors and patterns.

A schedule change meant that they had to switch to Monday, so now the week begins with a knitting session.

Here’s the crew

Jean, Iris, Marilyn, Marge, and Kathy- I think a couple are missing.

Wonderful ladies, great knitters.

The girls have been coming in all during the fall- or, if you prefer, fall semester. Most of them want the same thing- two skeins of Baby Alpaca Chunky, and a size 11 circular needle.

They choose a color, often in consult with the mom or dad who brought them, and then wander the store touching yarn while we wind the skeins. Sometimes a mom will point out one of our store samples, and tell her daughter that this scarf should be next on the list.

They are students in the Fashion classes at Indian Hills High School. In the Fashion class they are working on all aspects of fashion and clothing construction, so of course they need to knit as well as sew. Some have even progressed to tailoring.

What have they been up to? They sent us some great photos.

The circle scarf is the basic project. In alpaca it’s nice and drapey, and the stockinette is great for beginners.

This one has several cables in it, which adds more texture to the scrunch effect.

It’s great to see new knitters get started.

Announcing the Sweater Support Group

Don’t you wish you had a support group cheering you on while you were knitting some items?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have lots of people to ask questions of?

We’re starting a sweater support group- moral support and problem solving, whether it’s your first sweater or your thousandth.

Once a month (the last Thursday of the month) from 7 to 9 pm. There is a $10 fee- this is a drop in, so you don’t need to pre register.

Chocolate will be available as needed, for really big problems that need major ripping or other surgery.