12.01.09
Posted in What's New, Yarns and knitting at 2:42 pm by Sue
You asked for them, and taa-daa – they’re here!!
We’ve put together Modern Quilt Wrap Yarn Kits, so now you can knit this lovely project without breaking the bank!
We introduced these kits at a recent tradeshow, and they were hugely popular, so we’re very pleased that we can now offer them online as well!
Our yarn kits include just the right amount of nine colors of Rowan Kidsilk Haze, a luxurious silk and mohair yarn. And you can download the Modern Quilt Wrap pattern FREE at KnittingDaily.com.
Happy knitting!
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11.04.09
Posted in What's New at 9:47 pm by Sue
Isn’t it frustrating when you’re happily knitting along and suddenly need a knitting tool, but gosh darn it, you just grabbed a few things before you left the house, and you really need a ________ (insert name of useful knitting tool that you didn’t bring with you)?? You’ve been there, right? Dropped a stitch but no crochet hook, need to change yarns but nothing to cut the old yarn with…
The solution, my forgetful knitting friends, is the Knit Kit. I didn’t think I needed one of these, but after demonstrating it about a zillion times at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, I decided to give it a try, and let me tell you – I am totally sold on this gizmo! I’ve been using my Knit Kit for two weeks now, and it’s giving me peace of mind that I have all my most critical knitting tools right there with me. I’ve even stopped carrying my overstuffed little zipper pouch that used to go everywhere my knitting went – I don’t need it anymore!
Just in case you haven’t heard of the Knit Kit, let me explain the wonders of this little device. It’s a small plastic kit, about 3.5 x 5 x .75 inches, so it slips easily into your knitting bag or purse. And tools? The Knit Kit is like a Swiss Army tool for knitters – it’s got a crochet hook to pick up stitches (also works as a cable needle), row counter that locks and resets like the regular kind, thread cutter, 5 ft tape measure, and in a cute little compartment on the back, there is a folding scissors that is TSA compliant, plus two point protectors and several sizes of stitch markers. Plus there’s just a tiny bit of space in this compartment to add one or two small items of your own – I added a blunt tip needle for weaving ends to my kit.
I very quickly became addicted to my Knit Kit, so I’m speaking from personal experience when I recommend this item – it’s one of the most useful knitting tools I’ve come across, and it would be a great gift for knitters.
Can you tell I really like these?? Our first shipment of Knit Kits arrived right before the quilt show, and we sold out of them halfway through the show. We’ve just received our second shipment, and they’re now available online – but with the holidays coming up fast, I expect they’ll go fast!
And if you are in the San Antonio or Austin areas, please come visit us at the Kid ‘N Ewe event in Boerne, TX on November 13-15. This will be our first time participating at Boerne, and we’re really looking forward to it!
Just catching my breath between shows…
Sue
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10.06.09
Posted in Yarns and knitting at 12:13 am by Sue
Don’t you love seeing something familiar in a new and different context, a little unexpected twist?
Bet you’d expect to see Rowan Kidsilk Haze used in scarves and shawls, but how about a sheer tank top with color work? Is it unexpected? Yep. Does it work? Yes indeed.
This is the Hydrangea Tank on Knitty.com – soft, silky and sheer, colorful – I don’t think I would have come up with this idea on my own, but I love it! Hmmm, I’m thinking that if knitted a few inches longer, it might make a pretty little sweet nothing… as in “Wait right here while I slip into something more comfortable…”
On the home front, we’re going into week two of no dishwasher. Something inside it gave out, and water was seeping into the cabinet next to the dishwasher. Fortunately, DH is handy, so he’s going to fix it… someday… Meanwhile, I’ve rediscovered the zen-like pleasure of hand-washing dishes. Ah, modern life.
Still getting ready for the International Quilt Festival and trying, without much success, to squeeze in a bit of knitting time to unwind. I finished my Malabrigo Crofter’s Cowl this evening, but I want to block it before I photograph it again.
Glad it finally stopped raining and longing for some cool fall days,
Sue
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09.29.09
Posted in What's New at 12:33 am by Sue
We’re long overdue for a kitty photo, and who could resist this cutie? I’ve been setting up some wire grid cubes for yarn storage, and Coco’s convinced that I’m doing this for her. She supervises the whole process and loves to sit inside the cubes, so I wonder whether she thinks this makes her invisible.
We’re also getting ready for two upcoming events – the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, on October 14-18, and the Kid ‘N Ewe fiber event in Boerne, TX in mid-November. We hope to meet lots of knitters at both!
Have you seen GoKnit Stitch Markers from KnowKnits? They’re sterling silver stitch markers in fun shapes and assorted sizes that come on their own black cord necklace. I can’t decide whether they’re knitting notions or jewelry… and really, they’re both. Wouldn’t these make a wonderful gift for the knitters on your holiday gift list? They’ve been flying out of here, so we’ll be seeing a lot of knitters showing the knittin’ love by wearing their stitch markers!
Off to set up more wire grids (and amuse the cat),
Sue
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09.25.09
Posted in General Info at 9:37 pm by Sue
I came across this photo a few days ago, and thought it was the neatest thing! After some research, I also found a bit of background on it – it seems that they had trouble getting a good shot, because it was hard for the sheep to balance with a full fleece on one side and none on the other, so it kept falling over!!
Don’t cha love that?
Baaaaaa (that’s “Bye” in sheep-talk),
Sue
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09.23.09
Posted in What's New, Yarns and knitting at 10:08 pm by Sue
This little guy’s my new buddy! He’s the Stegosaurus in the Prehistoric Pals pattern by Knitting at Knoon. 
I still have to knit his legs and attach the spikes along his spine, so he’s about half finished. He’s knitted in Noro Kureyon – gotta love the bright colors!
I’ve also finished another Noro Striped Scarf in Silk Garden, just for me. 
I made DH one a couple years ago, in husbandy colors, but mine’s a lot more colorful – a riot of aqua, pink, green, blue – definitely my colors. I’ve seen this scarf done in many color combinations, from subtle to shout-out-loud, and each one has looked great!
The International Quilt Festival in Houston is coming up fast – this year, it’s October 14-18, two weeks earlier than usual. The Quilt show is total nirvana for quilters, and lots of fun for non-quilters too, as there are zillions of booths to explore. Great Yarn Company will be there again this year, so if you plan to attend the show, please come visit our booth. We’ll have lots of yarns and patterns, and some fun new items that would be perfect gifts for you or someone on your gift list. (Can you believe it? Time to start thinking about gifts again!)
Also coming up, and very exciting (at least for us!) – we’re getting a new logo and redesigning our website! As we get closer to unveiling the new website, I’ll give you some sneak peaks!
Rarrrr – uh-oh, that’s my not-quite-finished dinosaur calling me!
Sue
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09.18.09
Posted in General Info, Yarns and knitting at 12:44 pm by Sue
Well, I’ve fallen head over heels for a new love. I was smitten the first time I laid eyes on it, and after I cast on, there was no turning back — it was like butta on the needles. My new love is Malabrigo Worsted yarn — what a wonderful yarn!
This is my first project with Malabrigo, and it’s immediately apparent why this yarn is so popular. It’s incredibly cushy and feels amazingly soft in your hands. I’m using the color Lettuce, a semi-solid with all the subtle variations of color that are characteristic of hand-dyed yarns. And I’m completely in love. Maybe even enough to challenge my well-known affection for Noro Silk Garden. (But don’t worry, Silk Garden – you’ll always be special to me!)
The neckwarmer pattern I’m using is a freebie on Ravelry called Crofter’s Cowl, and I plan to cheat – I’m going to keep knitting repeats until I like the length, instead of knitting it in two pieces and Kitchenering it together. Quicker, and I think it will be just as lovely. (Are you on Ravelry? Come join our Ravelry group “GreatYarnCompany”!)
You can see this neckwarmer and lots more next month at our booth at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, October 14-18, 2009. We made many new friends there last year, so don’t be shy, come visit us in our booth again this year!
I’ve just added several new yarns to our website, so hop on over and check out cotton blend Rowan Calmer, fun Regia Kaffe Fasset sock yarns, and a sweet fluffy baby yarn from On Line called Paloma Soft (Linie 252).
Knitting happy,
Sue
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08.17.09
Posted in General Info at 10:47 pm by Sue
Butter. Yes, I think that was what did it… I totally love butter, which, alas, is quite evident in my feminine contours. Saw the new Meryl Streep movie Julie & Julia with my knitting buddies (did you catch that scene with a supposedly French woman knitting English style… sacre bleu!!) and now I’ve caught Julie Child fever.
I grew up during the Julia-Child-on-TV era, but wasn’t really into cooking at that time, so she didn’t have much impact on me back then. But now, I’m totally smitten. (Whether it’s with Julia herself or Meryl Streep’s portrayal of her, I’m not sure.)
According to the movie, Julia Child really loved butter – a sentiment I can totally relate to. And now, many years after her TV show debuted, I’m finally ready to try French cooking a la Julia, so after seeing the movie, I ordered her cookbooks Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes 1 & 2. Apparently, a lot of us are smitten, as there’s quite a wait to get these books right now, but my books are on their way.
Fear not, this is not going to convert from a knitting and yarn blog into a cooking blog, and I’m not about to embark on anything as ambitious as Julie in the movie — no cooking every Julia recipe in one year for me, thank you, I’ve got enough commitments already. I doubt I’ll be deboning any ducks anytime soon, but I think many of her recipes will seem much less daunting to me now than they did some years back.
As usual, I brought knitting with me to the movie theatre, but didn’t knit a stitch. I’m all about knitting when I watch TV at home, but somehow, have never been able to do it in movie theatres. Maybe it’s the poor lighting, or my fear of dropping perfectly good yarn on a sticky theatre floor, or having the yarn roll away from me in the dark… just seems so, well, risky.
I do hate to waste all that good knitting time, but really — when you consider how much movies cost these days, it’d be a shame to look away from the screen at the wrong time and miss the most crucial scene in the movie, right? Maybe if the movie was really boring, I might manage a few stitches, but Julie & Julia held my interest through-out – then again, it just might have been the butter.
Anticipating good meals to come,
Sue
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08.08.09
Posted in General Info at 11:05 am by Sue
Wow, the few past weeks (make that months) feel like they went by in a flash – we’ve had big goings-on in our family (and at Great Yarn Company too)!
My beautiful step-daughter’s wedding was two weeks ago, with all the excitement and hoopla that leads up to a big wedding. The ceremony was sweet, the bride was amazingly gorgeous, the groom looked happy (and maybe just a little stunned) — a very joyous occasion all around.
And then we baby-sat two little grandsons for a week while the newlyweds honeymooned… lots of fun, busy, busy, busy, and jeez, louise, am I ever tired!!! It’s truly amazing how fast a 5-year-old and a 16-month-old can be! They kept us all running the entire week – they’re so cute and so smart – definitely kept us on our toes! I didn’t think I was slowing down, but ya know, I was wrong – it’s gonna take us a few days to recover!
And just a few weeks earlier, there was another wedding in our family – dear hubby’s niece and her red-headed cutie had their special day. Another beautiful bride and very fun wedding!
Has anyone else had weddings or new babies or visits from little ones to share? I love new babies – such a great excuse for knitting adorable little tid-bits!
There are a lot of big things going on at Great Yarn Company too – new yarns on the way from Rowan, Alpaca with a Twist, and more, lots of great new pattern lines coming, along with cool notions and gift items, and we’re working with our computer gurus on our new website, which is coming soon! I’ll keep you posted!
Catching my breath, finally…
Sue
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03.27.09
Posted in General Info at 8:41 pm by Sue
It’s wonderful having a husband who can cook. We trade off on who’s got kitchen duty, and as I write this post, I can hear him working in the kitchen, frying fish and eggplant. Fried eggplant is one of my favorite things in the world! (Bet you can tell that I’m from New Orleans – we’re having two deep-fried foods in the same meal, and I’m not hyperventilating about it!)
Last night, my weekly knitting group consisted of just two of us, so I was actively involved in conversation all evening – I usually mostly just listen in, while I concentrate on my knitting, but with only two of us, I couldn’t sit on the sidelines. I brought my Modern Quilt Wrap to work on – it’s fairly simple, but does involve some row counting, which apparently was beyond me last night.
When I started knitting, I was about to change colors, so I cut the yarn from the previous color, joined the new color, and knitted five rows before I realized I had forgotten to do the decrease row twice. I ripped back five rows and re-knit them with decreases where they belonged.
Then I noticed that I had changed colors too soon – I had not knitted enough rows in the previous color. Theoretically, this shouldn’t matter, because who’d know, right? But I can be a little obsessive about my knitting, so I ripped it back again.
Since I had already cut the yarn from the previous color too short to get another row out of it, I joined a new strand and knitted the missing row, cut the yarn, joined the new color and knitted the five rows again. But something didn’t look right. That’s when I realized that I should have added three rows in the old color, not one.
So I ripped back the five rows a second time, ripped back the newly-added single row of the previous color, joined a new strand of the old color and knitted the three missing rows before the color change. I double-checked the pattern, and my stitch count was correct, row count was correct, all is good.
Joined the new color, knitted the five rows with decreases where they belong. This is the third time I’ve knit the same five rows in the new color, but who’s counting? Then I looked more closely at the pattern, and discovered that while I am knitting with color “I”, the pattern says I’m supposed to be using color “H”. Yep, I joined the wrong color. Three times.
Now, again, in theory, this shouldn’t matter – in a wrap of many colors, it wouldn’t be apparent if one color were out of place, but my slight obsessiveness kicked in again. So I ripped back to the old color one last time, joined the correct new color, and knitted the five rows again. Like I said, not enough progress to document it with a photo. Pitiful!
Knit, frog, knit, rip, arrgh…
Sue
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