Yarn Gallery Blog

…(sung to the tune of “On the Road Again.”)

Thank goodness!  I’ve realized just how dependent I am on the internet since I was basically without it for a week – I felt very out of touch.  Sometimes we yearn for that, but not unless it’s our choice, right?  It’s not just that I couldn’t write a post or upload pictures (could, but very slow on the BlackBerry), it’s not just that I couldn’t ramble around Ravelry or download podcasts.  I couldn’t check my bank account at 10 at night, I couldn’t place orders with some suppliers except during business hours, and volunteered for a web-heavy project for our LYS group and had to do it via BlackBerry – very hard on my eyes and thumbs.

Okay -  I’m done complaining.  I want to thank all our Frequent Buyers for a wonderful response to our sale – and let everyone else know that there are still good buys to be had on sale merchandise and as soon as you turn in a new card, you’re assured of an invite to our next sale!  It’s been too long since I had time to think, so I’m not sure what has come in since I last talked about new yarns, but we have a nice selection of summer yarns and great models – including the Sprout Cardigan that David Ritz posted a week ago or so – another great job by David!

We’re hard at work on the summer class schedule – it’s going to be wonderful.  Some of the models for the classes are done, or at least done enough that we could take pictures at our teachers’ meeting.  I’ll  whet your appetite a little next week and hope to have the schedule ready for you in another week or so after that.  I’ll send out emails when it’s up on the site – if you’ve changed your email recently, be sure to update it here.

I’m deep into a wool vest for a rather studly friend, who has a 38″ waist and a 52″ chest.  He also has the nerve to be long-waisted so in addition to remembering to shape the body by incorporating increases into the (thankfully simple) stitch pattern and working 300+ stitches every row, I’m also going to have to lengthen the body quite a bit.  I don’t care, though; after knitting with cottons and summer blends for the last 3 months, it’s just a pleasure to work with a nice plain wool.  No hurt fingers, no sore shoulders – there’s just something wonderful and satisfying about it.

I have a bajillion pictures to show you, so here we go:

Pat Schaeffer finished her second sweater in as many months.  It’s our Misty Mo pullover, but done in yummy pink Alpaca Bouclé and bordered with a pretty multicolored mohair.  It will be wonderful to wear next winter!

Karen Wenrich made this wonderful afghan from a Manos Del Uruguay pattern and various colors of a really yummy superwash merino wool.  I wish you could feel it – even in 90 degree weather, you still want to touch it.

Here’s a detail:

Sheila Yarus and I both made designs from the Noro Flowers collection, and both in the same colorway of Taiyo – I guess we were both just yearning for bright, striking colors after a long winter. Sheila’s jacket is done sideways at the top; she looks just beautiful in it, doesn’t she?

Here’s the one I made: It only took 4 balls, which is still not inexpensive, but do-able.  We have the newest colors in stock as well as favorites from last year.

Look at this cute little creature, knit by Kelly Straub:

And Lynda Slovitsky designed and knit this wonderful sweater, inspired by a photo she loved in a magazine. She used Plymouth’s Royal Llama Silk in a design that incorporated seed stitch and sideways stockinette.  Looks so perfect on her.

Doesn’t Kris Hahn look great in her Curly-Q scarf, knit in a wonderful green shade of Kidsilk Haze from Rowan and edged with Paris Nights from Ironstone?

Sandy Albert finished this wonderful sweater from a Mari pattern in Cascade’s Ecowool.  She added the black accents for collar and cuffs and it sparked up the whole look.

Here is Barb Piazza in her “favorite sweater ever” – what a great look for her in an awesome red:

We started our beginner crochet series this past weekend. The class was full and they all worked hard!  Inspiring them was teacher Lynne Nagle, who has some wonderful projects planned for crocheters this summer, and who wore this beauty to the teacher’s meeting, crocheted in Rowan Summer Tweed:

I should have gotten a closeup of the pretty pin she had on with it – perfect.

Well, I could yak on for a while, but you’ve probably had enough, already, and I’ve got errands to run.  So nice to talk to you again!  See you soon…

Trish

My modem – after 10 years, mind – decided it had had enough and went kaflooey. I’m typing this on my Blackberry and I can’t stand it because I can’t seem to ignore punctuation and grammar. The ghost of Miss Black will haunt me and that would be one scary ghost. When new modem arrives, I’ll catch up with you all. See you soon!

sprout textures cardigan, originally uploaded by yarngal628.

hi
just finished the textured cardigan. i love the color of this
sweater… olive tone. now i need to find a nice closure to go wtih
it, then its ready to sell at my shop…
cya sunday

David Ritz
sasa007@ptd.net

Spring is coming on so slowly this year, it reminds me of spring in Western Pa. when I was small.  At this time of year, you were as likely to have snow on the ground as not, and the thrill of dressing up in your new Easter Sunday outfit was generally ruined by having to put on your winter coat, mittens, and boots, which looked very strange with your little straw hat covered with flowers. But it’s coming and I know that because it’s sweater-washin’ season at my house.

Every possible surface is covered with fluffy damp wool, waiting for the dampness to evaporate so that I can pack my beloved sweaters in plastic zipper bags until next fall.  Frankly, I love this time of year almost as much as I love fall, when all the sweaters come back out and are as good as new.  So let’s talk about washing and storing sweaters, which is something I get asked about a lot.

First and last of all, never put your sweaters away dirty.  Moth babies are not so much attracted to wool as to the body oils, food, and other stuff that gets trapped in the fibers. Wool is not the only fiber they’ll eat, either – they’ll chew up silk, cotton, alpaca, cashmere and even dirty synthetic blends.  So just don’t tempt them!

If you have a washer that you can control, washing sweaters is really easy.  Put some like-colored sweaters (as many as you can dry at one time) in the washer, add some Eucalan or other good wool wash that does not require rinsing (please don’t use Woolite – it must be rinsed and is too detergent-y for natural fibers) and fill the washer with cold water.  Let it agitate a few times to distribute the wool wash and be sure the sweaters are wet through, then turn off the washer (or pause it if you have a front loader) and let the sweaters sit for 10 minutes or so.  More won’t hurt them – go check your e-mail or unload the dishwasher. Now, change the cycle to spin and let the washer get most of the water out.

Carefully take the sweaters out of the washer.  Don’t pull them out by the sleeve unless you happen to have one extra-long arm that you need to accommodate.  When the fibers are wet, it’s easy to stretch things out of shape and difficult if not impossible to un-stretch them. Handle wet sweaters like you would handle tiny babies, with lots of support for all the straggling parts.

If you don’t have a washer you can stop or pause, fill your sink with cold water, add wool wash and stir it around.  Add sweater and gently agitate it to be sure it’s thoroughly soaked and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.  Let the water out, and squeeze (no twisting or wringing) as much water out as you can.  Lift the sweater out (no stretching) and drop it onto several towels, roll it up and stomp on the bundle to get as much water out as possible.

Take them to wherever you’re going to lay them out to dry, plop them down and spread them out gently.  Be a little fussy.  Make sure shoulder and side seams are straight, sleeves are the same length, necklines are the way they should be, ribbing is un-stressed (unless you want it to be stretched out.  It’s your sweater.)  Then leave them alone until they’re perfectly dry.

Now, where to dry?  I have a weird little setup in the basement in the room where my furnace and water heater are – they’re older and a little inefficient and until I need to replace them, this small space is fairly warm all year round.  I have the screen section of a storm door propped between two boxes plus 2 double layered sweater drying racks that I ordered from Patternworks a donkey’s years ago hanging from the pipes.  I can dry 5 sweaters at a time with good air circulation for all of them and that’s important for me especially at this time of year, when I have my own sweaters plus shop models to be washed.  During heating season even the heaviest sweater dries in about 2 days.  When the furnace isn’t running, maybe 3 days.  If you don’t have a rack and must lay your sweaters on a bed or a carpet, turn them over after 2 days and move them so that they dry evenly and nothing gets mildew-y.  This is the low-tech way to go, of course, and there are drying closets and racks that work with certain dryers and if you have them, lucky you!

When the sweaters are completely dry – be sure!  If it smells like wet wool, it’s still wet – fold them neatly, pat them fondly, and put them into plastic zip bags until the first crisp day next fall.  You can put in sachets or cedar or any scent you wish as long as you’re sure they won’t stain, and it will be even more pleasant to unpack your sweaters in a few months.

Yes, I’ve made it seem like a long involved process but it’s not.  A lot of it is just waiting until you can do the next step.  It might be easier to just dump them at the dry cleaner, but I for one don’t want my lovely sweaters (or my skin) (or the environment) subjected to a bunch of harsh chemicals.

Okay, must run.  Our Frequent Buyer Sale starts today – hope to see you there.  Janet wants me to remind you all there will be no sock class this Friday morning.

Trish

linen isle tee, originally uploaded by yarngal628.

just finished the linen isle tee (plymouth pattern). it really came
out nice. great , easy, fast project… now im working on the texture
sprout cardigan. love the yarn for this project and the olive color is
going to really look great with the sweater… ill post when done…
i have to come down soon to purchase yarn for the "new" version of
the eddie wrap . i hope you all have a great Easter holiday
c you all soon
Dave Ritz