I Will Call it ... Mini-Wrap

I am completely, utterly enamored with this Kureyon-sock-yarn wrap, which will be so small as to be a scarf. I don't want to stop working on it. I love working on small needles. (I inherited that from my mother, I suspect.) The knitting actually seems to go faster. You don't have to turn as much bulk when you go back and forth, and the needles make less motion because they are smaller. And the stitches are so very small and cute.

This scarf will take the identical number of stitches that the wrap took. It will just be 1/4 the size.

I haven't come to the yellow and light blue and bright pink yet, which makes me want to knit all the more. Part of the fun of knitting is wondering what it will look like--then seeing it take shape.

I admit that I feel a bit foolish about how giddy I feel. But I can live with that.

Updates as they occur.

Knitting in Public Day

Each year since 2005, there has been an odd event (to the outside world, at least) called "World-Wide Knitting in Public Day." It has grown by leaps and bounds each year, and this year, many thousands of knitters are expected to participate from all over the--you guessed it--world!

Local to our store is the State College event, which is going to be co-sponsored this year by the Centre County Knitting Guild and Stitch Your Art Out. We even received a permit from the borough to allow Stitch Your Art Out to sell yarn, so I will be heading there bright and early (8:00 a.m., to be precise), with my car loaded with knitting goodies! I'll bring a variety of things that I thought would be great for summer knitting.

One of those is a fun little thing that we just got in yesterday: beads on a string, from the wonderful Mango Moon company. Kim calls them "earthy sparkle." We got about 6 colors, but here are a few to show you (in extreme close up through their plastic bags):



You knit these along with another yarn, dropping them and picking them up every 4-6 rows so the beads don't get too heavy. Pair them with any yarn you like.

I'll also have some new, glorious knitting bags, some cotton yarns, and even some notions for those of you who were sure you had thousands upon thousands of ring markers, but you didn't seem to bring them along and cannot fathom where they could have disappeared to because they are always Right In Your Knitting Bag.

If I don't have what you need, the store is 10 minutes down the road and will be open all day from the usual 10-5:30.

Along with vending, I'll be sure to be knitting of course. My plan is to work on the t-shirt that I'm making for the Zimmermania classes. (Do not panic, my dear Zimmermania classes. If you do not like capped sleeves, you can make a longer sleeve. I just happen to like capped sleeves.)

As you can see, it's getting close to done.

I live in constant fear in my life that wherever I am, I might run out of knitting and have to sit still and do nothing. Seeing the t-shirt at this state is making me a bit edgy.

So I'm also toying with taking this along--you know, just in case:


It is sheer insanity to start a new project, but I can't let go of it. When we went to Columbus, Ohio, for yarn market, Kim and I saw the Wrap Me Up pattern made from sock yarn.

I can be influenced as well as anyone, thus:

It was so pretty! And I love Kureyon sock yarn! And I love these two colors! And I think they would look great together, intermingled in the wrap, with these blue and purple beads! And the wrap is fun to make!

So I'm thinking.... what harm could it possibly do to make a 3rd wrap?

What's Been Happening

May and June have been super-busy months for Kim and me, and I'm just now barely getting settled back into a work routine. In May we went to quilt market in Minneapolis, and in June we went to yarn market in Columbus, with our anniversary sale in between. So if we're both looking a bit tired for the next week or so, do forgive us.

We'll talk more about what we ordered at the markets as the summer and fall continue on. Let's just say that we have a very, very exciting summer and fall coming!

I've been working on a lot of things, but I can't remember half of them as my life has whizzed by, or else they're in such a state of disarray that they're not worth showing--so let me introduce you to something I finished up tonight:

This is a sweet little baby sweater made from a cotton called Cuddly Cotton. It's from one of my favorite baby sweater patterns: "A Very Easy Baby Sweater" by Lisa Carnahan of Lisa Knits designs. I love Lisa's patterns: They're practical, easy to make, and error free. Our shop stocks lots of them. I've made this sweater before and was happy to make it again.

As I was working on it, I was thinking that it was a fairly masculine baby sweater.

But tonight I had a realization:

Would a teenage boy who was a real football player ever wear a pale-yellow sweater with pale-blue stripes and little miniature footballs for buttons?

Not even a chance. This sweater--it is baby-baby all the way.