Time for a Holiday

In observance of the Independence Day holiday, Monday Morning Knitters will NOT meet on July 4, 2011.

Join us the next week, July 11, 2011 and we can talk about possibly carpooling to the huge yarn sale on 16th! We will continue to meet throughout the summer at the Atlanta Bread near CSU from 10-11:30 am on Mondays. It's fun and you don't even have to knit to join us :)

HUGE Yarn Sale!

Private Collection Yarn Sale!!
One day only----> July 16th 10:30am-1:30pm

Sale will be held at Memorial Baptist Church
101 May Street , Saint George, SC 29477
By Linda Shook 843-636-4067

Directions:

From Charleston take I-26 to exit 172-A aprox. 30 miles to

(US 15 South) go 8.3 miles go to 2nd light, turn right, go 1 block to stop sign, turn left. You will see the church.



Sale includes-

All types of yarn, variety of knitting
needles, patterns and books

Over 300 large zip-lock bags of yarn—includes some
handspun and hand dyed by Mountain Colors and
Bovide Farms—Sunsu Wool & Smart Cotton by Berroco—Lots of sock yarn—Kid Mohair

Knitting needles- bamboo, birch,
ebony, metal
Circular, single point and double point

Rockin Sockin Knitting!

Sock Knitting Workshop #1 is now history! It was so much fun. I truly love teaching people to knit, and since socks are one of my favorite things to knit, it was extra special! I had a particularly talented class for my first foray into sock instruction....I think I am now spoiled. If they had half the fun I had, then they had a blast!

All this talk of sock knitting has me thinking about sock yarn and needles. Although there are many ways to knit socks, the class was for a cuff-down sock on double-pointed needles (aka "dpns"). After many years of trial and error in sock knitting, including knitting 2-at-a-time on one long circular needle and knitting one at a time on one very short (9") circular needle, I have decided that my favoritest way is with dpns. And my favoritest dpns are

Hiya Hiya bamboo, preferably at least 6" long. My only regret is that I didn't discover the Hiya Hiyas until after I'd already acquired several sets of Clover bamboo. Nothing wrong with Clover, but Hiya Hiya is my new bff.

There are a million and one sock yarns out there, too, especially when you consider that, technically, you can knit socks with ANY yarn. I have a strong fondness, however, for Regia and Berroco. The Patons Kroy Socks I got from (gasp) the **craft store** was surprisingly nice to work with for such an inexpensive yarn. I have yet to wash it, so I don't know anything about the longevity factor. Yet.

Now I will be knitting...other things....including an exciting knit-along with my daughter and a wonderful friend who supplied all the yarn (don't you love a friend who knits AND supplies you with yarn??), yet another Red Scarf Project scarf (red) and some odds and ends that are going to be Christmas gifts so I can't tell you about them!

And I will be counting down the days till Sock Workshop #2 begins...July 12-14. Details here. Are you in?

Stitch in Public--tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is the official date of World Wide Knit in Public Day. If you're in the area, feel free to join us at the Charleston Museum, details here. Please keep in mind that Cupcake IS within walking distance. You've been warned.

And if you can't join us, find some place, some where to knit in public. Or crochet, or spin or tat or weave, or even sew. Do your bit to bring fiber art out into the open. Don't be that selfish fiber enthusiast who refuses to share what you do and how to do it with others. You know your mama raised you better than that.

This is our chance, on an official date every year, to preserve for posterity what our ancestors took for granted--that the ability to do things with string and fabric would be passed down to the next generation. My casual poll of knitters showed that less than 50% were taught the craft by an older relative. Probably more like 30%. So that means that about 70% of all knitters were taught by someone like you and me; someone who knit and taught that skill to a friend or coworker or colleague. This tells me one important thing: If we don't keep it up, then 70% of all future knitters will never know the joy of taking sticks and string and turning them into something wonderful. Nope. They will no doubt instead be sitting around, years from now, unfulfilled, unhappy and unproductive. And who's fault will it be? Yours and mine, because we did not shoulder our responsibility and pass along to others what we know.

And if you can't do it tomorrow, keep the spirit of Knit in Public Day alive all year. Take your knitting with you when you're out and about. Knit proud, knit boldly and find someone to teach it to. It's your duty as a knitter.