The importance of a LYS

To the non crafters who has stumbled here completely on accident, LYS stands for Local Yarn Store. I am fortunate to live in an area where I have two amazing businesses within a short drive from my home.

The first is located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and is called Scratch. Somehow I have worked less than two miles away from this hidden gem for almost three years before discovering it existence. I am not really sure how that happened. But now that I have found it, I am completely smitten with this amazing little store. 

Karen, Jessica and Travis run a friendly, inclusive, and comfortable shop that is homey and welcoming from the moment you first walk through the door. They feature beautiful color ways from fantastic indie dyers and often have trunk shows in the store so you have the ability to pick the brains of the people behind the magic. To me there is nothing better than to find out what the thought process behind my favorite color ways. Were they thinking of a specific project or we they thinking of a person? a feeling? nothing at all? 

The second location isn't one that I found myself. Would you believe it was found for me by my significant other? What a man he is. He listened to me gripe and complain every timeI was using my circular needles. He listened to every single concern that I had and kept not of them. Then, right before Valentine's Day, went looking. Not only did he find me the perfect set of circular needles. (I will get to those later) He found The Elegant Ewe. Located in Concord, New Hampshire, this shop is wonderful with is charm and charisma. 

Marci Richardson has created a beautiful little shop/ Everytime I have walked in I have been welcomed like an old friend. Kelly and Amy are always willing to answer my questions and lead me into the right direction to get exactly what I need for any project.

I have been to several local yarn stores. And one thing I have noticed about several of them is that they are stuffy, and as much as I want to love them because they provide me with the most amazing quality fibers. I have children. And I have found that in several places I have been children are frowned upon and not very welcome. Both of these locations welcome my children. They are allowed to look around, admire, and ask questions. They are never scolded or given the side eye. Comfort and a welcoming atmosphere are vitally important.

I keep compiling a list of stores that I want to go visit. Hopefully I will have more to add soon.

Something new...

It has been a while since I have had the urge to blog. So much has changed. But you know what hasn't changed? My love of fiber craft. It doesn't matter where I am or what my current situation is I have always had hooks, needles, yarn, and wool. (And yes I consider yarn and wool to be two separate things now that I have had experience working with both)

Crafting for me started very young. I would latch hook, plastic canvas, attempt to paint...The list of projects I attempted were endless. I crocheted off and on, not really knowing what I was doing but trying it out anyway. And then when I found myself pregnant with my daughter, who is now 17, I went to the local Walmart. Bought some of the cheapest yarn I could find, a single crochet hook and and within a matter of a few days completed my first baby blanket.

I was hooked. Pun intended.

Later in life I decided to knit. I had seen my mom doing it my entire life. It was magic. Two sticks, some yarn, wave them around and POOF a mitten! So off I went to my local book store where I found a great book: Stitch 'n Bitch: A Knitter's Handbook by: Debbie Stoller. I implore you to check out this amazing book at your local book store. Even though I am including the Amazon link please always shop local whenever feasibly possible and support your local small business owners.

This book opened my eyes to the witchcraft of knitting. I too became able to wave my magic sticks and create beautiful hand knit items to gift to my family and friends. And as a single. mom being able to hand make inexpensive gifts filled with love was incredibly important to me.

Here I am 18 years later still making magic and loving every moment. Even the frustrated ones. I can not count the number of projects that have been completed. It is probably a smaller number than the projects that got scrapped. I can not tell you about the gifts that have been given because I do not remember them all. But I can tell you what an absolutely wonderful journey I have had in perfecting this craft. A journey that is still not over because there are so many things left to learn.

So I have brought this blog I attempted years ago back from the dead. Do people even still read blogs any more? I don't know. But I guess we will find out. I find myself needing to share my excitement of a project that I am working on and  to share interesting patterns that I have found and great local yarn stores that truly deserve to be visited by anyone imaginable. So here is where I will share it.


Happy Crafting
-M

First project of 2015 finished!

On Thanksgiving Paul gave me two things that he really wanted me to make for him. The first was a Jester's hat that he could wear during cross country skiing. The second was Hobbes a favored character from every boys favorite comic strip. (At least every boy and most girls I know) Since I was making everyone else in the family hats for Christmas, that is when he got his Jester hat. So soon after Christmas I got started on this guy.

I LOVE the start of a new project. The feel of the yarn and needles in my hand as I imagine whatever it is that I am going to make. So I spent an entire shift at work just dying to get home to start.

I found the Tall Tiger pattern at courtesy of Brown Eyed Babs. She has some amazing patterns. Some are free and some are for sale. So you should all click right over and check her out!



I posted pictures to Facebook the entire time I was knitting. So that I could share my progress as Hobbes began to take shape. I had never done a pattern like this before. On a normal basis I try to steer clear of making any form of stuffed animal .

However the more that I knit the more and more I started to love this guy.

 

Out of the ashes....

So I was inspired today to revisit the idea of blogging about all of the crafting that I enjoy doing. And here I am with another blog post! Woohoo! Life for me has still been in "stitches" but I just have not had the time or dedication to write about everything I have been doing. However in talking friends lately I have realized how much I have missed it. I love to knit and craft and I love to share what I am doing with everyone around me.

I have also not given up on my wish to one day own my own craft store.

So today it was decided that my friend and I would complete a knitting challenge for ourselves this year. 52 projects in 52 weeks. Each using new patterns that we have never used before. Trying new techniques and materials. Since we needed projects that we could work up quickly we are going to alternate between scarves and hats. (Guess what people are getting for Christmas next year)

So keep watching. I will up date with pictures of projects that we have completed. If either one of us fails to complete a project on the assigned week there will be some sort of forfeiture. We have not decided what yet because neither of us plan to give up.

Also if anyone has any ideas or patterns out there that they would like to share or suggest. Go ahead and shoot me a message. I would love to hear from you.

What have you crafting days been like?

Slump....

Schedules and commitments have changed and I have not been able to knit, or blog about knitting in weeks. And it makes me very sad. I am going to have to make a conscious effort to get out of this slump and finish the projects that I am working on. Goodness Baby Adin will be a grown man before I get his special blanket finished.

Just a bit of catch up...

The last couple weeks have been crazy busy. But I have found that I am never too busy to find time to knit a few rows. It is grounding for me. Whenever I get a little bit stressed or upset about something I am able to pick up one of the many projects that I am working on and make myself feel much better.

So Simple Silk Garden Sock

Last week I was working on one of Aeryn's striped socks at school and FORGOT it! We had a snow day the following day and I was very upset. I was not sure if I had definitely forgotten it at work or what had happened. And I was only about four rows from completing it. In a hurry to have something to work on I threw a completely different yarn and set of needles in my bag so that I would have something to knit while I visited my mother on the snow day.

A Nice Ribbed Sock

 This is the sock that I started that day. These are the So Simple Silk Garden Socks that I downloaded from the Knitting to Stay Sane blog that I read. This is the second pair of socks that I have downloaded from this site. The first pair, A Nice Ribbed Sock, is the first pair that I am making for Aeryn. I used a wonderful Kroy Stretch yarn on this sock. I will post the colorway as soon as I figure out where my knitting journal went to. I have started to keep a knitting journal to keep track of patterns, yarn and materials that I used throughout the year. It will be nice to look back on in December. As I often give so much away as gifts I never get to know how much I actually create throught the year. 

On the snow day I was able to start and complete the first Garden Sock. I used a beautiful yarn that I bought on a whim that is made of silk and bamboo. The sock came out think and warm and soft. My favorites aspects of homemade socks. Unfortunately I have not taken any pictures of the finished product yet, but I will do that soon.

The following day at school I was stopped by the teacher whose classroom I had been in the day before our snow day. He said that I had forgotten both my knitting and my sweater. I was very pleased to get both back because I was able to finish this beautiful sock. Aeryn wanted to wear both this sock and the Garden sock at the same time and was very disappointed when I explained to her that she needed to wait until I finished the mates to wear the socks. 

A Banana?

My nephew Paul is one of the biggest fans of my knitting and crochet work. He loves to open presents and find some new interesting thing. And he always asks me for something weird. This year was no different. As I was looking through knitting patterns the other day on my favorite  Knitting Pattern Site he saw a really cool word. Amigurumi. To humor him I clicked on the link and the first thing he sees is a pattern for a banana. Ever since out trip to Washington DC two years ago he has been obsessed with bananas.

So I have started to make Paul a banana that I will give to him along with his birthday present. I certainly hope he likes it. In order to get it done I had to put down my other projects for a day. So far it is looking like it will be really cute. I can not wait to post pictures later.