Drop Your Needles

Yesterday I was cruising around Ravelry and tripped across this.... which then led to finding the pattern, printing a few copies and then playing with Tanis yarn all morning. Seriously, I just wanted to drop all the projects I was working on and cast on. Imagine my joy when I saw the pattern comes in adult sizes! Here's the results of my efforts:

Choice #1 Blue

Lilac

Grape

Plum

Blueberry

Cobalt

Midnight

Choice #2 Red Sand

Amber

Sunset

Poppy

Garnet

Velvet

Choice #3 Green

Moss (Colorway #1)

Moss (Colorway #2)

Stormy

Olive

Teal

Midnight

There were more choices but one of these is the one I love best! I still haven`t cast on but it`s all laid out over the table with more choices that I put together today. I`m obsessed with it - absolutely obsessed.

Quite the storm we had last night - no power so knit night got cut short. Despite our best efforts, knitting by candlelight doesn`t really work!

For Sale

A client of mine wants to sell her Lendrum Double Treadle spinning wheel - it's been used less than 6 times and is in perfect condition. It comes with a regular flyer, 4 bobbins and a lazy kate. Regular price is $533 - but she will take $433 Cash. First email gets it! Pick up and cash only.
connie (at) pickupsticks (dot) com

Details finalized.....

The November Class schedule has been finalized and re-worked a bit so I could fit the yarn tasting in. You can find the new schedule here and the registration for the yarn tasting here.

I've got the shop all put back together and have done some re-organizing - now the couch is facing in the right direction so knitters can sit on it and be a part of things on Knit Night. Surprisingly it feels very spacious....you'll have to come and check it out.

Madelinetosh has shipped more Tosh Sock and it's in the mail as I type this - hopefully, it will be here by the end of the week and all of the new Dream in Color Everlasting has also shipped and should be here by Friday late in the day.....the missing Shi Bui from Yarns on Stage is supposed to be delivered tonight....

Now...if I could just find a place to put it all!

Door Prize Winners

So sorry to be so long posting this but Saturday was exhausting - the shop was full of knitters and we had tons of fun! Here are the winners of the door prizes:

Baby Hoodie Sweater Kit - Uylond Lynch

Set of Pom Pom Makers - Kathleen Holmes

Noro Silk Garden Sock (3skeins) - Pat R

Noro Silk Garden Sock (3skeins) - Roselle Purcell

Dream In Color Knitosophy (3skeins) - Lynn Bee

Connie Made a Tea Cozy (Noro Silk Garden & Mission Falls) - Barb Kerr

Syndey the Sheep - drum roll please - Shelley Oliver

Congratulations to all the winners.

Next event at Pick Up Sticks will be a Yarn Tasting on Saturday, November 13 from 11am til it's over! There will be a 10% discount on that day on the 6 yarns that are selected to be tried. Fun, right? Can't wait!

When It Rains, It Pours

Have you ever walked into a bookstore, desperate to find a book that will grab your attention and keep you reading to the very last page? Those are likely the days that you pick up 1000 books and nothing grabs your fancy! Knitting is alot like that - there are some days that I can't think what to knit, what to cast on, what to continue and then there are other days that I find there is so much that I want to knit or do that is fiber related that I don't know where to start. Combine this with the fact, that I have this crazy pact with myself that I will not cast on lots of projects - just 2 at the most - currently, I have 2 - a pair of socks for Greg and Woman's Energy. I'm hurrying through the socks to be able to focus completely on Woman's Energy BUT there are many, many other projects that are distracting me. And when I say many, I mean many so today I will just tell you about the shawls and a shrug - perhaps I can tempt you to start some of these projects so that I can at least see them in progress and try to satisfy my curiousity about what they will be like - sometimes that's all it takes, right? - just a few rows to see if you can manage that particular pattern and then it's on to something else.

1. Amalia Shawl - this is a really interesting shawl because you knit the lace border first and then pick up stitches to finish the body. Not to mention that's it gorgeous and that the designer is Canadian! (Yarn: Tanis Mulberry Silk)

2. Calsada Shawl - again lace first, then the body. Same designer - YAY! (Yarn: Waterloo Wools Kirkland Laceweight)

3. Celaeno - one of Romi's 7 Small Shawls booklet which has got to be the deal of the century. $20 for all 7 Shawls released over the course of 2010 plus a bonus pair of fingerless gloves to match Maia which I have knit and love, love, love! (Yarn: Malabrigo Sock)

4. Pogona - I'm a fan of Westknits and just love this shawl, love the shape, love the way it looks, love that it looks relatively simple. Stephen is another one who has published a small booklet of his patterns - you can get 8 of them for $20.00 - all totally knitworthy! It's a e-book so talk about instant gratification! (Yarn: Tanis Yellow Label DK)

5. Vaya Shrug - the only shrug on my list but I am dying to knit with it with the Schaefer Anne it calls for and wear it all over the place. Laura Nelkin designed this as she has alot of patterns for Schaeffer - there's tons of her work on my list but this is my first choice for today! (Yarn: Schaeffer Anne)

The hottest gift knit so far is the Ruffled Scarf from Churchmouse Classics - we have a sample done up in Schaeffer Nichole but anything at all would be great! Bigger gauge just means a bigger scarf and that is never a bad thing. We have all the new Churchmouse Patterns including all the new baby ones!

Ahhhhhhhh!

So no email, no website, I feel as if I'm on a deserted island! It's all starting to work again - I got 180 emails this morning but nothing current - not sure where in cyber space it all is but somehow apparently, it is supposed to make it's way to my inbox! Website front page is up but nothing else appears to be working - oh well - patience is a virtue they say! Hopefully by the end of the day today everything should be back to normal. I called my webguys and told them this morning that it still wasn't working and I guess I sounded a little distressed about the whole thing - he said they are freaking out enough there for everyone - I said, I'm not freaking out, I'm just calling to tell you that things aren't working in case you think they are. Sooooooo he's supposed to call me back .........in the meantime, there's new samples in the shop.

Here's Mom and Daughter Tea Leaves Cardigans from Madelinetosh. This is actually a very flattering sweater - destined to mine once I'm done with the sample. There's still lots of Tosh Vintage available to make these!

Then we have the Hay Cardigan which is new on the Madelinetosh website made out of Tosh Merino Light - again another really versatile, classic, easy to wear cardigan!

And finally Welted Fingerless Gloves - pattern is a Churchmouse Classic and the yarn is Gourmet Cashmere. The photo shows the yarn remaining after we knit one pair with a single strand - there is 26g left. The gloves took 24g soooooo I think if I were to do this again, I would knit them double. Yum! Yum! Cashmere!

And hey! Congratulations to Clare L. who won the Yarns On Stage contest! Her very own Sydney will be on the way to her shortly! Speaking of Sydney - the one Pick Up Sticks won which will be offered for a door prize has been arrested by customs and so his arrival is delayed! Should be here tomorrow - but I guess it depends on how well he behaves with the Canada Customs officials!

It's October Already

Wow - where does the time go? Good start on the month by blogging first thing though, don't ya think?

I'm still working away on Woman's Energy but had a brief detour this week to get this scarf off the needles.

It's the perfect Man Scarf I think and the yarn shows the stitch definition beautifully.

Pattern: Shifting Sands Scarf

Yarn: Dye Hard Fiber Arts Silky Cashmere

Talking Tree

Yardage: 1 skein 356 yards

The color is this really, really gorgeous green that does not take to being photographed. It's really a stunning color for a man or a woman. Guess you'll just have to come by to have a look! And while you're at it..... you might want to take a peek at the new Dream In Color October Club selection. It's a gorgeous cashmere blend sock yarn that will just have your fingers twitching to cast on something - it comes with a cute fingerless glove pattern for free BUT if it were up to me, I would be using it for this! I participated in this last time and had a fun, fab time! Of course, there are other yarn options....Tanis Purple Label Cashmere Sock or just like the Man Scarf - Dye Hard Fiber Arts Silky Cashmerino.......just sayin!