Tag: Knit

Oakdale, Bridgeville and Washington PA 3 Yarn Stores in a Day

 

My friend Donna and I had an adventure today.

Donna accompanied me on the Steel ValleyYarn Crawl.   I picked her up and we went to the Dor-Stop (in Dormont) for a freshly grated potato pancake and eggs breakfast, downed some coffee and then put the address for Tonidale Yarn and Needlecraft store in Oakdale PA into the GPS and we were off!

Meet Ingeborg Saveikis She was incredibly knowledgable, patient and showed us around as we oohed and ahhhed at the wide variety of yarns in her shop. We received a couple of free patterns and collected the pin for the bag and had the passport stamped.

We felt inspired as we started the day.

This is Inge the shop’s owner
Triple Drop stitch, so pretty
Expertly Knit by Inge
Look at this gorgeous doily, I would frame it!
Special for the yarn crawl
All the sock yarn samples
Silky, shimmer, soft
Inge had some help from the official “stamper” who stamped my passport.

_____________________________________________________________________________________Our second stop was Kid Ewe Knot in Bridgeville PA hosted by shop owner Heather, surrounded by colorful yarn.  She is preparing for a fall trip to Ireland with a group of avid knitters

Luccadot Yarn Trunk Show
Lots of texture and color in this yarn from Tennessee

Ellen and Craig Master Crocheters and teachers at Kid Ewe Knot How about that clock Craig made? and Ellen’s bag?   A Dragon Glove?                                                                                                                                                                           ___________________________________________________________________________________________________Donna and I got back into the car and headed south to                        Washington PA Ross Farm Mercantile 

 

 

 

Meet the store manager of Ross Farm Mercantile–  Anna-  who does it all!

Cotswold  Leicester Longwool, Shetland, Hog Island, Tunis, Gulf Coast Native, Cheviot, Jacob, Romney, Florida Cracker, CVM    Eleven Breeds of Sheep on the Ross Farm

Here is the  undyed natural yarn from all eleven breeds  They have the sheep’s photo on the label see below

Yarn from 11 breeds of sheep

Handmade ceramic yarn bowls.

Seven yarn stores visited for the Steel Valley Yarn Crawl- Four to go by Sunday afternoon.  I have a plan!   Stay tuned 

Ross Farm Mercantile is the red building on the right #80 Main Street Washington PA ____________________________________________________________________________________

Click to see Post  Kathy’s Kreations in Ligonier and McWalker Yarns of Millvale 

Click to see Post  Pittsburgh Yarn Company in Wilkinsburg and Yarns by Design of Oakmont

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The Steel Valley Yarn Crawl Continues

Two stops today for The Steel Valley Yarn Crawl.

The Pittsburgh Yarn Company

and Yarns by Design in Oakmont

Meet Kristi Howard – Pittsburgh Yarn Company, 
established a year ago

The screen printed bags are by Danielle Clemons – two designs  Yarnivore  and Carpe Filum

SUPPLIES FOR SPINNERS
This holds the yarn when being spun
How fun are these cans of gourmet crochet?
Crochet Animal kits include a hook and are rated in different levels

Yarns by Design in Oakmont Pennsylvania Established in 2006

Meet owner Sandra Donatelli standing by the Woolfolk Yarn display.

Trunk Show Guest Christina Danaee knitting
Knitting Designer Christina Danaee of Ashville NC

Trunk Show guest Christina Danaee  website 

Her book “Modern Heritage Knits will be coming out September 24th. Check out her patterns available on Ravelry.

Steel Valley Yarn Crawl bag  All eleven stores buttons on display at Yarns by Design in Oakmont

Soldotna Crop(Caitlin Hunter Design) expertly knit by Natalie Belmont
Natalie Belmont on left with her best friend
Knitters gather in Yarns by Design
Yarns by Design in Oakmont

*If you missed the first post of the Steel Valley Yarn Crawl see Kathy’s Kreations in Ligonier and McWalker Yarns of Millvale at this link 

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Die_Wollnerin in Berlin Live Video

This afternoon at Die_Wollnerin, (That’s the name to follow on Instagram)local yarn store in Berlin, a cool duo were filming a live Instagram video. I was able to send the video to some knitting friends in the states while it was happening. It’s up for another 19 hours. Yes it’s in German but look at the gorgeous yarn.

Meet Sabine Bornemann, owner of the Yarn Store Die Wollnerin and fabulous hand dyer of lovely colorful yarn.  Every time I visit Berlin, I stop by to visit and buy yarn souvenirs.

Here are the Instagram Live Video creators Diana and Stefanie  so much fun to meet them and watch the action  https://feierabendfrickeleien.com/

for more info about their podcast 

Die_Woolnerin, a local yarn store in Berlin. there was an Instagram Live video recording happenings

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Peace, Love, Knit- An Early Gift

An early Christmas gift, created by Marlene (my DIL’s mom-we share four grandchildren). This year she and her husband hosted Thanksgiving Weekend in Hardy, Virginia.

Know you’ve seen me on the blog more times this week than the rest of the entire year but I wanted to show you her thoughtful and creative gift. Marlene’s Cricut machine skills are amazing. She purchases and downloads an SVG file from the computer, cuts it out of different colored vinyls, centers it, then uses a special machine to press it on thoroughly. I love how she made the heart a sparkly red.

Marlene knows I enjoy knitting so this design* was perfect.

Thanks Marlene. I can’t wait to wear it.

Photographed by Erika

*About the design- It’s from an Etsy Shop specializing in SVG files- Sammo from Vicksburg, Michigan

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The Gift of a Well Chosen Book

The gift of a well chosen book.

When I went to breakfast with my friend R a couple of weeks ago, she presented me with this book. She’s found it in a Wisconsin bookshop, months ago and saved it for my birthday.

Tonight I photographed it with a candlestick and the pair of socks, almost complete- I’m decreasing the toes. You see this poetry book is printed by Candlestick Press! It’s one of their “Instead of a Card” pamphlet series.

There’s even a poem by Emily Dickinson.

You are invited to read the Ten Poems about Knitting poems by a lovely introduction written by Di Slaney (poet and Co-owner of Candlestick Press in Nottingham UK)

https://humag.co/features/di-slaney

Dear R,

Thank you for the perfect poetry book for me and the bookmark’s thoughtful inscription.

I sit and knit. And knit. And knit. And read poems about Knitting.

R

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Harmony, Maine Yarn

I’ve been to Harmony, Pennsylvania but not Harmony, Maine. Recently I watched a Kristy Glass Knits knitting video where she told about Bartlett Yarn Woolen Mills (since 1821) manufacturing yarn.

The man on the video featuring Hudson Valley Sheep and Wool said, “Bartlett is a mainstay for us. This is your grandma’s yarn. This is real true farm yarn.  Or your great grandmother’s yarn.  At Christmas, a lot of people buy it to make stockings .”   Well, I’m getting a head start this year. My friend Deb has been knitting Christmas stockings and inspired me to knit them for my grandchildren.  You might remember her gauge difficulties with her Christmas stocking- I blogged it last January.

The grandmother who taught me to knit was born 126 years ago on February 7th.

That very day, I got on the phone and spoke with a nice woman and told her what I wanted to knit.  Three days later I got a box of yarn from Harmony, Maine. She helped me select Spruce Heather, Cranberry and Natural.  I added the other heather to create sock monkeys on the stockings, which I graphed. Mark’s old stocking from childhood served as a guide and I found a vintage knitting pattern  from the 60’s on Etsy to serve as a template for the actual stocking.  The woman who knit Mark’s stocking in Clarion PA was named Jane.  My plan is to knit one a month and have them ready for NEXT Christmas. For the grandchildren.  Getting an early start this year.  And yes I did finish James’ sweater and he loves it!  

Knitting bowls gifted from Toni, Laura and Bill.

Already I realize my monkey is a bit too tall.  Back to the drawing board. 

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T-Shirt Under the Microscope

Last week when a couple of the grandkids were in town we visited this exhibit. Here’s Maura at the Carnegie Science Center.

See the Structure of her knitted shirt?

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Yarn: The Daily Prompt

Yarn is the Daily Prompt at WordPress. Not a photo challenge but Michelle W says  “Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.”  YARN

Spin it, weave it, hook it,

graft it, embroider, wind it in a ball.

Hoard it, stash it, collect skeins to knit.

Knit and purl mittens, ribbed pumpkins, scarves

no one in your family or list of friends

ever asked to receive.

“Mom, I think we all have enough hats. ”

Create shawls of comfort, like hugs

striped socks and hooded baby sweaters

with duck buttons or monkeys.

Think of the recipient while you repeat

the motions of each stitch.

In, around, down through and off

In, around, down through and off

In, around, down through and off-

off the needles.

Tens of thousands stitches with strands of yarn

turn into garments, stave off the chill.

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Black and White Weekly Photo Challenge: Toys

I follow a blogger from South Africa at Sonel’s Corner and you may have read some of her lovely comments on my blog.  She hosted Flat Ruthie and introduced FR to the Vervet  Monkeys  .  You can see what a Vervet Monkey looks like at Sonel’s Corner blog post on B and W weekly challenge of Nature here.

She’s started a black and white challenge and I’ve been thinking about participating but kept missing the deadline. The Black and White Weekly Photo Challenge  theme this week is TOYS.  Here I am in Ohio,  visiting the grandchildren and there are plenty of toys.

I shot these toys today specifically for Sonel’s challenge.

Then I converted them into black and white in Aperture and am posting a few from today’s effort. Shot with Canon 5D -50mm 1.2 L series lens. I used the cable remote to avoid camera shake.

My DIL Erika’s Grandmother Marion (Marlene’s mother)  crocheted this doll dress, bonnet and undergarments for this doll I took down from the high shelf in Anna’s room.

Caught the afternoon light on her through the dining room window. I asked Erika if she had a name and she said no.  Crocheted doll clothes were “in”.

Erika's Grandmother Doll

 

Mark(from Aunt Bobbie) and Erika’s Teddy Bears.  Mark’s Brownie on the left and Erika’s Teddy on the right. Presently residing in their daughter Anna’s room on the high shelf, not getting any “play time”.

Teddy Bears

 

First DollThis  little doll was given to Anna in 2003 by my dear friend G. Anna’s first doll.  Maura popped into the photo shoot.   She is also in charge of tending this dolly now. I knit the old cotton dishcloth pattern extra large for a dolly blanket. They drape so nicely.

 

Found the missing puzzle piece today.  Ooops, the puzzle was discarded a long time ago. (this one shot with the iPhone) Always liked those knob puzzles.

missing puzzle piece

Thanks to Sonel’s Corner for the Black and White inspiration.

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Anxiety? Knit a Hat

Less than a week to the wedding
Woke up feeling anxious- that free floating type- some situational also.
So instead of doing everything I needed to do, I knit a hat Sunday morning. It was a total knit knit knit so could really relax.

Am also testing the blogging from the phone…thanks for bearing with me. Seeing if I can photograph and write and upload with success. I see I posted an empty post a few minutes ago.

Molly gave me one ball of Noro yarn ( Iro, the bulky one) and it made a great hat which I wore most of the afternoon.

just checked the post and see that the photo is upside down.  Back to the drawing board on the blogging from a phone.  Maybe it is trial and error?  Or a tutorial in my near future.

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