Most people who follow the blog know I like to knit. A lot!
I joined Woolswap in 2018. Gayle Stone, of Australia, created the international program in 2016. I have “met” the loveliest woolswappers in many different counties by participating in the program. Gayle does a great job matching up fellow knitters with similar interests.
This evening Gayle filmed our Woolswap Chat -an interview filmed at McWalker Yarns in Millvale Pennsylvania. It’s about 40 minutes long. You can click the link to view if you wish.
Here’s a quick pic of Gayle in Brisbane and me in Millvale at the yarn store. Thanks Amy and Gayle.
At the gas station in Millvale. Not sure the model or year but will ask Uncle Frank in the morning and add that information. Update: This just in. 1948 Plymouth. Thank you Hope! Unless a viewer can ID it first?
Monday afternoon I popped over to McWalker Yarns store in Millvale. Robin was working and helped me get a pattern and some Rowan Felted Tweed yarn to make a sweater for the NaKniSweMo Challenge -to knit a sweater in the month of November. I’ve seen Robin on Zoom Stitch meetings for several months but it was great to see her in person. AND lucky for me she had the Star Wars socks with her, the ones we’ve been watching the progress on as she knit them during our virtual meetings.
All I can say is WOW. They are something to see. She is an advanced knitter, clearly.
Meet Robin, attorney by day, knitter extraordinaire on her days off. Here she is showing her pair of hand knit Star Wars socks. Amazing work. She says they are a true labor of love and the recipient is a real SW fan so they are going to be thrilled when they unwrap them at Christmas. Don’t think the recipient will be seeing the blogpost but want to keep the details vague. Look at her expert knitting letters with tiny stitches May the Force Be With You. Alas, she created the designs herself by finding a multitude of charts on the internet and adapting them for the scale of socks but perhaps they will inspire you to design your own Star Wars socks.
One: It’s dilemma. The correct spelling. Perhaps you already knew that it was never dilemna. But you might have been taught the incorrect spelling in school from what I researched. Etymology at English Language and Usage here
Wednesday afternoon, Amy atMcWalker Yarns in Millvale PA, unboxed several Pittsburgh designs and also Rainbow Sock Blanks created exclusively for McWalker Yarns by Yarn over New York.
I bought this one- Pittsburgh Skyline with Landmark Bridges snd Buildings Will I hang it up as ART or unravel and knit a pair of Pittsburghy Socks? If you are a knitter, have you knit from a sock blank before?
“A sock blank is a long, rectangular piece of knitted fabric created by a knitting machine and then dyed or stamped with color. The edge of the sock blank isn’t bound off — it’s loose so that you can knit from it, pulling the stitches out as you go. The basic idea behind the sock blank is that you’ll get an amazing yet unpredictable colorway when you knit with it. “
Amy, owner of McWalker Yarns in Millvale
Rainbow over Pittsburgh Skyline
The unboxiing of a beautifully dyed rainbow gradient Sock Blank
After being at home for so long it feels strange to be in the car. I drove out today to the Post Office, to deliver and mail some masks to friends and family. On my way home, I saw these gorgeous pink dogwood trees in full bloom. Good thing the name of the church is embossed in stone above the doors. I was distracted when I pulled over to take a quick photo of the blossoming trees on my phone.
Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale on Evergreen Road. Perhaps they stood out since it was a gray and gloomy day but these twin dogwoods brightened the landscape and were amazing to see. I did google the Legend of the Dogwood that was in the recesses of my mind , the symbolism of the blossoms and but the legend was debunked as no Dogwood grows in Israel. I think somewhere there is a postcard in my possession with the legend printed on it.
Saturday afternoon the November sweater knitters gathered in Millvale Pennsylvania. McWalker Yarns was the place to celebrate participation in the National Knit a Sweater in a Month Challenge. 50,000 Stitches, cast on just after midnight on November first. The sweater was to be completed (ends woven in and blocked) by midnight November 30th.
If you follow me on IG you know my sweater was 24 hours and 15 minutes over the cut off.
Here is Clarissa, the Grand Prize Winner of NaKniSweMo 2019 holding her prizes- a generous gift card to McWalker Yarns to buy yarn for the NEXT sweater and a very cool magnet/bottle opener.
Troveby designer Emma Durcher. Yarn is BC Garn Semilla Melange Sport Weight
Detail below of Trove. PomPom Magazine Autumn 2019
Robin designed her sweater. The design name is Hauplande Yarn Loch Lomond by BC Garn worsted weight. I think she has 150,000 stitches in her design. WOW!
Hauplande designed by Robin
Sleeve Detail with Button
Jes photographed me wearing The Purl Code Sweater Designer Isabell Kraemer. Yarn- Baa Ram Ewe Winterburn DK weight in Rhubarb colorway, Using the Morse Code Alphabet provided in the pattern there are phrases, words, place names, favorite movies and books, song lyrics and people I love, knit right into the sweater.
Christine is holding a gift bag with the sweater she crocheted as a surprise gift.
Her sweater (which she translated into Crochet from Knitting) will be added after the holiday season. Christine brought cheese ball and crackers and spinach dip to round out the party fare. McWalker Yarns Shop owner Amy McCall baked a delicious and moist chocolate cake with sweater decoration.
Below see Shop Owner, Hostess, Sponsor and Chief of Inspiration for the NaKniSweMo 2019 Challenge, Amy McCall. Making the Local Yarn Store a welcoming community for all.
