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Et Cetera
A Newsletter for Knitting Etc.
Triphammer Mall • 2255 N. Triphammer Rd • Ithaca NY 14850
Issue 18
(607) 277-1164 • www.KnittingEtcIthaca.com November 2007
“Knit Your Ornaments!” Contest
With the holiday season
fast approaching, I have
been looking for ideas
for decorating our house
and the shop. One day
last week at the breakfast
table, Steven was flipping
through the latest issue of
Yarn Market News, a trade
magazine for yarn shops and said, “What
about knitted ornaments for Christmas?”
What a brilliant idea! Not only are they
unique and unbelievably cute, these tiny
knitted projects are also tons of fun to make!
Imagine knitting multiple sweaters, knitted
flowers, Santa hats in one afternoon! You
can make up your own patterns, or if you
need inspirations, check out Nicky Epstein’s
Knitted Flowers and Crocheted Flowers
(pictured right), the egg cozies from Melanie Falick’s Weekend Knitting (pictured
above), Noni flower patterns, and various
Christmas stockings patterns and books
we have in the shop.
For this holiday season, Knitting Etc.
will be holding a “Knit
Your Ornaments!” contest. Spend an afternoon
or two making ornaments,
Christmas stockings, knitted dreidels and menorahs.
Bring your entry to the
shop before Saturday, December 15. From December 15 to 24, all entries will be displayed
in the shop and everyone can vote for their
favorite ornament. The top three entries
will receive a $50 gift certificate.
Holiday Closings
Knitting Etc. will be closed on Thursday, November 22 for Thanksgiving, Tuesday, December 25 for Christmas, and Tuesday, January 1
for New Years Day.
Upcoming Classes
Knitting Basics: Felted Bag
with Debbie
ing I-cord, and kitchner stitch. In this
five-week class, new and returning knitters will learn the required skills for most
simple projects and complete the felted
bag from the April 2006 newsletter!
Wednesdays, Nov 28, Dec 5, 19, Jan 2, 9 ,
$50 + tax & supplies
Christmas Stocking with Ashlee
Plus: Get 15% off in-stock purchases
while your class is in session!
You will learn the basics: casting on,
binding off,
knitting,
purling, increasing,
decreasing,
picking
up stitches,
makNovember 2007
Wednesday, Nov 28, Dec 5, 12, 19, 6 to 8 pm,
$50 + tax & materials
Knit a
Christmas
stocking
from Knitting Pure
and Simple
Continues on Page 2
B-a-a-a-h
Notes on yarn, wool, and the knitting life
By The Opinionated Sheep
theopinionatedsheep.blogspot.com
I now know what it’s like to be part
of a flock.
A few weeks ago, several of us Ithaca
knitters traveled to Rhinebeck, New York
for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.
We converged on our friend, Julibeth, who
lives in Rhinebeck and had offered the fatal words, “Sure, you can all stay with us.”
I brought two knitters (and I am sure all
of you reading this can imagine what we
talked about during the four hour drive) and
we arrived about noon. Then I lost count.
People were coming and going at all
times of the day and night. Julibeth was
often found in her driveway waving cars
over here, over there like a parking lot valet at a high-end restaurant.
Soon, there was a pile of sleeping
bags, pillows, towels, blow-up mattresses,
backpacks, and shoes layering her living
room floor.
It looked like the first day of summer
camp.
I have no idea how many people were actually staying a Julibeth’s (do we count the
two people sleeping in a van in the back?)
but somehow this crowd managed to eat,
sleep, and use the bathroom in good cheer.
And that’s because we were knitters on a
mission—to get to the festival and buy yarn.
But it’s more than that. Knitting is a social craft. Sure, knitters are happy to knit on
their own, but there is also something wonderful about being with your own kind. And
so the idea of a weekend devoted to yarn and
surrounded by other knitters is pure heaven.
We are, indeed, a flock.
P.S. I am writing a book about knitting called Wound Up (coming Spring
© 2007 Knitting Etc. • www.KnittingEtcIthaca.com Continues on Page 2
Page Upcoming Classes
Continued from Page 1
Easy Christmas Stocking Pattern, and learn
to embellish with duplicate stitch, loopy
fur stitch, embroidery, stripes, snowflake
motifs…. Whatever your ideas are, Ashlee
can help you make a very special stocking for a very special person. Socks on DPNs with Laura
Tuesday nights, Jan 22, 29, Feb 5, 6:30 – 8:30
pm, $35 + tax & supplies
Learn all about socks: their construction,
techniques for knitting in the round on
double pointed needles, how to work a
heel, and how to graft the toe.
Mobius Basket with Sharon
Saturday, Jan 12, 1 – 5 pm, $30 + tax &
materials
Bored
with knitting in the
round?
Sign up
for
the
Mobius
basket,
where
you’ll learn the Mobius cast-on featured in
Cat Bordhi’s A Treasury of Magical Knitting, and A Second Treasury of Magical
Knitting. This technique will bring a new
(and magical!) perspective that you can
apply to knitting “hats with endless beginnings, scarves from the inside out and
boots with no inside or outside….” Sharon will show you how to make the Mobius edge on the top of the basket on one
Saturday afternoon, so you can finish the
rest! A Treasury of Magical Knitting is
a required text for this class.
Central Park Hoodie with
Hickory
Monday nights, Jan 14, 28, Feb 11, 25, Mar 3,
17, 2008, 6 – 8 pm, $60 + tax & materials
All right! I give in! This is by far the
most popular sweater class, and I’m ready
to offer the class for the sixth time! It is
appropriate for intermediate knitters who
may have done a sweater or two, or who
feel they are ready to tackle it!
Make a cute casual sweater in 12 weeks
this winter! In this class I will show you the
construction of a basic sweater, as well as
how to knit each piece and put them togethNovember 2007
er: sewing seams,
making
button
holes, and knitting
cables. This class
meets every other
week over 12 weeks
making the “Central
Park Hoodie” from
the Fall 2006 issue
of Knitscene magazine. I can also help
you make yours
without the hood if you wish.
B-a-a-a-h
Mitered Baby Sweater in Karaoke with Melanie
Join us for this social knitting time, meet
some new people, re-connect with others,
and just hang out. We’ll chat, knit, gossip,
stitch, wind down after the long work week,
and shop this month’s Happy Hour Sale!
We will not be offering any knitting instructions or help, just a knitting visit…. The
event is free. First come first serve. We have
seats for approximately 15 people.
The details for December’s Happy
Hour Sale will be announced a week before the Happy Hour on our web site:
Monday, Jan 14, 21, 28, 6 - 8 pm $35 + tax
Learn to make modules, pretty squares
of knitting that you do one at a time and
build one
upon another so
that you
don’t
have any
sewing
to do at
the end.
This is a wonderful little sweater made
in two colors of self-striping yarn such
as SWTC Karaoke (50% wool, 50% soysilk). 8 modules make up the body of the
sweater. Sleeves and a simple garter trim
are then added. This is a great introduction
to miters and self-striping yarn.
Baby Surprise Jacket with Susan
Wednesday, Jan 16, 23, 30, Feb 13, 6 - 8 pm
$50 + tax
Make Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby
Surprise Jacket. This is possibly one of
the cutest patterns ever! These little jackets
are really
fun, one
piece,
with only
little
shoulder
seams,
so oddly
puzzleshaped you’d never think it could be a
sweater. Warm and squishy soft in garter
stitch with very clever and easy shaping.
These have been making the perfect shower gifts for generations now. If you haven’t
tried one, now is the time.
Continued from Page 1
‘09 from Algonquin Books). I am trying to get an idea of how many knitting
groups there are in Ithaca, so if you knit
with others, would you drop me
a line at theopinionatedsheep@
gmail.com? Thanks.
Happy Hour & Sale
Come to the next Happy Hour on
Friday, December 7, 5 to 7 pm
http://KnittingEtcIthaca.com/
HappyHour
Et Cetera Submission Guidelines
We accept submissions of patterns or writings on knitting-related topics for our newsletter. If we use your work, you will have your
fame and receive a $50 gift certificate!
1. It must be your original design
or writing that has not been accepted
for
publication
elsewhere.
2. By making your submission, you give
Knitting Etc permissions to publish
your work and distribute it in our newsletter and on our web site.
3. Please include a couple of sentences about yourself to be published with your pattern or writing.
4. E-mail all submissions in plain text
or Microsoft Word format to: submissions@knittingetcithaca.com.
5. Pattern Submissions:
a. Please specify the yarn used and gauge.
b. If you have a digital camera, please
submit color photographs of the
finished product with your pattern.
If you don’t have a digital camera,
we might ask to take pictures of the
finished product if your pattern is
selected for publication.
Copyrights and Reprints
Copyright © 2007 Knitting Etc.
Permissions are given to reprint this newsletter in its
entirety.
E-mail hickory@knittingetcithaca.
com for republications of articles.
© 2007 Knitting Etc. • www.KnittingEtcIthaca.com
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