Show and Tell...Saturday :-)

Well, yesterday turned out to be so busy that I just didn't get to the blog. So, I'll share with you today. Just keeping you on your toes as to when the next blog entry will appear. :-)

I've gotten in a LOT of finished objects and I'm trying to put them on in the order that folks bring them in. But today is going to be different. Today, being the last day of February, I just have to share with you some special Valentines.

Daniel and Amanda did something very sweet for Valentine's Day this year. She's a crocheter and he's a knitter. So they made each other a scarf. Daniel knitted Amanda a scarf using the Malabrigo yarn in the Whale's Road color. And Amanda crocheted Daniel his scarf out of two colors of the Cascade 220 yarn. I thought it was so sweet of them to pose with their new scarves for me. You know Daniel has only been knitting for about a year. Amanda gave him a gift certificate for a class last year for Christmas. He's come a long way from the tight...and I do mean tight...stitches he made when I first taught him. You both did a great job on your scarves!

Mary Beth made this cute Amelia Earnhardt hat out of the Malabrigo yarn. She got the pattern off Ravelry. Very nice!

And at one of the Weekly Classes recently a lot of us were wearing finished items, so we all gathered together for a group shot.

Becky's pullover was made from the Tahki Bunny yarn and she used a pattern from Sally Melville's book, The Purl Stitch. Although she made a different collar than the pattern. Another example of how our Weekly Classes are helping folks learn how to adjust patterns to give them a personal touch.

Have a great weekend...and THINK SPRING!!

Show and Tell Friday

Mary Beth brought in a dropped stitch scarf to share with us. She made it out of Sweaterkits Wild Silk yarn. Very nice!





Bernie shared with us her Icelandic Shawl made out of the Malabrigo Silky Merino. This is a free pattern from Knitty.com. The original pattern was made in laceweight yarn, but doesn't it look beautiful in DK weight yarn. And what a beautiful color!

Jan made her granddaughter a pair of Suede Booties out of the Berroco Suede and Berroco Plush yarns. It's also a free online pattern from DIY Network. Doesn't her granddaughter look cute in them!



And Pat made a short sleeve sweater out of several colors of Plymouth's Royal Bamboo yarn. Great job, Pat!

Well, that's it for Show and Tell today! Keep those projects coming in and we'll showcase them for you here on our blog.

Show and Tell Friday

Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day...a day set aside each year to tell the ones you love how much they mean to you. I received these beautiful roses from my sweet husband this week. Aren't they gorgeous? I fuss at him every year for spending money on flowers that will fade after a short time. But inwardly, I thoroughly enjoy the flowers he sends. He's not really the romantic type, but every now and then he surprises me. So, if you're reading my blog dear one, thank you. Thank you for the flowers, thank you for the support you've shown me the past 2 years in helping me follow my dream with the yarn shop, and thank you for putting up with me for almost 35 years of married life. I don't say it enough, but I'm glad the Lord brought you into my life.

Now for Show and Tell...

Pam brought in these socks that she made from Cascade Heritage yarn. I simply love this color of blue.

And also, here is her Baby Yeti that she made from Berroco Plush yarn. By the way, there are still a couple of colors of the Plush yarn in the sale bin if you'd like to make a Yeti. It's a free pattern from Berroco. Nice job on both of your projects, Pam.

Leigh made this hat and gauntlets from the 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book. They are made with Malabrigo yarn. I love this color of purple. So soft looking. And as everyone knows, Leigh loves purple!

And Margaret made this hood and jacket out of Berroco's Pure Merino yarn. It's a Pure and Simple pattern. Isn't it cute!

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow. And if you're a spinner, be sure to come join our Sit 'N Spin from 2-4 pm. If you have something that you have handspun and knitted, then please wear it. It's a day to celebrate spinning!

My Knitting Daughter

Last weekend we celebrated my hubby's birthday. The whole family enjoyed being outside that afternoon in the beautiful weather. I laid down on our recliner and almost immediately feel asleep. It was so nice listening to the birds sing and feeling the warmth of the sun on my back.

I taught my youngest daughter to knit a couple of years ago. But she had only made a scarf to go with her coat. She has just been too busy with school...and then work...to get very much into knitting. But she saw the calorimetry I had made for the shop and wanted to use her leftover yarn from the scarf to do one of them. So...she cast on the number of stitches she needed and I told her to do a k2p2 ribbing. She looked at me and said, "You never taught me how to purl." Oh yeah. So I showed her the purl stitch and she started purling like she'd know how for years. I guess she just got the "knitting gene" from her mom. But I had to laugh at her because when she wanted to know whether or not she needed to do a knit or a purl stitch, she looked at the back of the stitches to tell. For some reason it was easier for her to see the bump of the purl on the back and know it was a knit stitch on the front of her work than to just look for the "V" of the knit stitch on the front. Too funny. But I guess as long as you can figure it out, that's OK. So this weekend she finished her calorimetry. She did a really nice job on it.

Now she wanted to also make a ribbed hat since she still had yarn left over. So once again she cast on her stitches and began her hat. That weekend alone she learned how to purl, how to do ribbing, how to short row, and how to knit in the round. Not bad.

She was looking at my blog the other day and said she hadn't seen her little dog, Daisy, in the coat I made her for Christmas. I realized that for some reason I had never posted those pictures from Christmas. So...here's a picture of my grandpuppy in her coat. I used the Cascade Victor yarn from the sale bin and the Fiber Trends pattern "Dandy Dogs". And here is my Knitting Daughter in the vest I made her for Christmas. The pattern is the "Back to School" vest

from the Knitted Fits book and the yarn was Cascade 220.

Once she finishes her hat, I'm sure she'll want another project. I think I have created a monster. But I'm OK with that. It's nice to have another knitter in the family.

Honoring Two Women Who Have Given Back...

Today I'd like to congratulate and honor two women who have gone above and beyond to serve their community and their nation.

Laura Comas served for 8 years in the military and has worked for two long years getting Tennessee to recognize the women who have served our country with a license plate honoring them. You might have seen the article about her in The Knoxville News-Sentinel this week. Laura is a fellow knitter and I just wanted to publicly thank her for her service to our country and for fighting for this license plate to become a reality. We honor the many women who have served in our armed forces as well as the men. It's because of your efforts that we live in a nation with the many freedoms that we have.

Then it came to my attention this week that Ann Payne was nominated as Alumni of the Year for the University of Alabama because of the many ways she has served them over the years. We thank her for giving of herself to serve her alumni...even if it is the Crimson Tide. :-) Ann has been attending our Weekly Classes for several months now and is rapidly improving on her knitting skills.

Blessings on both of you for your many efforts!

Show and Tell Friday

It's Friday...so it must be show and tell time!

Leigh, one of my wonderful employees, brought in her dropped stitch shrug to share with us. She made it out of the Malabrigo yarn. The picture doesn't show how pretty it really was. That's a lot of dropped stitches.

She also brought in a couple of hats she made. The one on the left was made with Malabrigo yarn...and one on the right was with Cascade 220 superwash yarn. Great job on all of these, Leigh!

Melissa brought in some socks she made. The main color is All Things Heather yarn. I love the colorful heels and cuffs. Very nice, Melissa.

Leslie blew us away with her Fiesta Coat. This is one of Lisa's designs and she used many different types and colors of yarn to complete it. The buttons she picked out were just the "icing on the cake" for this coat. She did a wonderful job and it looks great on her! I'm sure Lisa will be giving this class again if you are interested in learning how to make one for yourself. It's a great way to use up yarns from your stash as well as bring in other yarns that will compliment them. Let us know if you'd be interested in taking this class. Amazing job, Leslie!

And we even have some children who knit and bring by their finished projects. Kemper made this cute little beaver. Her mom said she did all of the knitting with just a little help putting it all together. Way to go, Kemper!

Thanks for bringing by your finished projects. I love to see what folks are making and I've heard many comments from others who have enjoyed seeing them on our Show and Tell Fridays as well. Keep up the good work everyone!

Special Events at The Yarn Haven

We have had a lot of special events at The Yarn Haven lately. My hubby asked me why I was having so many things all within one week. My answer...well, the fifth Friday evening comes when it does, the Super Bowl happens when it does, and my shop's anniversary is at the same time each year. So it's been a busy week...but soooo much fun!!

At the Girl's Night Out Workshop on Friday, we had quite a few gals come to learn how to make a Clapotis. We had a great time picking out yarns to make either a scarf or a shawl after the class. I hope some of them will bring in their finished items so I can share them with you.

The Super Bowl of Knitting Party was a blast as well. Darlene won the Super Door Prize of the evening with Donna, Diane and Kristina winning the hourly door prizes. We had LOTS of food brought to go with the pots of chili I had made. So we ate, knitted, and most of us worked on items we were knitting for various charities.

Yesterday was my day off, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it snowing when I woke up. (Yes, I know it was later in the morning when the snow finally arrived, but I slept in a bit.) I was enjoying knitting at home, watching the snow fall, when it was announced that the school system that my granddaughter is in was closing early. So I got in the line to pick her up. With all the kids getting off at the same time, it took me quite a while to get up to the door of the school. In the meantime, I enjoyed just sitting and looking at the beauty of the snow. Ariel was soooo excited to see me pick her up. We went home and made an Ariel-size snowman, snow angels, and had a snowball fight. Then we came in and made some hot chocolate with LOTS of marshmallows. It was a very fun day off. Hope you all enjoyed the day as well.