Millicent’s News

September 2009

 

Millicent’s Yarns & More

27 N. Centre Street, Cumberland, MD 21502

301-722-8100 or www.millicentsyarns.com

 

 Shop Hours:  Tues - Sat 10-5, Wed 10-7, Sun 1-4

(closed the last Sun. of each month)

 

SUMMER CLEARANCE

ALL COTTONS and COTTON

BLENDS

ONE WEEK ONLY!   25% off!

Tuesday, Sept 8 – Sunday, Sept 13

Cottons are great to make a soft cotton shell for fall fashions

or to knit for babies and children living in warmer climes

or to create inexpensive gifts like washcloths!

Enjoy this sale!

 

FALL YARNS ARE COMING IN

FROM NOW THROUGH OCTOBER -- WATCH FOR THESE:

TWEED IS THE THING!

Many of our fall yarns are tweeds:  wools, merinos, wool-silk blends with little specks of contrasting colors to give the tweed effect to a knitted garment.  We have them in most weights and you’ll love them!

OMBRE IS HERE!

Also new this fall are ombre-type yarns.  Think of them as a water color wash in intensities of a single color.  We have ombre effects in sock yarns, in worsted weight, and in DK weight yarns – and even in Lamb’s Pride Worsted (which felts up beautifully in these colors).

COLOR COLOR COLOR!

Hand-painted and variegated yarns continue to be popular.  We couldn’t resist the beautiful variegations of Schaefer Yarns in wools and cotton.  We’re bringing in MORE River Twist by Mountain Colors, so that you can use it for garments as well as for accessories.  And we discovered a yarn called Hacho, which is an answer to the ever-famous and ever-ellusive Koigu.  This variation has small color repeats that give a tweed effect rather than striping.  Oh, and striping!!!  Just come in to see our sock yarns!

LACE AND RUFFLES!

We have found the neatest yarns to make ruffles for scarfs, hats, and trim.  Look for a fall class on how to use these.  Our lace section continues to expand in color and texture, although we all know now that lace can be knit in any weight yarn, even bulky!

 

BLOCK OF THE MONTH CLUB: ARAN AFGHAN

September 2 or 6

Well, fall is here (all but . . .) and we’re back to knitting in earnest!  Theoretically we should all be finished with the July block by Barbara McIntire (pp. 44 – 45) – right?  If you were very ambitious, you would have tried out the August block by Hanna Burns (pp. 32 – 33).  Jola has done that and will speak to the vagaries of that design.  The center is done in a dense overlapping cable – looks tough, but if you took the Cable Workshop and Introduction to Cables, then it should be no problem at all, because you did it then!  The September Block is Georgia Vincent (pp. 26 – 27).  It is the first one we will do by casting on 212 stitches that define the outside edge and work toward the middle!  Mel will be giving hints about that block.

 

We meet either Wednesday, Sept 2, 2 – 4 pm or 5 – 7 pm, and again on Sunday, September 6, 1 – 4.  Choose one meeting to come to.

 

SUNDAY SOCIAL

Sunday, September 13, 1:00 – 4:00

For our September Sunday Social (second Sunday of every month) we will knitting “Wisp” designed by Cheryl Niamath.  You’ll find this free pattern on Knitty.com in the Summer 2007 archives.  If you are able to print it out from home, it would be a help for us.  You will need a size 8 needle; a straight needle would probably be easier to work  with as you will be working with only one skein of laceweight mohair yarn ($12 for solid, $12.50 for variegated, $12.30 for the newest colors that came in).  Geni leads this Sunday.  Remember, there is no fee for our Sunday Socials.

 

Lots of knitters had lots of fun at the August Sunday Social making the Easy Curved Triangular Scarf, and we’ve seen some very pretty finished ones come back into the shop.  Many people brought food to increase the fun – apparently Kakie’s shrimp dip was a real hit! 

 

KNITTING CLASSES FOR FALL

Every month we offer several sections of Introduction to Knitting which will give non-knitters a sound foundation.  Throughout the fall and winter we do our best to vary times and days of the Intro class to meet a variety of schedules.

 

You’ll find our other knitting classes are arranged thematically this fall.  In September we’ll be specializing Fair Isle for beginners as well as for intermediate knitters and with a sock class thrown in for good measure.

 

October’s theme is “Knit For Your Man.”  One class will be devoted to knitted sweaters and vest for men and will meet four times (every other week) through October and November. We have brought in many yarns that accompany a terrific pattern book by Jane Ellison.  It has vests, zippered and buttoned cardigans, pullovers, traditional and new patterns all worn by beautiful young men (hunks).  If your man is no longer a young hunk, the patterns go up to a 52 chest.   We also have other wonderful pattern books for men as well as a good selection of leaflet patterns.  The pattern will be for you to choose and instructional time will be devoted to tips about sweater making and professional finishing.  We will also have a 5-week Accessories for Men class that will cover hats, scarves  and mittens, and a Lace Ruffle Scarf  class (not for male recipients). 

 

Holiday Crafts is our November theme.  We have acquired the neatest set of patterns for knitting covers for Christmas ornaments in a variety of stitch patterns including lace  -- our class will be an exciting exploration.  We will also be offering classes for gift making – one on Intarsia Xmas Stockings (with large pictures), one on Fair Isle Christmas Stockings (small repeated patterns), one on cabled mitts (wristlets, wristwarmers, fingerless gloves), and one on a romantic “Jane Austen shawl knit in bulky yarn (and therefore quick to knit!)

 

December is a busy month for everyone.  We give our December teaching time over to helping knitters finish their projects.  We are always ready to teach knitting to anyone who wants to learn this month.

 

WE HONOR CROCHETERS!

Carolyn Groves and Judith Robertson are our crochet teaching queens.  They are planning several classes for crocheters or wannabees.  We will offer a 3- week Introduction To Crochet on Wednesday evening of September 10, 17, 24.  In October we will have two crochet classes:  a Crochet for Knitters Workshop on Sat., Oct 17, and a 3-week “Friendly Farm Crochet Bags” on the Thursday evening of October 8, 15, 22 (more on Friendly Farm Bags in our October newsletter—just know that they are a hoot and a great gift for little boys and girls or adults with a good sense of humor).  And in November we will be offering a 3-week Crochet Snowflakes and Snowballs (crocheted coverings for Christmas balls).  We look forward to having more crocheters at Millicent’s! See our Class Schedule.

 

THURSDAY AFTERNOON KIDS KNIT

Children ages 6 and up are welcome to Millicent’s on Thursday afternoons at 3:30 to 4:30 learn and increase their skills in knitting and crocheting.  Parents are asked to pick up children by 4:45 at the latest please!

 

A KNITTING THOUGHT from Donna Honeycutt

At Millicent’s “everyone’s at a different place in their own knitting journey and the people and environment in here just has such a positive affect on you.  There’s something about people who knit – they’re just nice people."  

 

After 4 months, Knitting Thoughts is now a tradition for Millicent’s News.

So, who’s next????

 

PARKING IN CUMBERLAND – NEW REALITIES

An August 21 article in the Cumberland Times-News outlines parking options for downtown Cumberland.  Parking meters are in effect from 8 AM to 5 PM, and are free after 5 PM, on Saturdays and Sundays, and on holidays “recognized by city hall.” Some meters are being replaced by automated parking kiosks.  You will need to pay ahead to get a receipt that must be displayed on your dash.  Hourly public parking is available on the bottom level of the George Street Parking Garage (entrance on Union Street) and on the top level – here you can park for up to four hours at $1.00 per hour and extend as needed.)  The Roses (former Value City) parking lot is still being watched and over-extended parking is discouraged.  Please do not park behind the shopping centre except in designated spots to avoid being towed.

   

TEDDIES FOR BOOBOO’S  -- AN UPDATE

Many many knitters contributed sweaters for our effort to raise money for the Family Resource Center by selling 250 well-dressed bears. We had bear sweaters come from as far away as Glen Burnie and Falls Church, as well as hundreds from the local area.  Tracy Straw, who instigated this effort, has put the bears for sale at Millicent’s, The Book Centre, and the Tea Shop.  You may even catch her at downtown events selling the bears.  At a cost of only $10, the bears are great gifts not only to a friend or child, but to the community.

 

We want to give many thanks to the following knitters and crocheters:

Judith Robertson                      Sandra Groves                      Jola Cannon

Dolly Quinn                              Marsha Malone                    Geni Rudy

Marcela Suarez                        Aimee Haskew                     Kakie Franz

Carolyn Groves                        Betty Pastorius                      Dana Alt

Stephanie Kaplon                    Tracy Simpson                       Lois Ayers

Shirly Logeston                        Linda Herring                        Judy Seiff

Martha Whiteman                     Debi Williamson                    Lois Ayers

Kristi Kesner                            Donna Honeycutt                  Nan Ward

Marie Shipley                           Joanna Eastham                     Tracy Straw

Barbara Gottlieb                       Kathy Mellon                         Mel Martin

 

Knit on, knit on . . .

Mel, Dick, Judith, Jola, Geni and Joanna

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Millicent's Knits and Yarns • 49 North Centre Street • Cumberland, Maryland 21502
phone 301-722-8100 • mel@millicentsyarns.com