Millicent’s News

October 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)

 

You are invited to a

Yarn Tasting at Millicent’s

Sunday, October 18, 1 – 4 pm

 

WHAT IS A YARN TASTING? 

You can learn just so much by looking and feeling a yarn at Millicent’s.  But the true test of desire is to try the yarn out on needles, “up close and personal” so to say.  That’s what you’ll be able to do at Millicent’s first ever sociable Yarn Tasting on Sunday, October 18, from 1 – 4 pm.  You’ll find new fall yarns wrapped into small sample balls displayed throughout the shop.  Don’t bother bringing your own needles – we will have the appropriately sized needles for your sampling pleasure! Look for garments made from those very same yarns to give you pattern ideas.  Bring a small snack to share with others and use this opportunity to introduce a friend to Millicent’s Yarns & More.  See you there!

 

OCTOBER SUNDAY SOCIAL

Sunday, October 11, 1:00 – 4:00 For our October Sunday Social (second Sunday of every month) we will knit a two-color hat with a technique called “mosaic knitting.”   You’ll find the pattern for CROSSPATCH on Knitty.com in the Summer 2006 archives. (If you are able to print it out from home, it would be a help for us.)  You will need a 16 inch size 9 circular needle and size 9 double points.  As for yarn, you’ll want two colors of bulky weight wool.  In my two samples I used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky (brown and black) and Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky (pink and brown). 

Mosaic knitting allows the knitter to produce two-color geometric patterns.  Unlike Fair Isle knitting where you knit with two yarns simultaneously, in Mosaic Knitting you use only one yarn in one hand alternating rows  and slipping stitches.  You will be learning to read a mosaic knitting chart.  Remember that you will receive a free pattern and free instruction, as well as a second pattern to used this new skill, and be eligible for a door prize.  Bring a small snack to share if you feel so moved.

 

BLOCK OF THE MONTH CLUB: ARAN AFGHAN October 4 or 7

The September Block by Georgia Vincent (pp. 26 – 27) is impossible.  I tried and tried, and finally looked on Ravelry, only to find that everyone was finding it impossible.  Of course I was relieved, but we are at a loss.  So, instead, we will do the square on  pp. 18 and 19 by Jay Campbell and call it our October square.  Like in the Vincent square, we will cast on lots of stitches (242) that define the outside edge and work toward the middle!  I have actually been able to execute this pattern (my self-esteem is back intact), and will show you how. Hopefully we will be on track now – well kind of / sort of because we are booting out September, but that’s not too bad!  We meet either Sunday, October 4 , 1 – 4 OR Wednesday, October 7 at, 2 – 4 pm or 5 – 7 pm.  Choose one meeting to attend.

 

KNITTING CLASSES FOR OCTOBER

October’s theme is “Knit For Your Man.”  Our sweater/vest class will meet once every two weeks through October and November. We will also have a 5-week Accessories for Men class that will cover hats, scarves  and mittens.. We will have a sock knitting class:  this month knitting socks on two circular needles. In addition we will have a skills class on “Knit One Below” that will explain a new color work technique (for more advanced knitters) and a class for a great gift for your knitting friends or even yourself (One Ball Bags).  Please see our Classes Page for all details.

 

WE HONOR CROCHETERS!

October crochet classes include a Crochet for Knitters Workshop on Sat., Oct 17, and a 3-week “Friendly Farm Crochet Bags” on Thursday evenings, October 8, 15, 22.  The Friendly Farm Crochet Bags are hilariously funny.  You will crocheting a pig or cow or chicken or frog bag that will eventually be felted.  These are great gift for children and grown-ups with a good sense of humor.  (Let’s face it, some fiber folk are pretty crazy – designer and teacher Lucy Neatby carries a chicken bag and dyes her hair fuschia!)

 

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 Mel Martin

I’ve been trying to articulate my thoughts about Millicent’s Yarns & More to several people, and find myself coming up short.  So I’m putting “pen to paper” to help. 

 

My husband calls the shop “my passion,” but it never has felt like a passion to me.  It’s not like I’ve yearned to have a yarn shop all my life. In fact, sometimes I’m outright surprised to find myself owning a yarn shop.  I have a Master’s Degree in English, an” almost” PhD in American Studies (had a baby instead of a dissertation), and a teaching career that spanned kindergarten through graduate school.  What, for heavens sake, am I doing in retail?

 

Truth is, I fell into Millicent’s – starting very small at a retail incubator, thinking I would have a very part-time business that would demand only part-time responsibilities.  And now, nearly 8 years later, I have a large shop with inventory to please most all knitters, a wonderful staff of four talented people, and I’m still working 6 days a week and through the night as well!  How did this happen??

 

I rode a knitting wave back to health from a deep depression about 12 years ago.  I’ve seen many others ride that same wave.  So what is it?  Creativity?  A sense of satisfaction in finishing something? The charge one gets when learning a new skill? Or is it that zen state we find ourselves in when we repeat the same motion over and over again? It seemed like a gift from the gods to me, and I like to offer it to others.

 

The last eight years that I’ve owned Millicent’s Yarns & More has felt a lot like raising a child.  As mommy with an infant, you know you are keeping that baby alive, shaping its personality and its presence in society, worrying over it, facing ever new frightening realities all the time.  And who could possibly take care of this baby as well as mommy?  So it was with the shop the first several years – if I wasn’t there, was Millicent’s anything more than a place to exchange goods for money?  No, Millicent’s is so much more than a simple retail business.  It has a life, a personality, something cherishable.

 

Continuing with my metaphor: the child grows away from mommy, starts nursery school, placed in trust in other people’s hands and good will. How unsettling!  I felt similarly when I hired my first couple of employees.  I was tentatively able to let go – very tentatively.  And now, many years later, with this wonderful staff of Judith, Geni, Jola and Joanna, my little child is away for the whole day at big kid’s school. All four of the staff are terrific knitters who can help just about any customer that comes into the shop.   Geni and Jola and Judith are teaching classes this fall.  Geni is doing the windows (haven’t they been a wonder?).  And me, well I continue to shape the personality of our Millicent’s by choosing yarns and patterns, making new skills available to knitters at all proficiency levels, keeping our shared creativity alive.

 

So what is it about Millicent’s that keeps me going?  I recently read an article from a blogspot by Pat Riesenburger that gave me the “ah-ha” response.  My effort over the last 8 years, I think, has gone into making Millicent’s a “creative destination.” For many knitters, Millicent’s is a “respite” from hectic work schedules or busy family life.  It is an “oasis from the mundane” – an “escape to a place with extraordinary product and exemplary service”.  (The quoted phrases are all Pat's, not mine, unfortunately.)  But that captures Millicent’s so well.   People tell me they can feel it as soon as they walk into Millicent’s.  It’s a friendly place.  A place you want to be.  It’s a place I want to be.  I love being surrounded by the colors and textures.  I love to sit at the work table and ponder out solutions to knitting problems.  I love to help people increase their skills.  I love the sociability of the place, the easy give-and-take, the support we give one another.

 

Has Millicent’s become an ego thing for me?  No, not really. I am much too busy thinking how to make Millicent’s a better place to have my ego stroked.  Anyhow, having ego-enhancement implies sole emotional ownership. But really, I think many of our customers share in the emotional ownership of Millicent’s.  No, owning Millicent’s is a pride thing.  I’m proud of how we’ve grown, of how many people we have helped to learn this skill, proud when knitters from out-of-town visit time and again.  And above all, I’m grateful that I am still knitting, still exploring, still learning, and at the same time, being able to share this magical craft with others.   

 

[After 5 months, Knitting Thoughts is now a tradition for Millicent’s News.

So, who’s next????]

 

A QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU . . .

Maybe you saw  Dickenson’s “Ask Amy” column in the newspaper on Sunday, Sept 13.  Her headline had the word KNITTING in it -- caught my eye!  Apparently the writer, who calls herself “Knit Wit in California,” quarreled with her husband over bringing her knitting to casual social events where she knew there would be a great deal of sitting about and talking.  She purposely brought a simple mindless project so that she could participate in the conversation. She put the knitting down in her lap occasionally to have eye contact with others, made herself available to help in the kitchen, and had a jolly good time.  Her husband, however, was annoyed.  In fact, he thought she was being rude.  Knit Wit’s response to her husband was that she was only sorry that she hadn’t brought her knitting on previous occasions so that she could knit while others were drinking.   But obviously she is not so certain of her stance.  So she asked Amy, What do you think???

 

Let me pose this same question to you . . . What do you think?  Is knitting at a casual social occasion rude?  Please email me at mel@millicentsyarns.com with your answer and anecdotes. I’ll tell you Amy’s answer next month and print some of your answers and stories too.

 

 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