Millicent’s News

Millicent’s News  --  JUNE 2010

Millicent’s Yarns & More

27 N. Centre Street Cumberland, MD 21502

301-722-8100      millicentsyarns.com

Shop Hours:  T - Sat, 10 - 5, Sun 12 - 5

Wed, open late until 7

(closed the last Sunday of each month)

 

JUNE IS SKILL BUILDER MONTH.  It’s June and we are all so busy and our schedules are crazy with summer coming. So, Millicent’s is offering classes that meet just once.  Choose from a great selections of classes that will help you continue building your knitting skills including Changing  Shapes, Casting On and Binding Off (yes, there is more than one way for each!), Joining Pieces of Knitting Together, Duplicate Stitch, and Lace Basics. Each of these single-session classes will be offered one time during a weekday and a second time on a weekend or evening.  These are not project oriented classes but skill building classes – and who of us doesn’t need that to help make our knitting easier and more professional looking?  Please see our class listings for more details.

In late July through September, we’ll be offering single session classes that will help you START YOUR HOLIDAY KNITTING (yes, Virginia, in July! – otherwise you’ll be asking Santa to help you out on Christmas Eve . . .).  These classes are a repeat of the 13 Sunday Social projects we’ve done over the last 13 months.  So if you missed them when first offered or want to try them again, here is your chance.  We can guarantee that each of these projects are great fun to knit and within grasp of even beginner knitters.  Each of these single-session classes will also be offered one time during weekday and a second time on a weekend or evening.

HAT OF THE MONTH CLUB  Our Hat of the Month Club is based on the book Hats On!  31 Warm and Winsome Caps for Knitters by Charlene Schurch and is geared toward adventurous knitters.

In June we will be knitting the Andean Cap with Earflaps (pp 68 – 69).  You’ll need 5 colors of worsted weight yarn plus a 16 in circular needle, size 6, and double pointed needles, size 6.  You’ll also use a crochet hook size D for the crochet trim around the hat which is done at the end.  We have the colors used for the pictured hat in Cascade 220.  However, this is ANDEAN, and aren’t the colors supposed to be bright and happy???  Well, in any case, mine are – you will gasp when you see my hat!

The hardest parts of the hat to knit are the earflaps.  They begin easily enough (5 stitches, working a defined number of rows before switching to a new color – easy street!  But knitting the bend at the bottom of the flap is not as clear as it might be.  So, if you want to get your earflap(s) ready up to that point, we will tackle that and the inner colors of the flap.  The rest of the hat builds on what you already know, but you will be using all your skills “catching” left and right yarns to avoid long floats.  And then there are the many, many, many ends to weave in . . . .  When you have finished, though, you have a beautiful work of art.

We will meet Wednesday, June 2 from 2 – 4 and again from 5 – 7, and Sunday, June 6 from 1 – 3.  Please choose a time that is convenient for your schedule and feel free to come to as many meetings as you’d like.  The Hat of the Month Club is a free activity at Millicent’s.  We ask only that you purchase your book, yarn, and needles at our shop. 

SUNDAY SOCIAL, May 16, 1 – 4pm

(Please note: Sunday Socials will meet the third Sunday in May and July.  However, June and August it will meet on the third Sunday.  Can we be any more confusing than this?). 

Sunday Socials at Millicent’s Yarns & More is available for beginner through advanced knitters.  Our goal is to teach a new skill and explore a new yarn every month while introducing a small project that can be completed in a few days.  And we have a lot of fun.  Patterns and lessons are free.  We ask that you purchase all supplies at Millicent’s.

Our May Sunday Social (meeting on the third Sunday of May) will introduce the yarn Fixation from Cascade to you. Fixation has 1.7% elastic, which makes it stretch to many sizes without your having to worry too much about gauge!  We will be making Flip Flop Socks that will protect your feet from those rubbing areas that flip flops always have.   You can find the free pattern in Ravelry under Arizona Flip Flop Socks by Catherine J. Hall.  Please help us out by printing this free pattern out if you have an account with Ravelry; otherwise, we will have some hard copies ready for you.

SUNDAY SOCIAL, June 13, 1 – 4 pm (This is the second Sunday of the June).  We will be exploring simple lace chevron pattern as we knit a cotton bag. The Isabeau Purse is available as a free pattern on Ravelry.  If you have an account, please help us out by printing your own pattern.  We will have some copies on hand. You will need approximately 120 yards of worsted weight cotton.  Our Saucy Cotton would be perfect for this, or if you want to splurge, you could use the beautiful Laurel Cotton from Schaefer Yarns.   Please bring a US 8 and a US 6 circular (probably a 16” long) needle if you have them.  We will otherwise have them available for you for purchase.  This is a pretty little bag in dark or light colors, and perfect for summer use!  We will have a model at the shop by the end of May.  Please join us!

ADDI CLICKS   We have 3 more Addi Clicks sets in the shop. They have become very popular and sell out quickly!  So get yours soon!   If you purchased Addi Clicks from us last year that were packaged in a box format, we can order the soft leatherette (and smaller) case for you.  We are also able to order additional sets of needles or cables.   Do you remember my telling you about the Addi Lace Interchangeable Set that has the wonderful qualities of the Addi Lace Needles with the capability to create16” and 20” length needles, as well as 24”, 32”, and 40”, and is housed in a brown case to differentiate it from the original Click set?????  I ordered several of these too, only to be told by very disappointed dealers that the quality of the current shipment was not high enough for their standards and that it went back to the manufacturers to be improved upon.  So we are waiting in line for some.

PRICE INCREASE   All new Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted yarn is increased by $1.00 to $8.90.  However, we do not increase the prices of the Lamb’s Pride that has been on our shelves.  My advice:  come in and get those $7.50 and $7.90 skeins while they are still here!

COTTON  COTTON  COTTON  Have you had a chance to see our new area in the front of the shop highlighting our seasonal yarns?  We have everything from our Bamboo and Pearls, to several new Noro cotton blends, to our trusty Saucy Worsted cotton, to the Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton for baby’s items, to Schaefer yarn’s worsted weight Laurel and and sport/dk weight Susan (imagine that in a shawl!).  Pattern books for many of the yarns are also in this area, as is a collection of Schaefer patterns in a notebook that shows what fashionable things you can knit with their yarns.

BRYSPUN NEEDLES  Never in my life did I think we would be not only carrying but praising to the skies a plastic needle.  But the Bryspun needles, made in New Zealand, are exceptionally light, sharply pointed, and have just a slight flexibility so that your hands are not fighting with them.  We’ve extended our selection to include circular needles in16” (sizes 3 – 10), 24” (sizes 3 – 17), and 29” (sizes 2 – 7), double points in 5 (sizes 2 – 6) and 7.5 inch (sizes 2 – 7) lengths, and 10” straight needles (sizes 2 – 11).  They are less expensive than our other needles, which is a good incentive to try them out.  And remember, they have been certified by the New Zealand Arthritic Foundation.

INOX NEEDLES 50% OFF  To make room for the above, we have put all our Inox needles on sale at 50% off.  These are the needles I used as I developed by obsession with knitting. Get them while they last!

JUL SHAWL PINS  These handcrafted shawl pins are works of art in metal, wood, stone, and nut.  They are displayed on our front counter in our giant daiquiri glass, each in its own bag.  Check these out as well as the other surprises we have for you on our front counter and the display rack nearby.

BUTTONS, BUTTONS, WHO’S GOT THE BUTTONS??  WE DO!!! Customers often exclaim at the variety of buttons we carry.  We have them in sizes, colors, materials and designs to fit most all tastes.  The history of buttons is intriguing.  Check this out.

The first buttons were made in the Stone Age, but used solely for decoration.  It wasn’t until the 13th century that buttonholes were made, so that buttons could take the place of pins and belts to hold otherwise loose clothing in place.  Clothing could now be designed to be tighter with greater emphasis on the figure.  Buttons (wouldn’t you know) were reserved for men’s clothing, while women’s clothing was held together with lacings, hooks and eyes until the end of the 18th century.  Buttons became a status symbol – Poor Francis I, king of France, had so many gold buttons on a state robe (some 13,600!) that he fell over from the sheer weight of it all.  The traditional 3 or 4 buttons on the sleeves of men’s jackets were originally put on uniform sleeves by order of the 18th century Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, to prevent soldiers from wiping their noses on them (see, it was even gross then!).

Buttons of the 17th and 18th centuries were works of art, showing romantic landscapes and pastoral motifs, portraits and flowers.  These buttons led to the development of the shank on the back of the button, leaving the front for artistic expression that would be disturbed by an unfortunate placement of holes.

Traditionally buttons are sewn to the right front on men’s garments so that men’s garments are buttoned together with the left edge over the right.  Women’s garments have buttons on the left front and the buttonholes to the right.  Ever wonder why this silly state of affairs came into being?  The most plausible theory is that women’s clothing became increasingly similar to men’s over time and the placement of the buttons became the most prominent feature that differentiated the two.  But that is boring.  How about this theory:  because men’s outer garments were often characterized by long front button bands and because wealthier men had valets to help them dress, the buttoning direction was placed in such a way to aid the valet.  Or this theory:  women were forced by men to fasten their buttons with their left hands so they might be reminded of their supposed inferiority.

Buttons are made from horn, glass, rhinestone, leather, mother-of pearl, metal, nuts and seeds, pebbles, polymer clay, wood, fabric, and plastic.  There are considerations in choosing buttons that you should be aware of.  Make sure that the button you have chosen isn’t too heavy for the garment.  Select thread that matches the color of the button.  If you’ve knit your garment with light weight yarn, you might be able to sew on the button using that.  Heavier yarns can be un-plied to get a lighter weight yarn for sewing. (Using yarn will prevent thread from “sawing” through your knitted garment. If you have a heavy knit garment, you might want to sew a thin button on the inner side while the decorative button is sewn on the right side.  This prevents the button attachment point from tearing.

Knitted buttonholes can be made in several ways, based on the size of the button usually. Here are three:

Buttonhole worked in one row: Determine the position of the buttonhole, not too close to the edge of the front band.  At this position, slip one stitch, knit the next stitch, pass the slipped stitch over, and make 1 yarn over.  Alternatively, you can simply knit 2 together and make 1 yarn over.  In the next wrong side row, the yarn-over should be purled. This kind of buttonhole works best for smaller buttons.

Buttonhole worked in two rows:  At the position where the button hole is to be worked, bind off a number of stitches to correspond to the button size (or you might want to bind off one less so that the buttonhole is not too loose).   In the next wrong side row, cast these stitches on again, then continue in pattern over these stitches in all ensuing rows.

Vertical buttonhole:  Again, work to the desired buttonhole position, then turn and work back to the beginning of the row.  Place the unworked stitches on a holder.  Work over this short row until the desired buttonhole size has been reached.  Now pick up the stitches from the holder and work them to the same level.  Then work again in rows over all stitches.

How do you determine where to place buttonholes?  Some patterns will specify where the bottom and top buttonholes are to be and will tell you then to place the remaining buttonholes evenly spaced.  This is a little difficult on an piece not yet knit.  The easiest thing to do is to knit the button side of your piece first and mark where the buttons will lie based on the instructions for the buttonholes.  Then have the button side at hand so you can watch for the buttonhole placement to come up.                                                  (from Verena Knitting, Spring 2010 with caustic remarks by Mel)

PS:  We’ve brought in some really fun summer buttons and more are going to arrive soon.  You don’t have to use them for knitting alone – you can freshen up last year’s outfits with new buttons and be amazed at the difference!

Just a friendly reminder:  Please note that class, Hat of the Month and Sunday Socials times are designated not only to fit your schedules but ours as well (You won’t believe how much work we do in between classes to get Millicent’s looking as nice as it is.).  We ask that early arrivals wait for class or function time to begin, so take the extra time you may have to look at models and new yarns, examine books, or check out the New Patterns notebook.  Thanks for understanding.

  

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