Millicent’s News

Millicent’s News  --  JULY 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 on July 4 as well as the last Sunday of each month)

 

 

HOLIDAY KNITTING AND SUMMER KNITTING

This poem was sent to Millicent’s last winter and

addresses the general angst knitters experience in December:

AN ODE TO KNITTERS

Tis the season when most shop at the mall,

but not us knitters, we’re not as crazy as y’all.

We lounge at home in front of our fires,

knitting last minute sweaters, proving ourselves liars.

For didn’t we proclaim just ten months ago,

that we’d complete our holiday knitting before the first snow?

And didn’t we swear to ourselves up and down,

that we’d use yarn from our stash and not buy more in town?

But hey, what the heck, the new yarns are delightful,

and some of that stash, well, it’s just plain frightful!

So with new yarns in hand, we’ll knit and rip out or whatever,

until we’re completely satisfied with our latest endeavor.

Then we’ll wrap it in paper so pretty, we bought the whole lot full,

just to hear those satisfying last words,

“Did you make it yourself?  How thoughtful”

Of course beginning of January, when all the holidays have gone by,

we’ll swear next year’s projects will be done by July!

Enough said?  We’re here to help you!  You may not get all of your holiday knitting done by the end of July, but you’ll have a really good start by the end of September!  All of the project classes we offer from July through September will be single session classes that will help you START YOUR HOLIDAY KNITTING.  Our summer classes are a revisit of the 13 Sunday Social projects we’ve done over the last 13 months.  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 be offered one time during weekday and a second time on an evening or occasional Saturday.  Our summer class schedule lets you continue learning and knitting without demanding a lengthy time commitment on your part – no 4 week classes to keep you from your summer fun!

Here is a run-down of the summer schedule starting in late July:

July 20 or 21:  A Two-color Striped Triangular Scarf

July 27 or 28:  Flip Flop Socks

August 3 or 7: “Wisp,” a lace-weight mohair wrap

August 10 or 11:  “Pluie,” a hemp/linen soap holder

August 17 or 18:  “Cross Patch Hat” using mosaic knitting technique in bulky weight yarn

August 24 or 25: Cross Stitch Scarf

August 31 or September 4:  “Tudora,” a button neck warmer

September 7 or 8: “Calorimetry,” a knitted head cover using short rows

September 14 or 15: The Mystery Scarf

September 21 or 22:  Fake Isle Hat

Please see details about time and materials in our class listings.  Each single-session class lasts 2 hours and  is only $10 per class. You will need to pre-register for classes.  We will provide you with a free pattern, but we ask that you purchase your materials (yarn, needles, etc) at Millicent’s. 

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 July we will be knitting the Komi Cap (pp 44 – 45, with photograph on p.21 in cream and dark green).  You will need 310 yards of  two contrasting colors of fingering weight yarn as well as a 16” circular in sizes 0 and 1 and double pointed needles size 1. Think about using Dale of Norway Baby Ull or Louet Gems in fingering weight.  We also have a cotton/wool blend from Brown Sheep and an alpaca from Frog Tree Yarns in fingering weight.

This is the only hat using fingering weight yarn that we will be knitting as a group and, having seen one partially finished, I can attest that it is a beauty!  Jola has already begun her hat.  Here are her words of wisdom:  1) The hat has a hem that needs to be knit together with the right side, just as we did in the Norwegian hat. 2) The pattern itself is a simple repeats of 3’s and 5’s which makes the pattern-knitting easy. 3) This hat is tall and big. There are a number of ways to vary both the height at width that are listed on Ravelry.  4 )Jola is knitting the child’s size and finds that the hat will fit a small adult head.  Jola Cannon and Robert Godfrey will be teaching the three sessions, as Mel will be out of town that week.

Because the first Sunday of the month is July 4, the Hat of the Month Club will meet Wednesday, July 7 from 2 – 4 and again from 5 – 7, and will be bumped to Sunday, July 11 from 1 – 3.  Choose a time that is convenient for your schedule and come to as many meetings as you’d like.  The Hat of the Month Club is a free activity at Millicent’s. If you have not yet joined us for the Hat of the Month Club, please feel free to join in at any month.  We ask only that you purchase your book, yarn, and needles at our shop. 

SUNDAY SOCIAL, JJUNE 13 and JULY 18, 1 – 4pm

(Please note: This Sunday Social meets on the second Sunday of July) 

Sunday Socials at Millicent’s Yarns & More are 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 June Sunday (June 13)  Social will introduce you the Isabeau Purse knitted in Bazic wool from Classic Elite.  Bazic is a washable wool with a reverse twist in a heavy worsted weight.  “The Isabeau Purse” is  a small clutch-sized purse in a simple lace chevron pattern with a short handle.  As Geni tells it, the Isabeau Purse is just large enough for your wallet and cell phone.  You will need two skeins of Bazic and size 8 needles (your choice of straight, longer double points to use as straights, or a circular).   You will also need a size H crochet hook, a mid-size button (oh boy! You get to try out Millicent buttons!), and about a half yard of color coordinating fabric for the lining. (A quilter's quarter from Joanne's will do you just fine). You will find the Isabeau Purse by Sylvie Damey on as free pattern on Ravelry.com.  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.

During our July Sunday Social we will knit a lace spiral cowl using DK weight yarn.  You learn how to do simple lace and read a simple lace chart. The cowl begins and ends with a picot edge, a surprisingly simple variant that lends a nice touch.  You will need 200 yds of a DK weight yarn and 16" US 6 circular needles.  You can find the Spiral Cowl ("a pattern by Knitty Gritty Thoughts") as a free pattern on Ravelry.  Thanks in advance if you are able to print this pattern out.  If you are unable to, we will have hard copies for your use.

COWLS Speaking of cowls, you’ll find that they will be very popular this winter.  A smaller project than a scarf, a cowl can be used to experiment with many different stitches.  Look on Ravelry under cowl, and you’ll see many many variations!  Geni just finished a beautiful buttoned cowl using a brioche stitch with a soft bulky wool – it is here at Millicent’s for you to see.

COTTON  COTTON COTTON  How could we have brought in more cotton?  Well, you only have to see Ultra Pima from Cascade to understand why we couldn’t resist it.  In a DK weight, at 220 yards for only $10.50, and soft and supple a cotton as they come, Ultra Pima comes in a wide range of colors:  we selected a range of brights (orange, yellow, turquoise, etc) and a range of dusty and neutral colors (ecru, taupe, shades of purple and green).  Because we are now purchasing wools for fall, we brought in only 1 bag of each color and will not reorder until next summer.  Make sure you go home with what you like!

Also, don’t walk past the little boys sweater in the self-striping cotton Tobago that Jola knit recently or the toddler’s dress of the cotton Laurel from Schaefer with a bolero jacket made from Baby Bamboo. (That one is for Mel’s granddaughter, so you have about two weeks before that disappears!)  Mel has also recently finished the darling Fiesta Toddler Top in Ty-Dy cotton and Ty-Dy dots.  Continue to watch for models in our summer yarns – they will be inspiring for you.

INOX NEEDLES 50% OFF  All our Inox circular needles are on sale.  These are great needles for beginners (I used them happily for the first three years I knitted) and at this discount, are just right for beginner budgets too.  Get two needles for the price of one!

A KNITTING THOUGHT  from Tara Eberly

I have a stash.  I am convinced every knitter has one of one size or another.  Mine consists of scraps from completed projects waiting to be made into a hat or embellishment, lace weight yarn for the day I am brave enough to try and knit fine lace, sock yarn just waiting for the perfect pattern, colorful souvenirs from my travels, unfinished projects, fibers to be repurposed from abandoned projects, and skeins I just had to have or couldn’t pass up when it went on sale.  I love them all.  Like a true collector, I can probably tell you when, where, and why I purchased each one.

About a month agao I moved.  I have been complaining about living with boxes for so long.  It makes me feel unsettled, like a nomad.  Last weekend it dawned on me – the only one still living in boxes is me!  My children all had their own spaces, my husband was functioning normally, and even the dog had a place of his own.  So I tackled the boxes, my boxes, and there it was:  my stash. I was so excited.  I had rediscovered my treasure.  I lovingly put away and organized my stash by weight of yarn and color.  I savored each skein remembering what I had made with it or imagining what it would become.  At the end of the day, I still had a few boxes left, but my stash?  It has a home.  Now, so do I.

(Thanks Tara for reminding me that we have not had a Knitting Thought in some time now – let’s get this rolling again!  Mel)

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