Sock Yarn!

Today is a celebration day at KKV--it's Yummie's birthday!  LYS is celebrating with a drawing for a ball of our newest sock yarn, Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch.  A great choice for summer sock knitting, this yarn is 41% Wool, 39% Cotton, 13% Nylon & 7% Polyester.  Fortissima sock yarn is a perfect mix of wool and cotton and the little bit of nylon and elastic will help it hold its shape for years to come.

Comment on the blog TODAY by 4pm EST to be entered to win a ball of this beautiful sock yarn!  Come into the shop & make a purchase & you get TWO chances to win! 

Kitchen Kettle events include:

• 9am-1pm – Families can enjoy fun activities in the Village including crafts, pony rides, cookie decorating, a visit to Yummie’s Barnyard, bounce house, balloon artist & more. Village Outfitters will feature face painting, coloring sheets & snacks for the kids.
• 10am – New this year - sky diver Steve Lapp will "drop in" to Kitchen Kettle Village with treats for the kids.
• 11am-Noon – The FREE birthday party gets underway at the stage area with the introduction of all Yummie’s mascot friends from various Lancaster County attractions, as well as games, music and birthday treats.

New Books! A Quick Review of 'Gifted' by Mags Kandis

A new book by Mags Kandis--this is a collection of projects created for gift giving.
Kandis includes construction details and finishing techniques that encourage knitters & crocheters to learn new techniques while creating appealing gifts. Small projects, these gifts are designed to require a couple skeins of yarn and are leftover & stash friendly.   Two sections; Gifts for the Body & Gifts for the Soul fill the book with more than 25 patterns for wearable accessories such as hats, mittens, scarves, & socks,  and home decor including a tea cozy, pin cushion, & a needle case.  These pieces are sweet, lively and add a little joy to every household. 

I have a few favorites queued up--it's almost time to get holiday knitting underway, right?  

Pics of Ellie's summer knitting

Ellie is designing a pair of socks in Paca Peds alpaca sock yarn.
Priscilla's Dream Socks in stash sportweight yarn.
Jenkins the very silly, yet to be felted bunny--Lamb's Pride Worsted.
The tour de force hat 'Fungi' in three colors of Classic Alpaca from the Alpaca Yarn Company in a dk weight. Awesome.

Ellie's Needles

Wait a minute! Ellie is knitting up a storm while helping out at LYS this summer. First it was a pair of socks knit with stash she dug out of the summer kitchen at home. Using the pattern 'Priscilla's Dream Socks' (Interweave Knit's "Favorite Socks"), these went fast. They weren't even quite off the needles before the next project was planned--& all of a sudden--there is stash yarn in Ellie's room at home!

You know what happened next, right? Yeah, Ravelry happened next. A list of favorites, projects posted...& then Ellie picked a hat pattern called 'Fungi' to knit. This is an ambitious hat! Knit in dk weight Classic Alpaca in three colors, it is lined & knit in three colors. Finished in about a week, this was a companion project to another pair of socks--designed by Ellie, this time knit with Paca-Peds,   another yarn from the Alpaca Yarn Company. These are going a little slower than the first pair. This may be due to the fact that Ellie has also knit a very silly rabbit & is casting on a pair of mittens.

All of these factors point me to one conclusion. Ellie is really, for real, a knitter. A Knitter. Mission Accomplished!

Say 'Hi!' to Ellie on Ravelry & have a look at the projects posted so far! User name: iaoey.

"...the knitting basket...was well equipped, with three long circular wire needles in different sizes, and a sinister-looking set of four double-ended ivory ones, slender as stillettos, which I knew were used in some mysterious fashion to turn the heels of stockings."
-- Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn

Rasta Hat

I'm knitting a great hat using a new yarn from Knit One, Crochet Too. The new yarn is called Wrapunzel & it's a super soft blend of 70% superwash wool & 30% acrylic in a beautiful changing colorway. The hat is the very slouchy, very pretty Rasta Hat designed by Helene Rush.
Combining Tartelette, a beautiful cotton blend ribbon yarn with a new yarn called Wrapunzel, this hat is a fast, colorful knit. The pattern is written for either knitting or crochet & is worked on US#10.5 (6.5mm) or a crochet hook size N (10mm).
Below is a video of the drop-stitch pattern in the hat. Kits available in three beautiful colors!

What a night at LYS!

HYPERBOLIC CROCHET for the Smithsonian Community Reef

Knit Night had a new groove at LYS this week. We had a great evening learning how to increase like mad in crocheted chains & rounds! We're crocheting hyperbolic planes that will ultimately be part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Ocean Focus Gallery in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Our little circle of knitters & crocheters joins a much larger group working to create a satellite reef for the international project created by IFF in California.
The Smithsonian Community Reef will be displayed between October 16 & April 17, 2011.
We will meet again on THURSDAY JULY 29th for another evening of knitting & crocheting for the reef. This is a great opportunity to work with Lancaster artist Christa Wissler & to learn free-form crochet technique.
YOU are invited! We meet weekly & are a friendly, if occasionally silly, group.
Thanks to everyone who is participating! Plans are in the work for a field trip to D.C. to see the reef! Details as they develop.