This week we have a video edition of The Holiday Buzz at WEBS. Watch our video to find out what’s on our wish lists this year and for some of our favorite gift ideas.
At WEBS, we’ve ramped up our knitting and crochet and are now in prime gift making mode. Here’s a peek at a few of the projects we’ve been busy with or buzzing about making this holiday season.
Great for Any Guy
There’s something extra special about giving someone a hand knit sweater. Sweaters take more time to make than a scarf, mittens or a hat, and they get worn pretty often. Making a sweater for a man can be a tricky task. It can be tough to figure out just what they would actually wear. I got around trying to figure out what he would like by just asking him! I gave my recipient three patterns to chose from, and then let him pick the color for the yarn.
I ended up with a pretty simple project, Knitting Pure and Simple Neckdown Pullover for Men in Valley Yarns Northampton in Dark Grey. It might not be the most exciting project to knit, but I like having a simple project on hand to knit at the movies and for some relaxation. It’ll be completely worth it when he unwraps it and I see it get plenty of wear. > Grace H.
Cashmere for Someone Special
I needed a special gift but one that was quick and easy. I found it in Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere yarn Rain Drops Beaded Socks (free pattern on Ravelry!). I chose color 505 Dark Current and matching beads. With the softness of cashmere, the strength of merino wool and nylon, and colors that blend beautifully these socks are beautiful, luxurious and durable. I planned on making only 1 pair, but I love the easy pattern and yarn so much I can’t wait to begin another pair! > Linda B.
A Whimsical Knitted Hat
The Gnomey Earflap Hat makes a great holiday project. Since it only takes 2 balls of Valley Yarns Cold Spring, it’s an affordable way to pamper yourself or a loved one this season. If you’ve never done stranded colorwork before, don’t fear! This hat features a large and easy motif that flies off your needles, and the earflaps are perfect for cold weather. Warm ears, warm heart–isn’t that how the saying goes? > Emma W.
Feminine Lace Shawlette
Shibui Draper is a sweet little shawlette that knits up quickly with just two skeins of the lovely Shibui Staccato. I really enjoyed knitting our store sample. > Greta S.
Simple and Fun to Knit
I love the twist and the silk slubs of The Fibre Copany Acadia and the slighter than dk-gauge this yarn has to offer. The color choices and combinations are intriguing. Knitting the Katahdin Hat was a treat: not only is it a free download pattern, but it offers an interesting technique for striping in the round, one that I had never used. The stripe sequences were seamless, and no “jog” in the stripe when you change colors. The slight slouch to the design is so current and looks adorable. This hat was simple, but fun to make – you will want to make more than one, guaranteed! > N. P.
Wrapped in Love
Anzula Cloud is lofty and squishy in a lovely semi-solid variegation. The Aecor shawl is worked from the center top down with a knitted on border. The drop-in ladies were ooh-ing and aah-ing over this, so I know it’s not just me! > Cara S.
A Touch of Silk and Angora
Simple stranded knitting and fuzzy, luxurious Valley Yarns Sheffield make this Snow Day Hat and Mittens set a really special winter time treat. Since color work is so visually impressive, I think these would make a great gift for knitters and non-knitters alike. > Kirsten H.
Cute as Can Be Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitters Almanac is always a go to pattern book for me when the holidays roll around. The Ganomy Hat and Mitered Mittens make such a great set and have been gifted to almost ever child in my family. Noro Silk Garden does magical things when worked up in those two patterns. > Sara D.
Ruffle yarns are taking WEBS by storm and customers are going wild for them. If you aren’t familiar with this newest craze, let us be the first to introduce you. Below you’ll find three YouTube video links that we’ve created to catch you up to speed.
This little video is an introduction to the basic types and suppliers of ruffle yarns.
At last! We’ve taken your requests to heart and created two videos that offer instruction for knitting these dramatic yarns.
No more excuses make a quick and simply wild accessory today!
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Guest: Andra, our Berroco rep chats with Kathy about the new fall yarns and patterns.
Andra also chats about what’s she’s seen in area yarn shops she has traveled to. Lots of small projects for vacationers and a building into afghans and sweaters.
We also have a new review system on our website, so if you’ve purchased a yarn you enjoy, leave a review and let others know what it was like to knit with. You can also upload a picture of your finished project.
We had the idea to record our staff knitting, since no two of us knit the same way. We were also inspired by the great video by the folks over at Lorna’s Laces to show you what happened to the knitting once we were done.
The video features knitters of all skill levels – from our designer to those who learned 5 minutes before recording!
Check it out!
We had a great time playing with the stop-motion trek the little hat went on. Here’s a little peek behind the scenes.
We hope you have as much fun watching this video as we did creating it!
Each fall, our lovely Office Manager Malea arranges our annual Field Day. It’s a fun afternoon of food and games. This year Malea out did herself and a great time was had by all who attended. Those who did not attend have not been heard from since.
We grilled:
The kids helped to inflate inner tubes:
Which were later used for Inner Tube Sumo Wrestling:
Even Steve played along:
You have to see the video though to truly appreciate Inner Tube Sumo Wrestling
Gail, a.k.a. The Kangaroo Dyer proved to be the best hula-hooper of the group:
While Jonathan never quite became one with his hoop:
Steve nearly won the “bead” race (run 2 lengths of the field with a bead on a spoon and don’t drop it):
We had the inaugural “Kangaroo Hop”:
But the highlight of the afternoon was the Yarn Put:
Thanks to Malea for making us all get out and have a little fun together!
Hi everyone! We’re getting close to wrapping up our chicken KAL and I wanted to get the Kitchener video posted. Here it is (finally).
In the video, Pixie demonstrates the kitchener stitch, which is used to close-up the back of the chicken in our current KAL on Ready, Set, Knit! The kitchener stitch grafts the two sides together and actually creates another knitted row which is then a “seamless” seam if you will. Before the video, I’ve included a couple of picture of my chicken in process. You’ll notice I used a binder clip to help hold the two sides together while I was grafting. This was necessary because the chicken is fully stuffed at this point.
In this next picture you can clearly see on the right hand side where I’ve already grafted the two sides together:
Here is Lily – all trussed up!
In the video, rather than demonstrate on one of our chickens, we opted to use two bulky weight swatches with a contrasting color so that you could easily see what is happening:
As always, I love your feedback and know Pixie and I are continuing to work on our video skills
Kathy
P.S. Our 25th Anniversary Sale kicks off tomorrow! If you haven’t received our flyer in the mail (which you should have) it’s posted in full in the WEBS Group on Ravelry (just scroll down a bit).
NOTE: This post was written prior to our trip to Disney. For whatever reason, uploading the video to YouTube so I could link to it just wouldn’t happen. I think my computer left for vacation a day early. So, my apologies for the delay in this being posted. I know I’ve mentioned on the last two podcasts that this video would be up and I’m sure some of you are frustrated that it’s taken so long.
I’m loving how much all of you are lovin’ us knitting chickens. I’m loving that so many of you heard about it and thought to yourselves “Hmmm – the WEBS gang is going to knit chickens – I think they need a vacation”. Well -you’re right about the vacation part, but now that you’ve seen the pattern, I LOVE that you all LOVE the pattern too! We’re having so much fun.
As promised, but a bit delayed, I want to post the video for picking up stitches. Now, the last thing I claim to be is a videographer. I’m learning, we are all learning so I’m asking for comment kindness. That’s not to say I don’t want to hear what we can do better – absolutely – just know, we know we need to improve :) Got to start somewhere though – right? Here’s what the base of my chicken looked like as I prepared to pick up the stitches to then be able to knit up the body:
You can see that I’ve figured out how many stitches I need to pick up for my medium size chicken and I’ve place markers in spots that evenly divide the number of stitches I need into manageable chunks.
Here’s our tutorial and introduction to the project:
Here’s what my chicken looked like after picking up the stitches and knitting up most of the body:
Next up, I’ll be posting pictures of my chicken getting stuffed and a tutorial on the kitchener stitch, which is used to graft the chicken together.
I’ll be sharing some shots from our trip to Disney in the next post as well, but prior to vacation, we headed to Stitches West. I stayed home for an extra day in order to attend end of term events for both Jackson & Jonathan. Jackson has spent the term studying the Colonial Period which is capped of with a traditional Colonial Ball. Here he is in his colonial outfit:
And here he is dancing with one of his fourth grade friends:
All of the kids did such a great job and I was so glad to have been able to be there.
Kathy
P.S. Many of you asked about the pattern for the shawl I was wearing in the video in my 2/20 blog post. It’s from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton book #2 and the pattern is Sursa. The pattern book is out of print, though there are a few available at various internet sites and possibly your LYS. I’ve spoken with KFI and they have agreed to let me offer all of you the individual Sursa pattern for free with purchase of the yarn. I’m waiting to get the pdf and as soon as I do, I’ll let you all know.
This week’s podcast features two amazing guests! First up is Margaret Radcliffe. We discuss her new book Essential Guide to Color Techniquesand her upcoming classes at WEBS.
If that weren’t enough we follow-up in the second segment with Teva Durham. Teva introduced a new yarn to her Loop-D-Loop line this spring called Quartz plus has a gorgeous new pattern book .
Pixie and I get to do a little work on our chickens – with two Rock Stars like Margaret and Teva, it was hard to fit much else in! Steve didn’t even talk about any yarn!!
I am running into difficulties uploading our video demonstrating picking up stitches. I’m working on it and will continue to do so from vacation.
We are off to Disney but I will be blogging – may be poolside, but that’s okay, isn’t it?
Our chicken KAL will be wrapping up shortly and Pixie and I already have our next project picked out. After that though – we have no plans. I’d love to hear what you would all like to be knitting in June – interested in a summer project? Home Dec? Kids? Let’s get the conversation started and see what we can come up with – please comment with your input!
