Our youngest customer

Mackenzie takes advantage of this opportunity to play in water as she makes her own felted soap gift.  She listened attentively as Beth explained what to do but wouldn’t begin without her sunglasses!  I took advantage of the photo ops!  Stay tuned for more hat modeling.

      

Berkley Art Bash

 The 2008 Berkley Art Bash took place on Saturday June 14 and once again, a good time was had by all.  There were additions to the vendor list this year, music, food and lots of sunshine making for an enjoyable day overall.  We joined in the fun here at the shop by having a sidewalk sale and wet felting demonstrations.

          

Sock Hop!

          

When they’re not knitting or playing soccer, the Garcia sisters are practicing their hoola hoop skills.  They stopped by to get the festivities started and they did a fabulous job!  Thank you to Grandma Joanne for bringing them and for creating the adorable costumes.

      

What beautiful weather we had for our Sock Hop!  The gang was assembled and ready for the fun to begin.  Everyone got into the spirit of the day too!  Beth made this adorable cake for our anniversary.  It was delicious Beth!

Diana Harker lends her expertise demonstrating knitting two socks on two circular needles.  Go Diana! 

I want to thank my fellow Berkley businesses O’Mara’s Restaurant, Hartfield Lanes, Bagger Dave’s and The Chop Shop for their support of this event.  The winners of the gift certificates were thrilled!  Next time I’ll capture the moment on film!     

Closet Glitzy Gal!

 

You may or may not know Ann who teaches here at the shop.  She’s a rather “proper” English lady with the patience of a saint.  I enjoy listening to Ann talk.  Hearing her accent and the way that she says things makes me smile.  Anyway, I noticed something about Ann one day when she was knitting.  She likes to knit with fancy, shiny yarn!  Of course she wouldn’t wear anything so flashy but knitting with it doesn’t count I guess.  Ann showed up the the sock hop without her poodle skirt so I gave her a shirt with a rhinestone studded ball of yarn and needles to put on.  Ann will tell you that I twisted her arm but I’m telling you that it took no twisting at all!

Think Outside The Sox

 

If you’re on my email list you already know that XRX (publisher of Knitters’ Magazine) and a number of yarn companies have dreamed up a new contest involving socks. “Think Outside The Sox” is a year long contest where you have an opportunity to win a grand prize of $6,000 by designing and knitting an original sock!  You also have the opportunity to be published in a new sock book that XRX has in the works.  A host of yarn companies are in on this too which brings more opportunities to win.  

Now before you start telling me how you’re not the creative type let me tell you that everyone is creative!  We’re born that way.  Creativity must be nurtured, encouraged and practiced which is where our “Creativity Workshop” comes in.  Check it out by clicking on this link http://www.haveyouanywoolmi.com/Workshops_p1.htm.  Draw your inspiration from nature, yarn, from conversation, yarn, from music, yarn, magazines, yarn.  Your entry doesn’t necessarily have to be functional.  Think runway fashion.  What ends up in stores is really a version of what’s seen on the runway.      

  

There are yarn company sponsors in addition to XRX which is why I decided to get on board with this contest.  It’s really about the opportunities and what I’m able to offer to my customers.  I’m very excited to be a premier “Sox Hot Spot” for Skacel!  In addition to the grand prize from XRX, Skacel has 4 design categories thereby increasing your chances of winning.  If you enter the contest and purchase the yarn from my shop please list my shop on your entry form because if you win, the shop wins too.  In addition, if you win and my shop is listed on your entry form, you’ll receive a $100.00 gift certificate to Have You Any Wool from me!  The Skacel categories for the contest are:  “Socks to Dye For”, ”Step into the Future”, ”Teddy Bear Footwear” and “It’s good to get Hosed!”.  The winner in each category will receive $500.00 cash and a complete set of Addi Turbo or Addi Turbo Lace Needles in all three lengths!  The winners will also be featured in an ad in Knitters’ Magazine!  Creativity reigns with this contest so put on your thinking caps, pick up your needles and start “knitting outside the box”.  Please visit www.thinkoutsidethesox.com for more information or stop in and pick up your entry form.

        

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Sock Hop! When I decided to take part in the Think Outside The Sox contest a Sock Hop seemed like the natural thing to do plus the opportunities for fun are endless! 

We’re having a Sock Hop on Saturday April 5 from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. to kick off the Think Outside The Sox contest.  We’ll feature demos of a variety of sock knitting techniques such as toe up, cuff down, sideways and 2 socks on 2 circs.  We’re awarding prizes for the best hand knit socks and the best costume we see that day.  So, pull out your poodle skirt and sweater set or your blue jeans and white t-shirt.  Put on your best socks and your dancing shoes and come on in for an afternoon of fun, surprises and prizes!

What’s On My Needles?

This was a tough one because I couldn’t decide which set of needles to feature!  I’ve narrowed it down to two.  I’ve been thinking about knitting a throw for my family room and got inspired when we started re-arranging the shop a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted a project that would be relatively easy in terms of the actual knitting of it but one that would also challenge my thinking about color a bit.  I decided to knit a garter stitch throw of many textures.  I brought in a couple of pillows from my family room and got to work.  I began with a color theme of rusty reds, golds and greens.  I chose yarn from my stash as well as the shop.  This project is perfect for shopping the sale bins too!  The picture doesn’t do it justice so please stop in and see it for yourself.  Bring a pillow and/or some fabric swatches and we’d be happy to assist you with choosing colors for your own throw!     

Another project that’s in the works is my ruffly sock yarn scarf.  When I decided to bring in the Noro Kureyon Sock yarn I didn’t bring it in for just sock knitting.  I envisioned many possibilities for this gorgeous yarn.  Think lace knitting, sweaters, scarves and wraps.  A customer came in wearing a scarf knit from sock yarn which was the inspiration for my ruffly scarf shown above.  The scarf is cast on lengthwise so you begin and end with the ruffle and coast in between.  The Noro color pallette is second to none which is why we love it.  Come on in and we’ll get you started on yours!

Jillian Turns One!

 

I became a great aunt when my nephew Gabriel and his wife Krissy had their first child.  Jilly turned one in January and while I wasn’t able to be with them for the celebration I got busy knitting a hat for her.  I chose the “Flower Power Hat” which can be found on www.knitty.com and I knit it using Lamb’s Pride Bulky.  I intended to put pictures of Jilly wearing the hat on my blog but my computer skills are pretty basic.  Stay tuned for more photos!

Weekend Baby Blanket

If you’re looking for a fast and relatively simple project for a baby this is the one for you!  The Weekend Baby Blanket from  Kalamazoo Knits takes two balls of “Big Ball” and US size 19 needles.  Sweet baby Avery was born in September but she didn’t get her blanket until January.  Once I started it, it went fast.  I don’t think she realized how late her blanket was and she seems to be enjoying it.  We have a sample (baby not included!) in the shop so stop in if you’d like to see it up close.

Locks of Love

 Erica Owens came to Knit Michigan last year, had a great time and was so moved by her experience there that she knew she wanted to do more for KM 2008.  Erica has set a fundraising goal of $10,000 and is working dilligently to meet that goal.  If Erica raises $10,000 by Feb.1, she’s shaving her head for locks of love!  Can you believe it?  Erica has scheduled a series of “knit-ins” across the state in order to raise awareness and money.  We had a knit-in for her on December 29th and it was lots of fun.  If you weren’t able to make the knit-in and would like to help Erica reach her goal, you may drop off your contribution to “…have you any Wool?”.     

Fuzzy Feet

     

Once again Sonya inspired me to knit something!  She came into the shop talking about a slipper pattern called “Fuzzy Feet” and how she was going to knit them.  I helped her choose yarn and of course got caught up in the meantime myself.  Before I knew it I was reading the pattern and casting on!  My feet are often cold and I can tell you that I’ve solved that problem.  These slippers are toasty!  

My feet are warm but my slippers were rather plain so I asked Beth if she would consider needle felting something on them.  You can’t tell from the picture but the skull and crossbone motif on my slippers has a little sparkle.