Little Red Mitten

It's a Good Thing

2012-01-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

It's been a great month for new knitters at Little Red Mitten. The number of young people who want to knit - for a new baby, for themselves, or because their friends have inspired them, continues to grow.

It seems that when more people knit, more want to learn. Non-knitters watch the relaxed faces of those who knit ...and they want to go to that place, too. And what could be more exciting than jumping into a hobby so full of possibilities, designs, colour, texture and cosiness?

So what prompts people to want to learn to knit? Is it the popularity of handknitted garments? Is it the desire to carry on a tradition? Maybe it is mankind's innate need to create. Or is it all about the comfort of creating something with love for someone you love?

What do you think?

Congratulations, Roxanne!

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

Roxanne of Zen Yarn Garden hits the big times!

You may know Roxanne as the talented dyer from Bright's Grove, ON who dyed our exclusive St. Thomas Landscape Series last year.

The beautiful yarn colours were based on the Clark McDougall painting, Talbot St., 1964, and several of you knitted one of my Talbot Shawls in her yarn.

Another one of her colourways was inspired by a photo of our Jumbo monument with the red caboose in the background. (This is a Talbot Hill Shawl.) Yummy!

Here's a Talbot Street Shawl done in one of her Landscape Series colours in Zen Yarn Garden Heavy Lace.

This week, Roxanne was mentioned in Clara Parkes well-respected Knitter's Review.

Clara got her hands on some "Serenity Silk Single" and plans to feature Roxanne's 75% superwash Merino, 15% cashmere, 10% silk yarn in one of her regular swatch tests. Why is that a big deal? Clara is the author of The Knitter's Book of Wool, The Knitter's Book of Yarn and the Knitter's Book of Socks. Her weekly online Knitter's Review has been devoted to all things "yarny" for eleven years and has a readership of 34,000.

That's a lot of knitters! Way to go Roxanne!

Roc Day 2012

2012-01-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

Since January 7 fell on a Saturday this year, we just had to celebrate Roc Day

...and honour our spinning heritage!

Did you know that some form of spinning has been practised by humans for approximately 20,000 years? In France, there is a bone carving of the fertility goddess Venus wearing a string skirt. The sculptor has engraved the twists in each string and has even included the fraying at the ends of the twists ...so these skirts cannot have been made from leather or sinew, but must have been made from twisted fibre. (For more info, see Women's Work - The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.)

Fast forward many generations to experience a Roc Day or St. Distaff's Day celebration. In the Christian tradition, spinners would take a holiday during the Twelve Days of Christmas. On January 7, the women would get back to business using their spindles, wheels and distaffs. The celebration would include pranks by the men such as setting fire to the spinning fibre while the women retaliated with buckets of water, drenching the men. (The ploughmen had time to play because they didn't have to return to work until the Monday following the 12 days of Christmas - I wonder who made up that rule!!! )

The St. Distaff's Day poem, below, is by Robert Herrick (1648).

Partly worke and partly play
Ye must on S. Distaffs day:
From the Plough soone free your teame;
Then come home and fother them.
If the Maides a spinning goe,
Burne the flax, and fire the tow:
Scorch their plackets, but beware
That ye singe no maiden-haire.
Bring in pailes of water then,
Let the Maides bewash the men.
Give S. Distaffe all the right,
Then bid Christmas sport good-night;
And next morrow, every one
To his owne vocation.

The Illustration is from Wikipedia. The distaff was used for storing the spinner's fibre while she worked. And I did say, "while SHE worked." Spinning was most definitely women's work, so much so that the legal term "distaff side" means the woman's side of the family.

And now to 2012. Here's Jean at her beautifully restored wheel:

Doesn't it just seem to fit in with the old floors and windows in our 1842 upstairs classroom? We had 12-14 spinners with us at our Roc Day celebration ...so the tradition continues, but without the fire and water :)

Charity Begins at Home ...and all that

2011-12-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

As my husband likes to say, "If you want something done, ask a busy person." So here I go.

At the end of our Friday night knitting, one of our knitters mentioned that she was going on a Rotary mission to Ghana on January 5. She has been involved in several international trips like this, usually offering medical help and knowledge, which is her area of expertise. She will be visiting kids with AIDS, from birth up to about 10 years of age. Even though Ghana is near the equator, it does cool down in the evenings ...and these compromised children have a hard time keeping warm.

And now for our request. Robbi would really love to take hats with her to share with these children.
- They should fit kids from birth to 10 years of age.
- They need to be soft because AIDS children tend to be hyper-sensitive. Soft wool or wool blends would be ideal.
- No buttons (for the smallest sizes, as per usual).
- Cheerful, colourful, happy hats would be most appreciated.
- And they need to be delivered to Little Red Mitten by Wednesday, January 4 so that she can pack them in her suitcase! Can we do it??? It is a busy time of year ...but knitters have big hearts!!!!

Last night, a quick search through my stash turned up these cheerful colours,

and this morning, before work, I cast on ...

The Power of Knitting

2011-11-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

When a busy woman needs to learn to knit, she will find a way.

With long and late hours dedicated to helping troubled families and challenged children, this lady needed to schedule a private lesson. She had knitted in the past, but had never purled, cast on or cast off. She walked in with a coffee ...and a bad headache ...and told me about the history of migraines in her family, the tension that she holds in her shoulders and some of the challenges of her job.

I was concerned. She was stressed.

We talked and we focussed on her knitting. She wanted to understand. She asked questions, took notes, and made sure that she got the process and the results. An hour and a half later, she left with her goal of working on a 10-stitch strip of wonkiness to explore combinations of knits and purls and the resulting fabrics. Time to play. She left without a headache.

Yesterday was a good day.

A Visit to Koigu Wool Designs

2011-11-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

I love a long weekend ...even if it is only one hour longer! It means that today I will likely try to cram in at least 3 extra hours of fun.

I started the morning off by creating a new, improved techniques list for my Basics and Beyond class this week. Hope they like it.
Next, I think I'll tell you about our trip north to visit Koigu Wool.
Then, it will be on to the newsletter, and then Matt and I will settle in for some NFL, knitting and spinning (Matt will not likely be knitting and spinning ...but you never know!)
Maybe I'll get some bulbs planted in our new garden.
Oh, and then we'll take a walk in the beautiful sunshine, wearing some cosy knits and pretending it's winter!
It's amazing what you can do in an hour, isn't it?

As promised:

On Hallowe'en, Matt and I took a drive north in search of beauty. I think we found some!

Our visit to the gorgeous location of Koigu Wool Designs was so private and beautiful, that I felt like I would be trespassing to take pictures. So you'll just have to imagine the beautiful pond, pastures, buildings and trees. Breathtaking.

And then we went inside to choose "a few" colours. Although we ended up with many bags, we were also able to choose from a display of single skeins. I think that my biggest smile of the day came from watching Maie Landra, the founder of the company. After I had chosen a dozen or so colours, Maie's hands gently reached out to move one skein next to a different skein. And then she moved a few more. In a few moments, they were all arranged in beautiful groups, with subtle changes from one to the next. Obviously, this is an artist who loves her work.

An answer to, "What can you do?"

2011-10-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

You never know what shape you'll get back when you send a child home with needles, yarn and a few stitches. :) But apparently that's okay!

In our first hour of one-on-one knitting, 8-year-old Cassidy learned the knit stitch (and a few other fibrely diversions). When she returned a week later, she had a pretty blue garter stitch shape that somehow had tripled in width at one point. We took turns adding rows while looking at the cover of Rebecca Danger's, The Big Book of Knitted Monsters.

We were inspired!

Cassidy chose the colours and continued to make her monster body grow. I got busy with ears, an eye, and two I-cord arms. We gathered up the few stitches at the top and the bottom of the blue body and each worked a seam from opposite ends, stuffing it full of woolly goodness. She made a twisted cord scarf while I hurriedly attached body parts. (We had to work quickly because Cassidy had a birthday party right after knitting. Oh, the life of an 8-year-old!)

While Mom and Dad were waiting, she found 2 matching pink buttons that would make beautiful eyes ...for Mom to sew on later. Can't you just imagine them, one on the purple spot and one right beside it?

Knitting is fun ...but it's so more fun when you can make a child smile.

Elgin Arts Trail

2011-10-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Little Red Mitten and eleven studios/galleries are now members of the new Elgin Arts Trail. Like "Savour Elgin," the goal of this association is to invite you on "an imaginative and unforgettable journey of original paintings, pottery, fibre art, candles and more."

Here is a taste of our display table at the opening event for the Elgin Arts Trail this week.

Look at all that colour!

Fibre art.

Fibre artists.

Yarn and needles.

This is art.

When invitations went out to join this group, weaving was, as usual, recognized as an art.
Knitting was not mentioned.

I am not bitter. Really :) But I am determined to open some eyes!

Knitting is an art. And an art with a purpose.

Knit on!

For more information, please visit www.elginartstrail.ca or call 1-877-GO ELGIN, x 168

Enlightening Conversation

2011-09-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to sit and knit with the Wednesday afternoon knitters. The conversation is always interesting, you never know what you'll learn, and I always seem to come away with something new to think about.

People talked about what the group had meant to them and how coming to the group had really opened their eyes and made them feel better about their knitting.

Before attending the sit 'n knit groups, some knitters had been hard on themselves when it came to their knitting. It's funny, but although making mistakes is common for everyone, we seem to think we aren't very good at what we do. We harbour the illusion that everyone else probably goes from beginning to end of a project without any mistakes or 'frogging' (rippit, rippit!). Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at fixing mistakes and tinking (unknitting) my work ...because when you make a lot of mistakes, you get a lot of practice!!!

So, I guess, the message today is that knitting is like life. Mistakes are human. Learning to deal with them and then "get on with it" is what is most important. And unlike life, there are lots of do-overs in knitting ...and that's a good thing!

Watch What you Say

2011-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

You have probably noticed that I like to add quotes to our monthly newsletter. This month, there was, "Will knit for chocolate, beer, wine, coffee, ...or whatever," and "Will trade husband's tools, ...or husband, ...for yarn, needles, or whatever."

The other day, Sue took a phone call from a new customer who asked about one of our programs. She had received her first LRM newsletter and was interested in trading in her husband's tools because he was older and really didn't use them anymore. What did she need to do to make this trade? Sue wanted to giggle, but listened, realized that the woman was serious and explained that this was just a silly saying from a button.

Happily, she really didn't want to give up her husband.

His Majesty

2011-09-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

This week, spinning night had a special guest. Janice brought along King Henry VIII, her "50-hour" project for the OHS spinning program.

He was jauntily attired with a duck feather and beads edging his cap, and gold metallic yarn, all so necessary for royalty, such as himself.

This regal fellow was hand spun and hand knit but demanded much more than the required 50 hours to complete: Janice spent more than 90 hours working on his lordship.

His well-padded body required several layers of undergarments, including this charming "cod-piece," a definite "stand-out" feature!

We were all charmed by his masculinity :)

Well done, Janice!

Knitter's Fair 2011

2011-09-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here's our Little Red Mitten booth at the K-W Knitter's Fair ...before the crowds arrived!

What a fun event! So many knitters - young and old, female and male - we are a lively, friendly, varied and creative bunch. I feel so lucky to be part of this great community of knitters. This is exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up ...but didn't know it back then :)

I had a chance to walk around the event before the day ended and saw lots to inspire me.

I think that is what I love about knitting: there are so many variables.

You can get totally different results just by changing the yarn ...or the needles ...or the edging, or the shaping ...and the list goes on.

And we live in a time where the choices are virtually endless. We have multiple fibres and breeds and weights to choose from. It really wasn't that long ago that knitters spun their own yarn, all from the same breed of sheep, often the same weight yarn and with a limited choice of colours.

Yesterday was a feast.

Today, I will try to digest what inspired me.

Friday Night Visitors

2011-08-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

We're an eclectic bunch at Little Red Mitten.

You just never know who will pop by to sit 'n knit on a Friday night!

(Thanks for carpooling with these charmers, Michelle.)

Scott brought along some yummy cupcakes disguised as a turtle.

The turtle was made to honour another beautiful season at the Blooming Bog north of London.

And Isa brought along this cutie from the Patons "Monkey Business" booklet (available at LRM).

I feel like the luckiest woman alive when I get to sit and knit with the inspiring women and men who join us twice a week.

Thanks. You keep me in stitches.

Janet Morton: Tangled

2011-08-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for something knitting related, and maybe a bit "out there," then try to visit the "Tangled" exhibit at Museum London.

The work of Guelph-based artist, Janet Morton, will put a smile on your face. You'll see knitted houses, a large wall overgrown with knitted vines, flowers and found objects, and a tree-like shape with its own knitted "sweater" and tangle of yarns at its base.

"She pays homage to the skill and time required to make hand made objects and resists the demand for mass-produced and ready made." And this lady once covered her home in knitted fabric!

If you're like me, you may come out dreaming about future yarn storming activities. Remember the flowered ankle bracelet idea for Jumbo??? Anybody with me?

The exhibit closes September 18, 2011.

Museum London is at the fork of the Thames, at Dundas and Ridout Streets.

If you're curious, you can read more about her as "Artist in Residence" at U of Wisconsin.

http://www.arts.wisc.edu/artsinstitute/IAR/morton

Elephant Ankles

2011-07-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

What a sweetie pie! Knitting a scarf for his monkey. Giraffey already has one. :)

* * * * *

I have an idea that has been percolating in my mind for a few weeks. Last night, while watching the news, it all came together. Here are the stories:

St. Thomas made headline news in both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Apparently, we made the top of the list ...of cities hit hardest by the recent economic downturn.
Nelson Mandela celebrated his 93rd birthday on July 18. In honour of the 67 years that Mandela worked for equality, people of South Africa are donating 67 minutes of kindness.
Local yarn shop owner notices endless numbers of tourists visiting Jumbo Monument. "Every time I look out the window, there are happy people taking photos of the big guy," said Joan Janes. "This tourism is a much needed boost for our local economy." (Okay, this didn't actually make it into the news.)

So, what if everyone in St. Thomas spent 67 minutes doing something for their town? It could boost morale! It could be the start of our great recovery!!

But what can we do?

Some might choose to improve their front garden, pick up litter, smile at a stranger, donate time or money to a worthy cause, or promote local heritage. I'd like to make an ankle bracelet for Jumbo. Okay. It's not exactly an earth shattering plan, but I think that stitching up pretty flowers to adorn the chubby ankle(s) of the world's favourite elephant would make people smile. Tourists would remember the cheerfulness and happy spirit of our city. Colour, flowers, elephant ankles. I can see it all now. Can't you? Are you in?

* * * * *

...and regarding the comments for my previous post about the "dumbing down" of patterns, I wish someone would dumb down "blogspot." After spending a half hour crafting a response to all 3 comments, do you think I could post to my own blog???? It just disappeared into the cosmos. Rather than face more failure and frustration, I picked up my knitting and chilled.

By the way, the comments are well worth a read.

Pattern Writing, Designing, Teaching

2011-06-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

A while back, I was asked to do an email interview on a Toronto designer's blog. Although it was a fun thing to do, I've been puzzling over one question ever since: "How do you feel about the so called controversy of "dumbing down" patterns for knitters?"

Until the interview, I wasn't really aware of a controversy ...or of the "dumbing down" of patterns. It has taken me a few months, but I think I finally have an answer.

If you are a designer, you want to create something lovely. Writing the pattern is a secondary goal. You probably assume that the knitters you are writing for understand the process and can follow your directions ...or improvise. For the experienced knitter, patterns may serve as a jumping off point with inspiration to take you in new directions. There may be new techniques which challenge and excite you but do not defeat you, even if you end up improvising your way through!

If you are a teacher, you also want to create something lovely, but writing the pattern becomes your main goal. You want the knitter to follow your instructions without confusion, end up with a successful project and learn a few tricks along the way. Since inexperienced knitters may not have a mentor or know how to access information, their pattern needs to be thorough and complete. In my books, this is not "dumbing-down." It is step-by-step skill development.

So back to the interview question - maybe 'dumbing down' is something else entirely? If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

And in the meantime ...there are patterns out there for everyone. I hope you'll check them out and be inspired!

* * * * * * * * *

Okay, you've heard of Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants and Knitting-in-Public, but have you ever seen someone Knit-in-the-Pulpit?

Here's Mandy at the Old St. Thomas Church posing for her scavenger hunt photo:

Thanks for the great photo, Nadine :)

Knitting-in-Public

2011-06-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

It's true. Knit-in-Public Day involved actual knitting in public this month! While many of us relaxed and enjoyed some comfortable, air-conditioned moments (or front patio moments) with yarn, needles and friends, there were several energetic types who got out and about and had a blast.

The wonderful weather, combined with many interesting St. Thomas locations on our scavenger hunt list, had our intrepid knitters laughing and enthusiastically sharing their photos to qualify for prizes. They certainly had people about town wondering what was going on!!!

And maybe that is what it's all about. Sharing our passion. Admitting to the world that we are knitters. Coming out of the closet. Inspiring others. Creating. Relaxing. Challenging ourselves. Being proud of what we do. Whoever thought of promoting knitting-in-public got it right. This is something that is needed.For the next little while, I'd like to add some k-i-p photos at the end of each blog. If you would like to send in a photo of yourself (or just your knitting) knitting-in-public, email me at info@littleredmitten.ca . By sharing your passion, here and in the real world, maybe we can make the world a calmer, friendlier place. Well, it's worth a try, right?!?!

Yarn, a Podcast and a Souvenir

2011-06-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

"Some people bring home the darnedest things from their vacations," to quote a good friend :)

It seems that I brought home laryngitis. I know you'll have lots of sympathy when I tell you that I likely caught it from someone else with laryngitis ...in a yarn shop ...in Sweden. Oh yes. I can just tell how sympathetic you are feeling! Poor Joan. Someone made her go yarn shopping in Sweden. Yup! My life is tough.

But it hasn't been all that bad. I did manage to start and finish this little "Talbot Street" shawl (in one of Zen Yarn Garden's Serenity yarns) between Friday and Tuesday evening. That's gotta be a record for me!

While it is hard to believe that I kept focussed on one project from start to finish, I had a couple of secret weapons.

Secret weapon #1: The yarn felt delicious and scrumptious and I just couldn't wait to see the finished project.

Secret weapon #2: I discovered a great "new to me" spinning podcast ...and I bet I listened to it for 8 hours over two days of forced silence. Apparently, I can get a lot done this way.

So if you have an interest in spinning, check out the "Spindoctor" podcasts: spindoctorpodcast@gmail.com

Sasha Torres, a very nice UWO prof (therefore, the doctor part) does reviews for handspinners that are informative, well-prepared and entertaining. Enjoy - and see how much more knitting you can accomplish!

A Few More Fibre-Vacation Photos

2011-06-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Can't say much because I have a fine case of laryngitis ...but I can still blog :) And I'd love to share a few more fibre-related vacation pics.

When our ship landed in Helsingborg, Sweden, we were greeted by a musical troupe dressed in traditional costume. I wished I could get closer to this guy. Fabulous knitwear!

Inside an ancient church, we found traditional ripsmatta or rep weave table toppers.

At the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, we saw what had been unearthed from a burial site. It is believed to have been the ship of a Viking princess from 800-900 AD. The princess would have needed these textile production tools
for the afterlife.

Looks like a nostepinne /nostepinde and the clay whorl for a spindle. It boggles the mind to realize that all fabric for the masts of Viking sailing ships was first spun on a drop spindle such as this.

...and a niddy noddy for winding skeins.

The squares in the centre of this photo are cards with a hole in each corner. These cards act as heddles when used for tablet /card weaving. The warp goes through the holes and when the cards are turned the weft yarn creates the design.

Here's a close-up of the carving on a Viking sailing ship. Cabling inspiration, anyone?

Some travellers found a Norwegian Heritage Museum with lots of clothing samples, but we weren't so lucky. Guess I'll have to go back someday! :)

And the sun sets on my vacation blog ...sometime around 10:30 south of Oslo. (This photo was taken around 11:15 pm.)

Fun Times

2011-06-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

When work life and leisure time are devoted to knitting, what do you do for fun? Go on a knitting cruise, of course!

Matt and I had a great time visiting ports in Scandinavia. Before the cruise, we explored Amsterdam for a few days, then left the port of Rotterdam for Helsingborg, Sweden, sailed off to Copenhagen and Skagen, Denmark, and made our final stop in Oslo, Norway.

The knitting portion of our trip involved 13 hours of classes with Lily Chin (always fun, inspiring and informative), meeting interesting knitters and crocheters, sit 'n' knit times in the uber comfortable ship's library, and group trips to yarn shops. I didn't purchase much yarn since many are available at LRM, but I did manage to buy lots of pretty and unusual buttons. This Knopenwinkel shop in Amsterdam was full of charm:

These adorable "corkers" caught my eye while strolling the streets of Amsterdam. What a fun way to decorate windows that are constantly being passed by tourists. Because of picture quality, I can only share half of what was on display :(

Cute, eh?

Don't feel too bad for Matt. He had a special tour, too!

And a few delicious beer samplings en route:)

It's coming ...

2011-05-25T12:37:00.001-07:00

Knit-in-Public Day is coming soon!

Visit Little Red Mitten on June 18 to participate in some fun and yarny adventures.

We'll be unveiling the first of our Landscape Series yarns: skeins dyed

by Roxanne of Zen Yarn Garden ...with a St. Thomas theme.

Watch for more news and bring along your camera.

2011-05-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

If learning something new is good for the brain ...why does my head hurt?!?!?!

I spent the weekend planning cable and lace classes and decided that I would use a charting-for-knitting program that I had played around with briefly. The learning curve was a bit steeper than I had thought, so there went a few hours.

You'd think that I would have learned to "save," considering all the time I've spent in "Word," but apparently not. I really believe that I did "save" ...but that the computer ate my homework. Since my "search" button refuses to work, I guess we'll never know. Yup! That was fun!

Realizing that, in "Word," copied charts just bounce around like bunny rabbits for no apparent reason, my husband introduced me to "Excel" ...once again. Then we hooked up to a larger monitor and he said that pdf's would be more user-friendly. That sounded nice. So, thank you, dear husband, for helping me out with that.

So from now on, I'll be able to point out things on a monitor and move them around with a mouse. That really does beat holding up a piece of paper with cardboard behind it. Gotta love technology.

So when you read cable or lace charts for the first time, you may be learning something new, and your head may hurt, and your eyes may cross ...but the technology really is worth the effort.

They Fit!

2011-05-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Mr. Christie tried on his first pair of "Sunblocker Mitts" last Tuesday.

These are my husband's hands - didn't want to embarrass Mr. Christie with all of the

fame that might come from this blog! ;)

These mitts will keep the sun off of Mr. Christie's 93-year-old hands while he golfs and rides his bike around the neighbourhood.

33 years of battling skin cancer with protection such as this has lead to a long and full lifetime.

This Friday, he'll have some skin-toned mitts.

And someday soon, there will be a pattern available.

You'll have warm and protected hands, and freedom of movement, too.

All proceeds will be donated to either the Canadian Cancer Society or the clinic which has been treating this lovely man for decades.

For more info about Mr. Christie, please check out my blog dated April 29

...and please remember to use sunscreen this summer.

It's Election Time

2011-04-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

We hope you'll get out and vote on Monday. But if you aren't thrilled with your choices, maybe for the next election, we can put together our own party - The Knitting Party.

We'll teach everyone to knit, with no age, gender, race or religious discrimination ...because we are, of course, very liberal-minded.

Our choice of knitting patterns will be quite traditional. No knitted bikinis for us because we're just too conservative for that!

We'll promote the knitting of afghans as group projects so that we can work bloc by bloc.

Our stance on the environment will be green, of course: knit a sweater, hat and scarf and turn the heat down low!

We'll be big into charity knitting so that we can share with those less fortunate than ourselves. We might even put all of our New yarns into one giant stash to be shared Democratically amongst everyone. Oh wait ...that might lead to a proroguing of parliament.

With everybody focussed on working and knitting together, our country could be a warmer, "nicer" place. Hey, I really think that this giant coalition could work. Anybody want to throw their (knitted) hat into the ring?

Sentimental

2011-04-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

A young gentleman of 93 years walked into our shop this week ...and we were all enchanted.

His wife, Helen, had passed away 6 years ago and he was in need of some new gloves. She had designed and knit them specially for him to protect his hands from the sun because he has been battling skin cancer since 1978. The gloves cover the backs of his hands but leave the palms and fingers bare. What a great design - they feel wonderful while working with your hands.

Andy (remember that he is 93) rides a bike at the velodrome in London every week. An avid golfer, he also cleans up used top quality golf balls to sell for $5.00 a bag - all proceeds go to the clinic where he is treated. If you'd like to support this cause ...or need some golf balls, we'd love to put you in touch with Andy.

The more I talk to Andy, the more connections I discover: both he and my Dad were career Air Force (RCAF) and were stationed in many of the same places, but always at different times. Andy worked in maintenance and my Dad was a sheet metal worker. 5 years apart in age, they were both sent to this area from Toronto. Both were of Scottish heritage: my Dad from Edinburgh and Andy's family from just north in Dunedin. And this morning, I realized why his last name was so familiar to me - it is the same as my great-grandmother's. Hey! Maybe we are related!
Andy will definitely have his new gloves next week.

An Interview ...with me :)

2011-04-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, I did an interview with Torontonian, Robin Hunter, on her blog, "How to Become a Professional Knitter". Although usually she interviews designers (always quite interesting), this one is about how Little Red Mitten came to be.

How to spend a Saturday

2011-04-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

In 5 short hours, these three happy ladies learned how to knit a top-down sock. We didn't have to worry about tiny needles and fine yarn - we just cast on with our 3.5 dpns and created these adorable, though slightly unwearable, mini-socks.

Normally, we offer a 6-hour sock class over 3 weeks, but today it was great fun to go from top to toe with no worries about completing the sock to a certain point for the next class. All questions were asked, answered and solved on the spot ...and no terrifying feats of heel turning had to be completed unsupervised.

With "Sock Science" in hand, they are well-prepared to complete their first pair of wonderful hand-knit socks. Welcome to the world of sock knitting, ladies!

Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

2011-04-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

It's vacation time. Houston - here we come!!!

It goes without saying that when you go on holiday to visit your son, he and his gal will be the highlight of the trip. But when I remembered that I had 2 straight hours of knitting time just to get to the airport, I was positively gleeful!

Packing clothes from two seasons ago was not that good a feeling, if you know what I mean ...but packing my entertainment was a whole nuther story. I would not be sitting idle ...like my husband, who forgot to pack so much as a book for his own free time.

The packing was worth the effort. On the plane, I did whatever I felt like doing. I bounced between two knitting projects, planned a third, read some of Brave New Knits, listened to a knitting podcast and watched a downloaded Lucy Neatby DVD. Phew! My day couldn't have been better.

And the good times continued. We visited two of my son's favourite spots: The Chocolate Bar,"Where every hour is happy hour," and The Maple Leaf Pub, with 3 or 4 hockey games playing simultaneously (okay ...we could have skipped the hockey, for once). And the part that will really make me smile, when I go out this morning, my coat will be staying in the closet.

Alive and Well

2011-03-28T18:59:00.001-07:00

Two and a half years ago, people began to wonder about me.

I had a big idea. I was going to open a yarn shop and we had purchased a building in need of some serious loving care.

After I spent time talking with my hairdresser, who owns the building next to the Mitten, he, of course, spread the word to many of his curious customers. What was going on next door? What kind of business would it be? Another tea room, perhaps, maybe with Boston Cream Pie? This is what people really want, after all. The idea of a yarn shop had most of them shaking their newly coiffed heads in disbelief. After all, nobody knits anymore, do they???

I'd like to reassure all of them that people really do knit ...big time ...and it is not a dying art practiced only by aged women in rocking chairs. Our recent Friday night knitting groups will attest to this.

It included: two husbands, one child, young women in their 20's and 30's (who sometimes outnumber those over 50) and women who are there to visit with friends, share stories, give comfort and advice and simply care about each other.

Knitting and fibre arts are alive and growing,

...but Boston Cream Pie would have been nice, too!

Continuing the Tradition

2011-03-21T12:31:00.001-07:00

The "string revolution" changed history.

When mankind learned how to take fibres and make them strong by twisting and plying, civilization took a turn for the better. With string, we could tether animals, make nets to snare a meal, tie things together to make rafts or huts or tools, and, of course, weave fabric to warm and decorate our bodies. So important were these techniques, that the survival rate of babies and children improved once 'string skills' had been discovered.

Back to the present: learning how we can turn yarns and fibres into useful items

was the goal for our 3 mornings of fibre fun.

These important skills have been passed on for centuries, even millenia.

Such creativity is rewarding, challenging ...

and sometimes, full of surprises!!!

But with young minds, anything is possible and clever uses can be found.

March Break Fibre Fun

2011-03-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

Studious looks, concentration, learning.

Seven creative kids spend three mornings of their vacation ...knitting, weaving, felting, and making cords and string.

...and pass it on!!!

Headed South

2011-03-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

March Break is such fun!

No, not because we're heading south for some fun in the sun, but because we get to meet interesting, new people.

Meet Wanda Kerr who headed south from Wiarton. She's a rug hooker extraordinaire, dyer, and relatively new spinner.

It's obvious that she loves to inspire others.

She inspired me with the crazy batts she loves to create on her drum carder.

She throws in bits of silk, cut up yarn, chopped up fabric and her beautifully dyed fibres and gets a luscious, exciting, fluffy batt ready to run through her spinning wheel.

And she shares! Here's the batt that she gave me to play with. How lucky am I ???? I guess she noticed how much fun I was having as I watched the exciting colours and textures flow through my hands.

So nice to meet you, Wanda.

One Step Closer

2011-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

I just finished my slowest pair of socks ...ever.

Usually, I can knit a pair of socks in "no time." That's what I like to call those spare minutes when you are a passenger in a car and can't do anything else ...or when you are visiting your mother-in-law and have to sit in one spot ...or you are waiting for an appointment and you just know that trying to read would be a waste of time because of all the distractions in the room.

Sock knitting has often provided that bit of sanity for me when I just can't sit and do nothing. It feels so good to see what I can accomplish in "no time!"

So why did this pair take so long? Lately, I've been packing two or three projects to work on everytime I go out - I'm getting more organized (at least, that's what I'm telling myself :) Somehow, I'd always choose one of the other projects because, do I really need another pair of socks?

And then there's the colour. If you read my previous post, you'll know that I've been knitting with a lot of cranberry, faded wine, burgundy, reddish purple, dark rose, plum, mulberry - you get the idea. I'm in a rut.

But not for long!!!! Since I finished these socks, that means I'm one step closer to playing with the silk hankies and trying a pair of bright, gorgeous, turquoise mittens. I'm so excited - they are a fabulous shade of turquoise.

I just looked over at them with pleasure and realized that they are turquoise combined with ...oh no ...more purple!

What do you think???

2011-03-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been teased by one special employee about my colour choices.

She seems to think that I'm in a rut.

Here's my most recent sweater (Lamb's Pride), my current sweater (Zara Plus), socks (Tanis Blue Label) and a lovely new (Tanis) silk Ishbel in its infancy. Unfortunately, I forgot to include the leftover Nature Spun I'm swatching for a future project - it would have fit in very nicely here!

I'll keep telling JoLyn that I'm coordinating my wardrobe, but you know, I'm starting to crave some turquoise.

The Great Wall of Mittens

2011-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

As Canadians, mittens are near and dear to our hearts, and a basic, unromantic part of our heritage. We may have memories of a favourite pair from childhood, perhaps a pair that Grandma made, or a pair that were stuffed so full of thrums that your hands were always toasty and warm, or maybe idiot strings that eventually became a bit of an embarrassment!

This week at Little Red Mitten we are celebrating mittens. In the spirit of competition, more than 20 mitts hang in the shop awaiting your vote ...and there are some real masterpieces!!!

We hope you'll drop in, appreciate the talents of our local knitters and be inspired.

Prizes will be awarded Monday, February 28.

A Mittenful of Trivia:

The oldest mitten ever found (in Latvia) is believed to have been made 1000 years ago.
A man might choose a wife based on her mitten-knitting skills.
"A bride would not cross the threshold to her new home until she had laid down a pair of mittens."
Mittens were an important part of Latvian wedding ceremonies. Between 100 and 200 pairs were necessary to fill a hope chest and ensure a happy marriage. Every pair had to be a different design or the bride would become a laughing stock.
In the summer, mittens were attached to a waistband as an adornment.

Trivia from Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis and photos by Tamara David.

National Sweater Day

2011-02-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

February 17th is National Sweater Day in Canada. Remember to turn down your furnace by 3 degrees and don a sweater ...or hat and scarf and any number of cosy handknits. So if you come into the shop tomorrow, please don't feel like we're giving you the cold shoulder! :) We're just saving the planet.

Our Yarniversary Cake

2011-02-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

As far as cake decorating goes, I think this one "takes the cake!"
Thanks, Krista (Krista Miller Cakes) of St. Thomas

...and thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate today.

You make it all worthwhile!

Our 2nd Yarniversary

2011-02-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

It's been a wonderful two years since we opened our doors to so many talented and inspiring knitters. Thank you so very much for your support, friendship and positive comments. Your word-of-mouth has been vital to our growth and very encouraging for us as rookies in the business.

We hope you'll come out and enjoy our sales this week. (We really do need to make room for some exciting new arrivals!) And please check our newsletter to know which knitted item you need to wear each day in order to get a special discount. Wednesday is our anniversary date, so of course, there will be cake. Hope you'll join us. Click here for our newsletter.

This shop has been my dream for years and it's great to be living the dream. Thank you.

Joan

Winter is for Knitting!

2011-02-07T16:41:00.000-08:00

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,

Big beautiful flakes of snow blanketed St. Thomas last Saturday.
Inside Little Red Mitten, customers looked out at the weather and shrugged. They were safe and warm inside. They'd worry about the driving later because ...

the yarns are so delightful!

Hope you are curled up with your knitting in a cosy, warm spot. Gotta love February!

Knitting Book Nerd

2011-01-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Knitting Book Nerd - that's me!

Not so long ago, I spent hours posting all of my knitting books on Ravelry. It was pretty impressive, and a bit embarrassing to put on display ...so I deleted it all. But that fabulously inspiring collection of colour, design, tips, techniques, history and fun regularly calls to me from shelves near my knitting nest.

Recently, I broke down and bought a book that I had 'blacklisted' from my collection: Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook. I admit, it may seem prudish to not want a book because of the title, but I felt it insulted women and knitting groups. My hackles were raised, but this couldn't have been further from the truth.

Debbie Stoller's book retells our history of knitting, extols the importance of traditional women's work ...and her edgy flair encourages the young to take up the craft. The old photos are fun, her instructions are easy to understand and her drawings are clear. Great book!

Okay, so how many knitting books does one need, anyway? When I am trying to learn a new skill from a book, diagram, photo or video, it always feels to me like something has been left out somewhere. Maybe my brain just doesn't take that leap from step four to step five. When I read the next book on the technique, that step may be well-explained but another area is weak.

We all learn differently and we all explain things a bit differently. The more we read, the more things start to make sense. When teaching a class, I could use the same words over and over to no avail ...or I could rephrase the instructions, draw a diagram, use props, show samples, hold the needles or just move a knitter's finger. Please don't give up after studying only one person's instructions or reading one book. Try another. Someone else may help everything fall into place for you. And that'll bring a smile to your face!

Do as I Say, Not as I Did

2011-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

After knitting a super-bulky hat all in one evening, I have to admit that self-preservation was not on my radar. By the time I realized how tired and sore my hands were, it was too late. (...I was almost done and really wanted to finish. You understand!?!?!) A week later, things are back to normal, thankfully, and hopefuly I'm a wiser person.

So how should you look after those precious tools - your hands? The Arthritis Foundation has some tips:

Choose a soft, smooth, medium-weight yarn. Fine gauges are difficult to grip, and although bulky yarns may be easier to hold, they can be heavier. As for needles, medium-gauge such as 4 to 5.5 mm are easiest on the hands.

Fibre choice makes a difference - stretchy fibres such as wool and other protein fibres are more flexible and therefore gentler on the hands than cotton or cellulose fibres.

Metal needles, especially older styles, are stiff and cold and heavy. Give wooden needles a try. You just might enjoy their light weight, warmth and flexibility.

If your back, neck, arms or hands get sore, try circular needles. The weight of your knitting is more evenly divided between your hands and when your project gets larger, the knitting will rest on your lap.

Above all, pace yourself. Take breaks, stand and stretch your hands, arms and back ...before they start to ache. As Sally Melville says in her book, The Knit Stitch, set a timer to go off across the room every 20 minutes, get up, stretch, and set it to go off in another 20 minutes. If you don't get up, but keep knitting through the noise, get help!

Bees???

2011-01-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

Just finished my holiday reading and have to share: "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd is a fabulous read. I just couldn't put it down.

How does a book about bees (it's really about a group of black women and a white girl in South Carolina in 1964) connect with a knitting blog? Well, until I got to the Readers Guide at the back of the book, I hadn't considered a connection, either. And then I read the author's words about a sisterhood of women ...and all of a sudden, the ladies who come to knit at Little Red Mitten filled my thoughts:

"When women bond together in a community in such a way that "sisterhood" is created, it gives them an accepting and intimate forum to tell their stories and have them heard and validated by others. ...We found that there is a way of being together that sustains us..." (Sue Monk Kidd)

Our Wednesday afternoon and Friday Night knitting groups don't have much of a name, but we are a community. Faces change from week to week, yet some knitters come to every meeting; some sit on the sidelines and listen while others entertain and make us laugh; questions are asked and help is given; problems are shared and support is offered; and stories are shared.

Although I often struggle for the chance to sit and knit with the group, these people have become an important part of my life. When kids grow up and leave home, all of a sudden, we have time to ourselves ...and fewer chances to share it with people who are close to us. The same happens at retirement - people you have seen every day for years are no longer there. For those who spend their days looking after children or ailing relatives, they need a community that listens to them.

Knitting groups give us a reason to belong to something outside of our regular lives. I hope you can come out and join in the "buzziness" of knitters and enjoy the community they share. And yes, drones (males) are always welcome to our beehive of activity!

Knittin' it up in the Motor City

2011-01-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

This weekend, Matt and I went to my first ever NFL Football game in Detroit. (Don't snicker - football is great for knitters. There are so many breaks between plays that if you happen to miss something, there is always a replay ...or two ...or three.)

After walking to the stadium, we found out that backpacks and knitting bags weren't allowed, so we turned around, walked another 15 minutes in cold, windy Detroit, and reorganized our stuff. Thank goodness I had brought along a teeny tiny sock to knit because nothing else would have fit in my purse. I was now ready to withstand 3 hours of athletic bliss.

When you are sitting near the end of a row, have you ever noticed how often other spectators need to walk in front of you? Well, the first time, this happened, I politely stood up, holding my knitting and my purse up close to my body. I sat down to knit and noticed that my yarn wasn't on my lap anymore. It had dropped, the guy next to us had it wrapped around him ...and it had rolled down to the seats below us, totally out of sight. Egad! After passing my teeny tiny sock with its teeny tiny 4 inch needles back and forth a few times, tapping the shoulder of the fellow in front of us and twice figuring out which way it had to go around his chair leg (because the first time is never right) I safely stuffed the ball of yarn in my pocket and got back to knitting bliss.

In my defense, I did have one of these in my knitting bag when I arrived at the gates, but you know how well that turned out! Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, the teeny socks were done except for the toe ...because my pockets were tool-free.

For football fans only: The Detroit Lions (the local team for this area) were playing the Minnesota Vikings (our local team when we lived in South Dakota). Before the game, I had no idea who I'd cheer for, but while sitting among so many Lions fans, it became obvious which team it would be. And it was a good choice: Detroit won 20-13. That makes four games in a row for the Lions. After going winless, two seasons ago, this is a big deal!

Due to a concussion, we watched Brett Favre stand on the sidelines. This may have been the final game of his 20 years as quarterback - the end of an era! Unless, of course, he doesn't actually retire .... (Favre retired twice in the last two years and officially retired for the third time today.)

I resolve ...

2011-01-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

As I watch friends struggle with health issues, I see the importance of taking time to enjoy each and every day. The fact that I love my job makes this pretty easy, because I get to visit with some of the nicest people on the planet every day - knitters. I've got "enjoyment" covered, thank you very much!

Running a yarn shop and interacting with customers inspires me endlessly. My project list seems to grow every day, but 'busy-ness' plays havoc those dreamed-of goals. (The phrase, "Must knit faster" comes to mind, here.) Since taking time to put up my feet and rest is also important, I resolve to kick back ...and knit more!!!

This year, my desk will be more organized and I will get to the paperwork - the knitting related stuff, anyway. I really do love working out the details of a knitting project ...so this is the year for getting my patterns reorganized and improved. My fingers are really crossed for this one - let's hope I can still knit!

We all have goals and dreams and desires for 2011. My wish is that yours will be a fulfilling and healthful year.

Happy New Year!

Joan

There's Still Time

2010-12-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

Since several people offered, and 4 more military helmet liners arrived at the shop, we found a way to get more hats to Afghanistan!

Apparently, Canada Post will ship to the military for free until January 7, so if you'd like to knit a few more of these quick and simple hats, please bring them in by Thursday, January 6. We'll get them boxed up and sent on their way to our Canadian soldiers.

If you are coming late to this party, remember that one ball of Galway will make two helmet liners. The free pattern can be picked up at Little Red Mitten.

OR ....here's a quick synopsis of the pattern:

5mm, 16 inch circular needle and 5mm double pointed needles
worsted weight, 100% wool such as Galway
Tension: 18 sts over 4 inches

Cast on 90 sts, join in round being careful not to twist stitches.
Work 4 rounds in *K1, p1* rib.
On 5th round, increase one stitch. (91 sts)
Knit in round until there are 4 inches of stocking stitch above ribbing.

Decreases:
*K11, k2tog* to end of round. Knit one round even.
*K10, k2tog* to end of round. Knit one round even.
*K9, k2tog* to end of round. Knit one round even.
Continue decreasing 7 sts per round (as above) with one fewer stitch between each decrease, alternating with one even round, until 49 sts remain, or this round:*K5, k2tog* to end of round.

Do not work even rounds between the rest of the decrease rounds.
Continue decreasing 7 sts per round until 7 sts remain.
Cut yarn, thread needle, run through remaining stitches, pull tight and weave in ends.

Peaceful knitting!
Joan

Don Cherry

2010-12-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

If you watched the news on Christmas Day, you may have seen Don Cherry visiting with our soldiers. Well, the guy in the Leafs jersey just happens to be Catherine's brother, Darryl - he's the one who will get the 51 helmet liners that we knitted. Darryl told her that lots of guys were waiting anxiously for the hats and he was thrilled that there were so many coming his way.

While speeches were going on, Darryl slipped away and put on his Leafs jersey. (His fellow soldiers got a good chuckle out of this, thinking that Darryl would be in big trouble for being out of uniform.) Of course, Don Cherry noticed him ...and called him up to stand beside him while he spoke to the crowd.

Darryl wrote, "It was sweet. I got him to sign my jersey, which was awesome. So that was my Christmas, you see it was pretty good after all."

* * * * *

Hoping your Christmas was peaceful and memorable.

We Knitted Our Bit

2010-12-23T08:07:00.001-08:00

... Apparently, lots of Little Red Mitten customers.

You knitted 51 helmet liners for our troops overseas!!!

Here's Catherine with an armful of hats.

Her brother received ten hats earlier this year while serving in Afghanistan and

is looking forward to sharing these warm tokens of support from home.

Thanks for your generosity.

Fleece on earth, good wool to all.

Knitting ...pass it on.

2010-12-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

Some special time with needles and yarn ...and voila - a friendly little finger puppet to play with.

When a child works with her hands, there is a lot going on: brain development, eye-hand coordination, abstract thinking skills, interaction with others, and FUN!

Make time to play,

this holiday.

If I follow the pattern ....

2010-12-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Another class, another window into a knitter's thoughts.

After a discussion about tension/gauge, this question arose: "So even if I follow the pattern exactly, it still might not turn out?"

Well ...following the pattern means many things. Unfortunately, it's more than just getting the knits and purls in the right place. Perhaps the most important part of following the pattern is getting the same tension or gauge. Knitting a swatch and counting the stitches to check your tension is IMPORTANT.

Check out these examples:

Imagine that you are knitting a sweater in the round. You have a pattern for a 40 inch sweater that has you cast on 200 stitches. The tension is 20 sts over 4 inches ...or 5 sts per inch. (200/5=40)
But what if you choose a too-thick yarn, needles that are too big, or you knit loosely? If your tension is 16 sts over 4 inches ...or 4 sts per inch, you are about to create a 50 inch sweater! (200/4=50)
On the other end of the spectrum, if you've chosen a fine yarn or small needles, or you are a tight knitter, you might get 24 sts over 4 inches ...or 6 sts per inch and end up with a 33 inch sweater. (200/6=33) Surprise!!!

Lastly, you could knit your tension swatch perfectly. Ahhhhh.

After making progress on the sweater and getting comfortable with the pattern, you might relax (or stress out about something) and cause your tension to change.

So, it really is a great idea to check your tension regularly - just get out your ruler and count those stitches.

Does this take the fun out of your knitting? Maybe a bit, but at least you will be following the pattern exactly, and you'll get the results that you want without the nasty surprises.

Cast Slipper

2010-12-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

Let's hope this fits over my daughter's cast!

I hope the tie will keep it on ...'cause it's cold in Thunder Bay!

Ouch!

2010-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

My 27-year-old daughter is very independent. Perhaps too independent.

On Saturday afternoon, we got an email saying that she had broken her ankle (on Friday night)and was going into surgery soon. By the way, I do remember teaching her how to use the phone, but apparently, it didn't 'take'.

So here we are in St. Thomas, an 18-hour drive from our injured baby in Thunder Bay, and we can't reach her for more information. The hospital will only say that, yes, she is in surgery. Seven hours later, we finally get through to her and learn that all is well.

There is now a pin holding her together, but she will likely leave the hospital the next day. She'll go back to her apartment, where she lives on her own, to the 2nd floor of a house, up the narrow stairs with a turn at the top ...and a railing that keeps falling off.

So she's snug in her apartment now ...and thinking she should go to work in the next day or two.
I wonder just how much snow there is in Thunder Bay right now. It's -22C and her toes are bare!

So my job is to look after her in any way I can. Two strands of Lamb's Pride Bulky on a 6mm needle -this thing is a three-eighths of an inch thick. At this point, this is all I can do:

It will look like this:

...only much bigger.

Do you think it will fit?

"The Easiest Thing to do...."

2010-12-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

While teaching a sock class recently, an outgoing, funny and forthright new-this-year knitter had this to say:

"The easiest thing to do in knitting is to make a mistake."

Yikes! My first thought was to protect the other knitters from this sacrilege. How will they ever hope to continue if this is all they have to look forward to!?!?!?!? ...and then I smiled. She was right. "Knit happens."

As a young knitter, I was afraid to fix mistakes. I didn't understand what I was doing with yarn and needles and never stopped to analyse what was happening under my nose. If I attempted a correction, I was sure that my whole project would unravel down to the beginning and I would be a failure. I handed everything over to my Mom and she would magically and quickly put everything right again. It wasn't until I read the book, The Sweater Workshop, by J. Fee that I got over this hump ...and that is when I really started to love knitting.

Learning to fix mistakes is IMPORTANT. While some knitters plough ahead, leaving their mistakes because they just aren't sure how to fix them, others stop in their tracks when they come to a roadblock in their knitting, afraid to go forward or back. A few simple tricks can completely change the way you feel about knitting.

Take a class, read a book, watch a video, ask questions, dedicate some yarn and needles to experimenting. Don't be afraid - it's just sticks and string!

Set yourself free!

2010-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

...Scott Adams

It's true. Creativity is about experimenting, playing, exploring, taking a chance, seeing if some little trick will give you the results you are looking for. There are so many options with knitting that there can be something new to learn with each project. As long as you are willing to make a few wrong turns, your destination can be a wonderful, original surprise.

Feel free ...let yourself play!

Knit Your Bit

2010-11-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

The response has been strong. Little Red Mitten knitters are working on helmet liners for our soldiers. There are already 4 new hats hanging on our Christmas tree, a fifth hat sitting inspiringly beside the free pattern, and several unfinished hats popping out of knitting bags everywhere ...or at least, within driving distance of The Mitten.

Thanks to my daughter, Sara, for sending this great photo!

Catherine S. is planning a quick trip from Woodstock on Friday to pick up our first batch of helmet liners. She will send them in a parcel to her brother so that he can share with other soldiers in Afghanistan. I imagine that the weather is pretty cold there already - it warms my heart to know we are sending a wee bit of comfort to our fellow Canadians.

Our next deadline will be Dec. 17. The season of giving just got busier :)

A Sheep in Dog's Clothing

2010-11-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Summer has arrived. No, not the season, but a new, enthusiastic knitter named Summer. She has crocheted for 16 years (more than half of her life) but now she seems to be smitten with knittin'.
Trying to dress a Teacup Chihuahua for winter was her challenge. She bought a book, yarn and needles, asked questions, problem solved and went for it! Her are the results:

Doesn't Shaun the Sheep look handsome?

A Bit of a Rant

2010-11-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from my 'talk' to our local University Women's Club last week:

...Gandhi practiced non-violent, non-cooperative protest: he convinced people to spin and weave their own clothes so that British factories would be idle and his people would have rewarding employment.

If we look at North America, spinning and weaving mills were an important part of the fabric of our lives. Everyone knew someone who spun or wove. There was a connection and an understanding about the process ...and about the value of the process. We had control over how we clothed ourselves, and we paid our neighbours to do it. Now, most mills have sold off their machinery to 'developing' countries. We no longer understand or value the skills and the labour that go into the necessities of our lives. Important knowledge and skills are disappearing. Perhaps, like Gandhi, we should be taking back control and making or purchasing locally made items.

With the industrial revolution, factories ended the need for hand knitting, ...but knitters continue to knit. They knit for the love of the craft, for the soothing benefits, for the chance to be creative, for the problem solving and design challenges, for the excuse to commune with friends ...and for a beautiful custom made item.

Knitting, spinning and weaving are "arts with a purpose."

The Slow Cloth Movement

2010-11-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

When I look at the date of my last blog posting, I realize that I need some "slow" in my life. There needs to be more time in my day to create ...and enjoy the feel of fibre in my hands.

This seemed to be the theme of my reading this month. Both Handwoven, (Nov./Dec. 2010) by Interweave, and the Wheel, (Issue 22) by Ashford, had articles about the "Slow Cloth" movement. This posting borrows heavily from these magazines.

The slow cloth idea was developed by Elaine Lipson with the philosophy that, "It's all about the process." As she watched crafting gain popularity, often with little attention given to quality or skill, she offered an alternative to that mindset.

She identified several basic principles important to her philosophy:

We should experience joy in the process.
We should have moments of peace while we work, moments of contemplation.
We should honour skill, not instant gratification.
We should honour diversity and the multicultural history of our textiles.
We should honour teachers and our long lineage of creativity.
We should encourage sustainability and the wise use of our resources.
We should celebrate quality, beauty, community and personal expression.

I think I'll hurry up and slow down. This afternoon, I will take time to enjoy creating with fibre. I will work for the love of it, for the soothing benefits and take advantage of this time to be creative. I hope that you can, too.

You can read more about slow cloth ideas at Elaine's blog:

http://lainie.typepad.com/makinggood

A Wheel That's Been Around the Block

2010-09-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about an antique wheel, or a wheel that has spun thousands of skeins of yarn. This wheel has not only spun miles of fibre, but it has travelled many a bumpy path. It has transported its treadler to imaginary and real life places. And it has had a second chance at a new and rewarding life.

Thanks to Jill, a visitor at our regular spinning circle, we all had a chance to smile and wonder at this intriguing machine while we worked away at our usual wheels and spindles.

Jill, a former spinning teacher, met many people who wanted to spin but couldn't afford a wheel. To get them started, she fashioned spinning wheels from treadle sewing machines, other found items and actual bobbins and flyers.

As a curator at a small museum near Hanover and Owen Sound, she scrounged parts and supplies and the labour of handy people to create this tool. Her goal was to catch the attention of children and to inspire them to try their hands at spinning ...and many did.

Yup! This 'tired' wheel's been around the block a few times :)

Last week it was your turn but this week it was mine.

2010-09-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

K-W Knitter's Fair was a blast last week. Many, many friendly knitters dropped by to chat, fondle and drool. They shopped 'til they dropped and, I'm sure, saw lots of inspiring projects, fibres and tools. At the end of the day when we started packing up, I realized that I had missed my chance to wander and touch and dream. And I was just a bit envious ...sigh

It is Sunday next and I'm smiling in my comfy chair gazing at "my" yarn purchases, (oops! - yarns for the shop). Today was the first annual Knit Trade, a chance for Canadian retailers to shop with mostly Canadian wholesalers. And I got to chat, fondle, drool ...and learn much more about these creative and inspiring entrepreneurs.

Now, I bet you're feeling a bit envious ...

Thank you, Cabin Fever, for making this happen.

Respect for Knitters

2010-09-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

It seems that this topic has touched a nerve. Apparently, many local knitters just don't get much respect from non-knitters.

This week, I heard several comments from customers who experience knitter discrimination on a regular basis. They are getting tired of hearing, "What are you knitting, old lady?" ...when we are anything but old. 'Knitting' and 'old' do not automatically go together. And if they are lumped together, it should be in a complimentary way that shows respect to those who have practiced their skills for many years, and who can now practically knit in their sleep; respect for those who want to create something out of mere sticks and string, passing skills from one generation to the next.

....stepping down off my soapbox

Our list of non-traditional jobs/careers for knitters has grown. One reader sent the following to me by email:
"My late husband was an expert knitter, having been taught by his mother when he was ten years old and a new brother arrived in the family. He started knitting baby clothes. He was an electrical engineer and designer by trade and in later years, when health forced him to give up his career, he took up knitting again, and began designing and knitting his own sweaters - Aran knits, and many other styles, with matching caps. Whenever we were out together and someone admired his sweater and asked if his wife had knit it for him, I would proudly declare, "No, he designed and knit that for himself." When he passed away in 2004, I buried him in one of his favourite sweaters, a beautiful Aran cardigan.

In the early 1990's,we had a small knitting business and Neil began teaching knitting. We would gather together several (usually women and their family and friends) who wanted to learn to knit and one of them would hold the classes at her home. He would go there once a week and teach them to knit a sweater. I was the only wife I knew whose husband would go out in an evening with five to six women and I would not be the least bit concerned."
Carol
London, ON

Knitters really are an interesting and varied group - no stereotypes here!

Do you rock?

2010-08-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

How do you feel about the perception that we knitters are all "rocking chair grannies" with nothing better to do?

How do you react when you hear knitter-derogatory comments such as:

You're not old enough to knit.
My grandmother knits.
I don't have time to knit.
I don't have the patience to knit.
So you went to a knitting group. How old were they? You must have been the youngest one there. There were younger ones there - were they special?
Where's your rocking chair?

These comments get under my skin, so when Jolyn told me about a customer who is a helicopter pilot, we started listing the unusual or untraditional careers that our customers have enjoyed. In a matter of minutes, we added: a helicopter mechanic, an electrician, a dump truck driver, an artist, an advertising exec, an elementary school principal, numerous teachers and nurses, a doula, a doctor, a Bed & Breakfast operator, a couple of lab scientists, a college psychology prof, a chef, a fiction writer, a theatre director, a hairstylist, a police officer, a police dispatcher and several chaplains or ministers.

Sounds to me like we are a capable group who use knitting as a way to unwind from our challenging lives, to satisfy artistic and creative urges and aren't ones to waste time!

Let's end the stereotyping. Take your knitting out in public, speak up for yourself and show the world that knitters rock!

ps. Please post a comment and add your job or hobby to our "rockin' knitters" list.

ADK is a good thing!

2010-08-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

We knitters are often teased about our multiple projects. The result is that we start to doubt ourselves, our better judgement and our innate commonsense. The real truth is that our "non-knitting mockers" just don't understand!

We start to feel guilty if we have more than one project on the go. When we drop a project to work on another, we think we must have short attention spans. We even come up with labels for ourselves to make light of these feelings. We think we are suffering from multiple project disorder ...or maybe we are ADK - Attention Deficit Knitters.

But in fact, we are just healthy, well-adjusted, thinking knitters. Inherently, we know that our hands benefit when we change from one size or style needle to another, or from one type of yarn to another, or from one stitch pattern to another.

When our mind needs rest or we are engaged in conversation, we choose a less complicated project. When we want to feel absorbed and distract ourselves from daily life, we plan new projects or knit something that requires attention and focus. And sometimes we are just in the mood for a change.

Thanks to the internet and a fairly recent abundance of knitting books and magazines, knitters now enjoy access to thousands of wonderful, must-do project ideas. Everywhere we turn, we see great yarns and patterns and are inspired to try them out. Our friends and our virtual friends share their projects and we happily place new ideas in our queue. It is fun, inspiring and educational, and knitters are lapping it all up.

It's a great time to be a knitter, so just enjoy it and do whatever works for you!

Planning a Knitting Presentation

2010-08-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, when I was asked to give a talk about knitting, I thought, "No problem! I can go on and on about the subject." But maybe that will be my problem.

My first hint of the challenge was when they told me about the three areas that the local University Women's Club needs to cover throughout their year: social, intellectual and the arts. Hey, knitting topics could cover their whole year in one meeting!

The group will meet at the shop in November to hear what I have to say. As I read and make notes and prepare, I remember that I won't be preaching to the choir. Some of these ladies won't have heard of Ravelry or Stephanie Pearl-McPhee or Knitty. There may be some who don't understand the pull of this "art with a purpose," or who may not, like others in our communities, have great respect for knitting. My job, if I choose to accept it, will be to win them over to the knit side.

Lately, I've been collecting comments from other knitters, comments that they've heard about knitting. And guess what? Many of them aren't all that respectful. In fact, the comment that made me start collecting comments just rots my handknitted socks every time I think about it.
It is the reason for my working title for this talk: "Knitters are the Rodney Dangerfields of the creative world - we don't get no respect!"

Recently, a visitor asked me how I got involved in knitting and why I opened a yarn shop. After my brief explanation, what did he say? Two simple words: "I read."

Maybe I shouldn't have been offended, but there was just a hint of arrogance in his tone. Stunned, I said nothing. What I really wanted to say was, "Hey, I read, too. Sometimes I even read while I'm knitting. Can you do that?"

Don't worry. I kept my mouth firmly closed.

Jumbo Lives!!!

2010-08-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

We have jumbo jets, jumbo paper towels and once again, Jumbo the elephant.

St. Thomas's favourite tourist attraction was unveiled today after months of being

protected by tarps and a handknitted 50 foot scarf.

Reconconstruction, and resculpting by local artist, Peter Robson, took another few months, but now Jumbo looks as good as new.

The crowds came out to show their appreciation ...
...and perhaps to apologize to the big old guy.

Barnum and Bailey's most famous elephant met his demise on the railroad tracks in our fair city on September 15, 1885.

It will soon be 125 years.

Summer Garden and EZ's birthday

2010-07-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Summer is in bloom at Little Red Mitten ...

..and I'm on an Elizabeth Zimmerman knitting kick.

After I finished my February Lady's Sweater, I felt like looking through my Knitter's Almanac again. Bad move. I cast on for the February Baby's Sweater and a Pi Shawl and then remembered that we have a Baby Surprise Jacket class this week ...which I hope to cast on for tonight in Lamb's Pride Bulky.

The stars must be aligning because it will soon be the 100th anniversary of Elizabeth Zimmermann's birth.

8, 9, 10 - August 9, 1910 - Elizabeth Zimmermann's birthday

KNIT ON

Perfectionism

2010-07-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

The Fiber Trends Felt Clog pattern is a pretty cool piece of knitting architecture. I'm in awe when I think about how the designer, Bev Galeskas, could come up with all of the wraps and turns, M1's and multiple other details to create such a wearable piece. These floppy clodhoppers always look so ridiculously huge ...and then you felt them, and everybody wants a pair.

Can you imagine how many prototypes Bev must have gone through to get this one right? ...how many unusual felted blobs must have emerged from her laundry room? This is the essence of patience ...and maybe perfectionism.

Perfectionism: Seems that I get teased about this. Some people laugh at this trait, but it does have its value. As one friend says, it's because of perfectionists that other personality types can enjoy their easy-going lifestyles.

Perfectionism in Clog Class: Picture a group of knitters all sitting around a table with no one talking. Socializing is the furthest thing from their minds, as they count carefully, change directions and perform amazing feats of skill.

Row One is a challenge. When a knitter gets to the end of this row with the correct number of stitches, I think that friends and family should get together and celebrate!!! It doesn't matter that thousands of Row Ones (more than 25 000 on Ravelry alone) have been completed. Each one is an accomplishment for the knitter.

As I notice the worry and focus on everyone's face , I read aloud from the Yarn Harlot's page-a-day calendar which, interestingly, had this to say on the morning of the class:

"Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person. Dr. David M. Burns

Seven new clog knitters relaxed and their knitting progressed quite nicely after hearing this. Thanks, Stephanie, for such a timely quote.

Update: The buttons for my February Lady's Sweater have been found! They were sneakily hiding mere inches from my knitting nest.

It's not February, but ...

2010-07-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

My February Lady's Sweater is done. Well, almost. If only I could find my buttons!

A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to finish this project. Normally I bounce around between (way too many) knitting projects until the finishing bug strikes and I find some focus in my knitting life.

Why did I decide that this project was next?

- Maybe it was because so many of my Addi Click cables were tied up in this sweater (and I have extras). Two cables were holding the sleeve stitches and I had joined a couple of lengths for the body so that I could try it on regularly to check the length. Yup - I needed those cables so that I could get to work on a couple of new ideas.

- Maybe it was because a friend had finished hers ...and we had started at about the same time. If I dragged this out much longer, it could get embarrassing.

- Maybe it was because I "knew" where my buttons were.

Really ...I saw them a couple of weeks ago when the push was on to get this project finished. The buttons were in a tiny little bag inside my then current project bag for this sweater. And then I switched bags.

Have you seen my buttons?

Now if only I could think of a title ...

2010-07-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Time spent vacationing with visiting adult children - WHOOSH! Time spent getting back to normal - who knows? I'm not there yet!

Life was quite different here for awhile and I was starting to wonder if the word "creativity" had left my vocabulary. It seemed that my left brain was in charge of every thought and activity. The only knitting I could handle was projects that were already works-in-progress ....and socks, of course. (I guess that's one great excuse for having multiple projects!) While knitting, there was always something else going on - conversation, travel, movies ... I never allowed my mind and body to just knit.

When life whirls around you and you find your mind jumping from one thought to another, there is no chance to think, dream, imagine or create. As one friend told her children when they complained that they were bored, "Great! Now is when you are the most creative!"

I needed some boredom in my life.

Friday night, after a very full day, I sat in my comfy chair, put my feet up and flipped through the pages of a quilt magazine. I don't think that I read one word. I just looked at the lovely colours, designs, techniques and artistry. In one hour, I worked on 4 different knitting projects: a few rows or rounds was all I could stick with. But as I knitted, I happily ignored a ball game on tv ..and I relaxed. My mind wandered. There were words and ideas in my head at last.

Knit-in-Public Day

2010-06-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the perfect day for knitting in public. Lawn chairs were arranged in the shade of the shop as we spent the day in a lovely breeze on the patio, offering chocolate covered strawberries to passers-by ....mmmm ...relaxation.

To celebrate the day, we hung colourful word bubbles around the shop. They are still there amusing us, so I hope you can come in and check them out! You'll see lines such as, "Knitting is cheaper than therapy," "Will knit for chocolate," and my current favourite, "Spinning ...because knitting isn't weird enough."

These cute quips were courtesy of a recent spindling class at the Ontario Handspinning Seminar taught by Catherine Forbes.

Apparently, Cambridge's attempt to break the record for the most people knitting in public had about 600 knitters ...but they needed closer to 1000. I guess when the weather is soooo perfect, we Canadians just have to get out and play! Just remember to take your knitting!

You Just Never Know!

2010-06-15T12:57:00.001-07:00

Sleeping Beauty is alive and well in St. Thomas.

How do I know this? Because she visited Little Red Mitten this afternoon!

Sleeping Beauty, aka Robin, is on a mission to make people smile

and notice how much life is like a Disney movie

...and she had all of us smiling.

When you visit Little Red Mitten, you just never know who you'll meet!

Read Beauty's blog - http://disneyed.blogspot.com

ps.

Hope to see you on Saturday, June 19 between 10 am and 4 pm

for World Wide Knit-in-Public Day

Goodbye Pretty Sock ...Hello Handsome Sock

2010-06-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

A ball of Zauberball Crazy is fun, wild, and yes, a bit crazy.

I started knitting "my" Zauberball sock as the perfect walk-around project while running our booth at the International Ploughing Match Quilt Show last weekend. The colours are so enticing that we sold all we had (more on order.)

Last night, while decreasing for the toe of sock number one, my husband asked if the sock was for him. Like Cinderella's step-sisters, the sock just barely stetched over his foot, obviously not his size. I don't know about you, but when a non-knitting family member says they like what I'm making, that's it! It's for them. He doth protest, (quite a bit, actually) but it will be frogged and reknitted just for him.

"Crazy" fun - here goes!

Shedden Quilt Show

2010-06-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful weekend in Shedden, Ontario. The International Ploughing Match Quilt Competition brought 70 to 80 quilts, close to 400 quilt lovers and 6 vendors (Little Red Mitten was there) to inspire and be inspired.

Every chance I got, I wandered among the quilts. The colours, fabrics and designs were a pleasure to absorb. I knew that when I got home, I'd be pulling out my quilt books and magazines and planning a project in a different kind of fibre. Since I've been so-o-o focussed on knitting lately, this also meant digging out my fabrics from a storage area, rearranging work tables and ironing board and reaquainting myself with my sewing tools! I'm happy to say that I can still do it: I finished a simple block yesterday and have a new scrappy quilt project in mind.

As a yarn vendor at a quilt show, we were a bit curious about crafter crossover. As we suspected though, lots of quilters knit and lots of knitters quilt. It's prefectly normal to bounce between projects and artistic mediums!

We 'bouncy types' are in good company: there's Kaffe Fassett, a "colour visionary" and artist who knitted and needlepointed for years before adding quilt and fabric design to his life; and yesterday, I read about Ann Feitelson, author of The Art of Fair Isle Knitting, who won a prize for one of her quilt designs.

Fibre is fibre is fiber. When you love it, you've got to play with it. And we're all perfectly normal ...in spite of what our families might think!

Using the Left Hand

2010-05-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Apologies for this late blog. I guess I was a bit distracted with planning a continental and a Fair Isle class. My excuse: since continental and Fair Isle both involve carrying the yarn in the left hand, maybe I got into my right brain ...and couldn't get out!

Seriously, the interest in learning continental knitting has been huge. Perhaps it is because there are so many exciting new projects and techniques to try that we either need more hours in our day or we need to speed up our knitting.

Many people tell us that continental is the way to go: "it's faster and it's more efficient." In many cases, this is true. While I love and usually prefer to knit using the good old right hand carry, I often switch to continental for knitting in the round, for garter stitch, for working on big needles, or when working ribbing or seed stitch.

Like many other knitters, I'm not particularly fond of purling continental. So why do I work ribbing and seed stitch continentally? Because I love the "lazy purl" style of knitting, otherwise known as combination knitting or Eastern Combined Uncrossed.

This method causes twisted stitches which require some simple untwisting maneuvers on the next row or round. It's the quickest, slickest way to rib and it is purported to use less yarn! Because the yarn has less distance to travel between knits and purls, less yarn is used, your tension is likely tighter, your hands have less work to do ...and it's quick.

So if you've ever turned your nose up at the idea of a ribbed or seed stitch scarf ("It's just too much work"), give this method a try and I'm sure you'll feel like you've discovered a better mousetrap!

Designing and knitting these Fair Isle Cowls was lots of fun. The fourth one, which I steeked, is awaiting just the right button.

Some Knitworthy Quotes

2010-05-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

What a fibre-filled weekend! We went to the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto, 3 yarn shops and the Textile Museum. There was inspiration everywhere!

We strolled through the Distillery District, a repurposed 1830's distillery area which is now full of interesting shops, restaurants, galleries ...and even a chocolate factory. (Yes, I bought chocolate ...mmmm. It was Mother's Day, after all!))

In the window of a Scandinavian shop called, "Stockholm House," I found this quote: "Don't make something unless it's both necessary and useful; but if it's both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful." There's some food for thought. I guess that's why sock yarns are so beautiful these days.

At the Textile Museum, 55 Centre Avenue, we found this: "Colour is such a vital and vibrant ingredient of our existence that it is difficult to imagine what life would be like without it." Jill Goodwin, A Dyer's Manual. (I admit, knitting grey stocking stitch socks is a little less inspiring.)

The Russian shawls on display were absolutely amazing. The two ply yarn was incredibly fine, as fine or finer than a strand of silk.

While feasting my eyes on these Orenburg shawls , I found my favourite quote: "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." Considering it was a cold, blustery May day and we were wearing spring coats ...but should have been sporting winter coats, hats, scarves and mittens, this was very apropos.

Here's a photo of an Orenburg shawl, followed by one of a photographic display:

For more information on Orenburg Shawls, check out the book, Gossamer Webs by Galina Khmeleva.

Neighbourhood Pics

2010-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Another gorgeous day, today. I just had to go out and snap a couple of pictures: Here's everyone's favourite elephant, Jumbo. After 25 years exposed to the elements, he's starting to show his age. Repairs should be finished in the summer, in time for the 125th anniversary of his sad demise in September, 1885.

This unusual plant, a fritillaria, comes up in the spring and lasts a week or more. I hope you'll try to check it out when you visit the shop. Look for it below the spruce trees near the back of the parking lot. And in other news, a new chip wagon opened today at the top of the hill called Jumbo Fries. We know the owners (a loyal customer) and their first employee ...and I am positive it will be a quality establishment! Be sure to give it a try!

And now for your knitting content:

Did you know that the term Luddite has a connection with knitting?

When large mills started taking away the livelihoods of knitters, spinners and weavers in the early 19th century, Ned Ludd headed a revolt against the mill owners. Since then, the term Ludditism has referred to a movement against the endless mechanization in our lives.

Be a revolutionary: just pick up some fibre and let the rhythm of your favourite 'hands-on' activity enrich your life.

Beauty on a Grey Day

2010-05-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday was one of those almost rainy, damp days where the sun rarely peeks through the solid grey mass of cloud. But it was a beautiful day!

We took my mother-in-law for a drive to Port Stanley (10 minutes south of us on Lake Erie) and the scenery was spectacular. I'm not talking about the grey lake and the grey sky and the beige sand. I am talking about the lush greens and pinks in the quiet neighbourhoods that felt like they were a world apart from everyday life. People were working in their yards under the huge blossoms of magnolias spreading their branches for all to enjoy. And because I was knitting away on a sock in the back seat, not once did I think of taking a picture ....sigh

But I think that the pretty pink and purple scarf which I worked on that night will be called my Magnolia Memories scarf.

Amy Singer's Lace Workshop

2010-04-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe you remember my recent blog about knitting guilds. Well I was able to benefit from a guild this weekend ...even though I have not yet become a member (something about the 90 minute drive.)

The K-W Knitter's Guild held a lace workshop in Kitchener this weekend with Amy Singer of Knitty as the star attraction. Her sense of humour and wit kept us smiling as we spent two days 'playing' with charts and inspiring stitch patterns.

The classes were called "Design a Lace Shawl, Plug-and-Play Style" and started off with some simple charts that we 'plugged' into our bottom-up triangular shape. Here's the start of mine from a simple chart called, "Bailey."

On day two, we had a slide show of lace designs and discussed ten shapes /directions for knitting a lace stole, scarf or shawl. We picked up several tips for stressfree knitting thanks to Amy's wise preference for relaxing knitting.

So the weekend is over, but not my lace knitting. I've been playing with stitch pattern books, graph paper, pencil, and eraser, scissors and tape and am rushing to the finish line on a shawl already in progress. My graphed out design is almost ready and I'll get to cast on another new project very soon. This is my idea of excitement! (Is that sad, or is that just my children's opinion? Oh well.)

Someday, we might figure out how to chart this on a PC?

Here is my '4-rows-to-go' Milkweed Shawl by Laura Chau , knitted in Koigu.

So which do you think is more fun: planning, casting on a new project, working through the middle of the project or finishing one up and maybe posting it on Ravelry? Looking forward to your comments.

Joan www.littleredmitten.ca

Sock Science

2010-04-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for me - I put my first pattern up for sale on Ravelry.

I've been knitting and teaching from Sock Science since 2004 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (home of Knitter's Magazine ...which was part of the reason I agreed to move way out there :) Sock Science is an 8-page tutorial intended to teach how to plug in other stitch patterns and make small changes while sock knitting.

I had some wonderful suggestions from staff and students and really appreciate their ideas. A huge thank you goes to my husband for his endless patience and expertise through multiple revisions.

I hope to have more patterns up soon ...and a couple of free ones, too.

Spring flowers in the labyrinth/meditation garden in Waterworks Park, St. Thomas.

Knitting Guilds

2010-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, I drove down the 401 to attend the K-W Knitter's Guild. Three hours of driving is more than I'm willing to take on on a regular basis, but I really wanted to sign up for a lace class with Amy Singer and learn about having a booth at the Knitter's Fair. There was a great group of ladies and men and lots of activity to inspire, so, yes, the drive was worth it.

Way back in 1986, we were living in Kitchener and I remember reading in the K-W Record about a knitting guild being started by Sally Melville. My second child had just been born and finding time, energy and confidence to go out just didn't happen. Little did I know that it would take me 24 years to get there. And, believe it or not, that was my first ever knitting guild meeting!

We've moved around a lot. I've been a member of 3 quilt guilds and 3 spinning and weaving guilds, but I've never belonged to a real knitting guild (other than TKGA and the Canadian Guild of Knitters - both long distance guilds). There have been sit-and-knit groups galore, but when it comes to programs, newsletters, teachers, education, sharing, an executive, a library, charity programs, etc. all rolled into one, they are few and far between.

Why?

Maybe it's because knitting is such a comfortable, in-front-of-the-fireplace type of activity that most of us are "closet knitters". Non-knitters are always so shocked when they realize that knitting is a very popular pastime, second only to gardening, and shared by men and women of all ages.

Getting together to share, discuss, be inspired, has been an important part of society ...forever. Books, radio, television, and now, the internet keep us entertained and feeling like we don't need the company of others quite so much.

But is that really true?

Organic Cotton Serendipity

2010-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things just fall into place.

Because our Ecoknit Organic cotton wasn't exactly flying off the shelves and we had lots of other cottons, we lowered our price and cleared out all but one skein. I wound up that lonely ball and knitted a dishcloth with the thought that organic dishcloths would work well as gifts for my daughter and my son's girlfriend.

I thought I should try out the dishcloth before getting carried away with my little gift idea, so I used the first one yesterday. It has a totally different feel from the usual dishcloth cotton. It really feels luscious. Maybe I'll use it for a face cloth. Maybe I should have knitted a sweater out of it ...but a one ball sweater??

And then I opened up my Winter 2009/2010 Wild Fibers Magazine, (yes, I'm a bit behind with my reading) and read an article on naturally coloured organic cottons and the terrible effects of pesticides and certain dyes. www.vreseis.com/sally_fox_story.htm Reading about poor work conditions and practices offshore is always disconcerting. And then I wondered what I could do differently.

Well... rather than clear out slow moving yarn, I could reorder the Ecoknit cotton. I could promote Samp'a, the naturally dyed organic cotton that we still have. Is it worth the trouble? Of course! I like to think that we can make the world a better place ...a bit at a time.

Dishcloth pattern:
4.0 mm needle.
Cast on a multiple of 4 sts minus one: 31 for a small dishcloth, 39 or 43 for a more normal size.
Right side rows: Knit.
Wrong side rows: (K3, p1) across, ending with k3.

(Remember to always knit with unmercerized cotton for dishcloths. Mercerized (shiny) cotton is nowhere near as absorbent.)

Enjoy!

Joan

http://www.littleredmitten.ca/

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

2010-04-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a fun day because I got an absolutely adorable present!

This precious chick and nest arrived at Little Red Mitten ...

in the hands of talented needle felting diva, Kelly Forsythe.
Kelly is a St. Thomas woman who has an obvious talent for sculpting with wool. She has made many of these chicks and then given them away.

Now wouldn't that just brighten your day?

THANK YOU, KELLY!

www.littleredmitten.ca

Knitting in the Media

2010-03-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

If you happened to watch the recent CBS show, Sunday Morning, you just might have had a smile on your face. A nasty, nasty comment came back to haunt TV journalist Mo Rocca after he said that "Homemade sweaters are always itchy." This shocking comment came about while discussing current events ...and handmade sweaters for featherless chickens. Yup. I don't make this stuff up!

Knitters just could not let this remark go unanswered. Many wrote in to set him straight. Some Ravelers even knitted Mo a gorgeous cabled sweater ...which was not at all itchy!

Happily, Mo realized that he needed to learn more about knits, knitters and knitting. He took knitting lessons (from a ten-year-old) and had a chat with author and knitter, Debbie Stoller of the Stitch and Bitch books. Thanks to Stoller, he realized that, "knitting is not quite as easy as people who've never knit like to think."

Let's hope he's gained a whole new respect for knitters.

Here's the link for the segment (I hope it's available for awhile):
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6341081n&tag-=cbsnewsVideoArea.0

Other knitterly smiles in the media. (Sorry about the blurriness. But hey - I learned how to centre pictures this time :) Rhymes with Orange by Hilary B. Price 1/29
"Discipline Through Knitting: Order was again restored once Miriam instituted the family scarf."

Figure Knitting Class - Bizarro by Dan Piraro

Happy knitting,

Joan

Drop Spindling without the 'Drop'

2010-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Little Red Mitten had it's first drop spindling class and, by the smiles (and concentration) on people's faces, I'd say it was a great success! A big thank you goes to our teacher, Janice Watterworth, for her inspiring class and helpful ways. Maybe we'll want to have an alumni class soon?

I really expected to hear lots of clunks from spindles falling to the floor but people seemed to get the hang of it quite quickly. By the end of the two hours, they all had spun and plied a length of fibre and were pretty impressed by what they had accomplished.

When the class headed out into the shop, the bubbly enthusiasm even convinced an "I have no desire to spin" person to sign up for the next class. Wow!

Hors d'oeuvres, anyone?

ps. Our next beginner class is Saturday, April 17 at 1:30. Hope you'll join us.

Spindling

2010-03-16T16:59:00.001-07:00

About ten years ago, I took my first spinning class and was introduced to hand spindles. Since my goal was to move on up to a wheel, my spindle fell by the wayside. I'd get it out now and then, mostly to demonstrate the magic of early spinning techniques ...but sadly, I never really mastered this amazing tool.

And now it's just a few more days until our two hour spindling class with Janice Watterworth.
(Janice will be teaching 10 new handspindlers this Saturday. We are having her back again on April 17 because of high interest.) After listening to some of the wannabe spinners who've signed up for this class, I'm not sure if all of us can wait even that long!

In my enthusiasm, I read Abby Franquemont's super-inspiring new book, Respect the Spindle, and now I'm really geared up for this class. I've been practising more regularly and I can almost imagine myself "spindling in public" as nonchalantly and regularly as I "knit in public."

By the way, did you know that a handspindler can produce more in a week than with a spinning wheel because of the portability of this historic (10,000 to 20,000 years) tool? Sounds like good and efficient fun to me!!! And who can resist another excuse to dip their fingers in yummy fibres?

yummy, yummy merino

Happy Spindling!

Joan Janes
Little Red Mitten
http://www.littleredmitten.ca/

Handwashin' Ain't So Bad

2010-03-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

So you read the label on that yummy yarn and it says superwash or machine wash ...and you are very happy. Then you read, "Dry flat," and you sigh. Okay, maybe if you are knitting for a busy young mother (and her trying-to-be-helpful husband!), you may be right that your lovingly hand knitted garment might not retain its original beauty.

But handwashing is a very useful tool ...and it isn't really that bad. I actually get a kick out of the process. After all of that enjoyable knitting time making magic out of sticks and string, I get to extend the life of something I love.

All it takes is a few basic supplies in the laundry room and handwashing is a breeze. Elizabeth Zimmermann said that washing handknits was like bathing a baby. What a charming image!

To make the job really easy, I love to use Eucalan , a no-rinse woolwash (and great for lingerie, too, according to interviews on Cityline and Steven and Chris!) Just add a drop of Eucalan to a small amount of warm water and soak your garment for 20 - 30 minutes. Because wool is weak when wet, lift it carefully from the water (please don't pull it out by just the sleeve!), gently squeeze out most of the water and roll it in a towel to remove more moisture.

My super-easy method involves putting a small amount of warm water (and Eucalan) in my top-load washing machine, turning off the machine and soaking the garment. To get rid of the water, bypass all of the wash and rinse cycles and just spin on the gentle cycle. What could be easier?

When it comes to "Lay Flat to Dry," there are several options. For socks, I just lay them over a clothesline or drying rack. For small items like mitts or Felt Clogs, I've been known to use a cookie cooling rack.

A mesh drying rack for sweaters is always useful. Or you might try those colourful, puzzle shaped rubber mats that you can get at the hardware store. The great thing about them is that you can align them in one straight row for a long scarf or make them form a square which works very well for an adult sweater. You can even stick pins in them if you are blocking your newly knit shawl.

If the drying rack is not yet a tool found in your laundry room, you can always lay a clean sheet over some carpet before laying out your garment to dry. Just remember to close the door so the cat doesn't nap there. They do love the scent of wool!

Believe in Success

2010-03-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

"I believe" that the first step to success is imagining the road to success. Several times in the past 17 days, I watched our Olympic athletes visualize and mentally run through their event before competing. They were imagining their success ...and it worked.

Believe it or not, knitters go through a similar visualization process when planning a project ...it just takes a little longer to go from start to finish!

At the starting gate, the first inspiration may be the yarn, it may be the pattern, or maybe it's simply the desire to knit and create. While "winning" is seldom the goal, I think most of us hope for success, appreciation and a chance to improve our knitting fitness.

Before the event, a knitter will run through all of the possibilities - colour, size, fibre, yarn weight, needle size, tension and her repertoire of knitting techniques. Visualizing the project takes imagination and creativity ...and sometimes advice from her knitting coach/friends. These preparations made at the starting gate will always affect the results at the finish line.

While training, planning and preparation are vital for each event, perhaps the real pleasure comes from the performance. The knitter enjoys each individual stitch and step of the project as she heads toward the end of her program. Her years of practice and experience help her handle the bumps and challenges that arise along the way.

As Olympians know, it takes time, training and commitment to reach a worthwhile goal. If we "believe" in a goal, we can achieve it.

Over 4000 knitters set their sights high to compete (against themselves) in Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's 2010 Knitting Olympics. http://yarnharlot.ca The following "Knitting Champion" medal was designed by Franklin Habit for The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics:

Armchair Olympics

2010-02-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

Our first year in business was one of the busiest and most interesting years of my life. I knitted like a fiend, knitting samples to demo yarns and making quick and easy items that newer knitters could see themselves doing. Knitting provided the relaxation and calm that I needed and gave me time to think. And it gave me time to sit with my feet up :)

It always seemed that the criteria for each project was simplicity. If I had a project that required focus, it inevitably ended up hibernating in a basket, bag or cupboard. And I was starting to doubt my knitting self.

And then along came the Knitting Olympics. Challenging myself to finish a lace shawl (that had been hibernating ...go figure!) was just what I needed. I set a goal, relied on my years of training and made a commitment to compete ...I mean, "complete". I admit that, officially, I may have had a false start: I had already knitted a few inches before the torch was lit ...way before the torch was lit. :)

Even though I didn't join any online knitting Olympics groups, the Olympic Spirit certainly did inspire me. I am happy to report that I won gold early in Week 2. The Cherry Leaf Shoulder Shawl from Victorian Lace Today reached the finish line well ahead of previous training runs.

And then I cast on for another wee bit o' lace.

Happy

2010-02-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

The cake says, "Happy 1st Anniversary" ...and it was.

Little Red Mitten made it through its first year in business and I am happy. Happy to be spending my days with imaginative, creative, friendly employees and customers who really want our shop to succeed.

I was embarrassingly happy when a new customer remarked that we are the nicest yarn shop she had seen in 50 years! Happily, we have employees with great colour and design sense ...and a charming old building to give this impression!

I was happy when customers (aka - new friends) thanked me for providing a cozy place for them to meet and be inspired.

And, happily, they inspire me.

Thanks so much.

Joan

Happy Knitting!!!

A Case for Multiple Projects

2010-02-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's always interesting talking with customers, hearing them attempt to restrain themselves from starting new projects or trying to rationalize their yarn purchases. They sometimes feel guilty about their passion for colour, for texture, for design and for yarn therapy.

There are knitters, believe it or not, who insist that they can only have one project on the needles at a time. Others don't start to worry until they have more than ten works in progress. I recently talked with a quilter who had 27 quilts-to-be stashed in her closet. She was at a knitting class :)

I believe that multiple projects are the rational way to knit:
Can you imagine spending a month where you limited yourself to watching only "Leave it to Beaver" reruns? The next month, you watched the Nature Channel and the next month, only the "news".
Or how about reading? Could you really read "War and Peace" every day without spending a few minutes with the newspaper ...or a knitting magazine or book?

We all know that some knitting projects require the focus of "War and Peace" while others are more like watching the Beav. Life, and our minds, are like that. Sometimes we need a challenge and sometimes we don't. When you have variety in your knitting bag(s), you are ready for any knitting occasion ...and no potential knitting time is wasted!

Happy knitting,
Joan
Little Red Mitten
www.littleredmitten.ca

String Theory

2010-01-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, I really know nothing about the physics side of "String Theory," but I do manage to find lots to do with the stuff.

For instance, I have a little trick with crochet cotton that makes one of the world's cheapest and handiest row counters. As it dangles from my knitting, people look at it curiously and wonder. I tell them that it helps me count to ten, saving my eyes from counting 60 rows in black sock yarn after sunset!

With my string counter, I avoid carrying around a row counter or a notepad. And my socks, mittens, sleeves and sweater fronts can still match exactly.
When working cables, lace or pattern stitches, it becomes an extra check for recognizing when it's time to cross cables or know where I am in the pattern.

In the photo above, I can easily tell that I am knitting round 4 because the knitting needle is in the 4th loop.

The string marker is really simple to make:

Take about a 30 inch (75-ish cm) length of light-coloured crochet cotton and fold it in half. Near the fold, tie an overhand knot leaving a space sized to fit easily on your knitting needles. This is loop/hole number one.

Tie another nine knots making another nine spaces for a total of 10 spaces.

Because my eyes and hands have been known to play childish tricks on me, I now have a trick which sometimes outwits them: I colour in every other loop with a "Sharpie" or permanent black magic marker. All of the even numbered spaces are now black.

And it's simple to use:

Place loop #1 onto your knitting needle at the beginning of the round.

Treat it almost like any stitch marker: when you come across it on round 2, just slip it over to your right needle, but into the 2nd loop (which is black).

On round 3, slip it onto your right needle into the 3rd loop (which is white).

Round 4 is the 4th loop (black) - you get the idea.

When I have finished 10 rounds, I write the number 10 on either a tag attached to my knitting or on my pattern. If there is no pen handy, no problem. When I think I'm done, it's far easier to count 60 rows when I know I'm dealing with multiples of 1o. If my counting is off by a little, I still know that it's 60 rounds - not 59 or 61.

I never place the yarn between two purl stitches because the working yarn will lay over the string and trap it there. Not a problem ...just fiddly. When working on straight needles, I hang the marker on the non-purl side.

Another favourite use comes while working decrease rounds on socks. If alternate rounds need decreases, then I decrease when I'm in a "white loop" (odd-numbered rounds). I knit even (no decreases) when I'm in a "black loop" (even-numbered rounds). If I put my knitting down for awhile, I simply look at the marker: if it's in a white loop, I decrease; if it's in a black loop, I don't. No need to carry around a pattern or a notepad - it's all attached to my knitting!

Give this string marker a try and you'll give your eyes and brain some rest. I'm sure you'll soon enjoy its advantages.

A Case for Natural Fibres

2010-01-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

Snowball weather. The temperature is just right for 'packing' the cool white stuff, building a snowman and having a snowball fight. Remember those fun times?

Do you also remember how cold your hands got when your acrylic mittens got wet from having too much fun? The lucky ones among us, those who had handknit woollen mitts, won't know what I'm talking about because when their mitts got wet, their hands stayed toasty and warm.

Somehow, the miracles of modern technology cannot match the many wonderful qualities of wool. If your feet get cold while wearing nylon, acrylic or cotton socks, try wool. If you easily over-heat while wearing a synthetic sweater, try wool or a natural fibre. You won't need dryer sheets to stop static cling when you wear natural fibres.

The following is one of my all-time favourite quotes about the benefits of wool:

"Wool has a natural ability to resist absorption of moisture, insulate against heat and cold, resist flame, and maintain resilience. Wool can absorb as much as 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet to the touch, compared with cotton at 8% and synthetics at less than 5%. An added bonus is that when wool goes from dry to wet, it gives off warmth, with a single gram of wool producing 27 calories of heat."
- from Folk Mittens, by Marcia Lewandowski, Interweave Press, 1997

Let's keep the International Year of Natural Fibres in our thoughts. It's a good thing!

2009

2010-01-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I'd have to say that 2009 was one of my most exciting years. Opening Little Red Mitten was definitely a dream-come-true, full of wonderful people, challenges, great experiences, learning by-the-seat-of-my-pants, and ...oh yes, I can't forget all that fibre!

Maybe a bit more importantly (wink, wink), 2009 was declared the International Year of Natural Fibres by the United Nations. The goal was "to focus world attention on the role that natural fibres play in contributing to food security and poverty alleviation".

If you'd like to explore this further, http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/ has lots to offer, from an interview with Linda Cortright (the founder of Wild Fibres magazine) to stories about 15 natural fibres and their micron count. You can also learn 5 main benefits of natural fibres and how they are a healthy, sustainable, high-tech, fashionable and responsible choice.

As we look forward to 2010, we can hope that 2009 caused a change in how people think about their fibre choices. Maintaining the diversity of animal breeds and plants should be on our minds as we see how our ecosystem will handle potential climate change. Awareness is half the battle.

One of our customers started a mini-craze with the "Ilene Bag" pattern from Ravelry. It is an easy-to-knit, lacy shopping bag (green idea!) that she knitted in our Hempathy yarn. Granted, the yarn is only 20% hemp, but that's a lot more than was available a few years ago. And considering the fabulous benefits of hemp, promoting the fibre has got to be a good thing!

Peaceful knitting,
Joan

2010-01-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

Piecework magazine's annual historical knitting issue arrived in the shop last week. If you are a mitten lover, you'll certainly enjoy this magazine. In it, you can read about a Latvian mitten knitter /artist whose work is in the Latvian National History Museum or about a 16th century mitten recently unearthed in London, England. There are stories about knitting for a living in Scandinavia and in Eastern Europe which connect us to our past.

What charmed me most was a children's story that takes place in Newfoundland. It was written by Robin Hansen, the author of one of my favourite knitting books, Favorite Mittens, and includes the pattern for traditional stranded and felted mittens. These are definitely on my must-knit list!

Here's hoping your hands are cosy and warm in your favourite mittens. When you next put them on, you'll truly appreciate this historic article of clothing.
Joan

Jumbo's Winter Snowsuit

2010-01-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

Check out the photo (by Robert Chaulk) that appeared in the St. Thomas Times-Journal, and later, in the London Free Press.

Jumbo is all decked out in his new winter snowsuit!!! Look carefully and you'll see his hand knitted scarf.

Breaking news: There may soon be another photo. Jumbo looks like he has been shrink-wrapped: his orange snowsuit is covered with a huge one-piece blue tarp ...and a scarf!

Roc Day or St. Distaff's Day

2010-01-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

Roc Day? St. Distaff's Day? ...ancient history and continuing tradition.

I first learned of Roc Day from fellow spinning and weaving guild members in South Dakota. Our Brookings FiberWorks Guild celebrated this ancient holiday each year on the first Saturday of January. Members would get together for a meeting, a potluck lunch, a chance to spin, knit or weave together, and demonstrate their craft to the public. It was always such fun to sit and spin on a cold, cold day with the sun streaming through the old library windows.

While we spent the day having fun, the day brought other important benefits: through the curiosity, enthusiasm and education of visiting adults and children, we were helping to keep tradition and ancient skills alive.

So what is this special day, anyway?

Roc can be another word for distaff.
St. Distaff's Day has nothing to do with any saint. Instead, the European tradition signifies the return of women to their daily spinning chores after the 12 days of Christmas. (Interestingly, the women went back to work several days before the men - no surprise there! Plough Monday, after the ploughs had been blessed, marked the return to work for the men.)
According to some 17th century poems, St. Distaff's Day was a day of pranks and fun, with the men setting fire to the flax and the women throwing water and soaking the men :) Our guild was never that rambunctious!

So just how important was spinning?

The spinning or twisting of fibres is an ancient craft that may date back to 15,000 B.C. The making of rope and nets from these twisted fibres was so important that mankind's survival may be connected to this discovery. Later, whorls were added to spindles to increase momentum. Some think that these round whorls were the precursors to the wheel. Wow!
The words "distaff" and spinster" were legal terms: while a father's side of the family was referred to as the "spear side", the mother's family was called the "distaff side." (A distaff was simply a staff onto which the wool or flax were wound before spinning.) A "spinster", as you know, was an unmarried woman.
And then there is clothing. Weaving (working over and under each thread as in darning) may have existed for thousands of years before a faster form of weaving (done by lifting many threads at once) was developed around 6000 BC. Most historians believe that modern knitting has about 1000 years of history while crocheting has been around for not much more than 200 years!

Working with fibre has been an important part of society and survival for millenia. Are the feelings of calm and relaxation that we get from working with fibre related to this long history? ...a primal urge perhaps? Definitely a tradition worth maintaining.

I hope that you will honour the tradition by playing with fibre on Roc Day or St. Distaff's Day - Thursday, January 7.

Maybe next year we can celebrate these ancient skills together.
Happy New Year,
Joan

History buffs might enjoy: Women's Work The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.

"Get Excited and Make Things"

2009-12-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

My daughter received an autographed book for Christmas with the inscription,

"Get excited and make things." Wow! What motivating words! And this, from the pen of a sci-fi author - not a craft book as you might have expected.

These four simple words remind us to play, create, learn ...and use our creative talents. It's great to let loose and be creative.

Spinning and weaving (knitting, much more recently) have always been vital to mankind's survival. In fact, the development of clothing is linked with the increased survival rates of infants. It's scary to think that the knowledge and practice of these skills has been farmed out to developing countries and that we are losing our understanding of these skills.

Although spinning, weaving and clothing construction skills have been around for millenia, children (and others) need to ask the question, "How do you make a shirt?" It used to be that everyone knew how it was done because they saw the work done every day.

The making of cloth was one way that the New World achieved independence from the British. Gandhi's goal of having everyone spin for an hour a day was conceived to regain independence for India ...and make for a more peaceful world.

Creativity is important. That and learning more ways to create.

I plan to "Get excited and make things" in 2010! I hope that you do, too.

Original image Matt Jones, CC licensed by-nc-sa

Matt Jones not Matt Janes :)

Fleece on Earth, Good Wool to All

2009-12-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

Photos are courtesy of Paula (Prairie Piper on Ravelry) whose blog can be found at http://www.apiperknits.blogspot.com/

Teddies for Tragedies
At a recent Friday Night Knitting Night, we had two visitors who talked to us about Teddies for Tragedies. Olga and her mom, Jarry, were busy making simple-to-knit bears for an orphanage in Rwanda. This is an ongoing project involving several people from London, ON who regularly travel to Rwanda.

My 23-year-old son, Andy, just returned from eleven months of teaching and travelling in Rwanda. He noticed how few middle aged and older people there were in this country. Several of the children in his classes were orphaned, either by the genocide or by health issues. These kids spent their vacations at the school doing things like digging with hoes in the yard to make a basketball court.

For orphans, life on their own, with lots of responsibilites, nothing or no one to call their own is just something that they are used to do. That's life ...just get on with it. I can imagine how special the gift of a simple cuddly toy would feel to one of these children. Some local doctors say that it does as much or more good than medicine.

If you are interested in knitting a bear, or more, please check out the website: http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org/

You can drop off your teddy donations at Little Red Mitten and we'll make sure that they get to the right people. There doesn't seem to be a time limit, at this point, but we'll let you know if we hear news of a departure date.

Fleece Navidad,
Joan

Jumbo Scarf on Local TV

2009-12-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

Well, the Jumbo scarf and I are now "famous". Or at least we both made an appearance on the live local Rogers TV show called Inside Elgin last Tuesday.

Our spot was about 8 minutes long divided by a commercial break. In the first half, the interviewer and I talked about the 50 foot scarf that Jumbo now sports, the wonderful people who helped knit it and how I got so involved with knitting that I'd open a yarn shop.

In the second segment, the interviewer pretended to have never "corked" and had me teach him. He was so focussed on the corking that he barely remembered to ask questions! When my tv debut was over, we were given a DVD of the show. It was a little disconcerting to watch myself - is that really what I'm like?!?!?!

In case you are coming to the Jumbo Scarf story a little late, we began knitting the scarf for World Wide Knit-in-Public Day in June 2009. Men, children and ladies of all ages worked on the project. Some really dedicated knitters took a ball of yarn and some needles home and returned with a completed section.

A big thank you goes out to all who helped.

In other local and monumental news, Jumbo is in need of some major repair work ...or is that surgery? The plan is to cover him with a tarp this winter. At the city council meeting, the Parks Director was hopeful that the scarf would be tied around the outside of the tarp. Sounds like our knitting has caught the attention of the powers-that-be. Cool.

Why does a yarn shop need a blog?

2009-12-16T07:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Little Red Mitten's foray into the "blogosphere".
Having never blogged before and never been successful at keeping a diary, I'm hopeful that I've at last found a reason to succeed at this :)

At Little Red Mitten, we are always getting new and interesting things delivered which are then put directly on the shelves. When customers ask, "What's new?" it's always a challenge to know what they haven't seen yet.
1. And so we come to the first goal for this blog: we'll let you know when new products arrive and we'll tell you why you need them! :)
2. Knitting, teaching knitting and most fibre arts are my passions. When I come across interesting articles, tips, quotes, patterns or project ideas, I'll be sure to share them here.
3. If you want to keep up on events, groups, sales or projects at the Mitten, this is the place.
4. Our website ( www.littleredmitten.ca ) generally changes only when there is a new newsletter and a new list of classes. My hope is that blogging will make the website more current and useful to you.

I expect the blog will start out pretty plain Jane (or is that Janes?) But with any luck ...and help from techie types, we'll soon be able to add pictures and excitement to this blog-reading experience.

Hoping to share more with you very soon.
Until then, happy knitting!
Joan (Janes)