I visited Romni Wools on Saturday, September 22, 2012. I just don't even know where to begin, as I am still at a loss for words about this place.
I was so excited to be there, I didn't even take a picture of the front of the store, sorry. I did however take an abundance of pictures of the inside.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Romni Wools, you absolutely should go!! You won't be sorry, I promise! Truly, go!!
Romni Wools has the best selection of yarn, notions, books and magazines of any place I have ever been to. The place is literally stocked from floor to ceiling. I was just in absolute awe the moment I walked in the door. I had read about this place of course, but you really don't get the full effect unless you see it in person. OH, yes. They even have a basement, filled to the brim with even more yarn!
About a week before my trip, I was reading reviews and there were a few that said customer service wasn't the best. My experience was quite the opposite - more than one employee asked how I was doing and if I needed help. I was greeted upon entering. I asked for and received a shopping basket - I knew I would need it! I also saw several other customers get help from the staff. I can't say what the problem was with those who said they didn't get good service. I received and saw great customer service at Romni Wools!
Again, I am pretty much at a loss for words. I am just going to once again, recommend that you go if possible, and let the pictures speak for themselves. If I can't get all of these to load on this one post, I will add a second post.
Pictures of my purchase will be in a separate post. Click on any picture to enlarge it.
I visited this store on September 21, 2012. The hours listed say the store was to open at 11 AM. Believe me, I was there on time. However, the owner (or whoever she was) was NOT! So I decided to sit on a bench nearby for about ten minutes, and was going to leave if the store was not open by then.
It was!
I was greeted upon entering - as I would expect, so that was nice. Some places do not do this, by the way.
My first impression of the store was that it was a bit on the sloppy side. There were some areas where the yarns were piled on top of each other and in boxes and bags. Nothing wrong with having extra in the bags, but it is nice to see them stacked nicely in my opinion. I like to see a knitting shop that is neat and organized because it makes finding what I want much easier; also if a yarn is new to me, I am much more likely to check it out if I don't have to dig underneath another bag of yarn to get to it.
The shop has an excellent selection of yarn and a pretty nice selection of notions. The woman who was there was very friendly and helpful. I witnessed great treatment to another customer who had come in after me. She was looking for a certain yarn that she had purchased before, but didn't have the ball band or something like that, and the shop lady was helpful in trying to find it for her. I also heard the customer ask what time the store opened, and the shop lady said 11 but that she was often late.
This late bit I find kind of a bad business practice, but hey. It isn't my store. I am sure there usually isn't a line waiting for the place to open, however if your hours are 11 to whenever, then you should be there at that time. I was ready to leave, and she would have missed out on my purchase.
At any rate, despite the few negatives I mentioned above, I would definitely go back to this store. Good customer service far outweighs opening a few minutes late and being a little bit messy. If you are in the area of East Aurora NY, I recommend stopping by The Woolly Lamb. I even got an ink pen :0)
My purchase? I got some Sublime angora merino - it was on sale! So absolutely soft and wonderful, I can't wait to start knitting with it.
Below are a few pictures of the store, and the yarn I got.
I invited my sister to do a guest post about a new knitting magazine that she spotted, as I have not seen it yet. There is also a crochet one. Since my sister both knits and crochets, she bought and wrote about both the magazines.
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I don’t normally look at the yarn when I am in Wal Mart because, quite frankly, 99% of what they sell is not to my liking and usually what few yarns they have that I might like well enough to use there’s always something that will prevent me from buying it. (Tangled up skeins, or FILTHY ones that look like they’ve been run over by a car a few times, things like that.) So I tend to just not even look. But today I decided to stroll down that aisle just for the heck of it.
Once I got to the end of the aisle, I happened to spot a couple new magazines – one for knitting and one for crochet. I simply assumed new issues of magazines I’m familiar with. But nope. These are actually BRAND new magazines, the first issues!
So, I had to get them. Don’t give me that look.
Both magazines have the same format. There’s a review section that gives short reviews of new knit/crochet books, yarns, notions etc., there are a couple articles and of course, patterns. I love that the ads are minimal in these. There are 23 patterns and 3 articles in Knitting 1-2-3, and Crochet 1-2-3 contains 24 patterns and 3 articles. Knitting 1-2-3 contains an article on adding color to your knitting in three different ways: stripes, 2-color slip stitch and fair isle. There is a series of articles called Gram & Me, and it’s about the author’s time with a granddaughter teaching her to knit. In Crochet 1-2-3, there is an article on crocheting in the round and then the same author of Gram & Me has a series with her granddaughter and crocheting titled Gram’s Hands. The third article in both magazines is an article about knitting (or crocheting) for charity, specifically for an organization called Warm Up America.
The web sites for the magazines are knit-1-2-3.com and crochet1-2-3.com (appropriately enough eh?) although the sites are small as can be expected from a brand new publication, they will grow quickly I am sure. The knitting one is not totally live just yet actually, but I would imagine it should be fully functional within the next few days. The release date on both magazines September 18th, though as is evidenced by my purchase, you might be able to find them now. I was the first one to buy these from my Wal Mart. I know because I had to open up the plastic wrapper on both stacks of magazines to get to them!
As you can see in the pictures, they are $4 each. If you subscribe, a one year subscription costs $13. This will be for six issues, as new issues of these magazines will be released every other month. I’m giving serious thought to subscribing to both!
Both of these magazines are available exclusively at Wal Mart. Or you can visit their web sites to subscribe. Again, Knit1-2-3.com is not currently fully functional but Crochet1-2-3.com is. I have no idea why one’s up and running and the other is just a ‘preview’ type page. But I am sure that within a couple days both sites will be fully functional and you’ll be able to subscribe to either magazine through their respective web sites.
Oh. And if you’re wondering… yes. Yes I do want to make several of the patterns from each of these magazines now.
One of my first knitting projects was a triangle shawl. I've always loved shawls, and couldn't believe how easy it was to knit one.
There are many ways to knit a triangle shawl. This time, we are going to cover going from the bottom up using yarn overs to make the increases. I also show doing a KFB (knit front and back) increase if you want a less obvious increase.
This is just the bare bones of triangle shawls. I am sure you have seen many beautiful shawls that are lacy, some that are cabled, and many others.
The shawls pictured here were knit years ago. I am not certain what yarn was used. I think the one on the right is Caron Simply Soft, but it could very well be something else.
Below are a few examples of how to do a simple triangle shawl. Nothing fancy here. A shawl is a great beginner project if you want something larger than a scarf, but still want to keep it simple. You don't have to worry about gauge either.
These shawls are also a great project for seasoned knitters, because you can sit and watch TV and just mindlessly knit.
You can use any yarn and needles you like - the needles should be circulars though, to accomodate all of the stitches as the shawl grows. I'd say you want a 32 inch minimum. Of course if you are using a thin, lace weight yarn you could probably get away with a 24 inch circular; if you are using a thicker, bulkier yarn you may need to use a longer needle.
A good place to start is go to the craft store or your LYS, find a yarn you like, and just swatch using the needle size recommended on the ball band. If you find that you want a looser fabric, try a larger needle; if you want a denser fabric, go down a needle size. There is no wrong way to do this, so don't be worried that you may be using the wrong needle for your yarn. If you are pleased with your swatch, then you are using the right yarn and needles.
My shawls pictured above are just garter stitch, as are the samples in the video. You can do garter stitch if you like, or stockinette - maybe even alternate a few rows of garter with a few rows of stockinette.
Below are only a few ways you can do a bottom up triangle shawl. If you don't like any of these looks, play around and see what you can come up with. I used a US size 10.5 Knitter's Pride Cubics needle in my samples, and the first three were done in Mulberry Merino yarn, and the last in Paton's Classic Wool.
The first sample is a mini shawl from cast on to bind off. Yours of course will be much bigger.
Cast on 3 stitches
Knit across, turn
K1, YO, knit to end
Repeat the K1, YO, knit to end until the shawl is as big as you want it to be. Bind off, weave in loose ends and block if you like.
The second sample is done by making the yarn over at the beginning of each row. This makes a very decorative edge along your shawl.
Cast on 3
Knit across, turn
YO, knit to end
Repeat from YO, knit to end until shawl is desired size
Our third sample also uses a yarn over increase, and will create a wider border than either of the two above. This also gives a less pointy tip to the shawl.
Cast on 5
Knit across, turn
Knit 3, YO, knit to end
Repeat from Knit 3, YO, knit to end until shawl is desired size
Maybe you don't like the look of yarn overs. You can do any increase you like and are comfortable with. In my sample below, I used the KFB increase - knit front and back of the stitch.
Cast on 3
Knit across, turn
K1, KFB, knit to end
Repeat from K1, KFB, knit to end until shawl is desired size
Here is a video showing how I did all of the samples. I hope this helps those of you thinking about making a triangle shawl, but aren't quite sure where to start.
If you like bobbles, you may want to try the bobble cast on for your next project. A great way to add a decorative edge to anything that suits your fancy.
If you want to know more about knitting bobbles, check out this post.
For the cast on, all you have to do is cast on however many stitches you need for your project. Decide how you want the bobbles spaced, and knit across the row, adding bobbles as you like.
Keep in mind whether or not your pattern starts on the wrong or right side of the fabric. You might need to knit another row after the bobble row in order for your bobbles to appear on the correct side of the fabric. Or, you can even just pop them out onto the other side.
Here is a video of the cast on. Happy knitting, and Enjoy!
You don't need any fancy equipment to wind your yarn into a center pull ball. All you need is a toilet paper or paper towel tube cut to a comfortable size, and your own two hands.
Take the tail of your yarn and drop it down the tube until it pokes out the other end. Hold it in place until you have wrapped the yarn a few times. Just start winding the yarn around the tube. Wrap at an angle after the first few wraps, turning the tube every so often. Keep going until you have wound all of the yarn around the tube. Then, pull the tail out of the center of the tube, and slide the tube out of the ball of yarn. And there you have your very own center pull ball of yarn!
Here is a short video showing how it is done. Happy Winding!
My favorite time of year is fast approaching - Autumn! I love the smells, the colors, and the crisp feel of the air.
I designed a cowl for my favorite time of year that uses the Acorn Cable Stitch, and a yarn that reflects the colors of fall. You can use any color you choose, of course!
The yarn I used can be purchased here:
http://www.herrschners.com/product/Lighthouse+Waves+Yarn+1.aspx
I have both been wanting to dye yarn and knit a cowl for a while now, so I decided to combine the two, and came up with this.
I used Lion Brand Alpine Wool, which is a soft, squishy roving yarn. I also did a brief video of dying the yarn, which you can use as a reference to dye your own yarn.
This is just for general reference, not an exact tutorial.
I used McCormick Neon food coloring, and doubled their instructions for Stormy Blue that is on the box. I used about 16 cups of water.
I spit spliced the two skeins of yarn together, and wrapped it around two chairs that were spaced out as far as I could put them. Once that was done, I tied it off (loosely) into several sections. This is to keep it from getting tangled, and also to give me a guide for how much to dunk into the dye at a time. It really isn't crucial to have the yarn tied off at specific measurements, I just eyeballed it for even intervals all the way around.
Next, I filled the sink with a few inches or so of cool water and a little white vinegar for the yarn to soak in. The vinegar will help the yarn absorb the dye, and you can even add a tablespoon to the dye pot as well if you want. Just don't overdo it. I have heard bad things happen if you use too much :0)
After about 15-20 minutes, I took the yarn from the sink, gently squeezing out the excess water as I went, and then wrapped it around a wooden spoon, which I let rest over the top of the pot. This is so I could unwind the yarn a little at a time into the dye. Just be careful that the yarn doesn't hang down the outside of the pot and get on the burner!! (Also, you really don't want to move the yarn very much, or there is always the risk of felting it.) I lowered the yarn into the dye a section at a time, at about 15 minute or so intervals. Honestly, I didn't set a timer, I just guesstimated. Incase you didn't know, I tend to let things happen as they may - I don't go for sterile, scientific practices. Just be sure that you get all of the yarn into the dye before all of the color is absorbed, or you will be left with undyed yarn. Unless that is what you are going for.
Once all of the yarn has been lowered into the pot, and the water has reached boiling, turn down the heat to a low simmer, cover with a lid. Then, when the water is mostly clear, turn off the heat and let the whole shebang cool off. Once mine was cooled off, I just dumped it all into the sink, then rinsed it with cool water. Squeeze out the excess water and dry. I use a small wooden laundry rack to dry my yarn. You can drape it over the shower bar, or any place else you have available. I like to put mine outside so I don't have to worry about wet carpet.
If you don't want to go to all the bother to dye your own yarn, there are some lovely colors available at the store. You needn't dye your own for this pattern. I am just including the info incase you would like to.
When my yarn was finally dry, I wound it into a ball and started knitting. My first idea didn't work out well, so I had to frog and start over. The second time was the charm.
Hey everyone! I have been wanting to do this tutorial for ages, and finally got around to it! Below is the tutorial and video, and a free pattern for my Chilly Coaster, made from plastic grocery bags. I call it Chilly Coaster, because it is meant for cold cups. Also, this coaster is just for fun, not really to keep condensation from getting on your table. So be warned, don't use this thinking it will protect an important surface. And while you could use it for a steamy, hot mug of coffee, also know that the plastic may melt, leaving a nasty mess on your cup. So, cold drinks only on water safe surfaces.
First, here is the video. Below that you can print the tutorial if you wish, and the pattern. Happy Knitting, and Enjoy!
I see a lot of questions from new knitters about how to start knitting. Even though they may have watched videos about casting on, knit/purl stitches, and binding off they are still unsure of exactly how to put it all together.
The below video is a very brief video showing casting on, knitting a few rows with knit and purl stitches, and then binding off. This video is not meant to teach specific techniques (see the "Free Knitting Videos" Tab at the top for more detailed, slower videos), rather it is just meant to show what to do once you are ready to begin working on your pattern.
This video is not meant to instruct on how to read a knitting pattern, although I have a sample pattern in the video.
This video is basically a "I have yarn, needles, and a pattern. Now what?" demo. It is meant solely to demonstrate the process of casting on, knitting, and then binding off.
