Sneak Peak - coming later this week!!!

Better Basic Mittens

pattern by Kelly Jensen

Worsted weight yarn - 200 yards

Three sizes

US 6 circular needles (two)












Are you ready??

Yes, I bought more yarn!

Black Friday was a success!

I enjoyed spending the morning with other like-minded people, who consider yarn shopping to be their top priority on the day after Thanksgiving. Lots of knitters at Your Local Yarn Shop in Battle Creek, Mi, getting great deals at 8 am. We stayed until 11:00, when it was time to pluck the butt, er, well, I mean pull a feather out of Tom Turkey's rear end.

I did buy yarn for several Christmas gifts:

Autumno for fingerless mitts for my niece

Dream in Color Classy for Winter Socks for Son #2
(knitting for him is a little boring, all blacks and greys!)

Ty-Dy Wool for our NEW pattern Better Basic Mittens (maybe for me??)

Not a surprise, but they will all be knit using KalamazooKnits patterns. The fun will be to see if I get them all done for Christmas, right?

Black Friday at Your Local Yarn Shop

Pluck the Butt to get your savings

Black Friday???

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving,spending time with your loved ones. We all need a day to slow down, and be thankful for all that we have. Sometimes I get a little melancholy remembering holidays from the past, but I try to stay in the present and appreciate the family members I can spend the day with.

But what about the big shopping day tomorrow! This is where the knitting obsessed can show their true colors! Yes, I am getting up early to go shopping, but guess where I'm going? Am I headed to Best Buy? maybe Target? Not on your life!

I am meeting the girls at 7:30 a.m. to look for some great buys at my local yarn shop. Yes, we will be hitting Your Local Yarn Shop in Battle Creek, MI for their Black Friday festivities. Good sales, good friends, lots of knitting, maybe we'll even stay until it is time to go out for lunch! Life is good.

I think it is time to pick up the needles. I am doing a second knitting of the pattern I designed for A Good Yarn in Sarasots, FL. I am using Dream in Color lace yarn (can't remember what it is called right now) I like to work through a new design a couple of times myself, in addition to having it test knit! This time it works out great, because I plan to give the shawl for a Christmas gift to my MIL.

Hope you find your kind of bargain tomorrow!

We have winners!

The transition back to Michigan took longer than I anticipated. Complicated by a couple of days busy with my 4 year old grandson.

Winners of The Winter Sock pattern are all six folks who posted on my blog. If I can link to your email, I will send you the pattern soon. If not, send me an email at kalamazooknits@gmail.com. I will reply with the pattern.

Thanks for leaving your comments

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

I am not ready, at all. I am working my "other job", as a pharmacist from 9 to 6 on Tuesday and Wednesday, good thing my husband is the cook in our family!

Happy Turkey Day!

Pack up the Yarn

It is time to pack up my yarn and head north for the holidays!

We flew down to Florida about a month ago, and my biggest concern was what yarn to bring, what needles, patterns ... you get it, don't you? It is never about the clothes or shoes - just the knitting. Since we will be back after the first of the year, I am going to keep some needles and yarn down here (gasp, what if I NEED them???), to cut down on what I am hauling back and forth.

It all sounds so simple, and is kind of embarassing to admit - but I hate to be parted from my knitting "stash". I love to look at it, feel the yarn and plan my next project.   I know when I get back to Michigan, life will be hectic, between the holidays, family, friends and work...but there will always be time to knit!  

So this is what I am leaving here:
- a full set of Knit Picks options - the nickel ones  (I LOVE them)
- a few pair of Knit Picks small size circs - 2's, 3's, etc.
- Hand Maiden Sea Silk - enough for a shawl - but a summer shawl, so probably won't be knitting it up north
- Jitterbug sock yarn (for Ann Zilboorg's Magnificent Mittens & Socks) - this will take "thinking" to get this project started, so probably won't happen in December
- Brookes Farm silk yarn - for another shawl
- Kauni Effectyarn - I have enough of this to have some both places!
- random balls of sock yarn, Noro sock, Cascade superwash worsted.

Then there is one of my huge WIPs (work in progress)- a Krystel Seyfarth Masai shawl.  I am about 3/4 of the way done with this beast, but haven't worked on it in months.   I need to follow a chart for this one , so I will wait to do it in January down here is Florida.

Deep breath, Deep breath.  Okay, I can leave all of this here and we will be reunited before I know it!  After all, I have much more yarn waiting for me when I get home. 

Don't forget to leave a comment on the blog for the pattern giveaway.   I will be travelling tomorrow, but will announce the winners once I get settled in Michigan.   

Holiday gift knitting - free pattern contest

Holiday Gift Knitting! Have you started it yet? Or do you resist the siren's song to share knitted love with your family and friends?

I usually give some hand-knit gifts each year. On Christmas day a few years ago, I felt like Mrs. Weasley (from Harry Potter, Ron's mom, who knit sweaters for all of her kids!).  I didn't give sweaters, (but then I didn't have magic knitting needles like Mrs. Weasley), I gave everyone worsted weight socks. Actually, I didn't give my oldest son a pair, because I was sure he wouldn't be interested in them at all. He was in his early 20's and way too cool for that, I thought.  However, when he noticed he was left out of the flurry of handknit socks, and he said he was disappointed that he didn't get some too! You can be sure he got a pair in January, and he won't be left out again.

I used my "Winter Socks" pattern for these gifts. I noticed that everyone seems to wear them around the house when we dial down the thermostat, to keep their toes warm. Usually by the next Christmas, a few pairs need to be replaced.  I consider that a good thing, since it means they got lots of wear over the year. 

Tell me what you are knitting for gifts this year. Leave a comment on my blog before Friday at midnight ET, and I will draw a name or two. The winners will get a copy of my Winter Socks pattern!

Design Time

I am working on a new design for "A Good Yarn" in Sarasota.  They want to start their own line of  unique patterns sold only by their shop, and they asked me to develop their first one.

This particular project excites me for several reasons:
- I usually have one of "these" items in my knitting basket at all times - right now it is my favorite type of project to knit!

- This will be the first time I have designed this type of knitwear - so it is part of my continued growth as a hand-knit designer.

- I have some great yarn for inspiration.   I don't know about you, but yarn is often the starting point for my designs.  I see it, I love it and I want to make the perfect object for the yarn.  I want it just so, so I design it myself. 

Since I can't give you the details on the design, I can tempt you with the yarn.

Three words might say it all for you:  Three Irish Girls   
My favorite weight of yarn:  fingering weight

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - custom dyed colorway exclusively for A Good Yarn.  

This is called "Sea Flower" and I love working with it!

Florida Knitting

Several years ago, when we started coming to Florida for the winter, I told my husband that there were two things that could make my life in Englewood perfect - the most important item was a yarn shop.
(I'll save the second item for another post - it might sound strange to you, so it needs some explanation).

I know many of you can relate to this - but when I'm not home, I miss my knitting group up in MI.  They are the best group of women - smart, funny, kind, sharing - and good knitters too.  I think of them every Wednesday morning, having coffee at Panera Bread, and catching up on each others' lives.

I still miss them, but I've found a new "knitting home" in Florida that fills the gap! 

Last year A Good Yarn opened in Sarasota, and it is everything that I love in a yarn store.  A wonderful shop owner, who has great taste in yarn, and a fun, talented staff.  It is the kind of shop that welcomes knitters and has a place for them to sit and knit.  They host a knit night every Thursday, and it draws a diverse group of knitters.   I love it there - and they have made me feel like I belong.

A Good Yarn just celebrated their one year anniversary, and held a fun open house this past Saturday.  Check out this cake - how perfect is that?

Happy Anniversary to A Good Yarn, and thank you for making my life in Florida "more perfect".

Lions, Tigers and BLOGS....Oh My!

Two weeks ago, during knit night at my LYS (local yarn store), I met a charming young lady.  I was showing her how to knit in the round on two circular needles (my prefered method over double points!) and she indicated that she is a publicist.  

Here she was - a tech savy, 20-something knitter - who knew the ins and outs of advertising.  As a small business owner and hand-knit pattern designer, I couldn't resist asking her opinion on ways to market my patterns (can you guess where this is going?) - yup - she thought the weak link in my web presence was that I didn't have a blog.

So Megan, this blog is for you!   Thanks for encouraging me to take the next step.

Please join me on this new adventure - as I share my thoughts on knitting, my hand-knit designs in process and my search of fun in the sun - with knitting needles in hand.

Let's get this party started!