TEXTILE ARTS CO.

Today the sun has been out and it was a bit warmer. It's been a perfect day for hunting down sun spots in the house. The clouds are moving in, the temperature is dropping, and my head hurts, which means snow is on it's way. My African violet, however, continues to brighten up the room and our spirits with its lovely blooms.

Last weekend we had our knitting weekend at Edgar's Acres and a good time was had by all. We did a lot of knitting, laughing, sipping of wine, and of course, eating of very good food. We visited two yarn stores and bought yarn.

In early January I heard a rumor that a new yarn store was open in Port Hadlock. Being the yarn sniffer that I am we set out to find it. The shop is called The Textile Arts Co. and is located at 41 Colwell Street in Port Hadlock. Textile Arts opened late October 2007, and the lovely owner of the shop is Sandy Hill. Her shop is so new that she hasn't gotten her sign yet. When we drove into the parking lot, we noticed a sign in a window ...

Upon further inspection, it looked like this might be the place (excitement is mounting) ...
We found it!
Sandy was at the door to greet and meet us. What a lovely lady and a lot of fun.

Susan was wearing her Baby and Bears Sweater for Grown Ups by Cottage Creations, and Sandy was thrilled to see a sweater knit in yarn that she is carrying in her shop.

The shop used to be a child care center and all of the little cubbies that held toys, shoes and blankies are now holding yarn, yarn and more yarn.

The lighting is excellent and there are comfy chairs and couches to sit and knit, sit and talk, or just sit. All four of us had a great time checking out everything Sandy has in her store.

Sandy really knows her yarn too and was so helpful in helping all of us find what we needed/wanted/lusted over/had to have.

Cynthia was looking for some knitting needles and Sandy started opening up drawers and both Cynthia and Virginia had a great time checking it out.
Of course, we all bought yarn, and patterns, and magazines...

I found the yarn I want for the Knitting Pure & Simple Neckdown Pullover for Women. The yarn is Naturally Tussock Aran 10 Ply, which is 85% New Zealand wool and 15% polyester. I've never knit with this yarn before but Susan has and loved it. In fact (of course), she has knit the same sweater in the same yarn, but fortunately in the grey tone color. It is true what they say about knitters hanging out together too long... they start thinking yarn alike. I am looking forward to getting started on this. The big question is going to be if I wait to finish a couple of other projects, or start RIGHT AWAY!

We will of course, be visiting Sandy at The Textile Arts Co. again. We had a fun time and felt very, very welcomed.

We next visited A Dropped Stitch in Sequim, our LYS at Edgar's Acres and saw Jean and Nora. We love this store, and the ladies are delightful as always.

Virginia found the yarn she wanted for a sweater and asked me to take measurements to make sure she got enough. Well, one thing led to another, I ended up measuring another lady in the store, and told Jean and Nora I would be happy to come back and help measure. GOOD MEASUREMENTS ARE KEY!

I found the perfect orange sherbert dk yarn for a baby blanket. Jody is crazy about orange. It is her favorite color. Jody is also going to be a first time grandma next month so I am knitting a baby snuggle blankie for her grandson. It had to be in orange, of course, but not a bold, loud Oregon State orange. The yarn is Universal's Bella DK, which is machine washable.

The blankie is just a simple square where you cast on 5 stitches and add on with a yarn over for the first half, and then decrease with knit togethers and a yarn over. The pattern is below. We've all made it at one time or another. It makes for a great commuting project (mindless knitting).

BLANKET Cast on 5 sts.Row 1: Knit.Row 2: K 3, yo, k 2.Row 3: K 3, yo, k 3.Row 4: K 3, yo, k to end of row.Repeat last row until you have 207 sts on needle.Next (decrease) row: K 2, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k to end of row.Repeat last row until 5 sts remain. Bind off. FINISHING Weave in ends.

This is going to be a nice soft, snuggly blanket for Jody's grandson.

I love local yarn stores. They each have something different to offer the knitter. It never fails that if I can't find what I want at one LYS, I'll find it at another. The owners of the shops are always delightful, so helpful, and FUN. That's got to be best part, they are FUN. Isn't that what knitting is all about? There some online yarn companies I do use because I don't have time to run all over the place, and there are just some items you can't find locally. When I have to order online, I choose to use a local company starting with Washington state, and work out that way.

Well, speaking of knitting I better get back to it.

Stay warm.

TTFN

Sue