Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A Scarf, Pooh & LYS Love

I don't normally enjoy knitting a pattern more than once but I might for this one.

The pattern is called "Gathered Scarf" on Ravelry. There are several so here is the link; it's the one by Kelly Judson.



 It calls for dk weight; 30 stitches on size 5's. But I discovered some unusual yarn in my stash that I thought might be interesting - Berroco's Origami. It's very firm with sort of an exterior fiber encasing a cord of fibers, if that makes sense.



This is not necessarily yarn that you would want to snuggle into unless a miracle of softening comes when I block it. So I decided a longer, thinner scarf was better with a more open look to appreciate the variation in color.

I'm using 18 stitches on a 6 and I like it much better.

This is another great pattern for a beginner - the gathers are created by a full row of k2tog's and the wide part by a full row of kfb with stockinette inbetween.

I think this pattern would be great with a really interesting handspun yarn. I might just try that next.

If I did try it again, I'd surely head to our new LYS, Apples to Oranges.

We are so thankful in our town to have a lys. Last Spring, after doing everything possible to try to stay open, our really wonderful yarn shop in town closed. I felt connected to that store; it's where my children and I learned to knit and I was surprised how much it affected me when it closed.

There was a big round, red table in the window which was usually full of knitters. The owner, and several of those ladies, were adored by my little girls. I loved watching them sitting around the table mixed into the group of older ladies silent as a mouse; watching and listening to everything.

And then it closed. Sure, there are great yarn websites but that's not nearly the same. There's no community to that. So, we'd trek an hour away to Portland to shop for fiber. Thankfully, Apples to Oranges opened a few months later. I say it's a Portland quality shop in a small town full of beautiful yarn and an extensive offering of local, hand-dyed. 

I know all knitters agree that local yarn shops are little treasures. And they all seem to be struggling. On the other side, because they are small and quaint, they don't always have what you are looking for or enough skeins in a needed color. So here's my question?

What would happen if each week, I posted a link to a local yarn shop that also sells yarn through their website? You could do it too leaving the name & link in the comments.

Imagine what the positive financial impact that could be for an lys if they could infuse their sales with knitters from all over the country? 


Could we possibly positively impact those stores while finding new fiber treasures for ourselves? I think it's worth a try. It's been something I've been thinking about for a long time.


So, here it goes. I'll call it "LYS Love" and I'll start with mine - feel free to add yours in the comments but please be sure that they have online shopping capabilities through their website.


LYS LOVE - Apples to Oranges in Silverton, Oregon. http://www.applestooranges.net/

They have some gorgeous, local, hand-dyed yarn available through their website, as well as other great yarn.



As for reading, you can't ever go wrong with Winnie the Pooh. It was A.A. Milne's birthday a few weeks ago, so we pulled Winnie off the shelf. He was a favorite of mine as a child but I realized that my kids don't really know much about the series. I am happy they are enjoying it so much.

As for my reading, I had received a long awaited email that it was my turn for The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd reserved through the digital library loan. But when I logged on last night, I discovered that they had offered it to the next in queue because I didn't respond within 3 days. Ugh. It was a busy weekend and I thought I would be able to wait. Lesson learned. Just another reason why I like paper books the best ;)

I'm linking up with Ginny for the weekly Yarn Along at Small Things. Click on the link to see many more beautiful projects.





 



11 comments:

  1. That yarn is fabulous! ... and your LYS love... sigh. I want to dive in! Found you via Ginny ~ Happy knitting!

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    1. Isn't that a great picture? It's of a local hand dyed yarn called "blissful knits." I believe she sells on etsy. Colors are amazing!!

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  2. I agree - I think that's a great pattern for some hand spun. I love the colors of the yarn you chose - they just seem to "pop".

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    1. Let me know if you try one with handspun! This really is the perfect project to bring along to appts, etc.

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  3. Wish we had a nice LYS, but nay, it isn't so. I do lots of my yarn shopping online from recommendations from other yarn-alongers and visit shops whenever we find one in our travels.

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  4. Beautiful yarn, love the colors and it looks so soft. We have one tiny lys that I try to visit on a regular basis. Whenever I'm in I always buy something.

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  5. I love visiting other lys on our travels too. But I love the idea of supporting little lys only. So, I'll be interested to see how I do sourcing yarn online from them. It will be fun trying! :)

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  6. I love you LYS love idea! I sadly lost mine last winter, it was a blow. My youngest daughter would go in with me during the day and color in the corner and then model all the knitted items for all the ladies knitting. Too sad.

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    1. The opportunity for people of all generations to develop friendships is one of my favorite aspects. My daughters had a similar experience and I loved it because their grandparents live far away. Hope you find another shop that's not too far away. Thanks for stopping by. Becky

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  7. great idea! my lys doesn't sell online but maybe i can urge her to. i've been wanting to help her out also. very kind of you!

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    1. Even if she doesn't sell online, feel free to leave the shop name. After doing a little searching, I discovered that most don't have online selling. But maybe someone would visit after seeing your recommendation :)

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