KNITS & PEARLS SUMMER LIQUIDATION SALE

Knits & Pearls Summer Liquidation Sale!

5334 Ft. Henry Dr, #4

Kingsport, TN 37663

423/247-8900

Save 10% - 50% off – yarn only – prices will be marked.

Trying to make room for the new fall line.

August 26th – 30th

Store hours:

Tue – Fri 10:00 – 5:00

Saturday 10:00 – 3:00

LAST FRIDAY

Last Friday consisted of knitting together, helping each other, starting new projects and proudly displaying finished projects. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Keep knitting those charity items in between your other projects and be prepared to discuss how and what we want to accomplish as a group for charity. Have a good rest of the week - see you all Friday.

Please keep Hannah and her family in your prayers.

SAD NEWS - A LOCAL LEGEND LEAVES US

I was notified today that Doc McConnell passed away this morning. Doc had suffered a stroke last Sunday. Doc was the father of Hannah Gillenwater - a very special member of our Knitting Souls Together group. Doc was also the grandfather of Maggie. Our heartfelt prayers are with Hannah and her family. If you would like to know more about Doc, please go to the following link (he was a very gifted man):

http://www.tales-tonics.com/

COMPULSIVE YARN BUYING

Ren gave this to me and laughingly asked if I wanted to post it on the blog...........it is SO true:

..you go to a yarn store with a friend and you usually carry more yarn out of the store than your friend when you leave.

..you wake up the morning after, unable to remember how much yarn you bought, how much you spent for it, or where you stashed it.

..you inexplicably grab hanks of yarn from store shelves just to touch and smell; you occasionally talk to it.

..you've bought the same pattern book or knitting supply at least twice without knowing it.

..when you go to the yarn store after work, after arriving home late, you lie about where you've been, telling your SOs you were at a bar.

..you are unable to travel to a new town without a quick scan of the Yellow Pages and a not so quick checking out of the local yarn shops; in fact, you often tack on a day of travel and bring an empty suitcase--just in case!

..you've moved to larger homes just so you have more space to stash your stash.

..you've bought yarn simply because it was on sale.

..when at a garage sale, the first thing you look for is yarn/knitting supplies.

..you have been reprimanded on the job--for knitting.

..you and your SOs have "discussed" your yarn buying and knitting habits.

..you've trained your SOs not to talk while you are counting and to wait patiently while you finish that one more row.

..you've mastered knitting in the dark (at movie theatres), at red lights while driving, and, of course, while doing just about anything else.

..panic sets in when you are out in a public place with nothing to knit.

..you have lied about how much yarn you've bought.

..you have devised grand and devious schemes for getting your yarn in the house to avoid your SOs scrutiny.

..your yarn buying has embarrassed your family or friends.

..when a stranger walks into your home, his or her first words are usually a comment about your yarn.

..you have at least six projects beside each place in the house where you are known to sit and sleep.

..when a shop owner has been unable to locate a certain item in the store, you are able to find it.

Hope you enjoyed these and I'm sure most of you can identify with at least one.....maybe, many more!!!!!!!

KNITTING ON FRIDAY

As everything in life, our group has changed. We've gone from "I don't know if I can do that" to "What's everyone working on" - it has worked out as Ren and I hoped it would.

This Friday, Ren was unable to attend - her presence was noticeably absent!!!! So those of us that showed up, gathered together, knitting and chatted pleasantly. We had a surprise cell phone call from Hannah - in between her in-service day at school. She was missed greatly, as she adds so much to our group. Thanks for calling Hannah - we were definitely thinking of you and now you proved that you were thinking of us. Hopefully, we'll get that Monday evening class going so that you and Maggie can again join us.

Kathryn brought some yummy cookies. She has sent me the recipe as an attachment that I haven't been able to open yet. When I get it open - I'll post it.

Well, keep knitting and I'll be back soon.

OUR GUEST SPEAKER

Last week, we had a surprise guest, Lynn Sloan - Andrea's husband. I asked Andrea if he came along to make sure she was really knitting - ha ha - just kidding. Then, several of us tried our best to try to get Lynn to learn to knit - that sure didn't work!!!!

Andrea has such a great personality and smile, and Lynn is just as nice. What a great pair. Anyway.....Lynn brought some of his "finds" to share with us. He has come into the possession of several wonderful relics. From one that appears to be an ancient, possible Indian, headstone, to tools and a wonderful book of old publications that gave you all kinds of ideas to entertain properly as well as home items and instructions. Quite some finds. Thanks for taking the time to share these with us!!!!

Have a Good Day!!!!!

CABLES AND GAUGE

BEFORE I BEGIN, LET ME START BY SAYING A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANDREA!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, at our first meeting of "just" the knitting group, Ren decided she had, still yet, more knitting information and guidance to pass along (WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT HER?). She taught us to cable and informed us of the importance of gauge.

The cable stitch can actually create fear at the thoughts of actually doing it!!!! I mean, look at that stitch - there is NO WAY something that complicated looking can be easy. BUT, guess what - IT IS. I know some will say it is not easy, but I think a better description of it, especially when you first start trying it, is that it is a little awkward. And, just paying attention, as you can see Rebecca is deep in thought on this subject, will pay off in the end. If you try it and have trouble, don't forget, you can go to one of many helpful sites, including You Tube, and watch someone go slowly through the steps.

Gauge - now there is a very important subject, especially if you are knitting something to wear. Think about it - you spend all of that money on "nice" yarn, spend all of that time on working the pattern and voile', it doesn't fit!!!!! This is why gauge is so crucial. And, to get your gauge, you should swatch. Now, swatching doesn't bother me - remember, I'm the one that's perfectly satisfied just knitting dishcloths, but even Ren said she doesn't like to swatch, but still does. You have to, to make sure that your certain number of stitches per inch match up to what the pattern says about the number of stitches per inch. If you don't and yours is different from the pattern, then you are wasting your time going by the size on the pattern. I had to laugh - on Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/) there is even a group that do nothing but swatch. And, I joined that group - LOL. I even bought the 365 Knitting Stitches A Year Perpetual Calendar (after see and drooling over Ren's) so I could eventually, in this lifetime or the next three, knit/swatch some of those squares. They are just so pretty. But, getting back to the subject, if you decide to jump in and make a sweather, please take the time to swatch to see if you are on target for the gauge. And, know that if you have too many stitches in your swatch, then you need to switch to a larger needle and swatch again. And, if you don't have enough stitches in your measurement, you will need to switch to smaller needles and YES, swatch again. You just can't swatch too much. :-)

AND, I would also like to say that we have some extremely talented members in our group. Robin is in the process of making a quilt and had a question for one of the other members. I just had to snap a picture of her work - it is absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait to see the finished product - hopefully, she will bring it in and show us:

Also, Dot made some very pretty wash cloths. She said she got the pattern from the inside label of the Peaches & Creme cotton - WHO KNEW there were patterns in there!!!! These were so neat I had to take pictures of these also:

Come back soon - my next post will be dedicated to our surprise speaker that had some special show and tell for us.