We will be closed Sunday, July 4 so we can all celebrate the holiday with family and friends. We will reopen at 11am Tuesday.
We hope that you all have a happy and safe 4th of July holiday!
Tue 29 Jun 2010
A new project… and new technology!
Posted by Holly under free patterns, ideas, patterns, projects
1 Comment
And so it begins again. Once a project is bound off, blocked and ready to wear, I’m on a quest to start something new. Wait, you say I’ve already got projects on the needles? Well, of course I do!
Actually, after finishing my Featherweight Cardi (I’m so glad that my idea of a knitalong is taking on a life of its own… but I digress), I immediately got back to work on a Green Gable (Rav link) that I’d started ages ago in the Classic Elite Premiere – and finished it. Which left me floundering for another project… and I pulled one out of my UFO pile, but the Cotton Bamboo I was using was not being kind to my hands, so down it goes for a bit.
Again, that left me floundering for a project. Until I was reading blogs and saw Elspeth’s latest post and saw this beauty. (The shawl, although the model is gorgeous, too.) Lavalette (Rav link), by Through the Loops!’s Kirsten Kapur. A quick dive in my sock yarn stash, provided the ideal yarn (a recent acquisition from another shop, sorry! However, I might just make another one… or two…)
Lavalette is proving to be just what I’m looking for in a project right now: quick and easy. I cast on late this morning at the shop and that picture was taken after just a couple hours of knitting! (I’m actually much farther along than that, that’s how quick this knits!) Worked up on US7s, it has a great drapey feel that’s going to grow effortlessly when I block it out. So, as I’m knitting on this, I start to think about how the Featherweight Cardi became an informal knitalong (and is going really well – I can’t wait to see some of those finished!) and thought that for those who just need a quick and dirty project or want to give some easy lace a try, this would fit the bill perfectly!
Pattern available from Kirsten’s site. Go download it and join me! 
P.S. The photo was totally bogarted from Elspeth’s site – go visit her and tell her how much you love the shawl. Just sayin’.
Now onto the technology portion of this post. Recently, I gave up my Blackberry for an iPhone again and have been having fun relearning the phone. I had forgotten how many ways that this simple phone can make my knitting life easier – there are row counter apps galore, knitting needle/project organizers (and hopefully there will be a Rav app sometime in the future)… But what I hadn’t anticipated was that iBooks would also be a HUGE help to the knitting life! No, I haven’t gone on there to see if there are knitting books available, however, I discovered that you can store PDFs on there. What does that mean? Well, if you have a PDF of a project (that you own legally, natch), you can email yourself a copy of it and open it using iBooks, keeping a copy with you on your phone (or iPod, or iPad), lessening the need to have a printed copy with you. I may have gotten a bit excited over discovering that – and I think that I’ll be emailing tons of my PDFs to myself just to have them in iBooks.
Wed 9 Jun 2010
The Featherweight Cardigan is done!
Posted by Holly under patterns, projects
No Comments
Yes, the Featherweight Cardigan I last blogged about is done – and just in time for our very own Elspeth’s wedding last weekend, which is why I was so determined to get it knit. One of our customers and I came up with the idea of starting a tradition for knitters’ weddings by wearing a handknit to bring good luck to the new marriage. (Not that Elspeth and her new husband Jake need luck, they’re perfect together. But I digress.)
I used 2 skeins of the FDC Centolavaggi yarn held doubled (each skein has a total of 1533 yards) on a size 6 needle. The yarn is gorgeous and soft – though if I knit this again, I’ll either be going down a needle size or a full bust size in the pattern. This sweater grew a lot in the width during the washing/blocking process, however, it dried in no time, so there is that. I ended up making almost no modifications to the pattern, which is unusual for me, I know.
Since finishing it last Wednesday (just in time for Late Night), I’ve already worn it a handful of times and have gotten lots of compliments on it each time. In the picture, I’m wearing it how I’ll probably wear it most of the time: casual, with a tank top and jeans, but it dresses up really nicely and was perfect for an outdoor wedding on a warm day with a light breeze.
If you’re knitting along, don’t stop! You will LOVE this cardigan, I swear! Right now I’m clearing two projects out of my WIP bin – socks and a summer top – and when I’m done with those, we’ll have another knitalong! If you didn’t join in at the start, after seeing it completed (in just over three weeks, no less), do you think you’ll give it a try? It’s a great addition to a wardrobe and dead easy to knit.
Sun 9 May 2010
A sweater for $40? You must be kidding, right?
Posted by Holly under ideas, patterns, projects
[2] Comments
You might think that, but I’m not. Right now I’m knitting Hannah Fettig’s Featherweight Cardigan (Rav link) and the large size (a 43″ bust) calls for just 1410 yards of a laceweight yarn. I know, amazing, right?
I’m using Filatura di Crosa’s Centolavaggi yarn in Ruby. Gorgeous, no? (That picture really doesn’t do the red justice.) I know, I know, y’all are saying “But Holly, the Centolavaggi has 1531 yards – and is less than $40. The math doesn’t add up.” (Wait, y’all weren’t asking? Humor me.) Well, you’d be right – the math doesn’t add up for just one skein, but does if I’m doubling the yarn. 
The Centolavaggi is ever so much lighter than a laceweight and I thought it wouldn’t make too much of a difference when swatched, but I just didn’t like the fabric I was getting. (See, another reason to swatch! Just sayin’.) So, after discussing it with Carol and Rachelle, I decided to double the yarn. LOVE the fabric now – and am still hitting gauge.
This is going to be an ideal, lightweight cardi for year-round use. You know how I love those… It’ll be really helpful here at the shop this summer while I’ve got the A/C blasting, or on a cool evening out (we get those occasionally). It’s lots of stockinette stitch, which can get a little boring, but the thought of having this in my wardrobe is keeping me going. Who wants to knit one along me?
The pattern is available for $4.95 on Ravelry or at Hannah’s website. 
(Photo from Hannah’s Flickrstream for the Featherweight Cardigan.)
Sat 8 May 2010
Which came first: the ball winder or the swift?
Posted by Holly under holiday, ideas, shop
No Comments
Ahhh, the age old question of which to get first if you can only get one: do I get a ball winder or a swift? At Late Night Knitting this past Wednesday, we might have come up with the answer. (Well, it’s always been my answer, but it convinced one of our customers!)
Arabella had picked up the last of the Araucania Lonco from the clearance bin – the Lonco is a gorgeous mercerized fingering weight cotton with amazing stitch definition, but it’s a bit of a b!#&% to wind. I am convinced that drunken monkeys were hired to reskein up the yarn once it was dyed. In almost every skein that I’ve wound, there has been an extra twist put into the hank, making it a tangle. I gave Arabella some warning about it (probably not enough) and she was off winding.
Fast forward an hour: she’s got 5 ends to the yarn and she’s about ready to quit winding and just cut her losses and run. Bolstered by my fourth (very small) cup of wine, I tell her that we’re not going to cut the yarn, that we can save it. Fast forward another hour or hour and a half: it’s after 9pm, we’re still hand-winding the yarn into 3 different balls, just trying to find the end that’s attached to the ball on the ball winder. The entire time, we’re cracking jokes about the mutating ends of yarn and how we’re lucky we’ve got the swift because neither of us know anyone who’d be willing to hold the yarn for that long! I offer to wind the rest of the skeins for her before Knit ‘n Nosh, so she doesn’t have to deal with it, besides, I’ve had decent luck with getting the Lonco wound before, right?
The next day, I spent another three hours with a tangled mess of yarn – the drunken monkeys have been at it again. However, the next few skeins weren’t bad at all. (Apparently, the drunken monkeys only work on about half of the dyelots.) Yesterday I handed it all back to her, wound of course, and she told me that I had convinced her that she needed to get a swift to have at home.
I got a ball winder about a year before I splurged on a swift and it was a huge pain in the rear to get anything wound into balls – I had to have someone standing right there holding my hank of yarn while I wound it, or laid it on the ground and wound slowly – not good when there are pets around… Once I got my swift, life was a lot easier. I could hand-wind or use the ball winder – and my yarn was (relatively) safe from my cats (who love to think of it as theirs).
So, weighing in on this debate, I’m going with get a swift first if you can’t get both. However, if you can get both (or are dropping very last minute Mother’s Day hints to husbands and children) you can save 15% off of the set!
Tue 27 Apr 2010
Maryland Sheep & Wool and Spring Hours!
Posted by Holly under hours, random, updates
No Comments
It’s that time of year again, time for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival! It’s one of our favorite times of year here at Knit Happens – we close the shop and get to go hang out with you and have fun! I mean, can you think of anything more fun?
So, on that note, we will be closed both Saturday, May 1st and Sunday, May 2nd for the festival. If you see us there, stop us and say hi! It will be Rachelle and Tiara’s first time at the festival, so share any good tips you’ve got with them. (I’ve shared mine with them – and it looks like Rachelle has got a plan to her shopping!)
Also, starting Tuesday, May 4th, we will be going to our Spring/Summer hours. That means we’ll be closing early and opening late a few times a week, but our weekend hours will stay the same. Also, it means that evening classes will start at 6pm instead of 7pm, so you’ll get home while there’s still light out. Our new hours will be:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11-5:30
Wednesday: 11-9
Thursday: 11-5:30
Friday: 10:30-7
Saturday: 10:30-7
Sunday: 12-5
(Photo taken from the Maryland Sheep & Wool page – visit them for more details on the festival, vendors and maps of the fairgrounds!)
Wed 14 Apr 2010
It’s no secret that I love teaching, especially beginners. Which is why I get so excited whenever I have a Beginning Knitting class – I get to make new knitters!
If you’ve ever been in my beginning class, you know I try to make it as much fun as possible, as well as teaching a new skill, which always seems to work out well… and last night’s class was no exception. It was a small class, even by our “small class” standards, but everyone had so much enthusiasm – even if they were a bit dubious that they could actually knit. By the end of the class, I had some really excited knitters walk out the door, and I was reminded why I do this – because I love it so.
Wait, you’ve never taken a class here before? Or you didn’t know that the class list was up? Check our Classes and Events page and take a look at the calendar for the latest classes we’re offering. We’ve got two classes starting later this week with lots of room in them:
Pattern Reading, Friday 4/16 7-9pm $35
Do you sometimes look at a pattern and wonder what the heck they’re asking you to do? Or what all those abbreviations actually mean? Holly will explain the mysterious world of knitting (and crochet) lingo, tell you the difference between British/European and American patterns and tell you just what to look for when looking for a pattern to knit.
Bring to class:
pen/pencil; paper to take notes
Circular Knitting Techniques, Saturday 4/17, 9:30-11:30am $35
Does idea of knitting in the round just confuse you? Are you knitting one way in the round and the idea of other techniques intimidate you? This is the class for you. In this class, Holly will show you how to cast on and get started on DPNs, two circulars and magic loop. By the end of the class you will have mastered the techniques and will know which one is the technique for you.
Bring to class:
200 yds DK or worsted weight yarn; appropriate size needles in DPNs, two circulars (can be different lengths) and a 47″ circular.
If either of these sound like a class for you, just call us at 703-836-0039 and we’ll get you signed up in no time!
Wed 31 Mar 2010
Yes, I’m sure that you’ll be seeing this video pop up a lot over the next few days on every knitting blog you follow (both shops and personal ones, I bet) – Mo Rocca making peace with knitters all over the world after his statement on Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me that “homemade sweaters are itchy.” He has his slice of humble pie by learning to knit and finding out that it’s not as easy as it looks – and gets hooked. (He even knows the difference between knitting and crocheting. My abandoned Mo Rocca crush? Back in full force after this.)
Tue 30 Mar 2010
Who says crochet is just for afghans?
Posted by Holly under books, classes, projects
No Comments
Definitely not us. Tiara is the newest addition to the Knit Happens family and while she is a brand new knitter, she is a crocheter from way back! She’s on a mission to spread the crochet-love around Alexandria, one garment at a time.
She whipped up this little number from the book, Blueprint Crochet: Modern Designs for the Visual Crocheter, in just a couple of days. Don’t I wish my sweaters would knit up that quickly… maybe there is something to this crocheting thing, huh? She is finishing a second sweater from the book as we speak. She says that the patterns are generously sized, so gauge swatches are a must! 
But a gauge swatch doesn’t seems so bad when you get such a great fitting sweater out of the deal, no?
Doesn’t this just make you want to give crochet a try? We’ve got 3 Beginning Crochet classes scheduled in the next two months – hopefully one of those classes will work with your schedule! Click on the “Classes and Events” tab at the top of the page for details.
(Yes, we do have Blueprint Crochet in stock! Need me to hold a copy? Just call and let me know!)
Thu 25 Mar 2010
Classes, classes, classes
Posted by Holly under classes, shop, updates
No Comments
Have you noticed the new tab at the top of the page? Take a look, I’ll wait. Yes, that new tab says “Classes and Events” – which can only mean that the classes are finally up! Hooray!
When you click over there, you’ll notice that we have a snazzy calendar on there (provided by Google Calendar – however did we get along without the little things like that to make life easier?) that lists both our classes (in green) and shop events (in pink, natch). You’ll notice that we have a couple classes in April and May on days where the shop is closed – that isn’t a typo, we will have those classes that day.
How to find out more information and register for the classes? Click on the class and the information will pop up, including price, materials needed and reading recommendations/prerequisites, if any. Then, give us a call at the shop – or stop in – and we’ll get you all squared away. Remember, we keep our classes small and they fill quickly, so register early and tell your friends!
