Stitches 2010

Here are a couple of photos Cyndie Russell brought in from Stitches 2010.

Hey! Where are your knitting needles?
Mary and Sally are "busy" winding yarn.

Special Offer for Weekend with Melissa Leapman

Kris Stumpf, owner of the Ludington House Bed and Breakfast, and a great knitter and rug maker has offered a 25% discount for people wishing to stay for 2 nights while enrolled in the Weekend with Melissa Leapman classes.

Contact Kris at info@ludingtonhouse.com or (800) 827-7869 for more information.

Spring / Summer Newsletter

Click on "Spring / Summer Newsletter" (above) to see our latest newsletter containing lots of information regarding upcoming events and classes.

Photos of BEAUTIFUL Great American Afghans

Sally D

Sally D
Sally chose to make her Great American Afghan in all white squares. It turned out beautifully, as you can see in the photo.

Mary T

Mary T
Mary had a lot of fun with color, as you can see in the photo above. The class looked forward to seeing Mary's designs each month.

Kathy R

Kathy R
Kathy made this afghan for her son. The red, burgundy, and persimmon colorway she chose is great. Instead of the cat, Kathy designed a bear.

Great American ARAN Afghan - March 2009

We held our classes for the first two squares of the Great American ARAN Afghan in March. This year about 50 participants are taking these fun and educational classes.

During the class we covered:

Format of the Classes

• Generally, we will not begin work on actual square. Instead, we will practice stitches on SWATCHES.
• Teachers are Carole, Pam, Shelly, Maryann and, sometimes, Pat and Janet. Different teachers will teach each square and that person is the “expert” on that particular square.
• Many weeks will begin class with “Show and Tell”, which is voluntary.
• Each square uses different techniques. Remember, there are many ways to do each stitch, but square designers designate their favorite (usually for a reason).

Format of the Pattern

• Overview
• Picture of square
• “in other words”
• Chart(s)
• Legend – standardized for book
• Knitting school – Mark these pages

Tips and Tricks

• Copy (and enlarge) pattern
• Highlight different stitches in colored marker
• Use stitch markers liberally
• Edge stitches usually are not shown on charts
• Attach dental floss to marker
• Use LIFELINES
• Take “Baby Steps”
• Don’t be afraid to FROG (ripit, ripit)
• RIGHT means REAR
• Use “Sticky Notes” liberally to keep track of stitches, rows or use sticky note as a “ruler”
• Use a magnetic board

Chart Reading Tips

• The chart shows the “public” side (right side-RS) of the work. Since the squares are worked back and forth, every other row will be on the “wrong” side (WS) of your work.
• Note row numbers in the margin.
  If the number is on the right side of the chart, the row is worked from right-to-left across chart.
  If the number is on the left side of the chart, the row is worked from left-to-right across chart.

Square designed by Judy Sumner - Page 2

We worked on a swatch that included the X's and O's cable pattern (chart A), the SPIDER with bobbles (chart C), and the leaves (chart B). This stitches in this "challenging" square will take a bit of time to master.

Square designed by Julie H. Levy on Page 4
We worked on a swatch that included the "Aran Diamond and Bobble". The featured stitches included the unusual 2/1/2 RPC and the bobble, as well as three stitch cables going left and right. The other cables had been covered in the "Square 2 - (square on page 2 of book)" class.

HELP for Michigan National Guard-Project Linus

As some of you may know, Nautical Yarn is the "clearing house" for the Ludington Chapter of Project Linus. We typically collect te 100-200 blankets each year and deliver them to our local hospital for children who have been ill or injured.

This week we received a request from the Michigan National Guard.

Camp Grayling, Engineering Company, Unit 1434 is requesting the help of Blanketeers from the Ludington Chapter of Project Linus.

Two-hundred fifty (250) Michigan soldiers are being deployed this spring. Blankets must be delivered to Nautical Yarn by May 1 so they can be delivered to the soldiers prior to their deployment.

These soldiers would like to give Project Linus blankets to their children for safety, security, and remembrance while Mom or Dad is gone for one or more years.

A total of 500 blankets are needed. We would like to assist with blankets for the more vulnerable age group, children between the ages of 4 and 10.

Please help with this endeavor to help provide security for the children of our Michigan volunteer soldiers.

Nautical Yarn and several yarn companies, especially Plymouth and Berroco, have generously provided FREE kits to help with this blanket drive. Stop by Nautical Yarn to pick up your free kit (while supplies last).

If you are able to make a blanket for this endeavor to help provide security for the children of our Michigan volunteer soldiers, it would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions, please email linus@nauticalyarn.com or call Nautical Yarn at 231-845-9868.

Saturday, February 23rd, we had our second GAAKALONY in-store class. What fun was had!

Show and Tell
First was "Show and Tell". Most people had both squares from the January class finished. Remember, we worked on the Lily Chin Square 9 and Kathy Zimmerman Square 8 during the first month. Everyone showed off their fine work and went on to give hints to the rest of us. Our in-store group consists of about 20 novice to experienced knitters. Everyone is working hard to learn and improve upon their already brilliant skills. Some felt the diagonal square designed by Lily Chin was the more difficult, but more believed the Kathy Zimmerman cable stitch design with moss stitch was more challenging.

The work completed by the class was amazing. Almost everyone had at least one square completed and many had both squares done. Some pictures will be posted as soon as I figure out how. (Oh, I just found an "add image" button. I'll try that.)

This is Juanita's Square 8

This is Juanita's Square 9

This is Mary's Square 9 with multicolored Bobbles

Hints and Tips
Since pattern reading and chart reading skills are new to some, many hints focused on easy ways to comfortably read the chart and written pattern words. Some people seem to prefer follow a chart and others prefer to read the "In other words" pattern. One goal of the GAAKALONY is for us all to become comfortable with both methods.
Some hints:

• Make Copies
  Make an enlarged copy of the chart or written instructions. By doing this, you have something you can read from a greater distance. You can also write on this copy to keep track of rows, etc.
• 3 by 5 cards
  Copy one line of a pattern repeat on to a 3 x 5 card. This way you can go through the "deck" one card at a time and focus on that row only, without the possibility of your eyes "wandering" up or down to a different row.
• Color coding
  Highlight the chart and legend (and written instructions) with a different color for each special stitch. For example, high-light 3/3 RC cables in yellow and high-light 3/3 LC cables in green. By doing this, the chart can be read from a greater distance and followed more easily.
• Tilt-Top table
  A tilt-top table is available from discount stores for about $19.95. If I get the link to a Web site that sells these tables, I will post it. This table slides under your chair and can hold your chart, written pattern, and accessories within easy reach. The tilt-top allow you to read the pattern "hands-free".
• Sticky and "Super" Sticky Notes
  Most of the knitters are using some configuration of sticky notes to help keep track of the row they are knitting. All said sticky notes are very helpful.
• Yarn
  Most of the knitters are using Cascade 220 for their projects. A few have chosen Encore for its washability and most of them are happy with their decision. But, on Saturday a few knitters switched to Cascade 220 wool because they want a finished product of heirloom quality. They said that they prefer the "feel" (hand) of the wool and like the look (stitch definition) of the Cascade. One knitter had knit the Lily Chin Square 9 out of some Lamb's Pride worsted while she waited for our shipment of Cascade 220 to arrive. The square was beautiful, but the Cascade 220 square was noticably softer while the Lamb's Pride square was firmer. This led to an interesting side-bar discussion of which yarn the knitters prefer for felting.
• Colors
  Oh, the colors! Some of the beautiful color combinations are:
  White (all white)
  Shades of White (White, cream, winter white, etc.)
  Beiges and Blues
  Rusty browns with burgundy, navy and forest green
  Burgundy, Navy, and White
  Browns and Aquas
  Greens and Beiges