Knitting & Working: Memorial Day 2007

Memorial Day weather on the coast is never dependable, so we rarely have alot of company. But 2 of our sons came down from Vancouver, WA. The youngest, Cody, spent most of his time either fishing on Tenmile Lake (Lakeside, OR) or out in the sanddunes in his 4-wheel truck. Steve and his wife Cory, spent most of their time visiting with friends and with us. At least the evenings were just barely warm enough to BBQ.

Seems like the work "behind the scenes" in the store has been tremendous. I have a small pile of books and patterns to get on-line. The Noni Bag line has grown so large I'm working on breaking out each pattern to its own page, and to make matters more complex, I'm now stocking ALL the handles and hardware to make the bags. So many bits and pieces. And I'm unable to find ALL the stuff from one supplier. It takes alot of work to order from 3-4 different suppliers, not to mention the darn cost of shipping. Oh well. I decided it was a good thing to do, so I will just be quiet and get the work done!

Saturday I stole just enough time to machine knit one sleeve of my newest project. Garter Stitch on a knitting machine is not so easy. Each row has to be flipped. If you have to have purchased a garter bar when they were still in production, it makes it easier. It still would have taken me longer to hand knit, because luckily, I did not mess anything up while machine knitting. I'm doing this on my trusty LK150 mid-gauge. The most agreeable machine I've ever knit on. In the photo you see the back and one sleeve. They are photograhed on my EZ Large blocking board. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash. I don't stock it, but am considering doing it. Either way, I can order ANY color you need in that line. This is the first time I've used it, and for a Superwash wool it is pretty nice. This line must be 20+ years or older, so it is well established and extremely popular, so my yarn rep says.

The photo on the body form is the same jacket but for adults. This one is all hand knit. The pattern uses Cascade 220 (not superwash) and needs to be hand washed. The pattern comes

from the book Double Exposure by Bonnie A Franz. I like this book because most of the patterns are fairly classic and will never go out of style. If you have the book, go to page 88. The hem is garter stitch. The sleeves and hood is garter stitch. And I will hand stitch a zipper into it. The pattern is called Sandy Jacket. Perfect for coastal weather.

I'd like to get some feedback on the Cascade Superwash 220 line. Have you used it? Do you think you'd like to see me stock this line?

Today, we are slotting in a new computer. I run a dual system at my desk. One of the machines, while super fast, is just toooooo noisy. So I better try to catch up a few more chores before Cody comes up with the new machine.

Till we chat again!! Angelika