Thursday, March 22, 2007

Entrelac

I've been completely fascinated with Entrelac lately. Something about how you create a fabric that looks woven but isn't, I guess.

I started Lucy Neatby's garter stitch entrelac scarf last night, and it's amazing how quickly it's working up.

My next entrelac project will be Julie Anderson of blacksheepbags.com's Dorothy Bag.

There's also a neat entrelac scarf on Knitty called Danica. They also have a scarf they call "cheater's entrelac" called Argosy.

You can save a ton of time knitting Entrelac by learning to knit back backwards. I taught myself to do it using this Knitty article.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Knitting on a budget.

Robin and I were talking at the last Guild meeting about my ability to find great yarn deals online, so I thought I'd talk a bit about that.

While I (and everyone else who goes there) adore my local yarn store, Kanawha City Yarn Company, if I bought all of my yarn there, I wouldn't be able to knit nearly as much as I do. The budget of a faux-public employee only stretches so far, you know. So, I buy the majority of my yarn online and suppliment it with the occasional indulgence/impulse buy at the ol' LYS.

I'm not affiliated with any of the following sites, but I've used all of them with good luck.

Knitpicks has been around for years, but came out with their own line of yarns a few years ago. They offer great values, but you really have to watch the yardage. Their house line of interchangable needles are absolutely great.

Elann is a Canadian company that has tons of closeout yarns, along with their excellent house brands, a wide selection of patterns, and Addi Turbo and Brittany Birch needles. They also offer online gift certificates, which Knitpicks doesn't.

Little Knits does excellent sales on a constant basis. They have a great sock yarn selection, too.

Wool Needlework is another site with consistantly low prices.

100purewool sells kettle dyed yarn direct from Uruguay, and it's breathtaking. I've personally only tried the single ply merino wool, but it's absolutely buttery soft and brilliantly dyed, and at 218 yards for only $6.50. If you like Manos del Uruguay and Malabrigio, you'll love this stuff.

... and then there's Ebay . My savior. I have a few favorite sellers.

Yarnbow feeds my Noro addiction.

Oregon Trail Yarn sells Brown Sheep yarns by the CONE. (hello, felting projects...)

Yarnela is a great all around store. GREAT prices on Lorna's Laces!

So, these are just a few of my regular haunts on the web. Let me know if you have any other sites, I'll add them to the sidebar.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Introductions

Hi, everyone! I decided to set up this blog as an easy way for Guild members, and all area knitters for that matter, to talk knitting.

I can add anyone with a Google account to have posting access, so just email me and let me know if you want added.

I have a few entries cooked up in my head, I'll add more this evening.