Baby has arrived!

This is Patricia Sofia Quintanilla! She was born Thursday night at 11:53. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz.

She's a bundle of joy!

Summer Hemp Skirt

I just can't stay away from skirts. For the summer I am doing a black Hemp skirt with a shell lace edging. I cast on 196 stitches and knitted the lace edging an I am knitting on size 7 needles Now I have to knit  up until 16 inches  then I can decrease. I will let you know how it goes.
I am going to the Knitting Pipeline Retreat in Peoria this weekend  and I am so looking forward to it!
The skirt will not be ready for that event, but I will keep you posted!

Brigitte's A-Line Skirt

This Skirt was  a lot of knitting, but it was great Television knitting.

I made it for me, this means, that I have a size 14 waist and the A-line Skirt is created by
4 increases. This waistband was knitted in size 3 and I knitted until it fit me. Then I divided
it by four, which made the increases. Pattern see below. I really loved making the skirt, it
was very nice to have it on my lap during the winter.
Pattern:
Cast on 42 stitches and knit on size US  3  in 1 x 1 rib. I cast on  152 stitches  and set my markers
at 38 stitches and then put marker for the decreases. The increases  are: kfb before and after the marker.
Increases happen every 6  (6 x) rows, then every 10th row (5  x) .  At the required length   I used
Kid Silk Haze and continued knitting for  1 1/2 iches in st stitch. Voila ! All done! The Yarn was a DK yarn, which we used for the reconstituted Green Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Now I have a " Kostuem."
I totally love it.  

Pink and Red Sale

Enjoy 15% off all pink and red yarns on Saturday February 9th

On and off my needles

 This fall has been very busy, but I'm still finding time to knit! My current work in progress is this cute green skirt. The pattern's really easy, too:

Cast on 42 stitches for the waistband and knit in 1 by 1 ribbing until it fits you. Then, pick up stitches along one side. Divide the number of stitches you have (I had 260) by 4 and mark 4 increase points. Increase every 6 rows three times, then every tenth row until the skirt is done. I'm about 20 inches from being done. It's slow but steady knitting, and I can't wait to have my finished skirt to wear!




I've been working on some other fun projects, too. This pretty purple shawl is in a lovely yarn - Hemp 6 - with a lot of drape. Edda crocheted a flower to add a little extra charm.

I'm especially excited about this last shawl - it's for my future daughter-in-law! My son is getting married at the end of December and they asked me to make something to help keep the beautiful bride warm. I wound up asking Betsy to help me with the edging, and she did a great job. It's Kidsilk Haze on size 9 needles. The pattern is called Purity.

Pumpkins and Stephen West!

Fall is in full swing at Klose Knit! Want to knit something for Halloween? Check out Edda's fantastic pumpkin pattern (free in the shop!). Make a little pumpkin patch of your own for some festive decorations.

Want to knit something other than pumpkins? Here are some more fun (and free!) Halloween patterns! Click the images to see the patterns in Ravelry.

All this talk of Halloween and pumpkins is making us hungry for pumpkin recipies, too! We can't wait to try out these Iced Pumpkin Cookies from allrecipes.com.

 

Yummy!

Thanks to everyone who came to meet Stephen and take his class. We had a great time! We're also extra excited about Westknits, Book 4, which will be arriving on Thursday!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Stephen West at Klose Knit on October 8!

We are so excited to announce that local knitting celebrity Stephen West of

westknits.com will be at Klose Knit on Monday, October 8!

Stephen has been a longtime friend of the shop, and we are very happy to help him celebrate the release of his third book, Westknits Book 3.

We'll start with a trunk show to display samples of Stephen's amazing work.

At 4:00, come for a meet and greet and book signing. Show off your Westknits projects or get inspired to start a new one!

From 5:30-8:00, join us for a fantastic top-down shawl workshop! In this workshop Stephen West uses his popular shawl designs to talk about shape, construction, and drape. Students will knit a small triangular swatch while he discusses topics such as cast ons, increases, bin offs, and blocking. Special emphasis will be focused on different shaping techniques. You will also learn some of Stephen's favorite tips and tricks.

• Materials: scrap yarn and needles of choice for a swatch (worsted weight recommended).
• Homework: Familiarize yourself with Make One Left and Make One Right increases if you have never encountered them before.
• Cost: $50

Want to learn more about Stephen? Stop by the shop to see his books, or take a tour of his website. He even has some free patterns to give you a taste of his style. Need to practice those make-one increases? Try the Boneyard Shawl for an easy introduction to paired increases: http://westknits.com/index.php/pattern/shawls/boneyard-shawl/  

We look forward to seeing you - and Stephen! - in the shop soon! Until then, happy knitting!