The Knitting Stash is Deep

My hair is once again under control; I came out of the salon with my head feeling about 10 pounds lighter. Before my appointment, I met with a friend of mine who used to work at the quilt store. We talked about the sewing school and I asked if she would be interested in helping to organize serger retreats and other events and she was very excited. It was good to see her again and hear about what she’s been doing.

When I got home from town, I canned up another 10 quarts of tomato sauce. I think I may call that good and move on to making salsa. We have enough sauce for spaghetti once a week and an occasional pot of chili. I need to put away the canning equipment for a while so I can clean the house for guests.

I bought patterns from two new-to-me companies and had them printed while I was in town. Do I need more patterns? No. Is it helpful for me to sew patterns from different companies so I can give informed recommendations to my students? Yes. (I can rationalize with the best of them.) The first pattern is the On Repeat top from Pattern Emporium:

I haven’t made anything from Pattern Emporium yet, but this one got rave reviews on its release.

The other pattern is the Piper Tunic and Dress from Wardrobe by Me. When I finally nail the ultimate dress pattern, I am going to make about a dozen of them, probably all in linen.

Of course, in order to make anything, I have to actually touch a sewing machine. Perhaps that will happen this weekend, or perhaps I will be rolling up hose in the garden and digging potatoes.

Sew Expo has plenty of sewing-related classes happening the day before Expo opens, so I am going to offer a knitting class, instead. We are going to make a slip-stitch hat—it will lend itself well to scrap knitting and all sorts of fun color play. The pattern is literally only two rows/rounds, which makes it quick and easy enough even for beginners. After an inch or so, the work almost goes on autopilot, which is good for a class where people will want to visit and learn more about knitting in general.

I have to make a sample, so I went to my stash yesterday evening and dove into my totes of beloved Brunswick Germantown. That was one of the first yarns I used when I began knitting and I bought up all I could find when the mill went out of business. Lion Brand Wool was the only other yarn that ever felt to me like Germantown when I was knitting it. I pulled out some partially-used skeins and cast on for a hat after dinner.

I’ll take a photo after I’ve done enough that the color switching shows up.