Pittsburgh Yarn Crawl, Part 1

This past weekend I was in Pittsburgh for a wedding. I decided to do a two part yarn crawl around the city a couple days before the wedding. In my travels across Pittsburgh, I visited 6 yarn shops, three each day.

I enjoyed Pittsburgh a lot and will hopefully be returning in the not too distant future. Check out these yarn shops if you are in town.

Stop 1: Yarns by Design

My first stop was Yarns by Design in Oakmont, PA. It was right off the interstate so the easiest for me to get to coming into town. I liked the selection of the yarn that Yarns by Design has. I also liked their prices. They were lower than what I expected, which I liked. Although I didn't see a lot of indie dyed yarn, I did see a lot of Malabrigo, including sock, which has been difficult for me to find in Maryland.

Goodies:
2 skeins Malabrigo Sock, Turner colorway
1 skein Malabrigo Sock, Eggplant colorway
1 skein Madeline Tosh DK, Plaid Blanket colorway
A retractable measuring tape

While I was in Pittsburgh, I also attended Yarn by Design's knit night on Thursday. It was great meeting new people and experiencing a knit night in another state. Congratulations to Katie for finishing her five-year scarf! It looked great.

In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Yarns by Design is spearheading a project to make tree of life squares for blankets. You can find the knitting pattern here on Ravelry and a crocheted pattern here. The squares they have received so far are 8"x8" to 9"x9". The knitting pattern link also has their address that you can send your squares to.



Stop 2: McWalker Yarns

My second stop was McWalker Yarns in Millvale, PA. This shop is a bit smaller than Yarns by Design, but it had a larger selection of indie dyed yarn, including locally dyed yarn. One local yarn I purchased was Stitch Party, which is dyed by two women in Millvale. Other local yarn they had were Yarn Rehab from Meadowcroft Dyeworks (Pittsburgh area), Shalimar Yarns (New Market, MD), and Glenfiddich Yarn (Pennsylvania).

I was going to attend their Friday knit night, but the timing didn't work out with when a friend flew into town.

Goodies:
2 skeins Stitch Party Palooza (their fingering weight yarn), Market Square colorway
1 skein Shalimar Yarns Breathless (also fingering weight), Enchanted colorway











Stop 3: Dyed in the Wool

Stop number 3, and the last stop for day 1, was Dyed in the Wool. This was the smallest shop I went to, including on day 2. There was a knitting group going on when I arrived, so I didn't interact much with the staff, unlike the other shops I went to. All the yarn I purchased was local. Shalimar again and Pichinku. The story behind Pichinku, I was told, was that a woman from Pittsburgh had gone to Peru and set up a fair-trade yarn company that employs local women and uses natural dyes.

Goodies:
1 skein Pichinku Tawa (sport-fingering), Nube colorway
2 skeins Shalimar Yarns Aerie, Chamois colorway



 Stay tuned for Part 2!

Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering Kettle Dye Yarn

Hi everyone!

I purchased some Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle Dye yarn in mid-August. I made an unboxing/review video at the time, but then life got busy and I wasn't able to upload the video until now. However, by then I had completed what I made with the yarn. Watch the video below to see the yarn and what I made. 😃

Cheers!

Two Pink Scarves

This Saturday, there will be a 5K walk/race by the Hurwitz Breast Cancer Fund in my town. As part of the event, the organizers requested pink scarves to be knitted, crocheted, or woven for walkers/racers who are breast cancer survivors. These are the two I made for them.

I started the pink and white one thinking I would do the interesting knot from the All Wrapped Up Infinity Scarf. The pink section is the pattern from the Pound of Love Hooded Baby Blanket. The white section is a granny square pattern from Heather's Crochet Blog. Unfortunately, I made the two sections too wide so the knot didn't work well. I just seamed the two together to make a HUGE infinity scarf. You have to wrap it around three times, but it still works well as a scarf.

The dark pink one is a fan or shell pattern that I haven't written up yet.

This brings my lifetime donation total to 689 items.

Cheers!

Donors Choose

School has about started in most towns across the country, now. 

Several of my friends and people I went to high school with (or their spouses) are teachers now. I live by the words "those who have the ability to help, have the responsibility to help." I may not be a teacher, but I can help those who are, especially those in underprivileged communities. That's why I'm a regular donor on DonorsChoose.org.

Projects I've supported on Donors Choose over the years have included many projects to build classroom libraries, air conditioning units for classrooms in schools that lack AC, basic school supplies such as paper and pencils, and a trip to a bookstore 70-80 miles away from a Native American reservation in South Dakota so that the elementary schoolers could experience what it is like to go to a bookstore and pick out a book of their own.

While you are shopping for school supplies this year or reveling in the fact that you no longer have to, consider supporting a classroom in one of the 50 states and DC.

Woodbridge Scarf

My first fingering weight crocheted scarf is now available! Everyone, meet my Woodbridge Scarf.

I see so many knitted fingering weight, elongated triangle scarves that I wondered why there aren't more crocheted ones. Well, I'm trying to fill that void. This is the first of many fingering weight crocheted scarves for me. I love this one so much. I love how it turned out and how the colors go so well together.

Here are the details about the scarf:

Yarn: Fingering weight

MC (brown) - A little more than 420 yds (I ran out of my first skein [of 420 yds] halfway through the final color block)
CCA (silver) - 400 yds (minimum, depending on your gauge)
CCB (green) - 400 yds (minimum, depending on your gauge)

I specifically used Shalimar Aerie yarn in colorways Waterchestnut (brown), Chandelier (silver), and Lean on Me (green).

Hook: E (3.5 mm)

If you would like to make a Woodbridge Scarf for yourself or a special someone, here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry: 

Ravelry Woodbridge Scarf Pattern

Craftsy Woodbridge Scarf Pattern

Cheers!

Rilee's Hat Knitted Pattern Review

Hi all!

I have a new video up. It's a review of the Rilee's Hat knitted hat pattern.

You can find the free pattern here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rilees-hat-2

Cheers!

Got this in the mail today....

I got this in the mail today. I knew this was coming. The "complaints" were 1 from an adult who should have better emotional control at her age. There was nothing "inappropriate" about my poster. (see this post for my poster) Apparently, my educational display is too "academic". 

They are beyond unprofessional. This is bullying. None of what they accuse me of is true.