Our Every Other Project for this month is a wonderful knitted bag that you can use for the food market or the pool (guess which one we prefer). Better yet it is designed by our very own Kate.   She originally made a bag for her mother for Mother’s Day, and I loved it so much that I thought you would too.

We have kitted the knitted bag up in three different yarns, so it comes out in three slightly different sizes and plenty of great colors, and ranges from $13.50 to $26.75. And it is really pretty. And quick to knit. And fun. So get yours now.

We saw some wonderful Karen Shawls made up from our last kits in both Madelinetosh and Fiesta’s Baby Boom.

The winner of the drawing for the May Every Other Month Project is Teresa McCusker, and you can see her handiwork in Madelinetosh at the left. Teresa come in and get your Bag Kit.

Remember to send us the story and picture of the Every Other Bag and we’ll enter you in the drawing for a free kit of the next Every Other Month project.

The advantage of the Elizabeth construction is that you get flattering up/down stripes instead of those mean sideways ones! Definitely going to the top of my to do list as this will make a wonderful chilly day jacket and can be made shorter or longer to suit.

We’ve got the Liberty Wool pattern book and a great selection of the Liberty Wool Print variegated yarns. If you want to get an online sneak preview of the trunk show, check out Kate’s blog post at aubiquitousmind.

You can read more in our most recent newsletter.

Gretl was astounded when her students came back after a couple weeks. Not too much struggling here. Participants had just dived right in with their sock knitting, even modifying our standard “beginner” pattern to include cables and other fancy bits!

If you want to learn to knit socks we’ve got several classes starting over the summer.  A pair for every member of your family for the holidays!

And you know that you’ll always be welcome in the overachievers’ sock club.

Oh! By the way … you see the picture (click on it for a bigger view) that has the needles pointing like the hands of a clock  … at about 5 o’clock there’s soft pink, cream and lavender sock?  Well that’s made with the Lorna’s Laces sock yarn in a colorway that is exclusive to Wool and Company – it’s called “Little England”.  We worked with Beth and the nice folks at Lorna’s to design that color.

They are both fabulous, one just a bit more luxurious than the other. You will get the yarn, the pattern and a nice little clear zippered bag to keep your project clean and safe for the fabulous price of either $29.75 or $32.75.

Once again, send us the picture of your finished project and we will put you in the drawing for the next kit for free.

This is what Amy says about the Karen Shawl:

“Like many knitters, my stash overflows with handpainted sock yarn, usually in 100g skeins. If I knit only socks, I would have yarn to last for several years. Instead, I wanted to design a simply addictive shoulder shawl pattern. One that would be easy enough for knitting on my commute to work, but interesting enough to keep me motivated through the final stitches”.

“With a knit-on garter stitch border, this elegant shawl features many common lace-knitting techniques in an easy to memorize pattern. Named for my mother, I knit hers as a holiday gift”.

Some of the staff have compiled their wish list to help you with ideas for yourself or your favorite knitter … here is Maureen’s.

1. S. Charles Collezione “Round Midnight“
2. 4 Balls of S. Charles Collezione Ritratto
3. 5 skeins of Panguipulli by Araucania
4. Franklin Habit’s 2011 Calendar: Stash of Knitting Cartoons
5. Any Dolce Handknits Pattern – today and tomorrow are the last days to see the trunk show.
6. Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects by Ann Budd.
7. Any Cecil & Co. Bag
8. Eco Wool in any color and quantity
9. Cascade Greenland in any color
10. Dutch Treat Needles in any size

Get the Yarn Pack for This Sweater

We just added a $135 yarn pack to our auctions … opening bid is $40. Poetry in Stitches Yarn Pack Page 120 From the pattern book Poetry in Stitches by Solveig Hisdal, this yarn pack provides all the Norwegian yarn needed to make this fabulous sweater from page 120 of the book.

This yarn pack would normally retail for $135. You must have a copy of the book to make this sweater, and you can order it from Nordic Crafts.

Click on the bid now button.

Needle Felting at Saint Charles Public Library

It Just Makes You Smile!

The St Charles Library Foundation invited us to take part in their learning series.

It took an hour for 30 ladies to learn how to needle felt … and everyone went home with a gorgeous looking  pumpkin!

A great time was had by all – if you would like us to do something for your group, let us know, we have lots of great ideas.

To help make that happen, in conjunction with Skacel, we are very proud to introduce the “Egg-stra” Special Sock Kit. This sock pattern was designed by Rosemary “Chappy” Chapman, this time in honor of Susanne Skacel, a three-year survivor of ovarian cancer. The Teal color of Trekking in this kit is the official color designated to ovarian cancer, and has been specially dyed just for this cause. Every design aspect of this sock, from the cuff to the toe, is a reminder to us that ovarian cancer can be beaten if we, as women, unite.

All the proceeds from the sale of these kits will be donated to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research (marsharivkin.org).

Just in case you don’t know what Fliegende Untertasse means, it is German for Flying Saucer (or literally “flying under-cup”), and that is exactly what landed in the store on Tuesday. These super colorful disks of yarn are created so that you put a piece of yarn or string through the center, hang them on a doorknob or something similar, and then you can unroll TWO STRANDS AT A TIME of the same space dyed yarn, thus making identical socks! Fun, Fun, Fun … Christie started a pair at the store yesterday so come and see them and grab your Flying Saucer while we still have them … they are literally flying out.