Knitting with Company

First the Oh! So Good …

When I was over in England in September, I was lucky enough to get a ticket to a workshop in London conducted by Alice Starmore, yes THAT Alice Starmore. Because of a snafu with the organizers, one other girl and I were the only two in the room and lucky enough to spend the first 40 minutes of the class alone with her … the others couldn’t find the classroom!

What a gem of a lady she is. One of the eminently and innately intelligent, bright and energetic women that Scotland seems to be so good at breeding. She is interested in absolutely everything and only too happy to share her passions. I assumed knitting would be at the top of the list, but naturalist art, especially photographing the flora and fauna of her native land is way up there, as is taking her grandson out and about to look at bugs, plants and fish.

Yes, I did ask her to come and do a workshop over here, but she pretty much said her days of visiting America are over. But we have the next best thing. The class was on fair isle knitting to coincide with the relaunch of her wonderful Book of Fair Isle Knitting … and now we have the book in stock, waiting for your voyage of discovery with Alice.

This is an extract from our electronic newsletter (email) of November 12th, 2009.  You can continue reading here.

In August 2009 we traveled to Portland Oregon to participate in the Sock Summit 2009.

This is the story of part of this trip.

Enjoy!

Playlist

1. Sleep by Phish.  Album: Farmhouse.
2. Stand By Me by Playing For Change.  Album: Songs Around the World.

PS Support Playing for Change for Peace through Music.

Sock Summit 2009

We will be attending the greatest sock show on earth in August, and we are excited to be making our first trip as a yarn store to somewhere west of the Rockies.

We’ll be loading up the trailer and we’ll be reproducing our “sock corner” in Portland for the duration of the summit … and you can be sure that we’ll also have lots of other goodies to keep knitters of all types excited.  That said the main focus of the Sock Summit is …. wait for it … Socks!

Why socks? Socks are practical, beautiful, interesting, historical, engaging and symbolic. Socks are circular, portable, structural and a perfect tiny canvas for almost any handknitting technique you’d like to put on them.   No matter what you’re interested in when it comes to knitting, there’s a way that has to do with socks.

We hope to see you at the sock summit.

Yoo hoo! Spring has finally arrived.  I can hear the grass growing today.  When I cleaned out the gutters a few weeks ago I really didn’t expect mother nature to take full advantage.  Anyway, we’ve got beautiful sunny weather and a lovely spring breeze to dry things out now.  And Henry, our guest labradoodle will no longer need a full shower every time he returns from a romp in the yard.

So now, we can turn our thoughts to doing things outdoors and our downtown Geneva community has a great opportunity coming up for you next Saturday.

Gardenology May 9, 2009

Learn how to create, grow, and maintain your garden. Specialists and master gardeners will be here to answer any questions and give advice.  Topics include herbs, flowers, vegetables, heirloom plants and table scrapes. Learn about attracting birds and butterflies, wildlife control, composting, pest control, organic fertilizers and more. Kids can have fun too by planting seeds in biodegradable pots and creating sprout necklaces. Win a watering can from participating shops that will be raffled off at the end of the day.

We’ll see you next Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 11 a.m – 5 p.m. for Gardenology in downtown Geneva at participating merchants.

More Gardenology information at the Geneva downtown website or contact Deb or Sue at Country Naturals 630-232-1172.

We’ve got loads of classes lined up over the summer for your knitting, crochet and felting pleasure.  There’s a few of our classics as well as a lot of new ideas. You can see everything and book your spot with our online schedule or you can download our trifold and print it out … it’ll fit nicely in your purse.

Always wanted to knit or crochet? Then our Knitting 101 or Crochet 101 is just for you.

The Knitting 101 class is for those who want to pick up knitting after a long lay-off or for absolute beginners. After four two-hour sessions you will have mastered all the fundamentals and completed a sampler scarf and be ready to tackle one of the many projects that we teach.

In Crochet 101 we will get you started on the crochet adventure. You’ll learn the basics and beyond (slip stitch, chain stitch, foundation chain, single crochet, double crochet, shell stitch and much more). You”ll learn enough to start your first project and pick up the skills needed to complement your knitting. You”ll make squares, washcloths and learn how to do edging.

See pictures and descriptions of all the classes on our website or you can subscribe to our RSS Feed for classes and events – that way you’re certain not to miss the additional classes that we plan to add in the coming weeks.

You paid your taxes last week, let downtown Geneva merchants pay your sales tax this weekend! On Saturday, April 18 & Sunday April 19 participating merchants in downtown Geneva are offering to pay your sales tax. Visit over 75 businesses this weekend to receive a tax break. The participating merchants agree to give you a discount in an amount equal to the sales tax. The business will pay all the applicable taxes. Visit participating businesses displaying the “Tax Free Zone” signs this weekend.

Mid February and we have been up in the 60′s and down in the 0′s … that, my friends is Chicagoland. It always makes me smile that no matter what time of year you put the news on … one of the headlines is always the snow, the heat, the ice, the rain, the drought or some other weather related crisis.

We do seem to get more ‘weather’ than almost anywhere else in the universe!  Meanwhile, our snowman waits patiently for warmer weather.

Like many of you I am trying hard not to watch the news … ye Gods and little fishes, it can get miserable out there with everything that is going on.  If we didn’t have Chicago politics to inject some much needed levity we would be in big trouble.

Thank goodness that we are all smart enough to be knitters and crocheters, people who always carry their own personal sphere with them, almost impervious to what else is going on, because we have our socks, our cardigan or our shawl to obsess about.  And we all know we can only truly obsess about one thing at a time, so I suppose it keeps us somewhat sane.

We offer plenty of opportunities to indulge your obsession during our classes, and at open knitting on Friday mornings and evenings as well as Sunday afternoon.