Knitting with Company » with Company

Charles “Skip” Mennerick Memorial Concert

Neil — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:18:07 +0000

Join us on Thursday May 27 at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois for great night out. Show starts at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00. Tickets are just $25 and are available online at www.thearcada.com.

Skip Mennerick died suddenly and tragically in October 2009. Proceeds from this concert will benefit his wife Erika, son Cole and daughter Kiera.

Chicagoland’s premiere horn band IS AUGUST. Not just a band with horns, but a band who plays some of the best music ever written; a band whose essence is horn-driven rock, soul and R&B. Experience that music, experience the band … www.augusttheband.com.

With very special guest, guitarist, singer, sogwriter Greg Boerner (“Burner”). His music is an original blend of blues, folk, country, roots rock n’ roll and all that comes between — Southern style. www.gregboerner.com.

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Charles “Skip” Mennerick Memorial Concert

Nuss Knitalong – Lots of Progress

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:40:15 +0000

The Nuss from Berroco – a basic cardigan with a gently flared shape. It has an easily memorized lace pattern that decorates the fluted bottom. Finished with crochet and a cluster of buttons.

The Knitalong (KAL) participants are making great progress. One of these folks has completed the knitting and is ready to put together the different pieces. Can you guess who?

There was much discussion as to whether to block and sew, or to sew and block. The decision was to sew and block using a “Wooly Board” – available in the store.

Come and see our model it’s made in Blackstone Tweed Plum Island – a yarn for the discerning knitter! This super soft yarn has all the rustic appeal of a classic tweed yarn but with a high dose of mohair and angora. With wear these garments will develop a soft and fuzzy halo. A joy to wear and a pleasure to knit.

What is a Knitalong.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Neil — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:17:24 +0000

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.

Food Delivery

Neil — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:24:32 +0000

Thank you to everyone that contributed in any way to our food drive.

We managed to collect more than 4 tons of food and delivered it to an almost empty food pantry in Biloxi, MS at the beginning of October.

I can’t tell you how appreciative the people of Mississippi are.

Here’s some pictures of the delivery.

Food Drive – The Numbers are In

Neil — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:14:34 +0000

Thank you Wool and Company friends – you helped us to raise more than 7000 lbs of food that we’ll be transporting to Biloxi, Mississippi next week. We will be delivering it to the Bethel Lutheran Food Bank on Saturday morning October 10th.

You can be sure that many hungry mouths are going to feel your generosity and love.

Here are a couple of pictures of the food that we’d boxed ready to be shipped as of a week ago. Donations have continued to come in and we have a whole lot more food that needs to be boxed. We’ll take good pictures and post them here when we return.

Food Drive – Thank You

Neil — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:47:48 +0000

Thank you to everyone who supported our Oktoberfestchen and participated in our food drive. Despite a sputtering griddle we had a lot of fun and served more than 100 potato pancakes. A big thank you also to Graham’s Chocolate who provided the fantastic location.

Here’s a picture of what we collected. Also, thank you for the kind donations of cash. We anticipate being able to add approximately 1000 pounds more of food using these donations.

Our customers are the best.

Don’t forget, you can continue to drop of food at the store through September 26th, and if you would prefer to give a cash donation, you can do that online.

Photos courtesy Shelly and Sidney …

Help Us Re-Stock the Food Bank

Neil — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:18:14 +0000

Oktoberfestchen

I know it’s not October yet – but join us for our Oktoberfestchen anyway.

We are going to be cooking Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes with apple sauce) tomorrow night, Thursday September 10th at 7:00 PM at Grahams 318 – come and try them.

There will be a nominal charge for the pancakes, and all money raised will be donated to a food bank in the Gulfport, Mississipi area. We will also be accepting donations of non-perishable foods for the food bank and in exchange we’ll serve you with a delicious potato pancake (and these are whoppers!).

This will be a fun event. In addition to the potato pancakes, a local brewery will be doing a live brewing of an Oktoberfest Beer, and there will be Beer and Chocolate Tastings! Pairings of 5 chocolates will be matched with 5 different Goose Island beers for a fee. And who can resist Graham’s Chocolate?

On top of all that, there’ll be music and entertainment at an open mike event that will taking place that evening.>

What a great way to start the Festival of the Vine that runs September 11-13 in downtown Geneva. Taste the autumn bounty while enjoying a flower market, arts & crafts show, demonstration stage, live music, the Kids’ Patch, and Gorgeous Gourds.

Announcing the Princess Knitalong

Neil — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:00:49 +0000

from Jared Flood’s Made in Brooklyn

Wow! Our Bridgewater KAL filled up in 24 hours – it promises to be a lot of fun. But don’t despair if you missed out – we have added another KAL from “Made in Brooklyn” by Jared Flood – this time the Princess Mittens (using the pattern “Grove”).

Sunday Afternoon from 1:30pm to 3:30pm, starting on October 11th, and continuing on the 25th and November 8th. There will be no charge and you are welcome to join the Knitalong which will be held in the store. Once again, we expect that the KAL will be over-subscribed so sign up soon, and we have some requirements:

You must register either online here or by calling the store.
You must attend the first session on October 11th to be able to attend subsequent sessions.
You must own a copy of “Made in Brooklyn” – you can purchase it here if you don’t already own it.
You must purchase yarn for the Princess Mittens from US before the KAL starts.

This project is for the knitter with an intermediate skill level. You will use a variety of stitches, basic lace techniques, and charts. Perfect this mitten and you’ve solved a lot of holiday gift giving problems.

Designed by Jared Flood and featured in his Classic Elite Collection “Made in Brooklyn”, this what Jared says about his creation:

“These mittens have an intricate, twisted stitch motif that creates a beautiful relief pattern – inspired by twisting vines and tree roots. Knitted stitches are all worked through the back loop to create the sculptural texture characteristic of twisted stitch motifs. Multiple- ply and high-twist yarns will maximize stitch definition and let the stitches sing. Shaping of the vine-like motifs on th hand is done with the use of yarn overs and decreasing – aside from the cuff, no cabling occurs in the main portion of the mitten. The cuff motif, a spiraling 1 x 1 rib is mirrored on each hand, and involves moving the marker as you work, to keep the spiral pattern unbroken. I hope you enjoy knitting these as much as you will in wearing them”!

Read more from Jared on the Brooklyn Tweed blog.

Journey’s End

Neil — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:54:54 +0000

We’ve traveled from Chicago to Portland over three days. Four people, one SUV, a trailer and plenty of high spirits.

This is the final episode of our journey podcast, where we unwind a little before the sock summit proper starts.

If anyone can explain the Michael Jackson comment, please enlighten us!