Birthday cake pattern available from Crazydazyknits

This week we celebrate our one year birthday, something that seems to have come up way too fast. My head is still spinning from it all. This has been an unbelievable year for us, so much more than I had ever planned for.  It has taken until just recently for this all to set in! Thank you so much for your feedback, encouragement and business this past year. And as always, let us know what you want to see at the shop, what you wish were different (or what you like!)

To thank you, we are hosting a birthday sale all week, ending with a big birthday party on Friday. Read more here.

Trudy sent me this note this week and I just had to share:

The first day that fibre space was open I bought Mini Mochi and, a couple of weeks later, took it on a tour of China. Here I am knitting a sock with it at the site of the terra cotta army! Later I sent these socks, marked “made in China,” to a friend for her 50th birthday.

You and your staff and store are a fabulous community resource. I wish you continued success in your business endeavors.

trudy

On Sunday we hosted the first of two dye workshops this summer. The group played with lots of color. Here is a great shot of all the variations of color that could be achieved from our dye selection.

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Last night a big crowd gathered to start the fibre space installation of our Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. We estimate around 30 folks were in and out throughout the night. It was wonderful to see crochet novices join with experts and learn from each other. Several people dug some amazing novelty yarns out of their stashes for the project. Furry, frilly things make wonderful pieces of coral! We joked that this project was a great use of all the novelty from five years ago (that we all bought like crazy). This wonderfully ingenous person (Charles!) brought curling ribbon, which makes amazing red coral. Others brought shredded plastic bags, fun bright acrylic yarn in jumbo skeins and others used scraps of amazing luxury fibers that were left over from other projects. (we will have coral made from Madelinetosh Wren!)

I have never personally taught anyone to crochet (outside of edging), and it was really neat to help seasoned knitters move from “throwing” when they crocheted to using their hook more efficiently. The experience actually inspired me to start a crochet cami this morning. It is this stitch diva pattern. I bought the pattern and yarn years ago because my mom said that she would make it for me. When we were packing up her place last weekend I came across the bag of yarn again and remembered how much I wanted this little thing in my summer wardrobe. I am hoping that it doesn’t take more than another day or two of work…and from what I can tell, a darn good reason to crochet is how fast it works up!

Photo courtesy of Stitch Diva Studios

Persephone Shell

So here is the post-it note, as I shall now call it. (Veronica says I look like I have a blue post-it note over my chest area. I know why I hired that one…so helpful she is.)  Here is the pattern from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. I had to go out and buy a shirt to wear with this darn thing. I really hate projects that require clothing purchases. It seems counterproductive. The last project that I had to purchase a shirt for was that dress. The one that Cameronne made me knit. yeah, you heard me. I called you out CAMERONNE.

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So perhaps driving down I-95 to the beach wasn’t at the top of your list of activities for the weekend. Stop on in and see us. We are open regular hours:
Sunday 11-5 pm
Monday 10 am – 7 pm

On Monday we will serve up breakfast and coffee in the morning, so come on over and join our day long Stitch in Space.

Lilas Cardigan Knitalong starts tonight

I had a thought on the way to work this morning. (oh my gosh, I just called the shop WORK). Anyway, I dug out some US#7 needles this morning so that I would have my needles ready for the knitalong tonight. (Check out the details over on the Inspiration page) I was thinking about which color to knit and I realized how wonderful it was to have complete control over this project. I decided that I wanted this article of clothing and now it is in my complete control to decide what fibre and color it will be (and size too!). On the other hand, nothing else in our fashion lives seems to be under our control. I am in desperate need of a couple of pairs of new jeans. I wear the same two every week to the shop and they are badly faded. Once upon a time, I could walk into any Banana Republic and grab anything in 4Petite and it would fit perfectly. Phillip and I drove the entire way out to Tysons last week to the Petite store, just to find out that BR has changed their sizing system to numbers. On top of it, they no longer sell trouser style or even straight leg pants. Everything in the store was the “skinny” style. Are they not aware that short people shouldn’t wear pants whose widest spot is at the hips? I looked like Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum in Alice in Wonderland.

For this reason, it seems so satisfying to look around my closet and see that I am missing a neutral color sweater to wear over colorful tank tops, select the style I want for this missing piece, find a suitable fibre and then have my choice of colors! Currently I am undecided between these two but leaning towards the charcoal color of O-wool Balance. It seems like forever since I knitted something black or gray. And this one is particularly awesome, with its tweedy look.

If you planning on getting started with us tonight, but don’t have your gauge swatch done – have no fear! We have a steamer and can get that swatch steamed up and measured in no time. (Heck, we do it all the time for sweater classes).

Speaking of classes, are there any special requests for the late summer schedule?

One of the largest fiber festivals in the country is this weekend – Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It is just up the road (about an hour) at the Howard County Fairgrounds. If you are headed through Alexandria on your way to the festival, stop by the shop. We are open! We will happily give you a free fibre space™ tote for your shopping at the festival.

Friday: 10 am – 9 pm

Saturday: 10 am – 7 pm

Sunday: 11 am – 6pm (Men knit & crochet group meets from 4-6 pm)

Also, if you plan to travel this Spring or Summer, take your fibre space™ tote with you! Send us a picture of your tote traveling the US and the world.  We will be posting photos of totes throughout the season as they travel all over the place. We will then hold a contest in August for the best photos sent to us over the summer. The winner will get an exciting prize!

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, started in 1970 as a way to raise awareness and respect for our environment. In celebration, we are having a SALE!

Since animal fibres require less processing to become yarn, we are putting all of our animal fibres on sale today through Sunday. Get 10% off any blend in the store that is made from 100% furry creatures. (no, silk is not a furry creature!)

Check your email for more on plant vs. animal…of course, there are still plenty of “green” plant yarns in the store – organic cotton from Malabrigo, for example. And we aren’t even going to start a debate on natural dyes versus acid based dyes. (Kel could talk your ear off about this!) But we thought that it would be a nice time to celebrate the original yarn – that made from animal hair. So come out anytime in the next four days and stock up on your snuggly fibres!