Barbara just stopped by from BW Art, Antiques & Jewelry next door and invited me to come over and see the collection of buttons that she just scored from another antique dealer. I was delighted to stop by and was absolutely blown away by what I saw! I was so amazed at this collection that I decided we must host a Button Bazaar tomorrow night (Thursday, Aug 4) during our regular Stitch in Space. So come on out from 5-9pm and check out the buttons from next door. We will have tables outside both stores with buttons all over them. This new collection is entirely on cards and most are multiple matching buttons or one amazing large button that could be used to secure the top of a jacket or cardigan. For those of you that also dabble in beading, this is a truly amazing collection for jewelry as well. There are literally thousands of buttons and this is definitely a better selection than you will find on Etsy right now This new found collection of buttons has kept me distracted from my sweater pileup, so this is good (more on that later).

Here were a few that I loved and some that I thought might work for my Rock Creek Park cardigan:

vintage plastics with flowers

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Our entire fall lineup of workshops is on our site and open for registration. We are so excited to offer everything from shawl design with Kirsten Kapur to a two day off site retreat with Stefanie Japel on top down sweater design. Register here.

**Please note that some workshops may sell out right away. We will put no more than 10 people on a wait list.

Dye Studio -  Saturday, September 11, 3:30-7 pm

Make your own custom colorways in our dye studio with our own spinning and color expert, Rosemary. Read more here.

Miss Babs Preview Party and Color Workshop – Friday & Saturday, September 17-18 – SOLD OUT

Join hand dyer Miss Babs for a two day event featuring her fabulous yarn and a color workshop. Read more here.

Shawl Design with Kirsten Kapur – Saturday, September 25, 1-5 pm

Work with knitwear designer Kirsten Kapur to design your own triangular shawl. Read more here.

Handspun Halloween with Molly Miller – Saturday, October 30, 10 am – 12:30 pm

Join local artist Molly Miller on Halloween weekend to learn to use unique handspun yarns for quick and easy projects. Read more here.

Knit-to-Order: a design retreat with Stefanie Japel – Saturday & Sunday, November 6-7, 11 am – 6pm

Join knitwear designer Stefanie Japel for a full two days of top down sweater design. The workshop will take place at Daniel O’Connells Restaurant in Alexandria, VA. Read more here.

Shirley Paden Design Studio and book signing – Saturday, December 4, 10 am – 5 pm – SOLD OUT

Learn to custom design your own sweaters in our 6 hour workshop with designer Shirley Paden. Read more here.

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.

The Lilas Cardigan knitalong began last night. It is not too late to get in on this! Here is the pattern.

Photo by Hilary Smith Callis

Last night, most selected their yarn and started swatching:

Everyone chose O-Wool balance for the project, but other options would be the Cascade Sierra, Berroco Weekend or Spud and Chloe Sweater. We are hoping to get to the raglan shaping next Thursday. This week is mostly focused on that giant collar, which is lots of easy stockinette stitch.

If you want to follow along, here is the thread on Ravelry.

Kirby is also helping out with the knitalong, as you can see:

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?

O-wool Balance is a blend of 50% merino wool and 50% cotton with a tweedy and earthy look. The cotton keeps it cool while the wool content softens it up and makes it wonderful and flexible to work with. The yarn is certified organic, which means that it is made from organic fiber and spun in a sustainable way – the mill uses vegetable oil in its machines and meet strict standards for waste water management.

I think it would be wonderful for a light Spring or Summer cardigan and have been looking for something special to throw over a tank top for those cooler Summer evenings. I found this pattern and would like to host a knitalong for it!

Pattern: Lilas Cardigan

Source: download for $5 from the author or on Ravelry.

Sizing and Yarn requirements: 690 (800, 885, 995, 1080, 1190, 1275) yards for finished sweater bust size when closed: 28.5 (33, 36.5, 41, 44.5, 49, 52.5)”which requires 5 (6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) hanks of O-Wool Balance.

Experience required: this is a great first sweater project. It is worked in one piece and has a raglan sleeve style top. Ability to knit and purl and some experience working increases or working in the round would be helpful.

Photo courtesy of Hilary Smith Callis

The sweater closed in the front:

Photo courtesy of Hilary Smith Callis

Lilas Knitalong!

Join us this Thursday, May 6 to select your yarn. Any worsted weight fiber will do, should you decide not to use O-Wool. We will start the neckline during Stitch in Space Thursday night! Our goal is to finish the sweaters before Stitch n Pitch, which is May 21st. That gives us three “Stitch in Space” weeks to meet up, solve problems and get the pattern moving along. If you aren’t sure that you can work the project, come in and ask! We are happy to help outside of Stitch in Space too.

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!

The speedy knitters and crocheters were out yesterday racing to complete hats for chemo patients and to contribute to the Avon Foundation for Women, raising over $400! Each participant’s registration fee went directly to the Foundation to provide awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; access to treatment; support services; and scientific research, all with a focus on the medically underserved.

Holly of Knit Happens and I went head to head to determine who was the faster knitter after all. We each have a similar style, working English but with the yarn on the end of a pointer finger, eliminating the “throwing” motion that many English knitters have. In the end, I was victorious but we are going to rematch using a wool yarn instead of cotton. (Holly has a particular dislike for cotton!)

Holly and I speed knit in the window

Spring is the time for new beginnings, and many have found it to be an appropriate time to sign up for charity walks and races or join marathon training programs.  The ladies here at fibre space™ have put together a training program for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, a new race that will head over the amazing bridge into Maryland on September 19th. With so much time to train, we started this weekend with a three mile run (for those who have previous running experience) and a one mile walk for those new to running. If you are interested in being part of the weekly meet ups (Sunday mornings), please send an email to our group.

In honor of our new exercise routing, we have a few projects that might help you feel inspired too.

Runner’s Companion – Michelle M. Cho

Photo by Michelle M Cho

Available online free through Ravelry. Strap your Ipod Nano in tightly with this little project. It is worked in Cascade Fixation, a cotton and elastic fibre available at the shop in a variety of bright colors.

Pedicure Socks by Ruthie Nussbaum

Photo by Ruthie Nussbaum

After those long hard runs, your feet might be a little rough around the edges. Slip on these pedicure socks and head off to the spa to get your toes done! The pattern is available for free from Knitty.com and uses a worsted weight wool or wool blend. Try them in Berroco Weekend for a lighter summer feel.

Wristbands by Anastasia Vishnivetskaya

Photo by Anastasia Vishnivetskaya

With the summer heat starting so early this year, I am on the hunt for a good way to wipe the sweat away during a long run. These wristwarmers will do just the trick! The project uses any fingering weight yarn and will be available free from the author’s site soon.

Stitch n Pitch tickets will arrive tomorrow! Our shop has a lot of 50 that are all together.  Here are the details:

What is it?

Stitch n Pitch brings together two wonderful traditions — baseball and the needle arts. Whether you knit, crochet, embroider, cross-stitch or needlepoint, come on out to the game and sit among other stitchers and cheer on the Washington Nationals! fibre space™ along with other area shops will have their wares on display on Conference Room #4 for you to shop during the game. You may also get knit & crochet help at the demonstration booths.

When is it?

Friday, May 21 at 7:05 p.m.

How do I get tickets?

Tickets are available from our shop for $13.  If you want to be sure to sit next to friends, please buy your tickets together. We can take orders for tickets over the phone and hold them for you at the shop until you are able to stop by. You may also buy them online here. We will not be able to ship tickets and tickets must be picked up before the game.