Progess For The Holiday

This time of the year brings those out who are beginning to think of the holiday gift giving and the trend seem to be I want something useful but also want it to look special. There are many basic yarns as well as some yarns that could create a special project and still allow you to say within your budget range.

There are many nice books that offer small projects or one skein projects that would provide ideas that can go quick and yet be that gift that keeps on giving all year. Easy care for kids is something to think on, but school colors or their favorite color could be jumping off point. the same could be said about the special friend or coworker. Some offices are cold so the fingerless

mittens or leg warmers could be a special gift.

Do you have an elderly special someone one, lap robes can big just the right item and a 36 x36 square is about the right size for many, and they can also be thrown over the shoulders also.

YV, a special customer knew I had been wanting to try the Tweedle Dee to see how it worked up convinced me to give in and here is the beginning of the stole pattern off the skein I will have to share this as I get it further along. The size 13 needles seem big as it has been awhile since I have used that size and the yarn is knitting up soft. The yarn seems to have a long stretch before another shade comes along and pattern seems to be a chevron.

http://www.modadea.com/tweedledee.htm

Then I still have my special stocking project going on. I have one in a Fair Isle Pattern, one in color work, and one in Aran Pattern. I am converting a cross-stitch pattern to make one of my

stockings using some of her favorite colors. The

Aran is being done in a burgundy color. This is creating a rich looking stocking with bobbles, seed stitch, and twisted stitches. A cable can be used to create texture which looks very time consuming and real is not.

Check back often and see what is going on. You never know whar or when something will be shown

Preparing For The Holiday

Yarn has begun arriving for Holiday Projects. Several boxes came in to supply materials for projects.

There was a limited special Christmas yarn in acrylic and cotton from Bernat. The cotton is Bernat Handicrafter Holidays Sparkle in red and white with a silver thread wrapping it. The acrylic is Bernat Happy Holidays in red and green with a silver thread wrapping it. Then of course you have their everyday yarn in red, green, and white. You can view their fine yarns at:

http://www.bernat.com/

Then we also received the Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend which is a recycled cotton yarn and Moda Dea Tweedle Dee which is a shaded effect yarn. Both should make some fine gits for the hard to please. For more information check out their sites.

http://www.coatsandclark.com/Products/KnittingCrochet/Yarns/Medium/Red+Heart+Eco-Cotton+Blend.htm

http://www.modadea.com/tweedledee.htm

Tweedle Dee has a nice stole pattern on the label which takes only three balls and a pair of #13 needles. At 45 stitches it should work up fast and be a warm addition to your holiday wardrobe.

Have you been to your favorite place and wander it to see what is taking place?

Christmas Future

Any holiday is based on things from the past, we expect certain foods or decorate because of memories. The things we make now will form the fabric of the future. That special person will remember you ever time that scarf, hat, socks are used. Homemade stocking are a reminder though the season of a special friend that is there in spirit to share this time of family and friends. I have been designing some small stockings for my sister with the thoughts of the grand kids in mind.

The books and magazines are out on the table to help get some ideas. The Debbie Macomber Friendship Shawl has some nice ideas for a quick gift, there are several knit on large needles (9, 10, etc). http://www.debbiemacomber.com/ that might be a thought. Interweave Press Knits Holiday Gifts and Knit Simple Holiday 2008 just came in to also inspire me.

http://www.interweaveknits.com/holiday/holidaygifts2008/

http://www.knitsimplemag.com/

Are you beginning to think of the memories you can make and share this season? Does something from your past come to mind? You still have time to create the next memory of the holiday.

Christmas Past Christmas Present

Are you begining to think Christmas and the sharing of your knit or crochet talents? I enjoy sharing with family and friends and wish I had more time to do so.

As you can see from last year picture stockings was on the must do list, everybody seems to like them, my whole family wanted one. But do many knitters really knit them? Schoolhouse Press had one in a KAL. http://www.schoolhousepress.com/christmasstocking.htm which might inspire you. I also did an unfinished pair of a Gingerbread Boy and Girl (the shadows only) to create a kit so a special friend could make them her own. Maybe she will finish them and allow them to be shared with our readers.

If you are into mysteries and like to have quick knit projects this years KAL is going on-- check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holidaymysterygifts/ for some fun and Christmas gifts made.


Or if you want to do small Christmas Stockings, this site has great instructions and pictures to help you along the way. I knit some in an acrylic sport weight yarn so they are easy care. These make great tags for gifts, small gifts to give, or ornaments. They could be a way to use up some of your odds and ends also. I use easy care for those gifts that are given to those who do not realize wool projects shrink.


http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/photos/free_pattern/stockings6.html








Are you into crochet, I had one customer last year use the pattern from Coats and Clark/Red Heart Yarn and crocheted some. The pattern she use can be found at:



http://www.coatsandclark.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=478&page_id=2885888&query=chochet+christmas+stocking&hiword=STOCK+STOCKED+STOCKINGS+STOCKS+christmas+stocking+

Christmas Before Thanksgiving

As a child I remember no Christmas

before Thanksgiving. Now it seems to come earlier and earlier.

If you are into giving the hand made gifts of love it starts early in the year and closer to the holiday you will find the magazines offering quick projects to give.

I have been working on Christmas stocking for awhile. Most of mine are custom designed as to whom is receiving them and I have two sizes going.

I have a Mrs. Snowman (or as some say snow -women) with a hooded cape of fake fur (eyelash yarn) and muff. Also one is of the Fair Isle design in large or small.

I am always on the lookout for things that will create an interesting stocking and sometimes my color choice is different for Christmas. Last year one stocking that caused a big stir was my white and purple stocking for a very special niece, who likes angles and purple.

Then there are gifts to make like socks, hats scarves, mittens that can be an easy but special gift.

I have one sock almost finished. The self-striping sock yarn can make an interesting pattern as found in the rib, the pattern , and the foot. Stockings can be a good project to help you learn about socking making. A simple one in red and white stripes might be a good one to begin with. Yarn can be anything and any size needle will work as it does not have to fit and you only have to make one. Christmas Stockings also make a good gift that last for years, my Mom has a pair I made 30 years ago.

My Customers

When you visit the store you might find someone from my neighborhood such as these two young ladies who do fiber arts. They come on a regular basis to browse the shop and look through the magazine and pattern books as well as to see what I have laying on the table. One has a sock project going called Big O and the other is planning on making some mini type Christmas stockings.

Then you might run into some one from Alaska, Ohio, Oregon, Minnesota, or even Canada. In the late fall, winter, or early spring there are winter visitors who spend time in the area or some stop by as they come and go on their winter journey. Then I have a very special young lady in PA who use to work in this neighborhood till she moved across the country. Yes I ship to her on occasion. You can find out more about her using this link
http://www.fibernating.blogspot.com/

Our customers are as varied as the ways to knit or crochet are. Some only knit, some only crochet,and some do it all-- knit, crochet, spin, weave, or cross-stitch to name a few of their talents. Yes there are several male in the area who do their own fiber arts.

My Neighborhood

I am between Here's to Your Health (a health food store) and the Arizona Range News (the local weekly news paper office). This is one of the historical sights in town as it was founded in 1884. I can remember as a child when they were at press the whole block use to shake.

If you are in the mood to walk a quarter of a block to the stop light and a block down you are on Rail Road Avenue. The path down Maley has some museums as well as Rail Road Avenue. When I was a child the post office and the bank were located here also.

On Rail Road Avenue you will find a park on one side along with the railroad that runs through the town on the other are shops, Rex Allen Museum and the Friends of Marty Robins Museum, Rodney's Place -a food establishment that has been recognized in some national magazines, the movie theater, and a bar. On another corner is a railroad car, that is home to Big Tex, a restaurant featuring barbecue and you can smell the wonderful smells early in the morning as he prepares for the day.

On this avenue located at one end is the oldest continually operating store in Arizona or so they claim The Willcox Commericial.

The park on the opposite side has a memorial to those who gave their lives so we might have our freedom and another memorial to Rex Allen .

Or you can choose to drive pass this and visit the Chiricahu National Moment which is located in the mountains. You will travel from the high desert though cattle ranches and end up in pine and oak forest. It was home to Chiricahua Apaches and Buffalo Soldiers as well as some interesting rock formations and over the mountain is Portal and the home to hummingbirds where many travel to see them as well as the country of Mexico.

As you can see I live in an neighborhood that can be a fun place to visit or work.

Location Location

They say location is important. So when a company or sales rep calls (520-384-3197) and ask where I am and I respond Willcox, AZ, they say where?

I again state 116 S. Haskell Ave., Willcox, AZ. It is located in southern Arizona in a county called Cochise. It is the land of history and legends. It was a big cattle shipping town, there was gun fights just up the street at one time. This is where Wyatt Earp and his family roamed, or where the Apache leader Cochise lived. Or more up to date this was the home of Rex Allen.

You can drive about a hour from Tucson and find us. The store is fifty miles from New Mexico or eighty miles from the country of Mexico. Tombstone and Bisbee are just down the road. This area has something for everyone, bird watchers flock here in the early part of the year, winter visitors come in the fall and go rock hounding among other things, families go camping in the mountains around us and families come to visit the U-Pick Farms and Apple orchards in the Fall.

So if you are traveling I10 head to Southern California; Phoenix, Arizona; or El Paso, Texas the store can be found on Business Loop in downtown Willcox, AZ. Just look for the dark peach and green building when you hit the stoplight down town.

NEW LOCATION NEW BEGINININGS

After eleven years in one location the store was required to move and due to the economic times it was time to downsize, so begins a new chapter in my life. It seems life is always full of changes.

The yarn (with a little hobby & craft items added) shop and I are getting settled into our new location with hopes to share our adventures of knitting, crocheting, shop happenings, and the things of life with those who wander across our blog.

Here you will find WIP, UFO, and some finished projects. Christmas time has started now in the shop and it is always an extra busy time in a Yarn Elf's workshop. Christmas would not be Christmas without some surprises and those hand-made gifts that speak of love and caring just as the first Christmas gift did so many years ago.

Come wander the aisles, meet the people who also wander them, see new yarns, and enjoy the tales of a yarn and hobby shop, a place for the whole family to visit.

You are welcome to stop by any time and find out what is happening in a small shop in south west and the things from the world which have an impact also.