A Full Service Yarn and Needlepoint Store on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
…Announcing…
A Summer Sale
Ends on Saturday, June 7.
20% off canvases and most yarns.
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Finished Objects
We love to share your finished objects with everyone. If you have something you’d like to share bring it in or send us a picture. Click “info” (on the right) for a few more details.
Welcome to the May 15, 2014 edition of The French Knot Blog. We are so happy you’ve taken the time to see what we have to share with you this week. If you’re lucky, it will be very informative and slightly entertaining… but I can make no promises.
First up this week we have some fun stuff to show you.
Gumbo Pot Ornaments available exclusively from us!
Remember way back when… we received a bunch of fair trade baskets from Africa? They were quite popular and went fast. We have more. There is a nice variety of sizes and styles. Prices range from $30 – $70. Hurry up and get yours before they are gone.
We’ve also put together some Knitted Throw Kits. Lots of color combinations to choose from. The kits are $160.
New Kreinik colors!! Aren’t they pretty? We have these colors in #8, #12 and #16.
Good News About the Sale Wall! All Cascade 220 and all the Noro yarns (except sock) are now 50% off. Speaking of our Sale Wall… we have started listing our sale yarns on eBay. Now you can easily see what we are clearing out and of course ordering from eBay is super easy. Of course, you can still call us if you prefer.
The French Knot is going to take a little trip. The Louisiana Lagniappe Chapter of EGA has invited us to their 2014 Seminar. We will be the Seminar’s Boutique. We are excited about this opportunity even though it will mean moving a significant portion of our inventory to Baton Rouge for a few days.
Two Needlepoint Reminders…
Leona does amazing stitch guides. If you are stumped about what stitches would look good on a canvas, just ask. If you decide to have her do a stitch guide for your canvas, you will need to leave it with her for a few days. The cost for stitch guides depends on the complexity of the canvas.
Designer pillows
, large stand-ups &
kissing balls
Halloween… July 31
Thanksgiving/Hanukkah… August 27
Christmas… September 3
Christmas stockings & non-designer pillows (you choose the fabric)… September 20
Small ornaments & stand-ups… October 23
Speaking of Finishing…
Enjoy some stuff our friends have finished.
Start them stitching young,
They’ll be very glad you did,
When they are grown up.
Knitting is heathy,
For your mental well being,
So start something new.
Pull out that project,
Languishing in your closet,
Or come for new stuff.
This week, we’ve decided to share a little tutorial. How do you make that finished object look as good as the picture on the pattern. The secret is blocking. Take that pile of yarn and make it beautiful.
It all starts with some cold water and a little Soak (or some other gentle wash).
Next just put the thing in the water. No swishing necessary, but if it makes you feel better, go for it. Just keep it mellow.
While your FO is soaking in the sink you can prep the flat surface. If you don’t have pets, the floor is safe. Foam mats work, but I find the spare bed is good. I don’t mind putting pins in my mattress.
Check on it. It’s almost all wet. It’s been about 20 minutes just calmly soaking up the water.
Once it’s good and wet, you can take it out and GENTLY squeeze the excess water out. Do not wring it, you’ll make it sad.
Put it on a towel or two.
And roll it up.
Stand on the towel. I suggest taking off your socks. The towels will absorb a good deal of the moisture.
Next up, stretching and pinning.
Here is where you refer to the measurements. If the numbers are critical, you measure and pin to the proper dimensions. Sometimes you can stretch it a bit, but don’t overdo. Your purpose here is to smooth and shape, not stretch.
You don’t always have to pin a project. Lace often needs to be pinned since you may have points to accentuate. Some items just need to be smoothed out and allowed to dry. Blocking wires are very handy for shawls and such.
Let it dry completely and you’re done.
There you have it. I you have any questions, we’re happy to help. Stop in and ask.
May 3 we are having a class…
Reading your Knitting… Join us to learn how to discern mistakes in your knitting and of course to fix them.
Finished Objects
Things are progressing nicely here with our new Point of Sale system. We continue to learn as we go, but we can now use it for sales. So now we plan to get back to our regular blog update schedule.
Some stuff you need to know…
Finishing deadlines.
Puffy ornaments, designer pillows, kissing balls, large stand-ups, vases, card boxes, purses (not including Julie Pishke Bags).
Halloween…July 31
Thanksgiving…August 27
Christmas…September 3
Stockings and non-designer pillows…September 20
Small ornaments & stand-ups… October 23
Upcoming Class
May 3 — Reading Your Knitting
Do you know how to tell if the stitch you are looking at is a knit stitch or a purl stitch? What about a k2tog versus an SSK? How do you tell why you ran out of stitches before finishing a part of your pattern? And what if you need to tink (that’s knit spelled backwards) a row to fix a mistake? We will cover techniques that will give you tools to fix mistakes in your knitting.
Finished Objects
Things have been busy here lately. We have undertaken the gargantuan task of setting up a Point of Sale system. That means counting all the inventory and inputting the data into the program, which of course we are learning at the same time. So as you can imagine, it is taking some time to accomplish. There is a light glimmering at the end of the tunnel, but it has interrupted the regular flow of things. We are back this week with a few things to remind you about and a few new things to show you.
Classes.
Recently we have had a sock class, and a counted thread class. Coming up we have this Saturday is Setting Up A Project in Knit Companion. If you are a knitter with an iPad, you need knitCompanion. Some have shied away from the app thinking it is complicated, but it is well worth the time to learn how to use it and we will help you get started.
Coming up in the next few weeks we have…
April 12 — Hair & Fur Needlepoint Sampler
Learn stitches you can use to do hair and fur on your needlepoint projects.
May 3 — Reading Your Knitting
Do you know how to tell if the stitch you are looking at is a knit stitch or a purl stitch? What about a k2tog versus an SSK? How do you tell why you ran out of stitches before finishing a part of your pattern? And what if you need to tink (that’s knit spelled backwards) a row to fix a mistake? We will cover techniques that will give you tools to fix mistakes in your knitting. We will knit a washcloth, so you will learn a lot and end up with something useful.
Finished Objects
Hooray! Spring is around the corner. I thought I should remind you of that just in case you were losing hope. Speaking of spring, let me add my voice to the many already announcing that this Sunday we spring ahead to Daylight Saving Time. Don’t forget, or you’ll be late for church!
Now on to the News From The Knot.
Look what Leona is making!
The yarn comes as a scarf. You knit the sock (or whatever else you want to knit) while the scarf unravels. We have lot of these fun kits to choose from. They come with a sock pattern. You could buy one of these to use for the sock class.
We have classes coming up! I hope you’re excited.
March 8 — Counted Thread Ornament #3
It is not necessary that you have attended previous counted thread classes to attend this one or the next.
March 22 — Socks
Learn the basics of sock knitting and constructions. We will do a basic cuff-down pattern with a heel-flap style heel. Come brush up on techniques or get over that fear of socks. It’s not as hard as you think.
March 29 — Counted Thread #4
April 5 — Setting Up A Project in knitCompanion
We have done this class twice already and have had great feedback. knitCompanion is an amazing iPad app that will make you a better knitter. I promise! It comes with great tutorials, but sometimes it can be helpful to walk through the process with a guide.
April 12 — Hair & Fur Needlepoint Sampler
Learn stitches you can use to do hair and fur on your needlepoint projects.
May 3 — Reading Your Knitting
Do you know how to tell if the stitch you are looking at is a knit stitch or a purl stitch? What about a k2tog versus an SSK? How do you tell why you ran out of stitches before finishing a part of your pattern? And what if you need to tink (that’s knit spelled backwards) a row to fix a mistake? We will cover techniques that will give you tools to fix mistakes in your knitting.
Finished Objects
Just a few for you this week. I especially like the Dead Fish Hat.
It’s time once again, for our blog to rhyme,
A couple of months have now passed,
So, here we go with words and the like,
Here’s hoping it’s as good as my last.
Let’s start the post with two brand new shirts,
They tell a great story, it’s true,
If you haven’t heard of Leona’s special “gift,”
Just ask her to tell the tale through.
Now on to the info that you need today,
To make your Thursday so bright,
Click here for the classes we have coming up,
To learn things to bring you delight.
There’s knitting and needlepoint all coming up,
Just pick the thing you want to know,
Then show up that Saturday with all of your stuff,
Let us help your creativity flow!
An update on Inspira we are knitting along,
Leona and Deanne are done,
You see when you look, how unique each one is,
That’s part of why knitting’s so fun.
Oh look! It’s new bling to bedazzle your stuff,
This picture shows only a few,
So stop by the shop, and see so much more,
They make pretty jewelry, too.
The last thing to show are objects completed,
To inspire you to spread stitching wings,
We’d love to see pictures, if you’d like to share,
Of your yarn and needlepoint things.
It’s Thursday again and we have a few things for you.
First is a reminder about this weekend’s class.
We are teaching an introduction to knitting lace. Trust me, you can do this!! The pattern is Winter Haven and it is nice and flexible. Come join us Saturday. $25 plus materials.
Next is an update on the Inspira Cowl knit-a-long.
Leona’s is the green and red one, Deanne’s is the blue one.
And some inspiration.
Who wants to knit-a-long with Leona and Deanne?
The project is Inspira which is a free cowl pattern on Ravelry with three different weight options (fingering, worsted and aran). Each version is also a different color pattern. We are doing the fingering weight version. Come pick some yarn and we will get you started.
New Stuff and Re-stocks.
We received some more Madelinetosh this week. This yarn is so awesome. We have a few new colors of sock and Tosh DK and now we have Vintage and Sport.
New colors in Seedling and Liberty Light as well.
More copies of Painted Canvas Embellishment and a new needlepoint book.
Remember we have a wide variety of classes coming up.
Canvas You can see the whole list on our Classes page.
Finished Objects