Eileen Petre, our button lady, came to visit from Chautauqua. She has the Etsy shop Soup to Knits. She showed us her fabulous hand crafted buttons and we swooned with delight. The turnout was great and we were glad to support our button lady.

Knit and Crochet Projects from our Wonderful Customers!

Hi All,
My Fall resolution is to post more on the blog. I especially want to highlight all the wonderful knitters and crocheters who have shared with me their "works of art." here are some of them but trust me, more to come!!!

Sarah learned cables from Linda so she knit a pair of fingerless gloves from "Luxury One Skein Knits."

Marlene knit this with Claudia Handpaints, using an Artyarns pattern. Stunning isn't it!

Cynthia knit this adorable leash for her dog. Our dog modeled it for us.

Harriet, who shall remain faceless at her request, knit a lovely vest using Nashua Ecologie combined with Laines du Nord Cotton and a pattern from Jane Ellison #1

Here is Linda who knit a cozy afghan using "big Baby" and a free pattern from Knit One.

Until next time,

Stacey

Do you remember the kit for the Doggie Steeler Sweater? It was designed by Andrea Marquis.

She is back with some new designs for the winter: caps and mittens. Her patterns are available at the store.




She joined us today and is knitting another pair of socks.

Linda came in also, but without her daughter this time.

Emily is working on a baby blanket.

Vivian is straightening as usual. Her help is greatly appreciated, especially after the two week long sale that ends today.

Knitting Sunday Afternoon

Emily joined her mom and brother Aaron for an afternoon of knitting at Knit One.

Aaron is enjoying a lollipop while making a long i-cord.

Linda and Gayle are relaxing and knitting on the couch brought over from Knit One North.  If you are missing Knit One North, visit the store in Squirrel Hill and you will see familiar yarns and furnishings. 

Today's Quote

Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow. =Anonymous

Knitting in Squirrel Hill

As you may know Stacey lost the lease on the Knit One North store. We are all sorry to see the store close. It was a second home to many of us. Stacey is looking around for an alternative location to open another knitting store. Let's all hope Knit One finds another good home.

Cosy and Christine get chummy on the couch in the Squirrel Hill store.

Looks like Flo is knitting a fair isle sweater sleeve.

Vivian, Beth and Camile are knitting away.

Beth looks like she is having a good time.

Dr. Stacey posted a great article on the benefits of friendship among women. If you have not taken the time to read it, it is well worth the read: Friendship Among Women

Today's Quote

Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself. -Rita Mae Brown

We are in Bliss--Debbie Bliss that is!

Debbie Bliss' name is not an accident--we are in bliss! Her new book, Design it, Knit it, arrived last week. Since we cannot decide between 2 sweaters for a group knit, we'll do both.

Fair Isle Cardigan

Learn this technique with the support of a class. Done in Baby Cashmerino (just imagine the color choices and softness!), this is truly an all-seasons sweater.

Skill Level: Advance Beginner or above

Cost: $50 for two 2-hour sessions

June 29 and July 20th 6-8pm

Cable Band Cardigan

Debbie can't stop herself with exquisite design details. This imaginative, fanciful sweater starts with a cabled yoke band. Learn to pick up stitches, work various cables and picot edges.

Skill Level: Advanced Beginner or above

Cost: $75 for three 2-hour sessions.

July 14, July 28 and August 11 6-8pm

Friendship among women

A customer/friend sent me this article about women and friendship and the importance and benefits of having meaningful relationships in life. Now, I don't mean to exclude men in any way because I know that friendship is important to them too, but maybe in a "different" way than women.  I don't know.  I'd be interested in your thoughts.  But, this has been my hope for Knit One - that a community of crafters (men and women) could exist which would support, affirm, and enrich each other lives.  I thought I would share the summary of the study with you.

UCLA STUDY ON FRIENDSHIP AMONG WOMEN

A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They  shape who we are and who we are yet to be.  They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach quivering stress most of us experience on daily basis.

The study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research -- most of it on men -  up side down.

Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible, explains Laura Cousin Klein, Ph.D., now an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University and one of the study's authors. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers.

Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just fight or flight. In fact, says Dr.Klein, it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released, as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages her to tend to children and gather with other women instead.  When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect.

This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone-- which men produce in high levels when they're under stress--seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin.  Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it.

The discovery that women respond to stress differently than men was made in a classic "aha" moment shared by two women scientists who were talking one day in a lab at UCLA. There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded, says Dr. Klein.

When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. I commented one day to fellow researcher Shelley Taylor that nearly ninety percent of the stress research is on males. I showed her the data from my lab, and the two of us knew instantly that we were onto so mething. The women cleared their schedules and started meeting with one scientist after another from various research specialties. Very quickly, Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research, scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health. It may  take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin encourages us to care for children and hang out with other  women, but the "tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men.

Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol. There's no doubt, says Dr. Klein, that friends are helping us live longer. In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a six-month period. In another study , those who had the most friends over a nine-year period cut their risk of death by more than sixty percent. 

Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found  that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidantes was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight!

And that's not all! When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had a close friend and confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends were not always so fortunate.

Yet if friends counter the stress that seems to swallow up so much of our life these days, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them? That's a question that also troubles researcher Ruthellen Josselson, Ph.D., co-author of Best Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls' and Women's Friendships (Three Rivers Press, 1998). Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women, explains Dr. Josselson. We push them right to the back burner..

That's really a mistake, because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another.. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience.

Gale Berkowitz

Freelance Writer

Our Apology for the Inconvenience ...

 Knit One North had to close this past Thursday and opened an hour late on Friday due to uncontrollable circumstances.  We apologize for the inconvenience this caused you.

Welcome Back Sandy

Sandy (right) stopped by the other day with her friend Carolyn (left). Carolyn was visiting from Ohio.  You look terrific, Sandy!

Jude (left)  helping Kathie (right) with a multi-directional scarf pattern.

Today's Quote

There is no fruit which is not bitter before it is ripe. -Publilius Syrus

Why must I spin, spin, spin all the time?

In the small room off the court where there was sun on fine days, her younger sister, Morgause, thirteen years old and budding, wearing a loose house robe of undyed wool and her old frowsy cloak about her shoulders, was spinning listlessly with a drop spindle, taking up her uneven yarn on a wobbly reel.  On the floor by the fire, Morgaine was rolling an old spindle around for a ball, watching the erratic patterns the uneven cylinder made, knocking it this way and that with chubby fingers.

"Haven't I done enough spinning?" Margause complained.  "My fingers ache! Why must I spin, spin, spin all the time, as if I were a waiting-woman?"

"Every lady must learn to spin," rebuked Igraine as she knew she ought to do, " and your thread is a disgrace, now thick, now thin... Your fingers will lose their weariness as you accustom them to the work.  Aching fingers are a sign that you have been lazy, since they are not hardened to their task."  She took the reel and spindle from Morgause and twirled it with careless ease; the uneven yarn, under her experienced fingers, smoothed out into a thread of perfectly even thickness. "Look, one could weave this yarn without snagging the shuttle..." and suddenly she tired of behaving as she ought. "But you may put the spindle away now; guests will be here before midafternoon." (p. 5-6, The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Random House Publishing Group, 1982.)

Knitting in the North

Heidi is a wonderful teacher and designer.  She designed this hat and taught a class for it at Knit One North.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Heidi will be offering more classes this fall.  Knit One is privileged to have her as a teacher.  Look for her classes this fall.

A red coat in progress.

Today's Quote

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes. - John F. Kennedy

Knitting on a Spring Day

Vilma displaying her Reversible Cabled Scarf knit with Cascade 220.

Summer Hours at Knit One North

 Knit One North will be moving to Summer Hours

Starting Friday, May 1st

Tuesday - Friday 11am-3pm

Saturday 10am-4pm

Helmet Liners

Knit One is now collecting Helmet Liners for our military personnel.  They must be made with 100% wool.   Only black, charcoal, brown, tan, gray or combinations of these colors are allowed by our Armed Forces. Find the pattern at http://www.citizensam.org/. 

Spinning at Knit One

This past Saturday was the Free Spinning group at Knit One in Squirrel Hill.  Several women stopped by to watch Nora spin with her spinning wheel and Connie spin on her drop spindle.  Every 3rd Saturday Nora hosts a Spinning group and demonstration starting at noon.  She is available for a class from 1 - 3pm.  Call 412-421-6666  to sign up for her class.

The 2nd Sunday of the month Nora hosts a Free Spinning Group at Knit One North.

Both groups are open to spinners of all levels.  

Today's Quote

Where there is life, there is hope. - Talmud

Happenings at Squirrel Hill

Linda (left) and Dr. Stacey (right), the owner of Knit One, 

relax and sit and knit on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

Flo receives her Race for a Cure garb. 

 Knit One takes all the donated Chemo Cap to the Race for the Cure for women undergoing chemotherapy to pick out a free chemo cap.

Vivian is busy straightening.  

Today's Quote

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.  - Albert Einstein

Knitting New Health Remedy

You always knew knitting helped you.  Now there is scientific research that shows that knitting improves your memory, reduces depression, and lessens stress. Watch the video http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4917058n

New Classes and Group at Knit One North

Saturday Morning Kids Knit with Isobel

Every other Saturday starting April 18, 2009.  (10-11am)

Learn basic knitting skills while working on a project.

Ages 8 -12 years old

$10 per child for one-hour group

Cabled Vest for Beginning Cable Knitters with Heidi

Wednesday, April 15, 2009. (12:30-3:30pm)

This is a quick knit project for yourself or a teenage girl you love.

Skills you will learn:
Using a cable needle, reading a cable chart, reading your knitting, ease, shaping.

Necessary skills for this class:
Comfort with both knitting and purling, provisional cast on, or Judy's Magic Cast-on.

$40 for 3-hour session

Mitered Squares with Connie

Saturday, April 25, 2009 (10am-noon)

Learn to make mitered squares. After you learn to make these you can join them together to make a variety of accessories.

You must know how to cast-on, knit, purl and slip.

Advanced beginners and above.

Materials required:

Size 6 needles, small amounts of 2 -5 colors of worsted weight yarn (a perfect change to use up stash yarn)

$25 for two-hour session

Crocheted Necklace with Connie. 

Saturday, May 16, 2009, (10am-noon)

Crochet a necklace to wear with your summer tops. You need to know how to chain, single crochet and double crochet.

Materials required:

Crochet hook size F. Worsted weight yarn (less than 100 yards) The shop sample was crocheted in Corntastic.

Print a free copy of the pattern off the internet.
http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/ponte_vecchio/ponte_vecchio.html

$25 for two-hour session

Sock Knitting Club

When you've got a fever for sock knitting, the only cure is MORE sock knitting!

Sock knitting is all the rage at Knit One North and we would like to invite you to join us so you can catch the bug as well!

Enjoy 15% off your sock yarn and needles purchase the first time you attend.

Sundays Noon-3:30pm
Tuesdays 10am-noon

Knit One Happenings...

Isobel is offering a Trellis Lace Capelet class at Knit One North. Wednesdays April 15th and April 22nd (1-3pm)

Clare stopped by Knit One North to drop off a bag of knit Chemo Caps.  Thank you, Clare!  Both stores are always accepting Chemo Caps crocheted or knit with very soft yarn.  Adult and children sizes are needed.

Vilma (left) and Darlene (right) joined other knitters at Knit One North this weekend. 

Today's Quote

If you can't get a compliment any other way, pay yourself one.   - Mark Twain

The Jogless Jog

When knitting in the round with more than one color of yarn you will notice that there is a jog in the knitting at the beginning of the round when you change colors.  This happens when doing Fair Isle and Striping.  

To avoid this jog, knit with the first color in the normal fashion.  Knit the first row of the next color.  When you come back around to your stitch marker marking the beginning of the round, one stitch past the stitch marker: 

Insert the right needle into the stitch below.

Lift the stitch from below up onto the left needle.

Knit the two stitches together.

The jog is virtually seamless.

Knit the following rows normal. Then repeat these steps each time you change colors.

The change of colors gets shifted one stitch to the left each time you change colors.  

Today's Quote

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.  Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with  love, grace and gratitude. - Denis Waitley

Tuesday Afternoon Knitting at Knit One North

Mary (left) stops in at Knit One North to get help from Jude (right) with the scarf she is knitting from Mason-Dixon Knitting:  The Curious Knitter's Guide.   

Are you stuck on a knitting project?  Something that will take just a few minutes?  Stop in and we'll be glad to help you.  If it will take more than 10 mintues, we ask that you sign up for a class.

Heather (left) is taking a Beginning Knitting class with Dawne (right), the manager of Knit One North.  She is knitting her first washcloth.

Today's Quote

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.   -Ralph Waldo Emerson