commuknity...a neighborhood yarn experience

Noni Retro Bag update

June 29, 2008

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather (although it is a bit smoky).

I have been working on my first felted project (Noni Retro Bag). The handbag itself was very easy to knit, it took me two evenings and it was done. The felting was easy too, just follow the pattern instructions and stick in the washer. I was amazed how much the purse actually shrinks, especially its height.

As I mentioned before, it took me a while to pick out the colors for the flowers. I finally decided on three colors:coral, orange and white.  However, I have gone nuts knitting extra flowers that I intend to give away as gifts, so far I have knit 10 and I plan to knit 18-20. Soon I'll have another post for the flowers.

The purse is pretty much finished, I just need to felt the flowers for it and attach them. I lined the bag and I think that really makes it look fancy. And it's fun to be able to express yourself with fun fabrics.

Not much more to go, hope to have the finished project in 1-2 weeks.

Happy Fourth of July!

We want to wish you a happy 4th of July and remind you that the shop will be closed Friday, July 4th in observance of Independence Day. We will be open our regular hours on Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and Sunday, noon to 5pm.

Come and see the new colors of Cascade favorites!

We have new colors of Cascade 220, Cascade 220 Superwash, and just in time for summer knitting, Cascade Sierra! We've had Sierra Quatro with its beautiful combination of colors, but now we also have Sierra solids. The wool and cotton blend is perfect for light tank tops or lacy cardigans.

We now carry over 90 colors of Cascade 220! Just count 'em...and we have nearly as many colors of Cascade 220 Superwash including 4 handpainted colorways. So whether you are felting, making childrens sweaters or blankets or knitting for yourself, we are sure to have a color you'll love.

Just in for summer: Blue Sky Alpaca Yarn & Patterns

You may not be familiar with our latest addition, Blue Sky Alpaca. We stock eco-friendly Organic Cotton in six naturally occurring shades and over 20 amazing dyed colors, plus the fluffy Brushed Suri alpaca.

You'll love how soft the cotton yarn is and how quickly it knits up, not to mention the gorgeous colors. We bet you can't pick just one!

And check out our selection of Blue Sky Alpaca patterns for these yarns.

Is it ever too hot to knit?

Last week was certainly HOT. But was it too hot to knit? I think it was too hot to do anything except knit! I worked on a baby sweater and pair of fingerless gloves. Both are small projects that are easy to take with you. The baby jacket is made from a lightweight summery yarn, while the fingerless mittens let me practice my cable technique and making thumb gussets.

Try Cascade Sierra or Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton for a little garment, and you will be ready for the next baby shower you are invited to attend.

Try Cascade 220 for fingerless gloves and you can make them as long as you want. Use a bright color to bring light to dark winter day. Use a tweed for a traditional look. You only limitation is your imagination! If you have a Ravelry membership, check out this pattern.

Another option is to try dyeing yarn, like the students in our summer fiber day camp. While your making Kool-Aid for your kids, make an extra batch without sugar and dye some wool. You can dye white yarn; you can overdye light colored yarn; you can even dye superwash wool. Just make sure it's wool, not a plant fiber. Cascade 220 is a great yarn to try for the first time.

And for your informational pleasure from Vogue Knitting: Most Frequently Asked Knitting Questions

Weekends at commuknity...we've got lots of fun going on!

It seems like there has been something fun (and often free) going on just about every weekend over the past month! We had a special artists reception for Therese May a few weeks ago to honor her fabulous quilt show at the shop. She has her quilts all over the shop which bring a lot of color, fun, and whimsy to our walls. If you haven't stopped by lately, please be sure to come to see her work. The exhibit runs through July.

We followed up with the World Wide Knitting in Public Day out on the lawn next to the shop the following weekend. The weather was good and everyone had fun. Shade was welcomed, however and provided by the wonderful big trees and a pavilion that Tom popped up for the occasion.

This weekend, it was hard to tell who was having the most fun in our workshop on Saturday. We had a nice group attend the free Flip Flop Embellishment demo and workshop. We had beaders doing needle felted flowers and knitters experimenting withe beads. Jan from BEADZ and Jordan from commuknity shared their tips and helped folks get started.

We of course had classes and social knitting also happening every weekend. If you haven't joined in recently on social knitting, I think you will enjoy dropping by and knitting with some really nice women who generously share their experience and project tips. Today we got a lead on a new film and some gardening tips for those moments when we put our needles down to grow some veggies.

Tom and I went over to the San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum for the Opening Reception for the Knitting and Crochet Exhibit  called "Uncharted Stitches." It is definitely worth going to see this really creative exhibit. There is a huge felted sunflowers, sweaters like you have never imagined, a life-size wire knitted woman and many other pieces that are thought provoking, timely and inspiring. The show goes on through August.

Camp Kool-Aid Dyeing

Here are a few of our summer day campers showing off their hand-dyed yarn. As you can see, Kool-Aid gives the yarn vibrant color! And makes it smell good, too. I also notice that no one dyed their hands or their clothes. Great job!

Take your knitting out to the ballgame

Save the date: July 22, 2008

Stitch N' Pitch brings together two wonderful traditions — Baseball and the needlearts. Come to a ball game and knit, crochet, embroider, cross-stitch and needlepoint. Sit among friends, family and colleagues and cheer on the San Francisco Giants. Beginners, intermediate and experts are all welcome. We're joining with Bobbin's Nest Studio in Santa Clara and chartering a bus so we can all travel together to and from the game. No worrying about traffic or parking!

Contact the shop for more information and to reserve your tickets - 408-293-9333.

Knitting & Crochet Exhibits at the San Jose Quilt Museum

San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum has two exhibits opening June 17th. The first is Beyond Knitting: Uncharted Stitches. The “exhibition highlights a variety of approaches and subject matter that artists are tackling using knitting as the primary technique.  Each artist transforms the simple notion of needles and yarn with new techniques and fibers to create work that is haunting, humorous, political and personal.” 

We are pleased to collaborate with the Museum on this exhibit. We will have a “commuknity store” at the museum for the duration of the exhibit. Look for other special offers regarding commuknity’s participation in this exhibit.

The second exhibit is Crocheted Reef and Anemone Garden, an installation of sea life created by the 7th grade class at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, California. Students created this coral reef, composed of approximately 500 crocheted life forms, including coral, sea sponges, squid, sea stars, sea jellies and urchins, as part of a hands-on experiential unit combining art, science and language arts and to draw attention to conditions threatening the world's coral reefs.

June Third Saturday - Show off your pedicure!

This month’s free Third Saturday project demo and workshop on June 21^st from 1:00-3:00 PM will be Personalizing your Flip Flops with Embellishments and Beads. Examples of embellishments are shown below.

We will have everything you need to purchase for this fun project in order to participate in this free demo and workshop. Kids 8 and up are also welcome to participate with a parent. Sign ups are limited so be sure to call ahead to reserve a space, 408-293-9333.