Summer Fun Starts next week!

With school coming to an end and long, hot months ahead where many of us will want to be in a cool place with our friends, we are ready to get cracking with summer classes for your learning and entertainment.

Here's a close-up of the beautiful alpaca lace scarf you can learn to make in our Knitting III class. It's a great introduction to lace, yarn-overs, and decreases.

And you can look forward to many opportunities to learn to knit, whether you are young or old--check our classes page, of give the shop a call to set up an individual or group class at a time convenient for you. We'll be here all summer, and the air conditioning is really effective! Plus the gas station in our shopping center has some of the lowest prices around! It's worth a trip!

Hey kids, we got some really fun new "kids'" knitting needles in recently, so make sure your favorite adult takes you along on her or his next trip to Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe, so you can check them out!

Designers, take note

We know a lot of our readers design knitted items, so we are passing on this call for submissions, which we were asked to share widely. If you have a fancy pattern to share, send it to the email address at the end of this message. Don't reply to the yarn shop--all we'll be doing is stocking the end result of this project so you can buy it!

Dearest stitchers 'n bitchers:

I'm gearing up to get cracking on my next Stitch 'n Bitch book. It's going to be an advanced knitting manual, and I'm looking for patterns that incorporate a bit of fancy-pants knitting such as cables, lace, color work (either intarsia or fair isle or, hell, both!), beading, etc. The book will be covering these techniques in great detail, as well as much more.

Patterns can range from clothing to accessories to household items to baby things and pet items. Even first-time designers are invited to contribute. I'm looking for lively, fun projects, and I'm especially interested in sweaters and socks.

So put on your thinking caps, cause submissions are due June 19, 2006!

To submit, please send the following:

1) If you have a completed project, please send a few good-quality photos of the item, along with a detailed description of it.
OR
2) If you can't get a large project done in time to meet the deadline, don't worry. Just send me a very clear, detailed sketch of your project idea (include basic measurements, fit information, etc), along with a photo of a rather large swatch (at least 10" x 10") made in the yarns and stitch patterns you plan to use.

Photos of projects and swatches can be emailed to me at stitchnbitch@bust.com, or mailed to me here: Debbie Stoller, BUST Magazine,78 Fifth Ave, 5th floor, New York, NY 10011.

IMPORTANT: Please be sure to include your full name, email addresses, daytime and evening phone numbers, and mailing address, along with yoursubmissions. Include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) if you'd like me to mail your submission back to you after I've made my selections.

It will take me at least 2-3 weeks to make my selections. If your project is accepted, you will be provided with the yarn you need to produce a sample, which will be photographed for the book and kept by me (to take on tour, 'natch!). You will also be paid for your submission, your pattern will be credited to you in the book and will run alongside a brief bio, and of course, you will receive a free copy of the book once it is completed.

If you have any questions about the process, feel free to email me. Thanks in advance, everyone! (I apologize to any of you receiving this call for submissions more than once; I'm just trying to get the word out to as many of you as possible.)

xxxooo deb
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Debbie Stoller
http://www.knithappens.com

Project Photos Added

If you are interested in any of the new Knitting I, II, III and IV classes, I have photos up of the projects for all but Knitting II (I took a picture, but it is in the store camera--the sample IS at the shop). The lace scarf from Knitting III looks really lovely, and wait until you feel it!

And in the spirit of fun, and because there was an actual request, here is a picture of how the US flag sock yarn knits up. I manipulated the yarn so that the striping pattern is unbroken down the front, and the heel is blue. They fit great and are going to be just swell if a cool front passes by on Memorial Day!

--Sue Ann

Summer Classes for Young and Old

We have set the class schedule for June and July (though we can always add more!). We have a new series of knitting classes that take you from beginner to advanced, and on the way teach you cables, lace, fair isle and patterns! And of course, we have crochet classes and the return of some favorite projects like the felted bag workshop and felted flowers!

And for you parents, we have set our knitting and crochet camps for kids. These three-day camps will be a lot of fun for everyone, and each participant will create more than one project that builds knitting or crocheting skills and confidence. All class materials and patterns will come with the registration fee, which will make it quite convenient.

Please join us this summer for relaxing learning in your favorite medium.

Today's coveted yarn is Fiesta's La Boheme. This is even prettier in person, as it changes from matte to shiny and from fuzzy to not so much. Click the image to see it in all its glory, then come on down and get some!

Regulars, remember there is no "Chicks with Sticks" for the next two Wednesdays.

Sue Ann

Save the date!

We are planning something fun for Knit in Public Day, which is Saturday, June 10, so mark your calendars. We hope to do some public knitting somewhere near the shop (we know it will be hot, so we won't be doing it for long, no doubt!)

And for fun, feel free to drool over this lovely Interlacements silk yarn that came in last week. It goes with Toasty Toes and its brethren--if you want some, buy it fast!

The colors are incredible in all their yarns!

Don't forget this week's Chicks with Sticks is the last one until May 31, so do come on by!

Marvelous and New

While waiting for Pat to post her wonderful first post, your blogmaster feels an unstoppable urge to tell you a few news items.

1. I have uploaded a few new photos to the gallery pages on the yarn shop site, so do visit, especially if your name is Jody and do not knit doilies.

2. I feel compelled to show you the new Ella Rae wool that came in--such pretty muted colors and a nice contrast to the Cascade, which we all still love, too. More felting options!

3. Most important, the long-awaited Interlacements shipment came in!! See if your toes want to become toasty by checking out this hand dyed sock yarn in two weights. MMM.

Also, we are going to try something new with this month's sock class by me, and teach a "class sock" knit on larger needles with thicker wool. If you know how to decrease (SSK and K2tog), pick up stitches and knit in the round, give this class a try!

Sue Ann