I've been texting with my new knitting buddies from the Myrtle Beach area, Viv and Jane. I love it. Jane has started reading Knitting: A Love Story from the beginning. I was so honored when she started and then something else happened. By Jane reading KALS from the beginning, I began reliving the stories. It was amazing. What a joy! Jane got to the post about The Jan Bag and was interested in the pattern. That encouraged me to pull out one of my very favorite knitting books. Knitter's Stash: Favorite Patterns From America's Yarn Shops.
How many of you have this magnificent book? Let me tell you how I discovered Knitter's Stash. Seventeen years ago, Linda and I went on a Yarn Tour to the northern suburbs of Detroit. This area was one of our favorite to cruise LYS. If Linda still lived in Michigan, it would still be one of our favorite areas. We regularly made the 2 hour trip making a day of it. Our favorite (all though at different times depending on what we just purchased, they were all our favorites) was Crafty Lady in Macomb which has become Crafty Lady Trio since Jan the owner retired. We always left early, often had breakfast at Barry's Bagel in Ann Arbor and usually arrived just after the shop opened. On this particular day, like steel to a magnate, my eyes were drawn to an amazing felted bag. I knew I had to make it. That bag was My Constant Companion by Janet Scanlon and it was part of the fabulous Knitter's Stash. Let me reshow a few of the Jan bags.
This is the first Jan Bag. It wasn't even a Jan Bag then. My friend Amy gave it that name. I learned a lot from this. Kureyon is definitely the best yarn to use. Don't do the funky, knot button. It doesn't hold. I also made up my own technique to pick up stitches from the bottom of the bag.
Remember the Jan Bag? That is Amy and Jan Bags aren't just for knitters. They are wonderful carry-on bags for airplane flights. I've made many and given most away. I love them. My Constant Companion may have introduced me to Knitter's Stash but that isn't the reason I love it. Knitter's Stash has a copywrite date of 2001 but I just bought one before Christmas so they are still available. Knitter's Stash is a celebration of the Local Yarn Shop. There are 33 projects featured in Knitter's Stash from LYS all over the country. The introduction describes a LYS better than anything I've ever read. "Your local yarn shop. Maybe it's just down the street, maybe it's only in your mind. It's a magical, colorful home away from home where you can go to touch, to scheme, to dream. There you find friends who share your obsession, who speak the secret language of K1 P2, who understand your need to stash. There you find yarn and more yarn, patterns to make your fingers itch, possibilities that make your pocketbook cry uncle." That says it all.
After that beautiful introduction comes the 33 projects. Each section has a little story about the LYS who submitted the project, a pattern with complete explanation, pictures and diagrams and tips to make your knitting better. Knitter's Stash reminded me what I miss when purchasing single patterns online. It is the story each book provides in addition to the patterns. It is the feeling of actually knowing the writer when you have read through the book. It is the love, pride and creativity that comes from a designer putting together many pieces of their heart (thank you Janis Joplin for that beautiful phrase) and giving you the gift of themselves.
When I first opened Knitter's Stash, I discovered the yarn shop honor roll, the 85 LYS who submitted projects to be included in Knitter's Stash.. Unfortunately, only 33 could be chosen. I would have liked to not only see all of the projects but hear the stories about each LYS. In the honor roll, I found several shops I had visited many times with Linda. Ewe-Nique Knits in Royal Oak, MI actually had a project in Knitter's Stash. Crafty Lady in Macomb, The Knitting Room in Birmingham, Earth Guild in Asheville NC, La Lana Wools in Taos NM, Rochelle Imber's Knit, Knit, Knit in West Bloomfield, Threadbender Yarn Shop in Wyoming MI, and The Yarn Shop in Glen Arbor MI. As I read through the 85 shops, I wished I had discovered more. The Constant Companion was submitted by My Yarn Shop in Coos Bay OR.
As I was reading through Knitter's Stash Monday, I reread the tips and was pleased and surprised to see how much a Knitter's Stash improved my knitting. That is what a pattern should do. Over the next few months I will share tips from Knitter's Stash in Knitting: A Love Story. The first you will recognize as something I have incorporated into my knitting techniques. This is from Yarn Haven. "Knit the first three rows of your gage swatch in garter stitch, as well as the first three stitches on either side. It keeps the knitting from rolling and makes it easier to measure your swatch for true gage." For seventeen years, I have been using this technique and until I read this I'd forgotten where I picked it up.
Knitter's Stash is still available for purchase. If you want to reminisce about what knitting books used to be like, pick up a copy and "Take A Walk Down Memory Lane."
After that beautiful introduction comes the 33 projects. Each section has a little story about the LYS who submitted the project, a pattern with complete explanation, pictures and diagrams and tips to make your knitting better. Knitter's Stash reminded me what I miss when purchasing single patterns online. It is the story each book provides in addition to the patterns. It is the feeling of actually knowing the writer when you have read through the book. It is the love, pride and creativity that comes from a designer putting together many pieces of their heart (thank you Janis Joplin for that beautiful phrase) and giving you the gift of themselves.
When I first opened Knitter's Stash, I discovered the yarn shop honor roll, the 85 LYS who submitted projects to be included in Knitter's Stash.. Unfortunately, only 33 could be chosen. I would have liked to not only see all of the projects but hear the stories about each LYS. In the honor roll, I found several shops I had visited many times with Linda. Ewe-Nique Knits in Royal Oak, MI actually had a project in Knitter's Stash. Crafty Lady in Macomb, The Knitting Room in Birmingham, Earth Guild in Asheville NC, La Lana Wools in Taos NM, Rochelle Imber's Knit, Knit, Knit in West Bloomfield, Threadbender Yarn Shop in Wyoming MI, and The Yarn Shop in Glen Arbor MI. As I read through the 85 shops, I wished I had discovered more. The Constant Companion was submitted by My Yarn Shop in Coos Bay OR.
As I was reading through Knitter's Stash Monday, I reread the tips and was pleased and surprised to see how much a Knitter's Stash improved my knitting. That is what a pattern should do. Over the next few months I will share tips from Knitter's Stash in Knitting: A Love Story. The first you will recognize as something I have incorporated into my knitting techniques. This is from Yarn Haven. "Knit the first three rows of your gage swatch in garter stitch, as well as the first three stitches on either side. It keeps the knitting from rolling and makes it easier to measure your swatch for true gage." For seventeen years, I have been using this technique and until I read this I'd forgotten where I picked it up.
Knitter's Stash is still available for purchase. If you want to reminisce about what knitting books used to be like, pick up a copy and "Take A Walk Down Memory Lane."
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