Special Treat Knits, Holiday Hours, and Classes

The holidays always make me a little edgy. I find that a nice soothing knitting project really helps take the edge off those delayed flights, long car rides, and extended family bonding experiences. A recent Yarn Harlot post really struck home with me on this subject, and I have to admit that I need all the help I can get this time of year.

While I still have holiday gifts to finish and wrap, I am itching to cast on a little special treat for myself. I have a few basic requirements for my (almost) post-holiday knitting:
1. It needs to be mindless. Stockinette or garter stitch, no fancy lace or cables, minimal counting.
2. It needs to be forgiving. If I make a mistake, I would like to be able to call it a design element and move on.
3. It needs to be a put-down-pick-up project. I have to be able to steal a few stitches here and there without taking time to figure out where I am or what I was doing when I put it down.
4. It needs to be in a fabulous yarn. It is a special treat, after all.

Last winter, I made A Little Ruffle Scarf from Sadie & Oliver for Sally. I used Plymouth Hillside Linen, and Adrienne used Cascade Eco Alpaca for a very similar effect. This scarf is great in so many different yarns, and I might have to make another to keep for myself.

But first, here's what I have planned to maintain my sanity this year:
Twister is a free pattern from Spud & Chloe. It takes two skeins of Spud & Chloe Sweater and a nice long US9 needle. It fits all of my criteria, and I think I will get a lot of use out of it.

The yarn is a machine washable wool/organic cotton blend, and it is so soft. Spud & Chloe is associated with Blue Sky Alpacas, so you know the colors and the quality are going to be top notch. They keep it simple with just three high quality yarns, and lots of pattern support. We have all three yarns and many of their patterns at Close Knit, and the Spud says! blog (curated by the great Susan B. Anderson) has a huge assortment of free patterns.

A few points of business...
We have classes ready for you! Check out the top of the right sidebar for our January and February offerings and information on how to sign up. We are trying some new things this time around, so please let us know what you think and what you'd like to see available. We appreciate your patience with all of these changes, and we look forward to getting back into the swing of things with the classes.

We'll be open until 3:00 on Friday, December 24th, closed on December 25th, and closed on January 1st. We will no longer be open on Mondays, but we are still around Wednesday nights for Open Knit Night. Otherwise, we will be available to help you choose your own sanity to cast on before the weekend hits. See you soon.

Thanks to Susan of the Spud says! blog for use of the Twister photo.