Holiday Hours

Happy holidays, y'all! 

We hope that you are all finding time to rest and enjoy your fiber habits these last few weeks of 2019. We will have a few days with special hours these next few weeks, but we can't wait to see you all to supply your fiber needs.

Here are our special hours:

Tuesday, December 24: 10-3
Wednesday, December 25: Closed with no Open Knit Night

Tuesday, December 31: 10-4
Wednesday, January 1: Closed with no Open Knit Night

Otherwise, we will be in the shop regular hours for you!

There is still time for gift certificates! Or you can sign yourself or a friend up for a class! We have so many fun options on the horizon, including the annual and improved Blanket Classes, Crochet Workshop, and Beginning and Beyond. Let's knit and crochet our way into 2020!

Happy Holidays!

Wonderful Close Knitters and Crocheters! Thank you for being part of our fiber-loving family. We are open today until 3 and closed tomorrow to celebrate and relax.

We can still help you or a loved one wrap up their holiday shopping today. We have gift cards, project bags, kits, books...all kinds of fun things that any knitter would love. 

We would also love to set you up with a fun project to work on over the holidays. Maybe Emily's new Cabin Fever Blanket? Eight balls of Noro Kureopatora, several movies or a long car ride, and a lot of garter stitch and you'll have an amazing blanket. Sort of the perfect thing for some holiday knitting.

Holiday Hours

Hey fiber friends! We are closing up a little early today, and we will be closed tomorrow. Come in and see us today for any last minute gifts or supplies. Or just because you want more yarn for yourself!

Eye Candy

So many hats! The big table is covered in some of our favorite little hat projects. We have everything from fingering weight colorwork to chunky stockinette. If you are thinking about some handmade holiday gifts, we would be more than happy to get your started on hats galore!

Let's Knit Fancy Stockings!

Ready for the holidays? Ha! Neither am I. But I really want Adrienne to get us ready! Over just three classes in November, Adrienne will guide you through the construction of these fabulous stockings. This class is designed for any skill level. You can choose to do stranded colorwork and add deer and snowflakes and trees, or you can keep it simple with stripes and solids.

She has designed several motifs for you to choose from, so each stocking you make can be designed with a specific recipient in mind. Adrienne will walk you through all of the basics of the colorwork, too. These stockings are certain to become family heirlooms for you and your loved ones.

Stop by the shop or give us a call to sign up. This is going to be a fun class!

Little Boxes

With Thanksgiving upon us, shopping season has arrived as well.  Hanukkah has already begun, and Christmas will be here in no time.  Does it feel to anyone else like the holidays are all on top of each other this year?  I just took my glow-in-the-dark Halloween skeleton down last week.  Sheesh.  To entice you lovely Portlanders to shop at our favorite local shops, Little Boxes is back again this year in force, and we are playing along.

There are so many prizes to be won, it boggles the mind.  How do you win these prizes?  You need to visit the Little Box stores!  There are shops in fifteen different neighborhoods that are participating, and you can find maps for all of them here.

To enter the raffle, you just need to visit a Little Boxes shop and fill out a raffle ticket (one per shop, please).  To increase your odds of winning, buy something!  We will stamp your passport (available here, too), and you'll get extra entries into the raffle.  Your stamped Passport will give you discount at the next Little Box you visit.  Spread the love!  There is, of course, and iPhone app, too.

Our little shop will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and then we will be open from 10AM until 7PM on Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30 for your yarn shopping pleasure.  The gals will be working hard, so feel free to bring in snacks and treats for your favorite yarn pushers.

Mother's Day Special

Next Sunday is Mother's Day!  We are happy to see so many loving family members and friends coming into the shop for gift certificates this time of year.  So happy, in fact, that we are offering a little special from now through May 12, 2013.  If you mention Mother's Day while you are purchasing your gift certificate, we will give you 15% off.

The recipient of the thoughtful gift gets the full value of the gift certificate, but you, the generous giver, get the discount!  For example, you can purchase a $100 gift certificate for just $85, a $50 one for $42.50, and a $25 one for only $21.25.  We can make a gift certificate up in any denomination, of course.

Every knitter loves a gift card!  Swing by this week and take care of yours.

P.S. If you are the fiber enthusiast and are trying to drop a hint, just leave this open on your family computer or do a little Facebook sharing or whatnot.  You will all be happy you did.

Quick Crochet

Dear Crocheters,

I know we don't post many crochet ideas here, but it's not because we don't care.  It's because my crochet skills are atrocious, and I am sort of embarrassed.  But, when I saw these sweet little Snowflower Ornaments pop up on The Purl Bee, even I could tell they were good.

Photo from The Purl Bee

They suggest Blue Sky Metalico (which we have) for the background with little spots of color.  I might suggest the insanely beautiful Elemental Effects for the centers.  What about Kauni or Liberty Wool Light?  You would get so many colors from just one ball.  Just a few skeins of Metalico in different colors would be great, too.  I'd love to see a collection of these in natural earthtones.

Honestly though, my first reaction was Tahki Cotton Classic.  We have quite a bit of the pearly white and shimmery silver for the background and plenty of brights for the pops of color.  The Cotton Classic is a mercerized cotton, so it's shiny, too.  And machine washable, if that might become an issue at your house.

Photo from The Purl Bee

So, my dear crocheters, I hope these little ornaments speak to you, too.  I think they would be a lovely addition to any wintery decor.

If your crochet skills are on par with mine, perhaps you might consider Ann's Learn to Crochet Workshop next week.  I am certain she will have you cranking out wee snowflowers in just one class.

Love,
Leah

Little Boxes

Thanksgiving has crept up on all of us at the shop this year.  Fortunately, the folks at Little Boxes were prepared.  This little grass-roots organization encourages us to spend our holiday shopping dollars at the little boxes rather than the big boxes.

Here's how it works.

Step 1: Start your day off shopping at one of the participating shops listed on the website.  There is a great map and a list broken down by neigborhood.  Enter the raffle, and get your map stamped.

Step 2: Go to another participating shop, enter the raffle again.  Repeat at as many shops at possible.  If you collect four stamps on your map, you get 15 extra raffle tickets.  Eight stamps get you 20 extra tickets, and 12 or more will get you 30 extra tickets.  The more purchases you make at the Little Boxes, the more raffle tickets you can earn.  Plus, if you show your stamped map, you can receive a 10% discount at the next shop (with some exceptions). 

The raffle prizes are kind of amazing.  Take a look at the list.  There are gift certificates, shopping sprees, prizes, and an iPad.  Not too shabby.

No opening at 9PM on Thursday, no Black Friday lines out the door, no crazy shopping cart wars.  We will all be open from 10AM-7PM on Friday and Saturday to give you plenty of time to make your way around town.  

This is a better style of holiday shopping, supporting the small businesses that make Portland the place was all love to live.

More New Stuff!

Holy cow people, I can hardly keep up.  Let's just get right to it.

Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts is in the shop.  This special issue is not part of the regular subscription, so it won't be arriving in your mailbox.  The Scandinavian Holiday section was definitely my favorite.

The Snowbird and Dalahast Stockings

The Danske Hjerte

The Dots Blanket

Baby Faroe

The Ullared Cushion and Kissen Brigitta

I want to make all of these.  I also loved the Peppermint Hat designed with Classic Elite Fresco, a favorite around Close Knit.

And who doesn't love an alligator hat?

While we're talking about magazines, I want to show you some great stuff from the new Debbie Bliss Magazine.

I love these pillows and the Duffel Bag.  I love the Pendleton flair to these.

There is a great selection of sweaters for the boys.

Little Man Gansey

Baby Sized Gansey

A Tweedy Classic

Amazing Shawl Collar

Perfect Fair Isle

Man Sized Gansey

These are painfully adorable.

Foxy Hat and Mittens

Panda and Penguin

Owls!

 The winter white section is pretty stunning, too.

Chunky Scarf

Cable Turtleneck

Adorable Hat and Sweater

Lace Shawl

Okay, I have so much more to share.  We have the whole Mountain Top line from Classic Elite, Liberty Wool Light, and a whole slew of goodies from Rowan and Debbie Bliss.  I'm almost done with my honey badger, too.

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.

Holidays on Alberta

Our fiber-minded friends on Alberta are gearing up for the winter holidays. No matter which of the upcoming days are most special to you, odds are good that you have the itch to create beautiful things for the people you love. I have spoken with several Close Knitters who are already well on their way to completing several holiday gifts, and I am in awe of their foresight and project monogamy. If you are like me, you often need a little motivation to get those gifts done before the big deadline. Perhaps a class would help!

Join us at Modern Domestic on Friday, November 5 for a Handmade Holiday Open House. There will be treats to eat and drink, a drawing for some holiday crafting and decorating goodies, and special discounts on classes in the Handmade Holiday Series.

The Modern Domestic crew have chosen several classes to cater to the gift giver in you. Nothing beats a pair of handmade socks, a quick-knit cabled scarf, or some surprisingly warm fingerless gloves. Your loved ones will be warm and toasty...maybe even warm and toasty enough to give you a gift certificate to Modern Domestic or Close Knit if you drop enough hints.

Photos courtesy of Modern Domestic.

It's Raining!

Don't tell anyone, but I love the rain and the clouds. The damp, cool weather gets me thinking about piling on the wooly layers and knitting in front of a movie or in the company of friends. The lower temperatures also mean that some big holidays are lurking around the corner. If you like to make gifts for people in your life, you might be interested in Joelle Hoverson's newest collection, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
As in the original Last Minute Knitted Gifts, the projects are divided up by how many hours they take to complete. While Joelle's time estimates might seem a bit optimistic, the projects are lovely. There are ideas for everyone on your list.
Those of you who are familiar with Joelle's work from The Purl Bee will recognize her impeccable taste and eye for color and detail. She includes projects for a wide range of skill levels, but the finished products always look impressive and will carry you through many occasions.
Joelle uses luxurious yarns, many of which we carry at Close Knit, so you can be sure that you are gifting someone a really special handknit treat. If it's time to move beyond the standard scarf gift this year, take a look through this book. Your gift recipients will thank you for it.

Spring Bunny

While I always have such high hopes for handmade holiday goodies, I never seem to start my planning until right before the big day.


This year, I am going to try to motivate myself to create some little items with time to spare. Since spring is creeping up on us, I decided to start with a knitted bunny. I think he’ll make a sweet (sugar-free) treat tucked into an Easter basket.

We have several bunny patterns at Close Knit: Little Rabbit Foo Foo from Heirloom Stitches, Hop from Blue Sky Alpacas, and Bunny Fun from Fiber Trends. If you are looking for an alternative to the bunnies, we also have patterns for a variety of animals, including alpacas, hedgehogs, chickens, and squirrels.


As for yarn, angora seemed most appropriate. I chose to knit Little Rabbit Foo Foo in Karabella Chloe, a cotton/angora blend. Since my bunny is stuffed, I knit him on a size 7 needle rather than the 9 suggested on the ball band. Knitting the fabric a little tighter keeps the stuffing from showing through the stitches. If you decide to make a bunny and need help with the tail, bring your yarn into the shop on any Sunday, and I'll help you make a pompom.


Stop by the shop to see Little Rabbit Foo Foo and choose a pattern for your own little springtime critter!

Edited To Add: Spud & Chloe just posted a fabulous free pattern for a Mini-Reversible Duck to Bunny using their Spud & Chloe Sweater. We have this yarn in a wide range of colors, so come on by the shop this weekend to get started!