I am a huge proponent of taking your knitting everywhere. I can’t imagine traveling without the comfort of a new project; the soft feel of my favorite rosewood needles against my fingers, the faint shush of wood against wood, and the wonder of a wool strand creating fabric. I travel with knitting even when we are just doing the errands. I count myself lucky that my husband likes to drive- everywhere- and I get to knit while we pay some bills, visit the library and pick up whatever stuff we dropped off last week. My husband never complains and the truth is that the older we get the more the knitting helps keep my mind off the traffic and his driving.

It almost goes without saying that I take my knitting on the plane. We have all faced the hours of travel time with a certain joy, knowing that our time will be well spent with needles and yarn. Those long, dull flights turn into precious, uninterrupted moments of pure knitting pleasure. We can be forgiven if we exude a certain smugness as we disembark the plane; we have something to show for our air time and many others do not. This is knitting time that we take seriously and woe to the one that interferes with this time; unless that person is a representative of a government or an airline. Here comes the needle nightmare story. For the last few years domestic air travel has been relatively knitting needle friendly. So we knitters have continued to take our knitting with us on vacations and business flights. Traveling overseas, however has presented another whole set of issues, mostly occurring when one is trying to reenter the country. I have been told stories of the removal of needles from knitting when the knitter was trying to board a flight in Mexico, I had stitch holders removed from my knitting kit in Frankfurt; but nothing hurts like the story I heard on Thursday.

One of the students in the Thursday night class was returning from a two week vacation in Ireland with a knitting friend. The two couples had a wonderful time touring Ireland and seeing all the sights, but were ready to come home. The friendly knitter had her knitting in her carry on and was looking forward to finishing the sock that she had on two addi circular needles. However, the Irish authorities were concerned about their sharpness and were ready to confiscate them. She begged them not to take the stitches off the needles and then watched in horror as they calmly cut the tips off both sets! Oh the pain! Oh the waste! Oh the cost!!! Let’s share a moment of silence.

So the lesson is to use some caution and bamboo needles when you travel, even if you have been told that it is alright to bring knitting on the plane. We don’t need to lose any more addi’s in such a horrible way.

See you in the Shop-

Linda

Northampton wools

3 & 11 Pleasant st

Northampton ma 01060

413 586 4331

info@northamptonwools.com

Spring and summer bring lots of knitting time. Watching the kids at the pool, cheering at the baseball games, sitting on the beach or warming up around the campfire all; offer unique moments of true knitting time. Increase your skills this season with one of our quickie workshops. These classes are designed to give you a little break away form the kids, a little time to visit with other knitters and a little time to make a fun and different project. Keep your summer knitting portable and easy and you’ll find yourself taking your knitting everywhere you go.

Learn To Knit in Three Hours

$25 3hrs

Even if you have never held needle before you will know how to knit when you leve this workshop. In three short hours we will teach you how to cast on, how to knit, purl and how to cast off. Everything you need to make you very first scarf or potholder. Join us for a night of fun and leave knitting on your own! Students will need a pair of size 10

or 10 ½ needles and 1 sk of bulky weight yarn.

Choose one: June 8; July 6; July 20 5:30 – 8:30 pm

Introduction to Lace

$25 2 hrs

Learn the keys to decoding lace charts, symbols and written directions as you create holes in your knitting. This little scarf pattern will soon be the most popular thing you own and will teach you the basic skills of lace knitting,

Students should bring size 7 straight needles and a smooth light colored dk weight yarn. Students should know how to increase and decrease.

June 3 5-7pm

Felted Moebius Baskets

$35 3 hrs

Learn to do the Moebius cast on developed by Cat Borhdi. This is the perfect Moebius for first time Moebius makers. The process teaches you how to make the Moebius cast on and then to open it up into the handles for the basket. Once you know the cast on technique you will be ready to try Moebius scarves, bags and even cat beds. The felted basket that you learn in class can be enhanced with beads, or novelty yarns and are beautiful pieces of functional art. These baskets knit up quickly and are a breeze to felt.

Students should bring scissors, tapestry needle, markers and will need one skein of Manos del Uruguay wool and a 47” size 11 needle.

July 17 3-6pm

Lace Sampler

$40 8hrs

This four session class will help even the most timid of knitters learn how to put holes in her knitting on purpose. After all, this is normally something we avoid. Several different stitch patterns will combine to teach how to read charts and patterns as well as reading your knitting. Solve problems and learn to un-knit without loosing your place. Take a bold leap into the wonderful world of lace, but do it at your own pace.

June 17, 24, July 8, 15 1pm-3pm

Learn To Crochet

$40 8hrs

Believe it or not, crochet is finally growing up. You can learn the four basic stitches and start a bag, a t-top and a grannie square blanket (because everyone needs to know how to do a grannie square) by the time the four classes are over. Even if you have never even seen a crochet hook, you will be able to succeed in this class.

July 8, 15, 22, 29 10am-12pm

Socks in a Day

$25 3hrs

It can’t be done you say? We beg to differ… learn the steps in knitting a basic sock on big needles with bulky yarn and you will end up with snuggly, cuddly, warm and welcome socks for winter. We use an LWDesign; which is included in the class fee. All you need is needles and yarn and a readiness to tackle four needles at a time.

July 11 12pm-3pm

Moebius Smoke Ring

$25 3hrs

Learn the famous and mysterious Moebius cast on, learn to follow a simpole chart, learn a few lace techniques and dazzle yourself with your creativity. This class covers all of that as you work your way through some of Cat Borhdi’s wonderful techniques.

June 18 6-9pm

Learn To Cable- Needle or Not

$25 2hrs

What a way to make your first cabled project. Learn to knit in the round and how to follow the directions for making several basic cables. Charts will be discussed and various cable designs will be demonstrated. We will also learn to make cable without using a cable needle!

June 25 6pm-8pm

Self Fringe Shawl

$10 2hrs

Tired of guessing how much yarn to leave for the fringe? Want to make a shawl for those summer nights up at Tanglewood? This quickie workshop will teach you the trick to making fringe at the same time as the knitting. You will create a one of a kind piece that you will be proud to show off anywhere.

June 27 2pm-4pm

Finishing Day

Free As long as you need

If you dare to look in the back of your closet will you find that bag that contains the unfinished sweater? The one that just needs to have the sleeves sewn on and the side seams done? You put it away and it has been haunting you every time you go to start a new project. This is the day for you to bring those scary horrors to the shop. We will help you to get going with putting them all together. We’ll help you figure out the next step and show you some of the newest, easiest techniques to make your sweater look like a professionally done piece. Dig out those paper bags full of knitted pieces and grab a cup of coffee and start sew3ing.

June 27 all day

Learn to Knit Basics

$35 6hrs

This is a class for the real beginner who needs a little more time and a few more hands on then the learn t o knit in three hours. Adrienne will take you through the basics of knitting, the best way to cast on, counting sts, knitting, purling, fixing mistakes and working on an even tension. Come prepared to have some fun as you learn a new skill and enter the knitting world.

June 16, 23, 30 10:30-12:30pm.