We've moved!!

Our move has been under wraps,
and now the wraps are off!

We are thrilled with our new shop at 1044 N. Highland Avenue, a few blocks north of our original store. Just across the street from George's Restaurant and Highland Woodworking, our new space is light, bright and all on one floor. (We don't think anyone will miss the spiral stair too awfully much!) Easy access, plenty of parking and right in the middle of what we think is the coolest neighborhood in the city, we're very excited and eager to open on Thursday morning.

Nell and Kim (yes, she is . . . and due in February!)
are getting ready for opening day.

You'll find all the yarns you know and love as well as new ones for fall, needles, knitting bags, books, fabrics, and, best of all, as ever, plenty of inspiration and encouragement. Our farm table is ready and eager to gather knitters; classes and groups will meet as always. We look forward to seeing all our friends and welcoming new ones. Come see us!

Nell is a Grammy!

We were getting set to tell you about Nell's having saved the day for young Miles, whose sweet, well-loved knitted cat "Bubbles" was in need of repair, whose loving grandmother, Grammy Lynda from New Jersey, looked to Nell to work her magic on dear, irreplaceable Bubbles.

While we were preparing the photos, Nell got a call from her daughter Melissa in Virginia who has just now -- 30 minutes ago -- given birth to Corbin Michael Jenkins, weighing in at 8 pounds 15 ounces, thus making Nell, officially, a Grammy!

It's a very happy day!

Miles and Bubbles have been joyfully reunited now that he has been pulled back together and decorated with colorful knitted circles -- Bubbles, that is!

And baby Corbin has Nell for a grandmother. . . and Haley for an aunt. What a lucky baby!

Insouciance Makes an Appearance at Knitch and Hopefully Never Leaves

"Insouciance" is defined by Cat Bordhi as "that cheerful feeling you have when nothing is bothering you." That was the feeling that came over us last weekend when Ms. Bordhi came to call and offered two enlightening workshops at Knitch. With her newest book, Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters as our guide, we were able to cast off the resistance to sock knitting, knowing that, armed with Cat's clues, we could knit socks that would fit us, be comfortable and not cause us to go loony. With Cat's guidance, it's all about ease. What a concept!

Cat also offered a workshop called Finding the Fountain of Fresh Knitting Ideas that truly stimulated our creative spirits. The concepts can apply in many areas of life and, once again, we confirmed that knitting is a metaphor for so much more than the obvious!

We used a pair of toddler pants and divided it up into 15 sections. An array of technique names were in a bin that we drew from to randomly determine how each of those sections would be approached: intarsia? entrelac? lace? moss stitch? The result was to work out of the mold of patterns and precision, to design backwards, if you will. Generating so many ideas in this way meant we could back off of ideas that didn't particularly ring our bells -- a much more satisfying direction to work than starting with a blank slate and going forward. This approach to problem solving felt fresh, exciting and new, not to mention liberating!

If you were there, we'd love for you to share any of your thoughts, lightbulb moments and memories with the rest of us. And if you weren't there, we missed you! We have a stack of Cat's new book, freshly autographed, which will give you a taste of what a great workshop experience this was. We can't wait for the next one.