Sunday, January 15, 2012

Valentine Sweets

It's nearly Valentine's Day, and we have lots of sweets for you to enjoy. First, one of our favorites: "Be Thee Mine" by Chessie & Me--the shop model pictured here, but we have plenty of these charts in stock.


"Love," by Shepherd's Bush. Also a shop model, done up as a pillow.


"Scottish Love," by Moira Blackburn, beautifully stitched by Patricia.


Au ver a Soie in assorted pinks and reds.


Birds of a Feather's Happy Hearts Sampler. Not a new design, but a sweet classic.


Another shop model: "Grateful Hearts" by the Trilogy.


Delicate flowers within the hearts, by Rovaris.


A variety of Walker mesh bags in pinks. They also come in lots of other colors (yellow, gold, orange, blue, green and lots of sizes, with and without multiple compartments or handles).


"February" by Lizzie Kate.


"I Will Give You Five Hearts" by Dessin.


The second, very pink, "Cottage of the Month" by Country Cottage Needleworks.


And not Valentines, but two sweet designs, new in the shop, by Black Branch Needlework.



We're open tomorrow, Monday, 1/16, so give us a call (703-360-4600) if you see something on this post that you'd love to order! Our shop hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:30-4:30 on the first Sunday of the month. Stitch nights are the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday, January 2, 2012

To-Do List: 2012

Greetings, All! Let's start the New Year off with a bang, shall we? Have you ever seen anything as amazing as this? Ellen first showed us this picture on her i-phone and asked if anyone would be interested in stitching it. We all got really excited about it, agreeing it's the kind of thing to have in your stash even if you never stitch it. It uses 87 colors of DMC.


If you feel that's a bit more time-consuming than you'd like, there's this cutie. If you listen to XM radio, one of the stations played all the old versions of Christmas music through the years, including approximately 20 different versions of this song, sung by anyone you can think of. I think it's not so much Christmasy in this format as wintery.


These guys by Lizzie Kate are decidedly Christmasy, but quick little stitches. Hey, I hear you out there saying you want to stitch an ornament a month. You can start with these!


Speaking of Christmas music, what a hoot. In response to "soon it will be Christmas day," well, let's hope not!


Here's a beautiful new reproduction sampler from LHN. The recommended flosses are Belle Soie, but it's charted for DMC as well.


We have this Reflets de Soie chart as well, with its beautiful blues. Hurry up before Glenna grabs it! Darned if I can remember the name on it: perhaps Hannah Jackson?


OK, it's finally cold here, and I've pulled out the unattractive but warm puffer jacket. Time to get busy with the knitting needles and knit something nice for yourself or for someone else. "Cozy Little Crofters" by Sirdar. Goofy little hat and matching sweater--too cute.


You know how sometimes an issue of Vogue Knitting is just a little too weird for itself? Not this month. There are lots and lots of do-able, wearable patterns in the latest issue. This is one: a soft, cozy blanket, knitted on #15 needles, then edged with this very appealing ruffle. There is a beautiful cable sweater (no stinking button holes, pockets, gussets, steeks, steaks, streaks, sneaks or squeeks) to knit in lots of sizes, and there are fun hats to knit in luxury yarns--you don't go broke knitting a hat in even the very finest yarn. We have beautiful, lofty, squishy, soft yarns made of hair and fur and wool and milk protein (seriously!) and bamboo and everything including the hand-combed armpit hair of the Peruvian termite (not really--they don't export that stuff).


Speaking of luxury, this is such a deliciously soft scarf kit. Even if you're not a very advanced knitter, you can't go wrong here.


And look! Fourth of July is just around the corner!


If you have questions or would like to order, please call us at 703-360-4600. Our hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and the first Sunday of the month from 12:30-4:30. Stitch nights are the first and third Wednesdays of the month, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Happy stitching!