Until recently, I have never considered myself a *crafter*. At the age of five, I was a young first grader. And who would have thought that I would have picked up a skill, a crafting skill, at that age, that would stick with me for life. Now, almost thirty-five years later, I am still knitting and crocheting. And, I think that I don’t knit and crochet for the finished product. Sure, I like to finish creations, but I have come to the realization that I …

The celebration of the New Year is always a challenging time, filled with joy for the celebrating, sadness as we say goodbye to all the good things we’ve accomplished in the past year and relegating them to mere memory, and apprehension as we enter a new year filled with possibilities.
Maybe you look at the new year as a way to start over.  Maybe you look at the new year as a way to say, I resolve to not make a resolution I can’t keep.  That’s what I’ve been saying.  But, …

In early 2007, Kate Jacobs spawned a whole new generation of knitting clubs.  I have an email in to her, via her website, www.katejacobs.com, to get an exact number of how many clubs reported that they were started because of her book.  But Kate Jacobs is easily accessible, in the sense that she will make appearances to your clubs, knitting or book, to talk about her book, via phone.  I think that’s great considering I don’t know many authors who would do that.  Admittedly, I guess I really haven’t looked.
I myself …

So three days ago, I received what I assumed was a marketing email from Lands’ End.  Usually, I don’t read them, but the subject of this one caught my eye.  ”Celebrity Knit-Out at your Lands’ End Shop.”  So I opened it.  It promised a book signing with Kate Jacobs, New York Time best-selling author of The Friday Night Knitting Club.  It promised enjoyable knitting to create hats for the homeless, with assistance from Vickie Howell, designer, and formerly, host of Knitty Gritty on DIY.
So, with two days to plan, I …

Take a ride headed northbound on Rt. 119 from 495 in Littleton.  You’ll find yourself on a nice drive through a rural area, past a farm with a stand to sell its wares, and you’ll be on your way to The Woolpack, which is owned and run by Janet Hampson.
The shop itself is one of the brightest and friendliest I have been in for quite some time.  And I thrive on visiting yarn shops (what yarn lover worth her salt doesn’t???)  Janet’s shop is by far my favorite.  The welcoming …

It happens to everyone.  You know what I’m talking about. You learn something new.  A hobby. A sport. Whatever. Enthusiasm kicks in, and you go all out buying supplies, equipment…best of everything.
Let’s focus here.  Imagine that you just learned how to knit.  The realization that you could create almost anything kicks in.  The vision of beautiful, hand-knit gifts starts to fill your mind.  Scarves.  Socks.  Sweaters.  Hats. Mittens. Gloves. Have you been there? Do you know this person?
So there you are, plugging away at your 5th scarf…with some good, sensible …

As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series of books and movies.  From time to time, more often than not, I will likely reference one or the other, and you will come to learn that I have what I like to consider a healthy obsession.
To that end, I will share a list of Potter-related knitwear that is on my To-Do list for completion.

Luna’s bag from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie.  This is the bag she has raw …

Recently – and by recently, I mean within the last six months – I decided to embark on my first lace project.  I signed up for a class at The Woolpack to learn the February Lady Sweater.  (We can discuss the virtues of taking a knitting class, when you are a reasonably skilled knitter on another day).
So what is there to “learn” about the FLS?  The very first thing I learned is that taking a class to make a particular project can be a LOT of fun.  My good friend, …

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs is the first piece of knitting fiction I have read.  My overall review is more than favorable, I’d say, 5 sheep.
The book is an easy read.  No offense to the author intended, but I wouldn’t call this a classic literary masterpiece.  The classics I find to be boring, hard to get through, and impossible to complete.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love to read.  Just not the classics.  TFNKC is truly inspiring.  At the start, our heroine motivated me to DO something. …

I am actually writing this post well before the first day of school.  My kids have been tremendous sports this summer. You see, I work a graveyard shift.  And I enjoy it.  Mostly because when the kids are in school, I have the delightful benefit of being able to sleep all day without interruption.  For the most part.
For the summer, we were crazy enough to not sign them up for day camp. Which means that they were home. All day. Every day. So I’d get home from work just before …