This is a newsletter about love…. (Stay tuned to the very end, special announcement there!)

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Knitting for Others By Melissa Someone has declared this “The Year to Knit for Yourself.” I have a problem, though. I always knit for myself! With the exception of Christmas, most of my projects are for me. I’ve tried charity knitting, but it always gets pushed aside when the new issue of Interweave or Knitty comes out. Several problems are associated with knitting for others. First, the deadline. More often than not, you don’t start a sweater and “hope it gets done in time for him to wear it this season.” There’s usually a birthday, a holiday, an anniversary that sits before you as the all-intimidating goal. It reminds me of final exam week and makes knitting a race against the clock – a business project instead of the leisurely pursuit I’d hoped it would be. Secondly, knitting for others means that the object leaves you forever. Much like the struggle parents have of letting their children loose on the world, letting go of that project can be fraught with grief and peril. Given to a stranger, you will never see it again. And I’ll be honest, that’s hard for me. There are some people for whom knitting for others comes so easily. There’s a woman who frequently orders yarn from us. She’s elderly, she’s lonely, she doesn’t leave the house that much. Every time she calls, I get the treat (and there’s no snarkiness there – it is a treat) of a fifteen minute conversation about the new president, the snow, and most importantly, who she’s knitting for. She has made crocheted black and gold hats for her pharmacist, her doctors, everyone who works in her doctors’ offices, the mailman, the garbage man, the boy who sweeps her sidewalk when it snows, the boy who takes out her rubbish, the friend of the boy who takes out her rubbish – she’s never met him, but he deserves a hat. She said to me the last time we spoke, “Oh, I hope the Steelers win. Otherwise people will just throw those hats away after the game!” I assured her that I doubted it, that in Steeler Country it’s ok to hold onto your scarves and hats for next season. “Well, maybe the Pirates will do well this season.” I didn’t have the heart to contradict her. Even in the face of fear that folks might throw away her 100% wool creations, she continues to crochet for complete strangers. Then charity knitting landed on my doorstep. Around the shop we’ve been calling it “The Mitzvah Blanket.” A man called the shop and said, “I was wondering if someone could finish a blanket for me. You see, my wife started knitting this blanket when she was pregnant with our daughter, but she never finished. Now my daughter is pregnant, and my wife found new yarn, picked it up again and was determined to finish it before our grandchild arrives. But she died before she could finish it. My daughter’s due in March. Is there anyone there who could finish it?” Reluctant at first, I tried to pass it off to someone else, but when that fell through – well, there’s just no way I could deny him without his memory clinging to everything I made for my children. Melissa It has been through this blanket that I’ve learned the value of knitting for others, for complete strangers, on projects I will never see again, on a deadline. When he came in with the blanket, his wife had stopped in the middle of a row. The life that’s connected to that – you cannot trivialize that. I placed a marker right where she stopped and continued knitting. The knitting itself is not something I’d consider “enjoyable.” It’s an acrylic that squeaks and sticks to my needles. It’s a pattern that was tricky to figure out, but now there’s just miles and miles of it to knit. There are moments that I feel like a 6-year-old, “I don’ WANNA knit on the Mitzvah blanket!! I wanna knit something for ME! My Sweet Pea Coat! My socks! MINE MINE MINE!” But when I finally have that mass of cream-colored lace on my lap, and I take a look at the way the dye lot changed when she started again for her grandchild, and I touch the marker where I took up the needles, I realize that this is bigger than me. I’m just a vehicle. There is something Divine about the history this blanket already has. When I’m finished with the knitting, there will be a yellow ribbon where that lone stitch marker is right now. I’ll do my best to get out that stain in the corner that’s probably 20 years old, and I’ll wrap it in tissue paper, put it in a box, and send it off to a complete stranger. I’ll release it on the world, a child that was never mine from the start. When Franklin Habit, author of It Itches, comes to Natural Stitches on February 28, we’ll be collecting items for the Women’s Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. When we first opened, a woman came in and told us that they were wrapping newborns in old army blankets. Doesn’t every newborn deserve something like the Mitzvah blanket? Something soft, even it if is a soft acrylic, something that is full of life in the hours that someone, even a stranger, has spent making it. I encourage everyone to dig into their stashes and into their hearts. Make something to release into the world, even if you’ll never see it again. Note: We’ll have details and pattern suggestions for charity knitting on our blog. The Women’s Shelter also maintains a wish list on its website.

What’s New Araucania Ruca Multy We’ve been meeting with yarn reps and placing a lot of orders! Already here: Araucania Ruca Multy: a stunning sock/sportweight made of 100% sugar cane. As my grandmother would have said, “Well, what will they think up next?” New colors of Interlacements Kansas and Tiny Toes: we’ve received word that Kansas, a flax and rayon blend sportweight, is being reworked, so grab it now in its present form while you can. Sandnes Garn Mandarin Petit (a fingering-weight cotton in lots of colors) and Sandnes Garn Lanett Superwash (a fingering-weight wool). We’ve also received a bunch of Sandnes Garn’s accompanying books of baby patterns. (And Martha is still deaf from Melissa and Anna shrieking over the adorable fair isle bunnies, carrots, and ladybugs. And overalls! And rosebud booties! And lacy bonnets! Okay, we’re better now.) For those of you who love making bags, we just received leather and suede purse handles from Yarn Craft. No more spending $50 or more on just the handles. Look for these goodies arriving in the next month or two: Schulana Supercotton: a really stretchy chunky-weight cotton New colors of Pagewood Farms sock yarns in Denali (merino/nylon) and Alyeska (merino/nylon/cashmere) St. Elias: another awesome sock yarn from Pagewood spun from Bluefaced Leicester Tundra from Pagewood Farms: a DK-weight silk and camel blend BFL Roving from Pagewood Farms

One Sweater Five Ways By Anna and Melissa We love this pattern! When the pattern for The February Lady Sweater hit the interwebs last June, most of us here at Natural Stitches lunged to cast on immediately. Based on Elizabeth Zimmermann’s iconic baby sweater from her Knitter’s Almanac, this stunner upsizes the little girl sweater into a hip, swingy lace cardigan for grown-ups. One of the best things about a pattern like this is that it allows for endless variation. Here, we share with you how we interpreted it. Melissa and Anna were good girls and followed the directions. We’ve both had numerous requests on how we modified the sleeves: um, we knit until we were done? The pattern shows an elbow-length sleeve, but we knit to “bracelet length” before we started the garter border. Because we are constitutionally incapable of knitting different things, we both chose Dream in Color Classy, a gorgeous veil-dyed worsted. Anna’s is in "In Vino Veritas" and Melissa’s is "Gothic Rose." Gothic Rose In Vino Veritas Monica made hers from Malabrigo Merino Worsted in "Vetiver". Her sleeves are short because she was tired of knitting them. She notes that this is almost an instant gratification project as it took only three weeks to complete (and that was interspersed with other projects). Vetiver Carla loved this pattern so much, she made two! The brown one, modeled by Melissa, is made from Cascade 220 and follows the pattern. The green one is modified to be a summer sweater. Carla chose a cotton, K1C2 Ty-Dy, to make it lightweight. She substituted stockinette stitch for garter in the yoke and used yarn-overs instead of M1s for the raglan increases. Cascade 220 Ty-Dy We’ve showed you ours…we’d love to see yours next time you come in the shop!

What’s Your Precious? We love our stash....a little too much! If you’re a fan of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (or if you’re like me and live with someone who is) you know that “The Precious” is how Gollum refers to The One Ring, the thing he loves and desires most in the world. Here at Natural Stitches, we use the term to refer to the yarn that’s sitting in your stash that you can’t bring yourself to knit or crochet anything with because it's so special. I asked the staff to name their Precious….Preciouses….Preciousi? Anna: I have two. One is my Dream in Color Starry in Cloud Jungle which is just so darn pretty and is even MORE precious now that the Starry is temporarily discontinued. My other Precious is Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Co. Thirteen Mile Yarn that I bought in Wyoming on my honeymoon. Carla: My Precious is going to be different from everyone else's. There is no emotional attachment or memories of where I got it. In fact, I think I bought my precious at a yarn auction at a knitting guild meeting. I just love the yarn and want to showcase it in the most spectacular way possible. My precious is five skeins of Kraemer Yarns Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair. The color is called Taffy Pull and is a warm caramel brown with green and gold shiny flecks in it. It is so "Me" that I must use it for the absolute best thing ever. It's funny this question is coming up right now as I am almost committed to using it to make the Anjou in the new book French Girl Knits. Isn't it funny that I still can't just say "I using it for the Anjou in French Girl Knits"? I just can't commit to it. I have other precious but that's my main one. When I finally decide to make something out of it I will hang a big sign on my back letting everyone know I finally found a pattern worthy of my "precious". Charissa: I have a sweater lot of worsted weight merino, hand-dyed by Tess. I got it at Maryland Sheep and Wool, so it's not just beautiful it's starting to become a little bit of a sentimental thing for me and I am afraid I won't do it justice. There's also the Malabrigo lace weight in exactly the most perfect shade of green ever. Melissa: I have three or four Preciouses (Prescioui?), most of which were purchased on my honeymoon in Scotland. The two most precious were purchased here Croft Wools & Weavers, Cuaig, on the western coast of Scotland. One is a sweater kit of fingering weight yarn spun from their own sheep (slated to be an EZ yoke sweater), the second is a single ply wool laceweight. They only had one ball left, and I have no idea what the yardage is which makes it tricky to plan for a project. I think it's going to be the centerpiece of a lace stole using Malabrigo laceweight for the borders. Monica: The Pagewood Farms Alyeska sock yarn in the Birds of Paradise colorway. Martha: My Precious is LaLaine. This yarn has two different incarnations, both of which are special to me. The first is Brunswick's original LaLaine, the first superwash wool yarn I ever encountered. It has 260 yards of DK/Worsted weight Merino softness. When Patons bought Brunswick, they redid the yarn a bit tighter, but still soft and lovely. Alas, it is no longer made so all I have is pretty much all there will be. And there is yet to be another yarn quite as wonderful as LaLaine. Mind you, I have close to 100 skeins of this lovely yarn squirreled away in my stash. And no, it's not for sale OR trade. Teri: To have "Precious" is to have stash, and my goal is to lead a stashless life. [Ed note: We know Teri is speaking English. We just quite can’t parse what she’s saying. No stash???] That being said I do have yarns I keep giving a wistful look: Rowan's Kidsilk Haze in that vibrant fuchsia that wows me every time I see it, Cascade Eco Alpaca in dark brown, and Interlacements Kansas in the soft peach/rose. So what’s your Precious? Share your story at our blog. Your homework for next time? Think of a use for your Precious!

Spotlight on New Classes: Crocheted Felted Slippers By Charissa We love crochet! Ever wanted to try felting your crochet? Want to know what to do with all those granny squares you’ve been practicing with? This is the perfect class for both! We’ll be using Julie A. Bolduc’s Felted Granny Square Slipper pattern to create a fun project that you can give as a gift or keep to pamper yourself! If you can single and double crochet, you are ready for this class! Next session of this class is on Sunday, February 8 from 12-2, and you’ll need to sign up soon to make sure you get a space! In case that doesn’t work for you, the next one is March 15. Remember, you can always check our calendar online.

Book Review: Knitting Wool Diaper Covers from Start to Finish By Charissa: Crochet Instructor/Cloth-diapering mom We really love knitting for our kids. Really! Looking at the FO's blocking on my dining room table a few months back, Colleen asked me, “Did you knit pants for your cat?” I had to ask her to repeat the question because I wasn't sure I'd heard her right. Alas, I had heard her right. The item she was looking at was a wool diaper soaker I'd knit out of Malabrigo leftovers. To Colleen's credit, soakers just aren't seen very often in this, the age of Pampers, and many people haven't even heard of them. They are however, coming back into popularity again, with the resurgence of both knitting and cloth diapering. Before vinyl or rubber diaper covers or disposable diapers, wool diaper covers (also called soakers or longies, among other things) were the norm. Women knit them at a tight gauge out of the leftovers from other wool projects. Wool is a wonderful fiber. If you get a good wool (like the little odds and ends of Malabrigo I know are sitting in your stash because no one has the heart to get rid of any amount of Malabrigo), it's very soft and comfortable on the skin. It also insulates well, so it's warm in the winter and cooler in summer than non-breathable fibers. It soaks up enormous amounts of moisture as well. And another great feature of wool? It doesn't stink. You can wear the same wool shirt for a week in the backwoods and not smell very awful. It's perfect for diapers. As a cloth-diapering mom, I've tried them all. Prefolds, all in ones, fitted, vinyl covers, and of course wool soakers. So I was excited to see this book when it came in! Written by Pittsburgher Maggie Broderick, this book talks about wool soakers and the joys of cloth diapering and it shares many cute patterns for soakers, including both long and short ones and even ones with cute little skirts. The patterns are adorable and they bring a fun new element to cloth diapering. These make for great little short knits for gifts or for utility in your own home. And if you're not sold on the whole wool diaper cover thing, many of the patterns can be used to cover disposable diapers under other outfits or as pants/skirts for regular use. I will offer one warning, however, to those interested in trying wool soakers for their diapering line up: wool soakers do not work when made out of superwash wool. This means they have to be hand washed and re-lanolized from time to time. And please…warn your husband of this before he accidentally tosses it into the super hot wash load with the rest of the diapers. At least now my girls have some very nicely felted wool soakers for their baby dolls.

Student Testimonial By spinning student Misty Banks It warms our hearts when we hear from our students. “The best part about taking a spinning class from Carol is that when you leave, you not only know ‘how’ to spin, but also the ‘why.’ Carol teaches in a way that is understandable and she adapts well to each students learning style. Each time I leave one of Carol's classes, I feel that I can do whatever the lesson was. I may not do it perfectly yet, but knowing the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ gives me what I need to be able to do it well with practice.”

Valentine’s Day Sale We love you! After you get all of that yummy yarn at the Knitting Festival on February 14-15, you’re going to need some yummy patterns to go with them. What better time for a book and pattern sale than THAT? We’re offering 25% off all books and 50% off loose leaf patterns and booklets found in the binders! If you’ve got a yarn shop crawl planned that weekend, make sure you stop on by Natural Stitches for some sale-priced inspiration!

From the entire staff of Natural Stitches, we wish you happy knits, creative crochets and splendid spinnings. And, as always, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know!

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