It’s November... It’s November, and as the weather turns and we begin to make Thanksgiving plans, we start to think about knitting and crocheting for others. Carla sent me this piece about using your creative gifts for other crafters, and I thought it was a great way to kick off the holiday season. I’m the type of person who loves to give back to folks who do something nice for me. Whether it is owl-ling me’ (slipping me an anonymous gift of anything owlish) or just doing something that makes me happy I want them to know how much I appreciate them thinking of me. My favorite thing to give is hand knit alpaca gauntlets. As all my friends and co-workers are proficient knitters, I sometimes wondered if I was just giving them something they could easily do for themselves. I found out in the last week that I was wrong and my gifts were highly prized. Since the colder weather hit and the gauntlets have come out of their summer hiding places three folks have come to me (some with tears in their eyes) and told me that they appreciate the gifts more than I could know because they had never had anyone knit something especially for them. It seems everyone thought the way I did that a knitter will knit for themselves. But to have someone take the time and trouble to knit something just for them made the gift very, very special. And as knitters they can appreciate that gift even more than a non-knitter would. Just as an aside, when I am knitting the gauntlets, I keep the person they are intended for in mind with happy thoughts and good wishes, the way you would do if you were making a prayer shawl. This way I hope to give them some good karma along with their toasty warm hands. So don’t hesitate to knit for a knitter (or crochet for a crocheter). They will love your gift and think of you every time they use it. Happy Knitting! CarlaK

What's New Or, should I say, whooooooooo is getting owl-der? Our beloved CarlaK turned 60 this month! If you are a Carlanista (and remember, once a student of Carla’s, always a student!) wish her a happy birthday here. We have Manos! We’ve received this gorgeous handspun, kettle-dyed yarn from an artisans’ collective in Uruguay at last. Over half of our order is in, with more expected soon. For all you fans of long-repeat color runs, we’ve just received Regia Hand-Dye Effect, a lovely wool and nylon blend We are re-stocked with Cat Bordhi’s latest Personal Footprints. The book is featured here with a color pack from Skacel. New furniture! - We were going to get news bookcases this week, they arrived broken, again. Still looking! In honor of the new shelves, I asked the staff what they consider essential must-haves for a knitting and crochet library. Anna: The books that have instructed and inspired me the most are Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears, The Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Rules, Wendy Bernard’s Custom Knits, and Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks. Charissa: I ditto Knitting Rules. I would like to add A to Z of Crochet and any good stitch dictionary as well. Martha: VOGUE KNITTING Monica: my top, say, five would be Stitch n' Bitch, Knitter's Book of Yarn, Knitting Rules, my stitch dictionary (I forget the title of the one I have...) and The Opinionated Knitter. Carla: All of the Elizabeth Zimmermann books and the Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries. Also, Knitting From the Top by Barbara Walker. Also, I'd need to have whatever the latest new technique book to come out is. I'm just a sucker for those. Yvonne: I have to have Knitting Rules, Sensational Knitted Socks (even though I suck at socks), the two Cat Bordhi sock books (New Pathways and Personal Footprints) the Sally Melville Knit & Purl Stitch Books, and Debbie Stoller's Stitch & Bitch (not for the patterns, more for the humor and the down-to-earth-ness).

Yvonne Brings You Hope You’ve worked. You’ve slaved. There is a combination of blood, sweat and tears in your knitted item, and yet you’re not finished…because you have to FINISH it. It gets shoved to the bottom of your bag because you don’t want to do the seaming, you don’t want to set in the sleeves…yet you want to wear it. If this sounds like you, and the thought of actually doing the finishing work/seaming on your garment makes you weak in the knees (but not like Malabrigo or cashmere makes you weak in the knees), why not bring your sweater in to Yvonne? She finishes other peoples’ projects all the time, for a reasonable fee. Send her an email at yvonne@naturalstitches.com to find out when she’s working so you can bring in your project for her to take a look at and give you an estimate on the cost of finishing. References are available!

Show and Tell Check out our blog for a delightful showcase of hats! Sallie shows off her first completed project ever! Karen displays the gorgeous Flying Geese Blanket she knitted for a dear friend’s baby. We love to see what you’re working on! Drop us a line at shop@naturalstitches.com or post to our group on Ravelry.

WIN A PAIR OF BELLA MITTENS! (Repeat from last newsletter) If you’re a fan of Stephanie Myers’ Twilight series, then you are aware that there’s a new movie (New Moon) opening November 20th. With the thoughts of that, and with winter bearing down on us, we decided to knit a pair of Bella Mittens for a shop sample. We used Malabrigo Chunky in the black forest colorway. As we were talking about knitting the mittens, we were also talking about the fact that at the time, the Pennsylvania government had yet to pass a budget, and the impact it was having on local charities. One of our frequent customers is Leah Reynolds, who is the executive director of Ward Home. Leah was telling us about the program and we were very impressed with the concept and the success rate. The following information is taken from the front page of their website: (www.wardhome.org). Since 1905, Ward Home has been enabling at-risk teens to maximize their potential as human beings and grow into self-reliant young adults. Today we operate three supervised independent living facilities (S.I.L.) for teen girls, teen boys and teen parents as well as an in-home service (Ward Independent Skills Enhancement, or W.I.S.E.) that enables disadvantaged teens, living on their own or with foster parents, to become successful, independent adults. W.I.S.E. is a collaborative effort with the Allegheny County Independent Living Project. One thing led to another, and a raffle was born. We are giving away the Bella Mittens. ALL proceeds go to Ward Home. Raffle starts NOW, and the winning number will be drawn November 18th. This gives you until Friday (the 20th) to pick up your mittens so you can wear them to the movie! Ticket prices are $2 each, 3 for $5, or an arm’s length (15) for $20. Remember…ALL PROCEEDS GO TO WARD HOME.

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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