Bella Knitting

Hickory Dickory Dot

Laura

Few things at Stitches were cuter than this picture! Can you see the bit of drool on his chin? I just want to gobble him up.

Logan (a.k.a. Lolo) belongs to Anny Purls and is about to have his first birthday. We are super happy to be working with her. This Hickory Dickory Dot sweater is knit with our favorite Karabella Aurora 8 yarn. This color combo is called Prairie Mouse. The Teddy Bear below is sporting Wine Country Mouse. The other mouse colors are pretty cute too. I am really hoping someone knits City Mouse and sends us a picture.

It was a blast to listen to all the comments from passers by. They would ahhh at the picture then come take a peek at the sweater we had  hanging in the crib (Anny was nice enough to send it to us for Stitches). Everyone loved the lap shoulder design and it gets even better ... the mouse squeaks! Yup, there is a bit of batting and a little squeaker in there. So many kids were delighted by the squeak that I myself was delighted it was still there on Sunday evening!  We are including a squeaker in all our projects because it is so very fun.

Looks like the mouse for this guy was out looking for cheese (to go with his wine) during this photo. Lots of thanks to Rachel (Naptime Knits) in Connecticut for knitting this sample for us - it finished it's journey out west in the knick of time!

We have updated our home page with this project. It is so very pretty. Knitters can buy just the pattern or the project with yarn and that squeaker.

A bit more on the Bella Baby wall at Stitches West below ...

Shopping at Stitches!

Laura

Hi all, we're back! We had an absolutely fantastic Stitches West and will want to share lots of fun stuff with you - as soon as our brains kick back into gear. In the mean time I thought I would share a fun find and cute story.

I was tossed out of our booth on Sunday morning by both Sarah and Robin with instructions not to come back until I had shopped. It was my first time out, so I grabbed my purse, threw them a thanks and headed out to see what I could find. Tucked way in the back, almost the very last booth was a store called The Fiber Sphere, they've got an interesting circular contraption that I didn't really get to see but others were certainly interested. What caught my eye was this bamboo bag.

Even more interesting was the story the man in the booth was telling about the bags. It seems they have them made in Cambodia - no big surprise there. But, here's the thing, they actually pay the workers a fair wage. Not only does this end up virtually supporting an entire small village it means that the quality is quit nice also. There are pockets inside and all the workmanship is lovely.  Just feel how smooth the bamboo is (OK, I'll feel it for you). This medium size is about 11" high and was $35.

Take a peek at the back - it is curved so that it sits comfortably on your hip when you sling it over your shoulder (even those of us with generous hips). It comes with the nice canvas strap you see in this photo, but I thought one of our leather straps with the watch face would really make it perfect for me and the big side D-rings made it easy to switch.

So there we are, a few of us hunting through the bags for the one that's calling our name, when I point out that I like the fact the bag will stand up when you put it down. "Oh, no!" cried the knitter next to me. "You can't put this on the floor. You have to go over to this cute booth in Aisle 800. There's a lady there selling these great silver purse hooks."  I broke out into a huge smile, and told her she made my day because, of course, it was our booth. :)

I told her about our blog post and pretend PSA titled "Friends don't let Friends put their Purse on the Restaurant Floor"! She explained that she and her friends bought the hooks just because the floor in the place they hold their knitting group is so very gross!  She sent people our way all day looking for those purse hooks. I just love meeting people at Stitches. More stories next time.

Snapshots from Stitches

Sarah

Yikes! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Measure has been keeping me busy, school has been keeping me busy, you know how it is. Since it's Stitches weekend though, I thought I'd share some snapshots from the Bella booth. (Warning: photo-heavy post!)

Here are Laura and Robin, considering what should go where.

Measure likes yarn, so we plunked him down in a box full of it. (Just long enough to take a picture.)

Yarny goodness! No one can resist fondling the Cascade Pima Tencel. It's soooo soft.

I think the mannequin in the back looks like he's pouting because he doesn't have a hat yet. The awesome looking hats in the front were designed by Miss Clever herself, Arlette. It's a really fun knit -- two-color brioche in the round, but with some absolutely genius details. (The pattern will be on the web site shortly after the madness of Stitches is over.)

And finally, here's what the booth looked like this morning, before we were mobbed (in a good way) by the teeming crowds of knitters. Hooray for mobs of knitters! It's really nice to be able to walk through a whole crowd of people and know that not a single one of them thinks you are crazy for being excited about yarn.

MacGyver

Laura

I loved watching MacGyver. He always managed to save the day with a paper clip, a wire and a bit of gum. I had a dilemma of my own this weekend - how to wrap 4 yards of thread on to each of 150 bobbins without going crazy.

While there was no gum involved in my jury-rigged solution, there was electrical tape, plumbers putty, a beater, and a rubber band winder from an old airplane toy.

If you remember from yesterday, the trick was how to wind 150 bobbins with about 4 yards of color-coordinated thread (because who really wants to go out to buy matching thread when you only need 4 yards?) and not lose our minds.

The solution was perfect and very lucky. How many  of you can put your hands on a  toy airplane rubber-band propeller winder on a moments notice. If I had not recently gotten around to unpacking a box siting in the hall since we moved last November I promise you I could not have either. But there it was, my savior, sitting at the bottom of my son's junk drawer. Here is the process in case you ever find yourself in a similar dilemma:

  1) Place the end of the thread on a mixer blade stuck upside down in a bowl so it can spin freely.

  2)  Break off the handle of a manual bobbin winder (used by cross stitchers) and attach to winder using electrical tape and plumber's putty to hold in firmly in place.

  3) Figure out how many spins it takes to wind 4 yards (it's 75 by the way).

4 ) Have foresight 20-years in advance to marry a man who is very handy and thus have children who will do anything that involves any kind of gadget.

5) Pretend to be sad to give up this very fun job to them.

Ta da! 150 bobbins done in no time! :)

Brownies

Laura

When I was a little girl (oh, so long ago) and a Girl Scout the leaders would tell stories of Brownies, Fairy-like creatures who performed good deeds. In their version of this old Scottish tale, Brownies would come at night to perform the household chores.  I found myself wishing for a few Brownies of my own this week as we started the oh-so-hectic Stitches preparation. It's a time filled with activity, chaos and fun.

We are thrilled to be the exclusive distributor of Anny Purl's adorable Buddy Bags. They are super cute lined backpacks for toddlers that include little finger puppets. Since our make-it-easy philosophy is to include everything needed to finish the project we also carry the fabric and matching thread so you can Build Your Own Bella project ... pick the yarn color, the pocket type and the fabric and you have your very own design.  With Stitches coming, it also means preparing lots and lots of pockets. That's where I thought those Brownies would come in handy!

Here's the before picture.

And, ta da!  the after (maybe it was Martha Stewart who came to help. Look how nice and neat they are!

Just one more step ...

I'll have to explain more about this one tomorrow. I promise you will think I lost my mind!

Stitches, Web Site, and A Most Deadly Game...

Sarah

Quick reminder: enter our Blogiversary contest for a chance to win prizes! It'll be good times, people -- good times.

Right now, we're busy gearing up for Stitches West, which should be a lot of fun -- last year was our first time there as a vendor, and it went really well. Will you be there? Be sure to visit us! Our booth is #822/824. It'll be February 21-24, and just like last year it will be held in the convention center in Santa Clara. This is what our booth looked like last year, but we'll be changing things up for 2008 -- Laura has a plan for a very cute theme, so be sure to drop in and check it out. (If you can't make it, no worries, we'll be sure to blog about it when the time comes!)

Aside from Stitches, Laura is also working on the new Bella web site, which is very nearly done (assuming that the shopping cart software starts working the way it's supposed to!) and I'm busy with a few things of my own. A pattern of mine was accepted for publication (sorry, can't give details on the blog yet, but needless to say I am totally stoked) so I'm working on a sample. I'll have to set that aside tomorrow, though, for the start of Death by Socks! I decided to join after reading about it on Liz's blog. Hopefully I'll manage to take a few other knitters out before meeting my doom, but who knows? Even if I knit my socks super-speedily, I'm still at the mercy of the Post Office of Doom. Cross your fingers for me!

The Rule of Three

Sarah

The other day, I put Measure down to let him practice crawling, and he made a beeline for a tote full of yarn! He has good taste, it was a really pretty heathered alpaca blend. (I think he was trying to tell me to knit him a sweater with it.) Since yarn on the floor is probably a strangulation hazard to a baby, and a baby on the floor is definitely a tangulation hazard to the yarn, I decided that this weekend was a good time to invest in some big clear plastic bins and do a full-on stash overhaul.

As I went through it all, I realized that though I like having a large stash, I really am running out of space to store yarn and fiber. I've got a large basket in the living room (stored out of the reach of little baby fingers), a cedar chest (which we use as a coffee table), two largeish plastic bins, one large under-bed storage bin, two closet organizer thingies from Ikea, and three smaller baskets which go on the bookshelves and my desk. And yeah, this is after I went through and pruned two largish bag's worth of yarn to donate to Goodwill.

So, I formulated a plan for myself: before buying a new ball of yarn, I have to use three balls of yarn from my stash. Since I don't have a large fiber stash, I decided that I can buy new fiber on a "replacement" basis: I can buy a new 4-ounce braid when I've spun 4 ounces of stash. Sounds sensible, no? This way, I don't feel like I'm on a stash "diet" -- at least not a starvation diet -- but I'm motivating myself to make room for all the stuff I'm sure I'll want to buy at Stitches West this year!

Recipe for a Scarflet

Sarah

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, scarflets appeal to my limited attention span and the common knitterly desire to have at least one easily portable project on the needles at all times. I made a few this winter, and gave a couple away as gifts. This one is probably my favorite -- a little Malabrigo scarflet for my friend CC, who lives in Seattle. A little linen stitch broke up any pooling (this is the Azalea colorway in the worsted weight, if you're wondering), and garter-stitch edges provided a nice finish.

A scarflet is nice because it just covers the bit of your neck that needs covering, without a lot of extra fabric flying around or forming an unsightly lump under your coat. Plus, it's a good way to show off a few pretty buttons. Want to make one? Click to continue through to the rest of the post for my linen-stitch scarflet "recipe" and a photo of this one in action.

Stash and Burn Podcast

Laura

We had a lot of fun at Stitches West. Met lots of people, bought lots of yarn to add to our personal stashes and also talked to the ladies at Stash and Burn in a podcast interview. Fun!! 

Jenny and Nicole stopped by to interview me about Bella Knitting. First, I want you to try to visualize the chaos that was our Stitches experience. Originally, we were a bit disappointed to be relegated to a booth way in the back –- but once we got going I realized we really could not have handled any more traffic or orders than we had. So there I was, surrounded by happy customers smiling over the Viking hats, picking out free mini-purse key chains or patiently waiting in line to buy one of our projects. Sarah is highly pregnant and so I morphed into her mother, worrying about her standing too much, and then there was Robin, who simply would not take a break to eat or shop because we are too busy. But I found a few minutes for Nicole and Jenny to talk about Bella Knitting and was thrilled to do so –- if only my head were not spinning off of my usually stable shoulders!

Not to worry. They were so professional and prepared that they led me perfectly down the garden path. No general “so tell me about your store” questions from these two. When you listen to the podcast you will hear questions that are perfectly tailored to the Bella business model -- so not only are they fun and energetic, they are also informative. I was hooked immediately and listed to this entire podcast about Stitches and to prior ones as well. I have already subscribed to Stash and Burn on my i-tunes and bet you will too. Enjoy. Here's the  Stash and Burn podcast link.

An Accident With the Credit Card: Part Two

Sarah

Yesterday was an inventory of my fiber purchases -- today, the yarn.

My first yarn purchase was on Thursday night -- Robin and I ran over to the Full Thread Ahead booth to get ourselves some Handmaiden Sea Silk before it all got snapped up. This is the "Forest" colorway. I don't even know what I want to do with it other than sit around admiring it. Maybe it will grow up to be a lace scarf one day, but I'll have to think about it -- I'm not sure I can improve on the perfection of the hank.

I've been wanting to find some nice sock yarn for my sister to replace the ball which was destroyed

by the young serval cat she works with. I think this hank of Blue Moon STR heavyweight in "Jade" will fit the bill.

 

My last stop was at the Tess booth, where I picked up this lovely stuff to make a sweater for Jason. It's a two-ply merino-silk blend with a lovely sheen and subtle varigations in color. In this picture it looks a little more grey, and a little less green, than it does in person. I'm already working on the sweater, because apparently I really feel that I'm slacking if I don't have around twenty WIPs. I'm working in a 3x1 broken rib, and I like the way it looks so far. I think Jason will like it too.

Last, but not least, I purchased this single skein of Tess single-ply wool-silk blend as a gift for my mom. She doesn't have a ball winder and I do, so I decided to wind it up before giving it to her. This way she can cast on as soon as she gets it -- don't you think this will make a lovely scarf?

The photo, of course, is yet another homage to brooklyntweed's yarn portraits.