NestMusings

Greetings fellow knitters!
Krista here, taking liberties with The Nest's blog as Abby gets settled in Chicago. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the girl you'll see in The Nest on Saturdays who isn't Diana. I'm crazy about knitting, and the color pink, and I'll be happy to help you find the right yarn, fix a problem (or rip it out for you), or teach you something new...even if it's new to me as well. So sit back and relax as I tell you what's going on this fall at The Nest.

Fall is just around the corner, and we all know what that means...it's time to start knitting our Christmas gifts! I've made a promise to myself this year:
I, Krista Book, WILL NOT wait until the LAST minute to start my gift knitting!
With The Nest's fall line-up of classes, we will all be prepared when it's time to wrap up our gifts! And with all the time I'll have by getting my gifts done early, I may even knit the bows to tie around my packages...

This fall, we'll be knitting stuff for the beginner, the more advanced beginner, and the intermediate knittiners, so there's a project (or two, or three) here for everyone!

To kick off our fall line-up, The Nest will be knitting the Felted Christmas Stocking. These stocking will teach you the basics of sock knitting, and the result is a beautiful hand-made stocking you and your loved ones with treasure forever! See for yourself...

Classes for the Felted Christmas Stocking will be Wednesdays, September 8th, 15th, and 22nd at 4:30 pm. Come knit a traditional or door-sized stocking to add to this year's holiday decor.

Next up, we have the Felted Potholders. On Thursdays, September 9th and 16th at 11:00 am, we will be knitting, and then felting, potholers...both a mitt and a traditional square potholder. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to crank these babies out like Mable did with the Chemo Caps! Check it out!

Aren't we all dying to make these for our favorite chef??

Third on our calendar is the Advanced Entrelac class. In this class, we'll be kicking it up a notch, and adding cables to our already gorgeous entrelac projects. This class will be held on Fridays, September 10th and 17th at 11:00 am.

*Basic Entrelac is a prerequisite for this class.

To keep in the spirit of felting, The Nest's favorite felter, Beth Cliffton, will be teaching us how to knit this adorable shoulder bag!

Now, I was working the day Beth bought the yarn for this bag, and all I know is when I walked in two Saturdays later, this is what I saw. Can you say "Super cute, super QUICK gift!"? I know I can! So come knit one with Beth on Saturday, September 11th at 11:00 am.

Here's something we can all use...Finishing School! It's no secret, we ALL have UFO's in our closets, under our beds, in bags hanging on door knobs, in the trunks of our cars, and if you're like I am, in our over-sized purses. Krista A. is going to help rectify this, uh, problem, and teach us how to FINISH! Off the top of my head, I can think of six, no, SEVEN, UFO's I have lying around my house, so Krista, you have your work cut out for you! Join us for The Nest's Finishing School on Tuesdays, September 14th, 21st, and 28th at 4:30 pm, and get those UFO's out of hiding and around your neck, on your head, on your back...you get the idea.

Now that we're into the middle of the month, it's likely the weather will start cooling off, and we're going to need something to keep our shoulders warm. Well, once again, it's The Nest to the rescue! On Tuesdays, September 14th, 21st and 28th at 6:00 pm (after Finishing School), Krista A. will help us make the stunning Oscilloscope shawl.

While knitting this shawl, we'll learn to make easy lace with worsted weight yarn...just think of the possibilities!!!

Okay, if you're looking for something whimsical, yet quite practical, come knit these flip flops with me on Saturdays, September 18th and 25th at 11:00 am.

Because these are knit on such large needles, they work up fairly quickly, and with the short rows and I-cords, they keep your attention. No worries if you've never done a short row, or if you've no idea what an I-cord is...I'll show you! And once you've finished these, your entire family is going to be begging for a pair!

If you're looking to double your pleasure, stick around after the Felted Flip Flops class on Saturday, September 18th, because at 3:00 pm, I'll be knitting the Xenocryst hat. This little beauty is going to be a fun knit. We're going to learn the Estonian cast-on, and Braid stitch! Yay us!

To finish up the month, Diana is going to teach you how to use your stash...that's right...YOUR STASH to knit an amazing jacket using miter stitch. You can be as crazy or conservative as you want with this jacket, and no matter what you choose to do, no one else will have one exactly like it. This jacket is unique to you! So go through your stash (and you know you have one...probably a BIG one), and get down to The Nest on Friday, September 24th at 11:00 am so Diana can help you turn your "what am I going to do with this?" yarn into an "I MADE THIS!!" jacket!