Black Sheep and Pacific Knits

Saturday was a busy day for me considering my mobility issue. I headed out to Black Sheep Yarns, my LYS, where two events were taking place simultaneously. First there was Yarn Harvest, a yarn crawl held in connection with Fraser Valley Knitting Guild. No less than 14 regional yarn shops were involved with the addition to ten other participating artists. Since I was at the shop I can attest to the fact it did increase traffic. And it was great to see fellow knitters from the region enjoying the selection found in my LYS.

Helen, the owner of Black Sheep, and Alexa, my teacher, with her new baby boy

Emily, in a sweater from Pacific Knits, and Alexa taking a quick coffee break

Also on Saturday the shop sponsored a book signing for Pacific Knits, a new book containing 18 new knit designs by Emily Wessel and Alexa Ludeman. I so admire these two, both local designers, who have taken inspiration from our Pacific Northwest surroundings to create lovely knit items. Click on the link to see what they've done. Alexa took all the photographs and not only does she do a great job of capturing the designs, she also shows off the beauty of our region in the Northwest above the 49th parallel.

If you like what you see in the look book, pick up a copy. It's only $19.95, or better yet, consider the on-line version and be more sustainable or portable. (I enjoy having my patterns on the iPad for travelling.) The variety in the knitting skill levels necessary from difficult to beginner, along with the ability to make many patterns that fit sizes from babies to dads makes Pacific Knits well worth the purchase price. I know I've added several items from it to my knit to-do list already. The best part is all the free tutorials Emily and Alexa make available on their website; if you run into a snag there's help available any time day or night.

Tena and Jones

Tena, my knit buddy was also there with me (she helped me as I hobbled around). Here she is happily watching over Alexa's new son while Mom was busy taking care of business.

How lucky we are to have such gifted designers in our midst who so willingly share their talents. And I don't think it will be very difficult to talk me into taking another class with Alexa. I learn so much in such a short time.

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