My Local Yarn Shop & Job Are Closing ~ a post by Kelli

I packed up my samples, and took them home.

It will be a sad week.
 The end of Ana Cross Stitch as it will close as of March 9th.
I will miss so many things about my my part-time work there.
I have worked with great women and had wonderful experiences.
The unknown is coming again.
It's starting to sink in, but I won't be ready to turn in my shop key.
A simple reminder to be grateful for your job.
Time will tell where I go next.

A Noni Retreat ~ A post by Kelli

I work at Ana Cross~Stitch, a yarn and threads shop. We weekend at Camp Brotherhood every year about this time. The owner of the shop invites a different designer every year. This year was Nora Bellows or Noni as she's known in the knitting and felting world. She's a fabulous women, who beats to her own drum. She's a flower lover. We learned the anatomy of a flower and were soon knitting away. While she taught the class the Cherry Blossom pattern, I flipped through the book. In true "Kelli fashion" found something else to knit, in my own gauge,weight and size not like the pattern called for(did I say SHE beats to her own drum?). I knitted the Pom Pom Chrysanthemum, I had worsted weight yarn, the pattern called for bulky, I used a US5, the pattern called for US13, I was suppose to repeat 120 petals,I repeated around 60. I liked how the flower and purse turned out, I'm planning on making the purse an across the body bag, as soon as get a 27" purse chain hardware, which I believe her twin sister Laura, aka JUL sells. Flood, Harding and Noni, that's a good winter~

Meeting Sally Melville

One bonus I enjoy at my job is meeting some amazing famous knitters. Yesterday Sally Melville came by. She's teaching a workshop through our yarn shop Ana Cross Stitch, 3/4 yarn shop 1/4 threads and stitching.

She's a small framed women, but you can't miss her. You can tell without asking she loves what she does, she was wearing her first ever "Einstein Coat". My guess it's from 2001. After checking into hotel she came back wearing her "A Grey Cardigan". She's knitted 5 of these, it's a wonderful cabled sweater in her Mother-Daughter book. I wish I'd have had my camera, she wore a short black leather boot with spikes sticking out of the heels. She said "gives a whole new meaning to a good ass kicking".

My kinda gal. I like her, and wished I was going to be apart of the weekend, but for a couple reasons it didn't work out for me.

I do have her The Knit Stitch and Mother-Daughter Knits, I've only knitted the Shape It! Scarf, but am dusting off these two books and remembering the knits I wanted to work.

Kelli

~Knitters Strike Again~

Yes it's true, defacing of public property with knitted things has enhanced the world again~ Frank Varga a reporter from the Skagit Valley Herald caught myself and boss Ana-Cross Stitch owner, Kristi Gabrielse,bombing downtown Anacortes. (A bench cover and the post are covered here in the photo)
The Cultured Purls, Anacortes Knitting Guild had knitted together these panels for a town project for the week of 'Relay For Life' and 'Paint The Town Purple'.
A countless number of people have sat on the bench and taken photos makes the whole thing worth doing.
The yarns are differnt shades of purple mostly donated from Plymoth.
This article was posted in saturdays post.
Makes ya tear up a little huh?

Kelli