WWKIP, Hand Felted Bag, Knitting 202

Hi Folks,

Just a few quick updates on upcoming excitement...

Hand Felted Bag Workshop - learn how to create felted fabric from roving (ie. unspun hand-dyed wool) and fashion it into a fun & funky tote bag! No knitting or crocheting! At the end of the class you will have a finished bag that only needs to be dried. Space is limited and filling up fast!
Sunday, June 10th, 10 am - 4 pm; $120 (includes all materials)

Knitting 202 - if you've ever wanted to learn how to knit, assemble, and finish a sweater professionally, take this four-session class with master knitter Sheila Thall. It takes place every other Saturday morning starting June 9th, giving you plenty of time to complete each section of the class project - a simple kids sweater.
Saturdays June 9, 23, July 7, 21: 10 am - Noon; $75

Details on all our classes can be found here:

http://marinfiberarts.com/classes.php

World Wide Knit In Public Day (WWKIP) is fast approaching: Saturday, June 9th. We are hosting a WWKIP event out in the plaza in front of the store starting at Noon. Bring your knitting (or crocheting) projects, sun screen, a wide-brimmed hat, or other sun projection, and a bottle of water! It will most likely be sunny and warm during the afternoon. There will also be lots of activity: the annual Italian Street Painting Festival takes place a mere block away at the intersection of 5th and A streets. Extremely talented artists from around the country converge on San Rafael to create amazing works of art in the middle of the street using sidewalk chalk! There will be food vendors and live music throughout the weekend. More importantly, downtown will be filled with creative-minded people admiring other people's creativity. Let us show our community what a great past time knitting and crocheting can be!

Details on WWKIP can be found here:

http://wwkipday.com/?page_id=174

Knit Night 5/17/07

Show and Tell - new scrumptious Alchemy yarns in amazing colors!


Smile, you're on knit night camera!


Suzanne seams up an adorable baby sweater.


Tabby models her toe-up sock.


Here's Tabby.


Yes, I really am taking your picture, Patricia :-)

Good times were had by all. Hope to see everyone again soon!

They Came, They Saw, They Shopped!

MFA hosted the First Annual Sea Socks and Yarn Expedition Cruise on Tuesday this week. Some sixty knitters, led by our own beloved Queen, descended on the shop for four hours. It was a little wild, but in a good way. Everybody appeared to have a good time and a lot of sock yarn found new homes!

Thank you so much to all the knitters from all across the country who made it to San Rafael that day - it was wonderful to meet you all and to have you with us. We hope you'll visit us again!

Special thanks to Darlene Hayes, creator of Nature's Palette Yarns and Muench Yarns' Kirsten Muench. They brought yarn and patterns and samples and other goodies for all the Sea Sockers and spent the day sharing tips, new yarns and good cheer. Thanks, too, to Alison Hyde, whose book Wrapped in Comfort, is scheduled for release this summer. We got a chance to meet her, pre-order the book and see a number of her gorgeous shawls.

And of course a big shout out to the fabulous MFA regulars who spent the day helping out. There was NO WAY we could have handled the crowd (knitters are just so rowdy :-) without the excellent help of Elaine, Jo Ann, Marcia, Kimberley, Phoebe, Valerie, Judy, and of course the Queen. You all totally rock!

(There were people taking photos, but we haven't seen them yet. If it was you and you could email them to Warren - yarn (at) marinfiberarts (dot) com - we'd love to post them!)