It was the worst of times* (A Tale of Two Hops, Part 3).

Ok, that was a flat out lie. It was still the best of times, just with weather that was worse.  Saturday, April 15 the weather was very different from Friday, April 14, gray, rainy and mid-40 temperatures. We were a bigger group (6-7 all day long), so Brenda brought the big van. Brenda, Joy, Heather, Stephanie, Gloria and I headed out of the designated meeting location to the first shop in St. Louis Park at 9:50am. 

Even though she's not able to join us for the whole day, Ann met us at our first stop; Needle & Skein (Full Service Yarn Shop in St. Louis Park, MN | Needle & Skein (needleandskein.com).  The crochet pattern is called Oceanic Cowl. Dream in Color Yarn provided 2 possble colorways, both using the varigated "In the Depths" yarn, paired with either a tonal blue or coral.  I decided I would push my usual color boundaries and chose the coral. The samples in the store used the blue & varigated combo for their crochet patter and the coral & blue for the knit pattern.  It will be interesting to see how the coral looks in crochet.

We had to take a group photo before leaving, since Ann wouldn't be going with us for the rest of the trip.  Next up: Edina's Harriet & Alice. 

If you're not already familiar with the area, it can be a little tricky to find Harriet & Alice (harrietandalice.com), but it is certainly worth the effort.   The shop is chock-full of lush yarns, useful notions and handmade goods.  The crochet pattern for is the Pleasant Waves cowl with 2 different colorways, one in shades of purple the other in blue and gold.   I bet you can guess which color combo was the favorite. I completed my cowl recently and it turned out beautifully! I posted a picture on my Ravelry account and will be bringing it to show and tell in May.

From Edina, we headed to Roseville to pick up Bree, then to White Bear Lake, were we visited Sheepy Yarn Shoppe and went to Alleycat's Gourmet Sandwiches for lunch. Lunch was simply wonderful, although the statue of Jack Daniels in the restroom was a little off-putting (or hilarious, depending on your sensibilities). I was very disappointed in the yarn shop, as they didn't offer a crochet pattern.  The lack of crochet pattern and the gray, rainy day had an impact, because while it was a nice enough shop, I just couldn't make myself take pictures or make note of the custom yarn.

Nest stop on the hop was Knitting from the Heart (heartknits.com) in Woodbury.   Trippin' with Dixie Fiber Company dyed the lovely Searching for Sea Glass Yarn for the Knitting from the Heart for the hop.  The yarn is a beautiful blue green, some more green, some a little more blue-green, as you would expect with a hand-dyed yarn.  Unfortunately, they were sold out, but we were able to order yarn and when I checked on 4/27, there was still an option to order on their site, including the beads are optional with the "Searching for Sea Glass Crocheted Shoulder Cozy" pattern.   You have to love a pattern with beads! I guess you don't have to, but I do...ever since CTC introduced me to crocheting with beads, I've been hooked!

Knitting from the Heart is a beautiful shop, with luxurious yarns, and they host a diverse schedule of classes.  They also participate in the fall Progressive East End Project. PEEP involves a single pattern with each store offering a different custom colorway.

It's the second to the last shop, and truthfully, I am grateful that Darn Knit Anyway | Stillwater, MN, is not closer to my home. DKA is a personal favorite, for reasons that are very sentimental, my husband and I like to visit Stillwater's B&B's and we've stopped there together. 

The crochet pattern is called the "Just Keep Swimming Cowl".  The colorway School of Fish from Fiber Macgyver was inspired by a beautiful underwater photo of a school of fish.  While they were sold out, ordering was available and I heard a rumor that the yarn is available for pick up this weekend.  Of course, we had to get a group photo including the very silly, sea themed hats.   If you happen to be in the area, be sure to check out this treasure of shop with it's amazing maker's space. 

We drove through St. Paul, to drop off one hopper and headed to the last shop on the list, 3 Kittens Needle Arts | Mendota heights | St. Paul, MN.   I have to admit, by this time, even I was pretty shopped out.   I failed to take any pictures as I got caught up in the excitement of turning in my completed passport and collecting the pin to hold my collection of stitch markers. Fortunately, Gloria took a couple. 
Their crochet pattern, the Sea Anenome is a unique pattern combining the lace weight, Irish Moss yarn in Red Coral and a fingering weight yarn from Coos Bay in either Red Coral or the red/blue varigated Red Sea Anenome.   

On our way back to our own vehicles, we all agreed that we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to next year! I hope you decide to join us!

P.S. a couple of items I failed to mention - Muse 2320 in Hastings had 2 very fun gum dispensers filled with buttons and stitch markers - I had to get a handful of each.  

Knitting From the Heart was selling some fun necklaces that doubled as stitch marker holders, so I split my stitch markers (pictured below) between the necklace and pin. On the blue background below, Gloria's charms, pin and necklace are pictured.

It was the best of times...(A Tale of Two Hops, Part 2)

It was sunny and beautiful on Friday, April 14 and the first two shops were fun and wow! How to even start when you're talking about StevenBe | Minneapolis, MN?  Sensory overload? An explosion of color & texture?  Eclectic, energetic & engaging - all of the above apply to the shop, and maybe the shop owner as well.   We also found Joy W, a friend and former member of CTC, hard at work at StevenBe's, and I ran into a friend from work also enjoying the beautiful weather and shopping.

Steven dressed as King Neptune. The shop was, well, this shop is 2 floors of decadence.  From the roving to the finished items, accessories, books, StevenBe has it all.  And it's large and in color! Lots of color, texture, this is an "I could stay here all day exploring every nook and cranny" kind of shop. Oh and don't get me started about the Mama Christa's room and the treasures on clearance. The 2023 Yarn Shop Hop crochet pattern is the Crocheted Handspun Wiggle Shawl.  Unlike the knit pattern, the crochet pattern does not call for the Sea Nymph yarn commissioned for the 2023 hop (shown in the rightmost picture below).    It's always fun to 

After Minneapolis, it was time to head The Yarnery in St. Paul.  The Yarnery relocated from Grand Ave to Selby Ave, and the new shop is great!  It's bright and airy and chock full of fun yarn, accessories, notions and gifts.   The Yarnery offered 4 different colorways for the crochet Berg infinity cowl pattern.   Private lessons, classes, workshops and 10 minute Help Labs are offered on-site. Curb-side pick-up and shipping are available at the Yarnery and most of the LYS. The Yarnery also has an innovative One Yarn Collection ( One Yarn Collection – The Yarnery), which supports the   community that they have built.  

One of the things I was impressed by as we visited the shops, is the variety in the "feel" of the shops.   Each of the 12 shops has it's own style and personality and that was reflected in the different interpretations of "Under the Sea" theme.  We've already seen the king of the sea, icebergs and mermaids, and we'll see pirate ships and narwhals before the day is over.   Only two more shops to go for the day.   As we get our passports stamped, gather our stitch markers and patterns and check out with our purchases, we realize it is time for food!   Fortunately for us, Gloria is very familiar with the area and is able to direct us to Cafe Latte for our lunch.  Since it's cafeteria style, we were able to accommodate those who brought their own lunches and those who were splurging on a lunch out. If you happen to be in the area, I recommend giving it a try!

Refreshed & refueled, we head down to Hastings to MUSE2320 Fiber Co.  Check out their website to see the story behind the "2320"part of their name, it's a fun fact about the river.  This is a great little shop! *When I say "little" I refer only to the physical shop size, the selection of yarns, tools and accessories is quite diverse and offers many options.  Muse2320 dyes their own yarns and feature products from one of my personal (not endorsed by CTC or any other entity, just little ol' me) online shopping favorites: Online Ethical Yarn & Clothing Store | Darn Good Yarn .  This year, Muse 2320 offered 2 colorways for their Double-Crossed Bandana Cowl crochet pattern: Treasure Map/Crows Nest or Kraken/Siren.   The Kraken/Siren combination was sold out, but available for special order and the Treasure Map/Crows Nest was available.  After we all took care of business it was time to move on to the last shop.

The final stop on the Hop for Friday 4/14 was Northfield Yarn.  It's a bit of a longer drive, but once we arrived, it was definitely worth the trip.    Northfield Yarn is not "just" a shop, it's a fiber arts community providing tools, supplies and classes.  The  2023 MN Yarn Shop Hop crochet pattern is Sally Sells Sea Shells, a cowl and their custom yarn is called Narwhalicorn a beautiful DK weight yarn by Three Irish Girls.  They also had narwhal patterns for felting, crochet and knit.   We had planned to be home by 5pm, but went a little long.  Still, all in all we had a great time and I am greatly looking forward to (and back on) the Saturday shops. 

A Tale of Two (S)Hops* Part 1

On Friday, April 14, I'm waiting for Gloria to pick me up at 9:10am and going crazy (No, Gloria wasn't late, I was just impatient)!   I double checked my preparations, and then double checked the double-checking.  The day was so sunny and beautiful, I'm not even bringing a jacket.  When my phone started ringing, my heart stuttered - was this going to be bad news, maybe something that would stop the hop?  Whew, nope!  It was an awesome surprise, Ann, was able to join us at the last minute, and wanted to confirm the meeting location.  Now there will be four, oops, make that five, (you'll see Angie, the Anglerfish, in a lot of the pictures) of us hopping together.

Angie, Ann, Gloria, Brenda and I left for Amazing Threads (Yarn Store & Knitting Supplies from Amazing Threads in Maple Grove, Minneapolis, MN (amazing-threads.com) from our meeting spot in Edina. Amazing Threads may have been the best starting point. We arrived as the store opened and the bubble machine at the door added to the festive feel of the day.  Amazing Threads commissioned a pretty blue yarn, Caribbean Waves, and the crochet pattern is for High Tide Texting gloves.  There's a great selection of yarns, lots of bags, books and accessories, as well as a pretty good sale area upstairs; you won't want to miss it if you stop by. 

We couldn't resist a chance to take a silly picture at the fun photo station set up in the back of the store. Those of us attending both days and planning on visiting all 12 shops received the first stamp on our passports and picked up our stitch markers.  The four of us picked up the information to download our free patterns, dropped off our drawing slips, gathered our purchases and headed to Minneapolis, satisfied with our first stop on the trip.   Ask Brenda to show off the cute new bag she picked up next time you see her.

In Minneapolis, our first stop was Knit & Bolt — Fine Yarn, Fun Fabric – Knit and Bolt.   They had a very cool window display; unfortunately, the brightness of the day made it hard to get a good picture, but you can kinda see the underwater scene with the mermaid through the reflections. The theme carried through inside the store right down to the jelly fish earrings on the cashier who took a shine to Angie (she's really a show-stealer, everyone loves her).  You can see additional picture of their decor on the Knit & Bolt Facebook page. 

The colorway from Knit & Bolt is Mermaids! dyed by Fiber MacGyver, and the crochet pattern is the Reef Scarf.  The shop was fun to visit with a good selection of yarn, accessories, and some other fun items. Knit & Bolt is advertising a Craft & Cruise event in August, check out their website for details; it sounds like a fun event!   

It's taken me way too long to get this first part out, and I only covered the first two shops. I'll work on getting the rest out as soon as I am able, but, well, people keep expecting me to do my job, take care of my family and all kinds of stuff that's not nearly as much fun as thinking about the #minnesotayarnshophop!

*I had originally planned to post once about Friday & once about Saturday, so it was 2 Hops, but since I only covered the first 2 stores, it became 2 (S)Hops.

Not your Grandma's Granny Square by Susi of lsanti Stitch & Chat

I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of the granny square. As a young teen, I made my one and only traditional granny square blanket from a kit. I didn't have the internet, or any other "hookers" to consult. My grandmother lived 100s of miles away, and this was back in the day of expensive long distance phone calls. That blanket didn't even last a year before it just started falling apart. I've had 40 years of experience since then and many "aha moments" regarding my mistakes, but I have never attempted it again. I've dabbled with small projects involving granny squares or variations. When I heard we were having a class on the granny, I wondered what I might get out of it. 

I should have known; CTC provided an instructor who is a regular granny genius! Suzie came all the way from Isanti to show us how to make a better granny square.  I can't give away her secrets, but I can tell you that I might actually consider making a granny square afghan with her Join As You Go (JAYGO), invisible joins and other tips and tricks for making a granny square that is not your Granny's square. Don't take my word for it though, ask any one of the 18 members who attended our April second-Saturday meeting in St. Paul.

Several members wore their hexagon cardis mentioned in the last blog, Marissa wore a too-die-for free-form shawl (picture below from Ravelry) and Peggy showed off a GORGEOUS shawl she finished from the March Solomon Stitch meeting.  There were lots of other projects to ooh and ah over as well, my failure to mention each one is not meant to diminish any of them.  I have to start remembering to take pictures for future blogs!  Please send your project photos to ctclist@gmail.com and I will share them in future blogs.  Otherwise, I may borrow a picture from Ravelry or Facebook.

We had a lot to talk about too.  We're making plans for fall education and looking into options for a fun outing.  We touched base on the Yarn Shop Hop plans (space still available), the June Fiber Arts retreat (space available) and more.  You can reach out to Theresa if you are interested in either, or email: ctclist@gmail.com.  A quick reminder that May will be a board meeting month, and members are welcome to stay and participate.

The CGOA has announced the 2023 Chapter Challenge - Crochet Guild of America (CGOA).   Connect with Nancy S. to report your soap sack counts through June 23.  Counts will need to be reported monthly, you can find details for the project on the CGOA website. Feel free to get started and we'll get you additional details as needed.

May your yarn never tangle, your hooks never break, and your fingers never cramp! Theresa

National Crochet Month the Sequel

I've had a lot of fun following blog hops, collecting free patterns and celebrating the yarny goodness of March, National Crochet Month.  I hope you enjoyed the celebration of all things crochet.  Unfortunately, we're not really getting another National Crochet Month, but April is going to be a busy month for Crochet Twin Cities.  I am NOT going to talk about Mother Nature's little April Fool's joke, because, seriously?

I've always had a love/hate relation with the granny square.  The first afghan I ever made was a colorful black edged granny square design.  As a 13-year-old, I didn't understand the fine points of leaving long tails and weaving them in and it didn't take long for the afghan to begin to unravel.  Years later, pregnant with my first child, I made an over-size granny baby blanket.  I guess you could say it was my first time creating my own design.   My plan had to be add a few rounds every year for her birthday, so that she would eventually have a blanket big enough for a double bed.   I kept it up until her 4th or 5th birthday, but by her 6th birthday I was too busy with her and her 2 brothers under 2 years old.   *This story will make sense as soon as you learn that the topic for April's meeting is granny squares.

We'll kick April off with our regular "2nd Saturday" meeting on Saturday, April 8th, at a St. Paul library.  Suzi will be joining us to show us her own take on and technique for the classic granny square.  There will be plenty of time for show & tell and social time before and after education (11am-noon).  Details can be found in the calendar or April newsletter sent to members.  The granny "square" rectangle afghan in pictured isn't one of Suzi's.  One of our members, Virginia, made it about a year ago and I found it posted in Ravelry.  The pattern is available free here: Caron Rectangular Crochet Granny Afghan Pattern | Yarnspirations.

Jumping to the next weekend (see what I did there?), Friday & Saturday, April 14 &15, CTC will be Yarn Shop Hopping!   Our current plan is to split the 12 participating shops equally between Friday and Saturday.  If you want to ride along, contact us at ctclist@gmail.com to confirm space is available and get the details. Non-members are welcome as long as there is space available, so if your bestie isn't a member of CTC you can still bring them along!  If you can't commit to a full day or prefer to drive your own vehicle, we'll send the schedule out to all members after the April 8th meeting.  You can find out more about the hop on their website at: Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop.

Finally, our April 22 "4th Saturday" meetup will be at the MOA in the North Food Court as usual. We had 21 people attend the March meetup in Roseville, I'm excited to see how many show up this month.  With 4 days of events, I hope we see you at one or more of them in April.

A spot has opened up at the June fiber arts retreat in Hudson, WI.  The cost of the retreat is $120 for Thursday, June 22 through Sunday, June 25.  Bedrooms are shared, linens & towels are provided.  There's a fully stocked kitchen and we all bring plenty of food & beverages. Since we're close enough to town for delivery, we'll order pizza one night and some will choose to check out local restaurants.  If you are interested reach out to me (Theresa), via the email/phone number listed in the member roster or ctclist@gmail.com  The fiber arts retreat welcomes knitters, spinners, weavers, and I think we've even had a quilter at one.  All of that to say that the fiber arts retreats are not sponsored or endorsed by CTC in any way.  Attendees include former members and non-members.  The retreat weekends often include field trips to a LYS (Stillwater's Darn Knit Anyway is not far) and other spots of interest, but mostly involve crafting and socializing, and of course, there is always time to admire each other's handiwork.  

Speaking of which, did you see my FB post about the Crochet Retro Stripe Hexagon Cardigan - Repeat Crafter Me? I've been thinking about making the sweater and posted a link to the free pattern.  Several members and other fiber friends commented, and a couple of members posted pictures of the versions they had made (Lori's longer version above and Peggy's appears below).  I am hoping to see a fashion show at the June retreat as several more of the attendees have them.  I love that people are willing to show me how they customized the pattern for themselves and share the joys and trials of a pattern.

See you soon!