Men Who Knit on Dr. Oz

So a couple of weeks ago after a long, not so great day at work, I came home to an odd message on my answering machine.  The long and short of the message was that the Dr. Oz show was doing a segment on Men Who Knit and they wanted to use some of my photos and information.  I spent the evening emailing pictures and talking back and forth with Hali in NY, one of the shows producers.  I sent her pics of the Southeast Men's Knitting Retreat, finished projects, and contacted a few friends to send pics as well.  (The segment was taping on Friday and this was late Wednesday evening, so I could not get in touch with as many friends as I wanted.)

So today I get an email from Hali and the segment will air on Wednesday, October 3rd.  Set your DVR and call your friends to see about the health benefits of knitting and to see a bunch of men who love to knit.  Hope this gets the knitting world and the male knitters a lot of positive press!

Going Back in Time...

So I see that my last post was 3 months ago and I need to tell you that Heather and I have done quite a few things since then.  I will begin with the wonderful Soxperience on Chincoteague Island.  We spent a wonderful camping weekend on the island and had a great time learning new sock techniques with Wendy Johnson.

I have often avoided socks due to the complexity of the heel, picking up stitches, and holes that always seem to show up at the joins.  Well I can safely say now that I will be making more socks, am working on a pair currently (pics coming soon), and designed a pattern at the retreat (pattern coming soon).  Thanks to Wendy for a wonderful weekend and thanks to Caroline, Dan, and Melissa with Carodan Farm Wool Shop for hosting Soxperience.

While on the island the kids enjoyed lots of fun days with Heather's mom and dad.  They earned their Ranger Badges, held whale bones, and got to see the cowboys round up ponies for vet checks: 

Wendy also indulged my "fan-ness" by allowing Eleanor to have her picture taken with her.  

The hotel on the island had no recycling (which we thought was unusual).  Wendy asked us to take her bottles home to recycle (we were collecting to take home with us as we discussed the islands commitment to renewal and clean living).  Here are the bottles:

I wonder if there are any Wendy groupies who would buy these on ebay?

Trying to boost my popularity.....

So a couple of sites that promote my free patterns are having a contest.  All I have to do is post links to their site and they will promote my blog and site.  So I am posting here and at my business site:

www.stitchingforewe.com

I am also adding these sites to the favorites at the side because they truly are great sites to find patterns.

The first is:

They have featured several of my patterns and there are quite a few great patterns organized by type for you there.

The next site is:

For those of you who don't knit, this site has plenty of other crafts for you to enjoy.

So if you are crafty, check out one or both of these sites.  I'm sure you'll find something that you will enjoy!



Finally sharing South East Men's Knitting Retreat

So as I am trying to slow down just a bit I thought it would be nice to share the details of the first annual South East Men's Knitting Retreat.  If you are unfamiliar with these retreats, please visit the site for Men's Knitting Retreats.  You will find lots of info, pics, and reasons why these wonderful retreats were started.
I shall first start with the Venue.  I searched the internet for a few months before deciding on Asbury Hills Retreat Center.  I will give you a scenery sneak peak:

The Center was just above Greenville, SC in the mountains.  To say it was beautiful is an understatement.  I have more pictures and I will put a link to the album at the end of this post.
Many had arrived when I got to the center (I got stuck in traffic in Greenville) and were ready to check in.  This is the view inside our "Cabins":

Cabin was not the word I would have used.  These were very nice lodges with mini-kitchens, hotel style bedrooms each with its own full bath, and a wonderful seating area (plus a flat screen tv and dvd player!).









Some rooms were private, and others could accommodate up to 3.  They were lovely well kept rooms.









Friday:
The first evening, after a wonderful meal, I hosted the "I'm dyeing to meet you workshop."  We all were given mini hanks of yarn to dye in crock pots courtesy of Sheila Trunzo at "Wool 2 Dye 4."  We used  unsweetened drink mix to create lovely hanks of blue, green, orange, and red mini hanks.  Doug even dyed his hank green and red variegated.  After the workshop we retreated to some living quarters to knit and talk together.

Saturday: 
The center treated us to a wonderful breakfast buffet, after which we started class with Steve Tracewell.  Steve took the morning to teach us toe up socks, magic loop style with a fleegle heel.

This took most of the morning and we had a great mexican buffet lunch.  We needed it after learning for 3 hours about socks. 

After lunch we loaded up in several cars and headed to North Woods Farm and Yarn Shop.  The owners Teri and Larry Gabric treated us to a tour of their Mill, Farm, and Yarn Shop.  They were very gracious hosts and I learned a great deal about fiber, spinning, machines and more.  Even with the proper equipment, a great deal of work goes into the production of a great yarn. 

We returned to the Retreat center for dinner and yet another class.  This one was my foray into Fair Isle.  We practiced knitting a swatch in Fair Isle and how to manage 2 yarns, trap the yarn, and carry it so it is not too tight. 
We then had show and tell.  Here is a preview:

After class we enjoyed knitting and a movie in the "lodge". 

Sunday:
Such a short weekend!  :(   We had another great breakfast and then were treated to a lesson in Twined Knitting by Charles Gandy.  I can safely say I need a lot of practice and maybe a few more lessons.  The results are gorgeous. 

We said our goodbyes and all headed back home just before lunch.  I am very geared up for this year to be even more fun!

To see more pics click here:  SEMKR 2012 Photo Album

My friend Joseph also took pics:  Joseph's Album

Way too long....

I know you are probably wondering where has Small Town Knit Guy been? 

Why have his blog posts been so few and far between? 

I am going to try to answer these questions and elaborate on the past 5 months over the next few blog posts.  To start with here is a question for you:

Have you seen one of these?

Or one of these?

If you knit or crochet chances are you probably have.  I have been "tangled up" in the latest scarf craze.  On November 17, 2011, my wife and I took all our knit and crochet "wares" to the annual Bazaar at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ahoskie, NC.
Since then we have had non-stop orders for scarves, baby buntings, baby sweaters, and more.  Our "on the side" business has made us enough money to attend a weekend Knitting Retreat and purchase the kind of yarn with which we like to knit things for ourselves.  We have also started our own website:
Stitching for Ewe .  We have been teaching regularly and I have not designed anything in months. (I still have several ideas in my head, I just have to get them down on paper.)  There have also been several other things going on. 

In November I coordinated the first ever South East Men's Knitting Retreat.  I plan to write about those three wonderful days over the next week to let you all know what a wonderful time we had and to share pictures.

So between knitting orders for people, teaching, knitting very little for myself, and working my full time job, I almost forgot about this blog.  I hope this will help me get back to my blogging.

Next week is Easter/Spring Break for those of us who chose to be teachers.  I am hoping to get in a lot of knitting, blogging, and designing while I am resting and taking a week off.  If you get some time off, I hope you enjoy it immensely and check out our new website above. 

I'll return soon with an entry about the SEMKR (South East Men's Knitting Retreat).


Take some time to knit today.

I won! and 2 Free Patterns

I was very excited to learn that I won Wendy Johnson's latest giveaway on her blog  Wendy Knits.  She gives away great things, but this one I really wanted because of its usefulness to me.  What is it you ask?  Wendy calls it the Knitter's Butler.  You can see pics of it here:

Jordana Paige Crafter's Butler

I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail next week!

Our business is really taking off.  You can keep up with us on Facebook at  "Stitching for Ewe."
We have several teaching gigs, workshops, and trips planned for the spring. 

So my wife and I taught Beginning Knit and Beginning crochet at a local Craft Shop last weekend.
Here are links to the patterns we taught:

Garter Stripes Scarf (Knit)   designed and knit by myself.

Perforation Scarf (Crochet)  designed and crocheted by my wife, the wonderful Heather Boyd.

Enjoy the patterns!  More news coming soon!

Buy One, Get One Free Wool Ease Thick and Quick at Michael's

http://weeklyad.michaels.com/?storeId=4803&promotionCode=Michaels-120108

What a Year, What a Past Month, and Free Pattern!

So I guess I am late with the great things that have happened to me this past year.  I will try to be brief in mentioning them by the month for 2011.  I will also include a link to my latest scarf pattern at the end of the post.  Here we go:

January:  Took it slow this month after a marathon of knitting to get my first design in the mail for publication.  It is available now from Skacel Collection in a book form with other patterns called Simplicity Volume 3: Men's.  It is a beanie, scarf, and fingerless mitts, all completely reversible and visible on the cover of the book.  My wife and I enjoyed a weekend at a working horse farm in Tappahannock, VA.  I designed the Clydesdale Cowl while we were there.

February and March:  Knitting and Planning for the first Keeping You in Stitches retreat.

April:  I participate in Alpaca Shearing at Beech Springs Alpacas.  I learn a great deal and buy a share of the shearing.  At the end of Easter Week, my wife and I, along with Claudia Morris, owner of Southern Purls, held the first ever Knitting Retreat in Murfreesboro, NC.  We had 5 attendees and a great time.

May:  The end of the school year/ Testing allowed us only knitting time. 

June:  Vacation arrives!  One of my favorite shops had a fabulous sale and I went on a great yarn shopping excursion.

July:  Family vacation and news that another pattern was to be published!  The Shifting Sands Scarf and Mitts set was published in the Love of Knitting Winter issue and is available now!

August:  Another pattern!  Love of Knitting Magazine will publish the Rustic Herringbone belt in the first issue of 2012!  Oh, and I officially became over the hill.

September:  School is back in session.  Knitting in the evening relaxes me.  It is going to be a long school year.

October:  I meet Sally Melville.  For a belated birthday present I got to take 3 classes with Sally in Virginia Beach.  I started my first Fair Isle project, a hat for myself.

November:  A long six months of planning comes to fruition as the first ever South East Men's Knitting Retreat is held in Cleveland, SC.  We had 16 men attend from Georgia, Virginia, SC, and NC.  We are all looking forward to an even longer retreat next year.
The week after the retreat My wife and I participated in an annual Bazaar.  We made a nice chunk of money and decided to begin our own finished project business.

December:  Since the Bazaar we have had non-stop orders for knitted and crocheted items.  We have been able to start an account for our business and will be able to attend several fiber events in the new year!  We are looking forward to a very successful 2012.

And here is the link to the free pattern!

Garter Stripes Scarf Pattern

Enjoy the free pattern and Happy 2012!