Sept 20 - 21 Come join Loops by Keri at the Maritime Festival in Greenport

SO excited to be participating in the Greenport Maritime Festival again this year! If you haven't been- you should GO! It is a day full of fun for the whole family!

I will be there with all of my hand knits- I have been VERY busy with new designs!! It's an amazing festival that is free with lots of ships and music and great food and best of all, Artisan vendors! Including me...but I digress.

Before I get into the knits, I have to show you what I've been working on and the story behind it. Last year at the Maritime Festival, they had a mermaid parade. I told my kids about it and my son looked thoughtful and then said to me "Mom! I've got it! You need to make mermaid costumes for the American Girl Doll! They'll sell like hotcakes!"

I loved his idea and his enthusiasm. My dear friend Sylvie and I worked together and made this! Isn't it awesome! Pink and Purple mermaid costumes are almost complete - stay tuned at the festival! Or if you can't make the festival, you can order them here...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/198303898/shipping-now-mermaid-outfit-for-amercian?

Sylvie, along with another friend Cathy will be sharing a booth with me at the festival. They both made some beautiful sewn creations. Cathy has focused on baby bibs, mother-daughter aprons, children's smocks and more! Sylvie has been creating amazing bags, totes, napkins with matching placemats, pillows - many with nautical and fish themes, incredible things!! PLUS these darling necklaces, that double as headbands. My daughter loves them!

And I'll have my knits - so many new designs and colors.

Mittens and fingerless mitts, for those of you who love to text but have cold hands or work in a cold office! Hats, scarves, infinity loop cowls, headbands, neck warmers, ponchos, baby rompers, shawls....there is something for everyone!

If you can't join us at the festival, you can visit my Etsy site! I do custom orders if you have something specific in mind ;)

Here are just a few! Now I am off to go finish some more! One week to go! :)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/203321076/hand-knit-super-soft-chunky-mittens?

Knitting the afternoon and night away!

So much has been going on, it's been hard to keep up with the blog here. But I should, because tonight starts some knitting fun!

Loops by Keri has partnered with Emma Made to teach sewing and knitting and other crafty classes to the children, teens and adults of Huntington NY and nearby towns! We'd love to have you in our classes, where we focus on the process, not just a product.  You can keep up with our schedule by checking out

 http://www.emmamadeworkshops.com/

March is Craft Month! And today we start our new knitting classes! Super excited to teach children and adults alike my favorite hobby, KNITTING!! 

We still have some spots available and if you can't make it tonight, but want to join our next session on the 15th, that's fine with us! Just leave a comment or send me a message :)

Get Your Knit On!  

Adult class. Come learn to knit in our relaxed environment while meeting some new local moms. We’ll teach you how to cast stitches on the needle, how to knit and then bind off your completed scarf!  Perfect for the new knitter or if you need to relearn some long lost skills.

2 part class

Sat March 1st and

March 15th from

8pm-10pm

Supplies and snacks are included in price of class. Bring your own beverage of choice.

$85

Kids Knit Too!

Come learn to knit in our relaxed environment. We’ll teach you how to cast stitches on the needle, knit and how to bind off your completed scarf! Perfect for the new knitter. Ages 7 and up

2 part class 

Sat March 1st and March 15th

4pm-5:30pm

Supplies and snacks are included in price of class. $60

Here's some pics of some new hats to get your inspired! Much more to come!!

Craft on everyone!

Do not doubt the determination of a 7 year old

My daughter was home sick with me for a few days in December and what did she want to do? Have me teach her how to knit a hat to give to her Grammy (that's Grandma to you ;) for Christmas.

Now, she learned how to knit last summer, and made herself a cute scarf but didn't have too much knitting time with school and all. She recently wanted to try to use my "fancy thick and thin yarn" which is challenging to knit with and keep even tension. (and it's expensive, but she was so passionate about trying, I thought we'd give it a go)

WELL!

She learned to use circular needles (knitting in the round) AND then she switched to double-pointed ones - which means she was using 5 needles at once. And look at her go!

Her tension is incredible (tension is a good thing, non-knitters- it means keeping your stitches even, which is no easy feat on this yarn, not to mention when using 5 needles at once!)

For you knitters that haven't tried knitting on double points- SPLURGE on wooden or bamboo needles! It makes ALL the difference! The yarn sticks to them more (a good thing when you have so many needles going at once!) Metal doublepoints had me completely frustrated when I first learned to use double points! They kept slipping and dropping to the floor! 

And then she picked the perfect button to accent it and sewed it on herself. 

I could BURST I am so proud of her!

And then she made a matching scarf out of the same yarn on giant size 17 needles ( Her Grammy actually commissioned her to make a scarf for her- amazing huh? First commission at 7! But my little miss O wanted to make her Grammy a surprise present too, hence the hat!)

She got to deliver them in person to her Grammy when we went to visit over the holiday break! Look how excited she is to tell her Grammy that she has something else for her….

Ta-Da! Here is the finished set!

I honestly don't know which of the three of us is more proud. I do know that Grammy has been wearing this non-stop (thank goodness for that cold spell, otherwise she might be melting in it!) I have to say, she wore it when we were together visiting and numerous people stopped her to compliment her on it and she happily regaled the story of how her then 7 year old granddaughter made the ensemble for her. A knitter who heard the story told us, "I've never tried double points, I've been too scared. But if your 7 year old granddaughter did it, I am going to try it too!) Way to inspire, LMO! 

After finishing her hat, my daughter asked me when she would be old enough to have her own label. 

I think I have given birth to my competition. : )

The lesson of the day - Share your passions with your children and if they are interested in something else, let them try it! You NEVER know where it will take them. 

And let them use that expensive ball of yarn!