Making a Come Back!

Mason Jars are making a come back. It's an all American product after all. Anyone who knows me well knows that I try to buy as much as I can that is American made - but that can be very hard.

While doing searches for new things to make I found that many people are using mason jars as drinking glasses and that many people use cozies with them. I thought that would be a great thing to make for the upcoming farmers market in Swissvale. I mean what is more farm related than the mason jar.

So here is the process I have went through for this project.

Donna and I went to see Mom on Easter and I know she has a lot of canning jars so I brought some home and washed them up.

Then I started to make the cozies. I didn't want the cozies to have any seams so I am knitting these on double pointed needles.

I am using cotton and wool yarn for these cozies. Notice what the Lily Sugar' n Cream yarn label says: 100% USA Grown Cotton!

Here are two finished cozies in cotton yarn.

Now for the wool cozy I used local yarn from Underhill Farm in Hollidaysburg, PA.

Here is the finished cozy with the wool yarn.

The Mason Jar cozy will be an item of the week during the Swissvale Farmers Market. The market will be held every Saturday from 9a - 1p beginning in June.

Making the Towels

Anyone who has been to one of the craft shows we participate in know that we always have scrubbies, dish cloths and towels.

These are the ever popular towels. Another crafter couldn't believe that someone still makes and sells these. I guess they remind people of a simpler time. We sure do get a lot of requests for these.

The secret to our towels is this - We always use quality towels and we use cotton yarn at the top as cotton keeps its shape better than acrylic yarn.

I am going to show you the process we follow to make these.

The first thing we do is cut the towel in two and sew the raw edges. 

The next thing we do is prep the towels by sewing the yarn to the towel and knitting needle and then knit it and sew on the button. 

If anyone reading this wants to learn how to make these towels - we could teach you. Just email us at pamdonnaknits@yahoo.com.

Here are some towels we will have available this summer.

May Events

It's a double header weekend for Knitting by Pam and Donna. We have two shows coming up. 

On Saturday we will be at the Home Economics Building at South Park for the Spring Fling Craft Show benefiting the Windover Hills United Methodist Church. The hours for the show are 9a - 3p. The address is 3738 Buffalo Drive, South Park, PA 15129. 

On Sunday the Pump House Season begins.

The Pump House is located at the Waterfront in Homestead. The hours are from 10a - 2p. We will also be there on Sunday, May 18th.

Let me show you some of the products we will have at these two shows.

It's time for spring cleaning. We will have our line of scrubbies, scrubbers and flower scrubbies as well as dishcloths.

Now for something new - hair scrunchies.

So when the weather gets warmer you will want to pull your hair back with some colorful scrunchies.

Of course we will have new towels to decorate your kitchen.

Later in the week I will be doing a blog on how we put these towels together. I will also show you some new towels we bought.

Hope to see you at one of our events this month!

April Events

This is going to be a very busy week for Knitting by Pam and Donna. 

We have two big events this week.

We will be at the Bi-Annual Book and Bake Sale at the Swissvale Library on April 10, 11 and 12.

On Saturday while Donna will be at the library, Pam will be at the White Oak Athletic Association Spring Craft Show. The hours for that show will be 10a - 3p.

We will have fan favorites at both shows like the scrubbies and towels.

Donna is working on refilling her animal basket.

So far there are Minions, an owl and some penguins. She is working to add some pigs and perhaps a couple Easter Bunnies.

We are bringing back one items that some people have asked us to bring back. This is a grocery bag holder. We sold these a few years back.

We have a few light weight scarves that are perfect for spring.

This scarf is made using bamboo yarn held together with a ribbon yarn.

Donna has been busy crocheting these scarf necklaces using all kinds of yarn with bling.

I hope you can make one of our events.

This year is shaping up to be very interesting. We have some new events this summer and fall and we will update you on these shows as we get closer to the dates of the events. 

March Craft Shows

After a long winter there is hope that spring is just around the corner - We have two spring crafts show coming up this month.

Saturday, March 8 we will be at the 12th Annual Spring Craft and Vendor Show at the Linton Middle School in Penn Hills from 10a - 3p.

Saturday, March 15 we will be at the Westwood Golf Club - 825 Commonwealth Ave in West Mifflin, PA 15122 from 11a - 4p.

Here are pictures of some items we will have.

Donna has been busy making stuffed animals. We have turtles, pigs, Baby Minions, and Penguins.

I found some new towels and have been busy making them for the upcoming shows.

 We have been busy creating mug cozies. We will have a couple different versions to choose from.

Of course we would never go to a craft show without our number one seller - the scrubbie.

Hope to see you at one of the Spring Shows.

THINK SPRING!

Fun Hats

In my last blog I mentioned that we have been making some very different hats by the request of our customers.

First up - The Minion Hats.

Donna got into the spirit of the Minions and made a stuffed baby minion that we will have at the craft shows this spring.

Now back to the hats. 

Next up - The Lalaloopsy Hat.

March is almost here and we have two shows coming up next month. In my next blog I will unveil the dates of the shows and some of the products that we will have for sale. 

Mad Hatter

As you can tell from the title of this blog - I have been working on new hat patterns for next season.

We will still continue to make fan favorites such as the button hat and the cable hat with the brim.

Let me show you what I have come up with so far for new hats.

This hat is made using self striping acrylic yarn. I really like how each hat will look different depending on the striping of the yarn. This yarn comes in all colors - and this is a very easy pattern. This is made on a circular needle so there are no seams.

This hat is made with yarn called Cool Wool. I love the cable design of this hat. This hat is also made on a circular needle.

This hat is made using an Alpaca yarn. It also has a cable design that is a little harder to see since most of the colors this yarn comes in is dark. It is a lovely hat when you see it in person.

In a few days I will be doing a blog on some very different hats that some people have requested we make for them. 

You'll want to stay tuned for that.