.    
about us contact us frequently asked questions click for Home
 

..
Peggy’s Strands of Heaven is a knitter’s sanctuary, snuggled in the Historic Downtown Plainfield, Illinois. Offering all the comforts of home; pleasant conversation, coffee & tea, an oversized sofa near the fireplace, and a stash beyond your wildest dreams. Our fibers have been hand selected to tantalize your senses. Every inch of space in our store is filled with a rainbow of color in strands of Alpaca, Buffalo, Camel, Cashmere, Cotton, Lama, Mohair, Silk and Wool.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Rip It!

I would like to start this post by Thanking Lorna & Carrie. Lorna for helping a computer illiterate and Carrie for her subtle suggestions. Thanks Again! With that said let's start off our shop blog on the subject of ripping. To rip or not to rip that is the questions? My personal approach on this subject is fairly simple. When I was a newbie knitter ripping back and fixing a mistake was out of the question. I would look at my instructor and say "you’re joking right"? After all the precious time that I had spent knitting, she wanted me to rip back and fix it. I would talk myself into leaving it by saying things like no one will notice, it's O.K. I just started knitting, etc. etc. My only concern back then was to feel that sense of accomplishment you get when you have finished a project. As my skills evolved I have become more open to the idea of ripping back and fixing. When asked the questions these days my first thought is "how does the mistake affect the appearance and functionality"? Recently, in Carrie's magic loop class, that I was taking, one of the ladies had purled a row instead of knitting. She turned to me and said "do you think I should rip back or will it be alright"? As I pointed out to her this is a sock, you will be standing on your feet all day with that weird ridge on the bottom of your foot. You should rip it back a row and correct it. Her response was "I don't think so; I am going to leave it". Knowing her as I do I responded back "Fine! But I don't want to here about it later; I have witnesses that I told you to rip back". Her mistake while she might have been able to live with the appearance, most certainly affected the functionality. Another case in point. When I first opened the shop I decided I was going to knit myself a Debbie Bliss sweater. The sweater was knitted all in one, starting from the left sleeve. I was knitting along, and came to the point in the pattern that called for me to pickup so many stitches for the collar. Well, because this was a new technique for me and I really wasn't grasping the whole concept very well I decided that I knew far more than Debbie. I picked up the stitches in a different spot on the needle. Eleven Inches over 100 sum stitches later I figured out that I did not have a collar, but that I had created a loin flap that hung down to my knees. At this point I knew ripping back was in my future. The sweater was placed back in my basket. I started a simple & quick hat project to build up my knitting confidence and went back a week of so later to rip. This mistake affected both the look & functionality of the sweater without a doubt. Ooooops! On the other side of the coin though, when the mistake is an extra stitch at the end of a row my own thought is k2tog at the end of the row and go from there. Or if you have purled in a pattern and should have knitted, fix it on the next pattern row. If someone notices, they have invaded your personal space and they have a lot bigger issues than your mistake. Ripping is an individual choice, if you have OCD issues than by all means rip it, if not than let it go and move on to your next project. It's your creation and you can do it anyway you want as long as you’re O.K. with it. How many times in life are we actually able to say that? And just think you didn't even have to pay for therapy on that one!
Labels: To rip or not to rip that is the question?

 

Friday, September 14, 2007

We MOVED!!! And we're so excited!

This Spring we relocated approximately 2 blocks west of our previous location! We are in a wonderful house where each room is a different theme and color! Our new address is: 705 W Lockport Street! Our sign is out front so you can't miss us!

Stop by and see all our new yarns, accessories, rooms and sit and knit a while!

More updates to come soon!

Labels: ,

 

Powered by Blogger

 

 
directions to store shipping and return information privacy policy