We Knit a Window Display for our Local Yarn Shop

I wanted to share one of the things Jill and I worked on lately. We have an EPIC project going up next week, but in the mean time I’ve managed to squeeze in another fun job.

Downtown San Mateo’s local yarn shop, Nine Rubies, is wonderfully supportive of local crafters and yarnbombing, so it’s no surprise they recruited us to spruce up the huge front window for the holidays.

If you’re in the Bay Area, Nine Rubies just might convince you to get out of the house on Black Friday: they’re offering 40% off everything! Check out the details on their Facebook page here.

You might recognize the pom-poms from Jill’s pop-up art gallery installation:

We cut the pom poms off and strung them on green i-cord to make a Christmas tree, which we’re calling a “pom tree.” Ha ha, get it?

If you choose to make your own “pom tree,” I recommend getting a pom-pom maker to speed the process and just start busting through your stash. Jill and I ignored color, trusting randomness to do a good job of making a colorful assortment–and it did. Each pom pom takes about 5 minutes to make, and it takes about 100 to make good impact, so plan accordingly. I’d say a skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn makes about 3-4 big pom-poms. You can save  money with Caron One Pound Yarn.

I knit a faux i-cord on my Elna knitting machine–it’s actually a 7 stitch x 14,000 row rectangle, which rolls in on itself when pulled tight. I knit 1,000 rows in just 10 minutes! That’s way faster than those hand crank i-cord machines you can buy at craft stores. Here’s a video of me at the Elna knitting  machine cranking out the faux i-cord.

We anchored the i-cord between a hook on the ceiling and bricks on the floor, yarnbombed in red and white knit stripes. The yarnbombed bricks jumble in with other candy colored presents under the tree and some toy samples from the shop.

I knit this chevron wrapping paper on my Elna knitting machine with a punch card, baker’s twine for white, and tiny size 10 crochet thread for red. It took forever and my machine jammed, so for the larger presents I switched to Knit Picks’ Brava Sport acrylic yarn on the Bond Ultimate Knitting Machine.

Don’t you think it would be fun to sew knit wrapping paper on all your Christmas gifts? Just imagine the confusion when your family ponders how to open them.

Such fun! I hope people enjoy the window and that it brings lots of passers-by into the shop.

Stay tuned for our huge new yarnbomb installation going up the first week of December. You can follow our progress on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

xxxo,

Lorna