Even though the KAL is officially over, I still wanted to introduce Sairy and Sharon from Stitches ‘n Rows!

Please introduce yourself; Tell us about who you are, and what are you donating.

Stitches ‘n Rows is the brain child of two crazy jersey girls: Sharon and Sairy. Here’s a little bit about each of us:

Sharon: My name is Sharon Burket and I am Holyknitballs on Ravelry and Plurk. I share Stitches ‘n Rows with my partner in crime, Sarah Paretti. You will rarely find one of us without the other, hence our nickname, “the wonder twins”. We share so many things in common as friends, knitters, fellow dance instructors, and now shop owners. We really compliment each other as partners in this business.

My love affair with needle arts started at 6 years old when my mother put a crochet hook in yarn in my hands to occupy me while she cleaned the house. Being an only child and constantly under her feet, crocheting turned into quite a hobby. Almost 20 years later and an exploration of Aran sweaters on my first trip to Ireland, so began my approach to knitting. I’ve been obsessed with tweady yarns and cables ever since. With knitting and crocheting being what we consider a gateway drug to spinning, we were blessed to have some really amazing spinners in our lives that opened the door to so many possibilities with our craft. It did not take long for us to expand our love of all things fibery and colorful into a business that we feel is a true expression of our unique personalities.

Stitches ‘n Rows was a bit of a dream that became reality for us. We like to work with high quality fibers and blends, some of our favorites being superwash merino, BFL/silk, and merino/cashmere/nylon. We are focused on saturated, vibrant colors and, for people who know us, this marries well with are personality and style. I often say that I am irreverent when it comes to color. The more bold a statement we can make in a color run, the more we like it. We strive to give our customers the type of beautiful fibers and yarns that we like to use in our own projects.

Sairy: I’m Sairy – I’m a market data analyst by day, and a knitter/spinner/dyer by night. I’m also, like Sharon, a certified Les Mills BODYJAM instructor at our local gym. When it comes to myself and Sharon, we are a package deal – we seem to share a brain! We met 3 years ago at our local knitting group – the NJ Skein Mavens – and have been two peas in a pod ever since. I have a really understanding husband and a super awesome cat named Haley.

We are donating a skein of our dyed Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend in the “Citrus” colorway.

Tell us about your shop. What kinds of products do you sell and what makes them awesome?

Our fiber shop is usually stocked with several different kinds of spinning fiber and some yarn at all times. We love bright, vivid colors and unusual combinations of colors. Saturation is key for the two of us.

Which is your favorite sock in the Crafty Detour CSI collection and why?

Sharon: Dawn Gnot is clearly a favorite of mine since I saw Sarah’s version. “A criminal passion for knots”…..that is so me. I hope to make my own pair in the near future.

Sairy: I was a test knitter for the CSI series and I loved knitting Ken Phelz. They came out so nice and knit up super fast!

What do you think is the most heinous of knitting related crimes?

Sharon: *Looks around*. Muppet pelts. If it looks like you might be wearing an Oscar the Grouch pelt and think it might be a mistake, it probably is. Put the novelty yarn down and just walk away. Just walk away. Not to mention the thought of being near an open flame and lighting up like a roman candle makes me shudder a bit.

Oh and two more words, gauge swatch. Always swatch, period. You’ll thank me later.

Sairy: A lying gauge swatch for sure.

What was the last knitted project that you completed?

Sharon: The last knitted project that I completed were a pair of Halloween socks that I might for my sister-in-law, Tammy (WickedStitchWitch) on Ravelry. I was lucky enough to get her as my swap partner for our Halloween swap and no one in that group knows how much she loves Halloween better than I do. I used a semi-solid dark purple and alternated blocks of stripes with a self-striping yarn that went from yellow to orange. I fair-isled “Hocus” and “Pocus” on the top of each leg so it reads “Hocus Pocus” no matter if you were standing in front or back of her. My first after-thought heel was done on those socks with Sarah’s help and the method from Heather Zoppetti.

Sairy: Oranje – my Rhinebeck sweater!

What is on your needles now?

Sairy: Dark and Stormy – a neat little cardigan that I can’t wait to finish. Haruni will be on the needles soon too!

Sharon: My Rhinebeck sweater that I fret may not be done in time, but I’m trying. It’s Hallett’s Ledge by Elinor Brown and the yarn is a bright green and tweedy Harrisville Highland that I purchased while on a day trip with Sarah visiting our very own Heather Zoppetti.

Thank you, Ladies!