Malabrigo in Maine

So this weekend we went to Maine for a quick trip to our camp. We go there for a longer stay each August. I took 4 skeins of Aquarella to make a little bolero, and some Malabrigo Chunky in Mariposa to start a vest.

The drive is not an easy one, so not much knitting gets done on the trip. Route 2 is curvy, hilly, and bumpy for the most part, and knitting in the car on route 2 has been most problematic in the past. And then the weather was amazing, and knitting and swimming do not go hand in hand, either. But I was able to squeek out the bolero:

And I did make some progress on the Malabrigo Chunky vest:

This is what we mostly did!

My rug hooking project (the checkboard) has come to a halt with all the new yarns we've been getting in. (Two more came today, Colinette Iona and J.Knits Felter's Dream.) So instead of a birthday gift for Helen and Sophie, it's looking more like a Christmas present. That's okay! I really like it, and I will take it to Maine in August and make some progress at that point.

Wellington Hat

Finished! Small adult (or large child) size took 3 skeins of Nashua Handknits Julia. I'm seeing this with an Isis jacket!

Rooster's final resting place

I saw my rooster rug hanging in my mom's house the other day. It looks great:

The colors I picked actually work perfectly with her other rooster items!

Malabrigo Chunky!

So we've still been unloading new yarns, and we're so excited about some of the ones that have arrived during the last week! We cleared out some space in the bulky room for Malabrigo Chunky, and were lucky enough to be organized before the boxes arrived from Uruguay. This is what it looked like late last week:
And this is now with 22 scrumptious colors:
This yarn is fantastic, just like the Malabrigo Worsted that we know and love. I am going to make a quick and easy vest out of the Chunky this weekend. It was hard to choose a color, but I'm going with Mariposa. It's gorgeous!

We also got some new colors in the Malabrigo Worsted, and to make room, we are discontinuing several of the old ones. They are NOT in the shop any more - they are online only. But order them while they're in good supply. As soon as my next e-mail goes out, they will be gone.


I just finished a felted bag out of Berroco Peruvia and Jasper. The Jasper just arrived on Friday of last week. It is heaven to knit with, and the striping effect gets more pronounced after felting. This cute bag took no time at all.

We got Nashua Handknits Julia last week, and it is amazing. It's a blend of wool, mohair and alpaca, and it is softer than I imagined it would be! I don't like working with or wearing mohair, but this is an exception... I can't even tell there's mohair in it! There are so many great colors and they all seem to work with each other - this yarn is perfect for colorwork. Yesterday I grabbed a ball of each to photograph for the website, and I tossed them in random order on the couch. Three of the balls JUMPED out at me.
I probably never would have chosen the three of them to use together, but for some reason, they were screaming to be knit, all together, in the same project. So I grabbed a fun hat pattern and look what we have this morning?
Not finished yet, but I am in LOVE with the colors. Isn't it funny where your inspiration comes from? This was completely random, all because those three balls fell out of a basket and landed next to each other.

Barb's Syncopated Hat is coming along nicely, out of Soxx Appeal. It's so cute! It's merino wool with some elastic and because it's fingering, it's lightweight, yet warm. Perfect!
This is her toe-up sock out of Regia Bamboo.

Kalen leaves for her vacation this Friday - she's been working on a gorgeous shawl out of Pure & Simple and Rock Star, from Tilli Tomas. It is really elegant, and it's a gift for someone who is about to become engaged. Who knows, maybe it will be a part of the wedding attire? It should be! It's really perfect.

Hot and humid

Wow has it been hot up here. I think a lot of people don't realize how hot and humid it can get in Vermont. When it's nice, it's beautiful. But when it's hot, it's pretty unbearable. We have gone from total drought to inches of rain in severe thunderstorms almost every day. The crunching sound of the grass in the backyard has been replaced by buzzing and swarming of mosquitos and black flies. So these days we are trying to stay cool by knitting and hooking in air conditioned places, or directly in front of a nice, strong fan.

We just starting carrying the Tilli Tomas yarns and I can't believe we waited so long! Last week I had a delivery of some new Rock Star colors, and several customers pulled yarns right out of the box, after the UPS driver dropped it off. I hadn't even checked it in, and before I knew it, 5 skeins of Rock Star were gone. And we got in three colors of Mariel's Crystals - that is the Pure & Simple Silk with Swarovski Crystals!!! Barb just finished a gorgeous scarf out of one skein of the Pure & Simple silk... it's a pleated scarf that is easy to knit, and it's totally reversible. I am NOT a fan of stitch patterns on scarves that are not reversible. I just can't stand seeing the wrong side... We just unpacked some great new sock yarn from K1C2 called Soxx Appeal. It's superwash merino wool with a smidge of nylon and 1% elastic. LOVE it. The colors are great - variegateds and solids for mixing and matching on heels and toes. But I am dying to make a baby sweater out of it, and Barb is going to make the Syncopated Cap in the Interweave Knits Summer 2007 issue. Keep your eyes peeled, that will be a class this fall.

We also just unloaded five new colors of Jade Sapphire 2-ply cashmere - solids! We are doing the Fiber Trends Cocoon Lace Wrap out of the Blueblood Red as a shop sample. It is SO gorgeous.

On Friday of last week I took home the checkerboard rug hooking pattern and some new pieces of wool. I am making it for Helen and Sophie for their 8th birthday, which is right around the corner... August 10th. I don't know if I will finish it on time. But I am working really hard on it, so my fingers are crossed! I went out and got wooden discs (1.75" diameter) at Michael's for the checkers. I will be painting them myself... we'll see how that goes. Speaking of painting, they both want their rooms repainted for their birthday. I do love painting walls (not trims) so I'm not too upset about this. But then Helen informed me that in addition to wanting her room painted blue, she also wants life sized palm trees painted on the walls. Sophie, who wants her room painted peach, then decided that she would like several kitty cats painted on her walls. Clearly, these children think I can perform miracles. Does anyone have any life sized stencils I can borrow?

What's that I hear? Oh, that's right. The familiar sound of thunder.

Is fall in the air?

We have been so swamped! It started in the middle of last week with the Quilt Show at the Champlain Valley Expo. We had SO many customers in the shop through Saturday evening, it felt like fall or even winter. Then this Monday we thought we'd catch a break, but that didn't happen. Michele and I were running around like crazy. Trying to help people from the moment we opened to the moment we closed. Tuesday was a bit calmer, and then we got a bit of a break, being closed on Wednesday. That always throws a kink in things though, being closed a day in the middle of the week. So the past two days have been still busy with customers and busy with unpacking NEW YARNS...

Yes, new yarns from my fall orders have started to arrive. We've had a lot to do in the shop, to prepare for these yarns too. So what did we get? This will be a QUICKIE post, with no pictures, since it is Friday evening and I want to go home to my family... So if you want to see any of the following yarns, come on it to the shop and check them out in person:

CTH SOCKITTOME

Malabrigo AQUARELLA

CTH CASCADE LACE

CTH MERINO LACE

CTH COTTON BOUCLE

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light

Berroco Fall pattern books

Norah Gaughan's volume 1 (FANTASTIC!!!)

CTH OCEANIA (not online yet!)

Plus we have a trunk show for another week for Cheryl Potter's Special Little Knits from Just One Skein. We have autographed books and several items from the book on display.

Next week our Malabrigo Chunky is coming, as well as Malabrigo Laceweight and several new colors of Malabrigo Worsted. And Offhand Designs bags and needle cases! And a new sock yarn from K1C2 called Soxx Appeal. It's here already, but still in the box. Sorry, we just couldn't get it all done.

Have a great weekend!