Customer Project - Spotlight on Lang Tosca Light

contributed by Shawn

We recently snapped a photo of a wonderful example of Lang Tosca Light yarn crocheted into a circular shawl. 

Our customer Florence shared this beautiful project with us and said it was created from a vintage (& unidentified) crochet pattern. The Lang Tosca Light yarn shading really is striking.

Lang Tosca Light looks great in knitted projects like this Wonderful Wallaby sweater too! 

Did you hear me?

I'm sure you did! I was singing from the rooftops Saturday night when I finished my Log Cabin Baby Blanket. It's gorgeous!It ended up taking 10 balls of Berroco Comfort DK. I did need an extra ball of red for the edging... SO glad I took one on Friday or I would not have finished it. Good planning, for once! The other colors I used 2 balls of were the darker olive green and the darker blue.It's a great size (26" x 34"), and is just beautiful. I love how the diagonals look.

The entire blanket was seamed with 3 needle bindoff. Don't know how to do it? You're not alone. We're always amazed at how many people ask us to show them this each week. But now you can see it on our new how-to video!

The Log Cabin is almost complete!

So I've been working on the Log Cabin Baby Blanket in Berroco Comfort DK since last spring. I've obviously not been too diligent with this project, but recently I picked it back up and cruised through the last 6 squares. There are lots of ways to piece it together, but after lots of deliberating, I went with this layout: Last night I got the kids to bed, and sat down to seam. The only problem was, I've misplaced my pattern! I can't find it anywhere. And wouldn't you know, we're out of it at the shop. So I went on Ravelry, looked at a few finished items, and started what I "think" is the way to seam this.

I am using a 3-needle bind off to seam the squares into strips. Then I'll use 3-needle bind off to seam the strips, and then pick up on each edge and work 10 rows of garter stitch. It's looking great so far, and I'm planning on using the red for the outer border. This was a fun project, if you don't mind weaving in a lot of ends! Twelve squares is perfect for a baby blanket. Best part is, it only took 8 skeins of Comfort DK, which is just $28! That's a great price for such a cute blanket.

Wonderful Wallaby review

First of all, sorry we haven't been posting blogs regularly! It's been an absolutely beautiful summer here in VT, and our everyone on our staff deserves some time off, don't you think? We've all been working hard to cover for everyone's vacations, so we've been spread a bit thin. We are almost back to full staff levels, so you will see an increase in blog posting going forward.

For years customers have wondered if we carried the Wonderful Wallaby sweater pattern. And we didn't. I'm not sure why we didn't carry it. I think it's because the hand done illustrations didn't really move me. At all. You know I have a pet peeve about patterns that don't have good pictures of the finished garment.

But customers kept asking, and finally I said, "Enough already! I'll start carrying it!" Luckily, it's sold very well since we brought it in, but it really only sells when people have heard about it, or seen one made up. For folks just looking through our pattern books, they don't even give it a second glance.

Last week I decided to make a sample out one of our newer yarns, called Lang Tosca Light. This is a really fun yarn that stripes gradually. It's a worsted weight, but it's very lightweight and cozy. And it's washable. Fun stripes + lightweight + cozy + washable... it was screaming out for the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. And it was the perfect choice!
Tosca Light was amazing to knit with. I just love the finished fabric - come in to the shop and check it out for yourselves! This yarn would be perfect for afghans, baby blankets, sweater, you name it.

And I have to admit, I was impressed with the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. It was fun, easy and quick (I made the size 2.) My only criticism is that it's definitely a bit wordy at times, and I'm really more of a "tell me what to do and don't add fluff to it" kinda knitter. But if you can just plow through the wordiness and do what it tells you to do, you are rewarded with a really cute, hooded pullover that requires no finishing, other than a touch of kitchener.

I'm just glad we have a finished Wallaby now for people to admire!

Back to reality

Boy did I miss some wacky weather! I got back to Vermont last night from Florida after a week of 85 degree warmth and sun to see the remnants of a big spring snowstorm, that dumped over 2 feet of snow on parts of Vermont. It was spotty - Barb had over 2 feet where she lives, with many trees down and many hours without power. In my town, and by the shop, there wasn't quite as much. But it did cause hiccups for late April that's for sure!

Yesterday morning we found out that both of our flights home to Vermont were cancelled, because of this wacky weather (snowstorm in VT, high winds at JFK). Marc and I worked our cell phones and laptops simultaneously to re-book some tickets. After many moons on hold (no worries, it's not too tough to be on hold when you are sitting on a beach, watching pelicans and dolphins frolicking in the sea) we were able to secure a route home. We did have quite the layover in Philadelphia, which was pretty boring. Thankfully we were all connected!

Shawn was worried I might not come home to the cold weather, but I did, and I must have brought the warmer temps with me. It's supposed to be close to 80 degrees this weekend!

My favorite picture from the trip is Sophie jumping some waves in Miami:And a comparison shot... We've been going to visit my parents in Sanibel for 8 years. This was taken 5 years ago, when the girls were almost 6.And this is from this week. They're almost 11. What a huge change! There was even a little knitting on the trip home. I'm making a baby blanket. The pattern is the Cottage Creations Log Cabin Blanket pattern, and I chose Berroco Comfort DK in 7 shades. It's looking awesome so far, and was a perfect, portable project. Lots of ends to weave in, I confess. But I do them as I go, and it makes it much better.Can't wait to see it when it's finished!