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!