Duplicate Stitch

I'm happy to say that after more than 30 years of knitting, I have added "duplicate stitch" to my skills.

I'm not sure why I was against learning the duplicate stitch? I think I'd seen way too many bad examples of it to want to try it. But now I realize that the bad examples I've seen were because the yarn used for the duplicate stitch was too thin, or the tension was all wrong.

Barb took 5 minutes on Saturday to give Kaitlin and me a little tutorial. 

Counting the stitches and marking out exactly where the design was supposed to go took up most of that 5 minutes... the duplicate stitch part only took about 30 seconds to master. I finished it at home this weekend and now all that's left is seaming... my favorite part!

The sweater is the Little Boater Crew from the Thirteenth Little Sublime Hand Knit Book (#668). 

There's an adorable blanket that matches... what a great baby gift idea! 

The pattern calls for Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, but as we already have a number of shop samples out of that yarn, I chose the Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK. I LOVE the yarn... maybe a sweater for myself will follow?

College Life

Late in August, Barb packed up her car and headed off to Ithaca to drop her daughter Liz there for her first year of college. 

A previous post shared the beautiful blanket that Barb was weaving for Liz - in the official colors of Ithaca College. Nothing like a little school spirit when you land on new soil!

Liz was kind enough to share a picture of the blanket in her new dorm room. It's beautiful, and her new friends are envious. There's no buying something like this in the college bookstore!

This blanket was done in 2 colors of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (Lapis and Gold Dust).

My Jojo Ripple

I'm so proud of myself for finishing this blanket! I really do like to crochet, but single crochet is not my favorite stitch. I prefer a "taller" stitch that goes faster. (For all you folks who say crocheting is faster than knitting... it's not! For me, anyway!)

I was so inspired by customer Sue B's gorgeous crocheted blankets (see them and read about them in this previous post) that I had to make one for myself. But I wanted to work with one yarn that changed colors on its own.

I picked the Jojoland Rhythym Superwash yarn (color Cosmic Burst) because I wanted a worsted weight, and I lovee how the colors in this yarn are beautiful, yet completely random. And I mean COMPLETELY! There's no set pattern of striping in this yarn. Each colorway includes a set of colors, and then those colors are used throughout the spinning process, but in no particular order. If you're on the Type A side of the spectrum and want order in your yarn striping, this yarn may not be for you!

I used 11 balls of the Jojoland Ryhthm Superwash. And none of the balls were the same. This is the beauty of this yarn!

I was supposed to use a size H hook, but only had a G and was dying to get started. So my blanket is a bit smaller than it should have been, but not by much. It was supposed to be 30x36" and mine is 28x29". It's still a great size! (Pattern is Ann Norling Ripple Crochet Afghan.)

And doesn't this yarn (in this ripple pattern!) remind you of my Missoni Window blog post from August? 

Maybe that's why I enjoyed this project so much!

Customer Project - Crocheted Blankets

contributed by Barb

We caught up with customer Sue B. recently and she showed us two blankets she had just finished.  One for a boy:

And one for a girl:

They are made with Plymouth Encore and Plymouth Encore Tweed and are worked in a crocheted ripple stitch pattern. What a perfect blanket for when you are watching TV!

We think they're beautiful and the colors she chose are delicious. It really makes me want to make something like this. Thanks for sharing Sue!

College Blanket in Progress

contributed by Barb 

The clock keeps ticking towards the day my daughter leaves for college.  I have finished weaving the 1st of 3 panels needed for her college blanket. It's the widest of the three panels - at least the other two will each go faster than this one!

I was able to weave this panel in just 3 nights - not bad!  I am just loving the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn for this weaving project. I will definitely be using this yarn in the future for any baby blankets or throws that I make.  

And if you are a weaver, this has amazing drape! It would also be perfect as a shawl or scarf.