One Cable Mitts Class

contributed by Shawn

Not too long ago I was debating what to do with my latest "favorite skein". It was a single skein of the Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Hand Dye yarn in the Chocolate color. I just hadn't come up with a pattern or project to match it's lovely hand and color.   

Barb suggested I make the Blue Sky Alpaca's FREE One Cable Mitts and I agreed, I would give them a try.  These mitts are so nice to put on! I can't wait to wear them for raking the yard.

The best part is they are a simple single cable that crosses in one direction (reversed for the second mitt).  They knit up so quickly and I like them so much that we decided this would make a great project class this fall. So come join us in October, learn how to cable and make your very own pair.

This pattern only takes one skein of this scrumptious blend of wool and alpaca so it's a great gift idea.

Free on Friday

Michele recently made this gorgeous scarf for her son Andrew, who is a junior at the University of Vermont. If you're familiar with the UVM campus, or downtown Burlington, Vermont, you know that the wind can be CRAZY cold during the winter months. Michele wanted to make Andrew a nice scarf that would be stylish and warm. She thought about making a Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Him Kit, but wanted a yarn with a little more depth.

She ended up choosing the Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted yarn because it's got such gorgeous colors, and they are hand dyed with subtle color variation. She used 4 skeins, and the pattern below. It's gorgeous! Pattern:
4 skeins Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted yarn
Size 9-10 US Needles (Michele is a tight knitter and used 10s!)

Abbreviations:
C6B: move next three stitches to a cable needle, hold to the back of work. Knit 3 stitches from left hand needle, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle.

Instructions:
Cast on 42 stitches.
Work in Cable Pattern (below) for desired length, bind off. Block.

Cable Pattern:
Rows 1, 5, and 7: (K6, P6) repeat to last 6 st, K6
Row 2, 6, and 8: (P6, K6) repeat to last 6 st, P6
Row 3: (C6B, P6) repeat to last 6 st, C6B
Row 4: (P6, C6B) repeat to last 6 st, P6

Enjoy!

Cross Country Project

Polly asked last week if she could share some thoughts on her latest project with our blog readers. I was thrilled! So here it is... in her own words!

Recently I was anticipating a cross country road trip from Prescott, Arizona to Vermont with my daughter and wanted a fun, but no-brainer project for the car. Besides all the cool stuff to watch out the window, we had audio books and Cd's to entertain us and I didn't want to have to think very hard about my knitting. So, I bumped my Half Crepe Triangular Shawl project to the front of the queue.

It uses the Mountain Colors Half Crepe yarn which I chose in the color Lupine. The pattern is easy as pie (and free!) and it's turning out beautifully! On a 32" US size 8 circular needle you begin by casting on 3 stitches. Then EVERY row you simply K2, YO, knit to the end of the row until the shawl is as long as you want it, then bind off. How's that for easy?

Not only was it a great project for the car, it's great for sitting and talking with friends or watching TV or a movie. It's almost like the shawl is knitting itself! I must be almost a third of the way done and I just started last month so at this rate I'll have it done just when we finally go into spring in Vermont and need a light layer.

Have to say, I'm looking forward to when my chosen color of Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted comes in to the shop so I can begin my Blue Sky Alpaca Pleated Vest. Definitely feeling the need for an alternate project that asks a wee more of my brain power!

Thanks Polly. Keep us posted!

Manic-in Monday

Last week we did a major re-org in the shop. As in re-merchandising. We move things around all the time, but sometimes you need to take all of the samples down, and start from scratch. So we spent several mornings rearranging sweaters, hats, scarves, etc. And now it's done. Phew!

We have so many great hat samples, but I always felt they were really hard to see, especially after people come in and move them, stack them, re-stack them and move them again. So I made a little trip to the hardward store, and found that we could be more creative with how we display our hats. This is only a small portion of them, but it gave us a lot of free counter space and they are so much easier to see.

Our mannequin in the front hallway is not the easiest person to dress. It takes a very patient person to undress/dress her. And it takes more time than you'd think, because her limbs are either difficult to remove, or pop off at the most inconvenient times. (Once a kid was playing with her hand and it fell off. He must have been worried he'd get in trouble because he hid the hand in a bag that was on display in the front room. Imagine the surprise of the customer who picked up that bag a few days later, opened it up and found... a hand inside! It was funny!)

Anyway, driving into work one day last week, I decided that the mannequin is going to be changed more often... as in every Monday. So Mondays are now Manic-in Mondays and I'm sure if we hum the catchy Bangles song as we dress her, it will make it easier all around!

Today, she's wearing the One Cable Vest in Blue Sky Worsted. This is my sweater - I loved knitting it and I love wearing it! I made it a couple of years ago, but it is still such a popular pattern. She's got a gorgeous shawl draped over her shoulders (yarn: Schaefer Anne in Jewels; pattern: Jojoland Twin Leaf Shawl) and is carrying the brand new, reversible Offhand Designs Daisy Bag in Versailles. Stylin'!

Now she just needs a name. Ideas?

Oh it's maddening...

...when you run out of yarn! I started the Tidepool sweater on Saturday and cruised through it. Last night I was all set to finish up when I found I was JUST short on one color of Soft Chunky. My gauge is right on, and I have about 3 more rows at the neck, but I do not have enough yarn to knit those 3 rows. After all the mistakes in the first Twinkle book, I have to say, I'm not surprised. But at least the directions seem to be without technical problems! I grabbed another skein to finish it tonight, but of course I only have one set of 19 circulars... and I will need another set to finish the neck. Oh well, one more day won't kill me.

So I had to switch projects at 9:30pm last night when I realized the Tidepool sweater was at a standstill. Luckily I had grabbed a skein of the Blue Sky Worsted before heading home yesterday. I wanted to knit something with just one skein, and Barb suggested the Twisted Wrister Bag, a fun little pattern by Iknitiative. I only got a few inches done on it, but it's quick and fun, and oh, how I love that yarn. I chose the new hot pink!

She knew that pattern would be perfect because we've been working on getting these patterns online, and she'd just been focusing on getting all of the pattern details up, as well as linking to the yarns they call for. She had just finished working on Iknitiative patterns, and remembered that she had linked this one to Blue Sky Worsted. Cool!


If you haven't checked out our online pattern selection yet, now's the time to do it! We've added hundreds of patterns in the last two weeks. More coming!

In a knitting rut?

I have to confess, I'm in a bit of a knitting rut. I've been working on my hooked rug non stop for the past week, and for the past two nights I've been too exhausted to do it. There's something about having to put a big frame on your lap that just makes it seem too... I don't know, tiring. So I've gone to bed early and cuddled up with a good book, which is a nice change.


And though we did have some gorgeously sunny days earlier this week, the gray skies are back and even the snow is back this morning. I love snow, but at this time of the year, I am ready for spring. Warmer temperatures would be most appreciated, as I have a half marathon coming up in the end of May and I would much rather be out there training with fewer layers on.


Luckily, some yarn arrived yesterday that really got my juices flowing! We got all new colors of the Twinkle Soft Chunky and I am going to dive in and make the Tidepool sweater from Twinkle's Weekend Knits. It should be a very quick knit - as it's on size 19 needles. It's only going to take 4 skeins, and I'm using Icy Blue and Sea Green. I'm a little worried about those huge needles - as I'm dealing with some hand/wrist pain right now... most likely from all the data entry I've been doing for our upcoming enhanced search feature.


We also got three huge boxes from Blue Sky Alpacas yesterday... Six AMAZING new colors of the Blue Sky Cotton in dyed colors, one awesome new color in the Blue Sky Organic Cotton, and 5 SICK new colors of the Blue Sky Worsted. I think those are my favorite.
I have always loved that yarn, but the colors have always been really neutral and dark. These new colors will WAKE YOU RIGHT UP. And they are certainly a sight for sore eyes, especially on a grey and snowy day like today. I might just have to break into a skein or two...

Trip knitting completed

Today I'm wearing my Blue Sky Worsted Pleated Vest.
Way back in November, my family and I flew to Seattle, Washington to visit family. I picked this pattern for the long plane ride. It's a no-brainer, and I really liked the way it flared at the bottom. The pattern called for a double strand of a sport weight alpaca, but I decided to use Blue Sky Worsted, a yarn I had been dying to knit with.

I was a little nervous with the pattern, because it calls for a provisional cast on... yuck. I did that part before the trip, just to make sure I wouldn't have any problems. I was thrilled that the cast on was easier than I thought and the end result looked great!

When we arrived at the Burlington airport, we had a 2 hour delay. I started knitting, and was halfway up the back before we even boarded the plane (love those larger needles.) I started worrying that it was TOO quick of a project - that I wouldn't have any knitting to do on the way back!

The trip was fun, and I managed to space out the knitting so that it did last me the whole trip. I finished with all of the pieces, and just had to do the seaming and the band. But I set it aside in the pre-Christmas rush, because I needed to focus on finishing a hooked rug for my sister-in-law (I'm still working on that one!)

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to finish the vest so I could actually wear it this winter. And I love it! The Blue Sky Worsted is amazing. I like knitting on larger needles so it went really fast. I am now eyeing the Chocolate color and trying to come up with a pattern so I can knit with it again.