Manic-In Monday

This week's sweater is a gorgeous fingering weight cardigan, paired with a scrumptiously soft, feminine scarf. Sure, sweaters in fingering weight yarn take much longer to make, but they're SO worth it! They are lightweight, yet warm, and can really be worn in every season of the year. And the scarf? Our top seller - and if you've touched it, you know why.

Sweater: Florence Cardigan from Ella Rae Lace Merino Book #104 made up in a solid color of Ella Rae Lace Merino. Our sample is knit in a color we no longer carry, but think outside of the box on this... if you can't find a color you like, may we suggest Malabrigo Sock or Spud & Chloe Fine?

Scarf: Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Her kit.

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!

New colors in our favorite scarf kit!

The Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf FOR HER has 5 smokin' new colors! Here they are:
Top to bottom we have Purple Majesty, Spice Girl, Vamp, Teal a Kiss and Green Goddess. Yummy!

This kit, along with the Cashmere Scarf FOR HIM, has been one of our best selling items for 2 years in a row. If you've seen the samples we have in the shop, you'll know why!

Manic-In Monday

This past weekend was FREEZING here in the northeast! We had wind chills in the NEGATIVE 40's on Friday, and Saturday and Sunday were only a bit warmer. Brrr. I actually blew off skiing this Saturday to sit at home and knit by the fire. It was the right choice, for sure.

These cold temps had everything to do with the mannequin's outfit change for this week. She's bundled up in several really soft and warm knits. After all, she does stand right by the door and gets awfully chilly with customers coming in and out all day. (Is this outfit a hint that she wants a new spot in the shop? Deal with it honey, we need you front and center!)

There's also a bit of a cable theme going on here. Did anyone notice that? Shawn is working on the next round of classes (starting in March) and there's a cable workshop.

Sweater: Brea Sweater made with Rowan Lima yarn. Pattern - Rowan Lima Collection. This is one of Shawn's favorite sweaters. She's normally wearing it down in the shop, but the mannequin must have won out this time.

Scarf: Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Her Kit in Natural Woman. If you haven't seen this in person, you simply must. Seven pattern choices come with this kit. This is my personal fave.

Mittens: Hoot Mittens made with Fibre Company Canopy yarn. Pattern is free! These were easy and fun to make.

Bag: Cable That Bag pattern from Gardiner Yarnworks knit with Mission Falls 1824 Wool, an incredible worsted merino that is machine washable!

Manic-in Monday

I've recently started a knitting project with a Noro yarn, and at night when I go to bed and close my eyes, I have gorgeous stripes imprinted on the backs of my eyelids. It's a lovely treat, especially since outside it's mostly white, grey and brown!

This week's sweater is a great staple to add to any wardrobe. It's a nice deep v-neck with a slightly cropped length (make it longer if you'd like!) and nicely done pockets. A nice lightweight scarf in a super soft cashmere will keep that neck warm.

My thoughts:

I just LOVE how the Noro stripes do NOT match up on cardigans.

If you're super anal about being matchy-matchy with your stripes,

go with a pullover or use a different yarn.

Sweater: Design #3 in Noro Collection 3, Jenny Watson Designs, knit with Noro Kureyon yarn (sorry, this color has just been discontinued!) The pattern calls for Noro Silk Garden, so go with whichever one you like best.

Scarf: Dragon Scale scarf knit with Jade Sapphire 2-ply Mongolian Cashmere

Here it is pictured in the Noro Silk Garden:

Anything for a little cash!

Cashmere that is! It's certainly not what I knit with every day, but when I do... mmmm. Yummy yummy. On Saturday morning I finished the Driftwood Hat. It took one skein of Jade Sapphie 4-ply cashmere. We have three really cute hat patterns for this yarn, but you'd NEVER know it! Unfortunately, the photographs on the patterns are pretty bad. Barb and I saw these beautiful hats back in June at TNNA at the Jade Sapphire booth and ordered them with the 4-ply Cashmere.

When the yarn and patterns came in a couple of months ago, we were thrilled. But we took one look at the patterns and said... HUH? What are these? These can't be the beautiful hats we ordered. Did they mis-ship us some aesthetically challenged ones by mistake?

But no. They are the great hat patterns we ordered. The pictures are just really bad. It's so sad when that happens!

So luckily, the wonderful folks at Jade Sapphire are sending me the hats so I can re-shoot them. I will replace the not-so-lovely images for these patterns on our site, so folks can see what they really look like.

Our mannequin has had a busy weekend. She's been at home with me so I could shoot some things for the website while I was home sick with the kids. She's been working hard - the other morning Sophie grabbed my camera and tripod, and set the mannequin head up on the kitchen table. She was holding her own photo shoot - and even made the mannequin some hair and clothing from our napkins and placemats. I'm not one to ask folks to work nights, especially "holiday" nights, but I did put the mannequin into service for Halloween last night. I mean hey, times are tough and you gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills. She helped me out in my scary "fortune teller" window display. She did a good job.Anything for a little cash, right?

Best Picks

People always come in to the shop and ask us what other people are knitting. So we thought we'd do a show and tell for you on the products that have been really popular over the past month:

Best Pick for Kits:

Scarf Kits Galore! The Pagewood Farms Tinkerbell Needle Felted Silk Scarf Kit, the Be Sweet & Artyarns Synergy Shawl Knit Kit and the Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf Kits (for Him or Her)

All of these kits are really grabbing attention in the shop. We have some gorgeous samples to fondle and purr over if you have a chance to stop in. There's such a variety of fiber goodness in these four kits, and they come in such wonderfully tempting colors that everyone is ogling. Come in and see these before the selection is gone - they'll make a great gift or an outstanding conversation piece for yourself. (I know not enough of us create FOR ourselves and all of these kits are great values! Now I just have to finish my own cashmere scarf...)

Best Pick Patterns:

Norah Gaughan volume #5, Berroco Book #288 Blackstone Tweed, Jane Ellison's Queensland Collection Book #9 (featuring some of the most handsome new men's designs!) AND Queensland Collection Book #10

Best Pick Accessories, Notions, & Needles:

The Namaste Mini Clutch, especially in Black or Eggplant (this is a super supple PVC-free faux leather mini clutch with a shoulder strap-check 'em out) and the Kollage Square Double Pointed needles in both 5" and 7" lengths. We're still getting great feedback about these needles and how much people love trying them out both in the store and as additions to needle collections.(Yes, there's a set on the counter for you to try!)

Best Pick Yarn(s):

Berroco Vintage Wool and Kollage Half & Half are the favorites of the month! Vintage Wool continues to be a strong choice for customers because it's so soft, and they can't believe it's a washable acrylic/wool/nylon blend. We added more new colors, too, so we've rounded out the pallet a bit for those of you looking for more options. And Half & Half is milk protein mixed with wool. NO, you can't drink it, but people are amazed that it contains milk. And once you touch it, it's on the counter waiting to be rung out.

When in doubt, resort to cashmere

Things in my neck of the woods have been hectic recently. I find that the time leading up to the kids' April school vacation is always that way. I guess it's good in a way, because then I'll really enjoy my vacation, right? One hopes!

Anyway, I've been busy in the evenings, and haven't found much time to knit. Some nights I am doing computer work, and after dealing with spreadsheet after spreadsheet, I find I am so mentally drained that it's time for bed.

Other evenings I've been trying to find some time to exercise. Easier said than done! And so as much as that is necessary for my overall health and well-being, it certainly takes time away from my knitting...

The only real knitting I've gotten done, is during our Harry Potter Read-Alouds... I got the girls the first 6 books for Christmas this year. BEST present I've ever gotten them. And they completely agree. They don't normally like anything scary so I really wasn't sure how they were going to react to the books. They LOVE them! During the Christmas break we got through the first two books, and now we are almost finished book 4. We don't do it every night, but we try to do it 3-4 times a week.

Reading aloud is hard, and reading Harry Potter alound is even harder. Plus, at the end of each chapter, when Marc and I are ready to put the book down, the girls scream "PLEASE!!!!! Just one more chapter!!!! PLEASE!!!!" And we usually give in. So reading time goes from 30 minutes to sometimes an hour, or even an hour and a half. I can only knit when Marc or the girls are reading, but since we all trade off that gives me ample time. And my special project for Harry Potter nights has been my Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Him (really for ME) kit. I am doing a simple stitch pattern that is so easy it's almost impossible to mess up. The yarn is luxurious and I'm almost halfway through! Unfortunately I am thinking it's going to be next fall before I get to wear this. But it's a classic, so I'm not worried.

We have sold SO many of these kits this year. And a little birdy told us they might be coming out with kits... for HER. So that means new stitch combos and more colors. Oooh la laaa!