Customer Project: Bunny Hop

contributed by Shawn

Knitting At Knoon patterns for knitted toys have always been a hit in the shop. Which one is the most popular? Well that depends upon the age of knitter, the age of the recipient, and the season of the year!

Some of our customers love to make the Safari Friends (African animals)

while others go for Prehistoric Pals (dinosaurs).

And there are quite a few who think the aliens (Take Me To Your Leader) are the coolest, 

and still more who like the Monkey Business patterns. 

And of course, the Snobuddy Family is popular with everyone.

One of our customers, Amy, has knit many of these creatures and recently found another one of Chris de Longpre's patterns - Bunny Hop! This family of rabbits is certainly inspiration for spring :)

We didn't carry this pattern, but keep your eyes open for it. It's on order!

Holiday Inspiration in August

contributed by Shawn

I hope we won't spoil anyone's fun this holiday season, but we just have to share these!

Pauli saw our SnoBuddies shop samples and knew exactly what she wanted to treat all of her children and their families to for the 2011 holiday season. She got the Knitting at Knoon Snobuddies pattern and has been VERY busy. She's made 47 of these little guys! Each one represents a member of her family - WOW! We are so impressed with this.

When she brought me the photo she also brought some snapshots of a couple of other projects.  She's been busy making small knitted toys for relatives she knows will appreciate them.  Here are a golden retriever (knit in Ella Rae Amity Print along with a few sheep knit in various worsted weight yarns.  

I know it's only August, but the holidays are fast approaching! If you are looking for some of these fun little toys to knit as gifts, check out the new Spud & Chloe at the Farm book, Itty Bitty Toys, and other Knitting at Knoon patterns.

These guys think we need a bit of snow!

Okay, so where's the white stuff? I heard we may be seeing some early next week, and that would make these guys super happy! Knitting at Knoon Snobuddy Pattern, Berroco Peruvia yarn (color Blanco!), and stash yarn. Quick project. Great holiday gift!

Project for a wee one

We've always loved the Wee One Welcome Set pattern, from Knitting at Knoon. Over the years, it's been reprinted, and has always included a photograph that has been - in our opinion - less that fortunate. We KNEW it was a great pattern, but we also knew we weren't going to sell even ONE pattern if we didn't knit it up as a sample.

The first sample we had was made with Koigu Kersti. Loved it! So did our customers, and boy did that pattern fly out the door. The customers would grab the sample and ask us "Where can I find this pattern?" When we pulled the pattern out for them, they'd say, "No, that's not the right one!" because the picture on the pattern was so... different. But it was the right one, and they left happy.

When we stopped carrying Kersti, we knew we had to make another Wee One. So for the second Wee One, we chose Colinette Cadenza, and once again, it was beautiful. We had many a repeat of the "Can you get me this pattern?" followed by, "Are you SURE this is the pattern?" And followed by the need to re-do the sample, since we no longer carry Colinette yarns.

This time, after having the sweater price start at around $35 (Kersti) and then go to around $30 (Cadenza), we thought we'd whip one up in a fun new yarn that would be super affordable. We chose the Sirdar Snuggly Crofter which works up into a fair isle effect. It's adorable! And there are 6 great color choices that work really well for babies - both girls AND boys. These 2 just arrived today, and are a bit more mature than the other 4 colors. All are so cute.
And the price of the Wee One Welcome Set in this yarn, is an affordable $21 (took just 3 skeins!) Pattern price not included.

New DK Self-Patterning Yarn!

We had one of our sample knitters take one of the new DK yarns home the new Sirdar Snuggly Crofter yarn and she brought back the cutest Wee One Welcome Set (Knitting at Knoon pattern) that I've ever seen!

Not only does this look incredibly impressive with the self-patterning yarn but it is a super soft washable yarn that's great for any little one.

The yarn must have made an impression on our sample knitter, because she immediately purchased her own Crofter skeins for another of her personal projects! Crofter comes in great colors for any baby project - see them here.

SnoBuddies

One of our local customers wrote to us about a week before Christmas. She wrote:

Hello,
I thought I'd share a picture of one of the SnoBuddies I made. I sent the first one to my brother and sister-in-law and they quickly requested the entire family of snow buddies. Well, this is the second installment. We'll see about the others!

They've been great fun to knit -- that is with the exception of knitting teeny, tiny mittens. I'd never knit mittens before so starting with such tiny ones was a bit of a challenge. I was determined though and after many, many tries I finally got it!

On to the next knitting project!
Nikki B.

We all love to see finished projects, and this one drew many oooohs and aaaahs. I had every intention of posting it that very day to share with all of you, but well, you know how it is with intentions...

I've also seen some great SnoBuddies on Ravelry recently, again, knit by a few of our customers. We're sure they were well received holiday gifts!

Cat toys (or the Return of the Baby Snowman!)

The baby snowman is back! I caught Indigo batting it around at about 2 AM a couple of nights ago. I have no idea where Indigo has been hiding this little guy, but now he is mine again. I am ecstatic. Indigo, however, is in mourning.

So Baby Snowman, who is slightly fuzzier due to his stint as a "cat toy," is safely tucked away inside a zippered knitting bag that is securely closed.

Soon Baby Snowman will get a hat and/or scarf, and I-cord fashioned nose. Stay tuned for the entire family in their Sunday best. We would love to see your SnoBuddy families too! Send us photos of what you knit up from the SnoBuddy pattern or any Knitting at Knoon patterns!