Drooling...

...over the new yarn we just received! Just in, Malabrigo Arroyo - a sport weight version of the ever popular Rios.

This yarn is a super soft merino superwash and has a whopping 335 yards!

Don't know what to make? Here are some projects done in this yarn that we found on Ravelry. Hope they give you some ideas!

• Baby sweater
• Shawl
• Sweater
• Hat
• Cowl

It's a hopping Friday night!

Went out to dinner with some new friends here in Tampere, and then came back to settle in with a little knitting. 

Helen's making the Horizontal Ribbed Band Hat out of Berroco Flicker, and Sophie's making the Bulky Cable & Ribbed Hat out of Malibrigo Chunky. The best part is... they're both free patterns on the site, so I am forcing them to refer to the patterns themselves on their mobile phones. No need to print the patterns out now, is there?

So I'm knitting, Helen's knitting, Sophie's knitting, and Maisy's just waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2011

contributed by Shawn

I just can't keep up with the number of new patterns that have arrived in the shop that I want to make!  Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2011 arrived just in time to tempt all of our customers with excellent gift ideas!

I didn't waste any time getting started. I grabbed some Berroco Remix so that I can try out the short row techniques that Robin Ulrich uses to create the Northwoods Coasters. I'll let you know how that goes soon.

Next on my list? Is it an octopus? Or an octahedron? The Cephalohedron by Erica Schlueter is both! The Kidz Orange color in Berroco Comfort DK will be perfect. Then again, I can see one of the spotted colorways being a fun choice too!

I think I will be practicing my garter stitch seams by making a few of the Quatrefoil Cups by Katya Frankel in Berroco Vintage.

I might have to sneak the Midtown Cowl by Jenny Williams into my queue just for myself.  It's a wonderful excuse to knit with the Filatura di Crosa Superior yarn.

So many of my favorite yarns make an appearance in this issue that I just don't know when I'll have time to get all these projects in.  We just got some new Malabrigo stock so I've been eyeing the Rib and Button Scarf by Talitha Kuomi. It's shown in Malabrigo Rios yarn.

I also like the First Friday Shrug by Erica Jackofsky (Fiddle Knits). This is shown in Malabrigo Lace yarn.

Another of my favorite yarns, Manos del Uruguay Rittenhouse is simply stunning in the Flamboyant Shawl by Maria Leigh.

The great patterns don't stop here! Come on in and check out all of the other amazing gift ideas.  Don't forget you have just under 3 months before the winter holiday season hits!

Upcoming Class - Learn to Knit a Hat

This winter, Jill's Rasta hat was a fun and bright addition to our slew of shop samples.This project is a quick knit and so it's the PERFECT project for anyone who wants to learn how to knit a hat in the round. Knitting with the super bulky merino wool is a treat too! (By the way we have the Malabrigo Rasta yarn back in stock for those of you who missed it a couple of months ago.)

Our first hat class filled so quickly last session, that we decided to offer it again. So if you are hat-challenged, grab your adventurous knitting spirit and sign up for the Knitting Your First Hat class to learn this new skill.

Stop by the shop to choose a color of this bold and beautiful yarn. In class you'll be joining to knit in the round on circular needles as well as transferring the stitches to double pointed needles to finish up. Both are great things to add to your bag of tricks if you don't already know how to do them. And if pom-poms don't float your boat, we'll be sure to show you how to add a tassle instead.

Knittin' Mittens

I've been working with customer Josie B. for a couple of weeks on mitten knitting techniques. We've been meeting weekly for our 'mitten class' and tackle different parts each time, work out the bugs, fix mistakes, you name it and we work on it all in the context of the perfect mitten.

Josie is working her way through all the Manos Maxima colors and recently moved on to experimenting with the Malabrigo Rios colors. She's going to have a riot of colorful mittens and they're all beautiful!

To get ready for our upcoming mitten class (that's right - spring classes are posted!) I began working on some mittens myself. I like to have a finished mitten and one in progress so that I can demonstrate during class.

After working up the mitten for class using worsted weight yarn things seemed to spiral a bit out of control... I have mitten mania now! The mitten for class is shown here underneath my hand in the photo. And it fits great!I was having so much fun with mittens that I decided to work up a pair of felted mittens using the Snow Country Felt Mittens pattern. And the finished pair (before felting!) is pretty amusing. I now refer to the them as the 'hulk' mittens. Michelle made me pose. I think I better felt these before something dangerous happens.

Tammy strikes again

So Tammy stopped in to the shop the other day with more felted mittens. She's got to stop DOING this to us! We are in love with her two new mitts - check out these birds:Have you ever seen anything like it? Someone's got some artistic talent... and it's not ME!
she also brought in this mitt to show us how beautiful the Malabrigo Rios cuff looks. It's colorful, soft and cozy.

Customer Project - Felt Times Two!

Last week our customer Tammy came into the shop and shared some mittens she's been knitting for friends. (Lucky friends!)What gorgeous felted mittens! These are Double Cuff Mittens, felted on the outside with a knitted ribbed cuff on the inside.

These mitts are knit and then wet felted into super warm thick mittens. And then, after they have completely dried, Tammy does some seriously amazing needle felting on the outside. I LOVE THE BEES! I even threatened to take them home.

These mittens can be knit using a single skein of Cascade 220 for each pair. If you decide to put in the fitted cuff inside that is not felted Tammy warned us that you may need additional yarn. She's being creative and picked out some soft Malabrigo Rios today to go inside some of the ones in the photo.

If you are looking for inspiration for wet felted knitting projects you can check out this pattern and many more in the book Knit One Felt Two.

Hooker alert!

We just got the Interweave Crochet Spring 2011 Magazine, and it's got some awesome projects, as usual. I'm particularly fond of the Dahlia Shawl which is done in Manos del Uruguay Lace. This is the one Manos yarn we do not yet stock (maybe now we will have to look more closely at it!) so I would be tempted to substitute the Filatura di Crosa Nirvana or the Malabrigo Lace.

The dew Drop bracelet is really sweet and would make a great gift! It's a perfect project for Classic Elite Firefly, and of course, a visit to Bead Crazy would be in order for this one.

Another beautiful project is the Magic Carpet Blanket. It's completely portable, and I would love to do this in some really fun colors of Berroco Comfort DK.

Just one more to share... the Cupcake Sweater in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. This one is a sampler Tunisian Crochet Cardigan - that incorporates four Tunisian stitches - the simple stitch, the knit stitch, the purl stitch and a lace stitch. Maybe Barb will have to make this one now that she's so hooked on Tunisian crochet!

Searching for the perfect men's headwear

I really enjoy knitting hats and I love finding exciting hat patterns that I've never tried. It's easy to find hat patterns for women, but I find it more difficult to find good hat patterns for men. And I have a number of guy friends who appreciate a hat handout every now and then.

Guys typically like more muted colors and they're definitely not into the lacy look. I recently found some patterns that are perfect for guys. And hey, if you change the color of the yarn, I think even the girls will like these. It does help that both were designed by men who knit.

The Koolhaas Hat is by Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed). I always admire Jared's patterns and this hat has been in my queue since it was first published in an Interweave Knits Magazine a couple of years ago. Since I now know how to cable without a cable needle, I picked the pattern up and it seemed like much less fuss to make all those 1 stitch twists. I love it! Think of all the different colors you could knit this in to suit anyone you know! I used the Manos Rittenhouse Merino.

The Botanic Hat is by Stephen West (aka Westknits). This hat is reversible so you can decide if you're feeling more bold or just wanting to keep your head warm with simple stripes. Again, I used Manos Rittenhouse Merino. Here's a happy friend wearing it:And the reversible version:I have plans for another Botanic Hat in more solid colors using Malabrigo Worsted but in the meantime I've been distracted by another of Westknits' designs... I cast on for Windschief with the beautiful sunset color of Malabrigo Rios.

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.

An awesome sweater for a not so awesome day

It's an icky weather forecast for today, Saturday March 5th, 2011. I mean, I know it's spring, but I'll take a sunny, warm day over a damp, rainy day any time!

Emily just finished a new sweater. Granted, she wore it yesterday (Friday) but because today is dull outside, we thought you'd appreciate a little lift. So here it is: and here are the details:

• Tea Leaves Cardigan - a beautiful sweater with a super flattering fit
• Malabrigo Rios - a super soft merino wool (that's machine washable) in a crazy fun color (called Sunset) (NOTE: A huge Malabrigo shipment left their location for us... including such goodies, we can't wait!)
  
• And look closely at these buttons:

Robots. WHAT FUN! It doesn't get much better than this. They're new, and they're here.

Show your Valentine's spirit

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Recently customers have been asking for Valentine inspired knits. Honestly - we don't have a lot! It's just one day of the year, and there aren't a whole lot of patterns that are dedicated to just one day...

However, we feel you can take any hand knit item and jazz it up for Valentine's Day. Take this hat for example:

It's a quick bulky beanie pattern with two little hearts stitched on the side. We used Malabrigo Chunky in Vermillion and a small amount of Plymouth Angora in white for the hearts. This hat will keep you warm and spread some love and cheer at the same time. Once Valentine's Day has come and gone, you can easily remove the hearts... if you want!

So think outside of the box when you are searching for something special to knit. Sometimes a search for "Valentine's patterns" will yield nothing... you just have to search within yourself to see what you can come up with!

Modification for pinkies and pointers

So I finished the girls' mittens last week, and used the Yankee Knitter Hats & Mittens pattern. It's done flat, which was easy and quick to do, and was great for throwing them off track - after all, a flat mitten doesn't really look like a mitten at all, until you seam it up. That enabled me to work on the mittens in front of them, without giving it away. ("Mom, what are you making?"... My answer could have been anything.)

Then I decided that I wanted to make my mom a pair of mittens. I decided to make hers a touch larger than normal, since I wanted her to be able to wear glove liners underneath. Her hands get REALLY cold, and right now she's wearing gloves, that just aren't working. Gloves don't keep your hands as warm, since the fingers are separated and can't share body warmth when they are each in their own little compartment. But thin glove liners under a nice mitten... well this can be quite toasty.

So I grabbed another skein of Malabrigo Rios. It worked so well for the girls' mittens that I wanted to use it again. I didn't want there to be a seam in the mittens for my mom, so I modified the pattern to be worked in the round. I also added a couple of stitches, since I needed it to be a bit bigger than the woman's size, but smaller than the man's size.

I completed the first mitten with the decreases as written in the pattern. I tried it on, and did NOT like it. It gathered in too quickly at the top. Last time I looked, my pinky finger was much smaller than my pointer, and it felt like there was too much mitten above the pinky, and not enough above the pointer. It's not as noticeable in the mittens I did for the girls, and since their hands aren't fully grown, there's not as big of a difference between their pinkies and their pointers.

So I undid the top and ripped back to just above where my pinky was. (Best part about knitting these in the round? I could try it on I went! This would not have been possible if I'd worked them flat.) I started my decreases on JUST the outer edge of the mitten. Gradually, as I had worked more rows and kept trying on the mitten, I got to just above my pointer finger. Then I started decreasing on both sides.Of course, I took EXCELLENT notes as I worked the first mitten. (Totally UN-like me. But I wanted it to be perfect.) And the end result is a REALLY perfect pair of mittens. I hope she likes them and that they keep her warm!

In over my head

It's the time of year to be finishing up my projects, and not starting too many new ones until things are under control. But I think I'm failing! I've got quite a lot going on right now. My couch is covered with vinyl zippered project bags full of different projects, and my coffee table with needles, notions, needle kits, tape measures, etc. I keep trying to tidy it up, and I tell myself that I can't start anything new until I finish some of these things up, but it's just not working.

I recently started a sweater for spring - with Rowan Purelife Revive - a new recycled yarn we will be selling beginning next month. It actually came out last year and was so well received that I decided to bring it in to our product offering for this spring. I had a bag sent to me ahead of the full shipment so I could start a sample. We got the Purelife Recycled Collection, which includes 15 great designs made specifically for this yarn, and I started the Shallot sweater last week. It's quite beautiful, and I just love the color and texture of the yarn. It's a really simple pattern, but as there's a YO, p4tog (that's right... FOUR stitches being purled together, OUCH!) I decided to use the Addi Turbo Lace needles. And it was a good thing. Those extra pointy tips make those rows go more smoothly, although they are still not as quick as the other rows. But suffer I will, because it's really a gorgeous sweater! Not sure how long it will take though, because I am quick to put it down when anything else comes up.

My kids have been complaining that they don't have gloves or mittens for school. They do have ski gloves, but I don't let them take those to school. You know how things ALWAYS get lost at school... those gloves are necessary for happy Saturday ski days, and if a glove is at school, and school is locked, well, let's just say Mommy gets very tense. So those gloves stay at home and we usually buy them cheap-o gloves or mitts somewhere. Because, again... they get lost. But I haven't bought any cheap-o's this year.

Instead, I thought I would make them each a pair of mittens. Who knows? Maybe a hand-knit pair will be considered more "precious" to them, and they will take extra care not to lose them? I used the Yankee Knitter Hats & Mittens pattern - which I love because it's knit flat and it's super quick to make. I used Malabrigo Rios (super soft merino wool, and YAY machine washable - because how often do those mittens fall on the nasty, dirty bus floor?) and I have enough yarn left to make another pair in each color. NOT that I'm planning on it. But if a mitten just happens to get "misplaced" I can whip up a replacement in no time. Smart, I'm thinking!
After Barb brought in her Snobuddy family last week, I just had to jump on that train too. I made one to take as a gift to a Christmas party last weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't make the party - I was recovering from being sick last week - but the girls delivered it. And Lucy got to check it out before it left for its new home.In addition to these projects, I have a skein of Twinkle Soft Chunky waiting to be wound and knit into a super bulky hat (it narrowly escaped a cat attack last week though - I had left it within view of the felines), another ball of Malabrigo Rios to be made into another hat, and some Plymouth Select Merino Superwash that's going to be a little kid's sweater. I hope you are all not as buried in projects as I am!

Brattleboro Hat

When the New England Knits book arrived in the shop, I flipped through it to check out all the wonderful patterns, but there were so many good ones, that I couldn't decide which one I wanted to make.

A couple of weeks later the Fall 2010 Issue of Interweave Knits magazine arrived, and so did my solution! There was a nice review of New England Knits in the magazine, and and they published one of the patterns (the Brattleboro Hat) that appeared in the book. I couldn't stop thinking about the photo of the Brattleboro Hat that appears in the magazine. It was shown knit in Malabrigo Worsted, which is one of my favorite yarns. So I grabbed a skein and started.

I am pleased with the way the hat turned out and enjoyed learning the decreases to keep the textured pattern intact. Now if only I had waited a bit longer for the new easy care Malabrigo Rios yarn to come in. I think this hat would be amazing in the Sunset colorway!

Free on Friday

I just LOVE this week's free pattern. In fact, I love it so much, I've already modified it for a different yarn!

Last week we got a huge shipment from Malabrigo that included 2 new yarns - Rios (a machine washable worsted merino) and Rasta (a super bulky merino.) I grabbed a skein of the Rasta and some big needles and did a quick search on Ravelry for a free pattern that I could whip up.

I found the Instant Gratification Scarf. And instant gratification, it was! I used 12 stitches and size 13 needles and was finished with this scarf while my daughters watched a movie with some friends. It's basically garter stitch with an extra twist that elongates each stitch. Try it!

I was so in love with the mindless nature of this stitch that I applied it to a much skinnier yarn on much smaller needles. This was my trip knitting from last week. It took one ball of Noro Sekku yarn, size 4 Addi Turbo Lace needles, and 75 stitches. And it rocks my world! Because of the incredibly stretchy nature of this stitch and the yarn, it works as both a scarf AND a small shawl. What a great project for one skein of lace yarn. Enjoy!

Desperation leads to creativity

I don't know about you, but this time of year is always a little overwhelming for me -- but in a good way! Like a lot of knitters, I'm gearing up for the holiday season, as well as trying to get some projects for myself finished up before the truly cold weather hits. Sounds good so far, right?

Well...As some of you might know, I love tiny, tiny needles, and big, huge projects. This is usually not a problem, because I try to have just one big project going at any given time, and I can always knit on some smaller things in the meantime. That's how I normally do it.

However...I just learned to crochet. And it's been taking over my life!! I'm deep into two different afghans, the Wool-Eater (in Cascade 220 and Malabrigo Twist) and the Greenway (in Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica and Rittenhouse), and the end is nowhere in sight.

Not to mention the seemingly infinite stockinette stitch of my Featherweight cardigan in Malabrigo Lace.

And so, after kind of a long day at school (I'm in the middle of the semester, too!), I was seriously craving some instant gratification. So I grabbed a skein of Berroco Campus, headed home to whip up a hat, and was horrified to discover that I don't have any 16" or DP needles in US 10, 10.5 or 11!

I was desperate to feel the satisfaction of finishing a project, and so I got out my set of interchangeable needles. It comes with two US 10.5 tips, each of which I attached to its own cable. To the other end of the cable, I attached a size US 7 needle tip. Then, I was able to knit my hat using the 2 circular needle method (always knitting with the 10.5 in my right hand, and the 7 in my left).

It feels so good to finally have a finished object, I might wear my new hat all day!

Bertie Bott's, trip knitting and other uses for knitting tools!

We took advantage of a school break last week and some frequent flyer miles and headed to Florida for a few days of fun in the sun. After a quick stop in Orlando to visit Hogsmeade & Hogwarts, where we sampled Butter Beer, visited Olivander's Wand Shop and dined at the Three Broomsticks, we headed south to stay with some good friends in Miami. There, we hit South Beach, went out in the boat and sampled some of the freshest and most delicious seafood. Yum!

Side note: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are the perfect entertainment for kids! (Okay, and adults, too!) We took some to our friends in Miami and it was too funny. Sampling these jelly beans one by one, waiting to see if the flavor is good or awful, and then trying to figure out what the awful flavor was... hysterical. Thankfully I only got a few bad ones - soap and what tasted like lemon pledge and sap. Fortunately, the kids got all the terrible ones - vomit, earwax, dirt, etc. Fun fun!

I packed two knitting projects for the trip. One was a lace-weight project with Noro Sekku, and the other was a hat in the new Malabrigo Rasta. I'm not a big fan of lace-weight yarns, but since we had a 3 hour layover at JFK (yay, frequent flyer miles!!) I started that project first. I won't divulge the pattern here because you'll see it this Friday on "Free on Fridays". I can say that it was my first project with lace-weight yarn where I opted to use the Addi Turbo Lace Needles.

These needles were just fantastic to work with! The points are incredibly pointy (without hurting my fingers) and the needle surface is just grippy enough that the teeny-tiny-skinny yarn did not slip. I will go so far as to say I enjoyed knitting with this yarn - and that's a complete turnaround for me. It just shows you how important the right tools are. Here's a preview of the scarf, straight from South Beach. (That's Marc teaching Helen how to boogie board in the background.) It's almost finished, too. Just a few more rows to go and you'll see it on Friday.

My Rasta and Brittany double pointed needles saw no action. They were just along for the ride. I did learn that Brittany dpns are versatile tools though, and can be used for non-knitting related activities! Our flight from Miami to JFK was delayed, so we were put on another plane that should have given us plenty of time to make our connection to Burlington. However, things did not go according to plan, and we ended up sprinting what felt like 2 miles to our connecting gate, running past people on the moving walkways, screaming "On your left!". We arrived just seconds before they closed the door to our plane.

When we got into our seats on the minuscule plane, it was 8pm, and we had not eaten since 2:30pm. (Bad planning mom, I know!) I had purchased some of those (super healthy!) Cinnabons in the airport, but had forgotten silverware. Those things are certainly not finger foods, but at this point, we were starving. Those small planes don't even have silverware, and so I searched my backpack to see what I had that could possibly assist us in eating the messiest meal possible.

Thankfully, my Brittany size 13 double pointed needles did the trick! I used one as a knife to cut the Cinnabons into small pieces. Sophie and Helen each used one as a fork, and Marc used 2 as chop sticks. Our tummies were satisfied, and the needles received a good cleaning when we arrived home, and they're good as new. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!

From France, enfin!

This past June I visited my sister in France. You may remember that I took her and her husband each a pair of wristers made from Malabrigo Sock Yarn. Last year they lived in a gorgeous - but drafty - house, and were bundled up from head to toe each day (inside the house.) I thought the wristers would come in handy this year, since they keep your hands warm but leave your fingers free. I mean, everybody needs a pair or two. Don't they?

Unfortunately, it was about 95 degrees when I gave them to her, so the wristers were packed away until just recently. And they have moved, and this place should be warmer, so I'm not sure she will be living in the wristers.

I keep asking her if she's been able to wear them yet, since I've been wearing mine for several weeks now. She finally emailed yesterday, and the wristers are on! She wrote:

Ma trés belle soeur,

After two days of torrential rains and vents violents in southern France, temperatures dropped low enough to finally turn on the heat and don these mitties. They are p a r f a i t, especially for working with a cold metallic macbook first thing in the morn. Thanks so much for knitting these for me, Jill! Tomorrow I may wear them on the morning jog.

Je les aime et je t'aime.

Awesome Kristin! Now I just need you to start wearing the Citron scarf that I gave you in July!

Lace Weight is not just for shawls!

Malabrigo yarns are always a favorite this time of year. Who can resist the buttery softness of merino wool? And the colors are always stunning! Malabrigo Lace is a yarn that's being used more for sweaters these days.

Here's our customer Susan in her Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. This pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry.com.

Susan used 3 skeins of Malabrigo Lace and she was so pleased with how the cardigan looked and felt when she wore it into the shop the other day that now this sweater has been added to my knitting queue!

Looking for some other sumptuous garments to knit in lace weight? Check out the Lettuce Pullover, Wispy Cardi, and the Whisper Cardigan.