Is your color choice influenced by the season?

Do you pick colors based on the season? As I've pulled yarn from restock lists over the past few weeks, I've noticed that we've been selling a LOT of greens, reds, browns, oranges and yellows. And since those colors have been in abundance here in Vermont over the past month, I made the connection that maybe people are buying what they see out in nature? I don't know if it's true of not, but it's my own little study! 

These groupings of yarn were pulled from actual restock lists. So somewhere out there, fall colored items are being made!

Fall inspired colors of Berroco Vintage

Autumnal shades of Berroco Comfort

Plymouth Encore

Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted

We love it that people are making sweaters, shawls and afghans in fall colors. It's my favorite time of the year in Vermont. How can you look at the foliage and NOT be completely inspired?

Bernie

Barb got a new puppy this summer. 

One of Bernie's baby pictures

Bernie is a black Shih Tzu who is quite the little charmer. He's not even 3 pounds and probably won't get to more than 5 pounds when full grown. 

And being so tiny means it's even harder to keep warm when the temperatures drop. Last week we could tell he wasn't fond of those cold mornings, and the brisk wind didn't really do it for him either.

So on Saturday we decided he needed his very first sweater. First we chose the yarn... Plymouth Encore. It was an easy decision. We wanted something that would wash easily (after all, Bernie is so tiny that each outing onto grass gets him pretty wet!) We also figured that since he's just getting into the naughty toddler teething phase, he'd be chewing on his sweater like a bad boy. So we certainly weren't going to splurge for superwash merino wool...

Then it was on to picking a color. With 69 solids, 9 tweeds and 26 colorspuns, the choice was a little overwhelming! We ended up going with one of the new neon colors. We figured that with the daylight hours on the decline, it was the safest choice!

I could have found a pattern for a teeny tiny dog sweater but I figured it would be more fun to wing it. So I grabbed Bernie and a tape measure and sketched some measurements. (You can tell I have cats. My drawing is clearly feline.) 

With a basic drawing of what I wanted, Bernie's measurements and a gauge swatch, I was off and knitting. This was a quick project and I brought it in for Bernie to wear this morning. 

He wasn't quite sure what to think of his new sweater. He chased his tail (and the back end of the sweater) for 5 minutes straight, and then was exhausted and napped it in for about an hour. Typical puppy behavior.

Seriously? I have to WEAR this!?

Note the buttons... skull & crossbones buttons... perfect for this little sweet terror.

So my attempt at a dog sweater was pretty good! We decided we'll move the buttons to make it more snug around his back for now, and as he grows we'll move them back again. 

Tiny sleeves are just the right size for his little chicken legs.

Settling in for my nap.

And sorry, I did not write down the pattern for this. It's really all about measurements and gauge... really not too difficult!

New Safety Measures in Place

We reorganized the Plymouth Encore yesterday, since we've just received a number of new colors. Some of the colors are the new neons, which have been really well received. The first day we got the Neon Pink in stock, a little girl chose it for a sweater before we even put it out on the shelf. The mom didn't love the color, but hey, she told her daughter she could pick her favorite color...

And, this week we've had a work crew outside on the sidewalk. We can't really tell what they're doing, because each time we look out the window, they aren't doing anything at all. Maybe they just get a lot of breaks? 

But it got us thinking of our new neon colors, and how maybe these folks should at least be productive with all this sitting around. Certainly they could be making themselves some accessories for when the air turns colder?

This morning we arrived to find a single cone, but no work crew. So we sent one of our employees out to work safety patrol. We told her it's okay to stay in the shade, but absolutely NO sitting down on the job!

Reporting for duty

We didn't have the proper uniform for her, but we whipped up a quick safety sash (Plymouth Encore neons), badge (tape measure), and topped her off with an eyecatching hat (Manos Maxima). 

We think she'll get noticed.

Dr Who Scarf combinations, in both wool & washable blends!

contributed by Shawn

This year is the 50th Anniversary (1963-2013) of the BBC's Dr Who television series. The demand for Dr. Who scarves is up and requests for knitting materials for these coveted scarves has been phenomenal in the past 6-8 months. We continue to order the colors for authentic replica knitting almost as fast as our suppliers can ship it! 

While customers continue to order the Brown Sheep Nature Spun yarns in sport and worsted weights for these scarves, some customers have been asking for machine washable alternatives. Because Plymouth Encore has such a good color range, we were able to find some close color matches for this scarf. A soft, easy care yarn, Encore will delight any Dr. Who fan. So if you are ready for a washable, wearable, wonderful Dr. Who scarf we’ve got you covered!

(Please note these colors are for the popular Season Twelve replica. See below for additional information and other television season alternatives.)

Dr. Who colors in Plymouth Encore Worsted:

• Brick (#212)
• Burnished Heather (#1445)
• Deepest Mauve (#960)
• English Fern (#045)
• Grey (#389)
• Golden Glow (460)
• Tan (#1203)

Dr. Who colors in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted or Nature Spun Sport: 

• Red Fox (#46)
• Saddle Tan (#123)
• Chocolate Kisses (#136)
• Wood Moss (#209)
• Goldenrod (#125)
• Spiced Plum (#142)
• Charcoal (#880)

Looking for patterns or alternate season color information for these scarves? Check out these sites: 

wittylittleknitter: dedicated to the knitting of the authentic Doctor Who scarf 

dr. who scarf

Dead or Alive?

contributed by Shawn

I caught a whopper this weekend! OK, I didn't actually go fishing. I just finished a fish related knitting project.  

The knitting pattern Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] by Thelma Egberts appears in the winter 2008 issue of Knitty but you can find the link and listing for this project in Ravelry. 

You can make your fish dead or alive, by changing how you make the eyes. I chose to make my fish alive. I made some small white crocheted circles, and then embroidered a smaller circle in black.

I had some Manos Rittenhouse in my stash (it's a discontinued yarn) and I thought the kettle dyed shading would look nice for this project. 

Now I'm thinking I'd like to make one with some Plymouth Encore - maybe the Blue Jeans Mix and Mod Light Denim would make a really cool tweedy effect. Berroco Remix would be another great choice for this hat.   

So what will your fish be? Dead or Alive?

Customer Feedback

Customer Feedback is great, whether it's positive or negative. Positive feedback makes us smile and tells us we're doing a great job. Negative feedback makes us grow and strive even harder to be the best we can be.

We recently got an email with some nice feedback, and it included a picture of a work-in-progress. We LOVE it when our customers send pictures! Here's a gorgeous cabled blanket that our customer June is working on.

She emailed us say, "Thanks to Shawn, who helped me out over the phone when I was trying to figure out this cable pattern. You were so patient and explained things so that I could keep on knitting!! Using your Encore in a soft, soft yellow."

That would be Pale Yellow # 896. A great color. Thanks for sharing June... and great job!

What's Our Mannequin Wearing?

Brrrrrr! It's been nippy this past week! Our mannequin is thrilled to set aside the summery knits in favor of a more fall-like wardrobe. Stripes are in, and she's definitely in fashion with her striped sweater jacket. She's also showing off a new bag we've just received, and a warm scarf.

Sweater: Striped Jacket (Plymouth Pattern #2351) knit in Plymouth Encore

Scarf: Mistaken Rib Scarf (free pattern) knit in Berroco Flicker Yarn

Shawl Pin (closing sweater): Horizontal Pin

Bag: Della Q Clea Bag, coming to the website soon!

Baby Shower Gift

So many of our customers have made our Baby Blocks pattern that we thought we'd share them here.

This is a fun project to knit, and a great gift to give!

We no longer sell the yarn we used to make these (pictured) but we're not getting rid of this sample, because any worsted weight in fun colors will do!

Try Berroco Vintage, Plymouth Encore, or brand new Hikoo Simpliworsted!

Customer Project - Avengers Golf Club Covers

contributed by Shawn

Leslie stopped by the shop the other day to pick out some Berroco Vintage in fun colors for a surprise project. Leslie and a friend started taking golf lessons at the beginning of the summer and the two of them decided one afternoon to go see the new Avengers movie.  This inspired Leslie to come up with this birthday plan for her friend: knitted golf club covers that are Avengers characters!

She brought them in to show us and get a little assistance with the crocheted details for Iron Man.  Don't you just love that the Hulk is for the largest of the clubs?

Believe it or not we get TONS of requests for patterns for knitted golf club covers.  We have our Ann Norling Golf Club Covers knitting pattern knitting pattern on standby as a perfect base for any creative imagination.  

We recommend Plymouth Encore or Berroco Vintage yarns as the nylon blend will provide machine washability and longer life (than all natural fibers) for the best looking club covers around!

Customer Project

contributed by Shawn

We recently had a chance to see an excellent use of leftovers.  This is an adorable cardigan knit in leftover Encore worsted colors. A customer came in to the shop pick out buttons to go with it.   

The squares are knit together as the cardigan comes together!  (Pattern is adapted from an Arnhild's Knitting Studio pattern - Kid's Squares Cardigan.)

Awesome New Encore Colors!

Plymouth has just come out with some GREAT new colors of Encore!...and, we still have some discontinued Encore colors on sale!

Ready for Rainbows!

Our customer Linda recently brought in her finished Rainbow Sweater to show off the other day. After all the freezing temperatures up here in the frozen north land I'm ready to start thinking about some rainbows myself!

Linda added stripes to the Yankee Knitter Roll Raglan pattern. A couple of months ago she came in to pick out colors for this sweater. We found the perfect shades in Plymouth Encore Worsted. The request for this rainbow sweater came with very specific instructions to include not just blue... but indigo too. I think you'll agree, it's a true Roy G Biv matsterpiece!

New stuff all around!

Since last week, we've been busy unpacking lots of boxes here at the shop. We've gotten some new colors of existing yarns, and some brand new yarns! Here's a summary of what went online recently:
New color of Plymouth Mushishi called Sea:Two new Plymouth Dreambaby DK colors called Raspberry and Blueberry:New Encore colors:and a colorspun:and a gorgeous Encore Tweed called Mushroom: More new colors in solids and tweeds are on the way, but they aren't here quite yet!

We've also gotten some new yarns. May I introduce Plymouth Coffee Beenz, a new member of the Encore family of yarns. This yarn has the same 75% acrylic/25% wool blend, so it's super soft and washable. This yarn has a main color that's wrapped with a variegated strand. The four shades we got are all gorgeous!

Here's one I'm super excited about... Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash. It's a Charmin-like soft merino wool, that's machine washable. We're loving it and can't wait to knit with it (honestly, we've only squeezed and squished it so far. But that's enough to love it!) It's only $12 for a whopping 218 yards. Not a bad price!

There are a couple more, but that's all I have time for today. Make sure you're signed up to receive our new product notifications! Then you won't miss out on new items...