Bling!

Last week's rain left me feeling a little "blah". I decided I need a little pick-me-up.

As my 16 year old daughter will verify, I do not have a flashy wardrobe. To combat the rainy weather blues, I decided to add a little bling to my wardrobe. But, I still wanted to stay within my comfort zone.

I grabbed a new pattern, Shirl's Mittlets by Cabin Fever, and a fun sparkly yarn, with just the right amount of flash, Lanalux by Lang. The pattern is great - it covers fingering, dk, worsted and aran weight! And I chose one of the new jewel tones.

The result: surprisingly soft hand warmers with just enough glitter to make me (and everyone who has seen them!) smile. And my daughter approves!

Look what mommy made me do!

Michele was stash diving recently and decided to make a gift for some friends who have a dog. She first checked out her pattern stash, and came up with an old Minnowknits pattern for a cute dog sweater (and to answer the question that I know will come up... no, we don't have it!) Then she dove into her yarn stash and emerged with a lot of Nashua Handknits Paradise Remember the Eli Hat Pattern she came up with this year? She made a lot of them as gifts, and has quite the Paradise stash!

So she finished this adorable dog sweater, but didn't have a dog to model it. Enter Skitz. What a tolerant kitty! Well, she may be tolerant, but I'm not sure how thrilled she was for this modelling assignment... Here are Skitzy's comments:

Are you kidding me? Who wears these things? Oh yeah, those inferior things called DOGS. Blech.I have to admit... it's pretty. Nice pattern. Great colors. And oh, how it compliments my gorgeous complexion! Now wait, let me turn to this side. It's my better side - and you know we all have a better side!Look how it brings out the green in my eyes... Boy do I look GOOD!

Okay, that was fun. Thanks for making me feel like a super model. I enjoyed wearing it, but this is more like it. Purrrrrrrrrr.

New projects galore

We've been cooking up some new projects recently... some are still in the thinking stage, some are in the works, and some are completed. It's crunch time folks. The time of year that customers come in and count on us to give them quick and easy ideas for their gift knitting.

So we're busy coming up with new ideas and recycling some old ideas (with new yarns!) so that we have an arsenal of suggestions for you. I have seen some really cute modular scarves recently. If you haven't tried this type of knitting, I have to say - it's easy and fun. It's like breaking a project down into lots of little steps. Okay, I'll be honest, there may be more ends to weave in at the end, but we think it's worth it. Manos Silk Blend is one of my all time favorite yarns. It is amazingly soft and the colors are lovely. I was rearranging the shelves the other day, and noticed how well some of the colors worked together. I grabbed a variegated shade and two solids and knit up this funky modular scarf. I'm working on deciphering my chicken scratch now so the pattern will be available shortly. It was easy, fun and took no time at all. There are some really great color combinations - come on in and let us help you choose one!

The Super Bulky Button Hat has been our most popular hat for two years now. It is quick, easy and affordable, using just 2 skeins of Malabrigo Chunky and a funky Frog Tree Ceramic button. However, Malabrigo can be hard for us to get... so Barb thought it would be fun to knit one up in one of our new super bulky yarns... Berroco Sundae. You still need two skeins of the Sundae, but you'll save 6 bucks and only have to work single stranded. Great pick, Barb! (Doesn't our model look right at home in my backyard? I'm home with a bad cold and now a feverish child, but I sort of like the photo backdrop!?)

I'm not a fan of teeny tiny needles, but something about the Lace Beret in the Vogue Knitting Magazine Holiday Issue really called to me. The 0's and 2's didn't even deter me. I grabbed 2 skeins of Tilli Tomas Milan and some 20" Addi Turbos and cast on this past weekend. The pattern is charted, and is actually quite easy! I am very close to finishing... hopefully tonight! From baby blankets to baby sweaters, and hats to scarves, we have a lot more small projects that we're knitting up, so come on in and get inspired!