Thoughts on Afghan Kits

contributed by Emily

There are two things I am really, really looking forward to with the arrival of autumn. (Well okay, there are a million things – autumn in Vermont is my very favorite time of the year – cider, pumpkins, sweater weather, foliage!)

But what really has me counting down the days until October is the return of Game of Thrones on T.V., and the new Mountain Colors Afghan kits that we have! 

I have fallen head over heels in love with the Ice colorway, and can’t wait to knit it up while snuggled up on my sofa, watching the Lannisters and Starks battle it out!

Colorway: ICE

New Noro Inspiration

contributed by Shawn

The new Noro Knitting Magazine Premiere Issue Fall 2012 (http://www.kyarns.com/product/noro-magazine-fall-2012/noro-knitting-patterns) is full of new Noro inspiration!

I loved the Crochet Slippers:

Crochet Slippers

So I immediately grabbed my new favorite color of Noro Kureyon and worked up a pair of these. They're a perfect summer adaptation of warm wooly slippers!

My slippers!

I love the Crochet Throw made of hexagon shapes.

Crochet Throw

This is a perfect crochet pattern alternative to the Modular Afghan that I love so much from the Knit Noro book.

I already have some favorite colors of Noro Silk Garden picked out for the Checkerboard Cap.

Checkerboard Cap

All you need is 1 skein each of 2 different colors of Noro Silk Garden yarn for this simple color work hat.

And, it you're inclined to begin your Holiday Knitting in July, then you might want to take a look at these classic hats: the Man's Slouchy Hat and the Man's Ribbed Hat.

Slouchy Hat

Ribbed Hat

Each hat can be done with just 2 skeins of Kureyon (1 skein each of 2 different colors). I think they are perfect designs that anyone would love to receive as a gift this winter.

The Cropped Jacket features a wonderful construction that shows off the Noro colors so well!

Cropped Jacket

Cropped Jacket - back view

The pattern calls for 984 yards color A and 656 yards color B Silk Garden Sock.  We no longer stock the Silk Garden Sock, so have already helped some people choose from the colors of Taiyo Sock yarn so they could get started on this one right away in time to wear for late summer!

I hope this magazine inspires you to pick up some new colorful knitting or crochet projects too!

Falling Water Ruffle Vest

contributed by Barb

We've been selling all colors of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for some time now, but until recently they'd all been special order. The yarn has done so well that we decided to pick the top 20 colors (for now!) and sell them in the shop as stock colors. 

I had never worked with this yarn before, and I really wanted to try it. I decided to start (and hopefully finish) a vest for this fall.  Unfortunately, I'm at the age where my temperature can spike - without warning! - and so I thought the cotton blend would be ideal. I had just ordered a great new pattern for the shop, iMagine Knit Designs Falling Water Ruffle Vest, and the gauge is perfect for Cotton Fleece.

I love the way this yarn is knitting up!

Lace pattern on back

Front view

My daughter heads off to her first year of college next month and I promised to weave a blanket for her dorm bed.  After knitting with the Cotton Fleece I decided that it's the perfect yarn for this project. It's exactly the weight she wanted, and she loved the feel of it. Here is a very small swatch that I used to test my sett. A "sett" is a gauge swatch for weavers. (We have to swatch too!)

Dr. Who? Brown Sheep for You!

contributed by Shawn

Ever since we started offering our customers every color of Brown Sheep yarns  we've been getting orders for a rather peculiar color combination. It occurs most often on orders for Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted or Nature Spun Sport yarns. 

Here's the color combination. Any ideas what people are making with it?

The colors (left to right) are Red Fox, Saddle Tan, Wood Moss, Chocolate Kisses, Goldenrod, Spiced Plum and Stone.

I admit, I finally had to ask one of our customers why we keep getting so many orders for this particular combination of colors. (I am not a regular television watcher - this is my excuse for not being able to figure this out on my own!)

Turns out that with this color combo you can make your very own Dr. Who scarf (the original version).  In fact, there is an entire website devoted to knitting the Dr. Who scarf in various forms that even details how manyrows of each color to knit to get the best match to the television version!

There are variations for different scarves as they appeared in different seasons of the show since the scarf went through some evolution over time.  (I did read the history section!)

My favorite part is the photos. Check them out!

Favorite new yarn

contributed by Emily

Almost eight years ago Debbie Stoller came out with her second book, Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Nation. And for eight years, I’ve been waiting for the perfect yarn to make the Russian Winter hat – the one with bear ears, of course!

Well, it finally arrived! It’s the new yarn by Lang called Felice, and it is perfect. 

I hope the coming winter is more winter-y than last year’s, or this warm and fuzzy hat might be overkill!

Top rated 1 skein project

If you're on our email list, you'll know that we highlighted and discounted 12 projects last week that take just 1-2 skeins of yarn. Because it's almost mid-July, we picked projects that were quick, easy and lightweight, and that means perfect for summer!

Based on the response to our email, by FAR the crowd favorite is the Multi Directional Scarf. I'm not surprised! This scarf was so easy and fun to make. Short rows are simple (don't be scared if you haven't tried them!) and the yarn is just lovely. It's garter stitch - so, easy - and I had such a hard time putting it down. I'd say to myself (and to my family, waiting for me to put down the knitting) "Just one more short row!" and then "Just until I get to the next color" and finally "Just one more triangle!" Needless to say, I annoyed them to no end, but I finished the scarf pretty quickly.

I think that with all the self striping yarns that are available, this is the perfect project to have in progress at ALL times. For my next one, I'll probably choose another color of the Lang Mille Colori Socks & Lace like Lime, Aqua, Tan & Grey:

or I'll use the Lang Jawoll Magic in Red, Pink, Orange & Green:

or a stripey, yet neutral one in Schoppel Wolle Zauberball in the color Neutrals:

It was so chilly here in Finland yesterday (in the 50s and rainy and windy!) that Helen begged to wear it.

Now it's on it's way back to the states with my aunt who was visiting for a week. Be sure to check it out in the shop later this month!

What the!?!

Some yarn shops have a shop kitty or a shop dog. We've got a shop.... eel?

Certainly the Mallet Scarf is not meant to be a pet of any sort, but it really gave all of us quite a laugh when we saw it spread out on a flat surface!

It's a great scarf - and Berroco's version is made with Berroco Vintage yarn and then edged in Lacey Metallic which gives just a bit of shimmer in the ruffly part. They chose grey Vintage and grey w/metallic Lacey, which is more tone on tone.

For our shop sample, we made a more bold statement by using red Vintage with black metallic Lacey. We love it!

Can't decide what color?

Remember, we sell color cards for yarns from Berroco and Brown Sheep. Sometimes you know what you want to make and what yarn you want to use, but you just can't decide exactly which color...

And new Fall 2012 Berroco Color Cards are now in stock!

Customer Project - Bird Shawls!

Did anyone see this video a few years ago?

We're not sure if it's the same one our customer Sue B. saw, but this - or something similar - was in the back of her mind when one of her relatives got a little chick this spring and needed a heating lamp to keep warm. She'd seen pictures of the 'chicken sweaters' online and Sue thought it would be a nice treat to make something special for her nieces last Christmas, so she made some beautiful shawls for their toy birds! CUTE!

What a creative idea. I don't know about you, but I think these birds are really rocking these shawls. And they're just the right size for a real baby chick to wear too!

Thanks for sharing Sue!

Cirrus clouds are in the forecast

contributed by Barb

Cirrus clouds are characterized by thin, wispy strands.  Cirrus is also a brand new yarn from Berroco, and it's a great name, since it's as light and airy as a cloud!

Jill and I were really excited about this yarn when we first saw it in May at our sales appointment. We couldn't wait to make something out of it so we ordered a bag of it to be shipped to the shop immediately so we could start a sample. 

The tough part was figuring out which sample to make, since there are a number of good ones in Berroco Book #323 Cirrus. Should we make the Vergoose Sweater:

the Denslow Wrap:

or the Spenser Sweater?

We finally settled on the Germane Vest from the new Norah Gaughan Collection Volume 11.  This vest is so lightweight and cozy! It looks amazing on and is very on trend with what we're seeing for styles right now.

I must say I am not a fan of mohair, but this one is definitely an exception!  I very much enjoyed knitting with this yarn, despite the fact that I did have to rip out a large section. (This was my own fault - I misread a part of the pattern!) I  am looking forward to wearing the vest this winter.

Jill's about to make the Ryll Headband - which is a one skein project and should be quick. I'm sure she'll like the yarn as much as I did.

Cost Cutting Ideas

One of our most popular shawl patterns last year was the Alder Wrap from Rowan. It's gorgeous and featherlight, and is a perfect accessory for throwing in your bag. Who knows when you just might need to throw something warm and cozy around your shoulders?

We had a number of customers make this wrap, but also a good number who were a bit put off by the price. It calls for 12 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze yarn, plus the Rowan Magazine. That's over $200! WOW!

Our shop model

These days, we're ALL keeping a close watch on the wallet, so I'm thrilled to offer you an alternative to this great shawl.

Rowan has since come out with Kidsilk Haze Stripe yarn, which stripes all on its own and has twice the yardage of the original Kidsilk Haze yarn.

Just two balls will make a gorgeous scarf that's quite generous at 11" x 75". You could even make it wider by casting on more stitches and sacrificing a bit of the length (since 75" is huge!).

This is a free pattern (just register at Rowan.com to download it!) and the cost is under $60!

And if you are still in love with the Alder Wrap, why don't you use the Kidsilk Haze Stripe yarn? It will probably take just 3 skeins. That pattern can also be accessed for free on the Rowan website, which brings the cost down to just under $90. That's a savings of over 50%!

Red Hot!

Our most popular knitting bag is now available in a new color - RED! The LJ Kaelms Bag by Jordana Paige sold out in teal, and we were sad to find out that the color is no longer available :(

But don't fret! We still have Lucky Green and the Red just arrived, so things are looking up.

Gifts for Kitty

Some friends who watched my two cats earlier this month while we traveled just got a kitty of their own and we're going to meet him today! I wanted to take him a little cat toy, and a hand knit mouse was just a little too boring for me.

So I did some pattern searching on Ravelry and found a free pattern for a crocheted can of sardines. I thought it was adorable, and since I haven't crocheted for a month, I thought it would be fun!

I grabbed some fun colors of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and got started. My can looks a little wonky, but oh well! The sardines were fun to make - I felt like I was making gloves!

Because this is for a kitty, I did not put any catnip in with the stuffing. I thought I'd test the toys out on my cat Maisy, who loves toys. Unfortunately, she was pretty much in the midst of a midday catnap, and she was more bothered than amused. If I sprinkled a little catnip on the sardines, it would be a different story!

What the heck are these things?

Yawn. I'm already bored with this game. You're making me guess?

 

Ok, I'll guess. A hat?

A back massager?

I've got it! A pillow!

No!? Ok, I quit. Naptime.

New Colors of Flounce!

Finally! We've been out of Flounce for some time now in most colors, but we've just received four gorgeous new colors, and here they are:

This promises to be another big ruffle year, so get it while the gettin's good!

Bravo!

Early this spring we added a new yarn to our kids' offering in the DK room. We had been searching for a yarn that would be great for sweaters and blankets, come in fun colors, and be super soft and washable. We found all that in Bravo Rainbow from SMC. And so far, it's been a hit with all of you! And it's just $16 for a whipping 580 yards. That's big yardage!

I made a toddler's Fighead Fundamentals Junior Vest out of less than half a skein:

Fighead Fundamentals Junior Vest

and then I used the rest of the yarn to crochet a cute "travel sized" baby blankie (it's about 14-15" square). We're thinking of putting some fun satin ribbon in a bright color on the edges of this - wouldn't that look sweet? And the pattern? It's just your basic granny square where the yarn does all the work.

We had three colors of Bravo Rainbow to start and have now added 3 new colors bringing the total to 6. These are the three newest colors, just out for fall 2012:

color: Aqua

color: Peacock

color: Misty

Great possibilities for boys and girls alike!