Seeing fall already?

I'm just back from vacation, and really, it's still early spring in my opinion. But I'm already seeing reps for fall! Yesterday I received a preview box from Berroco... full of pattern previews and new yarns. Ooooh laaaa laaaa is about all I can say. The patterns are super (as are the yarns!) and I'm not going to give anything away, because it really wouldn't be fair to tempt you like that! After all, it's months before this stuff will be available in the store.

But I will say that people of all ages, both male and female, will be VERY pleased with what's coming.

In the meantime, let's focus on spring and summer. If you're on our email list, you know that we just put three yarns on sale. (If you're not on our email list, you should be!) That's right, three of our favorite cotton yarns (one is a blend!) are 20% off now through Wednesday, May 6th at 5pm EST. They are:

• Berroco Pure Pima
• Cascade Cotton Rich DK
• Mirasol Samp'a

These are sport/dk weight yarns, and we have some great patterns for spring. Come on in and get a new project started!

This sounds complicated...

It happened again. I bought more sock yarn. We got a great new bamboo blend sock yarn in the shop - Lang Bambus. It is a self patterning yarn and one of the colors is reds, oranges, and yellows...so the Bambus went home with me and now I have two sock projects even though I do not normally knit socks...

But now I am knitting socks again...

In the past I've been frustrated by small double pointed sets of needles so I decided to teach myself knitting socks on two circular needles. Since I sometimes have trouble with second sock syndrome, I also decided to teach myself knitting two socks at a time...on two circular needles.

And as if that weren't enough to learn, I also decided to teach myself knitting socks from the toe up...two socks time...on two circular needles. (This way my socks will match and be the exact same length!)

Of course a bonus of the Bambus sock yarn is that reinforcement thread comes with it (in the exact same color and pattern as the yarn). It sounds like my sock problem may be getting out of control.

So far I've managed a seamless toe cast on. I've practiced this twice because at first the toes were much too pointy so I started over. Now they're more square, but I'm not going to frog again. When I look at my other socks they are not that pointy either so I think these will be fine. Now I just need to come to grips with the afterthought heel - I've never done that before either!

Sometimes shell collecting is more important!

Sometimes you really need to shut down. And not only halfway, but completely. So that's what I've done for the past 10 days. Barb, Shawn, Michele, Polly and Emily are all handing things beautifully back at the shop. I am so lucky to have such a great staff - thank you guys so much!

So it's been a week full of sun, sand, surf and lots of other fun activities. Tomorrow is our travel day, and then it's back to reality.

Knitting? Hmmm. Not much. I have only done a bit on my Pure Pima sweater, as you can see here.

I've spent more time collecting shells. Can anyone identify these? (Lightning Whelk, Altantic Slipper Shell, Auger, Shark's Eye, Angulate Wentletrap, Common Bubble, Banded Tulip, Lace Murex, Top Shell....)

Contradictions

I always tell people I am not the biggest fan of small needle knitting. I often explain that I never finish a PAIR of socks because by the time I've finished one I just can't seem to motivate myself to cast on for the second one. I also like to knit with addi turbo needles so all those beautiful skinny little yarns with their slippery amazingly tiny fibers and I usually end up in a fight when I try to use the yarn and needles together.

But I CAN knit with small needles and I HAVE knit pairs of socks before. Truth is, it just usually isn't my thing. So why then, have I started casting on for projects that are knit on small needles with skinny little yarns?

It all started when a couple of skeins of Koigu - the last two remaining of a colorway - begged to come home with me. I HAD to take them because we needed more room for the fifteen or more new Koigu colors that came in. (That's what I am telling myself anyway.)

I love the colors in these two skeins and found reinforcement yarn that will blend perfectly. Yes, now I'm complicating things and adding even skinnier yarn to the project.... I'll be digging out my Yankee Knitter #29 - Classic Socks for the Family pattern soon.

One of the new colors of Koigu is now desperately trying to get my attention. I am trying to be strong. Because if I am not a big sock knitter, how could I possible have more than one project at once?!

Crochet Lesson #1

The girls were delighted (well, Helen was!) to find a crochet hook and some chunky yarn in their Easter baskets on Sunday. After the hunt for Eggs in the yard, we sat down and started our lesson. Helen has been asking me to teach her for months now, and so she was thrilled to learn. Sophie didn't really want to participate - the lure of word games on her new handheld were more exciting, I think.

Boy was it hard to teach them! They had a lot of trouble getting down the actual holding of the yarn. The hook motion wasn't the problem, it was really the tension of the yarn leading to the ball. I've never taught anyone to crochet before. I just learned it myself from a book, so I don't think I was the best teacher. We perservered (Helen more so than Sophie) and by the end of the day I came into the room to see this:

Here's Helen on the phone with her nana. Note the headband holding the phone clip... truly hands free so she can crochet. She's gotten a lot done and is now enthusiastic about it, since she found a comfortable way to hold the yarn. This is a TRUE smile!

And here's Sophie. That little peach thing that she appears to be sitting on, is her yarn. Hook, nowhere to be seen. Probably under the couch. And yep, the word games won. She might be trying to hide from me under those shades. It's okay, I'm onto her.

Vacation is just around the corner, and the crochet will be a nice project for the plane trip. I've just packed a little knitting project for myself. I chose a gorgeous shade of Berroco Pure Pima... I've been lusting after this yarn ever since I swatched it months ago. I LOVE it!

And I am making the Jessica sweater in the Nashua Handknits Sprout booklet. It is SO adorable, and will be perfect beach knitting.

Keep the Squares coming

So we've extended the deadline for the afghan squares - you now have through the end of April to contribute to our charity knitting project. We have a bunch, with a bunch more promised! Let's see if we can squeak out TWO blankets to donate!!

Addition to this post: look what just got dropped off today - from Betty R of Burlington!

Thanks Betty - we ALL loved your squares!

Keep an eye on the sale page...

So inventory is over, and while we were counting things last week, we identified a number of items that we decided to mark down. If you check the sale page of our website, you will find some really good deals. They'll go quickly - in some cases it was 1-3 skeins left, but the discounts will be DEEP, so buy it before it goes!

We do have some great bulky silk, too, from Tilli Tomas. It's called Simply Heaven, and it's easy to see why they gave it that name. There's quite a BIG discount on it. And great colors...

And it's not just yarn... there are some Offhand Designs bags, and some other larger items.

Now, back to unpacking all the yarns that are coming in. We sold so much during our sale that we'll be unpacking for weeks!

New Koigu & Offhand Designs!

So yesterday was gray and it poured all day. By the time we were driving home it was really snowing, and this morning there were quite a few accidents... did you Vermonters get tricked by the recent nice weather and take off those snow tires too early?

Anyway, as depressing as the weather was, we did have some items arrive that really brightened our spirits! We got a big box yesterday from Koigu, with 15 new colors of KPPPM... and each color is fantastic. I'm already drawn to several of them... might have to take a Koigu project on vacation next week.

We also got our Offhand Designs spring bags... I have to say, this fabric selection this season is my favorite! I can't decide which one I like better. I'm usually drawn to the greens and earth tones, which make Rosamond, Rumplestiltskin and Jack the favorites... but Ariel - a new blue - is quite eye catching!

I brought in two new bags this season. One is smaller - the Suki Bag:

And the other is large - the Maude:

These are available in most of the fabrics, and we can get them for you, even if we don't have them in stock.

We also sell so many of the Circular and Deluxe needle cases that we added the Traveluxe Case.

Inventory is this week

A reminder to all that our shop in Essex Junction will be CLOSED for inventory this Wednesday and Thursday, April 1st and 2nd. We will not be shipping those two days either, or answering phone calls, emails, etc.

If you got an email that your order was ready for pickup (any locals whose orders from the pre-inventory sale that ended yesterday may have, if their order was complete) you should pick it up today (Tuesday 3/31) between 10am-5pm, or wait until Friday. Please don't come Wednesday or Thursday... you'll be disappointed when we don't open the doors.

Thanks for your patience, and see you Friday!

Pre-Inventory Sale... going on now, online!

Howdy folks! Can you believe it's going to be 50 degrees here today!? We're all eager for the clock to strike 5:00 so we can get out and enjoy the sunshine.

FIRST UP:
Next Wednesday and Thursday, April 1st & 2nd, the shop will be CLOSED FOR INVENTORY! Sorry about that, but in 7 years we've probably only closed for about 3-4 days for inventory, having managed to stay late and come in early so as not to interrupt our regular hours.

This year, however, we are scheduling two full days to count it all. If we get it done early, we could open for Thursday afternoon, but don't count on it.

NEXT UP:
And so, to make our job easier, we decided to put a number of things on sale NOW. We have put over 75 yarns and knitting kits on sale, from 25-40% off. The more we sell, the less we have to count, and the earlier we can reopen. Favorites like Lamb's Pride Worsted and Bulky, Manos in semi-solids, multis and new naturals, Cascade 220 in solids and paints, Silky Wool, Ultra Alpaca, Peruvia, Sierra, Donegal Tweed, Freedom Spirit, Colourscape Chunky, Minnow Merino, and SO MANY MORE!

HERE'S THE CATCH:
This is an online sale. Online orders get pulled directly from our warehouses, and are much easier to process (no restocking of shelves, which takes a lot of time, no chaos in the shop, etc.)

If you are local, please place your order online, and write "hold for pickup" in the comments section at checkout. We will process your order, remove shipping charges and email you when it's ready for pickup. Thanks for your compliance on this!

When in doubt, resort to cashmere

Things in my neck of the woods have been hectic recently. I find that the time leading up to the kids' April school vacation is always that way. I guess it's good in a way, because then I'll really enjoy my vacation, right? One hopes!

Anyway, I've been busy in the evenings, and haven't found much time to knit. Some nights I am doing computer work, and after dealing with spreadsheet after spreadsheet, I find I am so mentally drained that it's time for bed.

Other evenings I've been trying to find some time to exercise. Easier said than done! And so as much as that is necessary for my overall health and well-being, it certainly takes time away from my knitting...

The only real knitting I've gotten done, is during our Harry Potter Read-Alouds... I got the girls the first 6 books for Christmas this year. BEST present I've ever gotten them. And they completely agree. They don't normally like anything scary so I really wasn't sure how they were going to react to the books. They LOVE them! During the Christmas break we got through the first two books, and now we are almost finished book 4. We don't do it every night, but we try to do it 3-4 times a week.

Reading aloud is hard, and reading Harry Potter alound is even harder. Plus, at the end of each chapter, when Marc and I are ready to put the book down, the girls scream "PLEASE!!!!! Just one more chapter!!!! PLEASE!!!!" And we usually give in. So reading time goes from 30 minutes to sometimes an hour, or even an hour and a half. I can only knit when Marc or the girls are reading, but since we all trade off that gives me ample time. And my special project for Harry Potter nights has been my Jade Sapphire Cashmere Scarf for Him (really for ME) kit. I am doing a simple stitch pattern that is so easy it's almost impossible to mess up. The yarn is luxurious and I'm almost halfway through! Unfortunately I am thinking it's going to be next fall before I get to wear this. But it's a classic, so I'm not worried.

We have sold SO many of these kits this year. And a little birdy told us they might be coming out with kits... for HER. So that means new stitch combos and more colors. Oooh la laaa!

Happy Spring!

I woke up this morning to see that the ice was gone in Burlington Bay on Lake Champlain. And spring officially arrived as I was on my way in to work at the shop.

So it's time to pick up some of my warm weather projects again. Last summer I taught myself how to crochet and picked out five colors in the Tahki Cotton Classic to make up a new tote bag. I took it with me to coffee shops in Burlington, and the single crochet went quickly. I really enjoyed the project and had some yarn left over.

Since I've been admiring the crocheted Salem projectin Berroco Book #273 Naturlin I thought I would use my leftovers to try out the hexagon shapes to see how they went. I was so pleased by the first one I just kept right on going. I haven't finished yet, because I need some more yarn to finish up. It should make a stunning new warm weather spread.

I've noticed customers coming in recently to purchase Cotton Classic for the Blooming Cotton Scarf in the new Interweave Knits Spring 2009. This scarf is so cool! It's slip stitch, and knit in the round. At the end, you cut your work!!! And unravel back a ways, and tie fringe to secure the knitting. What a neat project. So many color options too, because Cotton Classic comes in so many great colors:

By the way, we just put Cotton Classic on sale yesterday. It's 20% off through Monday, 3/23/09. Happy spring!

Patiently waiting for spring, but busy nonetheless

Well, the last couple of days here in Vermont have definitely been teasing us with spring. While the temperatures are warming it still can be a bit frightful outdoors in Vermont on any given day. (Today, for example, you may just blow away out there!) So I just thought I'd tease everyone else with a few events on the horizon that are keeping those of us here at the shop thinking warm thoughts in anticipation of bright cheerful spring and summer weather.

Charity Knitting!

We've been receiving blanket project blocks for our charity knitting project!

Warm, fuzzy blanket blocks are on needles all over Vermont and beyond. This is really a great way to get involved with other knitters in our community and do something for others. We really hope this is taking off because it will take quite a few blocks to create a finished blanket, but we know we can do it with your help. Thanks to all of you who have already shown your support and dropped off blocks! One of our customers have even taken the challenge to knit blocks to her church in Burlington, and she hopes that other churches will join the challenge, too.

Booksigning Event!

Mark your calendars for May 9th because Kristen Rengren is coming to Vermont! Author of the soon to be released Vintage Baby Knits:Kristen will be spending a day here at Kaleidoscope Yarns to teach a workshop and sign her book. We should have lots of yummy details for everyone soon so stay tuned!

Kids Knitting Camp!

I've been coming up with knitting Jeopardy questions for Knitting Camp and I have to say that it's terribly exciting. (If you count the garter stitch ridges on your knitting project and there are 25, how many rows have you knit?) Yes, you should know the answer to that and hopefully so will all of our beginning knitters by the end of Kaleidoscope's first ever Kids Knitting Camp. We are all getting excited as we plan the details of activities...knitting, fiber, yarn tasting, purling, shop tours, felting, dying, winding, & hopefully special fiber guests...just think of all the fun we're going to have! We've posted details and dates on our website and you can also stop by the shop to pick up a registration form. I'm a little jealous that there was never a knitting camp when I was younger. Maybe we'll have to have an adult knitting camp too...

Last Day for 25% off bamboo needle sets

So tomorrow's the last day to get 25% off the KA Switch bamboo needle sets. Order by tomorrow (Monday 3/16) and we will ship by Wednesday. We've already sold so many that we've had to reorder twice.

We used to just sell one option - black and white, but we've added two more - red dragonfly (by far the most popular!!!) and neutral stripe. What's your flavor??

It's all about the kids

Been a little quiet here recently... sorry about that! We've been a bit buried in some large projects here, and in addition to the busy shop and website, that sometimes means fewer updates to the blog. But it doesn't mean there's not a lot to say... February is always a busy month. Of course February vacation, while relaxing for the kids, is not always relaxing for the working parents. My kids went to Maine to stay with Marc's parents for the week. Marc and I stayed home and worked, but headed over for 2 days to pick them up. We managed to get in a few rides on the "sleds" or "'chines" (pronounced "sheens") as they say. They had a lot of snow over there. This is up on Center Hill overlooking Webb Lake.And here are the girls (ON the lake) with their cousin in front of our summer camp. It looks so different in the winter! Over the past week and a half I've been working on projects for the next after school knitting program, which started today. We really want these kids to do more than just sit around and knit. I have seen how excited my girls were when they learned to purl, and when they started understanding all the great stitch combinations there are with just those two easy stitches.

I came up with a new project for these kids. Here's the sampler scarf:Today each child picked a ball of Plymouth Encore Colorspun in the self striping colors. I gave them a pattern so they could get practice reading an actual pattern. It says that each time the yarn changed color, they have to change their stitch pattern. They can do garter and stockinette, since they just learned to purl, and once they are comfortable with purling, we'll show them stitch patterns like 1x1 and 2x2 rib, etc. I figured we'd do that in class next week since all that yarn going between the needles often results in extra stitches!

The nice thing about this scarf is that it really teaches them how to do different stitch patterns, and what the differences are between these patterns. They were all intrigued today that the ribbed sections on my scarf were "skinny" and the garter sections were "fat." It's important for them to notice this on their own, and to do it themselves so they actually learn how different stitch patterns will affect the outcome of their work.

So it went really well, and then when they finish the sampler scarf, they can make a doll or teddy bear hat. They'll practice ribbing, work a turning ridge, do more ribbing, then learn stripes, decreasing and seaming. They were all excited today to see the hat and think that they could actually do it themselves! All it takes is practice, right?

Speaking of kids and knitting, we've got our summer kids knitting camp information up on the website. It's going to be fun!!!

Sneak peak

Peak at this.

Want some? Get it now, before our email goes out next week.

What normally happens is this... email goes out... orders come flooding in... product is gone... days later folks come in or call and ask to see the yarn that's on sale. Problem is, the yarn is LONG GONE.

Our emails on sale yarns or specials make stock disappear, sometimes within a matter of hours. So this is your chance to see it before the masses. (And I do mean masses!)

This reversible cabled shawl takes 4 of these and 2 of these. Get a free pattern when you purchase that amount and ask for it in the comments section. The trim is optional.

A scarf (half the width of above) only takes 2 of these. Free pattern available with purchase and request.

And here's a tip. Get into the habit of checking our sale page regularly. Then you'll get what you want, when you want it.

Organic cotton, self striping wool, and a special on silk!

Are you thinking spring yet? It's February vacation week here in Vermont, and the week started out with some good amounts of snow falling in our area. That made the ski resorts happy! My kids are in Maine and they were treated to a huge dump of over 26" of snow.

Here at the shop we've been quite busy. We had a number of new yarns that arrived this past week. Classic Elite Sprout is an organic cotton that knits at 3.5 stitches to the inch on US 10 needles. It comes in several lovely shades and has a nice nubby texture. (Reminds me of 1824 Cotton, but softer IMO!)

We also received Plymouth Mushishi. This is a fun yarn! One skein has 250 grams and a whopping 491 yards. It's 95% wool and 5% silk, and is very soft! It is a tweedy self striping yarn (think Noro folks) and the label includes a pattern for a crochet hat and scarf set, AND a knit hat and scarf set. Choose one of these sets, and your one skein is enough to complete the project. Not bad!

I've been plugging away on an afghan square for our charity knitting project. I choose Plymouth Encore color #6002, which is one of my favorite neutrals, and a stitch pattern from the Harmony Guide: Knit & Purl. It's SO simple mostly knit and purl with a slip stitch thrown in for fun. I like it! Keep in mind you can NOT see the stitch pattern in this shot. Take my word - it's way more obvious in person!

And check this out!

Hey Buddy! You're back!

Guess what? The Namaste Buddy Cases are due back in stock this Friday! Yes, these sweet little items will be back in the shop, and we've ordered a lot of them, so we'll see how long they last this time.

The Buddy Cases were one of the most popular gift items right before the holidays, and it's no wonder. Every knitter needs a place to store all those little notions that get lost in the bottom of our project bags. And the Buddy Case is magnetic! So your scissors and tapestry needles stay neatly in place when you open it up. It also has a sweet divider to keep things neatly in one half or the other.

The Namaste folks were really thinking when they designed this case. It can be used to store just about anything, from makeup to iPods, earbuds and more. See?

We have all been coveting Buddy Cases for ourselves, but we decided to hold off since they were in such short supply. We wanted to let our customers have first (and second) dibs on them. It's not really fair for 5-6 Buddy Cases to go home with us when they're in such demand, is it? Hopefully this Friday we will each be able to buy our own...

So if you weren't lucky enough to get your own Buddy Case this past holiday season, stop in anytime after Friday afternoon and pick one up.

There's something about ribbing

Do you like ribbing? Or hate it? I'm not sure what my answer is to that. I think normally I would say I'm not a huge fan of ribbing. All that back and forth tends to slow things down. But recently, I've done a few projects that have more than just a bit of ribbing. My Noro Silk Garden top had a nice deep 1x1 ribbing at the raglan neck. I thought it was going to take forever, but I cruised right through it. Then my Noro Iro shrug from Jenny Watson Designer Mini Knits was ALL ribbing. This time 2x2, so in a bulky yarn, it was quick. And my most recent project, finished 2 nights ago, had even more ribbing. (More than you see, since I had to redo the neck twice, since I didn't like how the pattern told me to do it...) This is the KPS #275 Children's Neckdown Bolero in Plymouth Kudo. Ribbing certainly isn't as mindless as garter or stockinette, but it does have such a nice rhythm to it, that it's sort of its own TYPE of mindless.

Tomorrow is our last day of knitting session #2 for the kids at school. This session has been going really well. Suzie and I came up with a plan - a few projects that we thought the kids could finish in a 6 week session. A few of the kids have done really well. They're enthusiastic and aren't concerned with dropped stitches, random increases, etc. They take their knitting home and actually knit a bit during the week. Helen and Sophie knit during the week, because when they are finished their homework, and finished playing and dinner's not quite ready, I remind them that they could knit a few rows. Helen will do it without being reminded. She really likes to create things - and wait until you see what she is doing now. (I'm not helping her at all, and I'm BLOWN away. More about that in another post.)

But Sophie needs to be reminded. Knitting is clearly not her favorite thing to do. In fact, there were 2 days when after school activites (ie: their knitting class) were cancelled due to icy weather. She whooped and hollered and carried on like it was the best present she'd ever received, to NOT have to go to knitting. WTH? (Here she is last Monday knitting a few rows for her bag project. Clearly she would have rather been playing with the stuffed "Hedwig" that is tucked under her arm.)It's okay, she's her own person. Just because I love knitting doesn't mean she has to love it. Anyway, the other day she had finished her "bag" and so she learned how to purl. She practiced the purling and made a little square in stockinette, and she thought it was amazingly fun. More fun than just knitting. Then I was working on my Plymouth Kudo sweater, and she saw the ribbing around the neck and wanted to learn how to do it. So grabbed some Brittany needles and a spare ball of Berroco Pure Merino DK that I had lying around, and I taught her 2x2 ribbing.

Well, there's hope folks. She LOVES the ribbing. I have seen with my own eyes that she has picked up her knitting WITHOUT being reminded and worked on it all by herself. I taught her how to read her stitches, so if she puts it down and then picks it up later, she can look at the next stitch and know exactly what kind it is, a knit or a purl. I have even "caught" her knitting now when she is supposed to be doing homework. And look - proof that at least for now, the knitting has won out over the stuffed animal! Hedwig is nowhere to be seen.So I guess the lesson here is that knitting is surely different for each of us. We're all capable of doing all the different stitches, but of those stitches, some excite us more than others. If you're in a rut, try something new, or go back to something you haven't done in a while. You may be surprised at how much fun you can have.

Current Project – Take Two (or Three, or Four…)

So I don’t know about you, but it seems whenever I make something for myself and start to wear it, everyone who knows that I knit starts to inquire about it. It doesn’t matter what it is, or where I am, people start to ask, "Could you make one of those for me?" Some of them find sneaky, subtle ways to say this and some of them just come right out and boldly state the question. Folks offer to pay for the materials, they offer me a trade or a type of barter, and even my family has tried to bribe me with baked goods for socks when they spied the new Berroco Sox colors on the website.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love to give knitted objects away to people. As long as they demonstrate the proper appreciation for the materials and time that goes into the project...

I’ve even been known to give things away to people who don’t actually ASK for something because I’m so amazed that they can restrain themselves compared to everyone else. (Yes, this is a hint. If you don’t ask and just admire, you may very well get bumped to the front of the project line :) )
In any case, I usually end up making multiples of everything. Some of you may have heard me mention in the shop that I’ve worked my way through at least 12 of the Super Bulky Button Hats in almost every color of Malabrigo Chunky that we carry. It’s a good thing they don’t take long to knit!
But I’ve also started to realize that the proper response to all of my friends who admire the knitting I do is, "Maybe you should learn to knit, then you can make whatever you want."

(We do offer Learn to Knit classes. And for those of you who find yourselves in positions similar to my own you can always suggest that someone take one of these classes!)

I’ve also spent some time spreading the art of knitting to some of my closest friends. In the last several months I’ve gotten four different friends started on their first projects (or their first projects in a 10 year lapse.) I’m very impressed with all of them. Most of them picked out fairly challenging projects to work on this winter or they’ve finished multiple projects and have started gifting knitted items to others. And I’ve had so much fun getting together with them all to knit!

I am going to encourage my friends to share their new knitting experiences in our Kyarns Ravelry Group, and also on our Kyarns Facebook group. So be on the lookout for a Peruvian Tweed scarf, a Baby Alpaca Chunky hat, and some amazing orange Ultra Alpaca sleeves with a turtleneck there soon. We hope you’ll join us there and maybe you’ll let us know what you are working on!