We love you Anne!

We've carried Schaefer Anne yarn for years now, but only in potluck colorways. We're excited to announce that we've now got 6 gorgeous best-selling colors available in the shop and online!

Check out these beautiful colors:

This yarn is a favorite of many of our customers. Some use it for socks, and many use it for lace shawls and scarves. We even have a few who insist that even though it's got some mohair in it, it's a perfect yarn for baby gifts!

The Crown Jewels

contributed by Shawn

It might be a bit colder than it was a couple of weeks ago but the sun is still shining and that brief taste of 80 degree weather sure got everyone thinking of spring. New spring yarns are in the shop and we've been looking for ways to take a skein or two and turn them into a special little accessory that makes any outfit. We always love to sample our new yarns and fibers so we know how they work and can make the best, most well-informed recommendations to our customers.   

Barb was intrigued by a cowl project one of our customers wore into the shop recently. Originally intended as a cold weather accent, the Sev[en]Circle cowl by Kirsten Johnstone (Free pattern available through this Ravelry link), looks great as a spring fashion piece too! Barb took a look at the pattern and adapted it to create this necklace/scarf. Our version takes just 2 skeins of Berroco Captiva and produces 3 rings of knitted fabric. 

Necklace in Berroco Captiva yarn

Barb wore it in the shop several times and this necklace was like a magnet! So many customers wanted to make it immediately. It was such an easy knit and a neat project, that Barb grabbed some leftover Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn  and created another version with a few more rings that are shorter in length.

A customer of ours made a few of these with the Captiva and attached pendants to each ring so that the pendants hang in a progression when the piece is worn. Great idea!

While I'm not a huge jewelry wearer, the idea that knitted fabric can be adapted to different types of accessories got me thinking about one of the favorites in my Ravelry queue. I wanted to try it because the pattern offers an interesting construction to complete the piece.  The Braided Cable Necklace by Olga Buraya-Kefelian is a free pattern on Ravelry. It is two separate strips of knitted fabric with button holes worked into the center of the strips along the entire length.  When you've completed the two strips you weave them together to create this lovely single cable. I used a skein of Berroco Captiva and added a crochet loop to the end so that I could close the band with a button.  It makes a great choker style necklace.

Another yarn that I really wanted to try for accessory knitting is the Stacy Charles Crystal.  I have a friend that loves sparkly accents and the Estee Necklace and Earrings in Crystal were a perfect match for her.  

I was surprised at how soft the necklace was when finished, and how nicely this yarn knits up even though it is metallic and looks like it should be 'crunchy'.  It is NOT at all crunchy and is fun to knit with! (Note: I had to use a pair of Addi Lace needles with this yarn - they had better grip on it since it's a bit slippery!)  Estee is a free pattern available from Tahki Stacy Charles.

For our jewelry fans, there are some other knitted jewelry and accessory patterns that look like they would be fun to try in the Stacy CharlesMoonstruck Pattern Booklet.

The Leighton Y-Necklace in Stella:

The Lieber Rosette Necklace & Bracelet in Crystal and Stella:

And the Winston Infinity Necklace in http://www.kyarns.com/product/stacy-charles-stella:

Inspired By What You See

A couple of months ago I started knitting a baby blanket with 5 colors of Tilli Tomas Artisan yarn. I picked out the colors when I was back in Vermont at the shop over the holidays. I had several ideas for this blanket, and I ended up going with a mitered squares design. I borrowed some colored pencils from Helen and grabbed a sheet of graph paper and sketched it out on paper. I loved it!

But once I'd knit 50% of the blanket, I realized it just wasn't cutting it for me. I really disliked it. Rip, rip, rip. I just couldn't find anything to inspire me for this project. And so the yarn sat in a bag for months.

Fast forward... I've been doing several crochet projects recently and I think I've been bitten by the crochet bug! It started out with 2 crochet rugs for our patios (no, they aren't finished yet!):

Crocheted rugs - one out of fabric remnants and the other out of a very heavy cotton jersey

And then a crocheted table runner (also not finished, but very close!):

Really easy - and beautifully simplistic - table runner out of Rowan Revive

Can you tell I like circles? Squares, of course, are easier, but once you master proper increases to get a perfectly crocheted circle - these two shapes can be so inspiring!

Living in Finland, I am exposed to design on a daily basis, whether I realize it or not. (Did you know that Helsinki is the world design capital for 2012?) It's all about simple, timeless, quality design, that is long-lasting and won't go out of style.

I'm so enamored with some Finnish products that I've started to dream about my "what if" wish list. Each of these items is so simple, yet so timeless and beautiful. And out of all the things this country has to offer, my wish list focuses on items in very basic shapes and colors. Repetition of shapes, with pops of color.

(Shown (starting top left and moving clockwise): Vitriini display boxes, designed by Anu Penttinen, 2010; Teema small serving plates, designed by Kaj Franck and Heikki Orvola, XX; Kivi candle votives, designed by Heikki Orvola, 1988; Teema round and square plates; Kastelhelmi plates, designed by Oiva Toikka, 1964.)


So these items, that I see in the Iittala aisles of the grocery stores every day, became the inspiration for my baby blanket. Instead of using colored pencils and graph paper, I opened Excel and used the drawing toolbar to make the shapes I needed. Then I re-sized them, colored them, layered them, grouped them and copied and pasted. I'm not sure what layout I will use yet. Could be this one:

Or this one:

I jumped right into this project and haven't looked back. I made up the first 5 squares, one in each of the 5 different "colorways" so I could get a visual. Then I completed all of the center circles. 

First 5 squares completed, with center circles being made

Next, rounds 2 and 3 for each center circle.

Working on round 3

I just love carrying around my little bag of shapes!

I'm working on the final round of my square and then I get to decide how to put them together, and how I will attach the squares. I will need an outer border for sure, as the blanket is not quite big enough and I have plenty of yarn left.

It's amazing how this project started out being really blah and boring to me, and with just a little bit of inspiration from the simplest of shapes, it's now one of my favorites. I don't want it to end!

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.)

Barb's Woven Table Runner

contributed by Shawn

Some of you may know that Barb enjoys weaving just as much as she enjoys knitting and crocheting.  She recently brought in this very lovely table runner woven in the overshot style using cotton and linen. 

Barb enjoys this style of pattern and it is commonly found in woven blanket patterns.  Her weaving gives her a nice fiber-related change of pace every once in a while and the results are beautiful!   

Does anyone else have related fiber pursuits they enjoy?

Customer Project - Felting!

contributed by Shawn

Our customer Nobuko brought in this bag to show us. It's the TriMiters bag pattern by Knitternall. It's free on Ravelry!

She used Plymouth Galway and already has another one going.  I love how the mitered corners in this pattern create triangles that look like Celtic knots when felted.   

See all those loose ends from changing colors?  It's not a problem in this project - you can felt the bag and then just leave the ends loose and trim them after felting. The felting process will keep your ends from unraveling. This is a perfect project for someone who wants to try mitered knitting but hates to weave in ends!