Wine and Cheese Reception Saturday Night

Another Cowl

This cowl is knit out of Fiesta Yarn's 32 degrees. It is a super soft ,hand-dyed yarn that is a baby alpaca, extrafine merino, silk blend. I love this yarn! It is so nice to work with and feels wonderful on.

Trendspotting - Chunky is Big

These cowls/neckwarmers are from Spratters and Jayne Knitwear and were featured in DailyCandy Chicago earlier this week. They are another example of the chunky cowls we are seeing all over this season. Big knits are huge again. These would be so easy to knit and are a great use of cool buttons if you have any you are dying to use!

Sweetheart

These delicate fingerless gloves are from Louisa Harding's new book, Queen of Hearts. Mary knit them out of angora for her granddaughter. Isn't the cable heart sweet?

Pretty Lace Sweater

I love cardigans. They are the perfect extra layer. I think this cardigan is a great example. It is a Louisa Harding pattern. A customer knit it out of Elsebeth Lavold's Bambool. It is a simple shape that is easy to wear. But the lace makes it standout.

Tumbling Blocks

This is a customer's finished project- a blanket in the tumbling blocks pattern. What a beautiful piece of knitting. I think it speaks for itself.
Here is a detail. Wow.

Trendspotting

I just got the latest copy of the Anthropologie catalog. There is a lot of knitting inspiration in there. But today, I am focusing on striped sweaters. These two sweaters bring to mind Rowan's Colourscape Chunky or Noro. I am so inspired, I think I am going to start a cardigan out of Colouscape Folk.

Trendspotting

This Fall, chunky knit cowls are showing up everywhere. Cowls make a lot of sense from a practical point of view- they require no decisions about your favorite method of scarf-tying and stay in place once on. The photo above is from the October issue of Vogue. The photo below is a cowl that I knit up yesterday afternoon from one skein of Twinkle's Soft Chunky. It was super quick- a fast way to update your Fall wardrobe. It is also great for gifts. Plus, the pattern is so simple, it would be easy to change it for a smaller gauge yarn if you would like a softer cowl with more drape to it.

Pretty Little Sweater

This sweater is from Noro's Designer Mini Knits Two. A customer knit it out of Chirimen, a cotton/silk/wool blend yarn by Noro (of course). I think the colors are just beautiful. It is the perfect little cardigan for Fall days.

Getting Ready For Cold Weather

There, I said it. The weather is not going to be this beautiful for much longer. Sad? Maybe a little but I have a confession- by this time in the summer, I am so tired of summer clothing, I can't stand it. I start to get really excited for Fall clothes and accessories. I have visions of drinking hot chocolate while walking through colorful piles of leaves and of course, wearing different assortments of hats, scarves and chunky sweaters. This hat is the first hat of the season. I knit it out of a hand-dyed cashmere blend boucle yarn. Boucles seem to be everywhere this Fall. If hand-dyed isn't your thing, we have other boucle yarns in gorgeous solid colors that would be just as fabulous.

T is for.........

This is Lullabye from Louisa Harding's Bizoo Bizu. The pattern calls for duplicate stitching the initial on the front. But I knit the T in intarsia since I knew I would never finish the sweater if I embroidered it later. Isn't it cute? I can't wait to see Theo in it!

In Progress.......

Mary has started the lace bodice cardigan from Classic Elite's book, Sunday Brunch. She is knitting it out of angora. Beautiful. I can't wait to see it finished.

Another Louisa Harding Sweater!

This is Dorothee from Nouveau. Mary knit it very quickly since it only uses 5 skeins of Merletto. If you like to knit lace, this is a great end-of-Summer quick knit. It is a great Summer top, but would also be good for layering in the Fall.

2 More Louisa Harding Projects

It has been a Louisa Harding summer. I have lost count of how many projects we have all done out of Deco and Nouveau. But it has been a lot. Here are the latest:
This is Rumba from Deco. Mary knit it out of Rowan's Handknit Cotton.

And this is Margeaux from the cover of Nouveau. Mary knit it out of Albero in the colors it is pictured in in the book.

Cute!!

This is Mary Mary from Louisa Harding's baby book, Bizoo Bizu. A customer knit it for a baby gift. Isn't it absolutely adorable?

The 3- Button Wrap Revisited

I love it when customers bring in their finished projects. Here is cashmere version of the three-button wrap. It is knitted out one skein of Classic Elite's Embrace. It came out even more gorgeous than I imagined. It feels incredible. It is going to a dream to wear.

Quick Gift Idea

If you are planning on making your holiday gifts this year, now is the time to start. That way you avoid that panicked knitting that is done on say, Christmas Eve. Trust me, it's no fun. This neckwarmer is a great, not-too-expensive (depending on your choice of buttons!), quick knit gift. I made it out of one skein of Filatura di Crosa's Aiko, a wonderful fuzzy cashmere yarn. And of course, we have the pattern here at the store.

Summer Scarf

Summer scarves are a great way to update your wardrobe. This ribbon scarf is a quick, easy knit. It is a good project when you want something to knit but you don't want to think too much. I knit it on the bias and pressed it flat so it hangs really well. The pattern is free with purchase.

6/21/09 = Summer Solstice
6+21+09=36% OFF
Summer Solstice Sale
One day only, Sunday 12 - 5, 36% Off all summer yarn

Art Yarns Kaleidoscope Cashmere Scarf

Look at this beautiful one-ply cashmere yarn. It is from the new Art Yarns Kaleidoscope Cashmere Crochet Scarf Kits that we just got in. It comes in two color ways, pastels and jewels. This is jewels:

Mary started hers last night. It is so delicate and gorgeous.

Baby Hat Kits

Look at these adorable baby hats. They are very easy to knit and make great quick gifts. Buy two skeins of yarn for $15 and receive the pattern. The yarns come in other coordinating colors as well. Hurry in for the best selection.

One of those projects....

Do you ever have a project that you fantasize about while you're working on it? This was one of those projects- while I was knitting I imagined how cute it would be, what I was going to wear with it, and so on. And then I got it all sewn together and well, it doesn't go with anything I imagined. Oh well! It is knit in Tahki's New Tweed, which is a dream to work with. The pattern was fun. I had never knit puffy sleeves before and it is always interesting to see how something like that comes together. Plus it's a tiny little thing so it was a great fast project for some quick satisfaction.

an FO and a lesson

I finished Samba from from Louisa Harding's Deco. I decided on the short version. It is knit out of Mulberry. I got the ribbon for the straps up the street at Soutache. I love the the ribbon. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a stripe of grey the exact color of the yarn. Overall, I am very pleased with it. But............................(and here comes the lesson).........................

If you look closely, there is a big mistake. See the garter and eyelet rows at the top? Well, that pattern is supposed to be repeated at the bottom of the bust, right before going into the lace pattern. But this is knit top down and I was so excited to be done with the stockingnette and get into the lace, I just skipped a whole chunk of the pattern! And I didn't notice until I was 4 rows before the bind off. Rip out the whole lace portion? I don't think so. So, I have to just live with it and let it serve as a reminder: No matter how much you have knit or how anxious you are to get to the "fun" part of the pattern-- make sure you carefully read the ENTIRE pattern!

Louisa Harding Finished Projects

Mary just finished two projects from this season's Louisa Harding books-

Salsa from Deco And Sabine from Nouveau.

Beautiful as always.

Knitting For Your Home

If you are looking for something other than sweaters to knit over the summer, why not consider knitting for your home? There are many decorative accessories that you can make. Look at this beautiful pillow knit by a customer, Beth. It is just simple stripes with a few well placed bobbles. And look at how great it looks! Even the back is pretty. Beth made her own bobble buttons. What a wonderful idea.

New Projects

It didn't take us long to pick out our projects from the new Louisa Harding Books. In fact, Mary already started Sabine from Nouveau: She also decided on Tango, in these exact colors. I'm sure she'll be starting it soon, she just needs to match the colors to a skirt at home.

I picked out Samba, from Deco. Just one question: Short?

Or long?

It is knit in the round from the top down, so I can start it now and decide later.

New Louisa Harding Books

The Spring '09 Louisa Harding books, Nouveau and Deco, came in today. There are so many good patterns, we haven't chosen our projects yet. But we will and I'll post them. So check back soon.

Clementina, Take 2

I also recently finished Clementina from Ella Rae Book 13. It is knit in the Ella Rae Classic. It's such a great yarn! Everyone who is using it really enjoys working with it.

I decided to make the pocket linings in a contrasting color. I had this red left over from the Owl sweater. And when it was all finished, I took it over to Soutache and got these great buttons for it. I just love them. We are lucky to have such a wonderful store for embellishments so close.

A few more finished projects.......

I guess you can call it Spring Cleaning- we are hard at work finishing our Winter projects so that we can start some more Spring and Summer projects guilt-free. Although, I think I have way more starter's guilt than Mary! This is the Hooded Tunic from the Spring 2007 Knit.1. It doesn't photograph very well because it is black. But I wanted to show it off because it was a TON of knitting, it took forever and I really am happy with the end result. I have worn it often. I knit it out of Nashua's Julia which is an alpaca/mohair/wool blend.

Mary finished two more projects recently. This is Roxana's Jacket from Simply Shetland #5. It is knit in Simply Shetland's Silk and Lambswool doubled. It has a great square collar.

This is De Havilland from Rowan 44, a very simple pattern that is knit in one piece. It is knit out of Kid Classic.

Clementina

Mary finished Clementina from Ella Rae Book 13. Just in time for Spring!

Rowan 45

The latest Rowan book is in. We are always very excited when Rowan comes in. As usual, we already have several projects picked out. Here are just a couple:

Create. Donate.

Although it is warmer lately, there is still a lot of Winter left (I know, I'm sorry I said that). Since there is still going to much time spent indoors, why not use some of your extra yarn to make items for children in foster care and animals in shelters? Until April, we are collecting knitted items for donation to the Department of Children and Family Services and the Anti-Cruelty Society. For more information, please visit http://www.createdonate.org/ .