Fino

Mr. Canpar delivered new Manos Fino mini skein kits yesterday. This kit is so pretty - very spring/summer.

Elegant and refined, Fino combines the softness of merino wool with the lustre of silk in a lightweight yarn that’s perfect for heirloom accessories or luxurious garments. Fino features a new dye process that yields complex, subtle, tonal colors.

Each mini skein has 90m. The yarn is 70% extra fine merino wool and 30% silk.

Lynn used one mini skein kit to make the 3 Colored Cashmere Cowl (pattern purchased on Ravelry). It is a simple knit and looks amazing.

There are great patterns on Ravelry that use one mini skein kit along with a full skein of Fino.

This is Fealdan (pattern free on Ravelry)

This is the Ring of Rings Cowl.

The Magic Carpet Pullover is knit with Liberty Wool from Classic Elite.

A relaxed fit pullover with buttons closing the garter stitch side panels and cuffs.

Lynn and Alex counted the Liberty last week while I was away and the website is up to date. We had more than I thought. Don't miss out - this amazing yarn is on sale for 30% off right now.

Liberty Wool is a super-soft, washable wool available in solid and printed colors. This yarn's balanced twist will make all stitch combinations pop.  

With all the great qualities of wool and the ease of machine washability, Liberty Wool knits at a gauge that suits many designs and is ideal for children's pieces as well as those for adults. 

The Simple Sweater with Pockets is another great design in Liberty.

One sweater concept designed with two simple options: cardigan or pullover. Each raglan sweater has garter stitch trim, front pockets and ¾ length sleeves, and is worked from the bottom up.

 3 or 4 balls of Liberty is all you need for the Easy Baby Sweater.

I've been tracking our order from madelinetosh. There has been a delay and the yarn should be here late Tuesday afternoon. I can't blame madelinetosh for the delay. On Thursday night at TNNA there is an event called Sample It. Suppliers set up tables and you can purchase kits to make samples before your fall order arrives. I bought a kit at the Pom Pom booth for a design in the fall magazine.

It is knit with pashmina. The yarn hadn't arrived yet because the shipment with the yarn and madelinetosh's booth didn't arrive in Cleveland. They thought it would arrive on Friday in time for the show but it didn't arrive. Tosh had it rerouted back to Texas - arriving Sunday afternoon after the show closed wasn't going to do anyone good. There is a point to my story :) Madelinetosh held my order in Texas until the crates got back so that my pashmina could go in the box.

There hasn't been a lot of knitting at my house. I'm so tired that I go to bed early. Then I'm up early and off to the store. That is going to change tonight. I'm not going to bed until I have knit 10 rows.

More from TNNA

I spent some time in the Cocoknits booth talking with Julie. We have some new products on the way to us.

• This array of Bamboo Cable Needles are used for holding stitches while working cables in your designs. When not in use, place them on your Maker's Keep magnetic bracelet - the smooth nickel-plated steel band is designed to cling to any magnet. Needles can also be used to pick up stitches when using the Cocoknits Method of sweater construction. 

  Set includes one each of five sizes: 

  • US 2/2.75mm

  • US 4/3.5 mm

  • US 6/4 mm

  • US 9/5.5 mm

  • US 10.75/6.75 mm

  

   Everything you need to block your handknits

• • 18 interlocking, fiber-topped EVA foam tiles, each measures 12" × 12" (tiles from the new kit are compatible with older Knitter's Block tiles)

  • 40 stainless steel T-pins

  • 48" square cotton cloth woven with 1" square gingham to help measure your finished piece

  • A sturdy jute bag to contain the kit

  I had a lot of fun in the Meadowcroft Dyeworks booth looking at colours of Rockshelter Sock. I have used this yarn for Find Your Fade and am currently knitting with it for Fading Point. We will have 16 colours coming in a few weeks. These are brand new colours that I ordered from small mini skeins. It will be a surprise when I see them in full skeins. 
• 
  Meet Blacklight Elvis. 3 skeins of this came home with me and are available in the store and on the website.
• 
  
• Mr. UPS brought in a box from Lorna's Laces and Mrs. Crosby. Yay. New colours.

Joji's Cathedral is beautiful.





There are four brand new colours in Train Case and Hat Box. Baltic Amber


Enchanted Forest


Ravishing Rouge


• Beauty Marked
• 
  
• More boxes arrived later in the afternoon but I'm holding that news until tomorrow. If I'm going to blog every day I need to make sure I have something to blog about. Plus there are some boxes on the way from the US that I hope we will see by the end of the week. It's an exciting time in the store.

"The Swiss Army" tool of knitting

I brought some Knit Kits home with me. We have purple kits. They had a limited number at the show and I begged to purchase some so we had them right away.

Dubbed “The Swiss Army” tool of knitting, The Knit Kit offers 10 essential accessories needed for knitting on the go in an all-in-one solution. From a novice knitter to a seasoned knitting veteran, everyone needs a Knit Kit in their project bag! 

The Knit Kit includes a Row Counter (1), Crochet Hook (2), Retractible 5 ft. tape measure in both inches and centimeters (3), Thread Cutter (4), TSA Complaint Slip-N-Snip™ collapsible scissors (5), Round Stitch Markers - 4x 10mm and 4x 6mm (6), Locking Stitch Markers 2x (7), Point Protectors (8), Darning Needle (9), and a Needle Gauge (10) on the back compartment flap.  All together in a very durable, compact, easy to locate device.

The kits are $57.50.

Claire from Autumn and Indigo is getting ready to ship our yarn. Here is a sneak peek at three kits for Fading Point.

Oh my. I'm not sure if I'm going to put them out for sale. I might need them all for myself. The colours are gorgeous!!

I was in bed early last night which meant I was up early this morning. I was at the store before 8:30 to ship parcels. I got 9 boxes packed and to the post office. Happy Knitting! I treated myself to a nap this afternoon but that was a bad mistake. I had stupid dreams including that I was playing in the World Series of Poker in Vegas. Tonight I'm going to knit. There was no time in Cleveland. Now it's time to start dinner- we're barbecuing tonight. The rain has stopped right now so I hope I get it finished before it starts again.

Goodbye Cleveland

Opposite of Boredom is right. A new mini skein kit coming from Frabjous. This colourway will be coming in Cheshire Sock. We have ordered full skeins of these colours in Mary Ann - can you imagine socks out of this??

Friea Fibers has 4 new colours coming. Yarn Bomb is their Shawl Ball but with double the yardage. This ball has over a mile of yarn. One ball will make an amazing shawl.

Look what is coming home with me. New colours from Lorna's Laces in Shepherd Sock. These are sample skeins for me - I have ordered yarn for the store.

I asked about Addi Flexi-Flips. Fingers crossed we will start to see stock arriving soon. For fall there will be bamboo Flexi-Flips. I have them on order and hopefully we are the front of the line.

I had a long talk with Linda who owns Blue Sky Fibers yesterday afternoon. We talked about Woolstok and the possibility of new colours for next fall. I begged for purple and will keep at her. We talked about something else for next fall and she liked my idea. I can't talk about it yet but if it happens we will all be happy. For my suggestion Linda let me have a ball of the new Woolstok Jumbo. I can't wait to play with it. There are free patterns for the yarn... We will have the yarn in the store in July.

Last night I had dinner with Sharon Brant (Rowan Brand Director) and a few yarn shop owners from Canada. We had fun. I will tell you that I am feeling very good about the direction that Rowan is taking. It is going to be a strong fall and it is going to get even stronger next year.

There was no time for a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Next year. I'm happy that we're coming back next June. It is an easy drive. The city is great!

I arrived home just before 1. Then we hosted family Father's Day.

I will be in bed tonight before it's dark. I can't keep my eyes open.

Happy 40th

I was up at 5:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I got a tea when Starbucks opened and got to work. The show opens at 10 and I will be sitting down with Rowan to go over fall. I can't wait for the magazine to arrive. It is so beautiful.

Rowan has a red theme in their fall magazine. The amazing coat is knit with Kidsilk Haze. Pictures don't do it justice. Or maybe it's my photography :)

Our friend Fiona Ellis has a new design in Mrs. Crosby Hat Box. She helped with this awesome new colour as well. The pattern is called Tintinnabulation and can be purchased on Ravelry.

Feminine cardigan with slightly flared sleeves. The cuffs showcase an all over lace pattern, details of which are added to the feature cables used at the waistline & cuffs. The waistline detail emphasizes the figure skimming shaping. A flattering V-neck and long-line length make it perfect for wearing for more dressy occasions….or make it in a neutral colour and throw it on over your favourite jeans.  

Cardigan is worked in pieces from the bottom up and sewn together.

A new shawl (Rysy purchased on Ravelry) from Miriam Felton in Hat Box.

Meet the new colours. We have an order arriving on Tuesday with these in Hat Box and Train Case. The other bases will be arriving the following week.

The darker green shawl is called Over the Sea to Skye (purchased on Ravelry) and is knit in Steamer Trunk. I love this yarn. It is 100% wool but feels like cotton when washed and blocked.

The purple shawl is called Three Sisters (purchased on Ravelry) and is knit in Hat Box. I have knit with Hat Box and really like it.

I didn't get the name of the pale green shawl. I will do that today.

Joji's Cathedral Wrap (pattern purchased on Ravelry) is gorgeous in real life. The colour is called Joji's Cathedral and the yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. Our order will be arriving on Tuesday. I can't wait.

Get Cathedral Wrap 20% off until Sunday (June 18)! No code needed! Just place it in your cart and the discount will be automatic. 

Cathedral is a delicate architectural wrap worked in two identical pieces that are grafted (joined) in the middle. When designing this piece, I wanted to experiment with Japanese stitch patterns, so I made the gorgeous lace transition into very graphic columns of twisted stitches. 

For this project I collaborated with Lorna’s Laces to create the perfect color. They have a special project called Color Commentary (launched in 2007) and it’s their way of working alongside designers and other personalities in the industry to create their perfect color.  

They named the color I used Joji’s Cathedral (which is kind of embarrassing for me to say). It is a beautiful gray with purple undertones and delicate black speckles; it will be dyed in all their bases. 

It is so inspiring to see all the yarns and garments.

We carry Dyed in the Wool from Spincycle Yarns. At the show they introduced a new worsted weight version called Dream State. I wasn't going to order the yarn until I saw this cardigan in their booth called Tensho Pullover (purchased on Ravelry). It is a sweater the Spincycle steaked steeked (I haven't had breakfast - I might be hungry). One skein of Dream State is all it takes for the colourwork.

Dream State is the newest offering from Spincycle Yarns’ dye house and mill. 

A worsted weight three-ply, this yarn is soft yet sturdy and has the slow and unique color transitions that make Spincycle’s yarns so addictive. 

100% superwashed American wool, 150 yards, 4.5 sts to the inch on US #8 needles.

Now it's 8am. I guess I should get moving and think about getting showered and dressed.