Garage Door Opener

Mr. UPS dropped off the kits for the Cosmic Connections MKAL late this afternoon.

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Are you ready to take your knitting experience out of this world?! We are headed over the moon with this mystery knit that was designed to be unlike anything you’ve found on Earth! This opulent wrap takes inspiration from stars, galaxies, outer space, and everything else the universe has to offer. The knitalong fun will take place on Ravelry and Instagram. Click hereto share your colors, ask your questions, and connect with other knitters all over the world. It’s time to reach for the stars! 

What to expect:

• unique construction
• lace
• bias knitting
• cables
• slipped stitches
• color changes

All techniques with charts will also include written instructions. I’ve created tutorial videos to guide you through any new techniques. There will NOT be any stranded colorwork or brioche. This design is intended for intermediate knitters, but my patterns and tutorials are designed to guide adventurous beginner skills to the next level. The best part of a KAL… there will be lots of helpful knitters to keep you from getting lost in space!

You can read more about the KAL on Ravelry.

See the kits on our website.

Dad and Beth helped me pack the boxes. Everyone who ordered kits should have them on Wednesday or Thursday.

I forgot to tell a funny (not so funny story) yesterday. I got home from work on Saturday and my garage door opener wasn’t in my truck. I had a small meltdown. Did someone steal it? Did I knock it and it fell out of my car? I thought I had closed the garage door on my way to work Saturday morning. I didn’t - Beth was outside cutting the front yard. Then I thought I opened it Friday night. No I didn’t - I came home with groceries and Beth opened the door to meet me. I closed the garage door Friday morning. Yes I did. And then I took my Expedition to the dealership for an oil change and I drove a loaner car for the day. I had to run home after the dealership to pick up things for work. Yup. The garage door opener was in the loaner car. Beth picked it up for me this morning.

Shoes

I don’t think Stephen West sleeps. He has another new shawl pattern.

This is the Delectable Collectible Shawl (pattern purchased on Ravelry).

Choose five colors of fingering weight yarn in contrasting colors to knit this large semi-circular shawl. This shawl was inspired by the Delectable Collectible Socks so that you can have a beautiful shawl to match your socks. The pattern begins with an I-cord Tab Cast On and flows into lots of fun stitches like droplets, bubbles, tiny bobbles, brioche, slip stitches, and simple knit purl textures. The instructions include video links that demonstrate the various techniques, so you can confidently create this wearable work of art. The stripes and shifting stitches make the knitting process very exciting and motivating as you increase toward the wavy border. I recommend solid and lightly speckled yarns to make the little stitch details pop. You can also incorporate one or two splashy or variegated colorways for a more hand painted effect. Go bold with high contrast choices or select soft and subtle tones to emphasize the texture of the shawl.

Photos © Stephen West

Jackson loves to leave shoes around the house. When it’s time to leave the house you need to hunt to find one or two shoes. He carried five different shoes around the house today.

It was a lazy day at our house.

Now it’s time for bed. I have boxes to pack tomorrow before we close for a few days.

Ultimate Sock Minis

Malabrigo just introduced minis in their Ultimate Sock yarn.

All colours are in stock.

The yarn is perfect for socks. You can do your toes and heels in a different colour or you can add stripes. How about a hat or mittens?

The yarn is also great for shawls. Melanie Berg’s On The Spick Market (pattern purchased on Ravelry) is a great shawl that is knit with minis.

This is a full skein of Natural Ultimate Sock.

Minis

Frank Ochre x 1

Sunset x 1

Caramel x 2

Zinnias x 2

Ravelry Red x 1

Cereza x 1

Beachy Keen is another Melanie Berg shawl that is knit with minis (pattern purchased on Ravelry).

For this picture I used Malabrigo Sock for the main colour - 1 skein each of Plomo and Flavia. For the minis I used 

Cote D’Azure

Azul Profundo

Teal Feather

Caramel

Sunset

Frank Ochre

If you knit it starting with the dark blue contrast first I think you will need 2 skeins of Azul Profundo and Teal Feather.

How about a gnome from Sara Schira? This is Someone to Gnome About - Mini (pattern purchased on Ravelry). 

Here is a link to all of Sarah’s amazing gnomes.

It’s time for the weekend to start. We’ve had dinner and the kitchen is clean. Now some knitting - I’m working away on Giardino. 

New Pattern

Caitlin Hunter has a new pattern called Ovis. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

The pattern is knit from the top down, starting with the back knit flat to the armhole split. Then, the front shoulders are picked up from the back cast on edge and worked flat through the neck shaping before being joined. The remainder of the front is worked flat to the armhole split.. The stranded colorwork is worked flat to this point. You then join the fronts and back to work the remainder of the body in the round. The sleeves are picked up and worked in the round. Finally, the collar stitches are picked up and a folded collar is made.

Ovis requires knowledge of chart reading as well as some flat colorwork.

The pattern is size inclusive and can be adjusted to your preferred body and sleeve lengths.

The suggested yarn is a DK with a tension of 20 stitches to 4”. I would suggest Cascade 220 Superwash Merino or Malabrigo Rios. I think the sheep would look great in natural Rios and then work the background in a fun colour like Zarzamora.

I thought I was going to see Mr. UPS today but he’ll be stopping by on Monday. One box is from Emma’s with the Cosmic Connections kits and the second is from Addi with more CraSy Snake double pointed needles. I’ll be able to get orders out before I close the store for a few days.

Now back to my knitting. 

New Kits

I had fun today putting together new kit combinations.

First up was the Bambara Wrap.

This kit is calling my name. Two of the skeins are one of a kind so don’t wait if it’s calling your name.

Then I made up new kits for The Shift. I went way back to find these pictures. I should have looked at them this afternoon - I need to make kits up in these colours tomorrow.

Tonight’s movie is Something’s Gotta Give. Dad doesn’t remember watching it when it came out. It’s good to watch while I’m working. It doesn’t take a lot of brains and if you miss a few minutes you can figure things out quickly.

August 2021

Baby Jackson from this week in 2021. I went back through pictures for tonight’s post and found these. He was so small. 

This is Stephen West’s Botanic Shawl that I finished this week in 2021. I used 3 skeins of Le Petit Lambswool with 4 skeins of Dyed in the Wool. My shawl is huge and you can definitely make it smaller.

This triangular shawl is knit sideways starting with a tiny corner increasing to the border. Stripes and slipped stitches decorate the linear lines of the fabric. One solid yarn combined with one self-striping yarn produce an exciting project that’s easy to knit and fascinating to watch the colors unfold. This pattern is a great beginner shawl project with simple stitches. You can stop early for a smaller shawl or knit more repeats for a larger shawl.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry

I threw a few new combinations together before going home.

Thank you to everyone who purchased online and visited the store during our sale. The last boxes are going out tomorrow. Now a bit of knitting. Beth and dad are watching a movie so I’m going to join them if I can get Boscoe out of my chair.