Palace

 A new yarn is on the way from Classic Elite.

On-trend soft and pastel colors show the subtle tweed component of this sister yarn to Chalet and Chateau. The same wonderful fiber and chainette construction will work together in stripes and colorblocks with Chalet and Chateau.   

 

What can you make with Palace? How about the Remy Poncho (pattern purchased on Ravelry)?

Going to the Knitters' Fair? I just saw this on their website today

With all the construction in the area right now, it's best to plan your route ahead of time! Note that Ottawa St is closed South of King St, so crossing town can be difficult.

We will be updating the website with even more accurate directions just before the Fair. So much of KW traffic flow is disrupted due to LRT construction, and it changes so frequently, that it's difficult to know how to get around town from one day to the next! Our intrepid volunteers will be scouting the area around the Aud on the week of the Fair, to give attendees the most current information possible. Check the Guild website just before the Fair

Although we encourage you to volunteer to get free entry to the K-W Knitters' Fair, we understand that not everyone who is coming is able to help out. But wouldn't you still like to get into the Fair for free?
We are holding a contest on Facebook and Twitter to give away 4 free passes for sharing news of our event! This contest is open to everyone except vendors at the Fair. Here are the rules:

• On Facebook, (here is the link) comment on our post to tell us what you’re most excited about for the KW Knitters’ Fair this year. Share our post for an extra entry.
• On Twitter, tweet what you’re excited about at The KWFair with #KWFairExcitement. Retweet our post for an extra entry.

Winners will be selected on September 5th at 9pm EST, using random.org to randomly select from the comments, shares, tweets, or retweets. Winners will be notified by private message.

I finished the cast off on my Eccentric Chevron Wrap this afternoon. We'll get pictures tomorrow. Tonight I'm going back to Outline. I hope to have it finished for the Fair - fingers crossed the Hedgehog order will be arriving late next week.

Cupcakes and Glasgow

Lorna's Laces Solemate - Glasgow

The Knitters' Fair is less that two weeks away and Camp is less than a month. Yesterday was my last Monday off so I spent a lot of time on both.

There was a bunch of printing - the printer said Thank You when I left the house to run errands. And there were quite a few errands. I got home, ate dinner and then it was time for our fantasy football draft. No knitting at all. :(

I was briefly at the store to water the flowers and Mr. UPS stopped by. There was a big box from Lorna's Laces. Glasgow in Solemate is back in stock. The colour is amazing! And we have Cupcake. This colour is exclusive to us.

Yak and merino blend for squishable luxury in worsted weight Arietta. Available in a palette of soft mid tones that blend beautifully in stripes and colorblocks.

Relaxed and casual, this pullover is worked from the bottom up in the round to the underarm then divided, and the back and front are worked separately. Decorative eyelets and decreases adorn the front. Drop shoulder sleeves are picked up from the body and worked to the cuff.

The Funnel Neck Pullover is a free pattern in this week's Classic Elite Web-Letter. 

I'm home from work and Beth is making dinner. Then it's an evening of knitting. I have so many projects that need to be finished in the next week.

Knitters' Fair

I'm so close. We were watching The Good Wife on Saturday evening and I got to the cast off row. I thought that late on a Saturday night wasn't a good time to cast off over 500 stitches. They have to be even and not too tight. A clear head was necessary.

I went back to my Endless Wrap. I just finished the fifth skein, four to go. I got so into it yesterday that I didn't cast off the other shawl.

Ms. Lucy loves it when Beth puts the hose on. She tries to bite the water and they make a game of it. Then they go inside and snuggle while Beth rubs her dry. Beth send this picture with the caption

We had fun splash time with the hose. She looks huge in this picture!

I'm stuck in the house this morning (they are sealing the driveway and front steps) so I'm getting working on the Knitters' Fair.

Here are some of my tips if this is your first time heading to the show.

- trust me, there is lots of yarn. If you don't like lines or crowds, wait until noon to come. There will still be lots for you to see. If booths sell out of something, most are more than willing to ship it to you after the show
- bring lunch with you. Then you don't have to stand in line.
- wear something that you have knit. It's always fun to see completed projects.
- if you see something you like, mark down the booth you saw it in. I can't tell you how many times we get frantic people at the end of the day because they forgot where they saw something
- go through your Ravelry library and make notes of yarn that you are interested in. If there is a certain pattern, print that pattern and bring it with you. Also bring information on the yarn. What it's made of. Tension. Yardage. That will make it easier for me and other booths to help you substitute. When you come in the store I can do it on the computer but we have limited Internet access at the show.
- please have patience.
- the Fair isn't just for knitters. It is put on by a knitting guild - hence the name. Crocheters please come to the show. There is lots of fabulous yarns that you and your hooks will have fun working with.

Cupcakes

Rita visited this morning and brought in her latest project to show off. It's awesome.

Pattern: Margo (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: tosh vintage
Rita knit the larger size and used every bit of 5 skeins. Her colour is Jasper.

Margo Poncho uses aran/bulky-weight yarn and is worked flat, in two pieces (front and back), and attached at the shoulders using the three needle bind-off technique (so it’s completely seamless!). Front and back sides are buttoned together. Both the front and back feature an easy faux cable stitch pattern that is fun and interesting to knit (they look similar to cables but are actually created with just slipped stitches and yarn overs). The back piece is longer than the front, creating a more modern silhouette.

We have something very special coming next week. Lorna's Laces dyed a colour of Solemate exclusively for us.

They named it Cupcake. Now I'm hungry :)

Solemate was originally made as a sock yarn but we've used it for scarves and shawls too.

So Close

I spent the afternoon knitting with the hopes of finishing my shawl. Almost. I think I have about 10 more rows. It doesn't seem like a lot but each row is over 500 stitches.

In between rows I've been taking a closer look at the new Rowan magazine. Rowan #60 has some interesting sweaters knit in Cocoon.

This wonderful soft roving British yarn is a designer's dream. Made from a blend of merino wool and kid mohair, it creates beautiful textured and cable stitches and lovely striping and pattern effects.

If the yarn interests you but these patterns don't, Rowan published a magazine for Cocoon (The Cocoon Collection) which is out of print but you can purchase the book or individual patterns on Ravelry...

This is Cheri from the Cocoon Collection - it was my Olympic project one year.

I've been asked for more Lucy pictures. Here she is. All 50lbs of her. Look at the drool. Mom and dad better make sure they have kleenex with them at all times.

Georgian Bay Sunset

 

Cathy has been busy at the cottage. I'm not sure if she's having more fun knitting or taking pictures of her finished projects.

Pattern: Miso (purchased on Ravelry)

Yarn: 1 skein of Mrs. Crosby Train Case

This one was hard to get a good picture of as it's hard to see the pattern with the yarn I chose and it's still really windy. Anyways, the model had fun! She even had to wear it as she went out for a paddle on her paddle board.

I'm renaming this one Georgian Bay Sunset Scarf as the colours in the yarn remind me of the colours in the beautiful sunsets we see up here.

The pattern is well written and a very simple knit. I decided to do the smaller one so that I had a little bit less fabric to wrap around my neck.
The larger one would be great, too, I think.

The colour of the Mrs. Crosby Train Case I decided on was a big departure from the blues and greens I usually choose to knit with. Remember how I agonized over the colour in the store? In the end, I'm glad I used this mix of corals and pinks.

Kaffe Fassett

He's all about colour. If you flip through any of the 60 magazines from Rowan, you can easily pick out the designs from Kaffe.

This gorgeous free pattern has been designed by Kaffe Fassett in Kid Classic and Felted Tweed. This beautiful vest uses both fairisle and intarsia techniques with gorgeous squares of colour for a stylish and eye-catching effect, a classic Kaffe garment.

Download the free pattern...

A shipment just arrived from Cocoknits which included Yarn Snips.

This rustic, one-piece snip is made of forged black steel and comes packaged in a kraft tube for easy portability and storage. When not in use, the snip sticks to the Knitter's Keep.
4" in length.

Please note these are snips, not scissors, and they are imperfectly hand-forged. They have a nice heft in the hand, and the good news is that no one is going to borrow them from your knitting kit – they are really only good for snipping yarn!

We have more colored stitch markers as well. I'm using the Colored Ring Stitch Markers on my Eccentric Chevron Wrap. They slide along well and are very easy to find if you drop one on the floor.

The work started early this morning.

It's almost finished. Tomorrow they are saw cutting it and then Monday they are sealing it. Two more weeks and then we can drive on it. The other good thing is being able to sleep in. No people here at 7am to work :)

Samsung

I showed our Elder Tree Shawl knit in Rowan Revive a few weeks ago. We have a deal for you.

The yarn for the shawl (5 balls) is on sale for $45.

We have most of the Revive colours available.

Purelife revive is our wonderful tweed effect, fully recycled summer yarn. It has a beautiful rusticity.

36% recycled cotton
36% recycled silk
28% recycled viscose

We have a new yarn called Gaia. This is a bulky yarn.
75% wool
25% acrylic

There are 85m on a ball and it sells for $14.95. 4 balls will make a great GAP-tastic. It is a fun, easy knit that will make great Christmas gifts.

I showed Harrap Tweed Chunky yesterday and today we have a sample. The sweater took 6 balls.

Hurry. Who doesn't want to win a new washer and dryer? Here are the rules...

I'm going to have Beth go through her drawer of hand knit socks. I want these!

New Yarns

It's one of my last Mondays off so I put it to good use and visited Trish. The grey is gone and my hair has been cut. What a happy day.

Karen (above) and Kathy (below) shared pictures of their finished Annisa Wraps. They both look amazing. The pattern is by Ambah O'Brien and can be purchased on Ravelry.

They wanted to make sure their pictures were in before August 31 so that they can be eligible for the draw. Take a look on Ravelry at all the great KAL pictures of projects made with patterns from Ambah.

We received two more new yarns late last week.

Meet Milo from Manos del Uruguay.

65% merino wool, 35% linen
Approx. 380 yards /350 meters
per 3.5oz / 100 grs skein
Gauge:20-22 sts per 4"/10cms
Needles:US4-3.5mm/US6-4mm

New for Fall 2016! Milo blends merino wool with fine linen for a yarn that is simultaneously rustic and elegant.  The linen retains its natural color through the dye process, giving a heathered effect.  It also lightens the yarn and gives the knitted fabric excellent drape.

We received five space dyed and five semi solid colours.

The Mitad Cowl is a free pattern and takes one skein of Milo.

Sirdar Harrap Tweed Chunky is from the same stable as our beautiful Harrap Tweed DK yarn. It has the same heritage of being inspired by Thomas and Henry Harrap who founded the original company, which in 1934 became Sirdar. Harrap Tweed Chunky comes in a palette of 8 shades that have been inspired by the beautiful surroundings of the Sirdar Head Office in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Harrap Tweed Chunky is the perfect family yarn and our design team have designed 8 leaflets with designs for women, men, children and the home. These are timeless designs that you will want to knit and make time and time again.

40% nylon, 30% wool, 24% acrylic, 6% viscose
100gram ball
168m/184 yards
14 stitches = 4" on 6.5mm needles
machine washable

There is a pattern book with 18 designs for children and adults including

The first coat of sealer went on the steps today. These really show the teal colour (and the fact that the front door is the wrong colour).

One more coat of sealer tomorrow and then they pour the driveway on Wednesday.