Seriously, what happened to spring?

Meet Cafe Knitting from Stephen West. The pattern is purchased on Ravelry.

One of my favorite activities is knitting in a cozy cafe drinking coffee, eating pastries, and simply enjoying the day with beautiful yarns and colors. I created this simple sideways shawl that grows from a small ribbed beginning into a large textured asymmetrical shape with ribbing, garter stitch, and slipped stitches. 

Photos ©Stephen West

You need 3 colours of sport weight yarn.

The snow was coming down when I went to bed last night. I feel silly saying this but our Spring/Summer hours have started.

Tuesday - Friday 10-5:30
Saturday 10-4
Sunday Closed
Monday Closed

We'll be back in the store on Tuesday. Tomorrow I'm starting on my tax return. YUCK!

What happened to spring?

Our friend Brian Smith has a new shawl pattern out. His colours are shouting Spring. Unfortunately spring left us today. It is cold and rainy and we have a chance of snow tonight.

This top down half circle shawl has panels of reverse stocking stitch separated by lines of slipped stitches. A bright pink wavy border stands out from the crowd. 

Meet Sapinka. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Brian used Skinny Singles - one skein each of Villain and Jelly.

Here are a few more colour suggestions in Skinny Singles

Hush
Beach Bunny

1790
Wish
(This would look with Graphite as well)

Oracle
Graphite

I pulled a few skeins from our latest GarnStories order for the shawl.

Pesto
Chasing Birds

Coachella
Pesto

Yes, I'm a bit obsessed with Pesto.

LYS Day

If you purchase Woolstok we will give you the download code for this sock pattern.

Knit from the top down in Woolstok; a 100% Highland Peruvian Wool, the Sanborn Socks are extremely soft and warm on your feet. This intermediate pattern is written for both women’s and men’s sizes. Pick your two favorite colors and cast on.

The sock pattern comes in men's and women's sizes. They are knit on 3.25mm and 3.5mm needles.

If you spend over $100 on LYS Day we will give you a travel size bottle of Soak.
90ml (3oz)
18 washes

What is it: Soak is modern laundry care. Clean up with Soak’s eco-friendly formulation. Developed to be as easy on the environment as it is on your clothes, it’s the no-rinse clean you trust and love.

Soak is perfect for your laciest lingerie, softest sweaters, baby clothes, quilts, swimwear, workout wear and all the laundry you love. love it. wear it. soak it.

It’s great for travel, gifting or guests.

How it works: Just Soak and squeeze. No need to rinse. Lay knits flat to dry. Wash sets (like lingerie) together. Test fabric for color-fastness.

• made with plant derived and renewable ingredients
• biodegradable, phosphate-free, dye-free, sulphate-free
• safe for hand or machine washing (including HE)
• flight friendly

Purchase 3 skeins of fingering weight yarn we will give you the code to download Casapinka's LYS Day shawl pattern. I don't have pictures yet but here is a link to her Ravelry page to see the shawls that she designs.


I have created a page for LYS Day and will be adding as we add.

At the top of the blog you will see LYS Day - Saturday April 20. Click on this for updates.

I am now 7" past the armholes on my Throwback. I'm signing off to get more knit tonight. There won't be much knitting tomorrow. Aunt Rene and Aunt Barb are coming over to make lasagna and freeze it for Easter dinner. Beth and I are hosting and we decided that turkey was way too much work. And everyone loves Aunt Barb's lasagna.

Photo Shoot

My friend and I did a photo shoot this afternoon. What a beautiful day! I had to be very careful walking through the garden. There were quite a few green leaves sprouting from the ground.

My Hipster is finished. Now the decision. Fringes or tassels?

Lynda knit Joji's Odyssey Shawl in Rowan's new Denim Revive. This is one of the shawls I will be taking to Chicago in a few weeks for my Rowan meeting.

Diana knit Fontana from Rowan Magazine #65 in Rowan Cotton Cashmere. This is my shawl for day two.

Beth cast off her Issa Cowl this afternoon.

There are two basketball games and a baseball game on. I'm in charge of the converter because Beth is casting on a new project. She went yarn shopping on Wednesday afternoon. Actually, she went yarn taking. The new project is a linen stitch scarf with Cheshire Cat mini skeins. She is casting on 600 stitches and there is a bit of whining happening.

I need to get to my knitting. As I was lying in bed last night it hit me that I still have to finish the body, the sleeves, the collar and the front bands on my Throwback. Yikes!

It's Hereditary

I had to run out for a while so I left Lynn and Alex to change all the clothes on the mannequins.

They made a bit of a mess (and cleaned it up) and now we're ready for spring.

Alex is working on her Sturgill. She is half way through the yoke. The background is tosh dk and the contrast colours are Hedgehog Merino DK. Alex decided to leave the bobbles out of the yoke. Should I make this sweater (it's in the back of my mind) I would leave them off as well.

Sturgill is a top-down yoke sweater knit seamlessly in the round with an optional matching cowl for a removable turtleneck. I personally love turtlenecks, but find them too warm most of the time, so rarely wear them although I love the way they look. This design solves that “problem” by featuring a removeable matching cowl that can be worn as needed, or left off entirely. 

This design features short row shaping at the back neck, stranded colorwork and bobbles. Please note that there are several rounds that require 3 colors of yarn to be worked at once. I try to limit the number of these rounds, so just know that there won’t be too many of them and the 3 color effect will be worth those challenging rounds! I love adding little challenges into my patterns while still keeping the design approachable for adventurous beginners.

She asked if she could make it sleeveless but we told her no. That was a trick my mom always wanted to do. She would start a sweater for my dad and get the back finished. By this point she was bored so she would talk about making him a vest. Then it would be put away for a while and when she thought we had forgotten about it she would start another sweater for him. We have a few sweater backs. I know where my 'startitis' came from 😘.

A Day of Boxes

I looked at my calendar today and it is already the end of March. Where has the month gone? Where has the year gone? I need to finish my March newsletter. That is tomorrow's job.

Our Spring/Summer hours start on Monday.

Tuesday - Friday 10-5:30
Saturday 10-4
Sunday Closed
Monday Closed

I knew that Wannietta tried on her cardigan yesterday but I didn't see it. I did last night on Instagram. It's looking good!!

Mr. UPS brought us three boxes from Namaste. The website has been updated.

Mr. UPS left and came back half an hour later. He found another box for us.

Kim Hargreaves newest pattern book was in the box.

Earthen tones give a seasonal glow, from kissed shades of sand, copper and tan to the faded hues of white and stone. Containing twelve elegant, classic designs for women by Kim Hargreaves.

Mr. Canada Post brought us a box from GarnStories. Oh my. So pretty. The yarn has been photographed and is available in the store and on the website.

We've watched Survivor and I worked on my Throwback. The pattern asks for 9" of stocking stitch before starting the ribbing. I'm at 6" (why isn't it going faster?) and will knit at least 11". I want my cardigan longer. The great thing about knitting from the top down is that I can try it on and see how I like it.

Damage to my Visa card

I had fun doing orders today. Yarn and bags. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Coming from Primrose in about a month. There will be 12 colours in all coming.

VINTAGE DK
-DK weight 
-85% Superwash merino / 15% NEP
-225 yards / skein
-100g skein 

I am obsessed with DK right now and when I saw the tweed I knew that we had to have it.

New bags from Atenti. These should make it in time for the Frolic.

The Atenti Blossom Blue Backsac - A robust texture cotton linen blend printed with a bold floral watercolor design. The Atenti backpack is a knitter’s delight: a combination of the Hope basket and a Tall caddy set into an incredible functional backpack. Double adjustable ultra-suede straps allow the backpack to be worn as a backpack, a shoulder bag or on the wrist while knitting on the go. A combination of a loop and an internal magnetic, allows the correct amount of closure. Roomy with an oval base 11” x 5.5” and a height of 13” and fully lined in water resistant taffeta. Inside are a zippered pocket and a divided pocket with a cell phone slot.

The Atenti Blossom Grey Hope Basket - A robust texture cotton linen blend printed with a bold floral watercolor design. A roomy stand-alone project bag. Top rolls down for easy access. Wide opening and two handles. Fully lined in water our light tan water repellent taffeta. Inside are three pockets. 12" tall x 8" wide x 8" deep

The Atenti Blossom Grey Bonnie - A robust texture cotton linen blend printed with a bold floral watercolor design. This TWA airline inspired bag is built like our overnighter, with double straps, four metal feet, a 24" zippered opening and a full water resistant lining. Inside are a zippered pocket and a divided pocket with a cell phone slot. 14” wide x 13” tall x 7 deep.

From Frabjous Fibers

If you know our Mini-skein Packs, you know how much we love gradients and all the possibilities of colors morphing into one another. We’ve curated some favorites of our freshest colorways into fading trios of full-size skeins, chosen to each blend beautifully into the next, on our Mary Ann sock base. Perfect for fading shawls and garments, or for coordinating smaller projects in a color family.  

The possibilities are innumerable.

Each Trio is comprised of three skeins of Mary Ann sock. 

1425 yards, 12 oz. total (475 per 4-oz skein); 85% superwash merino/15% nylon; fingering weight

This kit will be amazing for Stephen West's new Sea Swell Shawl.

I set aside my Hipster and went back to my Throwback. Wannietta visited today and her cardigan is almost finished. Lynn's is blocking and Sarah has been finished for a long time. It is not going to be a good look at the Frolic if I'm not wearing mine.

LYS Day was a huge success in 2018 and it is happening again in 2019.
Saturday April 20, 2019.

Local Yarn Store Day is a brick and mortar shop appreciation day created by the TNNA Yarn Group. Launched in 2018, the second annual Local Yarn Store Day will take place on April 27 and is designed to show support for small businesses while bringing together a unique community of knitters, crocheters, weavers and spinners to drive awareness and celebrate the craft. Vendors and retailers alike are coming together to showcase the benefits of locally owned yarn stores through an array of special products, classes and more!

We are moving the date of our LYS Day because it conflicts with the Knitters Frolic. In the next few days I am going to start sharing details about LYS Day. Special yarns. Deals. Don't miss out on a fun day.