Pick Up

I haven't had much time to play with yarn this week. I grab it and put it into a box but no playing with colours so today I took time to put together combinations for City Limits. I can't duplicate Sarah's sweater but I came close. The first three colours are the same as Sarah used. The next two are colours that look good with the first three.

Sarah added a strand of Kidsilk Lace to her sweater. I could come up with colours for the first four kits but this one didn't have a match. You don't have to add the kidsilk to the sweater. It gives it a nice 'halo' but it's a personal preference.

I didn't write down the colour names before I left but if you like a combination, send me an email. I have them laid out on the front table.

I also did two new colourways for Breathe and Hope.

We've had in store pickup / curbside pick up available on the website for some time - long before COVID. We've had a problem with it for that long as well. I was continually emailing customers in Sudbury or Sarnia or Ottawa to ask if they were really picking up their order. Last night I saw online that Shopify has given us a proper pick up option.

When you get to the Delivery page and it asks you for your name and address you can pick 'ship' or 'pick up'.

ETA: We have found that people signing into their account don't get this screen. Please try checking out as a guest. Or try with a different email address.

That is a bunny in our garden. A bunny who has eaten all the leaves on our tulips and has started to eat the buds. He's very cute but I'm not very happy with him.

Pink Velvet

Mr. FedEx came this afternoon with a box of Noro Akari. All colours are back in stock.

This is Alex's Nightshift and I have added kits to the website.

Photos © Andrea Mowry

This is a newish pattern from Andrea Mowry that I haven't shared. The sweater is called Pink Velvet.

I was traveling to teach when I spotted the yarn for this sweater - the same colorway, but on two very different bases. I was immediately inspired and knew I wanted to put them to use in a beautiful colorwork yoke. The texture of the Melted Suri adds a romantic, vintage feel to this circular yoke pullover. Worked from the top down seamlessly, you can try Pink Velvet on as you go and adjust lengths to suit your personal style! (Just make sure if you are adding length, to purchase extra yarn to accommodate for the extra yardage needed.) 

It is knit with fingering weight yarn. You can use a fingering weight (sock or single) for the body and a mohair/silk (Rowan Kidsilk Haze or Hedgehog Kidsilk Lace) double stranded for the yoke.

Gift Cards are now available online.

The process is a bit clunky - I'm sorry. You purchase the gift card and when the transaction is finished you receive an email with the gift card code. If you are giving it to someone you can forward the email to them. Like I said, it isn't perfect but it works for now.

My garden is flowering. Austin came by to weed today and made the comment 'it's too bad you aren't open right now for everyone to see how great it looks'. I know!

Blocking

I keep talking about our shipment from Uschitita and it should be on it's way to us early next week. Steffi had some problems getting dyes so we had to change a few colours but I'm sure that I will love all the colours when they arrive.

I was moving around Soak (more on that later) and found more Flexible Blocking Wires.

These flexible blocking wires make creating the perfect shape in your project a breeze. They are the most versatile blocking wires, they work great for straight edge, circular, half moon and even scalloped shapes. Because of the medium diameter, you can use them for blocking fine lace to chunky yarn projects. 

Short Set Contains: 10 Super Flexible 35" wires, and 30 Nickel T-Pins 

Long Set Contains: 5 Super Flexible 70" wires, and 30 Nickel T-Pins

After I added them back onto the website, Mr. Canpar came in with a box of Knitters Pride accessories. Knit Blockers are back in stock.

12 Blockers with 8 Pins and 8 Blockers with 4 Pins

A novel and original idea to block knitting projects…….guaranteed to make knitting lives easier!!
The ease of handling the blockers substantially speeds up blocking on all types of projects
The design helps maintain even tension across the width of the blocking pins
Ideal working on blocking straight edges like sweaters, shawls and scarves
Anchor holes in each blocker allows the user to attach string along large sections which can be pulled and pinned to maintain consistent tension
Made using tough plastic with embedded sharp, sturdy & rust resistant stainless steel pins
Two different sizes to manage different shapes when blocking
Designed by knitters for knitters

Back to Soak. Customers have been calling and emailing that they want to buy Soak. Now it's available online. More Soak is on the way. We are out of large bottles of Pineapple Grove and should see them next week. 

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

Customers ask if blocking is necessary. YES!! Not sure how to block? Google 'blocking knitting'. There is a lot of information available online.

I went though old photos to find a project finished and not blocked and then blocked. Here is Chevron Shenanigans.

Above is unblocked and below is the shawl after Alex worked her magic. Blocking makes a huge difference in the look of the finished project.

The barbecue is going and dinner is almost ready. I'm going to finish writing and get the table set. After dinner I plan on at least an hour of knitting. At least.

Breathe and Hope

I'm enjoying Breathe and Hope. The pattern is very easy to follow. I wasn't sure about my colours in the first section but kept going. Now that I've made it through section three I really like how bright it is.

I normally take pictures on the table but the table is being used by Beth. She has discovered Lego. She is working on Creator Expert Modular Buildings.

This is the Corner Garage - the first one that Beth did.

This is Assembly Square. She has the Diner and the Book Store is coming. She's upset that she didn't discover this sooner. There are more sets for the village but they are retired and the prices are huge.

Someone is tired. He is really at his best late in the evening - at bedtime 😋

New Shawl Cuffs

I spent some money this weekend.

Knox Mountain has new shawl cuffs and I ordered lots. In every colour. We should see these mid to end of May. 

Since I started writing the ladies at Knox Mountain sent me an email that the purple and orange leather is back ordered. I am having them send the four colours they have now and the other two will come later.

Cool Blue - Slim

The original shawl and cowl cuff from Knox Mountain Knit Co.! Made by hand in the Pacific Northwest.  

Both functional and fashionable, this raw leather cuff is the perfect accessory for holding your shawl in place or adding a touch of style to your cowl. With one sturdy closure, you can snap and go! And the best part? They won't snag your beautiful knits!  

The rings are going to be available in nickel, antique brass and antique copper. To make your choice harder there will be slim rings and original rings.

Our slim rings are .75" wide with a 1" ring and the original rings are 1" wide with a 1.25" ring. The braided are about 1" wide. 

Electric Red - Nickel on left and Antique Brass on the right

I can't wait!!

Kathy just finished a great looking poncho. Thanks for sharing!

I have just finished “indigo frost “. It was a fun knit and thanks for picking out a green to put in the fair isle. It was just what was needed. The Cascade 220 Heather was great to knit with. 

The pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.

I'm on section 3 of Breathe and Hope. I will try and get pictures tomorrow. It's bed time.

Bohus

Alex send me a picture this afternoon of her latest sweater. It is beautiful! She did an amazing job - as she always does.

I had help in the store today. Dad helping, Lucy was just in the way. Every time I needed to go into the front room I had to crawl over her. We refer to her as 'road block'.

Dad had fun making boxes. Or more like he had fun stacking boxes. It was a game to see how many he could get into a pile.

We have been waiting for our box from Biches & Buches since Monday. Every day I call the depot in Brantford and have been told 'tomorrow - we're really backed up'. I have been very polite with the depot hoping my niceness would help get my boxes. Nope. I was sitting in the store this afternoon doing work when I saw a UPS truck. I was by myself so I called UPS to find out when my box was coming. The message was that the Canadian number doesn't work on the weekend but call the International number. After being on hold for 35 minutes (thank goodness for a speaker phone) I heard rumbling and the big brown truck came up the driveway. Ms. UPS had my box. It wasn't even the UPS truck that I had seen earlier. Thank goodness I spent the day in the store. If I had left who knows when they would have been back.

I will be updating the website on Monday with our yarn. Yes, that is a brand new pink on top of the pile. It is called Light Pink.

I started on my Breathe and Hope shawl last night. I didn't get very far but here it is.

So far the pattern is easy - not much thinking. I think I have an hour or so in me before bed.

Pattern Sale

Here is a link to Jenn's Ravelry page.

Jenn is the designer of one of our favourite sweaters - Newleaf.

I only had a few minutes this afternoon to photograph the new skeins from Spincycle. Why do I photograph them? That's a good question. The yarn is hand spun and hand dyed. Every skein is different. The skeins that come in a bag are very close but the skeins in the next bag can be totally different. That's Spincycle and that's why their yarn is so much fun.

 These are both Idle Nights. Similar but not the same.

By photographing the skeins and giving them a dye lot you can choose which lot you like the best.

This is the new Neveruary. So beautiful

This is Neveruary lot A from a different shipment. You might like this colour better. You could also choose to use Neveruary A and Neveruary C for a project like The Shift. Add in Nostalgia and you have an awesome combination.

I haven't had time to download my copy of Breathe & Hope. It's time to cast on.