Super-Absorbent

Mary bought one of the new Cocoknits Super-Absorbent Towels and used it over the weekend.

So the new blocking towel has been tested on a 52” man’s sweater…aran weight and it was amazing!!!

Saved my hands from trying to squeeze so much water from the soaked sweater. After rolling it in “the" towel, it was amazingly free from excess moisture, but enough that I could give the sweater a good “block”.

Best part was that I wasn’t left with 2 or 3 beach towels to launder after the process. Instead, the new towel was simply hung to dry, and was dry a couple of hours later. 

These will be great for non-knitters who simply want to launder their sweaters…..and of course, knitters will LOVE them!!

Great Christmas gift.

Julie….I’m not making this up……at first I thought it was a piece of quilt batting, but there’s something special in the fabric that just sucks up the water!

Thank you Mary for sharing. I brought one home to try it myself. 

This is the Follow Your Path Hat from Stephen West. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

During the first year of publication, 100% of pattern sales for this hat will be donated to Mind, a charity in the UK that supports people experiencing mental health issues. You can read all about Mind here.

Choose two color of DK or worsted weight yarn to knit this hat from the bottom brim to the top crown. One solid color of West Wool Tandem frames the beautiful marled and self-striping colors of Spincycle Yarns Dream State. The hat is knit with one color at time as you slip stitches, so it’s very easy and fun to knit. Wear the brim folded for extra warmth and enjoy your colorful new hat!

Photos © Stephen West

Mr. UPS brought a box of pompoms today. These are from McPorter farms and are all faux fur. Some are on the website and I will keep working to get the rest up.

The front windows are blocked off so that the dogs can’t see out. Boscoe barked for a bit and now he’s nice and quiet. Lucy is crying. Her dad left her - he’s outside.

I looked out the window and saw a golf cart. What a great way to get around.

Happy Halloween. I’m going back to the pom-poms.

Trine

I knew that I couldn’t wait until Thursday to share the new yarn from Spincycle with you.

worsted weight • marled • 100% fine wool • non-superwash • 150 yards per skein • hand wash cold, lay flat to dry • MADE IN THE USA   

COMING THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3   

   

We are so pleased to introduce you to our newest worsted weight wool yarn! So what is TRINE? It's a 3-ply marl, and it is the perfect counterpart to Dream State.

   

Each colorway of TRINE is made up of three different solid or tonal colors, and as you'd expect, we did come here to play. You're going to find some calm color wheel neighbors, some neutrals, and yes indeed, some power clashes.

  

In other words, something for everyone! And we are definitely not done adding to this collection, so look out for more, and more and more!

Trine will be available on November 3rd at 8am EST.

Here is Andrea Mowry’s Flicker & Flame hat (pattern purchased on Ravelry) that I knit using Trine for the main colour and Dream State for the contrast. I still need to block it. 

Beth has a bit to go to finish hers. Then she is going to knit the hat again reversing the yarns.

Beth was having problems when we cast on. Jackson had to lie in her lap.

Happy Halloween tomorrow. I don’t think there will be time to blog. It’s going to be a busy night in our neighbourhood.

Undertones

Beata from Hedgehog Fibres has a new design. This is called Undertones and the pattern is free. 

I love handspun yarn combined with squishy, simple textures. I really enjoyed watching the colours shift while knitting this lovely oversized wrap. A perfect cozy fall project. 

I’ve included non-handspun yarn suggestions and colour management on page 5 of the pattern. 

Yarn: For this shawl I spun one 300g pack of Hedgehog Fibres Lucky Dip Fibre in ‘Pastels’. I ended up using 280g of finished yarn which comes to approx. 745m (266m/100g) 

Alternatively: 4 skeins of Hedgehog Fibres Sock Yarn or Skinny Singles in a choice of 4 colours. Fingering weight yarn that will be held double.

I didn’t see this until I came home so I couldn’t take pictures but one suggestion is Hedgehog Sock in Iris, Rosehip, Danube and Monet.

Or take out Monet and add in Budgie.

Or Bloom, Rosehip, Bandit and Danube.

I didn’t start on bright colours but 

Gossip, Shapeshifter, Wildcard and Soundwave. 

Now I must stop. I wrote the rest of my post first and then realized that I didn’t have any knitting content. It’s 9pm and time to relax.

Lucy came for dinner last night and it was so good to see her. We talk to dad every day so we knew he was doing okay but Lucy doesn’t like to talk on the phone.

Boscoe and Jackson drank her first dish of water. She just laid there and let them. It’s a good thing that she is gentle.

Dad and Beth carved pumpkins today. Boscoe is sitting in the chair staring at them.

After dinner we started on the candy bags. Each little bag got 7-9 candies and/or chocolates. We have quite an assembly line going.

We made 100 bags tonight and will do another 100 tomorrow night. I think that they bring bus loads of kids to our neighbourhood. We have a lot of kids around us but not 200.

Skylights

This is Sarah’s Skylights sweater. It is perfect for the weather we are having today. Sarah used Noro Akari with Le Petit Silk & Mohair.

Akari col. 5 and le petit silk mohair colour grey beige

I did the first size. 

I knit the body and part of an arm in one ball of Akari and ended the neck with about 5 meters of the third ball of mohair left. I have a 4th ball that I didn’t start. I knit the sleeves slightly longer so I’d get 4 balls of mohair if you want the body longer or are worried you’ll run out. 

This is sweater was knit in a week! It is such a fun sweater if you need a break from knitting something more intricate or just need an inspirational boost! Instant gratification. Akari is beautiful yarn and so soft! 

It feels like you are wearing a cloud!

You can purchase the pattern for Skylights on Tanis Lavallee’s website.

Can a sweater be light and drapey while at the same time being cozy and chunky? I think this sweater design proves that the answer to that question is a resounding YES! I really went for it with the design details, combining lace, cables, nupps, a wide neckline, an oversized fit and of course those statement puff sleeves! Knit at a loose gauge to create flattering drape, this sweater practically knits itself. You’ll be wearing your new favourite sweater before you know it!

Cathy also knit Skylights but didn’t want her picture taken so Sarah put the sweater on.

Cathy knit the second size and used 2 balls of Akari (colour #1) and 4 balls of Le Petit Silk & Mohair (light grey).

This was in Andrea Mowry’s newsletter this morning. If you are an Andrea Mowry fan I suggest you sign up. When she releases a new pattern there is always a code for a discount. Click this link and it will take you to the sign up page.

I’m really early today. Dad and Lucy are coming for pizza tonight. Then dad and Beth are heading out to a birthday party and I am dog sitting. There is a secret project on my needles that I hope to have finished tomorrow. It is a hat knit in Spincycle’s brand new yarn and I will show it to you when the yarn launches. Beth is knitting the hat in different colours and isn’t happy that I am so much further than her. Years of practice I told her.