Inspira Cowl

Alex has been busy. She finished a sweater and her Nordic Arrows Shawl. It is gorgeous!! She has totally fallen in love with Brioche. I taught it at Camp this year and I must say that I'm falling in love with it as well.

Overlapping triangles in syncopated brioche – inspired by Norse Runes and Symbols – are the focus of Nordic Arrows. 

The triangular shawl is knit sideways in stripey garter stitch. A short-row border with brioche corners surrounds the shawl and i-cord edges add a finished look.

I doubled it over so that you can see the back. It's totally reversible.

She used 3 colours of tosh merino light - 2 skeins each for the shawl and 1 skein for the border.

The Inspira Cowl (pattern free on Ravelry) is such a fun knit. I have knit many, many different colour combinations. It is fairly quick and makes an amazing gift.

I did the Steampunk Version with Liberty Wool from Classic Elite. My pattern modifications were
-use 5 mm needles
-cast on 138 stitches
-no shaping

I mentioned a few days ago that the owner of Classic Elite has retired and we can't get any more yarn. It's time for our Liberty to go. It pains me to say that because it is one of my all time favourite yarns.

Liberty Wool is a super-soft, washable wool available in solid and printed colors. This yarn's balanced twist will make all stitch combinations pop.  

With all the great qualities of wool and the ease of machine washability, Liberty Wool knits at a gauge that suits many designs and is ideal for children's pieces as well as those for adults.

I'm sad but it's a great day for everyone. The kits were $43.25 for the cowl. We are marking them down to $27.50.

The kits will be in the store for a week and then we will be packing them for Woodstock.

While making kits I came up with a combination that I really liked. There is another one on the needles. It might go to the Fleece Festival half finished because I picked out yet a different combination. I usually use two colours of Liberty Print - the striping version of Liberty. We have Liberty Shadow and I think I want to knit a cowl using it as the main colour.

We are thrilled to introduce Liberty Wool Shadow. The same great worsted weight, machine washable wool you love with a hand dyed look. Subtly dyed, these tone-on-tone shades will work well together with the Liberty Wool Prints and Solids.

My chiropractor asked me this afternoon if I've been knitting a lot. I haven't been but that changed tonight. I can't stop.

My trees are starting to change. I love the colours.

Coors Cowl

This easy to knit cowl is made with Palace, Chateau and/or Chalet from Classic Elite.

Chainette yarns are well-deserving of their popularity...the construction simultaneously provides strength and lightness. Add a luxury fiber blend of baby alpaca and bamboo to that inherent lightness and you have Chalet, a decadently soft yarn with a lovely drape in a chunky weight from our MountainTop Collection of yarns spun from natural, undyed fibers. Chateau is Chalet's colorful cousin, available in saturated, vibrant colors.

The owner of Classic Elite has retired so we can no longer get the yarn. It's time to make shelf space. We have made up amazing colour combinations for the cowl and the kits are on sale for $50 (regular $85-90). We've also made some kits in one colour. Not everyone wants stripes. The kits will be in the store for the next week and a half and then they will be packed up and taken to the Woodstock Fleece Festival.

My Ombre Cowl Hood is cast off and I'll block it tomorrow. I almost finished the first ball on The Simples Rule Cowl.

I would have knit more today but Beth was napping so I was in charge of the TV converter. It's a lot of work flipping between football games. I'm going to knit a few more rows and then bed. Tomorrow morning (early) I'm visiting the dentist for cleaning and then off to work. Lynn and I are going to be busy tomorrow making kits and starting to pack for Woodstock.

Fino

Mr. Canpar delivered new Manos Fino mini skein kits yesterday. This kit is so pretty - very spring/summer.

Elegant and refined, Fino combines the softness of merino wool with the lustre of silk in a lightweight yarn that’s perfect for heirloom accessories or luxurious garments. Fino features a new dye process that yields complex, subtle, tonal colors.

Each mini skein has 90m. The yarn is 70% extra fine merino wool and 30% silk.

Lynn used one mini skein kit to make the 3 Colored Cashmere Cowl (pattern purchased on Ravelry). It is a simple knit and looks amazing.

There are great patterns on Ravelry that use one mini skein kit along with a full skein of Fino.

This is Fealdan (pattern free on Ravelry)

This is the Ring of Rings Cowl.

The Magic Carpet Pullover is knit with Liberty Wool from Classic Elite.

A relaxed fit pullover with buttons closing the garter stitch side panels and cuffs.

Lynn and Alex counted the Liberty last week while I was away and the website is up to date. We had more than I thought. Don't miss out - this amazing yarn is on sale for 30% off right now.

Liberty Wool is a super-soft, washable wool available in solid and printed colors. This yarn's balanced twist will make all stitch combinations pop.  

With all the great qualities of wool and the ease of machine washability, Liberty Wool knits at a gauge that suits many designs and is ideal for children's pieces as well as those for adults. 

The Simple Sweater with Pockets is another great design in Liberty.

One sweater concept designed with two simple options: cardigan or pullover. Each raglan sweater has garter stitch trim, front pockets and ¾ length sleeves, and is worked from the bottom up.

 3 or 4 balls of Liberty is all you need for the Easy Baby Sweater.

I've been tracking our order from madelinetosh. There has been a delay and the yarn should be here late Tuesday afternoon. I can't blame madelinetosh for the delay. On Thursday night at TNNA there is an event called Sample It. Suppliers set up tables and you can purchase kits to make samples before your fall order arrives. I bought a kit at the Pom Pom booth for a design in the fall magazine.

It is knit with pashmina. The yarn hadn't arrived yet because the shipment with the yarn and madelinetosh's booth didn't arrive in Cleveland. They thought it would arrive on Friday in time for the show but it didn't arrive. Tosh had it rerouted back to Texas - arriving Sunday afternoon after the show closed wasn't going to do anyone good. There is a point to my story :) Madelinetosh held my order in Texas until the crates got back so that my pashmina could go in the box.

There hasn't been a lot of knitting at my house. I'm so tired that I go to bed early. Then I'm up early and off to the store. That is going to change tonight. I'm not going to bed until I have knit 10 rows.

Joining

I finished the two pieces on Fading Point last night and they are joined.

What a game. Beth was decked out in her Vegas hat, t-shirt and hockey jersey.

When the pieces are finished you leave them on the needles and then knit them together. No sewing - it is so easy. There is a lot of decreasing which makes the rows go fast.

I wish I had this at home last night. When the pattern says "the other piece should have half the stitches on hold" I could have put them on the leather stitch holder. Instead I used spare circular needles. This works fine as long as you remember that the needles aren't necessarily the correct size. You don't want to continue your pattern with the wrong size needles.

Use the Stitch Holder Kit in lieu of scrap yarn whenever you need to hold live stitches. The threaded needles allow you to knit off of your leather cord.The Leather Cord and Needle Stitch Holder Kit contains: 

• two interior-threaded needles made of nickel plated steel 

• three lengths of leather cord  

• one long – for holding sts of sweater body (59"/150 cm)  

• two short – for holding sts of sleeves (29.5"/75 cm)

Classic Elite's latest Web-Letter came out today. What a great summer scarf. Sometimes you want something light to throw on for colour. This is perfect!

Light and airy, this scarf or generously sized wrap is lightning quick to knit and couldn’t be simpler. Just cast on and knit! Wet blocking turns loosely knit garter stitch into an etheral fabric perfect for a summer accessory.Easily customizable, work as written in the pattern or cast on stitches for a width you like and knit to any length.

The pattern is free on Ravelry.

Fortuna

Summery shades with a tone-on-tone dye effect. The same wonderful drape and fabulous fiber combination as self-striping Bella Lino.

58% linen, 26% viscose and 16% cotton

Now I'm going back to my shawl. I want need to finish this week so that it can be blocked and ready to take to Cleveland. I have a feeling there could be quite a few Fading Points walking around on the show floor.

Summer is coming?

I was going back through the blog looking for something and came across a post featuring this pattern. I'm pretty sure summer is coming and this pattern makes the perfect summer accessory.

Cotton and Linen combine for a summery yarn in a popular worsted weight. The linen fiber has a subtle sheen and adds body; cotton adds stitch definition and softness. This yarn gets even softer the more it’s worn and the light and vibrant palette is perfect for warm weather wear. 

Worn as a capelet or a cowl, this quick knit is worked from the bottom up in stockinette stitch. The smaller needles are used for a few rounds at the edges with a larger needle making the loose and lacy fabric.

The pattern for the Hanako Capelet/Cowl is free on Ravelry. All you need is one skein of Hanako.

Two more rows of lace and I'm onto the next colour. I'm going to do a few rows into the new colour and then it needs to be put away. The Trendsetter LYS Day shawl needs has to be finished for Saturday. Actually Wednesday so that the ends can be sewn in.

I made up a few more Fading Point kits today. They are slightly different - the lightest pink. The top kit is #9 and the bottom kit is #10. It has become an obsession.

It's time to put my feet up. I was up early to get Roko fed and to give him his medicine. Then I went to the store to make sure all was good. Off to see Trish and have my hair coloured. Home to Roko. Off to the airport to get Beth. Drop her at home and back to the store to pack orders. Post Office, home, The Works for a burger, home. Bleep! I forgot to get a tea at Tim's. (I know, I could make one at home but there is something about theirs that is better). Back out, fill Beth's truck with gas, get a tea and back home. I'm tired reliving this.

It's good to have Beth home. And now I get to spend the day at work. No more running home every day to let Roko out. I love him but it is 15-20 minutes to get from my house to work. 

Hockey is on and my fingers are ready to knit. Wait. I have one chore to do before that. I have the Look Book for Rowan Autumn Winter 2018/2019 in front of me. I need to go through it again. I can't share pictures or details but I will tell you that it is great!

Chalet

I was playing around on Ravelry this morning (that can be dangerous) and found this awesome pattern from Classic Elite Yarns. How did I miss this? It's fantastic.

Pattern: Borah (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Chalet

A free-flowing poncho with a stunning cable and lace panel on back and front, knit in super soft Chalet.

The pattern is written for two sizes and three lengths.

On-trend soft and pastel colors show the subtle tweed component of this sister yarn to Chalet and Chateau. 

You can use Chalet or Palace.

Chainette yarns are well-deserving of their popularity...the construction simultaneously provides strength and lightness. Add a luxury fiber blend of baby alpaca and bamboo to that inherent lightness and you have Chalet, a decadently soft yarn with a lovely drape in a chunky weight from our MountainTop Collection of yarns spun from natural, undyed fibers.

We have used Chalet and Palace for many projects. It is super soft and everyone loves it.

Dad and Lucy brought me a tea this afternoon. Either my dad is really short or Lucy is really big. :) She loves visiting. Especially if there are customers who talk to her.

Jewel Dragon

I'm totally obsessed with Svetlana Gordon's work. Her scarves and shawls are amazing. I wrote her this morning and asked if I could share her pictures on the blog. Over the next few weeks I'm going to feature many more of her designs. It was hard to decide which to start with. This is one of the first of Svetlana's patterns to catch my eye.

The pattern is called Jewel Dragon (purchased on Ravelry) and it is knit with Mechita from Malabrigo.

The cold is coming and it's time to think about a cowl. Do you want to knit with a dreamy, soft yarn? Chalet, Chateau and Palace from Classic Elite fits the bill - 70% Alapca and 30% Bamboo.

The Coors Cowl by Annissa George (owner of Stitch House Dorchester, an LYS in Boston), has been a favorite CEY project since we first published it in our Web-Letter in early 2013 Issue 273. One hank each of five colors makes this generously sized squishy cowl worked in simple seed stitch. 

The original version was worked in undyed Chalet. We now have colorful Chateau and tweedy Palace to mix and match with Chalet for endless color combinations.

The pattern for the Coors Cowl is a free Ravelry download.

Classic Elite has a free pattern for mittens in the same yarn.

Soft and warm, Palace is a wonderful mitten yarn. Worked at a tighter gauge than usual, these simple mittens, with rolled edge at cuff, are worked flat and seamed, and work up quickly. Mittens are identical and will fit either hand. Tweedy Palace is interchangeable with undyed Chalet and solid colored Chateau, for a rainbow of color choices.

It's been a day of cleaning and rearranging in the store. We've moved around some sample garments. Moved around some yarn. Made up kits. A newsletter has been started too. Now it's home time. Dinner and a bit of paperwork before knitting.