Hipster

We are going to have a mini LYS Day on Saturday for those who can't make it to the Frolic and didn't make it in last Saturday.

This is the Casapinka Design for LYS Day. If you visit the store on Saturday and purchase yarn to make the shawl then Cathy will give you a download code (we have 16 left after last Saturday). You must download on Saturday or Sunday. After that it will be a paid pattern.

“Magical Thinking” is a pullover shawl - NOT A PONCHO! This is an important point as I have a 15 year old daughter and cannot cause her social annihilation by designing a poncho, so please follow this rule of nomenclature - and make my life easier. It is the size of “All Points South.”It fits everyone and ruches up more for those who are bustier.

Finally, consider wearing it with the point off to the side rather than towards the “Lady Bits” - it just makes my heart sing when people style it to the side!

Materials 
3 skeins of fingering weight yarn, 400 yards each (for both sizes).

Yarn suggestions

1. 3 tonals or 3 solids
2. 2 speckles and one of the above
3. 1 variegated and a mixture of 2 and 3. More than one variegated is contraindicated in the knitting of this pattern.

We have some skeins left of Frabjous Fibers LYS Day colour as well as the special colours that Mrs. Crosby dyed for LYS Day.

There are green signs around the store marked LYS Day with special prices.

So I thought I finished my blog post last night but see this morning that I forgot to hit Publish. (I back dated it so it looks like I did it late last night) There was a bit of crazy last night. Our cousin Tim arrived at our house in Myrtle Beach and I messed up his alarm code. You enter the code on the front door lock and it opens the house and turns off the alarm. His code didn't work so he used a key. We didn't know the key would still work. Yikes. The alarm went off. And it is loud. I am sure everyone heard it and came outside to see what was happening. We got it turned off and then the alarm company called to see if they needed to send the police. YIKES. What a start to their vacation. A pregnant wife, two young kids, 10pm and the alarm going off.

I was upset (for them and for forgetting - I don't usually forget things) and couldn't get to sleep. I laid in bed and watched the end of the hockey game. Double overtime. Wow. What a game.

I received this text from Tim today.

I guess they're having fun.

Diana rushed to knit us a Hipster for the Frolic. The shawl will be back in the store on Tuesday. It is awesome. The Vintage DK from Primrose is so beautiful when knit up.

We left Cathy a few skeins of each colour of Vintage DK.

I came home from work early and had a nap. Sort of. We're watching The Amazing Race and then I'm heading back to bed.

LYS Day Colours

Here are the next five colours from Hedgehog Fibres.

Liebling

Pinky gray base with lots of speckles - orange, brown, mauve. Subtle yet stunning.

Rosewood

Reddish brown semi solid, very versatile and wearable. 

Purr

Soft dusty purple, Beata's favourite at the moment! 

Serengeti

Muted greens with a ton of speckles, great transitional colour for fades!

Bloom

Soft pink peachy base with green, mauve, blue speckles.

I put on my technician's hat today and set up Google Home WiFi in the store. Because we are in a 240 year old house the walls are very thick and the WiFi doesn't always make it into every room. I'm hoping this will help. So far so good.

I must say that it was super easy to set up. Beth and I have it in our home as well. Beth swears that the WiFi is better.

Enjoy Wi-Fi throughout your home, on your devices. Google Wi-Fi is a home Wi-Fi solution that works with your modem and Internet Provider, so that you can stream, download and share without missing a beat.

Hello Mrs. Crosby Train Case. These two colours are specially dyed for LYS Day. We will have skeins in the store on Saturday. If there are any skeins left after Saturday we will add them to the website.

We are now carrying Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino.

Baby Cashsoft Merino is the perfect yarn blend, soft to the touch and gentle on the skin. Great stitch definition and an appealing palette makes it ideal for babies, kids and adults alike. 

The pattern for Mia is free on Ravelry.

Oliver is a free pattern on Ravelry.  Rowan combines cream and camel for this outfit. Camel will be in the store on Tuesday.

My Throwback is blocking so I took Hipster out. Rowan Softyak is beautiful to work with. I just completed the pattern row and it took forever. I'm flipping between two hockey games. Now I'm onto plain rows again. Thank goodness.

Our shirts are ready for the Vegas game. Of course mine is purple - it is the Hockey Fights Cancer jersey.

During Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month, every National Hockey League team joins the hockey family's fight against cancer by hosting their very own Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night - a night when players, fans, team personnel and partners come together to raise money and awareness for hockey's most important fight. 

Beth and I were in Vegas for their Awareness Night. Beth bought me a shirt for my birthday.

I bought Beth her shirt last May when I was in Vegas for a playoff game. Getting an authentic shirt in Vegas wasn't easy. Everyone wanted one.

Now I need to get back to the TV.

Sleeve #2

What a beautiful day. My friend and I went outside for new pictures of our Hipster Shawl. The last pictures I took were not very good.

We used 4 balls of Lirico from Louisa Harding.

Lynn and I have been moving more yarn to get ready for LYS Day.

You will have green signs throughout the store with amazing deals on a lot of yarn.

 All remaining balls of Kauni Effektgarn 100% wool 8/2 will be $15 on LYS Day.

Kauni is created in Dalby, Denmark. Kauni Effektgarn’s stunning gradients are the longest in the industry. The colors never cease to delight as they slowly transition throughout the skein.  Kauni Effektgarn brings joy, warmth, color and comfort to your daily life.

The first sleeve is finished and the second one is underway.

My new chair arrived this morning. The one I was using was comfortable but didn't look very good. It was the original bar stool from our townhouse. Now I use it for shows. It's back in the shed and ready to go to the Frolic.

I have a perfect view of the TV from my seat. What a great afternoon of golf. Now it's time for the puck drop of the Toronto/Boston hockey game. Time to knit.

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!

BOR

Enamel Pins from Twill & Print arrived today.

We also received Progress Keepers.

It took me a few minutes to figure out BOR - beginning of round.

The Atenti Turquoise Poppies Grand Tote- Colorful poppies bloom on this velvety plush fabric. At 16" tall and the same size as the Excel Tote, the Grand Tote is Atenti's largest bag. It’s big and practical with two outside pockets on the sides, a full length opening, magnetic closure and double 26” ultra suede shoulder straps. It is fully lined in our water resistant taffeta with a zippered pocket and a divided pocket with a cell phone slot.

Spring might be here. It isn't warm but the sun is shining and we can see green popping up in the garden. These bags from Atenti scream spring to me.

The Atenti Turquoise Poppies Grand Pouch - Colorful poppies bloom on this velvety plush fabric. A large,fully lined zipper pouch with a wrist loop. 13"w x 9" h x 1" d. 

My Hipster is growing.

Rowan Softyak DK is very nice to knit with. The cotton/yak blend is super soft. I think know I want a sweater in it

Dad and Lucy came by the store today to pick up our cardboard boxes. We had quite a pile. Lucy doesn't love this truck - no back seat.

New Cotton

We added new yarns to the website today. Pretty yarns for spring and summer. Meet Sun Kissed Speckled from Ella Rae. It is 100% cotton and has 240m on a 100gram ball.

This is Ella Rae's Denim DK. There are 200m on a 100gram ball. It is also 100% cotton.

A young lady was looking through the Churchmouse patterns and I remembered the Sleeveless Slipover. It is perfect for our new yarn.

We have the pattern in the store or you can purchase it on Ravelry.

This style is so versatile, we all wanted different lengths. So here you have it—cropped, hip, tunic, and dress lengths. Or any length you’d like! It’s quite simple to customize your Slipover—for your personal style or body type, as a long layer with side vents, or as a short topper over a tee, to be dressed up or down.

Here is a link to more Denim DK patterns that are available on Ravelry. Both yarns will knit to a true DK tension so there are many, many, many patterns that you can use.

Another pattern that would work for both yarns is the Hipster Shawl.

Speaking of the Hipster. I cast another one on tonight using Rowan's Softyak DK. I'm using colour 247 - Shell. I am flying to Chicago in two weeks to meet with other Rowan stockists. I think I can finish the shawl in time. The yarn is nice to work with. The Cotton/Yak blend feels really good on your hands.

Dad and Lucy made it home safely. I think that dad might have been exceeding the speed limit - he made the trip in great time.

Hipster

I made it to the cast off. I think I am going to leave off the fringes and add tassels to the two ends. I think. I'm going to decide after someone blocks my shawl. (Hi Alex!)

I love this pattern. I need to finish The Throwback for the Knitters Frolic and then I will start another one.

Pattern: Hipster
Yarn: 3 skeins of Hedgehog Merino DK

The crossovers look hard but they aren't. Before trying them on your shawl I suggest casting on 20 stitches with scrap yarn. Try them and if you're having a hard time come in (with your shawl on that row) and we can show you how to do it.

We're starting to put away our winter garments and bring out bright and cheery. This is Chimera knit with a skein of Frabjous Fibers Cheshire Cat (coming tomorrow to the website) and a Cheshire Cat Mini Skein kit. 

This three-quarter square shawl is worked from the centre out, beginning with a garter tab. Two garter tab options are included in the pattern: Turkish cast-on (my favourite) and the standard. One skein of main colour is worked in one stitch pattern, followed by five gradient mini-skeins worked in a second stitch pattern. Hard blocking is recommended as it opens up the lace and makes this pattern shine.

Spring is coming. There are buds in the garden.

Enamel pins and stitch markers should be arriving this week.

We should see the first box from GarnStories tomorrow. The second box is still in Germany. I can't wait to see the colours that Anke dyed for us.

If I'm going to make it to the store tomorrow I need to say goodnight and get some sleep.