Stephen West

Lynn finished her Vertices Unite. I’m proud of her - this is her first Stephen West shawl. Lynn chose 5 colours of tosh merino light. There are 2 sizes to the shawl - small and large. Lynn read up on Ravelry and a few people made a medium - Lynn followed their adjustments.

Now that she has knit a Stephen West shawl Lynn is looking at Stephen in a whole new light. She enjoyed the pattern and said that it was easy to follow. Her favourite part? The I-Cord bind off. 

You can purchase the pattern on Stephen’s website.

Vertices Unite is a playful geometric shawl exploration filled with fun shaping techniques and lots of color. Increases, decreases, and short rows form the simple shapes. Each section is picked up and knit from the last section or worked as it is being joined to the other pieces like a puzzle so it is completely seamless. An I-cord border adds a crisp outline to the finished shawl. Grab a collection of fingering weight yarns and choose the sweet small size or a lusciously large wrap.

Meet the Dustland Shawl - new from Stephen West.

Photos © Stephen West

This top-down shawl features several easy knit purl textures for an entertaining and soothing project. Four skeins of DK weight wool like West Wool Tandem create this large cozy shawl. Garter stitch frames the wingspan edges and a crisp I-cord bind off finishes this top-down shawl for a crisp clean look.

You can purchase the pattern on Stephen’s website.

Mr. UPS brought us a big box of Roan. Brand new colours. These are not on the website. Primrose hasn’t taken pictures yet so I need to. We took skeins outside for pictures and the colours were so distorted in the bright sun. We’ll try tomorrow in the shade.

I think that I might try Stephen’s shawl in Roan.

I couldn’t post last night because I was afraid to touch my iPad. I was a menace yesterday. The first thing I did was knock over a full XLarge Tea from Tim’s. I soaked an upholstered bar stool as well as the kitchen floor. The chair was cleaned first and then I had to wash the kitchen floor. Then I made brownies - no problem. After brownies I started on muffins. I dropped an egg on the floor. Yup - I had to wash the kitchen floor again. After this I didn’t touch anything breakable.

There was a lot of work happening at our house today.

It’s almost finished. No, it doesn’t slope, I took a very bad picture. We need doors on the cabinets. The vent hood has to be finished. There is a ceiling fan to be hung. Then we can starting cooking.

Meet Jackson - we picked the name before picking the puppy. Now we’re thinking Jackson Brown. Beth is flying to Calgary to pick him up in a few weeks. He is part St. Bernard and part Bernese Mountain Dog. 

Beth assures me that he isn’t going to shed 😘 And he isn’t going to be very big.

Happy Friday

We should receive a box of Roan from Primrose this week with 10 brand new colours including

Midnight

Rosewood

Zodiac

Soot

I have knit two shawls with Roan and the yarn is gorgeous. There could be another shawl cast on with Roan this week because Stephen West has a new shawl pattern coming on Tuesday. The pattern calls for 1000 yards of DK weight yarn - all one colour.

From Stephen

This Tuesday, I'm releasing a new textured shawl pattern called the Dustland Shawl. This DK weight semi-circle uses four skeins of DK weight yarn in one color. Yes, I designed a shawl in only one color! Who am I? The simple textural stitches yearn for simplicity.
 

This pattern is great for adventurous beginners!

If you are coming to the sale tomorrow we have the new Tosh Wool + Cotton that would work. We will also have some SweetGeorgia Superwash DK on sale.

Lynn and I set up a table to see just how much yarn fits on one table. There will be lots of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. These are 50 gram skeins that we have tied together to make 100grams. These are on sale for $20 each - buy 5 get the 6th for free.

We have blue bags filled with sock yarn. One bag fills one table. There will be four tables of sock yarn ready at 10am. Don’t worry - we have more in the store so as the tables empty we will be bringing more out.

We will have our Nightshift (knit in Uneek Worsted) hanging with lots of kits at an amazing price.

The plan right now is 12 tables filled with yarn and kits. 

If you are looking for needles we will have Addi Rockets and Addi Rocket Squared outside. The other needles are hanging on the wall inside and we can’t move them out.

I took a few pictures just before we left the store.

Kits for Stephen West’s Quadrangle Spires.

Now it’s bed time. I’m going to be up early in the morning.

The weather looks good until about 2pm. Then we might see rain. If it starts we will be packing up early.

Bandanna

This is the Bandit Bandanna Cowl by Kelsey Stephens (the owner of Primrose Yarn). You can purchase the pattern on Primrose’s website.

Bandit is a super fun, and easy accessory knit, worked flat from the bottom point, up, increasing as you go, and then seamed after blocking.  It is knit using an uncommon technique called: "Jacquard Colorwork", which is a cross between mosaic knitting and stranded colorwork, where the knitter is using both colors simultaneously on both the RS and WS rows and knitting on both the RS and WS rows.  You hold your yarn in the back to carry your floats for the RS, and you hold your yarn in the front on the WS to carry your floats.

Anyone who knows me, knows my love for all things with a southwest / cowgirl feel.  I found the inspiration for this cowl, oddly enough, from the patterning on a roll of paper towels we had sitting on our kitchen counter.  The intricate diamond pattern caught my eye, while I was making coffee one morning.  Early on in the pandemic, toiletries like paper towels were hard to come by, and I couldn't help but think back to how struck I was when I saw people using handkerchiefs to cover their faces, when we were standing in line, one morning at the grocery store. They looked like bandits! I was craving a quick accessory knit with a little texture, a lot of colorwork, and a fun technique to achieve a mosaic look, but knit using stranded colorwork.  I quickly sat down and charted out the colorwork, with the roll of paper towels sitting next to me, and the Bandit Bandanna Cowl was born.

Photos © Kelsey Stephens

To knit this you need 2 skeins of Roan DK and 2 skeins of Dream State. I didn’t find this pattern until after I left the store so I didn’t put together combinations. But, there are some combinations of Roan and Dream State further down the post for another project. I will take more pictures tomorrow.

Tin Can Knits has a new pattern. This is called Lullaby and you can purchase the pattern on the Tin Can Knits website.

Soft waves of colour cascade over your knees as you knit, keeping you cozy and inspired by their ever-changing combinations.

There is nothing complex, new or groundbreaking here, but instead the comforting repetition of soft stripes.

These gentle waves are shaped by a stitch pattern as old as the hills, like a lullaby sung by parent to child down the generations.

The finished stroller (crib, throw) size blanket measures approximately 26 (32, 40)” wide by 32 (40, 52)” long, but will vary based upon finished gauge and blocking.

You can knit the blanket in fingering weight, DK, worsted or bulky. 

I played with Minikins this afternoon. These are for Stephen West’s Painting Waves. You can purchase the pattern on Stephen’s website. I loved knitting the shawl. The pattern was easy to follow and the colours are changing quickly.

When I put this together I envisioned starting at the right and working around to the left. The tosh merino light is the garter stitch stripes.

Xenon

Wildflower

Coral Crush

Lipstick

Vamp

Fuchsia

Metropolis

Dirty Harry

This is the Painting Waves that I knit with a Minikin Palette Pack. There are 9 Minikins in my shawl but it would be more than long enough with 7 or 8.

Here is my bright suggestion for Passeggiata.

Across the top - Fuchsia, Lipstick, Harvest

Middle row - Vitamin C, Dirty Hippy, Fuchia (I didn’t realize that I duplicated the colour - it works or you can add in another colour)

Bottom row - Metropolis, Vamp, Wildflower

Then I did a few combinations for Moonwhistle. You can purchase the pattern on Andrea Mowry’s website.

For this you need 

Roan DK - main colour - 2 skeins. This colour is running throughout the shawl

Roan DK - second colour - 1 skein. This is used in the garter stitch section with the main colour

Dream State - 2 skeins. This is used with the main colour - you are working a pattern stitch.

Beautiful Ambition, Wololo, Cerulean

Cerulean, Castaway, Charmed.

Charmed, Close Call and Devotion.

Divine, Stay out of the Forest, Cerulean.

It’s a busy TV night. The Jays. Lots on HGTV. Plus Law & Order Organized Crime and Top Chef from last night. Hopefully Beth will look after the converter so I can knit.

The Reveal

It’s always a happy morning when you see that Andrea Mowry has a new pattern. This is called Ochre Moss.

Photos © Andrea Mowry

I wanted a cozy, high-necked raglan pullover that was equally welcome paired over a dress or with a t-shirt and jeans. Ochre Moss is knit seamlessly from the bottom up using a relaxing colorwork pattern that is given depth with a mix of knits and purls. This sweater is worked from the bottom up, beginning with the sleeves, which are put on hold until the body is worked up to the underarm and then everything is joined together in the yoke.

You can purchase the pattern on Andrea’s website. I think we have the perfect yarn for the sweater - the secret yarn I have been talking about.

This is Roan DK from Primrose. The super secret yarn that will be released tomorrow. 

We made up this pretty display and will have it outside the store door on pick up days - weather permitting. Anyone picking up yarn can see and feel the yarn. I have knit a shawl with it and am part way through another. It is amazing to knit with.

The tight 3ply construction is perfect for cable knitting, colourwork or stockinette. The fiber blend of Superwash Merino paired with Non Superwash Wool ensures richness in colour, softness to the touch and zero pilling. The non Superwash fibers keep the yarn from stretching and growing after use.

an American Superwash | Domestic Non Superwash blend, coming in at 230 yards per 100 g, custom blended and spun at our local, York, PA fiber mill.

The yarn is hand dyed so there will be some variation in the skeins. 

Roan DK will be available on the website just after midnight. The launch date is April 9. You will be able to find the yarn by going here (after midnight).

Primrose will be introducing patterns over the next few weeks that are knit with Roan DK.

I used Roan to make Andrea Mowry’s Moonwhistle (pattern purchased on Andrea’s website)

2 skeins Passion

1 skein Neptune

2 skeins of Dream State in Good Omen

The shawl was a relaxing knit.

A Knox Mountain Slim Ring Shawl Cuff is perfect on Moonwhistle.

This is my Pressed Flowers. I am using Roan DK in Ash (3 skeins) and Dream State Midsommar (3 skeins). I picked 3 very different skeins of Midsommar to give more variation to the flowers.

Here are a few suggestions for Pressed Flowers. We took the mossy greens and mixed it with Dream State Overshadow above and Midsommar below.

Both pictures are Divine, Charmed and Desire with Dream State Ruination. I have put these skeins aside - if you are ordering you can leave a note saying blue or bright and I will know which colour you like.

I used the same skeins of Ruination and mixed them with Passion, Flirt and Romance.

True Calm, Serenity and Cerulean with Heart Sigh. I purposely chose three Heart Sign that were different to add more variety to your flowers.

We’ve had a few phone calls this morning about the stay at home order. We are still doing curbside pick up but your order needs to be placed online and paid for before coming to the store. We are not doing outside consultations.

The kettle has boiled and it’s time for tea and knitting.