Speckle & Pop!

Last night I brought out Find Your Fade. 20 rows and then I'm onto the last colour. I really want this finished for TNNA.

Alex finished her latest Stephen West shawl. It is fabulous.

Pattern: Speckle & Pop! (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Long Dog Bounce Sock for the main colours with mini skeins and left over fingering weight for the contrast.

The fingering weight version uses three main colors combined with five color pops for a speckletacular shawl. Fade the main colors from light to dark in the first short row section while adding contrasting eyelet stripes. Slipped stitches mix the main colors together along the edge of the shawl followed by giant yarn over holes. Choose between two-color brioche or garter stitch for the final chevron border. Decorate the edging with a contrast color I-cord bind off.

Alex is wearing her Piece of Silver Sweater. It fits her so well - so well that she's making it again.

The National Parks Collection from Fleece Artist has sold very well. We are almost out of Festival Sock but I received good news yesterday. Another shipment is on the way and we should see it by the end of the week. We will have three skeins of each National Park.

We have customers in every day looking for yarn to knit a baby blanket. These cute kits will be here in February.

These kits are going to go fast. The price is $27.50. (That isn't a mistake - I couldn't believe the price either.) Reserve yours today to make sure that you get the kit you want.

In a Word

Rita and Sara came for a visit this morning and brought some shawls to show off. The shawl that Rita had on was interesting. Everyone in the store wanted to see how it was knit. She commented that because of the shape it sits nicely on her shoulders.

This shawl is light as a feather and has a unique flair. The delicate, yet graphic shawl is easily knitted in garter stitch and shaped with short rows and the outcome is something very special.

Pattern: In a Word (pattern purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Fingering weight - 2 colours - 2 skeins each

They brought in their Free Your Fades. The first two colours are the same and then they went in their own direction for the last colour.

I think I've picked my colours for Speckle & Pop! I could still change my mind tomorrow. I wanted something different. (I know that the purple isn't out of the ordinary but adding in the lime makes it new :) ) That resulted in Singles from Long Dog for the main colours and a Party of Five kit from SweetGeorgia for the pop.

Now I'm going back to Find Your Fade. I don't think I want to do 80 some odd rows of I-Cord to start Speckle & Pop! tonight. There's also the issue of winding the yarn. Tomorrow seems like a better option.

Speckle & Pop!

The boxes are unpacked from Camp and now we are starting to get things in order for the Woodstock Fleece Festival.

Saturday October 14 at the Woodstock Fairgrounds. This is a fun show. Not just knitting but all fibre arts and you will be inspired.

Check out the Fleece Festival website for more information...

If you live in Toronto, the Toronto Knitters Guild has a bus going to the Festival. Here is more information about times and pricing...

We received good news from Hedgehog Fibres today - our order is in production and should be here in time for the show.
184 skeins of Skinny Singles
76 skeins of Hedgehog Sock

Are you ready for the next Stephen West MKAL? The fun starts on Friday. I need to pick my colours tomorrow and get my skeins wound.

Select 3 colors of fingering weight yarns in a colorful speckled fade. I recommend 3 speckled colors, but you can also use solid colors if you prefer. I recommend a light, medium, and dark color for these 3 main colors. These 3 full skeins will act as the main part of the shawl. If you can find 3 colors that fade nicely together from light to dark, that will be ideal. 

Select 5 contrast colors for your color pops. These contrast pops will show best if they are different from your main colors. For example, choose 3 full skeins of light, medium, and dark neutral colors combined with 5 color pops.

I'm going to sleep on his recommendations. I have something in mind and you won't believe where I might go with mine.

Swatch out! The Mystery KAL cast on date is getting super close. If you would like to play with your yarns and make a gauge swatch, here is the gauge information. 

Needles: I recommend a 40” US 4 / 3.5mm circular needle You may need to adjust your needle size to get gauge. 

Gauge: 22 stitches and 52 rows = 4” / 10 cm with garter stitch 

It’s not necessary to swatch in advance because you can also use the cast on and beginning of Friday’s instructions as your swatch to check your tension. Stitch gauge is more important than row gauge. I recommend trying to get as close to 22 stitches as possible. If you have a looser tension (fewer stitches per inch), you may require a bit more yardage. I have factored in some wiggle room for yardage so if your yarn type or tension is a bit looser, I will address that factor in the last couple weeks of the KAL to accommodate some yardage variations. 

Color To get a sense of how your 3 main colors blend together, you can play with a color fade technique to stripe them all together. 

Knit 10 rows with color A. Knit 10 rows with color A striped with color B for 2 rows each. Knit 10 rows with color B. Knit 10 rows with color B striped with color C for 2 rows each. Knit 10 rows with color C. 

I recommend using your colors from light to dark. 

Don’t worry about incorporating the 5 color pops yet. We will explore the color pops together soon! I can’t wait to share the first section of Speckle & Pop with you all this Friday! 

Tomorrow is a big day. Alex finished my Dotted Rays - Speckled Fade. I can't wait to see it. There will be lots of pictures!

Authentic Tweed

Arranmore from the Fibre Co arrived this morning. The box with Arranmore Light has been caught in customs for the past two weeks. It looks like we should see it by the end of the week.

Machnamh (pattern purchased on Ravelry) is knit in Arranmore.

Machnamh (pronounced Macnah) is the Irish word for reflection, which seemed an appropriate name for this sleeveless waistcoat/vest since it is worked in stocking stitch on one section and reverse stocking stitch on the other – one reflecting the other.

One size fits most with a relaxed fit on smaller sizes and more close fitting when fastened on larger sizes. For more overlap or a more relaxed fit simply cast on 4 extra stitches at beginning and end of the cast on row to give 2 inches extra front wrap ensuring armholes remain centered. 

Inspired by the breathtaking scenery of Ireland's Northern Headlands, Arranmore is spun in a mill that traces its roots to the tweed industry of 19th century County Donegal. Blending cashmere and silk with fine merino wool created an authentic tweed yarn of the finest quality. With a color palette reminiscent of the wild Irish coastlands, this aran weight yarn was designed for makers appreciating the best of luxury and tradition.

• 80% merino wool, 10% silk, 10% cashmere• 175 yds / 100 gram skein• 14-17 sts = 4" (10 cm) on US 8-10 needles 

I brought home some yarn for Speckle and Pop! For the most part I left out the Speckle. I have knit quite a few of Stephen West's MKALs. Customers comment the most on my building blocks which is grey, brown and denim. I wanted to show some combinations that aren't as flashy. (And then I add neon :))

There are so many options for the shawl.  Grey can be matched with anything.

This is the combination that I've been dreaming about. Shades of grey with a pop. I added in a kit from SweetGeorgia that is called JellyBean. You can do shades of purple or green or blue. There are so many options with grey. You could also use tosh unicorn tails - I totally forgot about bringing some of them home.

Now it's time to relax. I had a really big dog standing over me in bed this morning. Really early this morning. 6am. My dad is looking after a job in Peterborough and goes at least one day a week. He leaves Ancaster around 5am so Lucy stays over the night before and Beth takes her to day care.

I just received an email from Brandy at Long Dog Yarn. Remember those pretty pictures I showed a few days ago? (copyright credit to Brandy Velten on all the pictures of Long Dog Yarn) Our shipment will be arriving next Thursday. It will be late in the afternoon so I won't be unpacking the box. It will be put into the van for the Knitters' Fair. Sorry to those who can't make it to the show. If anything comes home I will be putting it on the website. I will also be doing another order after the show.

Now I'm going to knit :)