Marblz

I was only in the store briefly this morning to unload the van. Then home for more purging. It is getting down to the last few things. Keep them, donate them or throw them out?

Cathy called and told me that the Marblz interchangeable sets arrived.

They will be added to the website in the next few days. I'd like to say tomorrow but I'm off to the dentist. A tooth is bothering me and I want/need to have it checked out. It's not an all day appointment but my dentist is a 45 minute drive. Then a 30-45 minute appointment and 45 minutes to get home. That takes a chunk out of the day.

An email came in late this afternoon from Dream in Color. The Classy mini skeins are being shipped this week.

I think there will be another surprise in the box but I don't want to say anything until it's in my hands.

There are new free patterns on Rowan's website.

Knit this ladies cap sleeved tunic, available as a free pattern to download. Designed by Sarah Hatton using the stunning yarn All Seasons Chunky (cotton and acrylic), this easy to wear sweater has a chunky roll neck collar and split detail at the welt.

Download the pattern... 

Knit this unique, cable-detail snood with feature pompom ties. Designed by Lisa Richardson this versatile project is photographed in Rowan Drift, but can easily be knitted in Big Wool or Big Wool Colour.

Download the pattern... 

Now it's laundry time and then I need to tidy the kitchen. Then I can sit and knit a few rows before bed. There is a football game on and The Blacklist will be taping at 10.

The Day After

We made it home safely last night but I was too tired to sit and write. Instead I knit for a bit and then fell asleep.

Thanks to all the volunteers at the Fleece Festival for another amazing day. Thanks to Lynn and Wannietta who helped me in the booth and Beth who was the sherpa getting everything to the show and home again.

We started the day in Color Play Mohair Wraps knit in Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe.

Cheryl came by the booth wearing Roan from Rowan magazine #56. It is fabulous. Now I need to get mine out and finish it!!

The plans for the rest of the day? Football and knitting. Maybe a nap. Tomorrow is going to be busy unloading the van.

One More Sleep

We're almost ready for tomorrow. Beth, Lynn and I drove to Woodstock this afternoon to set up the booth. Here are a few pictures.

I stopped at the store on the way home to pick up the few things that I needed
-more mannequins (we have a lot of samples on display)
-more baskets (we took a lot of kits)
-yarn to make kits (I think we might need a few more Inspira Cowl kits)

I've had dinner and it's time to make kits. Then The Amazing Race and bed. 5:30 is going to come sooner than I want it to.

We hope to see you at the Fleece Festival tomorrow.

Thanks Lynda

Mr. Canada Post brought in a parcel from Lynda this morning with a finished project. Thank goodness someone is getting knitting finished.

Pattern: Fractal Cowl from Blue Sky Alpacas

A field of reverse stockinette stitch creates the perfect canvas for this unique cabled cowl. Inspired by the cutting-edge architecture of Australia, this chic scarf alternative is worked in the round (each one unique) to create sharp, geometric patterns and clear linear designs.

Yarn: 1 skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Extra

A luxe mix of baby alpaca and fine Merino wool, Extra comes in generously sized hanks and a rich color palette, making it ideal for one and two skein projects. Light and lofty with a springy twist, it’s a versatile Aran weight that lends itself beautifully to a variety of knitting tensions and needle sizes.

The cowl will be on display in the store next week. It's packed and heading to the Fleece Festival. I think we're ready. I guess I'll know tomorrow afternoon when we unpack and set up the booth. There might be some scrambling tomorrow night to make up more kits. I thought we were really prepared 2 weeks ago but now it feels like we aren't. It's too late to worry about it so I'm going to do the next best thing. Watch some TV and knit. :)

Thanks Cathy

Thank you Cathy for another finished project.

Pattern: Blue Bird (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 2 skeins of Dream in Color Everlasting Sock

She didn't offer it to me. Didn't she read yesterday's post?

We're just about packed for Woodstock. The store is a disaster zone. It will be a mess tomorrow and then Cathy will straighten everything out after I leave on Friday.

My Liberty Inspira Cowl is blocking and I need to get knitting on the cowl in Freia Fingering. I don't think that it will be done in time. It might be on display as 'in progress'.

I've decided on our next KAL and it will start on October 31. You have a choice for this one. I'm going to do the Stephen West Mystery KAL - Exploration Station and invite you to join me on a Stephen West adventure. I know that some people don't like a mystery KAL. You like to know what you are knitting before you start. If this is you, then I invite you to choose a different Stephen West pattern to work on. There are 79 patterns to choose from - mitts, shawls, hats and sweaters.

Don't be afraid of Stephen's KAL. There will be lots of instruction and links to videos for techniques that you might not know.

My pile of merino light. The skein that looks gold is actually called grove and it is a green shade. It was dark outside so I had to take pictures in the dining room. I will finalize my colours on Monday.

It's Survivor/knitting time.

Orchid Thief

Cathy has been knitting like crazy. She needs to stop knitting for Sarah and start knitting for me!! Her talents can be put to a much better use :)

Here is Sarah's Orchid Thief that I just finished. I used one skein of tosh merino light in cove. It was fun to knit. The pattern kept me interested. Obviously! I finished this in about 6 days.

The pattern can be purchased on Ravelry...

My phone just honked with a surprise. Sarah is home from work and here are pictures of her wearing the shawl.

Three petals bloom from the centre top edge, their points organically growing into the three spines of yarn over increases. This unusual increase pattern creates the perfect shape for staying in place around your shoulders. The petals along the edge are grouped into threes, echoing the centre and forming deep scallops.

It suits her so well that I guess I'll have to let her keep it.

Here is my little project. I started an Inspira Cowl in Freia Fingering.

I cast on 156 stitches with 4mm needles - the Steampunk version again. There isn't any shaping in my cowl. Small problem. The colour repeats in Freia are long. I cut out some purple (can you believe that I just wrote that?) If I hadn't I still would be on purple rows and would barely be into the blue when it's time to cast off. After the blue comes lime so I might be cutting out some blue as well to get the lime in at the end. The yarn is really nice to knit with and the cowl has a totally different look than the Liberty cowls.

Our friend Phil is in town from England so we're heading out to the Keg for dinner. It could be a late evening (Phil always has amazing stories of his travels to share) so I need to finish my post before heading home.

The Feature of the Day for tomorrow (Wednesday, October 15) is madelinetosh home. This is a new yarn for fall. 10% off. In stock yarn only. You can come in the store to purchase or call us. I'm in the store tomorrow from 10-5:30

home is a 100% superwash merino wool, bulky weight with a generous 110 yards per skein. each incredibly soft squishy skein is hand dyed in small dye lots.

There are some great patterns on Ravelry for accessories...

Comforts of Home Cowl
Purl Ridge Hat
Luxe Cowl
Simple Ribbed Cowl
Pembroke Wrap
Sentiment

Here are the colours that we have in stock...

We're home from dinner. I didn't get the post done before we went. A small problem with some parcels that I was shipping out. I had to stay after closing so that they could be picked up. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow. There are knitters out there who need their yarn.

Thanksgiving Monday

I was up early this morning to head to the Ball's Falls craft show. The show opens at 9 and if you aren't there right away then the traffic to get can be awful. I've sat for over an hour to get to the parking lot.

Small problem. It was pouring rain. A lot of the vendors are outside in tents so they didn't open up in the rain. I only got to see about half of the vendors. Didn't make me happy after a 45 minute drive.

Another small problem. Marie-Joel had a booth there. She makes the ceramic quilts that hang on the wall of my dining room. Here are pictures from her booth. A few things came home with me. 2 mugs. A paint can - to sit on the kitchen counter and hold our cooking utensils. They look like concrete but are actually very light. Being the daughter of a contractor, I like concrete things :) I wanted the salad bowl too. That will probably come home from One of a Kind.

This came home too. Sorry for the poor picture. It started raining again and I was rushing. It was from an older collection so she offered it to me at a price that I couldn't refuse. It won't hang with the other pictures in the new house but I had to have it.

Beth is golfing today and my job is to get my bedroom closet in order. Before starting I logged into Facebook. Look what I found.

There is a new Stephen West KAL starting on October 31.

It’s the fourth consecutive year of the Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL so we are using four colors for the most colorful mystery shawl to date. You can expect a fun explorative knitting adventure full of surprises!

Check Ravelry for more details... 

I cleaned for a bit and then while waiting for the washing machine to finish, the dogs and I had a nap. Then back to laundry and cleaning. I'm almost done. Look what I found in my closet.

3 skeins of tosh merino light. I need 4 for the KAL. I wonder what I'm going to add.

Thoughts on doing the Westknits KAL as our next store KAL? 

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving today. We had a great meal at Aunt Rene's.

My Inspira Cowl is finished.

Last night was a late evening. We were watching the baseball games, college football and the Nascar race. When we got bored of those we decided to start watching something on Netflix. We picked The Good Wife. If it's been on TV for five years then it must be fairly good. The first episode was very good so we decided to watch another one. It was 1:30 when we finished the fourth episode. Definitely time for bed. I would recommend the show. Great for knitting because you don't need to pay too much attention.

My next project is started. I'm going to wait with pictures until tomorrow. I want it to grow some more first. Right now I'm undecided. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. I think with more knit it will grow on me.

It's time for baseball and another football game. That means more knitting!

New Patterns

The new patterns from Churchmouse Yarns have arrived. They are awesome.

Accelerating Stripes Fingerless Gloves and Cowl

We love stripes—big stripes, little stripes and everything in between. So when Alicia Vause created a pair of fingerless gloves that had all of the above, in stripes that zipped from 5 rounds to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 — we jumped on board. Then we just had to share the fun with our necks, revving our stripes from 18 rounds to 3 in a super-soft cowl that’s seamless in both directions. Snap!

The sample is shown in Rowan's new yarn Rowan Finest.

Better-Than-Basic Pullover

Here’s a pattern for the simple sweater you’d be willing to buy, if only you could find it: The fit is easy, styling simple, fabric relaxed, and details just right. 
The flattering dropped shoulder creates a roomy armhole without the usual excess fabric bunching under the arm. The slim, straight cuff tapers up to the armhole. And a little short-row shaping allows the front and back hemline to hang more evenly when worn. 
You can easily customize the style and fit. We’ve shown a couple of combinations of length and edgings but you can play with the variables (short with long ribbing, long with short . . .) or change the length entirely to suit you.

The sweater is knit in worsted weight yarn. The possibilities are endless.

Crocheted 'Linen Stitch' Scarf and Loop

Linen stitch is so brilliant—the way the stitch pattern mingles and pixelates a hand-dyed yarn just thrills knitters. But why should knitters have all the fun? Enter our friend Sandra, who shared a crochet stitch with us that has the same effect. We fell in love! Unlike its knitted cousin, crocheted ‘linen stitch’ is utterly reversible—doubly brilliant!

Worked in fingering weight yarn.

Go-To Cardigan

A modern riff on the grandfather sweater, this simple cardigan moves easily from work day to weekend. We’ve added flattering A-line shaping and a vented hem for relaxed ease with a tidy finish. In cozy wools or cool plant fibers, it’s a perfect layering piece or polished tunic.

This is knit in a double knitting weight yarn.

Modern Wrapper Fine

Our original Modern Wrapper was a big hit, but several knitters asked for a similar style without the mohair component. To achieve the requisite ‘lightness of being’ without the mohair haze to fill in the gaps, we shifted to a finer fabric, mixing (or matching) two strands of lace-weight yarn. We’ve also slimmed the silhouette and added a bit more precision to the fit by grading the design in three relaxed sizes.

Knit in two strands of lace weight or a heavy fingering/sport.

Two Tone Twill Scarf

Our love affair with linen stitch continues—this time using two high-contrast colors for crisp zigs and zags, or two closer colors for tonal shading. We started with a soft fingering-weight yarn and then took it all the way to a lace-weight yarn to mimic the breezy sigh of a fine woven scarf. Aaah . . .

Knit in lace weight or fingering.

Walking Rib Cowl and Muffler

This subtle diagonal stitch pattern is akin to K2/P2 ribbing, but the rhythm ‘walks’ over by one stitch every other row (or round) for a subtle, reversible texture that’s easier than it looks. The handsome muffler has tailored slip-stitch selvedges. The cowl is worked on larger needles for a softer drape.

There is a double knitting version and a heavy worsted weight version. What is heavy worsted weight?
-Mrs. Crosby Steamer Trunk
-tosh vintage
-tosh merino
-Rowan Felted Tweed Aran
-Filatura di Crosa Zara Plus
-Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

-any yarn that says 18 stitches to 4" on the ball band

I love it when customers bring in finished samples to show off. Kim bought Naturally Vero Tweed at the Tent Sale and made it into an Elder Tree Shawl. I hadn't thought of knitting the shawl in a self striping yarn. It looks great!

The trees around the store are an awesome colour right now.

Last night while working on my Inspira Cowl I came up with an idea for another one. It is going to be on smaller needles and I want it done in time for the Fleece Festival. My fingers are going to be flying this weekend.

I took a quick picture of my current Inspira Cowl before leaving the store.

It should be finished tonight and then onto the new one.