It’s a Happy Day

It’s a happy day at the store because Maker’s Boards are making their way to us. I don’t think that they will arrive until Wednesday so we are going to do something special for Boxing Week. There isn’t time to ship out before Christmas.

We are going to bundle the Maker’s Board with the magnets and rulers and will be offering the Trio at a discounted price. The Trio will go live on Sunday at 8am.

Photos © Tin Can Knits

Another suggestion for Lettlopi is Almanac from Tin Can Knits. You can purchase the pattern on their website.

When in Iceland… 
This yoke is my take on the Icelandic lopapeysa style that has been popular since its invention in the 1970’s.

After knitting and wearing Almanac in Iceland I see why this style remains popular. Joyful and quick to make it is hugely practical in a land of exquisite landscapes (and equally exquisite cold).

Photos © Andrea Mowry

I totally forgot about these two designs by Andrea Mowry. Many people have used Lettlopi for them. You can purchase the pattern for the Weekender and The Throwback on Andrea’s website.

It’s a happy day at my house. Our new dishwasher is here. 

The first load is in. We were getting good at washing dishes but having a dishwasher will make life easier. The other exciting thing is that when they were installing it I asked them to look at our touchless kitchen faucet. The batteries died at least a year ago and now they have been replaced. None of us were willing to get on the floor and try to reach all the way to the back of the cupboard to change the batteries.

It’s cookie time.

Boxing Week

We have spent a lot of time discussing this and we have decided that we are going to close the store to in store shopping after Christmas. We are staying open next week for the last minute Christmas shopping but starting tomorrow we are limited to 50% capacity which means 5 shoppers at a time

For Boxing Week you will still be able to shop online for mail order or curbside pick up. I’m working out the times in my head. More on that tomorrow.

Trust me when I tell you that this wasn’t an easy decision. As a small business owner I can’t afford to be at home in isolation. If I’m in isolation then Lynn probably is too which means no one gets yarn. 

During Boxing Week we will not be able to send pictures of sale products to you. If you would like pictures of other yarns please send an email and I will get you pictures as soon as I can. Please don’t fret if this takes a day.

Updated Hours

We are open for in store shopping. 

Tuesday December 21 noon - 5pm

Wednesday December 22 noon - 5pm

Thursday December 23 noon -5pm

Friday December 24 10am - 2pm

Boxing Week

The store will be closed to in store shopping. We will be offering curbside pick up and mail order.

Surprise. We have a new yarn coming this week. Lettlopi is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. This is a thinner version of Lopi. Jennifer Steingass has used it for a few of her designs.

Photos © Jennifer Steingass

You can find the pattern for these sweaters plus other Jennifer Steingass Lettlopi designs on Ravelry.

There are a few more colours coming at this time and then we will add more in the new year when our supplier receives their next shipment.

Léttlopi (or lopi lite) yarn is half the weight of Álafoss lopi.

Worsted weight yarn

100% new wool. 50 g (1.7 oz) approx. 100 m (109 yd).

Gauge: 18 sts to 10 cm (4") over St st using size 4½ - 5 mm (US 7-8).

The Maker’s Boards made it to BC and Canada Post says that they will be delivered on Thursday. I’m not holding my breath but they should be here for Boxing Week.
 

Happy Friday

This is the Marble Sweater from PetiteKnit. You can knit this sweater over the holidays. It looks warm and cozy!

Photo © PetiteKnit
Marble Sweater is worked from the top down with raglan increases on the yoke. The neck edge is knitted together, and short rows are worked along the back of the neck to shape the neckline.

I need to play with yarns to see what will get the required tension but here are a few thoughts

Rowan Big Wool plus 2 strands of Kidsilk Haze.

Rowan Soft Boucle with Cascade 220 Superwash Merino. I think this might need one more strand.

2 stands of Cascade 220 Superwash Merino with 2 strands of Kidsilk Haze

2 strands of Rowan Tweed Haze

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

This afternoon I put together some kits for Beth’s Crazy Scarf. This is a super simple knit using 2 different colours of Zauberball Crazy. Here are my combinations or you can create your own.

I also put together kits for Andrea Mowry’s Junction.

Photo © Andrea Mowry

These kits use Le Cashmere & Lambswool with Dyed in the Wool.

This sweater is knit from the top down, in the round, with a folded collar, two color brioche yoke and stranded colorwork body and sleeves. You will separate the sleeves placing them on hold while the body is finished with a simple slip stitch textured pattern. The sleeves are then returned to the needle, picking up stitches for the underarm for a totally seamless sweater!

You can purchase the pattern on Andrea’s website.

My knitting chair is calling. 

Happy Tosh Day

Two large boxes arrived this afternoon full of beautiful Madelinetosh yarns. Lynn threw some Merino Light on the floor for a picture. There are a few ‘old’ colours in the box that we haven’t had for some time. 

Cove (blue/green) - top left corner

Heuchera (purple) - to the right of Cove

Bloomsbury - the lighter turquoise leaning on Heuchera.

Plunge - the brighter turquoise in the middle

We also received skeins of Tosh DK and Tosh Vintage.

I’m making brownies, writing my post, updating the website and watching football.  

Photos © Tanis Lavallee

From Tanis 

A version of The Ceej Hat is the only hat that Chris has worn for the past decade or so. It’s a classic 1x1 ribbed beanie that is very versatile in both fit and style. Every time I post a picture of Chris on social media there is a very high likelihood that he is wearing one of his signature watchcaps - regardless of the weather, he’s a hat guy and this is his hat of choice. It is high time that Chris’ hat has a permanent place in my pattern collection. This pattern is written for baby to adult, instructions for both DK weight and worsted weight yarn are included. You can make it marled, faded, striped or a solid colour (Chris’ favourite). This hat is classic and cool, just like Chris. 

Sizes 
Baby (child, adult small, adult large) 
To fit head circumference of approximately 16 (18, 21, 23)” Hat length is totally customizable, as written the hat is 8 (9, 10, 11)” tall. 

The Ceej Hat is very stretchy and accommodating to many different head sizes. I have a 21.5” head circumference and can comfortably wear either of the adult sizes. When it comes to hats, calling something child sized is kind of misleading because my 8 year old child’s head is the same size as mine, my 6 year olds head is 21” (for reference my 3 year olds head is 19”) and I would definitely knit the smallest adult size for all of us in this very flexible and stretchy pattern. Chris’ head is 23” and he would be happy with either of the two adult sizes. I love this pattern for gift knitting because it fits such a wide variety of head sizes.

Yarn: 
DK weight: 150 (170, 190, 210) yds. 
Worsted Weight: 120 (140, 160, 180) yds. 

Faded Marled version is knit with 2 strands of fingering weight yarn held together achieving a worsted weight gauge. 200 (240, 280, 320) total yards of fingering weight divided between the amount of colours you choose. 

You can purchase the pattern on Tanis’ website. 

I’ve sat in front of the computer long enough. Now it’s time for a bit of knitting.

 

Birch

From Andrea Mowry who released another new pattern today.

I wanted the ultimate squishy wardrobe staple - and the Birch Pullover fits the bill to a T! Knit from the top down in a Half Fisherman’s rib stitch, it is warm and cozy and goes with everything!!This sweater is knit from the top down (meaning you can try it on as you go and add length to suit your own personal style!), beginning with the collar and then flowing into Half-Fishermen’s Rib. The yoke is shaped along the raglans for a classic style. The sleeves are then returned to the needle, picking up stitches for the underarm for a totally seamless sweater!

Photos © Andrea Mowry

You can purchase the pattern for the Birch Pullover on Andrea’s website.

Andrea has been dropping hints about this sweater for a few days and someone asked what yarn I would recommend. I said Le Petit Lambswool from Biches & Buches. Two of Andrea’s test knitters used Le Petit Lambswool and their sweaters look great. You can see all the test knits on Ravelry. One of the knitters who used Le Petit Lambswool said it was the perfect yarn for the project.

There was a major mess up with our latest shipment from Biches & Buches (it ended up in New York) but it finally arrived and the colours are online. There are 2 brand new colours of Le Petit Cashmere & Lambswool. This is a great yarn for the Birch Pullover.

Mr. Canpar brought a box of Knitter’s Pride needles today. If you are a fan of Karbonz needles we received a few different sizes.

We also received more of the Knitter’s Pride needle cases. There are cases for fixed circular needles and…

… interchangeable needles and…

…double pointed needles.

Maker’s Board Update

I have ordered boards from the Canadian and the American distributor. I was hoping that this would guarantee the boards arrived in time for Christmas. It’s still up in the air. I’ll keep you posted. 

We received this in an email today from our supplier of Noro and Lykke. I love the Christmas tree decorations. This is a great idea for next year. Take some cheap balls and wind Noro around them.

We don’t have a Christmas tree up this year. It would be way too much of a temptation for Jackson Browne. All those shiny things dangling. I can only imagine the mess. Presents aren’t wrapped yet either. Jackson loves paper. At work he is always in the recycling bins pulling paper out and eating it. I can only imagine him unwrapping presents.

Now it’s time for a few rows of knitting. Tomorrow I will be joining new colours.

Tweedy is in the house

Hedgehog Fibres Tweedy arrived this afternoon.

While packing boxes this morning I found a Rowan book that wasn’t on the website. It’s there now.

A new collection of 12 designs from four influential bloggers for Quail Studio: Tiam Safari, Katharina Von Blumenthal, Samantha Hall and Lily Kate France.

The yarns used in the book are

Big Wool

Kidsilk Haze

Kid Classic

Brushed Fleece

Alpaca Classic

Photos © Stephen West

The Melting Marl Shawl is another Stephen West pattern for leftover yarns. You can purchase it on his website.

Gather a colorful collection of leftover fingering weight yarn and single skeins to create a painterly yarn pile. This top-down shawl is very easy to knit with garter stitch and I-cord edges. The top-down construction means you can bind off early for a smaller size or continue knitting for a large shlanket. Invite some fluffy mohair yarns into your color palette for texturally melted color transitions. Always hold two strands together for this stash busting beginner friendly shawl. The pattern includes advice on how to blend your colors together to achieve smooth melting color transitions.

This is one of the 4 patterns you will receive if you purchase Stephen’s workshop.

I like the colours that Stephen chose here. Not my normal colour palette but it is calling my name. I can see wearing this with my jean jacket.

The Cats didn’t go last night. Almost but not quite. It was an entertaining game!