Spring is coming!

Happy Saturday. The sun was out today. It was a bit warmer. Spring is coming.

My knitters are busy working on samples for the Knitters Frolic. Diana is knitting Castalia in Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Glitter Sock. The colour on the right (crocus) will be the main shawl and the colour on the left (atlantis) will be the border.

We were straightening the Opal sock yarn in the store today and it got me thinking that there should be new colours available soon. I emailed my supplier and it was great timing. There will be a new collection of Opal sock yarn coming next week.

What to do on a Saturday night? Knit of course :) Enjoy your evening!

Happy and Cheerful

We've been rearranging the store. Almost all the spring yarns live together in the front room now. It's a very happy, cheerful display.

Cathy dropped by earlier today with her Naushon Scarf knit in Santorini.

Cathy barely had it out of her bag before Lynn had it around her neck. This is colour 2148.

I thought I was going to get further on mine last night. We had Aunt Barb's lasagna for dinner and invited friends to join us. Unfortunately they didn't know when to go home :) I finally had to kick them out and then sat down to knit. It was after 1pm by the time my first scarf was finished and this one was started. Luckily the store doesn't open until noon on Fridays so I could sleep in.

A sneak peek at the colours of Classy Mini Skeins coming next week from Dream in Color. We are going to have fun making kits.

The Amazing Race just finished and I have a few comments

-the nurse just goes on and on and on. The doctor is going to turn on her soon.
-read your clue.
-why would you wait all night in the airport for the ticket counter to open? Go to an Internet cafe and find flights and then you can be at the right ticket counter when the airport opens.

Now it's time for sleep. If I start knitting it could be one in the morning again before I head to bed.

Optical Delusion

I'm working on the brochure for Camp - Kate's and Kim's classes are great. Totally different than classes that we have had in the past. This scarf is one of the classes that Kim will be teaching.

Come and learn all techniques required to make the Optical Delusion: Conflagration scarf! Backwards knitting, short rows in garter stitch, cable cast on, reading unusual charts and more!

I think that I might have to sit in on this one. The scarf looks awesome!

We received a shipment of yarn that makes me very happy. Classic Elite's Santorini is here. This is the secret project that I have been working on. It's almost done.

Pattern: Naushon - the pattern book hasn't arrived yet but you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry if you need to start right away (it's okay, we all understand needing to start NOW!)

Yarn: 3 balls of Santorini

Needles: 4.5mm

The pattern is very easy to do. If you can count to 6 and know how to knit (no purls) then you are good to go.

This colour is being mailed to Wannietta tomorrow. She is going to do the shawl version of the scarf that I am knitting.

I think that this might be my next scarf but that could change tomorrow :)

I'm home from work and getting dinner ready. Okay, heating up dinner. Aunt Barb made us a lasagna. You never turn down Aunt Barb's lasagna. It is amazing. Then Grey's Anatomy and knitting. I want need to get my scarf finished so that I can start another one.

Santorini

Santorini from Classic Elite should be in the store next week. I am so excited about this yarn. The colours are amazing and the designers came up with awesome patterns.

Santorini's colorways sing along the matte and shiny textures inherent in the yarn, adding vibrant color to warm-weather garments, wraps and scarves. 

58% viscose
42% cotton

5 stitches to the inch on 4.5mm needles

114m in a 50gram ball.

The patterns will be available in the book Along The Shore. If you purchase the book, there is a scratch code in it so that you can download the patterns to your Ravelry library. You can also purchase the individual patterns on Ravelry.

Ley Lines #1 is at the point where I am supposed to cast off. I've pinned it onto my friend so that you could see the size.

I am working with 3 - 100gram skeins of Malabrigo Sock. I weighed what I have left at this point. 140grams. I haven't sat down to figure out the numbers exactly but I have a feeling that you will be able to get the shawl out of approximately 800m of yarn. You won't be able to increase the size though. If you like a big shawl then I suggest getting more yarn. Since I have lots of yarn and I want a really big shawl, I'm continuing on with my increase rows for a bit.

New Samples

It's never too early to start your knitting for fall. This way you are ready when the weather turns cold. Wait. It hasn't warmed up yet. :)

We have new samples in Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe. Linda Sellick of Oneday Designs has loaned us her beautiful Airius shawl.

Light as air ……….. “Airius” This very easy crescent shaped shawl is worked in one piece, from the top down.The Garter Stitch shawl body consists of a single row repeat stitch pattern. The easy lace border is joined to the shawl body as it is worked. The border is written in both word and charted forms. Two strands of luxury yarn are held together and knitted as one throughout. This design can be worked by either using 2 balls of the same colour or have fun as I did and use 2 completely different colours and make your own unique colour way, it will be truly unique and beautiful!!

Purchase the pattern on Ravelry... 

Yarn: 2 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe
Needles: 5.5mm

Knit this Woman's Short sleeved stocking stitch jumper from Rowan Loves. A design by Sarah Hatton using either the gorgeous Kidsilk Haze or the beautiful Felted Tweed,with a ribbed crew neck and deep ribbed sleeve cuffs.This is for the beginner knitter.

Wannietta just finished this sweater - we're getting garments started for Knitting Camp.

You can knit this sweater in single or double strand Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I chose double strand for a cozier sweater. And of course I chose Kidsilk Haze Stripe for more interest. The pattern is in the new Rowan magazine Rowan Loves Kidsilk Haze & Felted Tweed.

We used colour 363 - Storm.

I'm glad that my friend and I went out early for pictures. The snow has started and the snowplows are on the road already. And then we are supposed to get freezing rain this afternoon. Yuck!

I left at 4:30 this afternoon because the freezing rain did start. I don't mind snow but icy roads don't make me happy.

I'm finishing this while watching the season premier of Hell's Kitchen. I love seeing what their signature dishes are. Who uses canned pasta sauce when you call yourself a chef?? And you're trying to impress Gordon Ramsey.

Now it's time to knit. Ley Lines (number 1) is almost to the point of casting off.

Almost 10

I was looking up something on my blog and ended up back in November 2005. Look at these pictures.

Melo at 6 months old. He was such a cute little boy. I emailed the pictures to Beth and she wrote back that she can't believe he's almost 10. We keep thinking he's only 8.

He still sits and lies like this. And he is the happiest when he has something in his mouth. A toy is good but a sock will work. He doesn't chew them. Just walks around with them.

We unpacked a box from Bonnie Bishoff this morning. I love getting new shawl pins.

Simple and elegant these stick pins are a lovely solution for closure or decoration. The stem's wavy design holds the pins in place through several layers of fabric. They are lightweight and work well with fine fabrics as well as heavy garments.

Cathy has converted someone else into a Technicolor Cowl knitter. Here is Lynn's finished project.

The same cowl but flipped over so the right side becomes the wrong side. The colours look totally different. So much so that you might think it is two different cowls.

The same happens when you double over the cowl.

I'm waiting for the Big Break to start and couldn't find anything to put on while I was writing. Then I saw The Bachelor: Women Tell All. The drama is great. I didn't watch this season so I don't know the women but I have to keep watching to see the yelling and screaming and name calling. It's on commercial right now so I'm finishing quickly before the yelling starts again. Then it's time to knit.

Which project today??

I'm home from church and waiting for the Nascar race to start. The big decision - what project am I going to knit on today??

Here are the four choices. I laid them out hoping to help my decision.

On the left is Ley Lines in Malabrigo sock. I'm very close to where the pattern says to start casting off. Then there is a decision. The pattern calls for 950 yards and I have 1200 yards. How much bigger can I make it and not run out of yarn? I hate having yarn left over so I want to use up as much as possible. Normally that is easy to figure out but Ley Lines is gently cast off. 4 stitches every wrong side row. This will add about 50 rows to the shawl. Go too far and not enough yarn - that really isn't an option.

In the middle is my Come Together kit from Classic Elite. Easy knitting. I might save that for House of Cards later tonight. We only made it through one episode of the new season last night. We started the episode and had questions so we re-watched the last episode from the previous season. Now the new season is making sense.

On the right is Ley Lines in Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single. I just made it into the 4th section.

I think it will be Ley Lines on the left. I really want to finish the shawl.

It's much later and I'm ready for some sleep. I knit this afternoon (on none of the above projects - more on that later this week - it's a surprise right now until the yarn for the store arrives) while watching the golf and car race. Beth and I made it through two more episodes of House of Cards before calling it a night. One of us has to say 'enough' or we would still be watching when it is time to go to work in the morning.