Lest We Forget

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 2,300,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thank you to those who protect us. 

Lynn brought in two finished sweaters today. It was a beautiful day so we took a lot of pictures.

The pattern is called Ranunculus and you can purchase it on Ravelry. Lynn used yarn from The Old Soul Fiber Co. - one strand of Soul Slub and one strand of Soul Single held together. She used about 1.5 skeins of each yarn. 

The sweater feels great. It is light - something Lynn can definitely wear in the summer or later in the year with a long sleeved shirt under it.

Ranunculus is a top-down round yoke pullover with lace and textured stitches. The round yoke has ample depth and finished pullover has cropped length so that you can lay it over dresses or high-waisted skirts and pants. If crops aren’t your style, please adjust body to your favorite length.

The second sweater is The Rock It Tee by Tanis Lavallee. You can purchase the pattern on Tanis’ website.

From Tanis

I used to think that summer knits weren’t for me, boy was I wrong! There is nothing more comfortable than an easy breezy knit top. Over the past few years I’ve been working steadily towards building up my summer knits wardrobe. I’ve got a few summer knits in my closet now but what I realize was missing is a staple, go-to, v-neck tee. I’ve chosen to create tone on tone stripes by alternating between fingering and mohair yarn in my favourite shade of blue, but this basic shape lends itself to infinite possibilities when it comes to stripes and colour blocking.

Knit top down, flat until the neck shaping is complete and in the round after that.

Lynn used 3 balls of Pollock from Juniper Moon. Perfect timing - we have been out of three colours for months and we will finally have stock of them tomorrow. Lynn used the suggested 3.75mm needles.

Hump Day

This week’s deal is for Rockshelter Sock. Cathy and I knit Free your Fade with 3 skeins - 1 each of 3 different colours. 

The yarn is one of the nicest that I have knit with. Super soft and drapes beautifully. It is called Sock but there is no nylon. If you are making socks with this yarn then you will want to add something to the heels or toes or make them for special occasion socks. 

You can purchase the pattern for Free Your Fade on Andrea Mowry’s website. From Andrea

This shawl was created to be your favorite shawl pattern! Really relaxing garter stitch with engaging eyelet rows and endless color possibilities. It would be gorgeous knit up in one color, but you can just as easily use 20! I’ve extended the color melt sections for an even more cohesive fade, with easy instructions to add as many fade sections as you would like! The shawl is light weight and perfect year round when knit up in fingering weight yarn, but don’t let that stop you from knitting it up in any yarn weight you prefer to the size of your choosing!

Cathy used Sage, Claude Monet and Pisgah National Forest

I used Old Lace, Gifting and Opium Den

Here are a few colour suggestions.

Slate Green, Some Dark Holler, Pisgash National Forest

Old Lace, Gifting, Opium Den - my combination but the middle colour is less rust - I love the new combination

Foliose Lichen, Limpopo River,  Slate Green

Dead Pharaohs, Wild Mushroom, Scrubgrass

My Find Your Fade in Rockshelter Sock. You can purchase the pattern on Andrea’s website. 

From Andrea

Starting at a single point and growing, shifting and fading into a piece that begs to be wrapped up in. is asymmetrical triangle shawl uses some clever increasing and decreasing, combined with relaxing garter stitch and simple lace so that you have a fun-to-knit canvas to play with mixing colors on! is shawl is all about making it your own. Let your creativity shine!!

These sets are for Find Your Fade.

This is the combination that I used to make my shawl.

Shop Sock

Shop Find Your Fade kits

Rockshelter Sock is on sale for $30 a skein from now until Friday November 13th at noon. You can order online for curbside pick up or mail order.

Rockshelter Find Your Fade kits are on sale for $210 from now until Friday November 13th at noon.

All sales final. No returns.

Furry Oomph

Our friends at Churchmouse have a beautiful new pattern knit in Rowan’s Soft Boucle.

This free pattern is simply a big, straightforward stockinette stitch rectangle with fun fringe on either end. It’s the perfect project for both newer knitters and more accomplished knitters who’re in the mood for something nice and soothing—it’s especially great to relax with between more complicated projects! And the finished wrap is equally elegant thrown around your shoulders or over the back of a chair.

For this Simple Stockinette Wrap, we used fluffy, fuzzy Rowan Soft Bouclé! A clever concoction of cotton, alpaca, merino wool, and polyamide, this chunky-weight yarn is soft on soft on soft. It brings furry oomph to even simple stockinette!

You can download the pattern on Churchmouse’s website. 

Boucle yarn is such a favourite for autumn and winter, adding texture to any knit. This chunky version is blended from cotton, alpaca, Merino wool and polyamide, knitting up quickly on 6mm needles to create a light, but warm fabric.

 

I took this from the Modern Daily Knitting website.

Field Guide No. 16 is coming. (We should have it next week)

It is a stunner. When we look at Kaffe Fassett’s designs for this Field Guide, it feels like we’ve caught all the color and light and joy of that February day, in a little book that will take us to really beautiful places in the coming weeks.

Many of you jumped in on Field Guide No. 13: Master Class and loved it. You know what we’re talking about when we say that it’s easy to get lost in his ideas about color and pattern.

Well, get ready—there’s more where that came from.

And for everybody just discovering this brilliant designer, we say: just you wait. There is so much to look forward to. 

If you missed the thirteenth Field Guide, here are a few pictures.

I can’t wait to see what Kaffe has in store for us. 

Good news - we should be seeing the new Mindful needles from Knitters Pride next week. We will have full sets of interchangeable needles as well as individual tips in sizes 3mm - 12mm.

Lucy has decided that she wants to sit on the landing again. Boscoe is blocking her from getting there.

Junction

Churchmouse Yarns has a new pattern (you can download it from their website)

The Mini Loopy Tree Skirt is so adorable, we can’t help but smile whenever it catches our eye—which is often. The combination of a squishy, super chunky-weight yarn and poofs of loop stitch at the outside edge is just so cute and cloud-like! This free pattern was designed to sit under a small, table-top tree, but we bet you can come up with other places for it—under a festive centerpiece, perhaps?

Rowan Big Wool is a great yarn choice.

Doreen emailed me a picture of her latest sweater. Meet Junction.

Just finished Junction.  I love the colour combination.  Use Spincycle Meadows with the dark grey.  This was a great project.  Used two different techniques that I haven't used before.  Brioche and provisional cast on.  The pattern was very easy to follow and the fit is great.

I can’t wait to see Doreen wearing her sweater.

You can purchase the pattern on Andrea Mowry’s website. From Andrea

I am constantly learning, especially when it comes to knitting! So I wanted to create a sweater that would have some new techniques to learn and combine. I love playing with color and texture and this pullover has got it all! A classic circular yoke sweater that helps build your knitting skill set with simple two color brioche and stranded color work.

If you have finished a project with yarn purchased at The Needle Emporium and would like to share, please email me pictures. Knitters love to see what other knitters are making. I want to see what you are making.

We have two new colours of Manos Fino.

Elegant and refined, Fino combines the softness of merino wool with the luster of silk in a lightweight yarn that’s perfect for heirloom accessories or luxurious garments. Fino features a new dye process that yields complex, subtle, tonal colors.  

Seance is above and Rosewater below. 

I packed a lot of boxes this morning. Orders normally go out within 24 hours (Saturday and Sunday excluded). Mr. Canada Post arrives around 11am and any order received by 10am usually makes it onto his truck.

Ordering for pick up is the same. Everything is picked within 24 hours and you will receive an email that your order is ready. If you don’t get that email, please call or send us an email. I can almost guarantee that your order is done.

Now it’s bed time. I will be in the store early tomorrow morning packing more boxes.

Pompoms

I was placing an order with one of my suppliers yesterday when I saw pompoms on their website. We should see these later this week. They are faux fur and will retail for $15 each. I don’t know if they snap on or are sew on and I don’t know the size. It will be a surprise when the box arrives.

We are having a hard time getting interchangeable needle sets. We’re waiting on the Addi Squared sets and the Knitters Pride Mindful sets. This week we should have a couple of sets of Grove Bamboo Needles.

Grove needles are bamboo knitting needles reimagined. The raw bamboo is treated with LYKKE's proprietary process which enriches the bamboo to strengthen and smooth it, as well as add a touch of green that evokes the feeling of bamboo just cut from a grove. This is accentuated with tasteful green caps with laser engraved needle sizes. Knitting with LYKKE's Grove needles will surely help you make happy!

The case is a chartreuse green textured basketweave effect that is eye catching & fun.

I didn’t finish Skylights today. I should be starting the ribbing on the sleeves tomorrow or Tuesday night. It is too big and bulky to knit while playing dominoes. We play a game every night after dinner. While playing I’ve been working on the sleeve of Spark.

I have about two inches to go and this sleeve is finished. The pattern is easy to memorize so I can knit and play.