Kate's Coming

Kate Atherley will be teaching in the store tomorrow. In the morning she is teaching the Baby Surprise jacket. In the afternoon she is going to show how to knit two socks at once-one inside the other. I think I know what she is going to do. Tomorrow afternoon I will know how smart I am. :)

Ms. Canada Post just brought in a box from Prism. In the box was a new pattern called the Maidenhair Wrap designed by Christine Nissley. It takes one skein of Delicato.

This lovely lace yarn is a terrific substitute for more costly silk. Lustrous, smooth and silky, the hand is superior with beautiful stitch definition and blocking retention. Tencel® is ten times more absorbent than cotton, stretches less than rayon, and is environmentally friendly (made from sustainable trees and in a closed-loop system that re-uses all chemicals).

Laura Bryant (the owner and creative force behind Prism) comments about the pattern.

Chrissie delivers another great beginner's piece, with a nice introduction to nupps. Smooth, silky Delicato is perfect for a light-weight wrap that floats on a breeze. There is enough yardage to make the wrap several repeats longer. Shown here in Sagebrush.

My friend and I went outside to get some pictures of the great vest that Laura sent us for the Frolic. It is knit in Stuff and two Prism ribbons.

Me, the queen of shawl pins, forgot to take one with me to close the vest.

You can wear the vest in many different ways. I really wish that Sarah had been here today so I could have put the vest on her.

We also received a box of patterns from Anne Hanson (Knitspot).

This is Honey Baby.

Baby’s first shawl—a soft, magical square, worked in the round from the center out in lace patterns suggesting a field a-buzz with bees and grasses. Worked in washable fingering wool, this piece is as sturdy as it is pretty and practical to use at home or when traveling.
Substituting yarn and/or needles will result in an overall variation in size. 

Diana has the pattern and yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock) to make us a sample for the store. The pattern calls for any soft fingering weight yarn.

The blanket is absolutely beautiful. What a great gift for a baby shower.

I don't have any knitting to report. The hockey was very exciting last night and I dropped the needles to watch. Three overtime games in one evening is great but two at the same time makes viewing hard.

OH NO!!

Sarah and Cathy met me at the store before class last night so that we could go for dinner. This is the Austin Hoodie that Lynda knit. I showed a picture of the cardigan on a mannequin a few weeks ago but it is so much better on a human. Thank you Sarah for modelling.

We have the pattern in the store or you can buy it on Ravelry.

The original pattern was knit in tosh merino light (we have lots in stock and more on the way). We knit our sample in Solemate from Lorna's Laces.

Solemate - the same yarn I talked about in yesterday's post. If you visit the store make sure you feel the cardigan. The yarn is super soft. Socks in it would be amazing!

Canada Post still has my last box from Lorna's and that box has all the Solemate. Hurry!!

I hope Blogger figures out what their problem is. Not being able to Preview my post is starting to bother me. For some reason I can keep reading this and I won't find mistakes. If I read it in Preview I normally find the typos. Maybe I should highlight normally. :)

Unfortunately we didn't go for dinner to an establishment that serves alcohol. When we moved downstairs for class Sarah asked me to try and teach her to crochet again. OH NO!! The last time we tried this it didn't go well. The ladies in class were worried that things could go bad.

Between the two of us we got this far on a granny square.

Sarah did very well. There was no yelling or crying. I think she will be able to go home and start making squares. She flies back to England on Tuesday so I hope she remembers what she is doing.

A confirmation came through today that there are 6 boxes of yarn on the way from Madelinetosh. I hope that US Post and Canada Post get them here quickly. Last year the shipment didn't make it in time for the Frolic. I hope it doesn't happen again.

Prairie
This is a new yarn for us.

Prairie is a 100% superwash merino wool, single-ply, lace weight yarn. With a generous 840 yards per skein, one skein is more than enough yardage to complete a full sized lace project. Each incredibly soft skein is hand-dyed in small dye lots and machine washable.

• cove
• opaline
• tart
• wicked
• grenadine
• worn denim

Merino Light

• lolita
• opaline
• wicked
• firewood
• grenadine
• heuchera
• lowland
• manor

Merino

• wicked
• grenadine
• heuchera
• lowland
• worn denim

Merino DK

• opaline
• onyx
• warm denim
• manor

Lace

• manor

Almost all the kits for the Frolic are done. I thought I was done and then I remembered the box from Lorna's Laces. Now there is the problem of the two samples that aren't finished. Hockey is on so I'm moving upstairs to work on Tiny Tea Leaves. The body is finished and I have knit about 2" on the first sleeve.

Soakboxes

Mr. Canada Post and Mr. Canpar both visited today with boxes.

The second of three boxes came from Lorna's Laces. This one had the new Soakboxes.

These fabulous kits include Soak Wash's Heel foot cream for feet worthy of hand-knit socks and Lorna's Laces newest sock yarn, Solemate. Solemate is made with Outlast®.That means it has climate control technology so your feet are "Not too hot. Not too cold." Pure genius, all in pretty packaging. There's even a mini Soak included!

I hope the formatting works on this post. Normally I Preview my posts to make sure everything is lined up and looks good but for some reason Blogger won't Preview today.

Four new colours of Silk Garden arrived.

353 

355

357

359

There are baskets of kits everywhere in the store. I think we are almost ready for the Frolic. Now I need to get my knitting finished. There wasn't any last night. The model homes in the complex where my parents are moving opened last night. We (along with everyone in Ancaster) went to see them. We are really happy with the choices we made for things like the hardwood, tile, kitchen backsplash..... By the time we got home it was 9pm. Time to watch a bit of the Blue Jay game and then Fashion Star and Chopped. Both shows require paying attention so there was no knitting. Class tonight so I will get a few rows done.

From Amy Butler's website 

Welcome, welcome!
To celebrate the launch of my Gypsy Caravan collection I am running a contest so you can show me YOUR stash! The rules are simple, just upload one picture of you and your fabric stash to my new Flickr group HERE by May 15th. I will be randomly picking three winners from the photo pool for an exciting prize of Gypsy Caravan fabric, books and patterns. Keep an eye on my facebook page to see some "celebrity" stash photos! Please email contest@amybutlerdesign.com if you have any questions.

Grab your quilt fabric and get in on the fun. My pile will be quite large. I have way more fabric at home than yarn.

It's another busy TV night. Will the women work together to pick off the men on Survivor? I can't say that I was sad with the results from last week's Idol. Who will do well tonight? Still no new Revenge-maybe next week??

Classic Elite Liberty

I've been busy all morning making kits for the Frolic. I would still be making kits but my dad just brought me lunch. My car went into the dealership this morning because the tire pressure light is on again. My patience is starting to run thin with those tires.

Mr. Canpar brought in a box with two new colours of Classic Elite Liberty.

7867 Glacier

7866 Red Hot Blues

There are two new patterns as well. 

Double Breasted Baby Cardigan

A simple, double-breasted cardigan with seed stitch edges worked flat in pieces and seamed. Collar and button band are added last.

There are three sizes available 6-12 months, 18 months and 24 months. I'm going to mail the yarn off to Ann so that she can knit a sample for the store.

Easy Striped Tam

A easy-to-knit tam worked from the bottom up in two printed colors of Liberty Wool. Every hat will be unique depending on where in the stripe sequence you begin each yarn. Choose two colorways with no common colors for the clearest stripes.

One ball of each of the two new colours. When you look at them you wouldn't think they go together but the tam is beautiful.

I totally forgot about one of the purchases that I made yesterday. Not very exciting but I really like it. In our kitchen we have had an ugly beige garbage pail since we moved in almost five years ago-one of the small plastic ones. I bought us a new shiny one that has space for recycling and trash. Sometimes the small things in life make me happy.

My knitting is progressing very slowly. The cast off on the body of Tiny Tea Leaves has started. It's at home today and I have the Trendsetter vest with me. I'm hoping to get enough knit this afternoon to get a good picture.

I wanted a picture of the whole back so I pinned it on the mannequin that sits in the front window.

I also finished the first square on the front. Five square to go. Then the front band and side gussets.

Ms. Canada Post came in with some boxes. Two from Prism with more Saki and Stuff. The first of two boxes from Lorna's Laces arrived. We have been waiting for these to make more kits. I had better hit Publish and get back to work.

Dreaded A Word

We had a great dinner at Aunt Rene's last night. Lots of turkey and all the fixings!! Thankfully Aunt Rene lets us eat dinner in front of the TV-we didn't want to miss the finish of the Masters. Bubba was a popular win with the crowd.

The body is almost done on Tiny Tea Leaves. I had to put the knitting away during the Amazing Race-they are in Africa and I had to pay attention. All those animals. What a dream to see it in person. It was good to see Lou get fired on Celebrity Apprentice. He liked to complain and if I heard that he gave 110% one more time I think I was going to scream.

I brought out the laptop this morning that has my accounting on it. Normally I work on a Mac but the accounting program that I have used for many years only works with Windows. I know that I can put Windows on my Mac but that caused major problems once before and I lost all my accounting. I was going to spend the day working on accounting (the dreaded A word) so that I can finish my tax return. Beth ran out of paper at work on Saturday and forgot to take some with her this morning. I got up and rushed a pack out to her. Then the shopping started. Bouclair Home was the first stop. I bought some book ends for the upstairs bookshelves. There were stops at Limeridge, a few stops in Oakville and then Burlington before getting home. I was starting to look for things for my parents house. I'm doing the scouting and then taking them back if I see something I think they will like.

The knitting content today is lacking so I borrowed some pictures from my supplier (Deep South Fibers) for a few of the patterns that we received last week.

Concetta Cardigan

from The Brown Stitch-knitting patterns by Elizabeth Smith

Concetta has top-down raglan construction and is worked in one piece. Sleeves are split at the underarms and the body is worked in one piece to the hem. Sleeve sts are then transferred to smaller circular needles and worked in the round to the cuff (with slight bell-shaping). Stitches are picked up and worked in 2×2 Rib to create the neck ribbing and button bands.

The cardigan is knit in worsted/aran weight yarn-tosh vintage, Cascade 220, Berroco Blackstone Tweed, Naturally Aran Tweed...

Abbi Shawl Collar Cardigan
Another great design from The Brown Stitch

An easy and fast knit sized from XS-2X, this cardigan has raglan construction, worked from the top down, and completely seamless.Stitches are picked up to create the front bands and short rows are worked to create shawl collar. Pattern instructions are to make cap sleeves, but you can easily make the sleeves longer if you prefer. Worked up at 2.5 stitches per inch, you can start and finish this project in a week or less.

This is knit in a bulkier yarn-Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Chunky, Filatura di Crosa Charly, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky...

It's time to put my feet up and get to work on Tiny Tea Leaves. I need it done right away so I can back to the Trendsetter Vest. The Frolic will be here very soon and I have to have it done.

Happy Easter

I hope you are enjoying a day with family and/or friends. Beth and I are in the middle of making desert for dinner (we are heading to Aunt Rene's in a bit) when we ran out of milk. Beth has run to the store. One of the benefits of living above the yarn store was having a variety store right beside us. Cookies are out of the oven and now we are onto no bake cheesecake. Not quite Cheesecake Factory but still good.

I took this picture at work yesterday afternoon. Tiny Tea Leaves with the stitches for the sleeves on holders.

When I got home from work last night I played on the computer while watching the golf. Then a bit of knitting. I was too tired to quilt and later in the evening had to put the knitting away-I could barely see the stitches. Pictures tomorrow-maybe the body will be done.

Lots of pictures

I was at work early this morning. The satellite dish in the store keeps cutting out. It is annoying when someone is about to hit a golf ball and I miss the shot. I called them on Thursday and someone is coming today between 8 and 5. I didn't want them calling to say they would be here at 8:30 and I was still in bed.

It gave me time to get some pictures outside.

The Kaw Valley Wrap is beautiful. Diana did an amazing job.

The ladies at Mountain Colors have come up with a new kit colour for the Knit Swirl cover jacket. This colour way is called Clematis. You can't go wrong with a purple jacket!!

Now I need to get a sample knit up for the store.

Dad was at the store when I got here this morning picking up all the boxes in the back yard. They accumulated while he was away. He also changed the flags out front. Very spring like. Mom and dad have a great time visiting the flag store in Myrtle Beach.

I worked on my Kaffe quilt last night. I was happily sewing away when I got lazy and didn't pull a pin out. Big problems. My needle hit the pin breaking my needle. I hope mom has some extra sewing machine needles. Just talked to mom and she does have extra needles. Thank goodness-there is going to be time tonight to quilt.

When I couldn't sew anymore I decided to start cutting the border pieced to my Amy Butler quilt.  The quilt is going to be bright!

I would love to have a cork wall in my sewing room to pin my pieces on but until that happens I borrowed mom's quilting screen. It is a frame with white fabric that I can pin my pieces on.

I'm set up for a day of sports. Curling is on right now. Golf starts at 11:45 on my iPad and then later on TV. There will be baseball this afternoon as well. Knitting time for me. :)

Kaw Valley Wrap

Late yesterday afternoon Diana brought in the Kaw Valley Wrap.

I was rushing to get the picture before going to see my chiropractor. I will get another one tomorrow but it is so beautiful that I wanted to share right away. The colour is a light blue/green. Diana said that the yarn was great to knit with and blocked out beautifully. Her other comment was 'it is huge'. In my world a shawl can't be too big.

Pattern: Kaw Valley Wrap from Blue Sky Alpacas
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca/Silk

After church I went downstairs to play in the sewing room. I took out my Amy Butler quilt and started cutting down the squares I had sewn. They need to be 14.5" square. About half way through I became bored and went back to my Kaffe quilt. This afternoon was spent on the couch working on Tiny Tea Leaves and watching golf. I'm at the part where I put stitches on a holder for the sleeves. The golf is almost done and I'm going back downstairs. It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that it is Friday. I keep thinking that we will be watching The Amazing Race tonight.

Frill Seeker

Mr. Canpar just delivered a box of Frill Seeker. We now have

Holiday

I'm ready for the day. Mail is done and ready to go. Once my post is finished the computer is going away and the knitting is coming out.

I have my iPad with me and the TSN Masters App is downloaded. There isn't TV coverage of the Masters until 3pm (you wouldn't want to show everything) so I am watching online until then. I could watch on my computer but this way I can watch and work at the same time.

Tiny Tea Leaves-the yoke is almost done. The pattern is super easy. We were talking about Tea Leaves in class last night. Sarah and Lynn both knit the adult version. Once the yoke is done the body can be considered boring knitting. You can also think of it as great car knitting. Lynn travels many weekends to the cottage and she got the cardigan knit while driving - okay she was sitting in the passenger seat :)

Sarah brought me her Gnarled Oak. I was afraid to take it just in case something happens but she is okay with it hanging in the store. We are taking it to the Frolic and Lynn will be in charge of it there. It will also be Lynn's job to get it back to Cathy who will be traveling to England in May to see Sarah.

There is a pile of patterns to be priced but I'm calling holiday and setting them aside until next week. I will post them as I price them.

Enjoy your Good Friday tomorrow. I will try to post but there is church, knitting and quilting on the agenda.

Scalene

I mentioned a box of patterns yesterday. We now have print copies of Scalene by Carina Spencer. There is a sample in the store knit using Freia's lace weight yarn.

Scalene is an asymmetrically shaped, triangular scarf that features both horizontal and vertical keyholes for several styles of wear. This gender neutral design looks great on women and men of any age.

This 5 page pattern is written in one size with directions given for three gauges to accommodate lace - worsted weight yarns. Directions are given for knitting this scarf with or without striping throughout. Knitting is simple enough for an adventurous beginner, but interesting enough for knitters at any skill level.

If you live out of town you can buy the pattern on Ravelry...

I knit the scarf in Liberty wool from Classic Elite but currently can't find it. Hoping my ghost will return it soon.

I also did some moving around yesterday. It's time for garments to be rearranged.

The mannequin clothes have been washed but I left the shirts in the dryer over night. Now they are so wrinkled that I need to spritz them and run through the dryer again. I could iron them but realistically that isn't going to happen.

The next few days I am going to have sports on in the store. The Blue Jays season opener is tomorrow afternoon and this weekend is the Masters. I gave myself permission to start Tiny Tea Leaves so that I have easy knitting while watching.

I'm using a new colour called Volga. Why blue for a girls cardigan? It isn't a colour I normally have samples knit in so it will look good hanging in the store. I could go purple but that is so predictable. There is pink but still predictable. I like this one and it is going to look great when finished. Also, little girls can wear blue-just ask my sister. She wouldn't wear any colour but blue when she was young.

The ladies are going to arrive soon for class. Sarah is home and should be here-it will depend on how tired she is. Survivor and Idol tonight. With all the TV watching in my near future I could have Tea Leaves finished by the time I come back to work on Tuesday.