Eccentric Chevron Wrap

Here is my Olympic knitting so far. If I wanted to 'cheat' I could cast off right now and say that I finished during the Olympics. I can't do that though. I still have yarn and I don't waste yarn. I have to accept defeat and say that I didn't finish. It's the first time ever and I'm sad.

This afternoon I had equipment failure. My needle broke where the tip and cord join. I had too many stitches on the needle - I should have been working with a longer cord. It doesn't help that I jam my knitting into the bag and I'm not gentle with it. I got all the stitches picked up and went on a search for a 4mm needle. I found a 150cm cord (what I should have been using from the start) and 4mm tips. I was on my way. For 2 and a half rows before I realized that the stitches felt loose. I didn't start on a 4mm needle. It was a 3.75mm. I had to do another search and found the right tips and I'm back on my way. The shawl is in garter stitch and no one will see the few rows that were on the wrong needle.

We have another new sample in the store.

Pattern: Endless Wrap (you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or in the store)
Yarn: 9 skeins of Woolstok from Blue Sky Fibers

Wrap yourself in yards of cozy Woolstok. Fun to knit, fun to wear, the Endless Wrap is a long swath of lofty, textural knitted fabric. Panels of knit/purl and yarn over patterns make this a good next step project for a beginner knitter.

I took my friend outside three different times to get pictures and every time the shawl looks a bit too orange.

The true colour is 1311 Rusted Roof.

It's almost time for the Closing Ceremonies and I'm heading back to my knitting. I hope to have the shawl finished this week so that I can get back to a few other projects. I have a long list of things to complete before the Knitters' Fair.

Rowan Magazine #60

Lynn finished her Olympic knitting. And she blocked. And she sewed in the ends. She gets a gold.

Pattern: Ishbel (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: one skein of tosh sock

Ishbel is a simple shawl pattern that can be worked in two sizes and two different yarn weights. The smaller, fingering weight version makes a cosy but pretty scarf while the larger, lace weight version can be worn as a scarf or draped elegantly around the shoulders. The solid stockinette centre lends simplicity to the design and adds extra warmth when knitted in thicker yarn. Ishbel is edged with a beautiful vine pattern and finished with elegant scalloped points.

There is a new sweater in the store too.

Pattern: Zenith (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok

This easy and distinctive pullover will become a weekend favorite. Tiered geometric forms course around the shoulders, balancing the loose shape of the lower body and sleeves, and a mock turtleneck adds pleasing proportion above the motif as well as protection from the autumn chill. Our model is wearing Zenith with an oversized fit (with just over ten inches of ease), but you might opt for a standard fit with four or five inches of ease if you prefer.

Knit seamlessly upward from a tubular hem and cuffs, this pullover is plain sailing up to the circular yoke. Purl stitches and cables combine to form a gracefully graduated honeycomb about the shoulders, with yoke decreases integrated into the charted motif. The neck is shaped with short rows for a comfortable fit.

The pattern calls for a tubular cast on and cast off but don't let this hold you back. You can do a regular cast on and cast off.

Rowan Magazine #60 is in the store. 

The patterns are awesome.

Rowans 60th Magazine features Rowan's most exceptional yarns and designers including Lisa Richardson, Martin Storey and Kaffe Fassett. Tempest Collection includes 26 exquisite designs for men and women, taking inspiration from rugged seascapes and embracing cosy, wearable pieces we long for during the winter months. Lisa Richardson has designed the second story; Felted Tweed. Using the eye-catching colour palette of Felted Tweed and Felted Tweed Aran this collection features beautiful colour-work and unique shaping for the 17 designs.

 

The front stairs are almost finished. What a difference. The facing on the steps and the edging of the driveway are a teal colour. When everything is finished we will need to paint our front door to match.

The driveway should be poured on Wednesday.

Now it's back to my Olympic knitting. I don't think my shawl will be finished but I'm going to try my best.

Start planning for fall

I love August in the store. New yarns and books are arriving all month.

Mr. UPS delivered a box yesterday from Rowan that included a new book from Marie Wallin.

Springtime is a collection of 8 beautiful designs by Marie Wallin. The collection features Marie's signature style colourwork pieces along side elegant cabled garments. The collection features Felted Tweed and Kidsilk Haze and would be suitable for the more experienced knitter.

 

We are well stocked in Felted Tweed. It is one of my favourite Rowan yarns with amazing colours.

There will be 5 new shades of Felted Tweed coming for Fall and I think that they are in a shipment arriving later this afternoon.

193 Cumin

194 Delft

195 Boulder

 196 Barn Red

197 Alabaster

Classic Elite's latest Web-Letter has a free pattern for this cabled hat knit in Arietta.

Yak and merino blend for squishable luxury in worsted weight Arietta. Outstanding stitch definition and a palette of soft mid-tones make Arietta a cable knitter’s dream.

We now have the layout for the Knitters' Fair. The Needle Emporium will be in booths 12, 13 and 14.

My shawl is growing. I love the colours. The push is on - I don't know if I will get it finished. I'm trying but there are a lot of stitches and I still have a lot of yarn.

Gradients

 

Chevrione is knit starting from the small end of the triangle to the end, where it is bound off using a picot bind off! It can be worked with lots of beads, a few beads, or no beads at all. Chevrione was specifically designed to use gradients, as the wave pattern shows beautifully with the gradient. This pattern includes both full written and charted instructions, and can easily be modified for size by working extra repeats of Chart B, or omitting repeats of Chart B.

Pattern: Chevrione by Rosemary Hill (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: fingering weight

Have you looked at a gradient kit but weren't sure what to knit? Chevrione is perfect.

A Party of Five mini skein pack from Sweetgeorgia would work

 

If you use a Cheshire Cat mini skein kit then you will get an even bigger shawl.

If you use one of the new gradient kits from Prism you will get a huge shawl.

The new shawl ball from Freia would look awesome too.

If you aren't into a lot of colour then a skein of handpainted yarn would look great too. Romi's patterns are beautiful and very well written. You can't go wrong.

Knitters' Fair

There are only 24 sleeps until the Knitters' Fair. We are busy getting samples knit and orders placed.

The speaker this year will be Anne Hanson

Anne Hanson, owner of Knitspot and Bare Naked Wools, is a popular and respected knitwear designer and yarn producer. She will be speaking about her company, what inspires her to create, and the reason she uses small batch, family-owned mills and farms for her yarn line, Bare Naked Wools. Anne will discuss the interest that hand-spinning peaked in her, and how the many types of natural fibers had personalities of their own. After wishing there was some way to make hand-spun yarn more accessible to knitters, Anne found herself at the right place when working on another project with Mountain Meadow Wool Mill. She began sending unique undyed, natural yarn clubs out to hundreds of eager knitters, and from there came her own yarn company with many lines and featured fibers. Anne will discuss why she chose to use small mills and farms and how her yarn has evolved into a marker for wearable, fun clothing and accessories through her Ensemble project.

The Fair webpage...
Watch for updates on the Knitters' Fair Facebook page...

Cathy's pictures from the cottage have me excited about Camp and sitting by the lake.

Attention Campers. An email has gone out with homework and it has been posted on the Camp Blog. Now there is no excuse for you to come without your homework :)

Someone started puppy school last night. Beth said that as she was walking Lucy in she could hear people whispering 'is that a puppy?'.

Georgian Bay Shawl

Cathy has been busy knitting while at the cottage. She finished her 3 Color Cashmere Shawl (pattern purchased on Ravelry). It looks great - I can't wait to see it.

I've renamed this my Georgian Bay Shawl because the blue is for the water and the greens in the Mrs. Crosby Satchel are for the trees.

The shawl is knit in Mrs. Crosby Satchel. One skein each of Magnolia, French Chambray and Creme Fraiche.

I asked if Sarah was getting the shawl. Here is Cathy's response

Sarah is not, I repeat, not getting the shawl. 😈😊 It will be mine but I will give it to you first for the store. It's an easy pattern, just a lot of knitting as it keeps increasing until at the end there are over 500 stitches to cast off. I like the shape as it can be worn several ways and looks good scrunched around the neck like a scarf. 

It looks like they had fun on their photo shoot.

Alinda

Ambah O'Brien has a new pattern. Alinda (purchased on Ravelry) is knit in laceweight.

Alinda has an automatic 20% discount through to midnight Tuesday, August 16 - no code needed.

Light as a cloud, Alinda is a large, lace weight wrap. Designed to be worn wrapped several times around, with tapered ends to tie or dangle in front. Knit it up in your favourite bright or neutral colour, this easy to wear wrap is sure to be a year-round wardrobe favourite.
Interesting construction gives this shawl a modern edge with a subtle Chevron eyelet patterning tapering to the final point.

Which yarns will work?

• Mrs. Crosby Reticule
• tosh prairie
• Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace
• Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace
• Rowan Lace
• Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
• Freia Ombre Lace

We had a beautiful rainbow last night. I was standing outside in the rain like a crazy person snapping pictures.