When we received the Kureopatora in January, we all kind of fell in love with it. So soft for Noro, and the colors and yardage are quite impressive. I keep thinking I need a striped scarf, but Sally went all cowl with this one.
She was inspired by Adrienne's Noromania Blanket that sososo many of y'all are working on. She finished her blanket awhile back, and was clearly missing the gartery goodness. Her new Color Therapy Cowl solved that problem! She used colors 1001 and 1011 to make this cozy colorful cowl. Look how pretty. Come choose your two favorites and cast on!
Color Therapy Cowl
by Sally Palin
Yarn: Noro Kureopatora, 2 balls in contrasting/complementary colors Needles: US7 24" circular Finished Size: Cowl-sized, large enough for double-looping
Cast on 250 stitches. Join in the round. Knit one row. Purl one row. Change colors. Knit one row. Purl one row. Go back to first color and repeat. Loop the color not in use up the back of work. Repeat the rows until you near the end of both balls of yarn. Make sure to have enough yarn to finish the two row sequence and bind off loosely!
Sally's gorgeous and ample Kumori Cowl is knit up using two skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Extra. Oh man, this yarn is luxurious. Our sample hat has become one of my new favorites. The shadow knitting technique produces a really cool effect, which can be played up with highly-contrasting colors, or made more subtle with similar shades. This large cowl is like a warm, cozy alpaca hug.
New this year, we also have a crochet pattern! Ann created the Sori Bashi Scarf using two balls of Noro Taiyo Sport, an unusual wool/cotton blend. This stuff is lovely, too. The cotton really adds a lovely texture and softness, and the Noro colors are impossible to beat.
We have so many nice colorways of this yarn to chose from, your scarf will be a stunner for sure. Ann designed the scarf to echo the arched bridges in Portland's Japanese Gardens. This is enough to make me want to learn to crochet!
These will be available in the shop during the crawl as free patterns with the purchase of the lovely, lovely yarn for each project, which will each be 10% off during the crawl, by the way!
P.S. Last year's eBook is available as a free download until February 28.
So, the Rose City Yarn Crawl is coming up in a few short weeks. As usual, there is so much going on that I can barely keep up! Let's start with the making of things, shall we? There will be both a Mystery Knit Along and a Mystery Crochet Along this year for your stitching pleasure. The knitting pattern requires 400 yards each of two coordinating colors of fingering weight yarn. There are two versions of the crochet pattern, version one requiring 445 yards of a main color and 285 yards of a contrasting color, and version two requiring 405 yards of two coordinating colors. The crochet pattern is written for fingering weight yarn as well.
We have stocked up on a lovely array of yarns for you, and we have already seen several of your projects underway. Let me show you what we have!
The Baah La Jolla sock yarn is so lovely, isn't it? This yarn is a stunner. The colors are rich and deep, and it is so soft and drapey. You could use it for socks, I suppose, but it would be great for the yarn crawl KAL and CAL.
We also received a box full of goodies from Misti last week, including this gorgeous Tonos Carnaval, an alpaca merino blend that would also be amazing for the KAL and CAL shawls.
We are eagerly waiting for Sara of Bumblebirch Yarns to bring us some more of her lovely Heartwood sock yarn. She will be joining us on Friday and Saturday of the yarn crawl with a wide range of yarns and some amazing samples. Can't wait to see all of that amazing yarn in our shop!
Are you knitting a Noro blanket like everyone else in Portland? If so, now is the time to come get your next two (or four or six or eight) balls of Kureyon. We have a nice backstock of all these pretty colors. And if you haven't started yet, now is the time! You'll be addicted.
We just received a fresh batch of needles in the shop. If there is something specific you need, now is the time to grab it. I don't understand how we go through needles so quickly!
In addition to our lovely Knitter's Pride Dreamz and a smattering of Novas, we are now stocking the Knitter's Pride Marblz in US6, 7, and 8 double points and 16" and 24" circulars. These fun plastic needles have just the right amount of grabbiness to keep your knitting moving smoothly, and the points are nice and sharp.
Plus, they are so much fun! Look at those colors and patterns. Have you tried the Marblz yet? Let us know what you think!
Ann whipped up an Insira Cowl, and I am in love! I had a hard time leaving this one at the shop on Monday after work. It was the perfect pop of color! This cowl is incredibly well-loved on Ravelry. The free patterns has so many variations, you can create several and they might all be completely unique.
For this lovely version, Ann used two shades of Louisa Harding Amitola, two balls of #103 and one of #107. This yarn is buttery soft, and the colors are so beautiful! She made the Steampunk version, following the MissNelly modifications.
She increased to 258 stitches, and she knit the first and last stitches of each section (to avoid the line). Ann also bound off in I-cord and then applied I-cord to the cast on edge for a nice, clean finish.
There are so many fabulous versions of this cowl on Ravelry. Come on in and choose your favorite shades of Amitola. It seems like they pretty much all go together!
