Heathcliff Hat

We have a fresh free pattern for you! Sally used the Soft Donegal that we have at the shop. I was impressed at the feel of this yarn in the skein, and I am even more impressed at the knitted fabric.

The Heathcliff Hat is nice and slouchy, with a deep rib to keep it snug, and just a little texture to show off the tweed. One skein of this lovely stuff will make your new favorite hat! Come on in and see it in the shop and choose a color.

This pattern is available for purchase through Ravelry.

Eye Candy Monday

Telegraphy Cowl by the lovely Emily Devlin designed with Shibui Knits Dune, a DK alapca/silk/camel blend. Light and soft and fun to knit. The pattern is available as a Ravelry download, and the yarn and sample are in the shop now!

RCYC KAL and CAL

That's a lot of letters. Allow me to elaborate. The Rose City Yarn Crawl hosts a knit-a-long and a crochet-a-long each year as part of the fibery festivities. To make it even more exciting, they keep the final design a mystery from the knitters and crocheters as they are working. You'll receive clues and pattern information as you go, but the look of the finished piece remains a mystery until the work is done. 

Local designers Larissa Brown, Michelle Kroll, and Kat Strieby were inspired by our lovely state and the theme Oregon Grows Great Things. These local ladies have great taste, and I'm excited to see what you all do with their patterns. Sally has seen the final pieces, but she's not telling us anything.

The only thing we can tell you is that you will need yarn. Both pieces will require two 100g skeins of sock yarn in two different colors. The patterns were designed with hand-dyed yarns in mind, and we think that local is the way to go. We have filled our shelves with Bumblebirch Heartwood to give you plenty of options.

The patterns are available for purchase through Ravelery, and the first clue is available on Wednesday! Get on board and gather your materials. If you finish your cowl or shawl in time for the yarn crawl in early March, we would love to see your creations as you tour the yarn shops of Portland.

Bumblebirch Forage

We do love our local hand-dyed yarns at Close Knit. We have a great relationship with Sarah of Bumblebirch, and it's always a pleasure to see her beautiful work in the shop.

Many of you are huge fans of her Heartwood fingering weight yarn, and I think you are going to love the Forage Worsted as well. Each skein is 220 yards of machine washable merino yarn, perfect for just about anything.

We have carried Forage in the past, but it has been awhile. I used a skein of Dandelion to make myself an Advanced Beanie. The knitting was pretty straightforward, although it is desperately in need of a fuzzy white pom pom. I am ashamed at how long it has taken me to get to that bit.

Forage knits up with such a lovely bounce and squish, and the colors are a very important part of the fun. Her colors really reflect the personality of Portland in a lot of ways. The greens, blues, and greys are so familiar to all of us right now in the middle of winter. Her bright orange, deep yellow, and soft pastels look like Portland springtime to me.

This gorgeous stuff is worth seeing in person. Pop in for some local color. 

Eye Candy Monday

Neutral eye candy today. Play your cards right, and there might be a few free patterns in your immediate future...

Rainbow Rolls

Remember those pretty Noro Rainbow Rolls I showed you on Monday? Let's talk about some ideas for this crazy fun roving yarn.

Sally is working on a piece using a Rainbow Roll and a ball of Kureopatora held together for a cool effect. The colorways of these yarns coordinate, so you can set the colors up to match or just let them mix randomly as you knit. That will give it even more of a handspun look, which I like.

We also have a woven scarf sample in the shop right now. This one uses Kureopatora as the warp and Rainbow Roll as the weft. You can really see how nicely these self-striping yarns play together.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry pattern page.

I am pretty excited about this epic stocking cap, Hook Line & Sinker by GingerSnap Designs. The hat is light and lofty and looooooong. The rolled brim, the colorful yarn, and the twisted I-cord tail give this cap a rustic, fairy tale sort of feel. I know a few little ladies who would love one of these.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry pattern page.

The pattern is a $3.95 download on Ravelry, and we can help you purchase and print it out in the shop of you'd prefer. Stop on by to oggle this cool yarn and we can get you all set up.

Rose City Yarn Crawl - Tote Pre-order

Believe it or not, it's almost time for the Rose City Yarn Crawl again! We are preparing to see you all in early March for very much yarny fun. There will be knit-a-longs, crochet-a-longs, free patterns, yarn specials, and so many prize baskets.

Photo borrowed from the RCYC site.

This time around, Sally was part of the tote bag committee, and I would say they did a great job on this year's design. The best way to get your hands on one of these is to pre-order yours and pick it up at your local yarn shop starting on Thursday, March 3, the first day of the crawl.

If you love it, be sure to pre-order yours before January 26. After that, you'll have to wait until the crawl. There will be a limited number available at shops the weekend of the crawl, but these cool bags are going to go quickly.

Eye Candy Monday

I've been thinking that we all need a little pop of inspiration on our Monday mornings. Let's take a look at some of the bright colors in the shop this week.

We are trying out a small batch of Dream in Color Jilly with Silk in some amazing colorways. Holy psychedelic variegation.

The Bumlebirch Heartwood is back in force. This locally-dyed fingering weight yarn is a shop favorite.

And last, but not not least, the Noro Rainbow Roll. Almost 300 yards of Noro-tastic wool roving for knitting, felting, spinning, you name it.

What plans do you have for these colorful beauties? I have plenty more to say about all of these, so stay tuned for ideas!

Loopy Mango and My Current Blanket Obsession

I am apparently in a knit-all-the-things-that-are-blankets sort of mood. Maybe it's this weird cold weather combined with my drafty old house. Or perhaps it is because my brain is fried from two weeks of "break" (and now two additional snow days), and all I can do today is knit garter stitch back and forth. Who knows.

My Naturalia blanket it coming along quickly. I am loving the sheepiness of this wool and the gorgeous colors. This is some pretty speedy gratification, my friends.

For even faster payoff, the Loopy Mango Big Loop is in the shop in some really amazing shades. 

Every time we get a fresh batch, I have to restrain myself. But I know should save it for you all.

Loopy Mango has several free patterns for this amazing yarn. The classic Nantucket Throw is one of our favorites. It can be made big or super big with one or two balls of Big Loop and US50 needles.

The website has patterns for scarves, hats, vests, and rugs, too. But I need to make that blanket, right?

Happy New Year! Learn New Things!

We hope you are all relaxing and enjoying the sunny days we have been having. I have been enjoying them from my couch while knitting a sweater, because I am freezing. And that's how knitters think right? The best solution to feeling cold is to cast on for a sweater. Makes perfect sense to me.

I'm finally making my Tea With Jam and Bread with Harrisville Highland in some of the best colors: hemlock green and poppy. The third color is still up for negotiation. Hopefully, it will be ready before spring.

If you are as chilly as I am, maybe you want to knit a sweater too? Or maybe a blanket? Well, we have the classes for you.

Adrienne's blanket class is going to be fun. You'll need to sign up soon, though. Classes start Monday night! In this year-long adventure, you will create a square each month, ending 2016 with a cozy blanket to keep you warm. I could really go for one right now, actually.

This is a great project for those of you who might feel a little overwhelmed by knitting a whole blanket on your own. You'll learn new skills for many of the squares, and you'll have a fun group to keep you motivated.

Melissa wants to teach you how to knit your first sweater. Flax is a free pattern from Tin Can Knits, available for download on Ravelry. The pattern is available in a wide range of sizes, from newborn babe to 4XL. We have this sweet little sample in the shop right now to entice you.

Using this fabulous seamless design, Melissa will walk you through all you need to know to create a cozy sweater for yourself or someone you love. This fun class starts Tuesday night, so don't wait to sign up.

Our teachers are top-notch, and they love helping you all learn new skills. Give us a call this weekend (503.288.4568), and make 2016 the year you push your knitting to the next level. All of those gift certificates you received last week will work for classes, too!