Blue Sky News

Blue Sky Alpacas is making a change. They are joining forces with Spud & Chloe and changing their name to Blue Sky Fibers! They have a little blurb on their blog about the change. They are still offering all of their lovely stuff, though, with a new yarn on the way.

Woolstok Worsted is their newest offering, a pure wool with plenty of options. The label tells me it knits up at about 5 to 6 stitches per inch, and Ravelry is calling it a DK at this point. The yarn has a nice halo, though, so it seems like it would look nice worked up more loosely as well. It remains to be seen what all can be done with this pretty new yarn. 

To my eye, it is a little more rustic than Cascade 220 or Ultra Alpaca. The plies are a bit looser, and the finished knit looks a bit more crunchy and handmade. In a good way. It reminds me a bit of Quince and Co. Owl, actually, a worsted wool/alpaca blend. Woolstok is pure wool, but it has a similar look.

Sally is making a sweet and simple hat (surprised?) with our unofficial shop yellow. So far, so good. I'll let you know when the yarn and the hat sample hit the shelves!

Eye Candy Monday

The Blue Sky Alpacas trunk show is still with us! Come and see these sweet little faces in person.

The tiny human clothes are killing me. That little dress/romper is adorable. The pants have butt gussets to accommodate a diaper booty. It's all so cute!

The Cuteness

This cuteness has arrived at the shop. One sweet little kit holds almost everything you will need to make an adorable hippo named Hector...

a monkey called Marcel...

an elephant they call Emile...

or a rhino known as Rene.

Each box contains one ball of Royal Petites from Blue Sky Alpacas, the perfect amount of gold for the crown, and all the bits and bobs you will need to create a little stuffed friend. All you need to supply is a set of US2 needles and a little time and love.

What a fun gift for one of your favorite knitters. Or send a loved one in with instructions, and we will send them home with the prefect gift for you! Imagine finding one of these in your stocking this year. So cute.

The kits are only available in brick and mortar yarn shops, so please stop by and have a look. If you are out of town and must have one of these critters, please give us a ring. We are happy to ship to you!

All finished critter photos borrowed from Blue Sky Alpacas website.

Extra Slouch

I told you about Sally's blue hat back in December. Well the Extra Slouch is all done and in the shop! And they aren't kidding about the slouch. Or the extra. This is a loosey goosey cozy hat, my friends. Perfect for hiding in, if that's your sort of thing. 

It's my kind of thing, so now I want to make one. And the Blue Sky Alpacas Extra is soft and squishy like none other. I love this Atlantic Blue, but all of the colors are really quite lovely.

We also have a few Lilly Brushes left. This was our stock on Monday, but they have been selling like hotcakes!

Extra! Extra!

Please help me welcome Extra to the Blue Sky Alpacas shelf at Close Knit! We had a few shades earlier this fall, but they flew under the radar. Not anymore. Look at those colors!

Extra is a nice thick worsted/aran weight merino and alpaca blend. The label suggests 4-5 stitches/inch on a US7-9, but is seems thicker than that to me for some reason. Maybe it's the super-cushiness of the knitted fabric.

There are several lovely patterns in the shop featuring Extra: Cane Bay Wrap, Tatra's Fingerless Mitts, Tokyo Tower Bandana, Fractal Cowl, and Sweet Sixteen Hat. The Cane Bay Wrap calls for two skeins, but the others are just one skein projects.

 

Sally and I responded quickly to the North Atlantic shade and the Extra Slouch Hat. We are on a mission to see if we can get two hats out of one skein. I'll keep you posted!

Petite Trunk Show

We spoke last month about the Royal Petite phenomenon.  The trunk show has arrived from Blue Sky Alpacas, and I am quite certain the craze will continue once you all see these finished items.

We have here the Catherine Cowl, the Mitini Mitts, the Buckingham Hat, the Tiny Empress Set, and the Westminster Hat.  The Royal yarn is incredibly soft, and these designs really demonstrate how some relatively simple stitches can have high impact when worked in such a luxurious yarn.

The Westminster and Buckingham Hats get the approval of a choosy (and very itch-sensitive) 5 year old.

The yarn is amazing, the designs are classic, and I stand by my assertion that even the most particular recipient will approve of any one of these pieces.  We have a great range of colors and patterns in stock now, but they do go quickly.  If you have been dreaming about any of these, I would pop in this weekend and choose your favorite.

Royal Petites

Our knitters have been going crazy over the new Royal Petites from Blue Sky Alpacas.  So much so that we've had a difficult time keeping the yarns and patterns in stock!

Royal is pure royal alpaca, the finest grade of alpaca yarn available, and it is a true luxury.  The color range has a bit of an old-fashioned feel, too, perfect for the newest line of patterns.  Most of these sweet little designs use just two balls of Royal Petites.

We have the Windsor Mitts, the Tiny Empress Set (which includes little tiny mitts, too), the Westminster Hat, the Buckingham Hat, the Catherine Cowl, and the Mitini Mitts.  So many of you have fallen in love with our lovely sample of the Windsor Mitts that Ann so graciously knitted up for us.  I am quite smitten with the Westminster Hat, myself.

Take a look at the pattern links for photographs of the designs.  A little set of yarn and a pattern would make a great gift for your favorite knitter, and the finished items should please any recipient.  Come see these pretty petites while they last!

Also, our favorite neighbors are celebrating seven years of amazing business.  Enjoy the deals at Bolt for the rest of the weekend while you're on our little corner!

Also, we're skipping Open Knit Night this week since it's Halloween.  Enjoy the sugar rush!

Blue Sky Alpacas Does It Again

We have new goodies from Blue Sky Alpacas.

This is Metalico, a stunning shimmery alpaca and silk blend.  The contrast of the au natural color palette and the metallic appearance is really something to see.  We have a few new patterns for this yarn, too, including the Etched Rio Wrap and the Girl in the World Sweater.

We also have these sweet little balls of Royal Petites.  Royal is not a new yarn, but they have packaged it up in small 100 yard balls perfect for little projects.  

The little pattern booklets for this yarn are so sweet, too, and they each require just two balls of the Royal Petites.  We have the Countess Mitts, the Windsor Mitts, the Tiny Empress Set, and the Westminster Hat, my personal favorite.

Blue Sky Alpacas always does an amazing job with fiber, color, and design, and these latest offerings are no exception!  

Also, thanks to Lisa for the photos of all these pretty things!

Blue Sky Worsted Cotton

We have a fresh supply of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton in the best colors.

I recently used this yarn for the Chevron Baby Blanket, and the final product is squishy and spectacular.  (I skipped the bright white in the center and went with six stripes rather than seven.)

photo by Emily (aka Mama-to-be)

The blanket is knit on US11s with the yarn held doubled, so it knits up quickly.  Come put together your favorite color combo!

A Few New Samples

We are constantly cranking out the new samples for you, and I wanted to show you a few that my army of sample knitters have produced recently.

The Dream Stripes Shawl in Classic Elite Soft Linen is truly dreamy.  I am a sucker for stripes, as you know, and the little bit of lace at the edge adds such a nice delicate touch to this piece.  Plus, you only have to knit about 20 rows of lace* to get the effect rather than doing the whole thing in lace.

Classic Elite Soft Linen is a great summer yarn, especially for our climate where we still have those chilly evenings.  We haven't had a sample of this yarn in the shop for awhile, and I hope you all are as smitten with this as I am.  We used three balls of the teal and two of the gray to make the sample, but you could easily make it with four balls if you chose to go for a solid instead.

We also have a sample of Quest, a free pattern from Knitty from a few issues back.  The pattern was designed using Schaefer Yarns Chris, a machine washable merino, so that's what we used.  The hat has a little short row brim, which really sold me on this design.

There is a version with the honeycomb texture and one with plain stockinette if you don't care for the texture.  Personally, I find the texture and variegation a bit much, but I think the honeycomb version would be fabulous in a solid or semisolid like Dream in Color Classy, which we recently restocked, or Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes.

We have new samples almost every week to inspire and entice you.  Stop by on one of these rainy spring days and try on a few things.

Also, no Open Knit Night on Wednesday, March 28.  See you late night knitters again in April!

*If you make this, please pay careful attention to the lace chart, as the lace repeat section is a little misleading.  For most rows, the first stitch in the repeat is a double decrease, although it looks like there is a knit stitch right before it.  That particular cell on the lace chart is large, so it looks like two stitches.  Be careful!

Rose City Yarn Crawl Starts Thursday!

The Rose City Yarn Crawl starts Thursday!  Nineteen Portland-area shops are participating this year, and there are goodies available all over town.  There is a lot going on, so let me break it down for you.

First of all, there will be giveaways.  We have four gorgeous sweater kits to raffle off, two from Cascade Yarns and two from Blue Sky Alpacas.  These beloved yarn companies have been very generous to us this year.

We will also have fabulous door prizes for the first five purchasers each day.  We've packaged up some nice little bundles for you, and each one includes a delicious chocolate truffle from our friends at Missionary Chocolates.

Each shop will have an enormous basket to raffle off.  I was poking around a bit, and there are so many great things from the amazing and generous sponsors.

If you make it to all 19 shops, you are eligible to win the raffle for the grand prize basket, which is even bigger than the individual shop baskets.  You'll need to print out a passport to make this happen.

Second, there will be free patterns.  Each and every shop has developed a one-skein pattern featuring a favorite yarn.  Sally designed the Him or Her Cowls using Cascade Eco Cloud.

Finally, we have some really amazing trunk shows and exclusive patterns for you to enjoy.  Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloe have sent us all of their good stuff.

Apparently we are getting some samples to show off our Scrumptious Yarns, too, but I haven't seen those yet.

Last, but not least, Laura Irwin is releasing three new patterns.  We will have samples and patterns of her three newest designs available for you.  This is the Pivot Ruffle Cloche in Rowan Kid Classic, the Snail Twist Cowl in Cascade Magnum, and the Snail Twist Headband in Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande.

That snail twist trick looks really interesting.  I'm eager to get my hands on those patterns.  We'll have a sample of the Layered Cloche from Weekend Hats, too.

The crawling starts on Thursday, March 1st and continues through Sunday, March 4, and all of the shops will be open from 10AM until 6PM each day of the crawl.

There is a map to help you plan your day, and each shop has listed some of their favorite neighborhood places to grab a snack, a drink, or some non-yarn retail therapy.  If you'd like to connect with other participants, take a look at the carpooling set up on the crawl site.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend!