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!

Last Day to Yarn Crawl

Have you all been keeping up with the Yarn Crawl happenings at Close Knit?  Our Facebook page is covered with the proud (and tired) faces of yarn crawlers who made it to all eighteen Portland-area shops.  Those adventurous folks are entered to win a humongous prize basket filled with lots of yarny goodies.  It's huge.

For those of you who have only made it to a few shops (or maybe just one), you are still entered into the raffle at each shop where you signed in.  There are large and lovely baskets at each shop, as well as very generous yarn kits and gift certificates.

Our sweet and talented friend Sarah of Bumblebirch joined us, and I know you all fell in love with her yarn.  I snagged the lone skein of Forage in Dandelion.  

So pretty.  Sarah will be at the shop for the rest of the crawl, showing off her beautiful yarns.  She has a smattering of the worsted weight Forage, as well as her three fingering weights Grove, Wellspring, and Heartwood.

If you made a purchase at Close Knit, we gave you a Ravelry code for our free pattern, the Cowlberta.  Don't forget to use this by Monday at midnight!  It will expire!  The patterns will be available as part of an ebook, but they are only accessible as freebies until Monday night.

Photo borrowed from RCYC Ravelry page.

It was fun to see all of the color combos that knitters chose for their cowls.  I wore a carbon/soapstone/leapfrog sample around the shop for a bit on Friday, and I was so pleased with the Spud & Chloe Outer.  So soft and still 10% off for the rest of the crawl!  All of the shops are open today from 10-6, so there is plenty of time to come get yours.
 
Thank you so much to everyone who visited our shop, whether you are a long-time Close Knitter or a first-timer.  We are happy to have you and we hope to see you all again soon!  Maybe not all at the same time, though...we need a minute to recuperate and clean up the shop!

Spud & Chloe Sweater

The Spud & Chloe shelf is exploding with color!

We received a big box of Sweater, a nice plump worsted weight yarn in a rainbow of colors.  It's a wool/organic cotton blend, and it's machine washable.  One of our new knitters is using this for the Super Easy Baby Blanket from The Purl Bee...the perfect beginner blanket.  Miles of garter stitch in bright blocks of color, one at a time.  Couldn't be better.

Way back when, the shop had a nice trunk show of S&C designs.  One of my favorites was the Best Friend Sweater, a sweet little button-up for kids from age 1 through 12.  Look at the awesome pockets (any my goofy kid when she was still so small).

Photo borrowed from Spud & Chloe website

The BeTween Cardigan is pretty awesome, too.  We often get knitters looking for sweaters for their older kids...I must remember to show them these designs.  They are timeless and easy, and I think they look great on all ages.

Photo borrowed from Spud & Chloe website

I don't know if we have this one in the shop, but I love the uber-nerdy Charlie Sweater by Ann Weaver.  She is one of my favorite designers, and her nod to Charlie Brown here makes me happy.

Photo borrowed from Spud & Chloe blog

If you're looking for accessory patterns for Sweater, I love the lushly cabled Rambling Scarf (perfect for guys) and the super-simple Twister Cowl.

Photo borrowed from Spud & Chloe blog

How about one more shot of the pretty yarn rainbow?  Okay.

Come take a look at this great stuff while the color selection is at its best!

Some Ideas for You

Sally and I spent a lovely morning unpacking boxes on Friday.

We unpacked loads of yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloe.  I have lots of ideas for these yarns.  Above and below we have a beautiful color range of Sport Weight and Melange from Blue Sky Alpacas.  These are essentially the same yarn, but the Melange has a little more depth of color with a subtle heathered look.

Would someone please make the Short Row Sweater from The Purl Bee?

Photo from The Purl Bee

A free pattern, five or six skeins of Sport Weight or Melange, and some serious short row action, and you will have a beautiful and unusual little layer.  Look at the back.  Wouldn't this be perfect over a long-sleeved tee shirt?  Must make.

Photo from The Purl Bee

We also received more Worsted Hand Dyes.  This yarn is squishy and ohsosoft.  It's a merino/alpaca blend, sure to please even the most sensitive skin.  The structure of the yarn is interesting, too.  It is very round, so cables and textured stitches really pop.  We love it for the Diezel Seedie Ribbie Beanie from Tante Sophie.  Just one skein will make a hat for almost any head size.

Photo from Tante Sophie

Photo from Tante Sophie

One of our knitters (Hi, Mary!) was in on Sunday collecting yarn to make another Diezel Beanie, because her first was, uh, commandeered by her sister.  She chose a skein of the Worsted Hand Dyes and a complementary skein of Brushed Suri to hold together to soften the look of the hat.  I might need to blatantly rip that idea off and make one for myself.

Our Spud & Chloe shelves are full again, too.  They've released some new bright colors of Outer for the spring, including Wave (blue) and Giggle (purple).  Spud & Chloe has great pattern support for their yarns, and the Buga Baby Bunting continues to stand as my favorite Outer pattern.

Photo from Spud & Chloe

There's a great Double Garter Cowl freebie on their blog, too.  Looks pretty easy, and you'll only need two skeins.

Photo from Spud Says!

Finally, the Sweater is back.  This yarn is such a great balance of organic cotton and superwash wool.  I have had the Twister Cowl on my repeat list since I made one two years back in a different yarn.  I need to make one in Sweater next.

Photo from Spud Says!

This stuff is great for sweaters (duh) since it's machine washable.  There are grand plans around here to make Shellseeker from Pipibird.

Photo from Pipibird's Ravelry Shop

I have a deep love of stripes, and this looks like it might be the most comfy sweatshirt-replacing handknit ever.  It has a pocket.  And stripes.  Did you see the stripes?

So many ideas, so little time!  Please help me satisfy my creative needs and knit some of these great patterns in these fabulous yarns.  Thank you.

Spud & Chloe, Blue Sky Alpacas, and Madelinetosh

Sorry for the lack of updates this week.  We have so many new things in the shop, so let's get right to it.

Jenni and I spent a lovely afternoon unpacking boxes from Spud & Chloe.  We have a fresh stock some of their best patterns and of all three of their yarns: Outer, Sweater, and Fine.

 

I snapped these photos of my littlest one several months ago when we had a Spud & Chloe trunk show. 

This is the Best Friend Sweater, and the size range covers little ones through teenagers.  She gives it her approval.  We have this pattern back in stock, and the Buga Baby Bunting, too.

The Blue Sky Alpaca Shelf is also full of fresh Suri Merino, Bulky, and Worsted Hand Dyes.

Look at the pearly goodness of the Suri Merino...perfect for Nancy's stylish Sally Hat and Gloves.

The gorgeous Bulky is always popular for those quick last-minute projects.

The new colors of the Worsted Hand Dyes are beautiful.  Sally always chooses the best ones.  One skein of this yarn will make you a Deizel Seedie Ribbie Beanie, one of the most popular hats at the shop.

Speaking of the best colors, Madelinetosh has arrived!  Check out the new range of Tosh Merino DK, the prettiest single-ply you could ask for.  Holy color.

We are trying out the Tosh Sport.  Look at those amazing colors and that satisfying 2-ply texture.  This is my kind of yarn.

We are waiting patiently for Tosh Merino Light, one of your favorites.  I'll let you know when it arrives.

There is more new stuff, so stay tuned and I'll show you more next week.  Have a great weekend, friends!

Blue Sky and Spud & Chloe

The shelves are once again full of yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloe.
Jenni made the Bulky Baby Blanket, a free pattern from The Purl Bee, using four skeins of Spud & Chloe Outer and two skeins of Sweater. It's basically a garter stitch square with a picked up edging, and they give instructions for a seed stitch version as well. I watched her crank through one skein of the Outer in about an hour on US15 needles. As an added bonus, it's all machine-washable.

Also from The Purl Bee, the AMAZING Big Herringbone Cowl. Talk about drama. It takes five skeins of the Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes, and the texture of the stitch really accentuates the soft squishiness of the yarn.

Photo from The Purl Bee, used with permission.

Nancy has sent us a fresh batch of patterns for her Sally Glove and Sally Hat, knit with Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino. These designs are stylish and modern, deceptively simple to make, and great for beginning knitters.

I've been eyeing the Brushed Suri, too. We have the free pattern for these little mitts from Blue Sky available for free at the shop.

Knitty recently featured the Brushed Suri with the creamy cabled wrap pictured below, Gweneria. (This yarn would also be perfect for the Rebecca wrap sweater I showed you earlier this month.)

Photo from Knitty, used with permission.

Blue Sky Alpacas has revamped their website, and it looks so nice. You can search for patterns by your favorite yarn, your experience level, or type of project. In the news section, you can check out patterns from magazines, books, and blogs that use Blue Sky Alpacas yarn. As always, Spud says! (the Spud & Chloe blog), curated by the fabulous Susan B. Anderson, features lots of free patterns and tutorials.

We love the luxurious yarns from Blue Sky and the "yarns for real life" from Spud & Chloe. Come check out the good stuff.