Eye Candy

 

This sweet little sweater is gracing our shelves right now. It's knit up using Plymouth DK Merino Superwash, a lovely superwash in some great colors. Stop in and say hi!

Little Girl's Shrug

I intended to make this as a shop sample, but things did not work out that way. My four year old is very persuasive.

I used the Little Girl's Shrug pattern (#288), a top-down raglan design from Knitting Pure and Simple. I often recommend these patterns to knitters looking to start their first sweater. This style is easy to customize and there is no seaming.

The nice part about these little shrugs is that you learn the basics of sweater-making with a minimum of knitting. This particular pattern provides a chart for a lace edging rather than the ribbing, if you are so inclined.

I used Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo, which met with approval from the child. It soft and shiny and apparently the perfect shade of purple. The size 6 only took 2 balls, so the whole project came in at about $25.

It was a quick knit, too, which is good. Apparently I need to make another for the shop.

ETA: I forgot to mention...congratulations to Kathleen who won the swift and ball winder in our May raffle. Thank you for supporting our little shop!

Great New Superwash Wool

We have a brand-spanking new yarn at the shop, Chris from Schaefer Yarns. This pretty handpainted yarn is machine washable, and it comes in a beautiful array of variegated colors. It's a great choice for kid and baby goodies, as well as hats, gloves, and mittens.

The colorways are rich and sophisticated, which I personally love for kids and babies. Each one is named after a "memorable woman," from Rosa Parks to Elizabeth Zimmermann, and a mini-biography of the yarn's namesake is included on each tag. Take a look at the color concepts page on the Schaefer site to see all of the colorways.
Sally is working up this sweet baby vest with just one skein of Chris, and it will be a the shop soon. We have the pattern for this vest as well as the textured hat below.
The newest issue of Knitty includes Quest, a versatile hat pattern using Chris. The designer, Laura Nelkin, adapted this pattern for a man's hat, as well. Take a look at her blog for more information.

Since this yarn is handpainted, it's a good idea to alternate skeins every few rows while you are knitting to avoid pooling and flashing of the colors. If your project only requires one skein, you can knit from either end of your ball instead. Just be sure to have your skein wound into a center-pull ball before you leave the shop.

Thank you, Laura, for the use of the pattern photos!

Knitting for the Big Kids

Last week, Elizabeth shared her perfect little baby vest and wrote about some of our wonderful baby yarn options. There are so many baby patterns, but what to do as the babies grow into big kids? Fortunately, more designers are thinking about those years between cute baby and adult.
Rowan recently published Rowan Kids, with some very stylish patterns for kids from ages six to twelve.
This collection fits nicely between Rowan’s sweet toddler patterns and their sophisticated designs for adults.

Berroco has expanded the sizing in some of their pattern booklets as well. Berroco Family Comfort (#284) features hats, scarves and sweaters ranging from infant sizes to adult XL.
Berroco Comfort is available at the shop in DK, worsted and chunky weight. I have machine washed and dried the Comfort Chunky with great results.

Berroco Comfort Book for Girls (#291) also features Comfort in some adorable designs for girls ages four to ten.
Vintage Arts and Crafts (#290) includes sizes ranging from eight years to women’s XL. The designs are fun and youthful and would fit nicely into any girl's wardrobe.
Berroco Vintage is a worsted wool/acrylic blend, and we carry an array of colors - everything from pale pink to charcoal gray. I had a special request for a hooded sweater, and I’m halfway through Gondry (shown above) using Vintage. The yarn is very nice to work with and it’s machine washable as well. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

So, the next time you're in the shop, take a look at some of our kids' patterns and kid-friendly yarns. There are many options that will keep you knitting while the kids continue to grow.