Concept Cotton Merino

We restocked the Concept Cotton Merino, and it's so cool. The yarn knits up into an unusual fabric with a painterly variegated sort of look. The silvery black was my favorite, but hello lemony chartreuse! And also denim blue. And creamy camel.

I ran across this cute Lighthouse Hat that uses Concept Cotton Merino and a silk mohair together to make a light and fluffy cap. 

Pic borrowed from Rav pattern page.

We have a batch of Lang Lace in some beautiful solids that would play nicely with these shades. It's time for hats! It's chilly out!

Daydreamer Ideas

Have you all seen the newest from super-designer Andrea Mowry? Oh my goodness, the Daydreamer is knit up with a strand of Farmer's Daughter Soka'pii and one strand of Mighty Mo. 

The Daydreamer (pic borrowed from Rav pattern page)

The Soka'pii is a fingering weight Rambouilett from Wyoming and Montana, and its slightly nubbly and rustic texture is so so cool. Mighty Mo is a gorgeous mohair and silk blend that really adds halo and highlights to the finished knit. 

I'm always impressed at how substantial and heavenly a fingering weight and a lace mohair yarn knit up. They make a fabric that is lofty but warm and snuggly all at the same time. Plus, these color combos can't be beat.

I mean...

I might also be coming around on the cropped sweater idea. As a relatively tall girl, I really don't like feeling like things are too short on me, but I have started wearing my one cropped sweater more and more frequently. I can see how something like this lovely Daydreamer might be a perfect choice. Are you all cropped sweater fans? I am seeing them more and more frequently lately.

Eye Candy

I don't have as much time as I would like to make things right now, but I am still collecting publications like these for inspiration and serenity. When my brain needs a five minute break, I find I am so much happier flipping the pages of these lovely publications than I am staring at my phone. 

I am gathering my materials to make Apricite from the cover of Laine Magazine Issue 7. The orange Rowan Felted Tweed is from a frogged project (we have this in stock at the shop though), and this stormy blue Lang Lace is what Melissa and I decided would be the perfect thing to hold along with it. I can't wait to get started after I graduate next month!

Eye Candy

Lang Lace...mohair and silk in sweet spring shades.

JaggerSpun Zephyr Lace

We have JaggerSpun Zephyr in the shop! This classic lace merino and silk blend has been around for a long time, but I think this is the first time we've carried it. Each 50g skein is over 500 yards of true lace weight, perfect for heirloom lace shawls or featherweight sweaters. 

I used a very similar yarn to make a wedding shawl for a dear friend years ago. It wasn't quite fine enough to slide through her wedding ring, but it turned out so beautifully. I am not normally a lace knitter, but that heirloom piece was really wonderful to knit and give.

If lace weight yarns are not your thing, you can also hold this beautiful stuff along with heavier yarns to add a cool marled look. You could also double the yarn (with one or two colors) to achieve a lofty and squishy DK or worsted weight, depending on your needle size. This is such a gorgeous yarn. No wonder it's been a classic for so long!

Jilly and Jilly Lace

Did you all enjoy the yarn crawl? We had a great time, but we are exhausted. I hope you all found some fabulous yarn, had a blast and made some friends. We have some new yarns at the shop to show you now that the dust has settled a bit.

Say hey to Jilly (above) and Jilly Lace (below) from Dream in Color.

These yarns remind me quite a bit of Tosh Merino Light and Prairie from Madeline Tosh. These are both single ply yarns with rich, saturated colors.

Jilly is a light fingering with 440 yards per skein, and the Jilly Lace is a lace weight, obviously, with 880 yards per skein. I was kind of surprised that the colors weren't exactly the same on both yarns, since we have the same shades in each yarn. These two are both the Gilt colorway, and they aren't quite the same. Both stunning, though.

All of the colors are really gorgeous. How about a few more shots? So pretty.

 

Stop by and see these new friends at the shop!

Garter Stitch is Good For Your Soul

Oh, Oregon spring...how we love thee.  The rains have returned and it is chilly willy again, so my thoughts return to warm scarves.  Garter stitch scarves, in particular.

The Bateaux Mouches Scarf has been getting a lot of attention lately.  Jenni used two and a half skeins of the light-as-air Isager Alpaca 2 on a US7 to create her denim blue/grey version.

Adrienne decided to play with the new Freia Ombre Lace that arrived a few weeks ago.

She used a US8 and lace yarn to achieve a very open knit, which squishes down into a warm cozy wrap.  The Ombre version is certainly more lofty and floaty than the Alpaca 2 version, but both are so soft and warm.

Garter stitch just feels like sustenance to me when it comes to knitting, you know?  It's not flashy or fancy, but it really serves its purpose and does the trick.  I feel this way when I'm knitting it and when I'm wearing it.  And with the weather doing what it is, a little satisfying warmth is just exactly what we all need right now.

Avert Your Eyes

Seriously, this yarn is so pretty it might hurt.  Say hello to Malabrigo Silkpaca in some stunning colors.

This is a true lace weight done up in alpaca and silk.  I had one lucky knitter take two skeins home for a Les Miserables Scarf last week.  The silk will resist the felting, leaving tiny boucle-like loops on the surface.  The effect is really beautiful.  And in this subtly tonal yarn...it's going to be amazing.  Let's have another shot, shall we?

Yup.  It's still pretty.

September Circle in May

I finished my lace cowl, and now I want to knit everything out of Kauni.  It's a sickness, but I'm okay with it.

The pattern is September Circle by Melissa LeBarre, and it's available on Ravelry.  If you have an inkling to try lace, this is a great first lace pattern.  

The lace pattern repeat is only twelve stitches wide and only five rows involve actual lace knitting, so hopefully you won't get overwhelmed on the first go.  Seriously, more than half of the rounds are just plain ol' knitting and purling.

You can, of course, knit this with any fingering or sport weight yarn, but the slow color change of the Kauni adds so much impact to such a simple pattern.  The Kauni is put up in balls of different weights, so the yardage varies from ball to ball.  I weighed mine, and I used about 80 grams (or about 350 yards).  My skein was about 130 grams when I started, so there would have been plenty of yarn had a chosen to make my cowl larger.  If you can find a 160 gram ball of Kauni, you could get two cowls!

The colors of the Kauni are really stunning, and we have these great swatches to help you appreciate how the color will change over the course of the whole ball.  The company is also kind enough to allow us to order just one or two balls of a given color, so we can easily special order whichever colorway you little heart desires.

My heart now desires a sweater made with Kauni, I'm thinking the Silver Spring Pullover.  There are over 7,000 projects on Ravelry using this lovely yarn, including hundreds of sweaters, hundreds of hats, and more than 2,000 shawls.  I am clearly not alone in my new affliction.  Won't you join us?

Current Obsession: Merlin

Photo from Kieran Foley of knit/lab

I am currently obsessed with this beautiful thing, Merlin by Kieran Foley.  It looks like feathers!  The pattern is designed as a laceweight shawl, but that's not really my cuppa' tea.  I'm going to use Tosh Merino Light, which is more like a fingering weight than lace.  I think the hand-dyed tones will really play up the naturally blended feathery look that I'm going for.  I've been trying different combinations of the amazing colorways we have in stock.

Mica and Betty Draper's Blues

Saffron and Tart

Glazed Pecan and Well Water

Tart and Charcoal

I like some of these more subtle and natural combinations, too.

Badlands and Antique Lace

Antique Lace and Charcoal

Mr. Foley has a number of really cool lace patterns, all available for sale on Ravelry.  I really like his marriage of colorwork and lace.  The lace charts are clear and easy to read.

Kerchief (photo from knit/lab)

Shetland Ruffles (photo from knit/lab)

Dappled Diamonds (photo from knit/lab)

The pure lace shawls are lovely, too.  Take a look at his shop if you are a lace lover.

I think I'm going to try Antique Lace and Graphite for my Merlin.  There will be a nice contrast, but I think the colors will play well together.  I can't wait to give it a try.  Mostly I can't wait to just have it, but do I need to knit it first.

Silky Wool has Arrived

Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool has arrived at the shop. This yarn was one of my first loves when I started knitting, and I am very pleased that we are carrying it again.
Silky Wool is a blend of silk and wool (obviously), with a little nylon for strength, but you'll never notice it. It has the slight crunch of silk, which is perfectly balanced with the all of the best qualities of the wool. It is a little bit tweedy, the colors are beautiful, and it knits up nicely in cables, lace, and anything in between.

Several years ago, I used Silky Wool to make Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style. This was actually my initial foray into lace, and it was nice to work with a DK yarn rather than jumping in with laceweight yarn on my first try. The stitch definition of the Silky Wool is very nice, and the lace blocked out perfectly. Plus, how can you not love that color?
This yarn is ideal for very wearable cardigans and pullovers, too. It would be perfect for almost any of the Pipibird designs that I wrote about in April. The very popular Goodale by Cecily Glowik MacDonald would be fabulous in this yarn, and most sizes would take only four skeins. If you are planning a sweater with Silky Wool, I do recommend blocking your swatch, as the silk content of this yarn will cause it to stretch and grow a bit.
If you haven't tried Silky Wool, stop by the shop to check out the samples. I think you'll fall in love, too.