Zooey

Hello pretty Zooey! This cotton and linen blend is just the thing for the summer projects. This DK weight yarn would be fabulous for some of those produce bags we talked about recently. This would also make a lovely summer sweatshirt or drapey cardigan.

The shades are just lovely, and the subtle thick-and-thin texture knits up so nicely. We have a few patterns in the shop designed with Zooey, including this cozy pullover and some fun lace accessories.

I also found several fabulous Ranunculus sweaters done up with just two or three balls of Zooey. Also loving this cute Ursa, knit up in the most gorgeous shade. This stunning crocheted Davallia is so dramatic in black. There is still plenty of time to make and wear a summer garment, and I think you all will love this yarn!

Eye Candy

A pretty rainbow of BC Garn Lino for this lovely Monday morning. Have a great week!

Hello Lino

This beautiful linen has landed in the shop.

Lino is a 100% linen yarn in some gorgeous colors! Each 50g ball is 164 yards, and it really does knit up at almost any gauge you like. It's suggested at 6 to 8 stitches per inch, so that's sport to lace weight essentially. You could easily knit it up more loosely for a shawl or wrap.

If you've never worked with linen before, this is a great place to start! This would be perfect for summer tops, lightweight cardigans, a breezy scarf, or a set of face cloths. 

If you have never used a linen face cloth, you are missing out. They are so lovely on the skin, make great gifts, and they get softer with each wash and dry. I found a few good ones for you on Ravelry, but you can really just try out any fun stitch with something like this. It's linen season!

Cancun?

Let's all dream of a Cancun vacation, shall we? We will certainly need this cute Cancun Boxy Lace Top worked up in Cascade Hampton, a lovely pima cotton/linen blend.

Free pattern and just two skeins for the top. Now let's book that trip.

Flax Linen Sport and Lace

Yes, I did look a little crazy as I took these pictures out on the street corner. But this beautiful Fibra Natura Flax deserved to be seen in some sunlight! This beautiful sport/DK weight pure linen is available in a range of summery shades for all kinds of great projects...pullovers, cardigans, wraps, bags, facecloths. Your finished items will be machine washable and dryable. In fact, whatever you create with this yarn will soften up appreciably with each washing.

We are also happy to see Flax Lace in the shop this season. It's a much lighter weight, and a much softer color palette. So lovely and sophisticated.

Imagine a floaty wrap using this beautiful yarn. Lace patterns, garter stitch...either one would be really lovely to wear, and the perfect thing to be knitting on this summer.

The linen always goes fast, so if you see colors that you love, pop in soon and make them yours!

Linen Season

I love wearing linen garments. Linen is so airy and breezy and easy to wear...really the prefect thing for summer. Linen yarns, however, are often not so perfect. I know a lot of you knitters and crocheters don't care for the rough feel of pure linen in your hands as you work, but I think you are going to like Cascade Hampton.

This cotton/linen blend reminds me a but of Cascade's Ultra Pima, but with a matte finish and more drape. Our current color palette is really tropical, and I'm particularly loving the blues and neutrals together.

This is a new yarn, so there are not a lot of projects on Ravelry to show off yet. Some really pretty scarves and shawls, especially nice for those who don't wear animal fibers. A few Ravelers have used Hampton to create Heidi Kirrmaier's Sunshine Coast, a great choice for this yarn. I have been thinking about this new pattern called Summer, and I'm thinking Hampton might be just perfect for it. It looks like the warm weather is upon us. Time for linen!

Firefly

Classic Elite Firefly has been a favorite of mine since we first started to carry it years ago. It's such a lovely, rustic linen yarn, and it's really a joy to knit with. Linen can be a little hard on the hands, but Firefly is definitely not. In fact, Emily solved the only unpleasant aspect of this yarn by winding it into these little skeins! The yarn arrives in balls which fall apart and get all tangled. These are so much better!

The subtle sheen of this yarn is really something to behold, and the little bits of coarse linen add character to the finished knitted fabric. I used three balls for my Firefly Bias Scarf years ago, and now we have the beautiful Lampyridae Scarf, a freebie in the shop with the purchase of the yarn.

Here's a little special throwback to two of my favorite Firefly projects: Laura's Axil and Sienna's Smilla's Dress.

Pop in and have a look at our sweet skeins of Firefly. I hope you love this yarn as much as we do!

Eye Candy

Hello lovely Flax.

Fibre Company Meadow and an Invitation to Knit-A-Long

I feel a little late to the party. I am usually pretty up to date on the popular new yarns and patterns, but Meadow from The Fibre Company snuck up on me. I went to have a look at the Ravelry projects using Meadow, and I found well over a thousand. Why didn't any of you tell me about this gorgeous yarn? Maybe because we have just started carrying it.

The Fibre Company is known for the unusual combinations of fibers in their yarns, and Meadow is no exception. Meadow is a merino/llama/silk/linen laceweight, with almost 500 yards in each skein. The yarn is soft and lofty, and the colors are really interesting.

 

Grace Anna Farrow, a very popular shawl and wrap designer, has used Meadow to create some stunning designs. We are carrying Twinleaf, Roseum, Ursa, and Cepa.

 

 

I have not had a chance to knit with Meadow yet, but I am eager to try. There are rumblings of a little summer knit-a-long using this lovely yarn. I'm not usually a joiner, but I think I will jump on the bandwagon this time. We are thinking a nice, airy, floaty shawl or wrap...just the thing for the chilly Oregon summer evenings. Think about it, and I'll let you know which pattern Adrienne decides to use. Looking forward to it!

Firefly Family

How beautiful is this?

My friend Laura created her version of Norah Gaughan's Axil using four balls of Classic Elite Firefly, one of our favorite linen blends.  In true Norah style, the construction is sort of unusual.  The front and back are identical.  They are seamed together at the sides, and then stitches are picked up and worked to join the neckline.

Laura noticed that the model in the photo had some serious gaping going on under the arms, and Laura's tank had the same issue.  She debated knitting a gusset to pull it all together, but in the end Laura fixed it by simply seaming up the sides a few more inches.  I think she looks marvelous!

I know summer does not always feel like the time for a hand-knit garment, but this combination of interesting pattern and ideal summer yarn make for just the right thing.

The little missy in the photo is wearing her Smilla's dress turned Smilla's tunic.  Laura made this for her daughter last spring from the ever popular All You Knit is Love, and it is still adorable.  

Hard to photograph on a squirmy kiddo, though.  I hope these pretty ladies have inspired you to get knitting for summer!

Knitbot Linen and Fit to Flatter

I've been hoping these books would show up at the shop.

Hannah Fettig's Knitbot Linen is a beautiful book.  She uses all Quince & Co. Sparrow, which is only available at select shops.  Since ours is not one of those shops, we can highly recommend Shibui Linen for all of the patterns in here.  Here are the lovely designs: Brise Cardigan, Surrounding Tank, Lineal Cardigan, Point of View Vest, and the Aproned Tank.  There's a nice slouchy hat, too, but I forgot to snap a photo.

 

These are all so cool!  The knitting is pretty straight-forward, but the designs are really fashionable and interesting.  Which one is your favorite?

Amy Herzog's Fit to Flatter is the book that so many of you have been asking about.  It's a pattern collection and fit instruction manual.

I'm not going to give away any of her secrets, but the first chapter is pretty eye-opening.  She will teach you things about your body and how to dress it that you have never even considered.  And then she will talk about knitting, designing, and altering her lovely patterns to work for you.

We only have a few of these in the shop, so come take a look!

Little Things Completed. Repeated?

I finished a few little projects lately, and I would love to show them off.  My Groovy in Leinen Los is one of my favorite knitted items to date.  You can purchase and download the pattern through Ravelry, and it is worth every penny in my opinion.

It was fun to knit, with just enough counting and paying attention.  Otherwise, a lot of stockinette.  I know some knitters get a little bored with stockinette, but I love it.  It grows in sort of an unexpected way for a shawl, too.

I managed fourteen and a half repeats of the pattern with two balls of Leinen Los.  I decided to tempt fate and use white, but the other natural colors are really beautiful, too.  I was inspired by several versions on Ravelry to use a contrast color for the bind off.  I had some Euroflax Linen in orange that looked so great with the white.  My shawl is a really nice size, perfect for tucking into a jacket for a little extra warmth.

My next finished little thing is my Bristol Hat.  I love this hat.  

It's also available on Ravelry from Amy Christoffers, one of my favorite designers.  The stitch pattern is pretty simple, but I did have to pay attention.  I used stitch markers to mark each pattern repeat, and that certainly saved me some heartache.  I love the chevron pattern that emerges from the textured stitches.  I was concerned that it would be too small when I got started, but everything ended up just fine.

I used some discontinued Rowan yarn, but any fingering/sock weight in a nice solid color would be perfect.  Cascade Heritage or Heritage Silk would be amazing, and the stitch pattern would really pop.  My hat used just under 200 yards, so one skein of sock yarn would get you two Bristols.

I don't often repeat projects, but these two were so satisfying, I think there are several more of each in my future.  I'm thinking a tweedy Bristol in Rowan Fine Tweed, and maybe a tone-on-tone striped Groovy in some Silky Wool or Felted Tweed DK.  The possibilities are endless, but what am I going to do with all of these?

Project of the Summer?

I've been working at our little shop for almost six years, and in that time, I have noticed that certain projects catch like wildfire with our Close Knitters.  It's always hard to predict, but when it happens, it is enthusiastic.  I think Sally new she had a contender when she brought in the L.1 sample knit up in Shubui Linen.  We all fell head over heels in love, and now it seems that you all have, too.

What is it that has you all so smitten?  The yarn itself is unusual and luxurious...fingering weight chained linen.  But who would have thought that would grab you?  Maybe it is the sophisticated Shuibui color palette.  Perhaps it's the chance to play with color to such a stunning end.  With the lazy days of summer approaching, I'm sure the basic stockinette holds some serious appeal.  

It doesn't really matter what it is, but I know we will be sending many more knitters home with Linen before summer is out.  Sally recently restocked our supply with some fresh colors and old favorites.  

The Poppy at the top has been wildly popular, and I love Suit (navy) and Cascade (bright blue).  The Brick, Apple, and Scale (orange) are great, too.  So are the neutrals.  I'm going to have a hard time deciding.  The Ash (grey) in the sample scarf is on backorder until the end of July, but we have so many other shades to mix and match.  We will be happy to help you create your own color combination.  

I included this photo because the guy walking in the background gave me a weird look and laughed at me for taking photos of yarn outside.  I just needed someone else to know.  The things I tolerate for knitting...

I usually suggest that people look at the yarn in the natural light outside the shop to see how the colors play together...hopefully Dude from the above photo will walk by again and we can really mess with his head.

Firefly Tunic

Hello, Firefly Tunic.

Photo from Espace Tricot Ravelry page.

The simple lines and elegant details of this not-so-basic pullover certainly grabbed me.  How about you?  The generous designers at Espace Tricot in Montreal have offered this up as a free pattern on their blog. (There are other nice ones, too.)  They have included a simple colorblocked cowl to top it off.

Photo from Espace Tricot Ravelry page.

Available in eleven sizes, simple knitting and finishing, and surprisingly minimal yarn requirements...why wouldn't you make one?  

We have some beautiful shades of Classic Elite Firefly, and our supply is still rather robust right now.  Go download the pattern and swing by to choose your favorite.  The rain can't last forever.