Eye Candy

There's a basket of Blue Sky Fibers Organic Cotton in the shop. There's not a lot, but the colors are so good. You only need one of each shade to make a Purl Bee Chevron Baby Blanket. 

I've made two! The pattern is really fun, and the yarn is amazing. Need a baby gift? This could be your go-to.

Eye Candy Monday

I made a small hat using the Universal Cotton Supreme. It is sooooo soft. Tassel is forthcoming.

Need Another Reason?

As if you needed another reason to be excited about crochet, The Purl Bee just released a (free) pattern for this stunning thing. The Four Points Baby Blanket uses four ample skeins of sock yarn. It looks amazing, doesn't it? I think I would go for Bumblebirch Heartwood or those cool splotchy splatter ones from Plymouth. Or maybe a few of each?

Pic borrowed from Purl Bee.

I am just starting to think about honing my crochet skills, but I know many of you out there are quite the masters. What do you crochet gurus like to make? The Purl Bee has a growing collection of free crochet patterns including blankets, scarves, garments, pillows, rugs, and yarmulkes (of course).

If you want to dip your hooks into crochet, I'm pretty sure Melissa can get you started on this lovely piece on Sunday afternoon. Give a call or pop in to sign up for her class.

Cuteness

This little sweater was such a joy to make. I loved choosing the colors. I loved knitting the rows of garter stitch. I loved the silky feel of the organic cotton yarn in my hands. 

I loved seeing the stripes pop every six rows. I even enjoyed picking up stitches for the sleeves and tiny button bands. And I loved stitching those tiny milky green buttons on at the very end.

The Bio Sesia 5 is a lovely yarn, perfect for a baby sweater. I was drawn to the bleached white, but I knew I could not knit the sweater in white. I paired it with the heathery grey, and I am so happy with the way the tiny stripes pop. The yarn is machine washable, organic, and so soft. We have a really nice color range, including some soft neutrals and rich colors.

I used the Little Baby Sweater pattern, a freebie from the Purl Bee. This is a great beginner pattern. The only tricky bit is picking up the stitches for the sleeves, but that wasn't so bad. Just a few stitches, really. I enjoyed knitting this tiny thing so much, I think I need to cast on for another.

Still Knitting!

So sorry to have abandoned you all this week.  Between the flu and two family weddings, I was spent.  But I knit on. 

My Mix No. 10 hat is progressing nicely.  I am in love with Shibui Cima.  I am considering knitting an entire wardrobe out of this yarn...it might be the softest yarn I have ever used.  It's held doubled for this hat, and the slip stitch pattern is really fun.  I didn't consider how the ivory and lumen would play together, so the top section is very subtle, but I love it.

I am hopeful that there is enough left to make another whole hat.  I'll need to switch up the colors, but that's half the fun.

And I have inspiration to share.  The Purl Bee's Shadow Stripe Baby Blanket is calling to me.  It seems like it would be so easy to upsize, too, for a larger throw.  The Purl Bee blankets are always winners...checkout the beautiful gallery on their site (including links to all of the free patterns).

Photo from Purl Bee

This one is knit with Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton, one of our favorites.
 
I'll be back this week full force.  I just need one night of solid sleep, and then I'll be ready to tell you all about our new yarn, new books, and new magazines.  Bear with me!

Blankets

I know summer seems like a silly time to be thinking about blankets. For me, though, summer is kind of the perfect time for knitting blankets. Okay, maybe not at the park on a muggy August afternoon, but how about in the evenings, enjoying your beautiful garden, watching a movie with the kids, or sipping a cocktail on the porch?

Blanket knitting tends to be repetitive and a little mindless, which I love in the summer. In my mind, the ladies from Mason-Dixon Knitting are the queens of blankets. They have designed some of my favorite blanket projects, which you can find on their blog, Mason-Dixon Knitting, and in their books, Mason-Dixon Knitting and Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines.

Many of their blankets employ the log cabin technique, a method borrowed from quilting. The thing I like about log cabining is that you don't have to seam up a bunch of pieces at the end. You pick up stitches along the side of each block as you finish and just keep going with another color.

Check out this pretty rainbow blanket, Joseph's Blankie of Many Colors.

This classy little denim number, The Courthouse Steps Denim Blanket, uses just a few colors to great effect.

I made the Moderne Baby Blanket for my little one a few years back. This style is a half log cabin technique, so the final product is asymmetrical and fabulous.

The Purl Bee recently published the Half Log Cabin Ombre Blanket in beautiful alpaca earth tones. I'm planning to make this as a wedding gift for a dear friend using Cascade Eco Alpaca.

Photo from the Purl Bee. Thanks!

The Purl Bee has published several blanket patterns that are high impact but easy to make. Check out these simple color-blocked examples of the Super Easy Baby Blanket.

Photo from the Purl Bee. Thanks!

The Cuddly Cotton Baby Blanket is a simple garter square with a lacy edging. This would be fun in Classic Elite Sprout. Organic and machine washable, perfect for a baby shower gift.

Photo from the Purl Bee. Thanks!

The Granny Stripe Blanket might just turn me into a crocheter.

Photo from the Purl Bee. Thanks!

If you feel like a little bit of seaming and finishing, the Mason-Dixon gals have a few other great options. Here's the Mitered Square Blanket from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book.

I told you about the Mitered Crosses Blanket back in March. A little mitering, a little log cabining, a little seaming, a lot of fabulous.

Photo from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Thanks!

If you really want to challenge yourself, they even have fair isle blankets, finished with steeking and edging. These guys stray a bit from the mindless summer knitting criteria, but they are pretty amazing. Baby Dotty and Liberty.

Get started this summer, spend those cool summer evenings knitting, and by the time fall rolls around, you'll be glad to have a nice big blanket project almost done.