close knit: the neighborhood yarn shop


Monday, June 29, 2015

Knit With Us!

We are ready for our Meadow Knit-a-long! Are you?
So many knitters have trouble finding the perfect summer project. Never fear! We have found it for you. We will be knitting the Augustine Shawlette over the course of the summer. The project uses just one skein of the beautiful Fibre Company Meadow, a perfectly airy blend of merino, baby llama, silk, and linen.
Ann has been working away on a sample for us. The shawl is knit side to side with dropped stitches, creating an light and lofty finished product.The knitting is pretty simple, so it's a great project for beginners or for those of us looking for a nice mindless project. The piece seems like it will be small until you start dropping stitches...very satisfying. 
Adrienne is kicking things off on Wednesday night at Open Knit Night. The pattern is available on Ravelry, and you can purchase it on your own or through our shop. Come on in and choose your favorite shade of this beautiful yarn. If we all start now, we can have the perfect thing to wrap around our shoulders when this heat finally breaks!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Sock Weight Yarns on Sale

The Alberta Main Street Retail Happy Hour starts today, and we are offering 10% off all sock weight yarns. This means a discount on Malabrigo Sock, Misti Alpaca Hand-Dyes (above), Misti Alpaca Tonos (below), Noro Taiyo Sock, Noro Silk Garden Sock, and all of those lovely hand-dyed skeins from Knitted Wit...the sock wall is busting at the seams with gorgeous stuff. This is a good sale, my friends. And, since Sally loves you, she is willing to carry the sale from 3:00 today through Sunday afternoon.
Take some time to wander up and down Alberta Street and appreciate some of the wonderful small businesses participating in the Retail Happy Hour. And then come hoard sock yarn at 10% off. See you soon!

We have the next few weeks planned out, too.
July 1: $20 off the large Loopy Mango skeins
July 8: 10% off all Rowan Yarns
July 15: $10 off on every $50 spent


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Fancy Buttons

The right button adds the perfect finishing touch to a project. Lucky for you, we have a whole slew of really nice ones. Particularly fabulous are these handmade lovelies from Lynn Rothan, the artist behind Peyote Beads and Buttons. Sally was rather enamored with her work and selected several beautiful items for the shop. The blue one up top is my favorite, but they are all really pretty.
Each button is handmade in Oregon in the Bend and Sisters area, and no two are the same.
These would be perfect for a bag closure, a funky hat, or a drapey cardigan that just needs one big beautiful button. So many knitters and crocheters come in looking for Oregon-made goods. We are pleased to be able to show off these little pieces of art in our shop!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Bucheron Mitts

We have been enjoying our collection of Harrisville Watershed and Flywheel. Have you all had a chance to try it out? Ann whipped up a pair of Mary Jane Mucklestone's Bucheron Mitts using Watershed. This yarn is so great for colorwork like this. The yarn is nice and toothy, so it sticks to itself well and makes the patterning a breeze. The heathery flecks in each shade add a lot of depth to the colors, too.
Ann reports that three skeins of Watershed will make two pairs of gloves. What a lovely gift idea, don't you think? And great summer knitting, too...small project, interesting techniques, fabulous yarn. Perfect.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Retail Happy Hour

There is a lot happening on our little street. I often hear customers remark about how much Alberta Street has changed and grown over the last several years. There are street fairs, murals, art installations, a slew of new restaurants, and many amazing small retail businesses. We are so happy to be part of this thriving community, and we love that so many of you come out to support us.
 
The Alberta Main Street movement has organized a Retail Happy Hour for the summer, and many of our (and your?) favorite spots are playing along. On Wednesdays from 3 to 6 PM, nearly 40 participating shops will be offering a sale or special of some kind. We will be offering a discount on a specific yarn, and Sally might even carry the discount through the weekend. It all starts June 24, and I will let you know what the first few specials will be later this week.

The weather is gorgeous, the shops are fabulous, and the discounts should be good. Can't wait to get started!


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Adorable Baby Jacket

I finished the tiny baby jacket! This is Gry's Hoodie from All You Knit is Love. Oh my. It is tiny and sweet and squishy. Garter stitch and baby sweaters are the perfect combination. I just want to squeeze them both.
I used one skein of Dream in Color Jilly, all but about five yards for the smallest size. The single ply yarn is so nice for a lightweight fabric, just the thing for a baby layer. We are nearing the end of our supply of Jilly right now, but the Knitted Wit Single Fingering would be perfecto...very similar yarns.
The sweater was a pretty easy knit. It's knit cuff-to-cuff, with some increases and decreases on the sleeves. The hood is picked up and joined with a three needle bind off. The only seams are up the sides and down the sleeves. Easy peasy.
The pattern originally calls for Isager Spinni and Alpaca 1, both of which we now stock. I'm considering a few more of these sweaters for all the babies being born around me lately. I love the idea of holding two yarns together to create an unique fabric and color. These would not create a machine-washable sweater, though. But babies are hand-wash only, too, so I suppose that might be okay.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

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!