Yarn Gallery Blog

Gosh, we have a beautiful day today!  And I’m going out to enjoy it as soon as I show you all the great projects I saw last week.  We had lots of people in with so many WIPs and FO’s – I was overwhelmed.  Plus, all the gansey class folks are now well on their way into that fascinating project, and we have the Fair Isle Beret class coming up this weekend.  There are still one or two places in the class, so if you want to complete the beret in one weekend (yes, there’s homework in between the classes!), sign up soon.  There are also one or two places in the circular knitting class coming up in 2 weeks, and in the brick stitch crochet washcloth class, as well as the converting patterns to Magic Loop class. Check out available classes on our Class page.  I’m just about done with the first sister-Napa – it’s so pretty in Berroco’s Blackstone Tweed! Soft, cozy, and a really pretty color.  That’s all I’m going to say, in case she reads this post.  One more to go, but I had to order yarn for the other, she doesn’t do well with mohair and there’s a smidgen of it in Blackstone.  I really didn’t get to anything else this week except one crazy little scarf done in Trendsetter’s Frivola,

essentially it’s pom-poms on a string, with a little sparkle thrown in because otherwise it’s way too subtle.  My scarf is hot pink, was done in less than an hour, and is just cute and fun.

Okay, on to the great projects:

Here is the Headless Knitter again (aka Suzy Crump) in her much-ripped but finally successful sweater from Kim Hargeaves’ Heartfelt book, done in Hempathy.

And this is a sleeveless hoodie from this fall’s Knitscene that Karen Walter just finished, in Ecowool from Cascade, the perfect yarn for the project:

Diane Huddleston has yearned to make this project since she saw it in an advertisement last year.  You can see why!  Doesn’t she look great in it?

And here is a back view:

Mary Ann Posey finished her Stained Glass jacket, done in two yarns with a slip-stitch pattern.  It turned out very well!

Susan Groene is visiting from North Carolina and came in to show some projects she completed since her last visit.  She’s a great knitter, yes?  Always finds the most interesting projects to work on!

This yarn was from a small hand-dyer – look at how the sleeves turned out so differently – I think it adds some real personality to the jacket.  Here is the rear view, which shows the interesting construction:

And Susan made this jacket from Royal LLama Silk, I think it’s a Sally Melville design, possibly from a past issue of Knitter’s, or from one of her books??  Susan said it was fun to do, with the panels being knit separately, then stitches are picked up along the edges, and the panels are knit together.  I want to try this!

And, again a back view to show some more detail:

Well done, Susan! A friend, who is also visiting here, (and whose name I was too stupid to ask!) brought along a tam she made with Encore Colorspun.  Don’t the colors play out perfectly?

Donna Guthrie finished this adorable hoodie for – hmm, I forget, but some very lucky little girl.  It’s from a Mari pattern, and yes, I’m going to order it!

Lynne Nagle’s crochet class finished their adorable circular facecloths in one session.  Aren’t they pretty?

And if you’re on the fence about the Crocheted Fingerless Mitts class, this may move you.  Lynne made these mitts in Ty-Dy Sock and they are so darn cute, soft, and perfect.  She’s making another pair in Mini-Mochi for “the shop” – (read “for Trish” eventually!)

And this will definitely brighten your day – David Ritz is our Beau of the Blog this week, and I think he looks irresistible in this gorgeous sweater he made from Schulana’s Pacolana.  The color, the fit, and the knitting are all perfect. and David is the perfect model, n’est-ce pas?

Thanks to all for bringing in projects and making it a really special week.  You all are my inspiration – see you soon!

Trish

A quick post today because I’m listening to The Lost Symbol on my iPod and I’m right at the part where things start to get resolved.  The hero is dead, the heroine is dying – But! things are still unfolding.  So I thought I’d better post now, or I won’t get to it today.

I’m having fun while I’m listening because I finished another sweater (!!) and promised myself I’d only do small projects for a little while.  I finished 4 quick hats in Blizzard, a super-bulky alpaca blend – they’re all cute and so quick to knit up on size 15′s.  The pattern calls for double points the whole way through, but I used my Denise Interchangeable and did Magic Loop and it was so much more fun.  I have to find a cute way to display them at the shop, they’re all from one little folder of patterns.

Here is the sweater I finished, a little swing jacket which is done all in one piece with absolutely no sewing whatsoever.  It will be a free pattern at the shop as soon as I find someone to test-knit it for me so I know the instructions are comprehensible and the numbers work out.  The sleeves are set-in, but are picked up and then the caps are shaped with short rows. This is the first time I’ve ever written something like that.  I love the yarn, called Cayenne from Katia – looks loud in a photograph as many multis do, but it comes in the most beautiful colorways and has lots of texture.  The jacket could be made with the purl side out which would blend the colors more.  You don’t have to decidewhich side is the outside until you’re ready to join the shoulders!

This is a scarf I just finished, using Punta del Este’s Meritwist, a bulky two-ply merino with some definite heft to it. 

The stitch is a faux-cabled rib pattern, fun to work, which I’m also going to try on a plain yarn.  The reverse side looks like a plain rib stitch, so while it’s not reversible, it’s nice on both sides.  Definitely needs blocking to relax all the stitch manipulation, so I gave it a good dousing this afternoon.  This will also be a free pattern, hopefully on the website – it’s about time there’s something new there, I’m sure everyone is sick of looking at Roman Stripe, even though it’s still fun to knit.  I’ll do the next one in worsted, I think, something solid and totally yummy.

Next, I’m going to work on some birthday presents (a Napa for each of my sisters if I can get them done), and maybe fit in a couple of projects from the new Homespun, Handknit, a really good collection of small projects.  We have a bunch of other new books too, including Cat Bordhi’s latest sock manifesto as well as Swedish Knitting, Norwegian Handknits, Reversible Knitting and One More Skein.  I see that the bookstores are not carrying many knitting books any more, and I’ve cut back on the number I order, too, but do try to keep up with what’s new and will always be glad to order any title for you.

Believe it or not, Suzy Crump made me cut her head off when I took this picture, even though she looked absolutely fantastic in this jacket she made in Noro Taiyo.  She chose the yarn because she loved the color of the buttons.  Artists!

Lynda Slovitsky took Lynne Nagle’s first crocheted dishcloth class and here is her first cloth, made from two colors of cotton, one solid and one self-striping and edged in crab stitch, a very cool technique to know for edging your knitted pieces as well.  I love how the colors worked out.

And here is this week’s Belle of the Blog.  Emily is Karen Shearer’s granddaughter and looks fabulous in the Baby Surprise Jacket Karen made for her, especially with the coordinating T-shirt and hair ribbon.

She’s so adorable and precious!

Classes this week:  Shape Up is on Saturday morning with spaces still open – if SSK’s, YO’s, and K2tog tbl’s are mysteries to you, you need this class!  The gansey class is beginning, but with no openings.  With two sessions and both filled to the max, Donna Guthrie will have her hands full!  And Janet is so proud of her Top-Down sweater class – they had a grueling first week’s knitting to do and everyone made their goal!  She says they’re amazing and now she can leave for Las Vegas and then Rheinbeck with an easy mind.  Good going, folks.

All right, off to see how everything gets fixed at the end of this book – I know the dead hero is going to be saved, Dan Brown is not going to let his best-selling streak end, I’m sure.

See you soon!

Trish