Yarn Gallery Blog

Yippee! I can upload pictures again, but first, if you missed the post from last week, be sure to update your bookmarks/RSS feed and any other preset for the blog from http://blog.yarngal.com to http://www.yarngal.com/blog.

The MadelineTosh has arrived and the afghan gals snagged a bunch of it.  I’ll have to reorder right away because I was at the store this morning (ordering fall yarn – gosh, so fabulous!) and saw that the carton was half-empty.  Still some wonderful things in there and I’ve got my eye on a skein of Tosh Sock that absolutely rocks.

Reminder: The shop will be closed on Sunday, May 30.

Let’s catch up with some older photos:

This is the Springtime Bandit shawl that I mentioned several weeks ago, a free pattern on Kelbournewoolens.com.  It’s pretty, fun, quick, and frankly, mine looks better than theirs, probably because of the blocking.  It’s a good pattern.

This is my Let’s dance a fandango! version of the Horizontal Feather and Fan shawl, a pattern that Janet teaches in her beginner lace class.  I used Noro’s Furin and inserted a few rows of Trendsetter’s Cha-Cha, and it’s just plain fun.  Fran Krieger is doing a beautiful version in off-white, very, very pretty.

Here are some photos that might get you into a class this summer.  First is Yuko Lewandoski’s version of the Adult Surprise Jacket.  The colors are bright but overall the effect is tailored and elegant.

This is Janet’s version of the shrug she’s teaching in her Mother-Daughter Design a Shrug class.  It’s too cute in a combo of Jelli-beenz and Fizz:

And here is the toe-up sock in progress, from Karen Walter’s class this summer.  It may be finished this week – it’s sort of like a striptease, every time I see her she shows a little bit more!  (This week she was in to raid the MadTosh before anyone else got their paws on it.)

Carol Whitcraft is knitting like a madwoman for her first great-grandchild.  Look at the beautiful blanket and this perfect little sweater in Jeannee, a soft cotton/acrylic blend.

And Karen Shearer’s granddaughter came in in her Baby Surprise, and even though we’ve shown her before, I had to take her picture again.  You can see why, can’t you?  Do you love the little pants or what?

Anne Nordhoy is an A-one knitter who knits like the wind and does the most intricate colorwork as naturally as you and I breathe.  She and her husband host an auction and fundraiser for the Y every year, and she knits many beautiful treasures to auction off.  Here are a sampling of what she’s offering this year.  They’re just too remarkable to remark on:

A Trio of Christmas Stockings

Thumb Detail (a boy and girl) of a Pair of Mittens

A Multi-Stitch Baby Blanket

Christening Gown and Bonnet

Delicate Lace Shawl

A Child's Ski Sweater

Child's Sweater

See what I mean?  It takes your breath away!

Enough for one day… see you soon!

Trish

Well, after an exhausting week, the spring yarns (most of them) are finally out front where they need to be and, although there is a lot still to do, the chaos of last week has been somewhat tamed.  I have to say, it was exhausting to move everything and showed me just how physically wimpy I’ve gotten.  I came home every day absolutely wiped out!

Here is a shot of what we did most of the week:

That’s Karen vacuuming behind the shelves.  We moved winter yarns, fluffed and culled (the bargain bin is full!), then cleaned the emptied shelves and brought out the new goodies.  Bending, stretching, carrying, squatting, kneeling – whoof! But the new yarns look wonderful, and we’re supposed to have great weather this week so we’ll all feel very spring-y.  And I need to go into spring training!

Stop in soon…

Trish

I love the change of seasons for many reasons and one of them is that it brings new fashions and colors to our notice.  I don’t rush out and buy stuff, of course, but I do love to see what the designers have thought up and see what the trends are.  As far as I can tell, the trends this season are for muted ombre colors and bright tone-on-tone prints, lots of ruffles and gathers and ties and other embellishments, loose plain jackets, and the safari look, which raises its pocket-y, lapel-y, belt-y head every few years. ( I ignore it because I look like Elmer Fudd on his wabbit-hunting trek. Don’t need all those extra things hanging on my clothes.)

I have to say, Berroco is right on top of these trends.  They’ve added an ombre line to their wonderful yarn Seduce and Norah Gaughan’s new collection is full of pleats, gathers, ruffles, and embellishments.  I can’t decide which to do for the shop, but I loved this the minute I saw it:

Lots of knitting but I think it may be worth it.

Karen Wenrich is knitting this gorgeous tank for the shop in black Bonsai:

This is the subtle pleat at the center of the eyelet detail.  Love it!

Bonsai and Seduce colors as well as the new Norah collection are at the shop already.  This was one thing I couldn’t wait for!

More about new yarns as time goes on.  Meanwhile, many of you are finishing up wonderful winter projects as you can see below.

Jettie Hunt and Kim Walker both finished their ganseys from the class that ended just before Christmas.  Jettie’s husband Michael is modeling his:

The sweater is not hot pink, it’s a gorgeous rich burgundy but I couldn’t get the photo to look like that.  So, I’m sorry, Michael, you’re not only headless but also extremely colorful!

Kim Walker knit her gansey in a beautiful dark green tweed, which  looks gray but gorgeous nonetheless in this photo.  It’s absolutely lovely.

The gansey was quite a project, with a huge commitment of time involved.  Congratulations to all who have finished theirs, and for those who are still working on it, keep going.  It’s definitely worth it!

Last week I showed you the Abstract Leaves Vest that Karen Walter is making and teaching.  It had three steeks (extra stitches added that allow you to continue to work Fair Isle in the round even after the garment has reached the armhole and neck openings).  This picture shows the neck finished and one armhole being worked on, while the third steek is still intact.

And here is the finished vest!

It really is a beautiful piece, and the yarn (Nature Spun Sport) makes a crisp design with a very soft hand.  Wonderful!

Lynne Nagle brought in this fabulous wrap that she crocheted.  It’s done in a self-striping yarn, with a beautiful swirling motif.

The pattern is called the Infinity Wrap and is available for download from Interweave Press’s store.  I hate to promote expensive downloaded patterns on this blog, but if the magazine is unavailable, at least it’s a good thing if the pattern can be still be purchased.

Jennifer Gensemer brought in this pretty cabled “snood” (which is not a snood but a neck wrap that can also be worn over the head as a hood.  A snood is an old fashioned hair net popular with Victorians.)  (Okay, I’ll try to quit the quibbling.) Jennifer did a beautiful job on it, working it in black Baby Alpaca Grande.  Margie Jozwiak was in the store and volunteered to model it for us.  Aren’t they both gorgeous?

Jennifer bought the pattern on the internet (Ravelry, I believe).  You can find it by googling “Snooty Snood.”

And here is this week’s Belle of the Blog.  Annie Harlin is a well-known artist and has worked in many media.  She’s retired, she says, but how do you retire from art?  By pleasing yourself and not potential customers, I guess, and look at the wonderful hooded cape she made from – oh, my gosh, I can’t even estimate the number of different yarns she used!  The braided fringing alone must have taken hours.  How wonderful to have this kind of vision, yes?

That’s it!  See you soon…

Trish

Sometimes at this point in the year, when customers come in to find they are the only ones in the store, (besides me and the boys) they ask in a hushed and concerned voice “How is your business?” or “Is the economy hurting you?”  The concern is real – there are many yarn stores that have closed over the past year and I hear of more every month, not just in this area but across the country.  But the market shakeout started well before the economy crashed and Yarn Gallery is doing fine.  It’s been a tricky year, but not because our business has declined – it just wasn’t able to grow as much as I had planned for  – a case of woman proposes and Wall Street disposes.  Anyway, this summer has been typical – knitting and crocheting and yarn buying all slow down when we all get busy with yardwork, vacations, visitors and other summer activities… and I look forward to it every year!  It gives me time to play in the store and just let things roll along for awhile.  I often hit a knitting lull at this time of year, just like many of you do.  The spring models are done and the fall yarns are yet to arrive and I can just piddle around with this or that. La de dah…

And then!  Along about now, things get exciting.  A huge box of something gorgeous comes in and it simply propels one into knitting mode again.  This past week, Fleece Artist and Handmaiden came in – we got 2 new yarns: Margaree, a mohair, wool & silk blend which I had to immediately take home.  There are 400+ yards on a skein, and one worked up beautifully into our Simple Lace Stole.  I see it as a warm and vibrant layer over a dark winter coat – it’s lacy enough to scrunch up like a scarf around your neck as well, and works up quickly on a 10.5 needle.

The other new yarn is called River, a blend of alpaca, wool and silk.  I picked more subdued colors for this yarn, which would be wonderful for a next-to-the-skin garment:

and here is one of our very favorite yarns ever, Mini Maiden from Handmaiden, a wool/silk blend that is soft and just glows from within.  The colorway below is a lovely neutral but the yarn is stunning in full color, too.  There are 545 yards to a skein, sport to fingering weight, so there are myriad projects that can be completed with one skein.

What shall we do with it???

This week we also got a few gorgeous bags from Atenti – you’ve probably seen their ads in knitting magazines – I couldn’t resist just a couple!

And these wonderful Hermosa bags from Namaste:

Love them, and I think you will too. They’re big, with a million pockets, good straps, they stand up on their own, and they’re certainly handsome enough to carry anywhere.  Namaste is finally offering black bags (they’re from California and it just took a while) and the eggplant is beautiful.

Not to gloat or anything, but I have 94 pounds – 94!!! – of great stuff coming from Berroco this week.  The UPS man is going to hate me.  New yarn – totally worth it.

Okay, so you know I’ll be a raving maniac for a while, with new yarns for fall coming in pretty much constantly for a couple months.  I’ll try to control it, and so on to some neat customer projects:

Lynne Nagle’s Diagonal Crocheted Scarf Class finished up this week and here are a couple of examples from Nancy Pawling (blue) and Cheryl Haas (red).  They worked with Noro’s Silk Garden, and both scarves are beautiful!

I love the colorplay with this design.

Lynda Slovitsky crocheted this wonderful summer scarf in Royal Bamboo.  You see scarves everywhere this summer – ever wonder how people can wear scarves in the heat?  This scarf is as soft and smooth as water, cool to the touch because of the bamboo, and a lovely accent piece.  Lynda bought yarn to make 2 more, by popular demand.

I told you about Merino Spray last week – that wonderful extrafine merino that I got at such a good price?  I made this little cardy out of it and just wait till you feel how light it is and how well it drapes.

I know it’s a little hard to make out, but it’s quite plain with seed stitch borders and I did just 2 buttonholes at the top (but didn’t have buttons here when I took the picture, hence the pin.)

And, just because I wanted to do something small in between big projects, this little headband, named Quant, is entrelac and I’m making it out of leftover sock yarn. (Would be prettier in a different yarn, I think.)   The original pattern was in Knitty in worsted weight.  This lighter version is available free from Spinoff Magazine here.  You have to sign up for something but it’s free, and a neat way to try entrelac and see if you like it.  This is probably as big a project as I want to do in it, but many people absolutely love it.

Don’t forget, we’ll be closed this coming weekend for the 4th, open again Wednesday the 8th.  We were going to be closed all week (changed my mind) and Janet made other plans, so she won’t be having her sock class Friday morning.

Enjoy the holiday!  See you soon…

Trish

Even though it’s totally frigid today, I’ve got the spring-cleaning bug.  You all have got the spring-knitting bug, because we’ve been getting a lot of questions about spring yarns.  These two inspirations have combined into my wanting a permanent place for our lighter weight fibers in the shop.  Currently we put all the cottons and blends away for the winter, and then have to root through the piles of bags, interrupting classes and so on, when someone wants to look at “summer” yarns.  So, I’m going to replace the novelties, which are in the upstairs front room, with the cottons.  That part is fairly easy.  Finding a place for novelties won’t be so easy and they won’t be available until we do.  Most of you won’t miss them!  Anyway, that will all be happening this week because most of my spring yarns will be shipping in the next two weeks and, as usual, I have no room for them.  And as usual, I just can’t wait for the new stuff to get here.

Here’s one new model that’s finished.  It’s from the current Debbie Bliss Magazine, and was quite fun to do. You start by making the back and both fronts to the armholes, then cast on for the sleeves, combine everything on one needle and finish in one piece.  I knitted it from Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton, because I wanted a really bright color. I didn’t change anything except to add a border of single-crochet to the front edges to reduce curl. (With forethought you could just add 2 or 3 extra stitches and work them in garter.)  You can use any DK weight yarn.  I didn’t buy Prima, which is what all these designs in DB#2 are purportedly knitted from.  I didn’t like it, it’s slinky yet hairy and I can’t imagine it being comfortable to wear in any season.  And very few of these designs were originally knitted in it – most were in Cathay which has been discontinued.  In other words, don’t be afraid to substitute yarns!  If you’re not sure, do a swatch or get some advice.

The shop has been full of people working on projects and I have lots of wonderful pictures to show you this week, so let’s get going:

Mary Ann Posey brought in this delight:

It’s a beautiful lace scarf knit from qiviut, a rare and precious fiber from the muskox.  It’s lighter than a feather, softer than cashmere, and warmer than down.  Mary Ann’s daughter bought the yarn in Alaska and knit the scarf as a present for her father.

Margie Leisawitz knit this sweater using intarsia to add color to the cable panel that runs up the front and down the back.  A perfect skating sweater!

Donna Howard is taking the Great American Aran Afghan classes and brought in her partially-done afghan.  It was the first time I’d seen any of the blocks put together and just had to have a photo even though it isn’t finished yet.  She has, I think, 8 more blocks to go; every single one is a work of art.

And she also brought in a version of the Lady Eleanor Entrelac scarf, done in a bright colorway of Ty-Dy Sock: Can’t wait to get in the new colors of it, and the new colors of regular cotton worsted-weight Ty-Dy.  Speaking of which, check out David Ritz’s latest posting below this one – he’s knitting like a fanatic, as usual, and I really like the design, don’t you?  Looks like it would be fun.

It was tough getting a photo of this cute baby sweater that Sandy Albert just finished (her 6th version of this design!)  You can see how crowded the table was that day  – so many people trying to finish up their projects, we had overflow into the back room.  I love it when the shop is buzzing like that!

I finished a baby sweater too. This is from a Cabin Fever design, very clever one-piece construction that just flowed from the needles.  I did it in Hopscotch, a thick and thin superwash wool, soft and practical too. And Susie Crump finished her Sitka sweater and I had to show you how very special it is.  Now, if I had to bet, I would bet that this little grandson of hers is going to have this sweater for the rest of his life.  Where else is he ever going to find something with his name on it, and that displays the tree he was named for? 

And Lynne Nagle and I sat down to talk about crochet classes and she’s got some good ideas about projects for beginning classes.  We don’t have a schedule yet but we’re getting there.  She brought in this beautiful lace collar that she made from Frog Tree alpaca:

Isn’t it gorgeous?  That lace!  But don’t be intimidated – I made this pretty scarf from Ruca (hand-dyed sugar cane fiber!) and it’s soft and silky and I’m extremely proud of it, even though it was a simple 2-row pattern done on a pretty big hook.

Great yarn, a little (very little, in my case) skill and some patience, you got yourself a real purty scarf!

Okay, that’s it for this week.  I’m yearning to re-do my 80-year-old bathroom and went looking at fixtures and so on today.  I’m still in sticker shock and need to go lie down.

See you soon.

Trish