And people think it was just “hippie” style – no, I think that was the only color the acrylic machines pumped out.  If you knew enough to want to knit with real fiber, good luck finding it.  Those were the days when the little black and white ads in the back of the knitting magazines, where some obscure company offered real wool for sale by mail order, could be a life-line to all of us who didn’t live near a real yarn shop.  They were, believe me, few and far between.  In my hometown, there was woman who had a little shop in her dining room (I seem to remember lots of toilet paper covers, doilies in horrid color combinations and doll’s dresses) or there was Monkey Wards.  Both were filled with eye-searing colors of acrylic.  Possibly my passion for good yarn is a hangover from my sad yarn-deprived childhood.

Anyway (now that I’ve finished my trip down Memory Lane) Ravelry is a great place to get ideas when you have some yarn left over from a project or if you just have to have a ball – or you get a great deal from our Bargain Bin – of some wonderful yarn.  I search for new ideas for some yarns we’ve had for a while.  We just got in a shipment of Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden – we’ve had them for years and still love them for the amazing colors Eisaku Noro puts together.  We’ve made many sweaters, shawls, and scarves with them, and have seen some beautiful throws. I still want to make Lizard Ridge from Knitty – this may be the year because the Kureyon colors are simply amazing.

Still, I look on Ravelry for new ideas.  And because they were both in my hand at one time, I decided to make Baktus, a very simple sideways garter-stitch triangle, in a solid color of Elsebeth Lavold’s Baby Llama and a new color of Silk Garden.  I just started it:

It’s fun, and I think I’ll dress it up with a ruffle in the Silk Garden.  Here are all our colors of Silk Garden:

I always find that the Noro yarns don’t come across that well in photos – the joy of them is knitting and discovering how the colors play out.  That’s why I’m having fun with Baktus instead of doing something more serious, like taking the bindoff out of the collar on my Rittenhouse sweater and making it the right size (I tried to skimp, but the proportions didn’t work – oh, well, 5 more inches of k2, p2 rib won’t kill me.)

Here’s a good look at the Beseme (say Bessa-May – it means Kiss Me!) scarf that Lynne is teaching this fall.  How adorable is this thing?

Lynne crocheted it in Berroco’s Souffle, a soft gently-striping wool blend.  It’s so cute, fast, and just an outstanding accessory.  And here are samples of the jewelry she’s going to teach – I love these:

The bracelets are gorgeous and feel really good on your wrist.  I may have to take this class! Check out times/dates on the Class Page at yarngal.com.

We have a new free pattern at the shop for this pretty little cowl or capelet in a new yarn called Fumato.  It’s lightweight and warm with great yardage and has very subtle color changes throughout.  Deb Hawk kindly modeled for me

- and looked so completely adorable that of course she’s going to make one.  It’s super-easy and enjoyable to make, and I’ve also made it in Boboli, Berroco’s pretty multi-color that is also new this year.  I can think of about a dozen yarns that it would look absolutely great in.

And finally, Janet’s felted tote class finished their bags and she snapped this picture to show how different they all look, even though everyone used the same pattern.  It’s so much fun to see which colors everyone will choose and how they put them together:

Aren’t they great?  It’s almost time to think about gifts (!!!), and there are several wonderful ideas in this post alone.  Now, I’m going out to enjoy this beautiful day.  See you soon…

Trish

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

Thank goodness!  I’ve realized just how dependent I am on the internet since I was basically without it for a week – I felt very out of touch.  Sometimes we yearn for that, but not unless it’s our choice, right?  It’s not just that I couldn’t write a post or upload pictures (could, but very slow on the BlackBerry), it’s not just that I couldn’t ramble around Ravelry or download podcasts.  I couldn’t check my bank account at 10 at night, I couldn’t place orders with some suppliers except during business hours, and volunteered for a web-heavy project for our LYS group and had to do it via BlackBerry – very hard on my eyes and thumbs.

Okay -  I’m done complaining.  I want to thank all our Frequent Buyers for a wonderful response to our sale – and let everyone else know that there are still good buys to be had on sale merchandise and as soon as you turn in a new card, you’re assured of an invite to our next sale!  It’s been too long since I had time to think, so I’m not sure what has come in since I last talked about new yarns, but we have a nice selection of summer yarns and great models – including the Sprout Cardigan that David Ritz posted a week ago or so – another great job by David!

We’re hard at work on the summer class schedule – it’s going to be wonderful.  Some of the models for the classes are done, or at least done enough that we could take pictures at our teachers’ meeting.  I’ll  whet your appetite a little next week and hope to have the schedule ready for you in another week or so after that.  I’ll send out emails when it’s up on the site – if you’ve changed your email recently, be sure to update it here.

I’m deep into a wool vest for a rather studly friend, who has a 38″ waist and a 52″ chest.  He also has the nerve to be long-waisted so in addition to remembering to shape the body by incorporating increases into the (thankfully simple) stitch pattern and working 300+ stitches every row, I’m also going to have to lengthen the body quite a bit.  I don’t care, though; after knitting with cottons and summer blends for the last 3 months, it’s just a pleasure to work with a nice plain wool.  No hurt fingers, no sore shoulders – there’s just something wonderful and satisfying about it.

I have a bajillion pictures to show you, so here we go:

Pat Schaeffer finished her second sweater in as many months.  It’s our Misty Mo pullover, but done in yummy pink Alpaca Bouclé and bordered with a pretty multicolored mohair.  It will be wonderful to wear next winter!

Karen Wenrich made this wonderful afghan from a Manos Del Uruguay pattern and various colors of a really yummy superwash merino wool.  I wish you could feel it – even in 90 degree weather, you still want to touch it.

Here’s a detail:

Sheila Yarus and I both made designs from the Noro Flowers collection, and both in the same colorway of Taiyo – I guess we were both just yearning for bright, striking colors after a long winter. Sheila’s jacket is done sideways at the top; she looks just beautiful in it, doesn’t she?

Here’s the one I made: It only took 4 balls, which is still not inexpensive, but do-able.  We have the newest colors in stock as well as favorites from last year.

Look at this cute little creature, knit by Kelly Straub:

And Lynda Slovitsky designed and knit this wonderful sweater, inspired by a photo she loved in a magazine. She used Plymouth’s Royal Llama Silk in a design that incorporated seed stitch and sideways stockinette.  Looks so perfect on her.

Doesn’t Kris Hahn look great in her Curly-Q scarf, knit in a wonderful green shade of Kidsilk Haze from Rowan and edged with Paris Nights from Ironstone?

Sandy Albert finished this wonderful sweater from a Mari pattern in Cascade’s Ecowool.  She added the black accents for collar and cuffs and it sparked up the whole look.

Here is Barb Piazza in her “favorite sweater ever” – what a great look for her in an awesome red:

We started our beginner crochet series this past weekend. The class was full and they all worked hard!  Inspiring them was teacher Lynne Nagle, who has some wonderful projects planned for crocheters this summer, and who wore this beauty to the teacher’s meeting, crocheted in Rowan Summer Tweed:

I should have gotten a closeup of the pretty pin she had on with it – perfect.

Well, I could yak on for a while, but you’ve probably had enough, already, and I’ve got errands to run.  So nice to talk to you again!  See you soon…

Trish