The Knitting Experience Blog
Spring Cleaning Sale!!
I can tell that Spring is on the way by the bright happy colors our knitters are selecting. Lush greens, vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges, brilliant sky blues are all calling out to be knit into gorgeous summer scarves, tops, bags and more. This is the time of year when those colors coming flooding into the shop with all the new warm weather yarns. Over the next few weeks we are expecting new yarns and new colors in existing favorites from Cascade, Blue Sky Alpacas, Spud and Chloë, Araucania, Elsebeth Lavold, and more. We even have a trunk show from Spud and Chloë on the way so that you can see some of their popular designs in person! You will already find a great selection of summer patterns to knit. I have my eye on the Ribby Shell from Chic Knits.
All those new yarns and patterns mean that we have to make room. If you stop by the shop this week, you'll see baskets of yarn everywhere. Many of those are items we have discontinued in order to make room for something new, and starting this Saturday you'll find incredible deals at our...
Spring Cleaning Sale!
Select in-stock yarns will be 20% to 50% off starting this Saturday March 13 through March 20.
Some of the yarns you will find on sale are:
Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted HandDyes
The Fibre Company Road to China
Plus a few others that we may decide to add as we rearrange the shop.
You'll also find great deals on clearance patterns and magazines. Please remember that supplies are limited.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!
New Chic Knits Patterns!
Time to knit those summer tops! The warm weather yarns are on the way and that means great patterns.
Check out the recent arrivals from Chic Knits:
The next two are my favorites and come with different style options. First is CeCe, which can be knit either as a 3/4 sleeve, or with short sleeves. Either one makes a great summer lace cardi. On Wednesday, we are expecting a great yarn for this design.
Next up is the Ribby Shell, pictured with the entire piece ribbed, or with a flat center panel. I'm thinking of going with the flat center panel and using Spud and Chloe Sweater in this color.
Inspiration Monday -
Recently a new yarn arrived at the shop - Ruca by Araucania. We received 2 of what will be many colors.
What is this lovely, silky looking yarn? Why, pure sugar cane!! That's right, sugar cane. Perfect for those allergic to animal fibers and for all of us looking for something light and airy for warm weather knits. The yarn has a silky drape and a gorgeous sheen that makes it a fabulous choice for summer scarves or tops.
The colorway (#20) with yellow/pink/peach lifted my spirits and made me think of sunshine.
With encouragement from Susan, I cast on for a drop stitch scarf on Saturday. I am so pleased with the results that I decided to share it as our inspiration project.
There are many versions of this scarf out there in knitting land. The pattern I'm using is from my favorite scarf book, Ocean Breezes.
The pattern is called Sea Foam and was designed using 444 yds of a mohair lace such as Kid Seta. I'm using 2 skeins of Ruca and a size US 6 needle.
You might be thinking at this point, what ever happened to her other projects? What is this with starting a new knit before we've seen the Fireside done?
Well, I NEEDED to knit the Ruca. You understand, don't you?
Plus, I'm *almost* done with the Fireside!!
Here you see the back, 2 fronts, and the beginnings of the sleeves. Since I took the picture, the sleeves have grown considerably and are almost to the cap shaping. Wahoo!!!!
We've had a few very special finished knits stop by the shop for a visit.
Deb was so kind to loan me her finished baby kimono out of Blue Sky Cotton and matching baby socks.
How adorable!!
Look at the sweet dress Karen made for a little girl in her life:
She used Cascade Heritage - a great choice for baby knits since it is extremely soft and machine washable.
And check out this crocheted baby afghan out of Berroco Comfort.
That's an heirloom piece!
Spunky Sock Yarn!!
Amy is amazing. In the middle of prepping for SPA, she dyed a beautiful assortment of Tough Sock for us.
I think the approach of spring has me hungry for color. Check out my recent order of Cascade Eco Wool:
More lovely things are on the way, including a brand new yarn from the folks at Cascade... stay tuned!
Inspiration Monday - Braided Tunic
Today's inspiration comes from the cover of the just released Spring 2010 Interweave Knits - the Braided Hood Tunic by Carol Feller.
Fun and stylish, it also looks like a great knit. I love the cable combinations. Notice the detail on the small cables running alongside the opening for the neck? And the way the side cables add a hint of waist shaping? You can't see the hood in this picture, but its construction shows a similar attention to detail that marks a great design. This is the type of piece that you can wear 10 months out of the year, and would look equally fabulous with a pair of shorts as well as with jeans.
The designer used one of my new favorite yarns -Spud and Chloe Sweater. The perfect blend of wool and organic cotton, it is machine washable, super soft, easy to knit, and has fantastic stitch definition (thus perfect for cables!).
Other possibilities include any worsted weight yarn. The fiber choice will determine whether you are going for a bit of extra warmth with an alpaca or wool, or a cool cotton layer. Becka has been debating between the Spud and Chloe and Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I've thought that Dream in Color Classy, Cascade 220, or Blue Sky Cotton would all be excellent choices.
Onto the news of the weekend. Of course it was the end of the Winter Olympics, as well as the Ravelympics. I am very proud to report that I finished my Olympic Citron shawl and received a medal in Short Track Shawls.
Here it is unblocked:
As I worked away on the last few repeats, it occurred to me that this shawl, in all it's pure cashmere heavenly softness, wasn't for me at all. It was actually for a dear friend. Does that ever happen to you? Does the knitting whisper it's intentions? Once it spoke, I realized how perfect it was for this person and that nothing would please me more than to know it had such a good home. Knitting is terribly clever that way.
This past weekend was also the annual Freeport SPA gathering. Somehow the TKE gang and I hit upon an absolutely brilliant idea to rent an entire B&B for Saturday night. Tori and Robin of The James Place Inn, were our hosts and ensured that we felt pampered as we enjoyed a relaxing evening knitting by the fire.
The next morning we were treated to the most incredible breakfast. We didn't have to lift a finger. Robin even cleaned the snow off our cars before we left to return to the real world. Thank you, Tori and Robin, for putting up with the invasion of not so quiet, but extremely happy, knitters.
SPA isn't SPA without a little fiber shopping.
My first purchase was from The Woolen Rabbit. This is Merino/Tussah. The splashes of dark purple caught my eye. I've found that I enjoy spinning deeply saturated color interspersed with lighter dyes, or perhaps stretches of undyed fiber.
I spent most of my time in my favorite booth - Spunky Eclectic. I know, you're shocked. I can't help it. Amy has a talent for painting fiber in a way that makes you NEED to touch it and spin it to see how the art of the fiber transforms into yarn.
My favorite find is the Panda braid - a blend of superwash merino/bamboo/nylon. I spun and knit a pair of socks out of this stuff last summer and loved the entire process.
The colorway is Nova Scotia. Now, I have to admit that I actually avoid this colorway due to an unfortunate incident with a pair of socks I knit for Peter out of Nova Scotia. Those socks took forever to knit for his feet and he blew out the heels in 2 weeks! Just the thought of those socks still makes me a bit queasy. BUT. Look at the blue in this braid. It is so DEEP. In places it looks almost black. Nova Scotia and I are back together thanks to that blue.
Pure curiosity had me grabbing the 4 ounces of Targhee in Black Cherry.
The fiber is spongey. Yes, that's a good thing. Imagine the spring of the yarn it will create.
Next is a sample of Tussah Silk. I've never spun pure silk before and wanted to give it a try. This one is in Sangria.
I've saved the best for last. Barbara surprised me with the gift of 2 ounces of Merino/Yak in Mercury.
I was so touched! Especially because she picked the one fiber in Amy's booth that I kept touching and wanting, but reluctantly putting back as the budget had been spent. She even picked one of my favorite colors. Thank you Barbara, I love it!
I hope everyone made it through the stormy weekend safely and that your power is back, or will be soon. Ours popped back on this morning and I am frantically trying to catch up on the laundry before the wind takes it out again.
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