Knitting through the Heichi Book.

That huge shipment of Shibui that arrived last week included all the colors of Heichi, a worsted weight 100% silk. I have been smitten with the yarn since I bought the heichi book last month, because I want to knit every single project shown in the book!

I've already started the first piece, Ripple - a textured stole, using Sidewalk and I picked out Caffeine to knit the cabled vest on the cover, called Shadow. Yesterday, Marci helped me pick out the colors for the rest of the garments (I'm showing a bit of restraint - I won't be choosing colors for the hat and the pocketbook until I finish a few of the other pieces!)

I had originally envisioned a very neutral palette with a pop of green. I kept to that plan for Echo, a cardigan knit with two colors (one color per side; it's joined down the back). This is Tar and Steel, the colors shown in the book (I almost never do that, but really, those colors look so great together). 

But for the tunic and the shell, Marci convinced me that colors really would work. So I'm getting outside my neutral comfort zone with Chestnut, a rich red-brown, for the Element tunic.

and Graffiti, a deep purple, for the Trace shell.  I stuck with that pop of green - Lichen - for the Reflection short-sleeved top.  The colors really do go well together...and (most important!) the pieces will work great with jeans and black.

Now I can't wait to get started with the knitting!

Three Days.

Yep, I missed three days at the Cottage this past weekend. My daughter was in town, visiting from Los Angeles (yay!) and our very packed itinerary didn't include the Cottage until my Monday night class. Whoa. I hardly recognized the place.

Well, the Rowan Wall is still in place (thank goodness). And Madelinetosh Vintage is still featured on the back wall.

But we have new Rowan.

Creative Linen (left and top) and Summerspun (right and bottom)

And new Juniper Moon Farms.

Sabine and Yearling

And new lace samples and patterns*.

how cute is that green scarf? it's the Two-Way Ruffled Scarf, the top layer is Rowan Fine Tweed and the bottom is Kidsilk Haze

And more new patterns.

we have the FULL line of Carol Sunday's gorgeous patterns - these three are my favorites - a capelet in worsted weight, and a shawl and a scarf in a fingering or light sport weight

...and a huge stack of other patterns that call for habu, laceweight, shabui...and could be knit in a variety of yarns

And a very cool new book.

which I love all the more because of this photo! the project is Elks in the Woods and I know Holly wishes I had room in my queue....

And hats!!!

the hats are for sale and you can take Kathy's felting class to embellish and make it your own!

And a good bit of empty space.

...to house the huge shipments of Shibui (that arrived today!), Madelinetosh and Habu that Theresa has ordered.

Three days is a very long time to be away from the shop these days!!

*the Rill Scarf patterns are in stock (and when I left the shop early this afternoon they were located on the left of the "lace table" at the front of the shop :-)...have you chosen your colorway?

Our Latest Yarn Crush (and our next KAL).

I've written before about project crushes - you know, where we see a pattern and fall wildly in love with it and drop everything to knit it. Well, on Saturday, we found our first yarn crush. Findley Dappled. We've been carrying the Findley - a laceweight silk & merino blend since last spring. We know the yarn is lovely and lovely to knit with. So why the crush?

Because of the new "dappled" colorways. There are eight. And every single one of them is gorgeous.

all eight colorways

(bottom to top) 101-uncial, 102-summerfield, 103-fruits de foret

(bottom to top) 104-frog's back, 105-clear blue sky

(bottom to top) 106-driftwood, 107-zinnia, 108-woodland

The photos don't do the colors justice... but I hope you get a sense of why we need to knit something with it. now!

How about Miriam Felton's Rill Scarf. Plenty of stockinette to show off the colors, with a little bit of lace and short rows to keep us from getting terribly bored. And only one skein is required. Of course that means you have to choose one!

I chose 108-woodland (and downloaded the pattern before I found out Theresa had ordered it!)

Theresa has ordered the pattern and it should arrive any day now. Knitting 700 yards of laceweight seems like it might require a bit of moral support, so we're going to start a Knit-along for the project on Friday, March 2. Please join us!

And a quick reminder that the 3rd Sunday is this weekend - which means the Sock Club is meeting. Sunday, February 19, 1-3 pm.

A Story in Three Photos.

Did you ever read the Carl books? They're books (mostly) without words, so maybe "read" isn't the right question - but for sure, pictures can tell a story. Today, Holly met Mr. Big (the half brother of Butchie and Annie).

Check it out.

What story do they tell?

Knitting Along the Ella Coat.

Oh my. I can't even think where to start. So I'll share a photo.

that's Boo, Penny, Anne (not knitting Ella), Nora, Nancy, Kathy and me

Yes, that's us yesterday afternoon (mostly*) working on week 2 of the Ella Coat Knit-along. Week 2 starts at the armhole shaping and ends with the bodice completed. Which means there is counting and decreasing (including that tricky ssp!) and talking.....and frogging.

And Kathy looking for bling.

And finding it!

this is what Kathy found for herself (her coat is madelinetosh vintage in the fragrant colorway)

and for Nancy (Nancy's coat is the red, the orange will be the ruffle and the multi sparkle will be stripes)

And Nora looking for inspiration for ruffles.

my coat is shepherds' wool in the plum colorway and that's noro silk garden for the ruffle

And finding it...for me! (thank you Nora for spending much of your knitting time hunting through the bins of Silk Garden to find this!) I hope week 3 includes ruffles because I am so excited about knitting mine I'm not sure I can wait much longer!

(sadly, I didn't get a photo of Nora's ruffle selection - maybe next week?).

It's not to late to join the fun. Be sure to join the Ravelry Group and subscribe to Noni's blog for all the details. And definitely make plans - if you can - to knit with us on Friday afternoons. We start around 1 and end...by 6!

*anyone is free to join in the Friday afternoon knitting...many of us are working on Ella, but not everyone is!

Socks from the Toe Up.

click to see all the patterns on Ravelry

Our sock knitting club starts this Sunday (January 15) from 1-3pm at the shop. The club is going to knit projects from Wendy Johnson's fabulously popular book, Socks from the Toe Up.

They've selected the Diagonal Lace Socks (page 52 ) for their first project.

Prolific sock knitter Jane Kelley has already finished one pair. She used Madelinetosh Pashmina in the magnolia leaf colorway. Pashmina is a sport weight blend of merino, cashmere and silk. I think her feet are going to be spoiled!

The club is meeting monthly on the third Sunday. Hope you're making plans to join in!

Happy New Year. Let's KAL!

Whoa. Blogger tells me it's been 22 days since I last posted. Yes, time flies when you're having fun (or when you're trying to finish up that holiday knitting that didn't seem like that much knitting when you planned it. back in July.)

Please forgive me. (and promise me you'll help me with my holiday knitting "problem" this year by either a) convincing me not to knit it; or b) helping me understand how long it will really - really!! - take to knit - thank you!)

OK deep breath and yes, it's 2012. A new year. I hope you have plans - like me! - for NEW knitting!! ...and a new KAL*!

or two.

or three.

Yep. that's right. We're planning THREE knit-alongs to start the year.

First up, the Ella Coat. Kathy started a world-wide craze; Noni herself has jumped on the bandwagon for this one.  Yay, Kathy! We're officially casting on January 20 at 1pm. If you're interested, check out Noni on Ravelry or Facebook for more details and then contact the shop to get your yarn (come in person if you can - we have all the colors of the suggested Shepherd's Wool in stock).

Kathy will be knitting a striped version.

yes there are sparkles in with all those colors!

I've opted for a solid with a contrasting ruffle.

that dark color (my main color) is the same color shown on the pattern cover. personally, I hope it doesn't turn out quite that bright!

Next, the Panoramic Stole. Continuing our crush on the ever popular Coastal Knits - this is our second KAL from that book (we did the Rustling Leaves Beret in late 2011). I loved this design when I first saw the book. And Theresa sealed the deal when she told me she'd ordered the suggested yarn - Swan's Island. A stunning organic merino/alpaca fingering from Maine. Oh my! The pattern calls for just two skeins. We'll be casting this one on next week - Friday the 13th.

I've chosen a neutral... yes, for once, I won't be the one standing out in the crowd in the purple/blue/green/red lace shawl!

the oatmeal colorway

And third, any and EVERYthing Maggie! Our Maggiknits weekend was a huge success and we know many of you (and me!) have a few kits and/or projects to knit. Please let us know what you're working on - and of course, if you have any questions, ask!  My first (of three!!) projects is the Skerries Capelet (and yes, I'm going to knit it seamlessly!)

*we get lots of questions along the lines of "what's a KAL?". Simply, it's a Knit-along (KAL) - a project that the shop is supporting by encouraging lots of knitters to join in. So we post here on the blog, or Facebook, or Ravelry, or our newsletters about that project. Yarn and needle suggestions, skills required, helpful tips, anything that we think will help you complete that project successfully. Along the way, we like to have fun...and we love to celebrate those successful projects.  There is also a community aspect to these projects. Theresa has created a wonderful environment in the shop for knitting (seriously. that new couch and chairs. have you sat there to knit? amazing!) and we have KAL time in the shop every Friday afternoon from 1-ish til 4-ish (or maybe 6pm when the shop closes). It's a great time, not only to knit, but also to connect with other knitters (not only about knitting)...and it's my hands-down favorite way to start the weekend. If you have any questions about KAL-ing at the Cottage, please leave a comment here, or on Facebook or Ravelry. and please, don't be shy about joining us!