A(nother) Mystery KAL.

Has anyone else noticed the growing popularity of mystery KALs on Ravelry? A few of us are six weeks into Rowan's Mystery Afghan KAL, featuring their new Pure Wool Worsted (it's not too late to join, click here for all the details)...and a few of us are gearing up for this summer's hottest mystery shawl, hosted by Through the Loops and Kirsten Kapur .

Here's what Kirsten says about the design:

This year’s shawl will be a shallow triangle. I love this shape for its ease of wear. Since the point is not nearly as deep or pronounced as on a traditional triangle it can be tossed casually around the neck much like a scarf. With its triangular shape it still works well worn across the back as a shawl to show off the lovely patterning. For this design I recommend a solid, semi-solid, or gradient yarn. 

Her sample used 500 yards of fingering-weight yarn and she suggests a size 6 needle. She also says that complete swatching information will be available as part of the first clue that comes out on June 1. The remaining four clues will be released on the next four Sundays, hopefully by midnight Eastern time. If you stick to the schedule, you could be sporting a new summer shawl for the July 4th weekend! Please note that the pattern is available (on Ravelry or in-store) for half-price until June 1.

Kathy and I had fun yesterday picking out yarn. Here are a few of our suggestions.

First up, Fibre Company Meadow. This is a heavy lace-weight blend of merino, llama, silk and linen. One 545 yard skein should be enough (if you get gauge!). I used this yarn to knit Meadowsweet last summer (another Mystery KAL) and love the finished piece.

Meadow in Bergamot

Kathy and Sue have chosen Isager's Alpaca Merino 2, a fingering weight blend of ... alpaca and merino. You would need two skeins of a single color, but we think the gradient is stunning.

Alpaca Merino 2 in colorways 30, 4, 2 and 0 (top to bottom) 

 And last but not least, because we love how it looks knit up in lace, Quince&Co Sparrow. This is a fingering weight linen and comes in 168 yard skeins. Choose four of a single color...or a gradient.

Sparrow in colorways Sans, Little Fern, Citron and Fen (left to right)

I'd planned to use that skein of Meadow myself, but once I saw the Sparrow (and how pretty it looks knitted in lace), I changed my mind.

my choice - Sparrow in Paprika

Don't forget to join the Fans of Through the Loops group on Ravelry and introduce yourself on the mystery thread. The virtual community is a lot of fun for mystery KALs!

Quince & Co Linen | Project Inspiration.

Just in time for - our admittedly a bit belated! - Spring - we are so very pleased that our first shipment of Quince & Company linen has arrived! We are now stocking both Sparrow and Kestrel...in all the colors (of course!)

Both yarns are 100% organic linen, and like your favorite woven linen garments, they'll get softer and drapier with wear. Sparrow is a multi-ply sport-weight (recommending 6 stitches per inch on a size 3 needle), similar to Euroflax and Claudia's Hand-painted Linen. But the color palette is softer and more...organic.

Sparrow in Juniper and Birch

Kestrel is a flattened, chain-stitch tube that knits up to an aran to chunky gauge (recommending 4 to 3.75 stitches per inch on a size 9 to 10-1/2 needle). It reminds me of Shibui Linen, but bigger (much bigger!)

Kestrel in Rosehip and Senza

Quince & Company has plenty of pattern support for Sparrow, including Hannah Fettig's Knitbot Linen from last spring. This yarn is also suggested for two of our newest favorite designs - Bristol Ivy's Linum Tee (from Spring 2014 Interweave Knits) and Jamie Thomas' Meander (just released last week).

Kestrel is new this season and Quince & Company has released a five-pattern collection of simple sweaters and a cowl. But if you'd like to dip your toes into a smaller project, how about the Churchmouse Diagonal Lace Scarf & Wrap . I cast on the wrap-sized version  myself Sunday evening and I'm thrilled with the quick progress I'm getting with 42 stitches on size 11 needles!

A few inches into the 2nd ball...it's already more than 16" long!

And stay tuned for a tutorial on how to turn this project into the perfect social knit...once you know how to read your knitting, it's a piece of cake!

Rowan Afghan Mystery KAL | Week One.

We got off to a great start with Week One. The clue came out a few days early to give all the anxious knitters an opportunity to knit over the holiday weekend. A group of us gathered at the shop Friday afternoon to get started (well, a few of us couldn't wait that long and arrived with a few squares already completed).

showing off our progress!

I decided not to swatch (??!! right??!!) and knit my first square on size 7 needles as the pattern suggested. Whoa. It turned out huge (as in 9-3/4" x 8-3/4" instead of approximately 8" square). I knit a second square on size 6's. It's still a little big (9" x 8-1/2"), but I like the fabric.  And that square used only 28 grams of the 100g ball, so I can knit three squares at that gauge and have enough yarn. I still need to block the square and I'm hoping I can "square it up" a bit then. To block, I'll pin it into shape and then spritz it (with plain tap water) to get it wet. When it dries, it should hold the pinned out shape.

my two completed squares - the first (bigger) one I knit is on the bottom to give you an idea how much bigger it is!

I think I'm the only one from our shop doing a 17-color afghan. I've mapped Martin's original color recommendations to my yarn so it's really easy for me to simply follow his suggestions to know which colors to use each week. For this first clue, he suggested Redcurrent (120) and Grasshopper (130). I have the Grasshopper and instead of Redcurrent, I have Rich Red (124). Folks knitting five or nine color afghans have to decide... regardless, you need to knit six squares.

It's not too late to join in. The next clue comes out a week from today, on Monday, April 28. You still have a whole week to knit the first six squares! You can find all the details in the Rowan forum on Ravelry (here). We also have a thread in our Ravelry group if the volume of posts in the Rowan thread scares you! If you want to be eligible for prizes at the end, you do need to 

1. use the Pure Wool Worsted;
2. finish (and post photos on Ravelry), I think by sometime in mid-to-late July; and
3. write one post in the Rowan forum (thread linked above) to "sign up".

It's really not hard... if you need help, just let us know!

A Dispatch from the Yellow Table.

Sometimes I overthink this whole blogging thing, especially when it's been a long time since I posted*. I want to share something "perfect"...and I get so caught up in all that...that I just can't seem to get it done. So I decided this morning that I'd take a different approach. Something simple. Y'all let me know what you think.

This is the first in what I hope to make a recurring feature here, sharing a bit of what's going on around our Yellow Table.

First up, we're excited about the latest issues of Knit.Wear and Knitscene, especially these four tops, perfect for the warmer weather:

Folded Lace Tank - Pretty pleats and lace knit in Manos' Serena.

(c) Interweave Knits

Bokeh Tank - Another pretty top with lace accents, knit with Shibui Linen and Silk Cloud held together. The Silk Cloud adds just a touch of soft halo to the Linen's structure. There's a sample swatch in the shop if you want to see and feel for yourself.

(c) Knitscene/Harper Point

Linum Tee - ...and Another! This one is knit with Quince & Co's Sparrow...which should be in the shop any day now. That's right! We're going to be carrying Sparrow! This tee requires only five or six skeins for most sizes; it's a great project to try the yarn.

(c) Knitscene/Harper Point

Morro Tank - Asymmetrical color blocks knit in Shibui Staccato. What's not to love!

(c) Knitscene/Harper Point

We're still talking about - and a few of us are knitting! - Shibui. Sandy's Mix workshops last weekend were a lot of fun. Nothing like a few dozen garments in a trunk show to get everyone excited about a new project...or three! Right, that might me! (you can read about my queue derailment on my personal blog -> here)

Mix swatches - that top one is Pebble & Linen and maybe my new favorite

And last but not least, an upcoming Mystery KAL.

(c) Rowan Yarns, 2014

This one is hosted by Rowan and features an afghan designed by Martin Storey to highlight their new (washable) Pure Wool Worsted. You can read more details on the pattern page in Ravelry (here) or come into the shop. We've got all fifty colors in stock; you can use one of their suggested palettes, or create your own. Here's mine:

I started with the suggested 17-color palette and swapped out a few colors to make my unique palette. I've done a few Mystery KALs, but never one for an afghan. I think the format of this KAL might be just the thing to keep me excited about all that knitting!

So - that's it - of course there's a lot more going on in the shop... yarn, patterns, works-in-progress... if you have an hour or two, we'd love to have you stop by. Take a seat at the Yellow Table. Share what you're working on...and soak up inspiration. It's one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon!

*Whoa, February 20 seems like ages ago...and it was in a way. It was winter and we were digging out from snow and knitting all the warm things. And now it's spring. The weather forecast is sunshine and low 70's. A new season is always an inspiration, isn't it?!

Mixing It Up.

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Shibui's yarns. According to Ravelry, I've completed ten projects with their yarns, including Heichi (worsted weight raw silk), Staccato (fingering weight super wash merino and silk blend), Silk Cloud (lace weight mohair and silk blend), Linen, Merino Alpaca (worsted weight merino and alpaca blend) and - most recently - Pebble (a lace weight silk, merino and cashmere blend).

Four of these projects feature "mixes" - holding together multiple strands of one or more yarns. Admittedly I've become slightly obsessed with the whole idea of blending the different fibers and textures to create the perfect "yarn" for a project. One of my favorite mix-ins is Silk Cloud. I added it to Heichi for Garance (project details here) and to Staccato and then Merino Alpaca for two Mix No. 9's (project details here and here). Something about that silky mohair, with its fine halo and shimmery core, takes a beautiful yarn and makes it truly stunning. It also plumps up…so instead of knitting with a fingering weight, it's DK, or instead of worsted, it's aran. And that means fewer stitches per inch, resulting in quicker projects.

my Mix No. 9 - Staccato and Silk Cloud

I knit Mix No. 9 for the first time last winter as part of our knit-along. I followed the pattern as written, holding together one strand each of Staccato and Silk Cloud (to make a DK gauge). I'm not gonna lie…it was a lot of knitting (nearly 900 yards on size 7 needles). But it was most definitely worth it. The finished piece is beautiful, wearable, warm (it's gotten lots of use this year!) and stylish. My daughter has borrowed it multiple times, but when I offered to knit one for her but she said "no". She wants to knit it for herself … someday (yes, it's a lot of knitting!)!!

can you see the halo and the shine from the Silk Cloud?

Ah…but she needs the cowl now! So I tweaked the pattern a bit and used a chunkier mix (Merino Alpaca and Silk Cloud, which knits up at an aran gauge), bigger needles (size 10), fewer stitches and a lot less knitting! I was delighted with the project (you can see all the details on my Ravelry page here); and she loves it, too!

her Mix No. 9 - Merino Alpaca and Silk Cloud

Heichi and Silk Cloud would be perfect for another chunky version. I'd suggest size 9 needles and a few more stitches. But if you don't mind all the knitting, I think Pebble and Silk Cloud would be stunning. That mix knits up to a DK weight (which is what the pattern suggests), but I'd still go up a needle size to an 8, and reduce the stitches just a bit.

In summary, here are suggested alternate mixes, skeins, needle and stitch counts. Follow the pattern as written except for these changes (and feel free to ask if you have questions!)

• Merino Alpaca (4 skeins) and Silk Cloud (2 skeins) - size 10 needle; 52 stitches.
• Heichi (5 skeins) and Silk Cloud (2 skeins) - size 9 needle; 56 stitches
• Pebble (4 skeins) and Silk Cloud (3 skeins) - size 8 needle; 64 stitches

Have you tried mixing it up? Which mixes are your favorites? and which ones do you want to try?

Beaubourg | Done.

Yep, it's done! finished. seamed. blocked. gifted. and (very poorly! so sorry, Katie!) photographed.

You can see the details on sizing, needles and yarn requirements on my Ravelry project page (here).

I followed the pattern exactly, except for the collar which I picked up and knitted directly onto the neck edge (instead of knitting it separately and then seaming). And it came together beautifully. I especially love the yarn over short rows to shape the shoulders and front neckline. I did think to take photos as I worked them and created a short pictorial to walk you through the technique.

A few other finishing notes:

• I buried all my ends on the knit side (which is the wrong side of the finished piece) before I started seaming. Note that I joined all the new balls a few stitches in from the sides so my side seams would be smooth. Heichi separates into three strands; I buried each of those strands separately with a sharp needle. 
• I used Silk & Ivory (from the needlepoint side of the shop) to sew the seams. That thread is sturdy and smooth and made seaming the Heichi almost easy.
• I worked all the seams in mattress stitch, treating the knit side like the right side. That put my seams on the outside once I turned the garment purl side out. (and yes, that means I had to do a very careful job with them because it's like wearing a garment inside out!)
• I first seamed both shoulders and then I knit the collar.
• For the collar, I picked up a multiple of 4 stitches (so I could work the K2/P2 ribbing in the round) beginning at one shoulder. I knit the collar with the knit side facing - just like a regular collar on a stockinette sweater. I bound off in pattern, loosely. I didn't work any special bind off, just loose - but even - tension on the stitches. The collar used a full skein of yarn to be exactly the 6" the pattern suggested.
• And then I seamed the sides, wove in the last few ends (this sounds quick but it took four hours!) and gave it good 30 minute soak (in the bathroom sink).
• I smoothed it into place and let it dry. Note that I took this photo early in the drying process. I subsequently unfolded the collar so it wouldn't dry with any kind of crease. (note that Katie isn't wearing the collar folded in the photo above).

And now - the pictorial on working the short rows. We've added a new section to the sidebar to store tutorials like this…hopefully over time we'll have a real catalog. If there are ones you'd like to see added soon, please let us know.

I think that's all I have to say about Beaubourg - except - I wish it were mine! The finished piece feels great and you know silk is one of my favorite fibers. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you'll consider knitting this one for yourself!

Sundry | Tips to Begin.

Three of us cast on our Sundry shawls at the shop last Friday and I know there are a few more out there! Please do share your progress in our Ravelry group; we'd love to cheer y'all on!

I've used about one-third of my main color yarn, so that means I'm half-way through the main color solid garter section. There are 69 stitches on the needles, but the rows are getting noticeably longer; I'm not sure how many stitches I'll be able to increase before I start the houndstooth section.

The only tip I have to share so far is to mark the right edge of the right side (RS) rows. I'm using a locking stitch marker and I move it up every few inches so I can see it easily. When I start a row at that edge, I know I'm knitting a right side row (with an increase at the beginning). Conversely, when I start a row at the other edge, I know I'll be decreasing at the beginning and increasing at the end.

I am nearly certain I've messed up those increases and decreases somewhere along the 100+ rows I've worked. But I'm completely positive it doesn't matter! I am just weighing my yarn and counting my stitches every few inches so I'll know when to start the houndstooth section.

Isn't that bias edge pretty? (it's the left edge of the RS rows.)

If you have any questions about your Sundry please post them here or on Ravelry. And please - share photos!!

…and now I'm off to start swatching the latest from Shibui.

yep, I do love my job!