Making a Bigger Summer Flies.

Happy Monday! We're seeing and hearing a lot about Summer Flies, our current KAL. The pattern knits up quickly and I know I'm not alone in saying this is one of the most fun lace shawls I've ever knit!

And while many of you are following Kathy's inspiration and using multiple skeins (or leftover bits and pieces :-) of koigu, at least a few - me included! - are using single skeins of malabrigo or kureyon sock.   Those single skeins have significantly more yardage than the koigu... malabrigo with 440 yards and kureyon with 462 yards. Which means leftovers (ugh!) or an opportunity to make the shawl bigger. I'm opting for the bigger shawl.

But how to make it bigger? This isn't a typical lace shawl with a charted pattern that you can simply repeat more times. Ravelry to the rescue! I searched the finished projects to see if someone else who'd used one of these yarns might've figured out how - and posted the details.

Here's what my search looked like.

click the photo to see it bigger - I typed the name of the yarn (in quotes) into the search field

From here I found sylverling's Christmas Flies. and then found thetanull's.  success! thetanull's project page includes all the details for adding an additional set of butterflies and ridged eyelets and adding rows to the latticework and final sections. I plan to follow her instructions for the additional butterflies, ridged eyelets and latticework, but doubt I'll do more rows in the final section before the bind off.

We'll see. I still have 73 grams of yarn left after finishing section 5!

Knitting Summer.

Am I right to assume that 99% of the people who read this blog knit in climates where it gets HOT in the summer? ...and where we've all considered giving up knitting (gasp!) or simply knitting really small things (socks, mittens, hats...to, you know, get ahead of the holiday gift rush) or traveling someplace far away where it's cooler to get through the heat. Over the years, I've tried all of those things (last summer I knit a record three pairs of socks and a few lace shawls).

But my true knitting love is sweaters. And even though it's hot in Atlanta, we have air conditioning figured out, which means it gets cold inside. sweaters are comfortable (if not required).

So I was excited to see so many fun-to-knit (and fun-to-wear!) sweaters in the latest Interweave Knits. And when Jessica showed up to work the afternoon shift at the shop and said "did you see the new Interweave is here?" and I said "yeah" and we both said "let's match up patterns and yarn" [am I also right to assume that 99% of the people who read this blog completely get that conversation...and wish they'd been part of it?!] ...it was a lovely afternoon!

the cover, with all of our yarn selections

Here are our top three picks - pattern and yarn suggestions:

First up, the Torch Lily Tee (Jessica kicked off this whole thing when she favorited the pattern on ravelry last weekend). We think the Rowan Silky Tweed would be a lovely match. And both of us think the suggested modifications to make this a cardigan instead of a tee might make it more versatile (even if that does mean you're knitting back and forth, purling the wrong side :-). Oh, and did I mention the construction is top-down and seamless?

Next, the Cobblestone Vest. I suggested this one because I'm knitting a vest in the suggested Euroflax and loving it. Yes, the yarn seems a bit stiff, but it softens up as it's worked. and I love that the finished piece will be so easy to care for. Cobblestone has an interesting mix of lace and stockinette (not too boring to knit!) and the wrap-around waist seems flattering to many figures.

And finally...the Nantucket Vest. We're completely smitten. Feather and fan is a classic lace pattern and the construction - a knit circle, with different needle sizes used to create the circle, joined with a simple rectangle of stockinette - oh.my.wow. Maggiknits maggi's linen seems like a great substitute for the recommended Ripple - similar gauge, thick/thin texture and fiber content. 

Did I mention we're completely smitten? yep, enough to suggest this as our next knit along! The sizing (three sizes, based on your back measurement) is generous...and therefore forgiving. And we have many colors of the maggi's in stock. Look for more details, but we're tentatively planning to cast on in June (giving everyone enough time to finish Summer Flies once. or twice!)

What kind of a summer knitter are you? could we tempt you to try a sweater?

An Itty-bitty Baby Doll.

We are long-time fans of Susan B. Anderson - she designs many of the patterns for the wonderful Spud&Chloe yarns and she writes their blog and a blog of her own...and she has published several pattern books for baby and children toys and accessories. Itty Bitty Toys was the first (I think?!) one,  published in 2009. (side note - I first heard about the book on Never Not Knitting, one of the podcasts I mentioned a few weeks back; Alana interviewed Susan in this episode - it's a great listen!)

The book includes 27 patterns for stuffed toys in all shapes and sizes - some are knitted, some are crocheted and all are 100% adorable.  See what I mean?

This is the Baby Doll Set  knit by our very own Patty M. for her granddaughter. She completed the ensemble with the matching child's hat... even down to those yellow braids!

LOVE the detail - the belly button, the fingers and toes...and the lace edging on the bloomers

here's the back view

...and a close-up of the ruffle. see what I mean about details?!

Patty used the suggested Rowan Organic Purelife Cotton DK and it worked up beautifully - the finished pieces are soft ... completely lovable!

Thank you for sharing the finished objects with us, Patty - they're truly special!

Officially.

Yes, if you've seen the newsletter, you know it's officiall! We've chosen Summer Flies  as our next KAL, starting next Friday, May 6.

In case you haven't been in the shop lately, here are the two versions that inspired our choice, knit by our own Kathy S. Kathy said that when she read the pattern and saw it laid out in sections...she knew she had to use different colors of Koigu KPPPM. Inspired indeed!

For these two shawls, Kathy used three colors of KPPPM (and size 8 needles and she followed the pattern as written). Now she's working on a third (and it might be finished by now) that uses six. We've seen a lot of interest in the multi-colored idea, and Theresa wants to encourage everyone to try it. So she's put the KPPPM on sale - 10% off. Thanks, T!

Marci and I played around with some pairings yesterday. See how fun this is!

 

Of course, Summer Flies can be knit in just about anything - any weight, color, solid, variegated, etc. As long as it will show off lace, go for it! If you're not sure about the alternating color idea, how about a multicolor fingering weight? I have a skein of Kureyon Sock in my stash that I've been holding back for a lacy shawl.  And the Malabrigo and Madelinetosh Sock are always lovely choices for lace. You could make the shawl bigger if you choose the Kureyon or Malabrigo, since they have 440+ yards. This project on Ravelry has details for adding extra sections.

We'd love to have you join us - virtually in either our Ravelry forum or on Facebook, or in person at the shop on Friday afternoons.

edited to respond to Bonnie's comment - be sure to use version 8 of the pattern (that's the one that's linked above) - Kathy and Sally both used it and didn't find any errors.

Another Kind of KAL.

Maybe it was Stitches South. or maybe it was the weather. or maybe it was just luck, but at 2:30 last Friday afternoon, when I am usually knitting along at a table full of other knitters, I found myself knitting alone. OK, yes, I was in a yarn shop, surrounded by knitters - and stitchers :-) - but I was the only one knitting. I had fun chatting with folks, and got Marci to take my photo.

me and Holly (of course!) and my clapotis!

And then I thought about turning this into a blog post. Because I'm sure most of us end up knitting (or stitching) alone - KAL for purposes of this post! - at some point.

How do you keep yourself company when you find yourself KAL? Of course there's TV, and with DVRs, that's maybe all you need!  But you can watch TV with other people. What I like to do when I KAL is listen to knitting podcasts - and I've often been asked about my favorites, so I thought I'd share:

Electric Sheep - hosted by Katie, aka "Hoxton Handmade", who lives in London (yes, I love listening to her accent, too!), this is a thoughtful, well-produced, typically weekly podcast. She begins each cast with an essay and those essays might be my favorite part.  Most have made me laugh, all have taught me something, and one even made me cry (in a good way :-) She also talks about knitting and the knitting scene in Great Britain.

Doubleknit - hosted by Erin & Jessica who live in Seattle. They are avid knitters, readers and TV/movie watchers; and they talk about all those things on each show. Their casts aren't quite as frequent, maybe once every three to four weeks.

Never Not Knitting - hosted by Alana Dakos, aka "Never Not Knitting". Alana is also a designer; she has published patterns for accessories and sweaters for both adults and children. She podcasts semi-monthly, in series of ten and then takes a break. As I type this, she's on a break; I think new episodes will resume in May. She talks about her knitting and designs, reviews yarns and books and occasionally interviews designers (like Debbie Bliss, Hannah Fettig, Kate Gagnon-Osborne). Each episode also includes a story submitted by a listener; one of my favorites was a story submitted by Kirsten Kapur (who is also a favorite designer of mine).

Stash & Burn - hosted by Jenny & Nicole who live in San Francisco. This podcast started in early 2007 - pre-Ravelry! as Jenny & Nicole attempted to get their sizable stashes "under control". They talk about knitting and life and yarn and patterns and stash. Lots of stash...

You can download these (and many other!!) podcasts - for free! - on iTunes.

If you have recommendations to share, please join in - I'm going to open up a thread in our Ravelry group and of course you can also comment on Facebook.

Love.

And no, this isn't a post about yarn.

Nope, it's about a new puppy.

A very-hard-to-photograph puppy.

Named Butch ("Butchie" for short).

I had originally titled this post "Theresa's new love", but then I thought about this photo and decided it was probably just about "love".

Congratulations to Butch(ie) and Theresa - puppy love is the best!!

p.s. this is Butch's sister Annie loving on his mama Penny. apparently the "love" runs in the family!

A Brief Update on the Clapotis KAL.

Happy Rainy Monday! Hope everyone enjoyed a knitting/stitching-filled weekend, with plenty of college basketball!

I wanted to share a quick update on our latest KAL, the Clapotis. We had a lively and large number at the shop on Friday. Hope just as many of you joined us virtually for the cast on!

Sally and Theresa

Just about everyone is using the spreadsheet I linked to in the last post. And no one but me is mirroring their twisted stitches. There were a few questions about slipping the stitches at the beginning of every row. I slip purlwise every time, with the yarn in front on the purl side and with the yarn in back on the knit side. Being consistent - remembering to slip on every row and slipping the same way on every row - is more important than the specifics of how you slip.

Mary and Kathy

Knitters have selected a few different yarns for the project - I saw Araucania Ruca, Misti Alpaca Suri Handpaint, Ella Rae Lace Merino, Spud & Chloe Fine and Malabrigo Sock. Each of these yarns is working up beautifully. It's just a matter of selecting the right size needle and adjusting the pattern size (number of increase and/or straight repeats) if necessary. BTW - the spreadsheet makes it really easy to make those pattern modifications!

We also had the opportunity to support a good cause. Kathy's daughters made stitch markers ($5 for a dozen) and all the proceeds are going to Samaritan's Purse to help Japan. She sold out Friday, but promises another batch early this week.