Nantucket Vest KAL.

...the best laid plans and all that...

Yes, our plans to start the Nantucket Vest KAL this month have been thwarted by the incredible popularity of the suggested Ripple yarn. Theresa ordered the white, black and natural (aka "color 07 - fog", the one pictured) colors and we finally received the white and the black last week. The natural is on back order, with an anticipated delivery date in late July.

So, we'll plan to cast on August 5 to allow everyone time to get their yarn*.  Figure we can all use a month off from a KAL... to make another Summer Flies or maybe finish up a project or two (does anyone else have three unfinished projects from previous KAL's, or is that just me?)

In the meantime, and I swatched (black - yikes!) the three main patterns on the three different suggested needle sizes. This is going to be a very fun knit!!

*Please call the shop (770-998-3483) if you'd like to pre-order yarn for the Nantucket Vest. The smallest size calls for six balls, the medium seven and the large ten. It's $9.00 a ball.

Cute. Cottage Style.

First, the new awnings. yes, they are yellow and white striped. and yes, don't they totally make the "Cottage"?

...and second, Butchie on his new bed. with his favorite tiger toy. and a box of yummy red cotton yarn keeping watch.

(yes, I am coveting a smaller version of this bed in pink with white polka dots for Holly!)

Any "cute" in your world right now?

We've Been Bombed.

...as in yarn bombed! yep, a few of our regulars celebrated World-wide Knit in Public Day this past weekend in a very constructive, very creative and very colorful way.

How did you celebrate?

Me, I knitted.

Yes, at the beach!

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.