Julie Hoover Crush.

Have you heard of Julie Hoover?  Her designs are clean and modern and use fibers like silk, cashmere, merino and stainless steel. And even though she lives in Alaska (where I'm betting they won't see 80 degrees for months...right now, the headline photo on her website shows tree trunks buried in snow!) she has a few patterns that are perfect for warm - ok, maybe even hot - weather.

Yesterday, the Habu yarn* suggested for two of them arrived in the shop.

Specifically, the Tsumugi Silk for Insouciant.

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And the Silk Stainless Steel and Merino for Decalage.

click photo to enlarge

we've put together suggested color pairings - note that you could  use a single color of merino and a single color of silk/stainless and you'd need only three cones of merino and one cone of silk/stainless

...and Theresa tells me that the silk for Tisse should be in the next Fed Ex delivery (hopefully today!)

*in addition to these three yarns, we also have more cotton gima and more kits.

Fed Ex Delivers.

...Malabrigo!!! ***happy dance!!***

As much as I love our UPS guy, the Fed Ex guy gives him a run for his money when he delivers three huge boxes of Malabrigo (of course Fed Ex should take a lesson from UPS and deliver those boxes in the morning, not the afternoon. but I digress).

Today, the Fed Ex guy was our hero. Those three boxes of Malabrigo were full of Rasta (five skeins each of every color - you know Theresa, she has to have all the colors!) and the newest - and best - Finito. Four bags each in every color (you know Theresa, she has to have all the colors! :-) I've already cried "yarn crush" twice this past month, so I'm not going to cry it again. [but I do feel like I should whisper it loudly ****yarn crush****] oh my.

If you've been waiting for Rasta, the time is now. Now! The selection is as good as it gets...

And if you don't know about Finito - or maybe even if you do! - it's 200 yards of the finest merino in a heavy fingering/light sport weight. It suggests 6 - 6.5 stitches per inch. And of course the colors are Malabrigo-lovely.

So if you've been waiting for the perfect lightweight merino in gorgeous colors to knit that perfect cowl or scarf, the time is now (also?, too?, does it really matter?!)

...maybe you don't have a pattern in mind...of course we do. In fact, we have two.

First up - and especially recommended if you knitted the jeweled cowl and have leftover beads - Churchmouse's English Mesh Lace Scarf . Two skeins of the Finito would be perfect.

And next up - Looped Loop . Many of us knit Sev[en]Circle and loved it; this pattern is by the same designer. Again, you'd need two skeins.

If you have other pattern suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

We can't wait to see what you knit!

Misti Alpaca Pima Silk.

aka another yarn crush. I know. They're coming fast and furious aren't they? Yes, the last one was just three weeks ago. (and yes, I haven't even cast on my Rill Scarf yet...later this week, I hope!) But that's how it goes when the temperatures warm just a bit and the trees start to blossom and the birds are chirping madly and a new yarn from Misti Alpaca arrives and it takes all my will power not to drop everything and cast on something. immediately.

Monday was a day like that.

The yarn is Pima Silk. It's a blend of 83% pima cotton and 17% silk in a DK weight and a generous 327 yards per skein. We have tonal solids in nearly all the colors and the hand paints in confetti and guilded lilys (don't you love that name?)

Believe me, this stuff is soft. The colors are vibrant. And at 327 yards per skein, it screams cowl to me.

I spent Monday night searching Ravelry for suitable patterns and I have three recommendations to share with you.

First, for the variegated handpaints, I'd suggest the Honey Cowl . That pattern is my favorite to show off pretty colors and it knits up fast and easy. (Note: The pattern is written for a light worsted yarn and a gauge of 5 st/in. The Pima Silk suggests 5.5 st/in on a size 6 needle; at that gauge, 176 stitches will give you a 32" long cowl.)

And how pretty would it be fastened with one of Kathy's pins?

the Confetti colorway

For the solids, I have two suggestions, both free patterns (available on Ravelry) from the lovely ladies at Kelbourne Woolens.

The first is Wicker Cowl . It's a straightforward charted lace pattern with a 10-stitch repeat, sized for a DK yarn, so you can simply follow the pattern as written.  The second is Avery Cowl . It's also a charted lace pattern, but more complex (34 stitches over 24 rows) and suited for an intermediate lace knitter. The pattern is sized for DK yarn, so you can follow it as written.

We had fun pairing the tonal colorways with more of Kathy's pins.

...and I managed to get through my crazy case of startitis by living vicariously through Lucille!

Lucille's Wicker Cowl...started, and accessorized!

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?