Back in stock: Wool Trees.

Posted by Julia on September 26, 2014

We’re so happy to see a little forest of Wool Trees back on our shelves! These elegant yarn-ball controllers are handcrafted in California from maple, walnut, and sapele.

Wool Tree Mill makes a few variations on its original Wool Tree, as well. Here’s the tray model, with storage for your stitch markers, cable needle, point protectors, measuring tape–whatever bits and pieces sit beside you as you stitch. (Shown with a delicious skein of String Theory Caper Sock, sold separately.)

We also stock other products from Wool Tree Mill, including drop spindles and lucets. We’re happy to special-order Wool Tree Mill products that we don’t regularly stock, like the Wool Tree Double, with two spindles: perfect for two-color knitting. Come by the shop to see our selection of Wool Trees and other notions!

Interweave Crochet, and a few new books.

Posted by Julia on September 24, 2014

The Fall 2014 issue of Interweave Crochet is here!

In this issue, you’ll find garments and accessories that use many different crochet colorwork methods. The patterns within are decorated with all manner of stripes, intarsia, tapestry crochet, and Tunisian stranded colorwork.

There’s also a handy article on colorwork management, teaching how to work with multiple colors at once–a must for many of these patterns.

Look to the teacart at the shop for the latest crochet books and magazines, but don’t stop there; we have plenty of older titles on the bookshelf with patterns, techniques, and other inspiration. For example, we recently added this trio of crochet booklets for children’s garments, noticing a gap between our baby and adult patterns.

Megan Kreiner’s Bathtime Buddies also arrived at the shop recently, filled with patterns for crocheted sea creatures. If stitching toys and stuffed animals is right up your alley, be sure to check this one out, along with our other amigurumi books.

Browse them all at the shop!

New colors in Ewe So Sporty.

Posted by Julia on September 22, 2014

I’m happy to report that our supply of Ewe So Sporty has just doubled! Ewe Ewe just came out with 10 new shades of this soft and bouncy superwash merino.

Ewe So Sporty is named for its gauge, a sport weight yarn that knits up between 5.5 and 6.5 stitches per inch, depending upon needle size and desired fabric. It’s ideal for baby and children’s things, especially because it’s easy to care for–machine wash cold, lay flat to dry.

Anne recently knit this “Sleeping Cedars” baby bunting with four skeins of Ewe So Sporty. It doesn’t have its buttons or drawstring yet, but I had to snap a photo, lest it be gifted before I had another chance to document it.

Come by the shop to see all 20 cheery shades of Ewe So Sporty, and remember it whenever your next opportunity for baby knitting should arise!

Brioche and lace: two new books.

Posted by Julia on September 20, 2014

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for new books! Here are two of the latest publications from Interweave, each one focused on a single technique.

Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark’s Brioche Chic offers 22 garment and accessory patterns for men and women, all of which include brioche knitting.

Brioche is a lofty, stretchy fabric that can look like plush ribbing in its simplest form, and like twisting, multicolored cables or lace when modified or combined with other techniques.

My favorite in this collection: “Chevron Deep-V Pullover,” knit in Fibre Company Acadia.

If you’ve never tried brioche, this book is a great place to start, and its sure to keep you interested long after you’ve mastered the basics of the technique.

Everyday Lace, by Heather Zoppetti, is all about incorporating lace patterns into wearable, non-fussy garments. Inside, you’ll find patterns for sweaters of all shapes: tunics, vests, shrugs, pullovers, cardigans, and some accessories, too.

I spotted a few garments in familiar yarns. The “Kirkwood Vest” above is knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino, and the “Bellemont Cardigan” below is knit in Swans Island Organic Merino Worsted.

Come by the shop to find inspiration in a book or two, and plan your next project!

Needle cases from Della Q and Namaste.

Posted by Julia on September 18, 2014

We just got shipments from Della Q and Namaste full of colorful cases to help you make sense of your knitting needles. As knitters, our needle collections are ever-expanding and in need of some order, a need that these cases answer in style. A bonus: get your needles organized, and you’re far less likely to accidentally buy duplicates!

We have tri-fold circular needle cases and double-pointed circular cases in Della Q’s new natural color, among others.

For those with really huge circular needle collections, there’s The Que Grand Circular Needle Case, hand-crafted from lustrous silk.

Each pocket is labeled by US size and millimeter, making it easy to find exactly the needle you’re looking for.

For another take on circular needle cases, we turn to Namaste, whose needle storage takes an accordion-style shape.

While the Della Q cases come labeled, the Namaste circular needle cases have tabs you can label yourself. This can be handy if your needle collection leans more heavily on larger sizes than small, or vice versa. After all, if you don’t own US 17’s and don’t plan on ever acquiring them, you don’t need a space for them in your needle case.

Like Della Q, Namaste has also engineered a bigger case for bigger needle collections; meet the Namaste Double Wide, shown here with a matching Monroe bag. We’re down to just one of these already, though we’re happy to order one for you should it disappear from our shelves before you get to it.

These make great gifts for yourself or fellow knitters, so remember them when gift-giving occasions arise. Come by the shop to see all the new needle cases and other organizational tools from Della Q and Namaste!

New colors in Titus Shades.

Posted by Julia on September 16, 2014

We’re delighted to announce the recent arrival of three new colors in Titus Shades!

Titus Shades is a fingering weight blend of alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wools, sourced and spun entirely in the UK.

We’re proud to have been the first US stockist of the stuff, back in 2012 when it came in just one color. Since then, Titus has been warmly embraced by knitters, crocheters, and weavers all over the world, and now comes in no less than 11 glorious shades.

With new colors comes a new pattern collection: Coop Knits Toasty Vol. 1, by Rachel Coopey, featuring accessories of all kinds knit in Titus Shades.

Coopey’s designs use a variety of techniques that show how versatile Titus is. It shines in cables, lace, texture patterns, and stranded colorwork, behaves nicely at a range of gauges.

Rosi has been knitting a sample “Northallerton” hat from this collection, using all three new shades together.

Come by the shop to flip through Toasty, see Rosi’s hat-in-progress and my “Color Affection”–also knit with three shades of Titus. Consider this special yarn for your next project!

New kits from Romney Ridge Farm.

Posted by Julia on September 14, 2014

We just got new needle felting kits from Romney Ridge Farm in Maine! Last year at TNNA, Anne fell for the needle felted sheep, and a few other barnyard creatures. This year, we got kits to needle felt a whole menagerie of animals.

Rabbits, Shetland ponies, bears, seals, foxes, puffins and owls… any and all can be sculpted from fluffy fleece with the help of sharp felting needles and clear instructions. These kits come with all of the above.

Come by the shop to see our full selection of Romney Ridge Farm needle-felting kits! See you there.

Back in stock: String Theory sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on September 12, 2014

Our supply of String Theory sock yarns has been getting dangerously low, a problem we’re always thrilled to correct because it means picking out colors! Karen Grover and Tanis Williams, the amazing dyers at String Theory, create so many delightful, memorable colorways. Many of them have become favorites that we must order if they’re available, but we always love to see new colors, too. Our most recent order brought some of both.

Bluestocking is a lustrous sock yarn, composed of 80% superwash Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon, for durability. I’ve tested its durability with my own two feet, having knit a pair of socks with a skein of Bluestocking back in 2012. They’ve survived two winters of frequent wear and are still going strong.

Anne has worked with Bluestocking, too, and came back to it for a new project this past week. Her sweet three-year-old grandson recently visited the shop for a quick hug and hello. Anne pointed to the String Theory cubby and said, “You can pick any color you like, and I’ll make you a pair of socks.” Purple it is!

String Theory’s other sock yarn, Caper Sock, is a plump and springy blend of 80% superwash merino wool, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon.

The tight twist and the nylon content ensures that Caper Sock is sturdy enough to withstand the kind of wear that socks put up with, but it’s great for other garments, as well. My “North Arrow” scarf in Caper Sock is on display at the shop, so you can feel for yourself how nicely it knits up.

Come by the shop to dig into the String Theory cubby yourself! See you there.

Interweave Knits Gifts.

Posted by Julia on September 10, 2014

The latest Gifts issue from Interweave Knits is here, which means it’s time to start planning holiday gift-knitting if you haven’t already.

This issue of Gifts is packed full of projects, and a wide variety at that. Knitted ornaments, cold-weather accessories and garments for children and adults, cozies for smartphones, tablets, and wine bottles… look to this issue for all kinds of gift-knitting inspiration.

I spotted some of our favorite yarns in this issue, too: here’s a cowl in Fibre Company Acadia, and a cozy scarf in Shibui Pebble.

Come by the shop to snag a copy of Interweave Knits Gifts and plan your holiday gift-knitting, whatever form it takes!

Back in stock: Misti Alpaca sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on September 8, 2014

It’s rare that we run completely out of a yarn before reordering, but such was the case with Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn. By the time we made it to TNNA to place our Fall order, not one skein of the stuff remained on our shelves, so we picked a whole new color palette.

Along with the whimsical variegated colorways of Hand Paint Sock Yarn, we were drawn to Misti’s Tonos Carnaval. Both fingering weight yarns are composed of 50% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% silk, and 10% nylon for durability, but Tonos Carnaval is dyed in semi-solid colorways.

Mulling over the color-cards together at market, Anne, Rosi, and I decided that these two yarns were meant to be together. It’s easy to pair up solid colors with variegated, as many of the solid shades can be found within the multicolored skeins. For these photos, I picked two shades of Tonos Carnaval, either one of which pairs nicely with the Hand Paint Sock Yarn in the center.

Consider patterns like “Spectra,” “Daybreak,” “Andrea’s Shawl,” “Nymphalidea,” and “Color Affection.” These are all designs that lend themselves to a combination of solid and variegated colors.

Remember these Misti Alpaca sock yarns the next time a pattern you love calls for fingering weight yarn, and come by the shop to pair these colors up for your next project. See you there!