Tag Archives: mosaic

Hello again, Isager Highland Wool.

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A recent special order brought in a couple of new shades of Isager Highland Wool, reminding us of just how much we love this yarn.

Isager Highland:

  • light fingering weight
  • solid and heathered colors
  • 100% Highland wool
  • 301 yards/50 g
  • $10 each

Some years ago, I made Carol Feller’s “Carpino” holding Highland Wool together with Shibui Silk Cloud, which brought a lustrous, fuzzy luxury to the fabric. It left me wanting to work with Highland Wool again, in a context where its rustic simplicity could shine.

With that in mind, here are a few two-color patterns that make beautiful use of Highland Wool, and some color combinations to get you started!

  • “Pinwheel Mitts,” by Ella Austin – fingerless mitts in stranded colorwork
  • “Sento,” by Olga Buraya-Kefelian – triangular shawl in two-color brioche
  • “Alula,” by Clare Lakewood – triangular shawl in stripes/slip stitch pattern

If any of these patterns or colorways capture your imagination, order online for local pickup or shipping! We’re also happy to answer questions, to be your eyes and hands as you create other color combinations – we know it’s tricky to select colors without being able to come into the shop yourself, and they can look so different in photos than they do in person. Thanks for working with us during our temporary closure!

Sporty + Arroyo + The Shift.

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Ewe Ewe Sporty is back in stock! This sport weight superwash merino has been popular lately, especially for Heather Walpole’s free “Temperature Tee,” so we’re pleased to have refreshed our supply.

Ewe Ewe Sporty:

  • sport weight
  • solid colors
  • 100% superwash merino
  • 145 yards/50 grams
  • $10 each

Sporty is a good fit for Andrea Mowry’s “The Shift,” a cousin of her popular “Nightshift” shawl. “The Shift” is smaller in gauge and in scale, and while it looks like a triangular shawl wrapped around the neck, it’s actually a cowl, which many find easier to wear. You’ll need 200 yards each in three colors, and while there are plenty of tempting combinations in Sporty, I couldn’t resist adding some Malabrigo Arroyo to the mix. These two yarns match in terms of gauge and fiber content, and they bring out the best in one another – here are a few color combinations for “The Shift” cowl!

Malabrigo Arroyo:

  • sport weight
  • hand-dyed, speckled and variegated colorways
  • 100% superwash merino
  • 335 yards/100 g
  • $18.60 each

Order online if one of these colorways sparks your curiosity, or if you’d like to see a special combination just for you! We’re happy to help you plan your next project, and can ship your order or hold it here at the shop for local pickup. Thanks for all your support through our temporary closure!

Sale Spotlight: BC Garn Loch Lomond.

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Everything in our shop is 15% off during July, our Annual Inventory Sale! All month, I’ll be shining a spotlight on the yarns we have in stock – today, let’s look at BC Garn Loch Lomond!

BC Garn Loch Lomond:

  • DK weight
  • 2 ply tweed
  • 100% wool
  • 170 yards/50 grams
  • $14 each

What to make with Loch Lomond?  Alice Hammer’s “Vanessa” caught my eye, a cozy mosaic cowl that calls for 4 skeins each in 2 colors. Here are a few color ideas:

Order online for local pickup or shipping via USPS Priority Mail!

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Nightshift.

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The knitters and crocheters who populate our shop are a diverse bunch, with all kinds of projects on their hands – any given week could find us suggesting yarns for striped shawls, intarsia cowls, granny square blankets, and all kinds of sweaters. When someone asks “What’s popular?” or “What’s everyone making around here?” I usually don’t know where to begin. Every once in a while, however, a particular pattern seems to appear on everyone’s needles.

Right now, that popular pattern is Andrea Mowry’s “Nightshift.” This triangular shawl is decorated with bands of a simple slip stitch pattern, the background and foreground colors changing every so often. It’s trimmed with an attached i-cord edging, then finished off with a clever striped i-cord bind off.

I made one with Malabrigo Caprino, selecting a variety of dark, medium, and light colors. It was fun to watch how they interacted with one another, sometimes popping out in high contrast, other times receding when the color values were close.

Joanne and Sue have “Nightshifts” going in Caprino, too – I love seeing the variety that’s possible even when these knitters were choosing from the same small selection of colors!

Emily recently finished her “Nightshift,” also made with Caprino, and models it here, though she plans to gift it to a friend in need.

We’ve also had folks reach for worsted weight yarns to make “Nightshifts,” a natural choice since that’s what the pattern calls for. Nancy and Pam both used Malabrigo Rios for their shawls, below:

Andrea Mowry has more than one “Shift” pattern, of course – below is Toya’s “Shiftalong” hat in progress, and the next item on her to-knit list is “The Shift” cowl. She’s using Malabrigo Arroyo and Caprino for both projects, combining semi-solids with speckles.

I can’t wait to see these projects complete, and all the other “Nightshifts” I know are underway out there. Happy stitching to all of you, and special thanks to those who shared their projects on the blog today!

Hello, Malabrigo Caprino.

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This week, we welcome a brand new yarn from Malabrigo – meet Caprino!

Caprino is a DK weight blend of 80% merino wool and 20% cashmere, and just as you’d expect from those fibers, it’s soft as can be. Each 50 gram skein has 159 yards, enough for a pair of mitts or small hat; 2 skeins makes a larger hat or cowl.

Like many Malabrigo yarns, Caprino comes in a familiar selection of semi-solid, variegated, and speckled colorways.

We think of them as old friends, these colorways – it’s always nice to see the purplish gray of “Plomo,” or the deep navy of “Paris Night,” but equally nice to meet newer shades, like the spotty “Galaxy.” All three of those wound up in my latest project, Andrea Mowry’s “Nightshift” shawl.

I’m having such fun with this simple slip stitch pattern, watching the colors come together, the background shade seeming to shift as the contrast colors change.

I’ve seen lots of knitters make “Nightshift” and “The Shift” cowl, sometimes more than once, and now I totally understand the appeal of the project. We’re pleased to have print copies of these patterns in stock now!

Come by the shop to see and touch Caprino for yourself! You’ll find it in our DK weight section.

Vogue Knitting.

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The latest issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

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This issue features a great article on Barbara Walker, author of the amazing four volume Treasury of Knitting Patterns published by Schoolhouse Press.

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As a nod to Walker, many of the patterns in this issue include two-color mosaic motifs, a genre of stitch patterns to which she has contributed tremendously.

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Mosaic knitting is created by slipping some stitches and knitting others, working with just one color on any given row.

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Meg Swansen’s Vogue column covers increases this time around, the how, when, and why of them.

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Come by the shop to pick up a copy of Vogue Knitting! We hope you find your winter knitting inspiration here.

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