Metropolitan Knits.

Posted by Julia on June 2, 2013

Here’s a new collection from knitwear designer Melissa Wehrle, Metropolitan Knits: Chic Designs for Urban Style.

Designed with city life in mind, these garments are, first and foremost, wearable. Some are more modern looking, and others more classic, some have lace and others have cables, but all seem to have been designed with the wearer in mind as well as the knitter.

Look for Metropolitan Knits on the teacart, surrounded by the latest knitting and crochet magazines and books. See you at the shop!

Shawls and seamless knitting: two new books.

Posted by Julia on May 20, 2013

Last week, we received two brand new books from Interweave: The Art of Seamless Knitting and Free Spirit Shawls.

The Art of Seamless Knitting, by Simona Merchant-Dest and Faina Goberstein, offers patterns, techniques, and tips for creating garments without seams.

Many knitters love knitting sweaters seamlessly from the top down or bottom up, and this book shows how to bring more intricate patterning to garments like those.

Along with plenty of good-looking seamless sweater patterns, this book offers guidance on how to include cable, lace, and texture patterns in seamless garments.

Lisa Shroyer’s Free Spirit Shawls has all kinds of shawl patterns in many shapes and gauges. Paging through it, I saw a few familiar yarns put to good use. Here’s a simple triangular shawl that shows off the delightful stripes in Schoppel-Wolle’s Zauberball yarn.

This 2-color kerchief makes the most of high-contrast colorways in Claudia Handpainted Yarns’ fingering weight merino yarn.

This cozy shawl is shaped with short rows, and knit with good old Berroco Ultra Alpaca, a worsted weight blend of wool and alpaca.

Come by the shop to check out these and other new books. See you there!

Show and tell: Malabrigo Lace and more.

Posted by Julia on April 23, 2013

I’ve been steadily accumulating show-and-tell photos over the past few weeks, snapping pictures as knitters are willing and I am able. Here’s the latest batch. It’s an eclectic mix, as ever, representing the wide range of projects that we all take on: sweaters, a shawl, and a pair of intricate fingerless mitts. Two of the above happen to be made with the same yarn, the ethereal Malabrigo Lace. Let’s start there.

Malabrigo Lace is a soft and delicate single-ply yarn that lends itself to shawls, scarves, and other garments where drapey fabric is desired.

Margie’s beautiful textured shawl in Malabrigo Lace behaves in just that way, light as a feather and gently draping. It’s made even more intriguing with the variegated colorway she chose.

One might not expect to see this dainty yarn made up into fingerless mitts, where a denser fabric is often preferred. On a smaller needle, however, Malabrigo Lace makes a more cohesive fabric, and that’s exactly what Margaretta’s Malabrigo Lace mitts showcase. And what ornate mitts they are!

Anne has completed her Gemini in Mirasol Samp’a! It’s great to see the slight difference in fabric between her Gemini and mine; Samp’a is composed of 100% organic cotton, which is somewhat softer than the Katia Linen that I used. Come by the shop to compare the two, and let that inform your yarn selection for your own Gemini tee. Look for it hanging in the front window of the shop, and feel free to try it on for size.

I finished a sweater recently, too, as those who attended the Mountain Meadow Wool Yarn Tasting can attest. Here’s my Topeka, knit in none other than Mountain Meadow Wool Cody. Cody is perhaps the stretchiest yarn I’ve worked with, which made it easy on the hands as I knit, and has me reaching for it again as I begin my next design project.

I’m so thrilled with this simple henley pullover, and with the slightly cooler temperatures that allowed me to wear it this weekend. I’ll likely make another Topeka pullover one day, and maybe even boldly depart from my favorite color: gray.

Thanks to everyone for the fabulous show and tell, and do continue bringing your finished objects to the shop to share with us! See you there.

New single patterns.

Posted by Julia on April 19, 2013

Many of you know by now to look to the teacart for the latest knitting and crochet books and magazines. When a boxful of books comes in, that’s where they go: front and center, so you’ll always see the newest publications as you enter the shop. Single patterns, however, are sorted into project categories and then filed away in binders, near the front window. It’s easy to forget about those humble binders in favor of the books and magazines, but make no mistake–we keep the single patterns updated, too, adding new designs as they surface and replenishing those that sell out.

Recently, Anne ordered a pile of patterns from Knitting Pure & Simple and Oat Couture, two sources for single patterns that are straight-forward and simply constructed. These are approachable patterns, using the most basic stitches to create classic garments for babies, children, and adults.

Many of these patterns would make great “first sweaters” for beginners, and offer more experienced knitters a jumping-off point for modifications, or a simple way to show off spectacular yarn.

Come by the shop to peruse the pattern binders, for they’re filled with project ideas. See you there!

Sweaters, knit and crocheted: the latest books.

Posted by Julia on March 31, 2013

Three new books have arrived from Interweave Press in the past couple of weeks, filling up the teacart with project ideas for knitters and crocheters interested in creating sweaters. These are sweaters broadly defined–some for cold weather and some for warm, some basic and some highly patterned, some close-fitting and some roomy.

Blueprint Crochet Sweaters, by designer Robyn Chachula, teaches the basics of sweater construction and offers advice to help you crochet a well-fitting garment.

Chachula covers sweaters constructed from the top down, from side to side, from smaller motifs, and more. Crocheters interested in taking the leap from accessories to larger garments should take a look at Blueprint Crochet Sweaters.

Vicki Square’s Light and Layered Knits focuses on creating lightweight garments using a range of different fibers.

In addition to a variety of patterns, Square also teaches a bit about those fibers along the way, offering up interesting information as well as wisdom about how different fibers behave in knitted fabric.

Another new book from Interweave is the revised edition of The Crocheter’s Companion, an excellent resource filled with all manner of crochet stitches and techniques. Not only can The Crocheter’s Companion remind you how to read a crochet pattern, it also covers basic finishing techniques and a variety of stitch patterns.

Find them all on the teacart at the shop, along with the latest knit and crochet magazines!

Two new colors in Titus.

Posted by Julia on February 19, 2013

As soon as we learned that Yorkshire yarn company Baa Ram Ewe had begun producing new colors of their well-loved yarn, Titus, we ordered some for the shop. Say hello to Titus Light and Titus Dark.

All three shades of Titus share a common gauge and fiber content: fingering weight, and comprised of 50% Grey Wensleydale, 20% Bluefaced Leicester, and 30% alpaca, all sourced in the UK. Baa Ram Ewe created Titus with the mission to revive the once-thriving British textile industry, and it seems they’re off to a good start, given the warm welcome Titus has received in the knitting world. We first learned of Titus through Clara Parkes’ glowing review, and recently saw another rave from Edinburgh designer and blogger Kate Davies. Even in a single undyed color, this yarn has wooed many. With three natural shades, Titus is even more tempting.

How to make use of it? Some HYS knitters are using Titus as the main color in their Quill shawl. Anne wants to use all three in a Color Affection shawl. A set of tam and mitts calling for Titus can be found in Ann Kingstone’s Born and Bred, which are now available as single patterns as well as in kits with the yarn.

On top of that, a recent Wooly Wormhead pattern calls for Titus, and the people at Baa Ram Ewe recommended this cabled cardigan pattern from Susan Crawford as a good match for Titus, as well.

The longer Titus lives at the shop, the more pattern ideas come up, it seems. We are just loving this yarn. Come by the shop to see all three shades of Titus, and to plan your next project.

Vintage and Bargello knits: more new books.

Posted by Julia on February 13, 2013

Two more new books have arrived at the shop since last I rounded them up.

Vintage Design Workshop, by Geraldine Warner, teaches how to update vintage knitting patterns as well as how to customize contemporary patterns to create a vintage look. It’s not a collection of retro patterns, but rather a series of tutorials on how to substitute yarns, make alterations to size and shape, and otherwise adapt existing patterns, old and new.

I was especially intrigued by the section on particular elements of garments–differently shaped sleeves, collars, cuffs, edgings, and pockets–which can be switched out to give any basic sweater a more purposeful, tailored look.

This book deserves attention not only from those who knit from vintage patterns, but anyone interested in modifying or designing knit garments.

Bargello Knits, by Patty Nance, bills itself as “the revolutionary new way to tame the unpredictable beauty of variegated yarns,” and indeed, the techniques within are completely new to me. As many of us know from experience, multi-colored yarns can be surprising, creating stripes or pools of color that vary dramatically depending upon how many stitches are cast on.

To gain control over these capricious yarns, Nance uses a technique similar to intarsia, dividing up variegated yarns into smaller bobbins and knitting small sections of the piece from each bobbin. This has the effect of concentrating short color repeats into blocks that can be several rows high, where the same yarn knit in plain stockinette or garter stitch would make horizontal streaks of color.

Along with carefully explained Bargello knitting techniques, the book is full of patterns. If you’re a lover of variegated yarns but have been disappointed by color pooling in the past, flip through Bargello Knits for interesting new ways to make use of the stuff.

Come by the shop to take a closer look at these and our many other books on knitting and crochet. See you there!

Ann Norling patterns.

Posted by Julia on December 13, 2012

We recently replenished our supply of single patterns by designer Ann Norling.

These are basic, simple designs for babies, children, and adults, written in multiple gauges and plenty of sizes. This gives the knitter maximum flexibility, a template to customize according to the yarns they’ve chosen.

This also makes her patterns good for new knitters, or anyone who just wants to make a basic something, without complex patterning or shaping.

You’ll find Ann Norling’s patterns in our pattern binders by the front window, which are sorted by type of garment. See you at the shop!

Another round of show and tell.

Posted by Julia on August 4, 2012

It was another great week for show and tell at the shop. So many knitters and crocheters came in with finished projects to share.

Petra came in wearing a hand-knit top and shrug, proving that it is indeed possible to wear hand-knit garments in even the hottest weather when lightweight plant fiber yarns are used. A beautiful ensemble!

Laura brought in a finished Faraway, So Close shawl to show off, fresh from Katherine’s class on the same project. Laura’s shawl is made with Malabrigo Silky Merino and edged with Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool, both of which are dk weight single ply yarns with great luster and drape.

Anne had some show and tell this week, too. She made this cute wool soaker for her new granddaughter, Willa, who is pictured wearing a Boston Whaler Hat in Ella Rae Bamboo & Silk yarn. (The hat has been such a hit that Anne has already taught two classes on it, and we’ve scheduled a third to begin Sunday, August 12th–read more about the Boston Whaler Baby Hat class and register on our website!) For the soaker, Anne used Briggs & Little Sport yarn, with a strand of pink and a strand of white held together.

Thanks for sharing your completed projects with us! It’s such fun to see what everyone’s stitching. See you at the shop.

The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters.

Posted by Julia on July 31, 2012

Interweave has just published a new book by Ann Budd, The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges, and a stack of them arrived at the shop last week. After studying it during several quiet moments at the shop, I decided it had to be part of my personal knitting library. Read on to learn why it might make a good addition to yours, as well.

Ann Budd is the author of a great many knitting resources, including but not limited to Sock Knitting Master Class, The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns, and The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. As I’ve written here before, we’re also quite fond of her Handy Guides to Yarn Requirements for knitting and crochet.

The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters is the latest in her series of Handy Books which give instructions for simple garments in a wide range of gauges and sizes. This collection, as the title makes plain, is full of seamlessly-constructed sweaters that begin at the neck, working from the top down.

Some knitters begin a new project by falling in love with a pattern, then hunting for just the right yarn to match the gauge that the pattern asks for. Some knitters begin by falling in love with a skein of yarn, then go looking for a pattern to match. Ann Budd’s Handy Books can work either way, I think, but do a real service for the second group. For each basic top-down sweater shape, Budd gives instructions for range of sizes, from children to adults, and a range of gauges. Whether you’ve fallen in love with a sport weight yarn or an aran weight yarn, you can choose from any pattern in the book and follow the directions in your chosen size and gauge. Budd also gives yarn requirements for every size and gauge, so once you’ve fallen in love with that yarn, you’ll know how much to get.

The book is divided into four sections, by the sweater’s yoke shape: seamless yoke, raglan, set-in sleeve, and saddle-shoulder. For each shape, along with the general instructions are three good-looking patterns. Some are designed by Ann Budd, and others by guest designers Jared Flood, Veronik Avery, Pam Allen, and Anne Hanson.

Budd also includes plenty of information on modifying her general instructions, making it easy to add color or texture patterns, and create different kinds of neckbands, collars, button bands, waist shaping, and edgings.

I’ve knit very few sweaters from the top down, having grown accustomed to using Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Percentage System (EPS) to knit unique sweaters from the bottom up. While EPS makes sweater design into a doable math problem, Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters is like the teacher’s edition–a series of sweater math problems shown with every possible answer. For knitters who love to knit seamless sweaters and make them their own using whatever yarn they’ve fallen in love with, this is the ultimate resource. Come by the shop to take a closer look at The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters!