Projects!

Have we got a parade of handknits for you today (some are finished, some are still OTN, but they're all looking good!). First off, we have Sue's children's bolero:

Knit with ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in Spectrum.

Do you remember Sue and her 110 Pullover? I certainly do have to wonder when does she find the time to knit all these sweaters? I mean, really. Last I talked to her, she was planning on making an adult bolero to match.

Then, after Sue dropped by to show off, Nancy came in for some advice on her Skif Heart:

Which I think is just lovely. She's been making it with Handmaiden Sea Silk, Habu Textiles Tsumugi Silk (one of my personal favorites!) and Isager Wool 1. The hand of the three together is just luscious. I can't wait to see this finished (keep going, Nancy! you're sooo close). And, ha!, I found it in Nancy's ravelry journal.

Next, we had a visit from baby Mils, whom you might recognize from our April Staff Pick eCard:

She is so darned cute I want to squeee! whenever I see her photo. I managed to convince Mommy and Grandma to let me get a photo of her in her handknit booties with her (clearly) favorite teddy bear. The booties are from heaven knows where (maybe these?), since I couldn't get any info on them. But the bear pattern is from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby and is easily the cutest bear pattern any of us have seen.

And, last but not least, on the handknitting front, we have Sandy B's Easter chicken for her granddaughter:

Who I've named Henrietta, which has stuck (it fits, doesn't it?). Made with Rowan Handknit Cotton in "Slick" and "Nectar". Cute, huh? I decided she needed to be introduced to our Jamie, Gordon and Hugh chickens. Last I checked, they were getting on spendily.

And, truly finally, we have Mona's handspun "dewdrop" yarn:

It was made by beading the yarn as it was spun. Very fun. Mona has just over 9 oz here, which is decidedly enough for a variety of projects (which maybe she'll bring back for Show and Tell...). And, just so's we don't get annoyed questions later, Mona learned to spin the yarn during our Intermediate Handspinning Techniques class. Aren't you jealous? I know I am, it's so pretty!

And that just might be everything (for now) that I have photos of. Check back on Thursday for a knitnotwar update, new patterns, new books and more stashing updates!

Oops?

Last Thursday was a bit hectic, so no post... sorry about that. We're going to catch up quickly, though, you might want to hold onto your hats!

Let's start off with the cranes. We've received lots of positive feedback for our knitnotwar KAL and have already collected cranes for the installation. Here's one knit by Melissa:


We've been hearing that they're quite quick to knit up (Sandy Kay made one in half an hour with scraps of Shetland Spindrift), so here's hoping we'll make our 300 cranes goal by March 31st! (Now, I haven't been given a total of all the cranes we've collected, so the sidebar hasn't been updated yet - check back on Thursday.)

Next, Lynne came to visit us and brought the blanket she's knitting for her son:

The Ombre Alpaca Blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Knit up with 12 skeins of Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca and Peruvian Tweed, 6 colors in all that are held together to create a lovely gradation from cream to chocolate brown. Here's a close-up:

Aaaand... even closer:

(Liz had fun taking pictures of this one)

If you're interested in making your own, Lynne owned up to the fact that she's making her son's blanket larger than the pattern, so you'd probably only need one skein of each color. Possibly. There might be some math involved in confirming that...

Next, from Folk Shawls, Sheila brought in her finished Celtic Lattice Vest:

and back:

She made it for a friend who is a surveyor and travels the world (surveying, presumably). Sheila thought that the lovely Celtic knots resembled mapping terrain. I'd have to agree. The vest was lovely (sorry about the blurry photos), and made with Kauni W-EV and Hifa 2. Just gorgeous. Lucky friend, eh?

And, last but not least in the 'pretty photos' catagory, we have a giant heap o' Tanglewood handspun yarn:

(isn't that just yummy?)

Brought to us by the Ladies of Tanglewood Fibers themselves, as we will be representing them (and Abstract Fiber, Happiest Girl! Dyeworks, Ruth Sorensen, Handworks NW and Lantern Moon) at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival this weekend. If you're in the area, please drop by and say 'hi'! I'm sure the ladies (and gentlemen) at the Knit Purl booths (#'s 38 & 39) will be glad to meet some of our blog readers.

Finally, I've been asked to mention the upcoming Loop 'N Hoop 2009 on Thursday, March 26th. We've been invited to bring 25 knitters to the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Phoenix Suns game. Tickets will be available for $25 each at the store. Included with each ticket is a goodie bag (put together by Portland LYSes) that will be available at the door. Please note that space is limited (5 seats have already been stolen by employees) and there will only be 200 seats total for knitters to reserve.

Until Thursday, keep warm and dry!

can't stop

Holiday Special to finish. But here are some photos 3M took of the spinning class Tuesday:














Have a good weekend!

Wool with a twist

The night before last (Tuesday), was the second class in my Introduction to Handspinning course. It went swimmingly, by all accounts. Even better, 3M managed to catch the moment when two knitters became handspinners (my other two students managed to avoid being photographed). Unfortunately, I didn't think to get their permission to post their faces on the blog, so here's two photos of their first skeins:

aaaand...

It's always a magical moment when a person holds something they've just realised they made themselves. Think about your first knit or crochet project - can you remember the shock that it was something other than a lump of tangled yarn? Handspinning is much the same. You take a sheep's hair and twist it and somehow it all turns into something other than a giant knot.

Anyway. It was a great night. We also went over the process of making a sheep's fleece more spinable. I.e. carding. 3M and the ladies found it so fascinating that I thought you might, too.

First came the hand cards and wool combs - both of which are used to basically brush the locks of wool into a fluffier state that is easier to spin. The next lesson was the drum carder:

Which is the mechanized, and much quicker, way to process a fleece. (I actually shouldn't just single out sheep, since we also carded alpaca and goat hair, too.)

Anyway. Everyone left with a pile of wool (or fiber as the case may be) that she had carded or combed herself. Spinning it is the homework for the next class. I'm evil, I know. If you want more pictures from the class, 3M took a bunch that are all up here.

slightly stunned, but pleasantly surprised

You remember the devastating news Malabrigo announced at the TNNA Summer Conference? We blogged about it and mentioned it in the July 15th Newsletter, so no one would be shocked that Malabrigo would be out of stock for a loooong time. Well, ha, Malabrigo decided to surprise and amaze us this week. We received not 1, but 5, boxes full of yarn from them:

(I only managed to get 4 in the shot)

Now, we had been told that we might be expecting some yarn from them at some point, but not to get too hopeful. Especially not when it came to the Lace Baby, because that was the line that was damaged most in the fire. Well, imagine our shock when we opened a box and saw these:

Bags upon bags of Lace Baby. Remarkably unscorched, too. And rather earlier than April 2009, the original send-by date we were given. How happy is that?

So, if you've been longing for Malabrigo yarns, for whatever reason, drop by the store (in person or online) and grab some before it's gone. I know I am.

In other news, I finally finally finally got this skein off of my spinning wheel:

4 oz, 320 +/- yards, Chameleon Colorworks Optim singles plied with Habu Textiles Tsumugi Silk. Yummy. The Optim was in the colorway "Briar Rose" and the Tsumugi #34 "Curry". I loves it muchly. Here's a close-up:

Now all I have to do is find a project for it. It's a shame we're out of the Tsumugi in "Curry" (ignore the inventory, it lies), because this would be fun to have 8 oz of. That would be enough for a shawl. Still, 4 oz might be enough for a stole...

Hmmm. Time to use the ravelry advanced pattern browser, methinks.

And, because I managed to clear out 3 bobbins by finishing the lovely above, that means I can get back to the lovelies that Sandy B. and Fearless Leader brought me back from TKGA. 80/20 Alpaca/ Silk dyed by local dyer Abstract Fiber, whose products we're hoping to carry soon. Gorgeous stuff.

Maybe one of the skeins will be done in time for the next post. Along with a bunch of new yarns, books, and kits we've just received. Oh! So much to do, so little time.