Such a lot.

I'd apologize for the tardiness of this post, but it was rather unavoidable. The past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the store what with a series of enormous shipments, some slight technical difficulties and a long-awaited visit from Catherine Lowe. But, before we get to all of that, we have a Boy-O-Boy cardigan knit by Elizabeth:

The pattern is from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders and is here on ravelry. Elizabeth used ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in "Wasabi" for her project, though I have no information on how much she used or who the finished cardigan might be for (blame Sandy Kay, not me).

Next, we have another knitnotwar1,0o0 Crane Count and a little blurb from the creator. First, the update: 12 more cranes! Which brings our total up to 129 cranes and puts us at 43% towards our goal (and, yes, you can see all this information on the sidebar, but I wanted to mention it anyway). A couple of weeks ago, I emailed Seann about the origins of the name "knitnotwar 1,0o0" because we've received many an email with that question in some form or another. Here's Seann's reply:

It's a silly reason why it is 1,0o0 and not just 1,000...when I first started the project a dear friend of mine and I were talking and she thought that the project sounded very serious while knitting is generally so fun and relaxing. I certainly didn't want folks to only regard it as a super serious project (it really is fun to knit the cranes and the spirit of it is supposed to be happy and hopeful!) I started adding a "o" in the title to just visually trip up the weight of it so it was a bit more lighthearted looking. I don't know if it did the trick, but my friend noticed and it made her happy!

So there you go. It makes sense, considering the bittersweet aspects of the story of Sadako Sasaki and the new connotations attached to origami cranes after the second World War.

Now, moving on to more lighthearted topics, we have some new products that are so very awesome I can't but mention them.

Firstly, we have three new patterns:

• Skif June/ September/ February
• Skif Buttonback/ Swing
• CoCoKnits Pleated Ballet Flats

The new Skif patterns in particular are super exciting for a Skif freak like me. Sandy Kay and I are already talking about resurrecting the Skif KAL for this summer. How's about it, our devoted readers - yay or nay? We could meet monthly and have a yarn sampling party and who-know's-what else. Just a thought.

Second, we have a (small) library's worth of new books. Most of which are from Japan; our favorites include: Favorite Aran Knits (the cables in here are fabulous), Easy Knit & Crochet (check out those legwarmes on the cover!) and several new Amigurumi/ toy books.

Then, of course (you'll have seen this in the most recent Newsletter), we have Cookie A's highly coveted Sock Innovation.


Can I just say how much I love this book? I already have my own copy and am planning to knit at least half the patterns within. And, since we have "No Mean Feet!" tonight, maybe discussion of a store KAL isn't out of order. Anyone interested?

And, maybe, that's everything for today's belated post. Check back tomorrow (we should have some post-worthy stuff then), for a really cool FO Wendy just finished for a friend. Hint, it involves some amazing Fair Isle creativity.

You'd never believe it, but...

We do knit. A lot. So do our customers (also a lot). Much of the time, this blog focuses on a variety of other yarny things (new shipments of yarn, visiting instructors, etc), but today we have a project-packed post* for your vicarious pleasure.

First, we have A (remember A? our very adventurous 8-year-old knitter...) and her very first finished pair of socks:

And side view:

Which, we were told by her mother, she had begged to be brought to the store and show off "all week". How awesome is that? She's clearly been bitten bad by the knitting bug, and we might just have the next EZ right here in Portland.

Of course, as soon as A took off her shoes to show off her socks, her little brother proudly pulled up his jean cuff to proudly display the Coriolis socks his mom had made for him:

To which his older brother announced that he had a ton of socks made by his Mom, too, but wasn't wearing any right now (but would be wearing them next time, if I wanted to take a photo then). I can tell that this is going to be a very knitterly family.

It was all very cute and quite endearing to see handknits so well appreciated.

After the Parade of Handknit Socks ended (always fun to watch, honestly), we had two deliveries of felted cranes for the knitnotwar 1,0o0 KAL. The first was by Mandy (who brought in eleven cranes, all made with Cascade 220):

And closely followed by Tammy, who was clearly not to be outdone, as she brought in sixteen cranes:

Personally, I think they're just trying to make the rest of us look bad. Or, it might be motivational, since I just bought yarn last night to knit even more cranes (my count is two, for those of you lamenting your lack of progress, please take comfort in the fact that you've probably outknit me by now).

In any case, these two knitters together were responsible for upping our crane count substantially. Thank you, Mandy & Tammy!

Next, at some point this week**, Farrah came in with her finished Porom (by brooklyntweed). For some reason it was modeled by Lindsay and not Farrah herself:

It's so cute and, well, French, isn't it?

Love it. Which might explain why Liz and I are each working on one ourselves. Anyway, back to Farrah's lovely hat, it's made with Rowan Felted Tweed and has some slight modifications from the original pattern - a reduced stitch count and it was knit on smaller needles.

And, finally, at the end of our list of ongoing & finished knits we have the Staff Projects:

For this week, anyway. I announced to all and sunder at some point this afternoon that I would be taking a group shot of any WIP's/ FO's provided to me by my coworkers. You cannot imagine the madness as my coworkers literally threw their WIP's & FO's at me. I suppose they were all so relieved that I didn't ask for a model, that this seemed like a reasonable request***.

I hate to start at 12 o'clock (top, center) since it's mine, but it makes the most sense. First (the socks) are a pair of socks (yes, obviously) made with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Tuscany". I made up the pattern as I went, and they're for my SIL. (closeup here)

Second, at about 2 o'clock, are Wendy's adventures in colorwork. A pair of gloves (not matched) from Selbuvotter and a lace'n'colorwork gauntlet she's making up with Kauni W-EJ. (closeup here)

Next, at 5 o'clock, is the i-cord cast on of Jenni's very recently started Mermaid cardigan. Pray for her, that's a lot of i-cord she's got to knit.

Then, stretching from 6 o'clock to 11 o'clock, is Marj's Cabled Rib Wrap. She chose to pair ShibuiKnits Baby Alpaca DK in "Rapids" with ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud in "Mist" and it is just gorgeous. There's no other word for it. I think we've all considered rolling in it, it's simply that luscious.

And, finally, at 9 o'clock we have Liz's Aeolian Shawl (from the most recent knitty), which she is knitting up with Habu Textiles Cashmere. If you want to stalk this project (who wouldn't, right?), here it is on ravelry.

Whew! I think that's everything (those are all the photos I have from the last week, anyway). Check back on Tuesday for photos of Beth Brown-Reinsel's classes this weekend and the updated crane count. Happy knitting!

*I dare you to say that three times fast.
** Dates, knitters, I need dates when you fill out a project information sheet. This also goes for staffers (yes, I know you read the blog, too)
*** Or I'm reading too much into this and they're all just really proud of their WIPs. Both are likely.

Truly wicked yarn pr0n

I'm evil, I know it. But, see, if I sell the yarn to customers it won't end up in my stash. It's all about the self-preservation, see. And believe me when I say some of it has already found a new home in my Stash Containment Unit. The new Habu is particularly tempting.

The first on our list of Must-Have New Yarns are from two powerhouse favorite dyers: Schaefer Yarns and Chameleon Colorworks. Direct from Schaefer's dyepot, we have the coolest of the cool in their Memorable Women Series - the Memorable Knitters. Next to it is Twinkle Toes (by Chameleon), which is a luscious, shimmery half-superwash merino, half tencel blend:

At the moment we have 3 of the 4 Memorable Knitters Series: Mary Walker Phillips, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Emma Jacobsson. Dorothy Reade is still on order. If you're a hard-core sock knitter, you'll going to want to grab these soon as I predict they're going to go fast (and not just into my stash).

The Twinkle Toes is a little more whimsical in nature, dyed in many of Chameleon Colorwork's most popular colors plus two new themes: Ophelia and Lavender Fields. Again, I have a feeling that these will run out the door fast, but this line promises to be more long-term.

Next on our list of yarny goodness are on the recently refurbished New Wall: Abstract Fiber & Araucania. Two lines of handdyed loveliness.

Abstract Fiber is well-known by most Knit Purl customers, but Araucania is a line we're less familiar with. 100% cotton and handdyed, it'll be great this summer...

And, finally, the last of our new yarns... Isager's summer lines:

And wall. They have so many yarns we decided they needed their own wall. Anyway, back to the new yarns. For this summer they've put out six new lines:

1. Bomuld (100% mercerized cotton)
   
2. Viscolin (linen/ rayon blend)
   
3. Bomulin (cotton/ linen blend)
4. Hoer (100% linen)
   
5. Alpaca 1 (100% baby alpaca, lace weight)
   
6. Hoejlandsgarn (100% Shetland lambswool)
   

We still have several colors on order, so expect to see the wall fill out over the next two weeks. And, quite possibly on the blog, a Hoejlandsgarn WIP I'm contemplating. Also to go with the yarns are the next Amimono 2 and Marianne Isager Spring/ Summer books.

In less tempting news (but still worth ogling), we have a pair of finished Wishbone Socks:

The pattern is by Nancy Bush and was featured in the Mar/Apr 2008 issue of Piecework Magazine. I'm afraid that the information concerning these socks has been lost (I'm truly very sorry about that!), but I think I remember them being knit with ShibuiKnits Sock in "Wasabi".

And, very nearly finally, we have some...

Announcements:

1. Our annual Spring Sale starts Thursday! Drop by the store for huge savings on all your favorite yarns, door prizes, a free needle case with purchase and more. See our Events page for more details.
   
2. [Some colors of] Kauni back in stock. Kauni EQ is still on order. But we do have one NEW color and some old favorites, such as ES and EV.
   
3. A collection of new habu yarns have arrived: Silk/ Wool A-113, Silk Cashmere A-190, Wool Pom Pom (N-60), Natural Cover Cotton (A-184), Kusaki Zome (A-4), Stainless Steel Thread (N-48), Ramie (A-166), Jersey Tape (A-189). All of which are so new they aren't on our website (or, in some cases, Habu's either); but, if you'd like to drop by the store or give us a ring, we'll be glad to help you.

And, lastly, just because:

We've been having fun with all the different fuzzy mohair yarns we carry. Shown: Habu Kit 110 and Knitty's Ice Queen knit up with ArtYarns' Beaded Mohair & Sequins (sparkly bling, eh?).

That should be everything. Check back on Thursday (sale, sale, sale!) for more news about the, yes, sale, LeBrie's Nuno Felted Scarf Class and... well, whatever happens between now and then.

The Post That Never Ends

Not exactly. But since the blog hasn't been updated in almost two weeks, this is going to be one of those super-mondo-huje posts to catch everyone up to date. A slightly crazy idea, yes, but it should work. Now, since there is so much to cover, we're going to do blurbs instead of biographies. But, if you want to see more pix from this post, see our flickr account.

First, we have Farrah's magnificent Seraphim Shawl:

Which she brought to the Sip'n'Stitch on the 15th. I'm afraid that the camera involved does not enjoy after-dark photography, so the image is rather blurry. Sorry, Farrah! But, for readers interested in her shawl, here it is in her ravelry notebook.

The very next day, Ellen of Seattle stopped by to show us two of her favorite FO's:

Her Litla Dimun lace shawl, and the back:

She decided to add a purple border to her project (love it!) in order to give the finished shawl a little more pop. The entire effect was quite stunning. Then, of course, she had to make us feel inadequate when she pulled out her Pheonix Mitts, based off of a pattern in Selbuvotter:

Made with Jamieson's of Shetland Spindrift.

At some point last week (I don't have a info sheet, sorry!), Bobbie dropped by to show off her adorable collection of baby hats:

All made for newborns at the maternity ward of her local hospital (no, we didn't get the name).

Rachel came in last Thursday with her finished 'Rob's Socks':

Made with happiest girl! sock yarn in 1970's Rec Room. Personally, I love the pooling and flashing. I couldn't find her info on ravelry, but maybe they will show up soon? She made up the pattern, and it looks like it would be fun to try...

On Friday, Liz forced poor Jessica to show off her Gretel hat:

About which I can find no information. It's red. That's about all I know.

Moving on to a project I do have information about... Joan's New Kauni Cardigan:

Yes, that is the Joan Schrouder. After we admired her cardigan for awhile, Lindsay finally inquired about the pattern. It turns out that Joan did design the pattern herself, but told us that she wouldn't be writing it up as it was too difficult to convert into multiple sizes. Sad. It looked fantastic and also resulted in a stampede to the Kauni wall by all who were present.

Right after Joan left with her cadre of Seattle-Portland Yarn Crawlers, Tami came by with the cutest little FO's ever. She used the yarn we provided at a "Sample It" to make a collection of teeny tiny mittens, sweaters, hats and socks/ stockings:

I hope she'll forgive me for cropping the picture. The camera was misbehaving again. There's also the Worsted Bambino Hat in the group, but methinks the teeny tiny mittens will the 'awww' contest. If you want specs on each of the individual projects, see Tami's ravelry notebook.

Then, finally, the last of the FO's - two hats. Which Liz and Lindsay modeled, albeit grudgingly. Here we have some silly hat-ness:

Liz has an Ana Bandana made with Silk Maiden in "Peridot" and Lindsay chose the Road To China/ Flurries hat, which is a sneak-peak of an upcoming pattern. But, before the camera was put away, we made a pile of staff WIPs:

One cashmere/silk Qiviut Smoke Ring, an Esperanza scarf and Linday's earwarmer that is currently just an i-cord (that statement should make sense in a week or two). There are several other WIPs around, but many are Top Secret at the moment. So, to distract you from considering the implications of all that, here's the latest issue of Vogue Knitting:

Now available in the store, and featuring a pattern and profile of our favoritest photographer/ blogger Jared. Grab one while you can.

And, whoosh, I think that's everything. Until, well, tomorrow (in which we shall attempt to resume our regular blogging schedule) stay warm!

end of week round-up

Let's pretend it's Thursday, eh? Yesterday was New Year's Day and I can't remember why I couldn't post on Tuesday, but it's been that kind of week.

First and foremost, the promised "Gina's socks" (modeled by Gina on Monday):

Made out of ShibuiKnits Sock in ManBlue. Knit on size 1.5 (2.5mm) Addi Turbo circs at a gauge of 8 sts & 12 rows per inch. The pattern was something I made up, but am rewriting because I like it so much.

Next, we have Trish and her awesome self-designed funky hat:

Made with ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in "Spectrum". I'm afraid we didn't get any more details than that, sorry!

Then, let's see, we had a visit from da babies:

Which I had to share because of the gratuitous cuteness factor.

It should be mentioned that they came by with their daddy to pick up this year's OFB Food Drive donation box (to drop off at the OFB):

Which, I am told, weighed in at 90lbs. A fact I find rather disheartening as we collected over 130lbs last year during a food drive that lasted less than a week. Maybe we'll do better next time.

In less depressing news, we have the whatsit prototypes:

The Whatsit (once it is properly named) will be a Knit Purl pattern, which is worn like this:

(modeled by Darcy)

Cool, huh?

But I can't tell you too much about it yet, as the patterns aren't finished and it still doesn't have a name.

Moving on, to... sock club SPOILERS. Before proceeding, let it be know that you were warned.

The January 2009 kit is available for members to pick up in the store:

Out-of-town members' packages have already been shipped.

Whoo, what a week!

Regular blogging schedule should resume next Tuesday, I promise. It should also be mentioned that my New Year's resolution for the blog is to get more coworkers involved, so expect (or hope) to see posts from knitters other than myself here... eventually.

time to play

We're sending out a large newsletter tomorrow, so "distracted" doesn't begin to describe us downstairs folk.

But, for your amusement (and ours), please check out the poll on the right-hand sidebar and vote. I'm very curious to see which entry wins. Maybe we'll even have a finished version of That Gizmo by the end of the poll - anything's possible, right?

Other news? Not much, other than...


We just received a GIANT box of Malabrigo Sock yarn!!

Yummm. I'll admit it now, I just grabbed four skeins. Drop by this evening (Sip'n'Stitch tonight!) or tomorrow to snag some for yourself.

Now I've got to get back to the Newsletter.

socks and the News

Wow. Progress has been made. The Holiday Special is out and I can actually see the 'wood' surface of my desk in a few places. Jenni isn't so lucky at the moment, but I think we'll be able to see her desk sometime this week. Maybe after Thanksgiving.

Today I have some cool staff (and patron) projects to share with all y'all. First, we have Mike's sock, made with ShibuiKnits Sock in "Dragonfly". He wrote up the pattern and gave it to us to share, which we have since managed to lose (it's on a scrap of yellow, lined paper if you happen to see it lying around...), but here is the finished sock for your viewing (if not knitting) pleasure:

You never know, though, the pattern may yet show up on the blog. We just have to find it first.

Right. Continuing on with the sock parade, here's (short) Sandy's cashmere sock:

Knit with ArtYarns Cashmere Sock in color #2244, using the Waving Lace Socks pattern by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Press' Favorite Socks. There was a slight hiccup in this project. The finished sock ended up way too big for the size 4 foot it was intended for. Ouch. It's now a shop sample, if you want to come by and pet it. Or sympathize with Sandy's pain.

And while we're on the subject of store workings, I have photos from LaBrie's Nuno Felted Scarf workshop last weekend:

Yes, you are actually seeing drop-cloths on the floor. It looks like they had a lot of fun, though! The workshop was focused on a particular Japanese felting technique (nuno), in which wool roving is felted over loosely woven silk fabric (a silk scarf in this case). It makes for a beautiful, gauzy, and warm finished fabric. The process involves water and a lot of agitation, hence the blue tarps everywhere.

I hope some of the participants will bring their scarves in for us to admire...

Anyway. We're doing another Nuno Felted Scarf workshop on December 13th, because we couldn't fit everyone into the one last week. So, if you're interested, I'd recommend you register now before the next workshop fills up, too.

Next on the list of things to cover, our In the News bulletin:

1. Update on the Jared Flood Lecture. Slight recap: Jared Flood (brooklyntweed) has agreed to lecture on January 8th (I think I mentioned this). At the moment, we have narrowed the choices of venues down to two suitable options and are now looking at the logistics aspect of all this. I swear to you, we're working tirelessly on this and will have registration information up soon.
2. We just got another Oleana shipment in. I succumbed, and bought one of the felted wool blankets. It's so soft and lovely that I couldn't resist. There are also several new styles of wristers and scarves in stock, for those of us who only buy cold-weather garments when it's cold enough to wear them (ask me how I'm familiar with this habit).
3. We are currently out of stock of both the Elfin Santa Hat and Beaded Silk Star Christmas tree ornament kits. Honestly, I don't think any of us were expecting to sell out in a day. We have lots more of the yarn on order, but... well, there's going to be some delay before the ornaments are on sale in the store again. Sorry about that!
4. We will be closing early tomorrow, at 5 pm. Also, we will not be open Thanksgiving Day.
   

And, last but not least, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sock-centric

Sock knitting seems to be taking over the world.

Well, the knitting world, anyway. Aside from a truly exceptional "No Mean Feet!" last night (record turnout!), we've just got word of a new limited edition series from Schaefer Yarns, Sock The Vote...

If you're not allergic to mohair, you can get a skein (or two!) of sock yarn dyed for your favorite politician/ politician's wife in the Presidential race. I'm not bitter that it only comes in Anne, no, not at all. Grr.

If we're lucky, this yarn will be in stock soon (it's on order).

But, back to "No Mean Feet!", we got pictures proving that sock knitters are indeed on the rise. We had to enlarge our knitting circle twice last night - welcoming several new visitors:

It was, as always, lots of fun. I wish I could go add more to this post, but a Newsletter went out on Friday and we are just drowning in web orders. Until Thursday, happy knitting!

skif sweaters, wicked plans, and spoilers

Let's see, let's see... so much has been happening in the past fortnight, it's hard to keep it all organized. Starting in order with the title:

1. Skif sweaters.
I finished mine (little happy dance) and was overjoyed to see WrenSu's super-spiffy Mateo in the Knit Purl flickr group's photo pool. And because so many people (including my coworkers) were enamored with the thought of a finished skif sweater, it was relatively easy to get a couple of modeled shots for the blog...

Project specs:

• Pattern: Neptune/ Button-back Pullover by Skif.
• Yarn: Joseph Galler Inca Cotton in "Ecru", 4 skeins.
• Needle: 4.5mm/ US 7 32" circulars.
• Idiosyncrasies: the sleeves are 3" longer than specified in the pattern.
• Review: loved the pattern and ADORED the yarn.

Of course, all y'all already know that I bought yarn for a second skif sweater before I finished the first. But I was good and persevered and only just CO last night (honest). I'm finding the second one just as hard to put down as the first was... This is looking like it's going to be a dangerous trend.

2. Wicked Plans.
Oh, there are so many, really. Leaving this many slightly crazy knitters alone together always makes for interesting results. We've got, upcoming:

• a Tips & Tricks column by Judy Wilcox
• the SKIF KAL will resume in September with a yarn sampling and emergency aid class to follow through December(ish).
• a Getting Raveled party & meetup (info forthcoming)
• and, finally, a Sock Club KAL group on ravelry
  

3. Spoilers. I promised you spoilers... and here are two we're willing to part with:

• LavenderSheep's Sock Club yarn, clicky here for a little spoiler.
• Koigu is going to lead as planned. You have no idea (unless you've heard us panicking in the shop) how worried we were just a week ago. It had seemed that Koigu wouldn't have their yarn ready in time for the Club, but it's been shipped and should arrive at the store soon. And, while these are neither the pattern nor the colorway we've commissioned for the Club, I'm even more excited by this news because of the Fortress Of Solitude socks I just finished:

I enjoyed working with the yarn so much, I'm really looking forward to getting my own Sock Club September kit.* And I suppose it's not too much to tell you that there just might be speckles (like those seen above) on our soon-to-arrive yarn, too. Ooh!, there's another spoiler.

And now I've got to go... we've got a rowdy Sip'n'Stitch group up there tonight and a newsletter to get out tomorrow.

*Did you honestly think that half the staff here weren't the first people to sign up?

Shameless yarn (and sock) pr0n

It's no secret that Knit Purl is starting our very own Sock Club in September...


In fact, I have to be careful what I say to whom, let I spoil the surprises we have in store.

But, luckily, I have a treat for those of you who are sock-inclined - a sneak peek at one of our dyer's work. Now, the yarn I made these socks with will not be the same colorway we've commissioned. Still, it's intended to give you a taste of what Knitted Wit's yarn is like.

Now, Knitted Wit is a brand of yarn dyed locally by Lorajean K. Who is currently expecting a little one of her own to knit for. So her line of yarn will be a bit hard to get for a while :( Still, congratulations are in store.

I found the skein in question on the PDX Knit Bloggers Sock Yarn Crawl a while back and agonized for too long over the "perfect" project to make with it. Enough time passed that I finally CO the first pattern I could find and went with it. Very quickly, I was glad I had been adventurous and felt duly rewarded.

The socks below were knit with Knitted Wit's Superwash Merino Fingering in the colorway "1970's Locker Room" (great name, huh?), using Jean Townsend's "Pretty Petals Socks" pattern.








I wish I could give you more sneak peeks, but I don't want to ruin the surprise entirely. Of course, if you search around online, you might just find out who some of our very talented and very cool other Portland-area dyers are.