How we overcome the chill

At this exact moment, iGoogle claims that the temperature outside is 32F (or 0C for you metric knitters), making Portland quite frosty right now. Working in a building that dates to the Shanghai Tunnels (seriously, we're connected via our basement) means that our heating system is older than most grandparents and not the most efficient machinery on the planet. But that's not a problem for knitters!

In the past week we've seen some creative (and often elaborate) ways Portlanders have developed to keep warm when the wind chill causes the temperature to drop into the negatives. One of which was an awesome Chain Link Scarf (pattern by Teva Durham); but, alas, I have no knitter to credit. Blame Kristin, she forgot to get the now Anonymous knitter's info.

Our knitter (I am told) was also wearing handknit mittens and multiple layers. Notice the sweater over a shirt over another shirt. The scarf, if you're into that sort of thing (chances are that, as a knitter, you might be), was made with the new Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Chunky. Soft, thick and quick. Ideal for sudden forecast changes.

My 0wn coping method involves layering multiple handknits. Right now I'm madly in love with my recently finished Sapphire Sabine:

At 65% baby alpaca, this light little cardigan is surprisingly warm (okay, maybe not that surprising if you know that alpaca is 3 - 7x warmer than wool!). But, darns, people, it is nice and toasty in a frigidly cold basement. All I need are wrist warmers and I'm set. I thought my coworkers were going to strangle me when I said that.

And, before the questions pour in, the pattern is Sabine, by CoCo Knits. The yarn was Road To China Light, in the color "Sapphire". The pattern said I'd need 7 skeins, but I think it could have been done with 6. If you're making the XL size, you probably can get away with a little less yarn than suggested. But don't quote me on that. The Knitting Fates will strike me down.

Next on the list of toasty ideas is our Handknits For Hard Knock Kids clothing drive. Knitters across the PDX area are getting the warm fuzzies after donating their handknit and store bought clothing:

Knit a hat, or buy some mittens, or clear out your closet and you'll stay toasty all winter long!

Our donations box is almost full after a week, which means we'll have to get another box because we're not stopping anytime soon. We have a week and a half left for donors to qualify for one (or more!) of our fantabulous prizes, but will continue to collect donations through the New Year. So, if you want to earn an inner glow and possibly win a skein of handpainted yarn, bring in some clothing to donate!

In less toasty news, we do have some fun events coming up in the next few days:

1. The Holiday Happy Hour #5: Danger Crafts Toy! is scheduled for tomorrow night. I'll be helping Sandy Kay teach students how to create jogless stripes as well as join two in-the-round projects (such as legs) into one. It's gonna be great, and I'm going to endeavor to bring my IP Sammie the Sock Monster with me.
2. a very cool eCard (with preview!) that features one of CoCo Knits' new patterns! Perfect for layering, Tessa is one of those garments that can be worn year-round.
   

Of course, right now I'm thinking I want one made out of Madelinetosh Merino. Just think how warm and soft it'd beee... And it'd only take, like, 4 - 7 skeins. Now there's an idea. A dangerous one, I'll admit, but it does have the potential for greatness.

Now, before I go back to data entry, I have a couple of updates:

1. Have you seen our facebook page? We'd love it if you became a fan or friended us!
2. Our limited edition Super Sock in "Opal Creek Winter" is going to be back in stock shortly. If you read the most recent Newsletter and just missed out on a skein of your own, now is the time to place a preorder before these next 25 skeins are gone for good.
   

With that, we've covered everything. So, until next week, stay warm and keep knitting (or crocheting)!

Get that warm, fuzzy feeling.

We promised to blog weekly and we meant it. Last week was more than a little crazy and, well, Fashionknitsta Thursday fell on Thanksgiving, so that didn't happen. We are determined to get back on schedule, though, and stick to it... even if it takes me 'til closing to write all this up. Which it might, since a lot has been happening here!

Firstly, we have a blog subject that's long overdue and that you should expect to see a lot of over the next two weeks -

Handknits For Hard Knock Kids

It's the happiest time of the year... for some. For others, like children in foster care, it's the time where they can be the most lonely. But we can help make children in foster care more comfortable, in strange places with strange people, when they can't be with family.

From now through December 17th, we'll be accepting donations of handknit (and store-bought!) clothes and toys in good condition for Oregon children in foster care.

Drop off "New or used, hand-knit or store-bought [clothing]," at the store (or mail it to us, if you live out of state!) and you'll been entered into a prize drawing that includes several one-of-a-kind skeins of sock yarn from happiest girl! dyeworks, sock yarn from Abstract Fiber, many Knit Purl gift cards, and any other prizes we can rummage up.

We'll be collecting clothing from now through Thursday, December 17th, the night of our prize drawing. If there's continued interest, we'll continue to accept clothing after the holidays.

The Knit Purl clothing drive for children in the Oregon foster care system. Many foster care families can barely afford to feed and clothe their foster children, making the winter months particularly hard when the cold weather sets in. After reading an article in the Oregonian and Mim's blog post, we decided to do something.

Curious about what you can/ should donate?

"The only requirements the woman I spoke to noted were that items need to be clean and in good condition. They can use every size since they care for kids of all ages, from newborns to teenagers." (-Mims Copeland)

If you have any handknits, or hand-me-downs, sitting around the house, please consider donating them. Just think of the warm and fuzzy feeling you'll get and, quite possibly, the lovely prizes we've collected for generous knitters.

And now we can return to our regularly scheduled programming and sharing customer projects. Y'all know how much I love to share what our knitters have been doing. It brings me a little dose of vicarious joy every time.

Sarawan brought in her completed Seed Stitch Scarf a few days ago, and we all had to compliment her yarn choice:

ShibuiKnits Highland Wool Alpaca? Niiice (it's so sqooshy!). I think several staffers want to make their own version of this scarf now, because Sarawan was stylin' it. There aren't any notes on her project sheet, so we're just going to have to assume from her smile that she likes it, too.

Next, Tanuja wore in her Noro Silk Garden cardigan, from Noro Mini Knits (Design 26):

I just have to say that I looove her color choices. There are actually three different Silk Garden colorways in there, though I couldn't tell you where or when they start. But it definitely is lovely, and totally works for layering this winter and wearing into spring. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Tanuja (or her cardigan) on ravelry, so we can only admire from afar.

Yesterday, Martha brought in her finished Clara baby dress to show off:

We are so proud of her for sticking to this project - the pattern was translated (confusingly) into English from its original Scandahoovian language and can be really frustrating at times (trust me, I've helped a lot of perplexed customers with this 'un). Final verdict? It's totally worth the annoyance and confusion. Honestly. I've had several knitters tell me so, and just look at it. Isn't it adorable beyond words?

Martha's (getting back to the original topic) was made for a friend's daughter, and is on ravelry here. Go and fav it, you know you want to!

And that's all the customer projects I have for this week (and last week, too). If you have a project you'd like to share, please let us know or visit the store, because we'd love to feature it!

Lastly, we have some store updates to share. You may already know that Takako of Habu Textiles...
will be in Portland this Friday and Saturday, for the express purposes of teaching Knit Purl customers how to read Japanese patterns and to show off the Habu Textiles trunkshow. But, did you know that we're down to three spots left in the second session of Takako's Reading Japanese Patterns class?

It's true! But, don't worry, if it fills up and more knitters want to take this fun (and very useful) class, Takako has agreed to teach another session on Saturday. So, if you've been pining for a Japanese pattern book, you might want to clear your schedule this Friday!

And, ooh!, we have some new items in the store. My favorite are the two Danger Crafts patterns that just came in. Esther the Eccentric Elephant...

and Sammie the Sock Monster...

Who, incidentally, I have bought the pattern for and plan on casting on this weekend (squee!). He's so cute! He could even guard the sock yarn stash... Hmm, imagine.

And, lastly, we also have a new line from Punta Yarns. MeriTwist:


A delicious handpainted 100% Merino BULKY yarn that just begs to be knit up as a chunky scarf or hat. Yum. Knit at 3 sts/ inch, it's simply ideal for those last-minute holiday gifts you forgot to cast on a month ago (don't worry, we won't tell).

And last, but certainly not least, we finally received our shawl pin order from Lantern Moon and, thusly, have both the Textured Metal Shawl Pins and Classic Shawl Pins back in stock!





Yes, we are excited, too. One of those Classic Shawl Pins will be mine. If you've been coveting them (like myself), grab one (or two) soon, because even Lantern Moon admitted that they didn't know when we could get more.

That must be everything. If it isn't, we'll try again next time. Have a good week!

And we're back!

I apologize for my/ our absence these past two weeks, we've been taking turns getting sick out here at the LYS, which has thrown everything off-schedule and out-of-whack. But we're all back (and all well, never fear!) and rearing to get back to our old schedule. So, without further adieu, let's start with a customer project that just has to be shared. Prepare yourself for the "Wow" factor...

Susan came in wearing her recently finished Wisteria sweater (pattern by Kate Gilbert), and we had to get a photo:

Do you want to hazard a guess at what yarn she used?

Handmaiden's Sea Silk (in "Straw"), held double, making this the most delectable Wisteria on the planet (unless, maybe someone's made one out of cashmere...). Just... wow! I didn't get to see it in person (see the intro paragraph), but Lindsay and Kristin couldn't stopped sighing over it when they told me about it later.

Alas, I couldn't find Susan's project on ravelry, so we'll just have to love it from afar.

Next, we have a vampire that's cuter than Edward Cullen (sorry, couldn't resist), because Sandy Kay has finished Victor the Vampire!

(he even has a handknit cape!)

And he's on display in our side window. The next time you drop by the store, be sure to check out the creepy/ cute Halloween display we've set up. I'll take a picture of the finished display (we're missing a pumpkin and some handknit bats), and post it in next week's post for all of our lovely out-of-town blogfans.

Finally, on the project front, we have Lindsay's in-progress alpaca blanket:

That she's making with Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca. It's soooo soft, you (okay, we) just want to roll in it. Mmm, alpaca.

Anyway, lest I start to drool, we also have some announcements this week...

First and foremost, we still have a couple of spots left in our upcoming Mad Hatters workshop. If you've ever been interested in learning to knit colorwork or design your own colorwork projects, this is the class for you!

Second, did you know that Julie Weisenberger of CoCo Knits is coming to Knit Purl?? It's true, she is! And she's going to be teaching three awesome classes: What Not To Knit, Finishing/ Design Techniques, and CoCo Knits Cornucopia. If you're a CoCo Knits fan be sure to register early (this news is going out in the Newsletter tomorrow!), because we expect these classes to fill up fast.

Last, but not least, be sure to check back tomorrow for another installment of Gratis Knits! Yes, that's right, we're bringing back our popular quarterly free pattern series.

But, until then, keep knitting!

Making up for the radio silence...

With two simply beautiful finished projects. First, Christine came in two weeks ago (yes, I'm a bad blogger and I'm really sorry) with the Whisper Cardigan she'd just finished for her granddaughter:

It was made with three skeins of Jade Sapphire's Cashmere Silk. Lucky girl, eh? Just lovely and soooo soft. We all stood around and petted it for quite some time. And because it was so heavenly, it wasn't as hard this time to get someone to model it. 'Lo and behold, Jenni actually appearing on the blog without a scowl!

It was that nice. And it probably didn't hurt matters that the pattern is so attractive (which might just be why it's the most popular pattern in the issue on ravelry).

Then, a couple of days later, Jolene brought it the Ladybug Set she's been working on for her eagerly awaited granddaughter:

Clearly very adventurous (you'd have to be to knit this sweater!), Jolene even chose girl colors - which look amazing, as we're sure you'll agree. Next to it is the store sample, for comparison's sake.

It must be said that we have some very adventurous knitters in our community. Now, that's all I have for customer projects. If you'd like to show off your mad knitting skillz on the blog, we'd love to have you! Please feel free to drop by the store and let us know what you're making.

Until the next post, I'll leave you with our newest yarns by Be Sweet.

All's quiet

...on the blog, at least. If you've walked into the store this week, you'd know it's been anything but quiet here. But when it comes to blog-worthy stuff, we're... well, kind of boring right now. Sorry. I do have one thing to relate - Patrick came by for a visit on Tuesday (after I blogged, of course) and he was wearing his Modern Aran Sweater:

The pattern is from The Knitting Man(ual) by Kristin Spurkland; which, incidentally, Patrick was a model in. Anyway, his version of the sweater was made with four skeins of Joseph Galler Inca Cotton in the color "Desert". Very nice and very tweedy. He admitted to me that he still hadn't wove in all the ends. Ha.

Otherwise, not much has been happening (again, that's blog-worthy). Maybe next time. By then the May Sock Club kit will be public and I can at least blog about that. Happy a happy weekend!

Lucy Neatby Trunkshow

We're getting ready for a visit from one of the funkiest knitters in North America to visit this weekend. Her trunkshow has arrived, the brightly-colored yarn and patterns are stocked and all we have to do is wait until Lucy arrives. Until then, here are some pictures of her extremely fun socks and Venus Rising Cardigan - all of the patterns of which are available for sale and her classes are still open for registration. Call or register online, if you'd like to snatch one of the last spots open!

Moving on with the show (thank you, Liz, for modeling on such short notice...)















I think my favorite are the Fiesta Feet (fourth photo from the top) and I might just have to get the pattern or take Lucy's Even Cooler Socks! class because she has a really cool technique I've never seen before on no-swatch sock knitting. Sounds interesting, huh?

FO pr0n & Skif KAL embarks

So much has been happening the past couple of days! Reorganizing after any knitting conference is always a huge undertaking, and we still have boxes of yarn sitting around waiting to be unpacked. Also, after getting another newsletter out, we are officially down to our last spot in the Sock Club. I have to admit, I began to wonder if we'd ever sell all 200 spots - but we almost have, and what a relief it is!

Well, mostly. We've been having some problems with USPS not delivering the September kits and the like. But, for the vast majority of our Club members, things have been moving along relatively smoothly.

Moving on. Patrick dropped by today to say "Hi" and to show off his super-hot, completely Rockstar, cardigan. The pattern is Oak from Rowan's The Organic Cotton Collection, and the yarn is Cotton Purelife in Quebracho & Cuba. Personally, I think the FO is goigeous:

He admitted that, technically, it wasn't truly a Finished Object as he had yet to find & sew on snaps. I still think it counts, since he could wear it. Am I right?

Next, we have a shop sample Patrick made for us, modelled by Enid: the Zenith Carpet Bag from Bag Style:

Knit with 3 skeins of ShibuiKnits Merino Alpaca. One minor alteration to the pattern: we decided to put the second set of smaller handles on the inside of the bag, for a more attractive look.

And, finally, a photo from the Skif CO Party on Tuesday night. I don't want to hear or see any comments about how we may look, since some people I won't name actually refused to be pictured at all. Cowards.

It was quite a lot of fun - wine, cheese and knitting, what else could one want? - and I think very successful. Quite pleasant all around.

Other than that? The new Fall Class List is up and the News & Events page updated. That's enough for now, I think.

Of Muttonchops and Commentary...

...but first:

Those who've traveled to the SKIF knit-a-long blog might be aware of certain unfortunate "events" that took place while I was knitting Zena (Warrior Princess).
(check out the button somewhere over there)

These events centered around my inability to count, as well as my sieve-like memory. At some point in knitting the body, I decided to add a little waist shaping. (Because I can't just leave well enough alone.)

Anyway, I decreased a few stitches at each side. (Unevenly mind you. I have no control over when the sieve will just let a plan fall right outta my head.) When I went to create the neck shaping, I was missing a few stitches...

While I don't mind retelling a story, I think the flavor of my mood at the time I discovered (remembered) the "event" is best expressed here.

Go on, read. Laugh. Feel the full-throttle-ness of having a mind like a rusted-steel trap.

I survived the scare with a bit of retail therapy. Some new Habu just followed me home like a stray as well. Here it is (the amethyst color) just to the right of the light lavender color in the center:


I've passed the 50% finished mark and I've tried the sweater on whilst on the needles. Happily, I can report that all is well. The bust should fit just fine even though it is a few stitches narrower than it should be. I decided for such an oversize sweater it was okay to sport more of a "Jane Mansfield" fit, (or Jane Russell, or Marilyn Monroe).

-----------

Now for the tie-in to the title of this post. (In the interest of those with sensitive constitutions, no knitting or person was harmed in this event)

In former posts, I've mentioned a dear former co-worker "K-Dawg" and of her predilection to drinking while writing (well deserved mind you). While she was in town she, "Flower child" (her sister), and I met for a pint at a favorite watering hole where we also purchased tokens and promotional mugs for a blessed Stumptown event. As we were walking from the pub to grab a late night bite, K-Dawg stops to chat with a former co-worker ("The Man") as her sister and I continue.

As we were walking a stranger asks us for change and when we denied him, he attempted to rob us of our promotional mug bag.

Now there are a few things to note when attempting to rob someone:

A number 1) Make sure the person you are trying to knockdown is not built like a Cadillac Coup'deville (important that).
B number 2) Do not mess with a knitter. (Hey dude, didn't you see the set of 10½ double points in my hair???)
C number 3) Do not mess with a black woman. We don't play.

I'm pretty sure our attacker realized this because he stopped momentarily to assess the situation. This brief pause gave "The Man" just enough time to catch up and come to our aid. (If you've never seen a Bostonian go "Southy" on someone you are missing out).

As our attacker was being held at bay "K-dawg" and "Flower Child" were glued to their cell phones, talking to emergency services. These are sample sentences from the ordeal:

K-Dawg: "The perpetrator is about 5'6" wearing a beige baseball cap. He has blond hair but darker facial hair. He has muttonchops. He is wearing a gray raglan sleeved sweatshirt...."

Flower Child: "...and now he is running across the street. (pause as she hears K-dawg's raglan sleeve comment) My sister is on the phone with you right now as well. She's actually giving you a thorough description, while I'm only giving you commentary..."

All ended well. The mugs were shattered but the knitting and needles remained unmolested. The authorities came promptly and arrested our attacker. None of the ladies were hurt. "The Man" sported just enough of a black-eye for bragging-rights but is okay other than that. In the interest of quelling fears about walking through the streets of Portland at night or of street people in general. Our city is just as safe (or safer) than any other city in the US. Our attacker was not a local. While that is neither here nor there, it was chance that brought us in his path and I am happy the episode ended well here in Portland rather than badly anywhere else.

An Ice Cube Tray and Yarn

To start off our SKIF Knit-a-long out right, for those trapped underneath something heavy and can't make it in on Tuesday nights to hangout and get your SKIF knit on, I present to you today's topic:

Choosing yarn

I know it sounds absolutely thrilling. Right now one of you is thinking, "If I can pick out my own socks in the morning I can certainly manage choosing a yarn that I love."

Au contraire, mon frère (and mon soeur). Choosing yarn is sometimes as hard as finding that perfect bottle of soft drink to go with backyard barbecue. Would you pair Jolt cola with Brats? How about Chocolate Yoo Hoo with German style potato salad? I didn't think so.

So let us just consider for a moment the weighty (worsted-weighty) decision you are about to undertake and let's travel to the magical world of the Standard Yarn Weight System as brought to you by those wacky kids at the Craft Yarn Council of America (cue music).

The SKIF patterns are knit at gauges from 4 to 4½ stitches per inch on US needle sizes 8 or 9 (4.5 or 5 mm). If you were to create a garment from just one yarn for these patterns, you would choose a worsted (or Aran) weight yarn. In the land of yarn, this is medium weight.

However, you are no sissy. You are going to take on the full-throttle joy of knitting a SKIF International pattern for the full Monty effect so you choose multiple fine gauge yarns. (Deep in your psyche your alter ego sports a bicep tattoo that features yarn and needles with the old-time banner caption of "Balls of Silken Stainless Steel".)

Now here comes the perplexing part: how do you find fine gauge yarns to equal a worsted weight?

Think of the worsted weight in terms of its parts (I won't use the word fraction here because as I think about typing it I hear cogs grinding and springs sproinging in the collective minds of the math-phobic masses). Think of worsted weight yarn like an ice cube tray! As illustrated here:

Does your brain-machine feel better now?
Worsted weight yarn is composed of many skinny yarns called plies just like the tray is composed of several little ice cubbyholes (what else can you call the individual hole that makes ice other than a cubicle? I already lost half of our two readers with the math reference. I don't want to loose the other one with office-speak). Most worsted weight yarns are about 8-ply. About is a very important word. Sometime the crafty mill-mongrels will make really pretty worsted yarn that is single-ply, double-ply, and whatnot. But for illustration purposes we shall pretend all worsted weight yarn is the same and is made from 8 plies. As we have taken the trolley to the land of make believe, we shall also pretend lace weight yarns equal a single ply.

Worsted = 8 plies
Lace = 1 ply
Ergo 8 strands lace = 1 worsted yarn.

HURRAY! Whoopee! Yay we did it!

Not so fast my young Padawan. We used a word of infinite magical power. We used the word: about. The reality is yarn is made by madmen, purchased by the insane, beloved by the stark-raving mad, and coveted by the crazier-than-owning-three-vacuums (I fall into the last category... none of them work properly either but that's a story for another day). Due to this unhinged quality in the world of knitting, you might find that seven, six, or even five strands of lace can equal a worsted weight yarn. You may decide you aren't feeling the lace weight love and want to use sport or double knitting (DK) weight yarn. How do you manage that?

You let go of the control and dare to imagine:

Lace = 1-2 ply
Fingering = 2-3 plies
Sport = 3-4 plies
DK = 4-5 plies

Your head might be swimming at this point. Take the edge off with some fresh yarn stash enhancement. Don't worry we'll wait.

So now that you have some fresh stash, the next thing you do is prune some of your old stash-beast to go with it. Take those single skeins that you bought "just because" and those leftover skeins and sort them by color. Pick your favorite color(s) then sort that pile by animal/vegetable. Anything that is the hair from an animal goes into one pile and everything else (including silk) goes in the other. If you have a blend use the primary fiber as a guideline. Choose the yarns that seem to go best together, but make sure you choose a some of each: animal, vegetable, smooth, and textured yarns. The combination you choose will make your garment completely unique. If all this gives you a headache, don't fret. Tomorrow's post will show you examples of how to blend and mix your yarns together.

Until then lets see some examples from real live coworkers:

Fyberduck is using Joseph Galler's Inca Cotton in Ecru for "Neptune".

Inca Cotton=Worsted weight=8plies

Here is a great example of the use of the word about. Below is "Martha" in Tsumugi Silk Combo carried with doubled Sea Silk by SandyKay:

Tsumugi Silk Combo=Fingering Weight=3plies
Doubled Sea Silk= Doubled Lace Weight=2plies x 2

That's crazy! SandyKay is making her's with 7plies! Aaaaaaa!!!! Panic! Panic!

Feel better? Did you get it out of your system? There's no need to panic because she's getting gauge so there is no need to worry.

This one is a whole bucket of crazy... like owning-three-vacuums crazy:

I have taken my stash apart and grabbed all the silly little leftover balls of lace weight mohair and sock yarn and added some Tsumugi Silk and Bamboo from Habu, Flaxen, and Alpaca 1 for my Zena. Who knows, the urge to buy more yarn might come on me again and I might just add something else.

The patterns require anywhere from a pound to a pound and a half (.5 to .6 kilo) of blended yarn. In terms of yardage (or meter-age for the rest of the world) that is approximately 890-1350 yards (815-1230 meters).

The nice thing about the patterns are they emphasize and encourage knitters to just go with the flow and think of the experience like a Sous chef thinks of cooking: blend, mix, experiment. Some of the tips offered in the patterns are: "Be glad when the shop runs out of your dye lot" and "Keep switching yarns the whole way through".

Think of it as an opportunity for anarchy.

For those of you Anarchists out there who want to post pictures and progress on your own SKIF knit, write a blog post on this all inclusive blog: skifkal dot blogspot dot com!

Little Bundle of Joy

I have a child.

Well, actually its not a child in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, its an entity with its own unique personality, moods, and thoughts irrespective of my own. It occasionally throws a fit, has problems in the middle of the night, does something rude to a customer, etc,etc.

I didn't actually "give birth" either. I inherited it, or was saddled with it depending upon which day you ask me. So I guess in some regards, I'm the nanny to our little bundle of joy: website.

Website and I are in the middle of "redesigning", a process similar to preparing for entry into a Manhattan prep-school. The process includes rephotographing yarns, transforming them from mug shots to glamor shots:










It also means my new office mate, "3M", is coding fast and furious trying to keep ahead of the random tantrums Website throws. He's like the child psychologist in this whole adventure.

Fyberduck and I are also developing promotional elements for the web as well. This would be the "dump-little-two-year-old-Maddison-into-music-and-dance-classes-so-we-can show-our-development-range" type of activities anxious parents succum to. So far the promotion includes our Sock club and Gratis Knits. However, I'd like to introduce our loyal readers (both of you) to our latest idea: a SKIF knit-a-long (KAL).

I've been a fan of the design line from SKIF since I first saw "The Matrix". As I watched the movie, I imagined a fashionable world filled with ankle-length black coats, form-fitting pleather, and heeled boots. Of course that really doesn't make the best post-apocolyptic "lounge about the ship" wear, so simple yet stylish knits are a must as well. Something with visual interest yet simple construction. Not too simple mind you. Something that evokes an image of a world traveler: designs that seem familiar but not like anything you've seen before. Designs like those from SKIF. Check out some of the pretty from SKIF's website:














Now, I tend to be a Burgerville kind of knitter. Good quality, relatively inexpensive fast-food (but in this case knitting). Socks, baby wear, hats, and scarves are the bulk of my knitting projects. I've knit my share of sweaters too, but the stash-beast is mostly made up of sock-weight yarns and knitting a sweater on a size one needle is more like a six-course meal knitting job.

The lovely thing about the SKIF patterns are they use multiple fine-guage yarns held together in construction. The effect creates a customized tweed fabric. Very yummy.

I am giddy with the thought of using the remnants of skeins left to languish in the stash-beast. The yarns are probably less than 30 yards each, but the yardage was just enough to keep me believing I would use them in a color-work project. Now they have a definate home.










I love the idea of unisex designs too. My Secret Gay Husband is trying to decide which design to knit.


















The official date for the KAL to begin is Tuesday, July 1st. Progress postings will commence thoughout the month in Blogland and we'll end Thursday, July 31st... maybe with a cat-walk at Sip and Stitch? (Sick, but that's the kind of disease we spread here.)