Monthly Archives: February 2011

A Blanket Statement

It’s hard to believe that spring officially starts in just over three
weeks. This has been a pretty crazy winter, and at this point, cabin
fever is bound to be running rampant. So, to cure those late-winter
doldrums, wrap yourself in a warm, colorful blanket!

We have two new blanket kits, each with two colorways. While they are
aesthetically different, they are both examples of the cool stuff you
can do with plain, simple garter stitch!

The Flare Blanket comes in Red/Brown and Blue/Grey.
This blanket is knit in sixteen squares, all with the same patterning
but a selection of four different color sequences. Each square is knit
in the round from the outside in – meaning it gets faster as you knit
each square. Talk about instant gratification! And once the squares are
sewn up – that’s it. No fuss, no border, just soft, woolly warmth.

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gift knitting spree

This fall and winter, almost every project I cast on was one I intended to give away. That makes for thoughtful gifts and happy recipients, but not much blog fodder until the gifts have been given!

Here’s a quick recap of my gifty F.O.’s from the last few months:

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Do you remember this shawl?

Well, my poor Gull Wings Pi Shawl has been languishing in a project drawer. A victim of the hectic holidays and my slow recovery from said holiday season.

It’s not as if it is a particularly complicated pi shawl. Look at those lovely, regular repeats. The instructions are easy to carry around. There are no excuses.

You know what I need? A good audio book and a weekend dedicated to recommiting to my shawl.

 

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Aloft! Oh, just wait until you see what I have in mind!

I love the Belinda Shawl from Kay Gardiner & Ann Shayne’s second book, Mason-Dixon Knitting Ourtside the Lines.  It is incredibly simple in design but the result will be so elegant.

When we received our samples of Aloft, we all started thinking about what we would like to knit with the gossamer soft strands of super kid mohair and silk. Watching the two open-work layers of the Belinda shawl move past each other would be mesmorizing but add in the glint of silk and the warm softness of the mohair and I think this will be a delight to knit and wear.

Look at the colors I’ve chosen.

Tarragon was a no brainer since it is the sort of warm green I enjoy wearing. I put several second color options next to it but it wasn’t until I held up the Eggplant that I knew I had found my combination. All I need to do is grab a pair of Harmony needle tips and a 32″ cable. The sharp point will make it easy to work with the fine yarn.

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Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting Giveaway!

This contest is now closed.  Thank you so much to everyone who participated!  To find out who won, click here.

 

That’s right, folks…we have another book contest! And if you have never done entrelac knitting, you should really
give it a try! It can look intimidating at first, but you will be a pro in no
time with Rosemary Drysdale’s book, Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace
Knittng
. It can be a fun and rewarding technique that not only looks
complicated and fancy, but is so versatile at the same time.

The book begins with Rosemary leading you through
every step
of the way in understanding the concepts and techniques used for
entrelac knitting. Using modular triangles and squares, you can create
really stunning
and interesting pieces using cables, lace or colorwork. One of my
favorite things about this book is the entrelac
stitch dictionary that highlights over 60 different stitch patterns!
Once you understand the concepts behind entrelac knitting, this stitch
dictionary makes a wonderful resource that allows you to create your
very own
designs with confidence.

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The Chroma love affair continues

With a second ball of Chroma in my stash, I went exploring for a nice pattern that could take advantage of the generous yardage of Chroma Fingering weight.

This Gentle Reversible Shawl by Diana Troldahl has a lovely surprise in the instructions. Diana explains how to determine the equal division of whatever yarn you want to use. Then she also tells you how to adapt that knowledge to knitting her shawl. Absolutely brilliant!

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Have you seen Aloft?!?!

Let me show it to you…

Can you believe how beautiful it is?  Aloft
is a blend of 75% mohair and 25% silk and it will leave you wanting to
knit with it over and over again.  The silk adds a radiant core that
shimmers and shines through the soft halo of mohair, all the while
adding a beautiful drape and texture to any project. Our team fell
head-over-heals in love with the line the moment we first saw the
sample.  The Knit Picks Director – Alison – couldn’t keep us out of her
office because we all wanted to keep touching it! It’s just so yummy!

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Winners of the Knit. Sock. Love. Contest!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway!  We had some
really fun comments and everyone seemed really inspired by all of the sock love thanks to Cookie A’s wonderful designs. 
Unfortunately, we were only able to pick three winners.  To select our
winners, we used a random number generator that chose our winners based on the number of their comment. 
Our winners!
#22 – Julie H.
I would love this book!

#566 – Debby
I think her socks are amazing and I would love to win this book! Thanks for the opportunity to try to win.

#1306 – Nicole I.
I LOVE Cookie’s socks, the patterns are written so well that it feels
almost like I am getting a lesson on sock knitting! I chose one of her
patterns for my first socks actually, and saw it through to completion
with total success. This book features a drop dead beautiful collection
and it would find a loving home …

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Knit. Sock. Love. Giveaway!

This contest is now closed.  Thank you so much to everyone who participated!  To find out who won, click here.

Socks are wonderful for so many reasons. They are small and portable,
they are an excuse to try out new techniques and you get to use crazy
colors that you wouldn’t normally pick out for your knitting! If you are
a sock knitter, I am sure you are well aware of sock designer
extraordinaire Cookie A. In honor of our love for socks and Valentine’s
Day, we are giving away 3 copies of Knit. Sock. Love. 

Cookie A. has once again filled another sock book to the brim with
interesting textures, shapes and designs – all of which are set against
gorgeous photography that is bright, playful and just plain fun.

Right
away, my eye was drawn to the section of the book devoted to the
diagonals. I just love how these lines seemingly go against and cut
right through the vertical sensibility of socks. At first glance, the
diagonal bands that meander over and across the socks may leave you with
a feeling of “how’d they do that?” but these are the kinds of questions
and design elements that are explored in Knit. Sock. Love.

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Podcast Episode 153: Entrelac-tastic!

Alison interviews Rosemary Drysdale, author of Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting. Hear Alison and Kerin chat about designing with entrelac, how to use this technique as well as handy tips and tricks. Stacey interviews IDP designer Michele Bernstein about how she got her start designing and the inspiration behind her Lacy Entrelac Infinity Scarf.
Books Reviewed
Alison reviews the book Entrée to Entrelac by Gwen Bortner.
 
3 easy ways to listen…
Subscribe in iTunes Episode 153: Entrelac-tastic! RSS feed
 
 

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