Category Archives: Yarn

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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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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Checklist for a perfect project

I know I am going out on a limb because each knitter has his or her own set of parameters. But, as I finished my Lace Ribbon Scarf I realized it was one of my absolutely perfect projects. Here is my checklist - 1) Easily obtainable instructions - right from Ravelry. I was able to use my Google Documents app to make the PDF file show up on my phone whenever I wanted to check the lace pattern 2) Memorizable pattern - it didn't take long for me to be able to read my previously knit stitches to tell where I was in the pattern. 3) High quality yarn - our Chroma yarn is delightfully soft as it flows through your fingers, it makes a fabric that is decadently soft and the color play as the lace pattern travels back and forth was mesmerizing. 4) Quick to knit - don't get me wrong, I love challenging projects like lace shawls or colorwork sweaters. But, those don't fall under my category of "absolutely perfect". 5) Easy to give away - that's right! A friend was admiring this scarf as I was knitting it. I loved that I didn't hesitate for a moment before I offered it to her as a gift. I enjoyed knitting it and I knew she would love it day after day after day.  6) My fingers are itching to cast on another potentially "absolutely perfect" project - and I think I've found it. Using my other ball of Chroma Fingering weight yarn in Sunrise. And, I will only need one ball because it has nearly 400 yards in the 100 gram ball. The pattern for this shawlette.

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Spindling my yarns

Our Knit Picks Drop Spindle is an affordable introduction to drop spindling. Notice how I didn't say, 'introduction to spinning'. Thanks to Abby Franquemont's book, Respect the Spindle, drop spindling is no longer considered to be a 'training exercise' or 'a first step towards real spinning on a spinning wheel'. More about spinning wheels later. After you become comfortable spinning yarn with your first drop spindle, you will want to collect more spindles. Abby explains that there are practical, as well as esthetic, reasons for expanding your spindle collection. Between the two, I can justify nearly any spindle purchase. Practical reasons usually involve your wanting to spin different weights of yarns. My Golding is perfect for DK/Worsted weight yarn. But, if I want to spin anything lighter, I definitely need to use a smaller spindle.

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Joining the Chroma craze!

Alright, Stacey has gotten a jump-start on me with her Turn a Square hat and her Ida's Kitchen hat made from our new Chroma yarn. But, I am quite pleased with my choice of project - Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery using the New England colorway in fingering weight. I love how the the undulation of the fabric accents the long transitions of color. The only issue is that I only have one ball from what was left from our office stash. But, since there is a definite right and wrong side to this scarf, I think I'l be perfectly happy just having it drape around my neck. It's also knitting up quickly! I have found that following the chart was much easier than using the written instructions.

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Chroma Hats

Chroma has been out for about 2 weeks now - have you tried it yet?  I am honestly so in love with it.  I can't stop knitting with it!  First I tried the fingering weight for my Fishy Mitts that I already wrote about.  But when I finished, I wanted to keep playing with it!  Hats are one of my favorite things to knit (sadly, no one I know wears hats...so now I have a lot of them) so I decided to try out some different hat patterns with Chroma Worsted. First - I decided to do a Turn A Square by Jared Flood.  I've actually never tried this pattern before, though I have done a few by Jared Flood.  Alison has an addiction to this pattern so it seemed like a perfect time to try it out.

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Fun with Chroma

Knitting the Autumn Sun shawl  in Chroma worsted was completely addicting. The whole shawl is knit in garter stitch with simple increases on each end to create the triangle shape as you knit (the pattern is available on Ravelry as a free download). With no fancy stitch patterns to memorize or charts to check and re-check, I sat back and watched the colors in the Mix Tape colorway transition from yellow to green to pink to brown.

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I’ve finished my Tic Tac Toes Socks!

Just to remind you, I used Gloss in Kenai and Imagination in Fairy Princess. And, the pattern came from one of our Independent Designers - Camille Chang. Of course, I had to make a couple of individual changes. I used my favorite ribbing, K1b, P1. I prefer my legs to go up to my knees. I used Camille's instructions for only gloss for the ribbing and the toe segment. Also for the heel but I chose to knit the heel holding both the Imagination and Gloss together because I wanted a nice thick heel. The colorwork pattern is absolutely memorizable - is that a word? Well, it made them lovely Take Along projects. They are warm, comforting, thick, lovely, etc. Reminders of why I love wearing hand-knit socks. There is nothing better! A simple indulgence!

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TheYarn Bowl pattern and WoTA yarn Contest Winner!

WOW, I can’t believe how many of you tried out for this contest!!  We had 3,878 comments!!!!  Using a random # generator, we have a winner for the Wool of the Andes yarn and Beautiful Yarn Bowl pattern…  We would like to congratulate Stephanie B. (# 3264)  We’ll be sending her an email shortly to make arrangements for shipping this marvelous selection of Wool of the Andes and pattern to her… Also, I would like to thank you all for the wonderful, encouraging comments about our new book pattern download program.  In the next week or two we’ll be adding 4 more books (from Martingale & Company) and there will be many more coming later as more publishers join this great new venue…  Thanks again!!!

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Win some cashmere!

After months of planning, I can't express how excited I am to share our new yarns with you!  This was our biggest yarn launch to date.  We completely updated the colors offered in our classic lines, like Wool of the Andes.  We filled in holes in our Palette collection to get up to 100 colors!  And we are now offering an ultra soft and luxurious cashmere and Merino blend called Capra!

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