A Different Sort of Hat

At the ripe old age of 8, my sweet niece Natalie is already more skilled than me at most things. Verbal sparring, cooking, being kind to fellow human beings – you name it, she’s better at it. Recently, she has taken to crocheting with a ferocious appetite. Everything from baby booties to cowls to dish clothes have been emerging from her soft little porcelain hands.

I recently celebrated my birthday (yay, me!). As is true of most 8-yr olds, Natalie does not have a lot of discretionary income. I’d been hankering after Billow hat in my favorite color, Comfrey, so I casually dropped a subtle hint. “Hey Natalie, make me this hat for my birthday! Do it.” I would provide the yarn, she the manual labor. Everyone would be happy.

Gnome Hat

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One Skein Crochet Slippers

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All it took was one skein of Wool of the Andes Bulky in Stormy and a free afternoon and SCHIZZAM! I have a brand new pair of women’s small/medium sized slippers! I used a size H crochet hook and Pierrot’s Warm Slipper free pattern scrounged from my Ravelry queue to make these cozy little gems. This pattern wound up being about a women’s 8.5 shoe size which is far and away too tiny for my big flippers, but they fit my mother perfectly.

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Coming Full Circle with a free pattern!

Have you seen the awesome sale on Full Circle yarns and fiber? This is your last chance to get it before it’s gone for good!
When it first came in, I snagged some Full Circle Bulky. I love the way the colors worked together, and recently I knit up a super warm, super chunky cowl using 7 colors. It only took me about an evening and a half to make the cowl, and it used up little leftover bits of each color – it’s really a great way to use leftover bits of any bulky weight yarn!

So, I wrote up the pattern for you, and it’s available free from our site. There are also four-color and two-color versions listed in the pattern, with approximate yardages needed for each color. Bulky yarn is so difficult to stash-bust because there really aren’t too many uses for …

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For the birds

We love our fine feathered friends here in the Pacific Northwest – thanks to the TV show Porlandia, our unofficial motto is “Put a Bird On It”. So I was delighted to knit and crochet a flock of birds for a great cause.

Our Full Circle yarn line is one of my favorites we’ve come out with – it’s such a soft yarn, a blend of Merino and Highland wools that would have otherwise gone to waste. It works equally well for crochet as well as knit projects. I’ve made dozens of projects in each and just enjoy each stitch – the only sad thing is that it’s only here for such a short time!

And from now until May 1st, we are having a wonderful promotion – for you it’s saving 15% on the entire Full Circle yarn line – worsted, bulky and roving. For our birdie friends, we are donating $1 of every skein sold to our friends at International Bird Rescue! (Make sure you check out all the great works they have done!)

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Sweater Finishing Series: How to Pick Up and Knit the Collar

Last week was the start of our sweater finishing video series where Kerin showed you how to set in the sleeves of a sweater. This week’s segment entails a comprehensive look into the elusive collar! The first step to the collar will usually be picking up your stitches, which can be a bit tricky since you’ll be working along straight and curved edges of the collar. Unsure of how to work a hemmed collar? Kerin covers that too!

Check out Part 2 of our sweater finishing tutorial to learn how to pick up and knit a collar as well as how to sew down a hemmed collar.

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Podcast 212: New Yarn and Collections for April

This week, Jenny and Stacey get a chance talk about all of the new and exciting things that are out for April! First and foremost is Felici, our limited-edition self-striping fingering weight yarn – hear about all of the wonderful new colors that are now available.

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Next, Jenny and Stacey talk about the two new pattern collections out for April: In Tune by Luise O’Neill and Urban Texture by Tabetha Hedrick. You’ll also hear more about the new kits that are available and which books make out must-have lists while the big book sale is going on!

Finally, Stacey gets a chance to talk with designer Tabetha Hedrick – hear more about her inspiration and design process behind her collection, Urban Texture.

And due to the popularity of the kits, we have sold out of the Dish Towels and Pookies kits but fear not! You can still find the pattern downloads for these kits here:

Dish Towels Pattern by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence
Pookies by Barbara Prime

3 easy ways to listen…

Subscribe in iTunes Episode 212: New Yarn and Collections for April RSS feed

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Slow progress is still progress.

With the swatches for my dad’s sweater blocked and measured, I was finally able to get to the math of the pattern! I sketched out what I wanted it to look like, and got to work on measurements.
sketch
Casting on after so long was a relief. I feel like I’m actually working towards keeping that promise now! And with an impending trip to see my dad, I’ve got the motivation of a deadline to spur me on.
I haven’t done much yet. Just past the sleeve cuffs and into the rhythm of cables and increases. But it’s progress – and now that I’m past the 1×1 ribbing (beautiful, but not as fast as I’d like!), the sleeves are whizzing right along. I’m working both at once, since the only …

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