I know - you want spring, but winter is not ready to leave.  So, what is a good thing to knit and wear right away.  Hats!

The next bunch of posts are going to highlight the hats that we have in the shoppe for models, starting with the Maltese Fisherman's Hat.

Let me sing the praises of this hat.  First of all, it is an Elizabeth Zimmermann creation.   She was an amazing knitter and designer.

 

 

You can find this pattern in the Knitter's Almanac and Spun Out #9, both of which we carry.  This hat is quick, easy, and fun to wear.  I used the Naturally Aran 10 ply, two stranded, which the puppies picked out.

It uses the knit stitch, starting with garter, then joining and continuing to knit in the round.  It keeps my ears warm, a must for me to keep away earaches.

This is the hat I made for me to wear.  I keep it in my van for those snowy days. It is knitted out of two stranded Pinturas.

Better late than never

For Christmas, I knitted this for my sister out of the Jojoland Melody, but wool makes her itch, so it went to my daughter.

Hmmm, what to do?   I contacted one of my favorite vendors, Rita from Yarn Hollow, and she sent me several skeins of her Thistle yarn, Cloud Nine colorway.   Very soft and not a problem for my sensitive sister as it is silk and alpaca.

Purl Ridge Scarf by Stephen West.  Nice pattern and wonderful yarn.

And my sister loves it.

Jill showed me this pattern.  I was looking for patterns to use to knit up some scarves/cowls to match some of my sweaters.

sev[en] circle

Here is my version out of Ty Dy wool.












While I was knitting it, I will admit that I wondered about the pattern.  It looked weird and I wasn't too sure that I would like it. 

After finishing it, I decided that it was pretty nice after all and I may even knit some more.  They would make a nice start for Christmas presents.

Skacel KAL continued

Jill sent me a picture of her first week of Skacel's Stripes Alive Kal

Both she and Betsy are enjoying this pattern and it is turning out cute. 
If you want to join along, we still have skeins of this yarn at the shoppe.
.

More Kauni

Susan is diligently knitting away on the Kinnickinnic Blanket. 

She has also knitted a hat and a shawl.  Pictures of those are forthcoming.

Come Fondle

Isobel

 
The Marion Foale's trunk show is here.  We will have it until March 26.

Mimi

 Four gorgeous sweaters to fondle and look at.

Alicia

Rosa

Tangled up in blue

If you choose to knit from both ends of a skein of Kauni, you may want to rewind it first.

Otherwise you may end up like me.

Doreen's shawl

If you come in on Sundays, you would know Doreen.  She is a fast knitter and is wonderful with her colors.

She found the Sonoma Valley Wrap in the Simply Shetland 2 book.




Doreen sat down with our Nature Spun sport weight yarns and picked out her colors and went for it.

Having fun

The Kauni yarn has folks knitting.

This is the Wiggle Wrap.





  Jill is knitting the one on the right and Doreen is knitting the one on the left.








Lovely.

Excited

New yarn !

Marion Foale

Nice fingering weight yarn.  7 stitches to an inch on a size US 3.  I am knitting the Gertrude Hat.


Kauni.  This is a lovely yarn from Denmark.  Both solid and variegated.  Dorte, from the hair salon, gives it thumbs up.

February's KAL

We are off into the February Skacel KAL.  Jill has been merrily knitting on and sending me her pictures.

This month is knitting fingerless gloves.  Jill has finished her first week.

I would love to post everyone else's pictures of the KAL.  Send them in.

Some people finish their KALs

If I were Jill, I could say that my socks, for the Skacel KAL, were done.

Catch Up

After fighting some viral something or another, I am starting to come back to normal, which means I am knitting again.

I had to tear out my sock KAL as the toe had a ridge.  That is a no no.















Since I had to restart, I decided that Jill was right and I  seperated my ball of yarn into two and used two seperate needles to knit the socks.  And this is where I am.


















I need the Dove Dark Chocolate to exist.

I should be zipping along up the leg on the second sock, but am not.  The secret is out - it takes me forever to knit a pair of socks.  But I am having fun and I learned a new cast on.

In the meantime, I have been working on other projects.

 Purl Ridge Scarf by Stephen West

I started a cowl for my sister to replace the cowl I made for her for Christmas and it was out of wool and itched.  Therefore, I called up my favorite hand dyer, Yarn Hollow, explained what I needed and several weeks later I had 2 skeins of a lovely alpaca and silk light worsted blend in soothing pastels.

Sleeping Molly

Along with that I started and frogged a pair of mittens for SEEDS.  (bulky yarn makes too big mittens)




And then, of course, we have puppy class for the two young ladies that think they know what they are doing.

Day one of KAL

Okay, I have officially started my KAL for January.

I am going to knit my socks off of the same ball, but am wondering if that will be a mistake.  I will let you know. 


Jill says I will be sorry.








I will say that the video, Judy's Magic Cast On, was a big help.

KAL

There is a KAL group on Ravelry for the Skacel/KnitPurlHunter project.

I haven't had time to start yet, plan to do so at the shoppe tomorrow, but have watched the cast on video and I am ready!

Twenty Years of Zitron Trekking Sock Yarn Knit Along and Contest

For the next six months we are participating in a knit along (KAL) with Skacel. Every month the shoppe will receive special yarn for a monthly project. I highly encourage you to participate as this is a great opportunity to learn new techniques.

Read on.....

Featuring Michelle Hunter of Knit Purl Hunter

Skacel Collection, Inc. is proud to announce their Twenty Years of Zitron Trekking Knit Along and Contest. The Knit Along, hosted by Michelle Hunter of Knit Purl Hunter, will begin in January of 2011 and run six months, concluding July 15th. Every month a new one skein project will be featured, that introduces knitters to a different technique.

Instructions for the project will be posted in increments on a weekly basis, along with educational "how-to" video clips. Each week a little bit more will be revealed! For those participating, there will be weekly and monthly prizes awarded, culminating in July with the grand-prize. The winner will receive a weekend get-away for two to Seattle including a trip to Skacel and a $1,000 shopping spree for yarns and needles in their warehouse!

Knit Along Overview

Each month will feature a one skein project.

Each project will feature one specific color of Trekking. To qualify for the contest, the contestant must knit with a Zitron Trekking yarn. Additional chances to win prizes will be given to those who knit the project in the featured color from the Supply List.

Instructions for the projects will be posted on the Knit Purl Hunter website.

Instructions for each month will be posted in four segments, with each segment revealing the next step. The first segment of each month will be posted on the 1st of the month. The second, third and fourth segments will be posted on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of that month respectively.

Each project will feature a different technique. Video Clips on these techniques will be posted on the Knit Purl Hunter website.

Once posted, all instructions will remain on the website through July 15th, 2011.

A forum for questions and comments can be found on the Knit Purl Hunter website.

Contest Overview

The Grand Prize: One lucky knitter will receive an all-expense paid weekend getaway for two to Seattle, Washington and the Skacel warehouse, where they will be given one $1,000 shopping spree in yarn and needles of their choice. Included is: roundtrip coach airfare for two to Seattle from any major city in North America, hotel accommodations (one double room), all transportation and meals. Travel must be completed by November 1st, 2011. Date of trip will be mutually determined by skacel collection, Inc. and winner.

The Not-So-Grand but none-the-less Great Prize: There will be five contestants who will receive a year's worth of Zitron Trekking! They will be sent one skein of Zitron Trekking per month beginning on August 1st 2011 and ending July 1st, 2012. Colors will be chosen by skacel collection, Inc.

Monthly Prizes: There will be at least 7 winners each month! One contestant will win a set of addi Clicks of their choice: addi Lace, addi Turbo®, addi Natura or addi Crochet. Two contestants will win a stuffed skacel promo bag. Goodies inside will vary from month to month. A minimum of four random prizes will be awarded to those who frequent the Skacel and Knit Purl Hunter websites.

Happy Knitting!

Skacel Collection, Inc.

www.skacelknitting.com

Skacel KAL


Skacel Rules

I will be knitting along, so if you have any questions, you may stop by on the days that I am at the shoppe - Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

If you want to participate, we encourage you to sign up ahead of time so we can have the yarn set aside for you. You may call us, email, or stop by.

We will also have a running commentary at Thistledown Musers on Raverly, if you want to stop by.

Kitties and yarn

Babies, children, and puppies

Several weeks ago we had fun with the little ones.


A ten month old baby

12 week old puppies

"Shall we play?"




Time to sleep.

llllll

Relaxing

Today is my day off and I have been playing around. One of the things I did was take pictures of


Habitat. I am stretching myself and knitting Jared Flood's hat, cabling with charts. It has been fun and I am loving the yarn, Portland Tweed.




I have also been watching and playing with Emma and Molly. They are 11 weeks old today.

How to take pictures of puppies

The other day I was attempting to take pictures of Emma and Molly for a holiday ad.

I discovered that expecting 10 week old puppies to sit still and pose is absolutely ridiculous.


Until we are done with the photo shoot.