Baby

I was able to get a picture of one baby robin. 

We had three hatchlings, and then this morning one of them was on the sidewalk, so we are now down to two.

Freddie's Blanket

We have a new book that is wonderful for knitting projects and reading to your child. 

There are patterns for a blanket,

Freddy Platypus and his coveralls,

 




 coveralls for a child,












an envelope wrap,









 







and May Platypus.  They all use the Serendipity Tweed and we have lots of that.






It is written and illustrated by the same folks that did Phoebe's Sweater.

They also have a group on Ravelry.

Thank you, Slate Falls Press, for the wonderful pictures.

Kauni Trunk Show

RYN Yarns, our distributor for Kauni yarns, sent us a trunk show. 






The Oakland Shawl



















Beverly Cardigan

Brady Scarf


















It looks much nicer in person.  We will have it until the end of May, so make sure you stop by to fondle.

Carry on

Okay, so I collect things.  And one of those things I collect and use are bags, totes, baskets.  Items to hold my knitting.  And Lantern Moon has a lot of what I like.

Rice baskets - the salt water reed is sustainably harvested, flattened by hand press, then dyed and woven by village artisans in the community center and in their homes

 Clam Shell Cases - three fit into one and zip up.  Great for notions.

Boca - twisted seagrass baskets with silk lining. Small and medium with drawstring closure.

 



Silk Taffeta bags - three different sizes.  I have a lady that uses them to gift wines.

Ibiza - diamond pattern palm leaf combined with natural palm inside to make a fresh summer tote. Rattan ring handles.

  Swing bucket - Roomy drawstring pouch with four outside pockets in limited edition prints.

Tilly - Folded and sewn palm leaf in perfect brights for Spring and Summer. Natural palm is woven in to create a rick rack effect. Wooden handles on this farmer's market tote.

Jewel - Taffeta silk tops the soft quilted charcoal box.

Sapa Messenger bag  

Palm Leaf Tote - braided palm leaf with wooden handle. Black cotton lining with magnetic snap. Inside zipper pocket.

                           

Silk and velvet, I am a Victorian lady.

Maya Floral - small project bag in beautiful Vietnamese floral print silk.  Loop and shell button closure.

Another sign of spring

This is what happens when a puppy meets up with a porcupine. 

Guess who won? 

She had quills in her abdomen, left front paw and face.  One is still in her nose.

New tenants

Last weekend we hosted new tenants.

Robins and their nest.

I had stopped by the shoppe last Sunday, saw this, 

and thought that the neighbors had cleaned up their yard, found the nest on the ground and gifted it to us.

 Betsy said she saw a robin sitting on the nest.  The last time I checked there were not any eggs.  Isn't it amazing what nature can do?

Sample It

Thanks to Betsy, Jill, and Susan - we have some more new samples at the shoppe.

Betsy knitted the Twirly Skirt  (look under free patterns) out of Cotton Fleece.  She made the size 4, but found that she had to shorten the last section to keep from having to use 2 skeins of that color.













These two hats were knitted by Susan.  She used the Kauni yarn and the pattern is by Ruth Sorensen,  One skein made both hats.

















Jill knitted the Wiggle Wrap out of the Kauni.  It is nice and long.



















Another scarf knitted out of Kauni.    The Paintbox Scarf by Lucy Neatby.

Need to mark it?

One line of markers that we carry is Suann Stitches.  Suann is a knitter and teacher who lives in the Lansing, MI area and makes these wonderful snagless markers.

 We received more of her markers this past week.  They come in two sizes - up to US 4 and up to US 10.5.   She uses sterling plated jumprings that are sealed with Japanese seed beads.

Absolutely lovely.

Mountain Colors

 During the week several new items came in.

Mountain Colors Twizzle,

Crazyfoot, and Bearfoot.

The folks at Mountain Colors are wonderful to work with and I love their hand dyed yarn.

I am knitting the Fan Neckwarmer (Ravelry link) and am loving the Twizzle yarn.

  I can see a cardigan out of it later on down the line.

Take a break

Thanks to Ally for this

Dancing sheep

Scandinavian Caps

These hats were knitted by Susan, out of Nature Spun Sport.  The patterns are from  Cottage Creations Scandinavian Caps for Guys.  If you have ever knitted the Wallaby or any other of Carol Anderson's patterns, then you will appreciate her talent.

I.  Christopher Anderson's Cap- Aran and Blueberry

II.  Mark Jungck's Cap -  Plumberry, Stone, Blueberry, Ash, Aran

 

IV. Jonathan Anderson's Cap  Stone and Ash Nature Spun Sport weight

Grande 6 Cable Hat

 If you want a quick knit with bulky yarn, this hat is the one. 













Schulana Grande with a  US 15.

The booklet has a total of 4 patterns and we have lots of primary colors.

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.