knot another hat

It's time to swirl!

This Friday marks the beginning of the Knit, Swirl! Knit-A-Long here at Knot Another Hat!

JOIN US FROM 3pm TO CLOSING FOR OUR KAL KICK OFF!

What's a Knit-A-Long, you ask? Also known as a KAL, Knit-A-Longs are an informal organization of knitters who want to get together and knit the same thing. In our case, we will all be knitting different swirls out of Sandra's book!

There are no class fees, as this isn't a structured knitting class, and there are no commitments, but there will be prizes and incentives for working on your project.

If you have yet to see Sandra McIver's self-published Knit, Swirl!, you are missing out! This lovely hardcover book is the most innovative book to hit the knitting industry in quite a while. Not only is the book chock full of captivating patterns and eyecandy photography, it is well-researched and meticulously written. My finished Swirl, the Sheer Beauty Swirl, is here at the shop, and everyone who tries it on has fallen in love!

If you'd like to sign up to receive news and updates about this Knit Along, just sign up on the form to the right----->! See you Friday!  

quick and dirty

There's nothing better than a little quick and dirty knitting to make you feel like you've accomplished something. I had two such projects fall into my lap last Friday, when the much-anticipated order from Rowan finally arrived!

 

• Pattern: Rowan Kidsilk Creation Scarf by Gemma Atkinson
• Yarn: 1 sk Rowan Kidsilk Creation (I used color #02, Dewberry)(limited edition yarn!)
• Needle: a sharp-pointed US 7-9 (I used an US8 lace-tipped needle)
• Time: 30 minutes.

No joke - I knit this one up in front of customers here at the shop in about a half an hour. Kidsilk Creation is a knitted tube of the long beloved Rowan CrackKidSilk Haze. There's only 11 yards on one ball of Creation - almost all of the knitting as been done for you! All you have to do is poke your needle through one edge of this amazing tube of Haze - just two stitches - and blubber along. It doesn't have to be clean, or even, or anything. It just works. And ruffles itself up into a lather. This scarf is downright frothy. I love it.

(A tip: wind this one up by hand, around a cardboard support like a paper towel tube or a postcard. Keep the yarn-tube flattened as you wind and it will be much easier to knit.)

(Oh - and limited edition means when it's gone, it's gone!)

The second project wasn't quite as quick or dirty, but a delicious cowl in one weekend of knitting and made with just one skein of yarn is pretty darn close.

 

• Pattern: Kidsilk Stripe Cowl, by moi
• Yarn: 1 sk Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe (I used color #002, Cool)
• Needles: US 8 (5.0mm) 16" circular

This is another new yarn from Rowan and Kaffe Fassett, the color genius. They took Kidsilk Haze, doubled the size of the skein, and dyed it in amazing, slow-striping colorways. This little cowl is a pattern I whipped up to show off the stripey colors. It's welts are made with all knit stitches (how'd she do that, you wonder!), so it's the ultimate in mindless knitting. The colors contained in each skein are impossible to see from the outside of the ball, so the entertainment comes from seeing which colors pop up next!

finding inspiration

The Fall is when I typically find renewed inspiration to knit. Don't get me wrong - I knit year round. But I do find the desire is burning low come the end of Summer, and when all the great Fall publications start to arrive a switch usually flips in my brain, and kaBOOM: I can't cast on fast enough. I've talked about this before.....

It didn't happen this year.

I don't know what the reason is, but I just haven't had that flashbulb of inspiration hit that would have sent me into a frenzy. Because of this, I've been browsing through my older books and magazines, trying to remember what would get me going in years past, and that's when I came across this:

New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre.

I'm already working on a sweater in this book - the Hampton Cardigan (I'm getting there - just finishing up the fronts). But as a paged through it again, I was struck by just how many things I could see myself knitting out of this book. Like, for instance, this:

I've never wanted to make a skirt before, but I could definitely make this one. And this:

The details on this cardigan just make me swoon. And this one has long been on my list:

There is no surprise that I love these designs....if you look at my Ravelry queue, you can see that Cecily Glowik MacDonald and I really "click". OK, so I don't know her personally, but our senses of style click, and that's what matters. Time and time again I find myself drawn to a pattern in a magazine, book, or on Rav, and then find out it was designed by her.

It's good to know what you like, isn't it! What do YOU find yourself drawn to time and time again??

winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thank you to all 54 of you who left a comment on our Contest post! Reading your musings on Fall knitting was quite entertaining, and I just want to share a few of my favorite comments:

The cool air and the changing colors gives me startitis every time! I want to cast on EverythingRightNow! --5ElementKnitr

I love "EverythingRightNow" - I know that feeling well.

I love the colors and crisp air, apples, pumpkins, and the chance to knit with thick yarn to keep me warm. I cannot forget that this is the time of year for festivals and food! --Eileen

OK - as a girl who thinks about food all.the.time. this speaks right to my heart.

I love that it's not hot but it's not too cold yet and I can knit and crochet and feel like I have a purpose -- I can feel it in my bones. --Jen

Amen.

A brisk walk in crunching leaves following my own plume of breath in the cold fresh air along the Niagara River is a daily autumnal regime. Love this designer and her rich color choices. --Maureen

Ooh - that's some great imagery right there.

I like that it's finally cool enough to knit something bigger than a sock. --Laura

There's that, too.

I can do my 2 most favorite things simultaneously: Knitting and watching football! --Creal

Again, a knitter after my own heart. 

OK - Enough of comments. Who is winning this?????

I used the Random Number Generator, and our winner is . .. .

Aaron D! Congratulations!

Thanks everyone for playing along, and happy knitting! Be sure to download the Harvest eBook so you, too, can get started on these wonderful Fall knits! 

mystery KALs left and right

(Off topic: is it wrong that I'm already listening to Christmas music??)

Keep the comments coming! There is still time to leave your comment on the previous post and get entered to win 2 skeins of Malabrigo Sock and the latest eBook by Nichole Reese, featuring 5 designs in Malabrigo yarns!

In the meantime, I forgot to share with everyone the finished product of my Westknits Mystery KAL - the Earth & Sky Shawl. Remember when I showed you this?

 
That is a picture of my madelintosh merino light (in cherry, tart, and blackcurrant), all wound and ready to begin Stephen West's first KAL, a shawl project that was a mystery to us, the knitters. Beginning August 1st, we received a clue each week for four weeks. I know mystery KALs are very popular right now, but believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever embarked on a project without having any idea what it would look like. After my first week, I had this:

 
(I know - not much to write home about). Then after Week 2, things got more interesting:

 
I was very excited by this KAL, and since I absolutely adore merino light, I expected to LOVE the finished shawl.

(No pictures of Week 3 taken. Oops.)

But, I don't LOVE it. I kinda like it. Now that it's blocked, I like it more than when I was finishing the border. The 4th week's clue for the border kind of underwhelmed me. I can't describe why, but it's not my favorite FO. But that's all right.

 
Oh -and because I was so hot-to-trot about the merino light, I decided to make the size Large . . . also probably not a great idea, as wearing the Large isn't as easy as wearing a Small would be.

 
I tend to wear this kind of triangle shawl/shawlette wrapped around my neck like a scarf, and the Large is a lot of fabric to wrap around. For the time being it looks lovely draped over the shop couch:

 
HOWEVER! I am not to be deterred! I decided to jump right back on that Mystery KAL horse and participate in the Knit Purl Hunter's Progressive Needles Knit Along, sponsored by Skacel. Here at the shop we are stocking the KAL yarns, and I hadn't planned on "knitting along", so to speak.

But when October's yarn arrived, HiKoo SimpliCity, I couldn't resist. Normally I am not a big fan of synthetic blends, and I don't really stock any in the shop. But this yarn feels great. I mean it. So, I grabbed my own three skeins (October's Shawlette, Triplicity, takes three skeins) and jumped in!

 
 
I dutifully completed my first clue this weekend, and I'll post a pic for everyone soon. It's not to late for you to jump in, if you want to learn great new techniques and win AMAZING prizes from Skacel! All you need to do is purchase the KAL yarns, take pictures of your progress, and enter on the Knit Purl Hunter's website to win. Prizes are given away weekly and monthly throughout the KAL, with a grand prize at the end!

let's kick off fall with a contest!

Hello Fall!

Do you feel it in the air? The crispness has arrived to the Pacific Northwest. Daytime temps aren't bad, but there's a feeling there . . . it's about to get c o l d. So what better time to breath some life into this stale 'ole blog and have a contest!?!?

My dear friend and talented designer, Nichole, has a brand-spankin' new eBook: Harvest (here is the Ravelry link to view and purchase the eBook). Harvest is a collection of 5 stellar patterns, and it is the October edition of the Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project. Those of you following the Project know that every month this year has featured a new eBook by an up-and-coming indy designer. I can assure  you 100% that Harvest is the best one yet! Let's take a tour, shall we?

 
First up, The Harvest Capelet. This beauty is knit with Malabrigo Silky Merino, and has a subtly beaded border to lend sparkle and weight. The unique shaping of this capelet means that it will curve just right around your shoulders and stay put! Finished off with a bit of silk ribbon and you have the perfect cool weather shoulder cover.

 
The Autumnal Vest is your must-have fashion piece for Fall. Quick to knit out of Malabrigo Rasta, this vest has a leaf motif that borders each front edge and forms the stand-up collar.

 
 
One of my personal favorites in the collection, the Foliage Hat will entertain you as much as it will keep you warm. Knit out of doubled Malabrigo Lace, its subtle cables creates trees and are shedding their stranded colorwork leaves. Though it is beautifully soft in Malabrigo Lace, the colors available in either Classic Elite Fresco or O-Wool Classic 2-Ply make them great choices (single-stranded) as substitutes.

 
These Gathering Mitts are meant for serious coziness. They are made of a felted inner layer connected to a superwash outer layer cleverly knit together. Using Malabrigo Worsted for the inside and Malabrigo Rios for the outside, you can toss the whole project in the wash to felt and have it come out perfectly. On a side note, the pattern also includes instructions to knit the two pieces together just in case you'd like to ever wear them separately!

 
Last, but never least, are the Pumpkin Patch Legwarmers. Grab your favorite color of Malabrigo Sock, double it up, and whip out these ruched legwarmers to keep you warm!

All of these great patterns are available separately as downloads, but if you like them all, then by all means buy the whole eBook! You can get the whole collection as an eBook on Ravelry or on bluegirl's site. Now let's talk about the contest!

 
Nichole is going to give away two lovelys skein of Malabrigo Sock and one copy of the eBook to a lucky winner on my blog! All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post, telling me what YOU love about Fall Knitting Time!

 

can't wait!

Our madelinetosh merino light was re-stocked just in time to choose my colors for this:

 
 
This will be my first mystery KAL!

Here are my colors:

 
(from top to bottom: cherry, tart, & blackcurrant)

I'm wound up and ready to go - can't wait for Monday!

We are hiring!

Have you always wanted to work at an LYS? How about the added benefit of living in the Columbia River Gorge?

Knot Another Hat is looking for a part-time employee for Thurs-Sun schedule (20-28 hrs) to begin mid-August. Must be familiar with computers and online social media. Experience in customer service a plus, knitting experience required. Email cover letters and resumes, including knitting/crochet experience, to sarah@knotanotherhat.com.

Join the fun!

cashmere lace ... {sigh}

I'm finally dumping pictures off of the "good" camera now that I'm getting the website updated with missing yarn pics. I've found all kinds of goodies on this thing - including all the non-phone pics from our trip to Chile last November (like this one:

 
of me atop the Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago)

Other pictures I've found? How about the Cashmere Lace Shawl I knitted my mother for Mother's Day!

 

• Pattern: Bleeding Hearts Stole, by Anne Hanson, from Spring 2008 Interweave Knits
• Yarn: 2 sk Artyarns Cashmere 1 (100% cashmere, 510 yds/50g) in Burgundy
• Needles: US 3 (edgings) and US 4 (main body)

This shawl was two years in the making. For Mother's Day 2009 I grabbed two skeins of this amazing cashmere from the shop and gifted them to my mom, with a pattern in mind to knit for her. This was hot off the heels of a Purlaway lace workshop, and I had just busted out this lace shawl in a week (so let's say I was feeling confident).

I started, and I hated the pattern. It was totally non-intuitive, worked from side-to-side in asymmetrical motifs, and I did not heart it. So I put it down for over a year.

Every time I saw the lonely little project bag with a half-assed bit of knit cashmere in it, I would feel guilty. Especially after Mother's Day 2010 came and went and I had made no progress. I finally realized that it needed to be frogged, and a new pattern chosen! And so Bleeding Hearts it became.

Knitting with this Cashmere single is a dream. So much so that I have brought back the Artyarns Cashmere 1 into the shop - freshly replenished in hot new colors. (I have another great project in mind for this yarn - more on that to come.)

The shawl made it in time for Mother's Day 2011 (whew!), and was well-received. :) I wish the sun wasn't so bright on these pictures so you could see the great deep red color - but c'est la vie! It's done!

 

look who's spinning again!

All of the amazing and beautiful fiber at the Fiber Festival inspired me to get back on the wheel!

 

I haven't spun since  before my youngest was born (4 years!). It was just like riding a bike, once I watched a video tutorial on how to set up my Lendrum Double Treadle. I still have fiber in my stash from my first big fiber acquisition at Oregon Flock & Fiber in 2006. I started with a lovely deep purple/black wool mohair blend. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am spinning some lovely stuff! I am somehow better at this than I was when I stopped four+ years ago! 

Can't wait to get home from work tonight and do some more spinning!!