Dim Sum Post

A little bit of this.........a little bit of that..........all comes together to make a post, just like a tapas or dim sum dinner, right? Shameless commerce first, I suppose....

The latest issue of Knitter's magazine arrived today.....


If you couldn't tell by looking, that's a Maggie Jackson design.....her yarns are fun and her designs are funky, in a good way. I think my favorite pattern in the book has to be this


If you've been by the shop in the past six months, you know I've turned into a complete and utter Colinette whore (I mean that in the best way, however......and several people have given me that nickname). I've made several scarves, a GREAT hat with Point Five, a throw, and you've seen the Napa Stole I'm making. I've also got like five different garments in progress or lined up to make, all in their yarns.

That afghan/throw (I think it moves from afghan to throw when the price of the materials crests $100, right? or is it when it's no longer made with Coer d'Rouge?). That one is seven of one colourway and three of another, all in Prism. I think I'm going to put it on the "the shop must have one" list, as I adore knitting with Prism. When I start it, you'll see it here, for certain!

Magazine copies are $4.95 each ($5.50 cover price) from us, and we have a bunch right now. Postage should be $1.42 via media mail, I believe. Lemme know if you need one! In the mean time, here's some other new goodies that arrived recently.....how's about some Touch Me, in a brand-new lime shade and a fantastic butter yellow?


From us, they're $13.50 a ball ($15 retail, doncha know) and we have ten of the yellow left and just four of the lime (remember, it only takes four to make the "Vintage Velvet" project from Scarf Style). This yarn is of the devil--it will possess you.

If $13.50 a ball isn't your bag, check out this little bargain


That's Adrienne Vittadini's Marissa, a lovely worsted-weight yarn (5 sts/inch) that's a blend of 70% pima cotton (the finest there is) and 30% silk and has 124 yards in a hank. Original suggested retail on the yarn was $7.95 to $8 a hank, but since it is now a discontinued yarn, we were able to pick it up at a price that allows us to offer it to you at $4.30 a hank (yes, just $4.30), and yes, I bought every single skein they had available (big surprise, no?). While it originally came in eight shades, we only have the five you see above (left to right, they are Lilac, Lime, Black, Light Blue, and Light Green--which is more of a grey/green). We have sufficient stock of all shades except the Light Blue, as only about ten hanks remain (onen of our employees descended on it when it arrived).

Being a true worsted, this yarn fits into DOZENS of patterns out there, from printed patterns to online goodies like Sitcom Chic. Or there's always this classic,


from the Vittadini Summer '04 collection, and yes we have the book.

Interested in any of these goodies? Just slip me a note and we'll get the process started!

What have I been knitting on? We visited with the Muench/GGH rep yesterday and I'm all excited about knitting my Rebecca sweater again, the one out of Samoa. You saw the completed back in the giant pile of knitting in my last entry....so here's what the front looks like today after a morning of knitting


I was able to knock out three complete repeats in the center (they're just 12-row repeats, but still..that's progress!) in the 90 minutes I had this morning to knit, before coming into the shop. Just two more and then the upper motif that looks like a leaf, some ribbing, and I'm done with the body (and off to sleeve island, as some call it). I'm really enjoying working with Samoa, and it's really spongy (right Sue?). Oh, and just you wait until you see what we ordered for fall/winter from GGH/Muench...including TONS of Aspen and all sorts of other goodies (we passed on many of the odd newer yarns from them). The new Rebecca will be rather fashion-forward, but some things are quite fun. I'm really jonesed about the "Best of Soft Kid" book that comes out just before Rebecca, however, and we ordered DEEP in that yarn as well. YUM!

It's been a parade of reps through here of late, showing off their fall/winter stuff. We've ordered a good bit from several distributors and there's three in a row coming Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday of next week. We've already ordered from JCA/Reynolds/Artful/Jo Sharp/Adrienne Vittadini, from SR Kertzer/Naturally, from Tahki/Stacy Charles/Filatura di Crosa, from Colinette, from Trendsetter, and from Design Source. Sure, we'll order more while at the big yarn market a month from now, but I want to get our BIG orders in before the show to make sure we get the first round of goodies. I found out today that we're third in line to get the new shades of Giotto when they come in this July, too! WAHOO! Yarn companies take great GREAT care of us!

I'm already plotting and planning knitting for fall and some of our fall shop models. We ordered our fall Vittadini last week, and OH MY is her stuff for fall amazing. The fall book looks very interesting, and the new yarns (and returning yarns) are divine. I'm horridly addicted to two of them already--Nadia (an alpaca/wool thick and thin) and Trina. Trina is mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Merino wool, microfiber, and cashmere at the aran gauge (18 sts/10cm). Check it out


But even better--it's a cabled construction, so it's just spongy as the dickens...and the colors, the colors...the COLORS (that one is Framboise, and is a lovely deep fuchsia). I've already picked out a design from last year's book that will be a shop model


Between the smart styling of the garment and the great details (check out those sleeves), this is gonna be a FUN project. I may have to swatch for it tonight...mwahahaha.

Also in the knitting bag, used for mindless knitting, is this fun shell


using a free pattern and two hanks of Blue Heron's Rayon/Metallic. My colourway is called "Sunrise" and I wasn't happy with the color pooling for the first few inches, but it seems to be switching up now and looking good the closer you get to the needles. This is some unique construction, as it's knitted in one piece, up the back, over the shoulders, and down the front. I like it, and the yarn is a dream to knit with, as even though there's a metallic component, it's not scratchy like many metallic yarns.

I did fall in love all over again with a yarn we carried last fall (and loaded up again yesterday for this coming fall)...the Black Forest Naturwolle from Muench. There's a great design in my favorite book by Melissa Leapman (I think it's "Casual Comfort") that will be a shop model that might just be in my size. Here's a beauty shot of the yarn itself


It's hand-spun in Germany and a bulky-weight yarn...and oh, my is it wonderful. I swatched a little last night and it's a joy to knit with! Melissa is a personal friend of ours and she was here in March for workshops. I've adored this book for years, so it's fun to be making something out of it so I can wear the sweater and think of her and our friendship that stretches back about five years now! WOW!

And....one more temptation....


Soho Summer DK from Jo Sharp is the yarn, in the color Currant. The pattern is from her forthcoming book, "Contemporary Knitting 2", expected out this July/August. One of the benefits of being a habitual yarn buyer is that reps are nice to you and provide advance peeks and sometimes advance copies of things, so we're going to make this up as a model ahead of time so that we have a model ready when the book arrives. You can't really see it, but it's a lovely lacey design, so it will be fun.

So, now you're caught up a little on what I'm making and what I'm going to dream about at night. Oh, and what's new and fun in the shop, too!

Have a great weekend, and knit like mad. It's gonna be rainy here, which is perfect for hanging out at the shop under the daylight bulbs, sipping some coffee or hot tea, and knitting like a fool!