New Fall Yarns

I am finally able to get back online. A week and a half ago my computer decided that it didn't want to play with the internet anymore. Kaput! My beloved husband, who serves as my tech support, has spent the last 11 or 12 days taking things apart, putting in new things, putting things back together again, re-loading all the software, taking things apart, putting in new things, putting things back together again, reloading all the soft-ware, taking things apart... I could keep up with emails here on his computer, but his computer wouldn't let me into Blogger, or vice versa. Now we have that working and I'll be playing catch-up this week.

The tricky thing is that his computer has all sorts of bells and whistles that mine didn't, and I am having trouble negotiating the whole mess. But I'll get there... I've always maintained that one of the little-known secrets to a happy marriage is seperate bathrooms (and not telling him how much yarn you own), but I'm starting to suspect that seperate computers might play a role as well.

Well, if you've been in the shop in the last few weeks and peeked into the back store-room, you have noticed that it is stuffed sky-high with large cardboard boxes, all filled with gorgeous yarns for fall. Some old favorites, some old faves with a new twist, and some brand-spanking new wonderful stuff. Not being one for slinging boxes around myself, I go in now and then and see what's on top.

These are the new Pagewood Farms Sock yarns. The yarns are hand-dyed in small batches and come from San Pedro, California. Yukon is a lovely, soft blend of merino superwash, bamboo, and nylon (70/20/10). The merino makes this sock yarn soft and warm, the bamboo adds a silky sheen which is really nice, and the nylon reinforces for those hard-wearing areas. At approximately 450 yards per skein, one skein should make a wonderful pair of socks.

Also from Pagewood Farms is Alyeska, a luscious blend of merino superwash, cashmere and nylon (80/10/10). This stuff is bite-your-knuckles delicious! I really had to restrain myself until Lynn gets it into the computer system and priced. You wouldn't think that just 10% cashmere could make that much difference in a yarn, and their just plain merino superwash/nylon sock yarn, Denali, is like knitting with and wearing clouds. But Alyeska is just that much more soft, cushy and smooshy.

As I said, I've used the Pagewood Farms Denali in socks and was very happy with the softness, colors and the knitability. So I can already tell you that you're going to love these yarns! Not a sock knitter? (GASP!) Think of these for lace shawls, too, and baby sweaters!

Bringing back a yarn that Lynn had when she first opened the shop, Kiwi now has several colorways of the Montage Collection Handpaints. This 8-ply yarn is spun from New Zealand wool, and as the name might tell you is hand-painted in a gorgeous array of colors. This yarn weighs out at approximately 450 yds per 200 gms. The colors are bright and vivid and I can see this turning into beautiful sweaters, slippers, hats and scarves as well as mittens and all kinds of felting projects.

Well, fellow yarnies, I have mastered getting photos from my phone to the computer and into the blog, next to conquer getting photos from my camera into this computer so that I can post about techniques. I think my husband is starting to cringe everytime I call his name...

Kaffe Fassett yarns for Fall

Lynn is starting to get in yarns from her fall orders, so I can begin to show what's going to be new for this coming fall at Kiwi! The back room is stuffed with boxes, so keep tuned as I show you what will be appearing on the shelves in the coming weeks.

First off, the wonderful Kaffe (pronounced like 'cape', but with an 'f') Fassett has come out with new colors in his popular sock yarn for Regia. This is a sampling of the colors that are new, and I have to tell you that they are very vivid and rich. Very pretty. As with the other Regia sock yarns, one ball is sufficient for the average pair of socks. I like the way that these don't pattern into very defined, solid lines. Yarns like these are a wonderful chance to work short-row heels.


Regia is also producing a sport-weight sock yarn by Kaffe Fassett, known as the 6-fadig (6 ply, as opposed to the regular sock-weight, which is 4 ply). I knitted socks last winter with another Regia 6-fadig and can tell you that it is a dream to knit with, and makes nice, comfy, bouncy socks. These should be very nice for those of you who, like me, knit for people in colder climes, or who always have cold toes - also like me!

These new fall sock yarns probably won't be hitting the shelves before early October, but keep them in mind as you plan your fall and winter knitting.

We are also carrying the Kaffe Fassett Colourscape Chunky by Regia. These yarns are %100 Lambswool, with long color changes that make it ideal for entrelac patterns, and also for felting. The 100 gm. skeins have approximately 175 yards per skein and knit up at about 3.5 sts/inch. This single-ply yarn has a spin that is very similar to Noro Kureyon, and comes in some luscious colors.

I always love to know what the new yarns are, and I'll enjoy sharing what I find out with you. Check back!

The Latvian Cast-on

I know I'm a day late for posting for this last week, but once I mentioned the Latvian cast-on in the previous blog post, I realized that I really had to show you how to do it.

The tricky thing with that idea is this - how do you take a video of yourself knitting? You really need both hands for knitting, and then two spare hands for working the camera. I spent the week puzzling over how to make that work, and then last night as I was knitting I remembered my old tri-pod from my photography days. I took a few minutes of digging to find it in the back of my closet, and then I was in business! By then, of course, it was really too dark in the house to get a good video, so here we are this morning. So this week will be a double-feature!

Pardon the scratchy asthma voice, and the camera that would really rather focus on the carpet than on my hands and my knitting. I think it works pretty well, though, for my film debut!




Now for the written out instructions-

Latvian cast-on:

Very much resembles a Long-Tail cast-on in the set-up and execution. You should be able to pick this up easily!

Leaving yourself a 6-8 inch tail for weaving in later, measure out the length of yarn you need for the number of stitches you would like to cast on. Figure another 6-8 inches into that length for use later.

Now double that whole length (so that you have 2x as much yarn) except for the original 6-8 inch tail, still hanging onto your original tail in your right hand. The doubled length of yarn becomes your thumb yarn, the single strand of yarn going to the yarn ball is your finger yarn, and the 6-8 inch tail is held against your needle. Set yourself up for a regular Long-Tail cast-on.

Instead of starting with a slip knot as many people do with Long-Tail and its variations, begin by pointing your needle straight down in the space between the yarn arranged in your left hand going from thumb to finger and the inner curve of your hand between your thumb and index finger. Bring the needle firmly back against the yarn, and turn it so that it is pointing towards the finger, twisting it in the yarn as you continue to turn the needle to the upright position. See how much neater that is than a slip-knot?

Now, cast on your first (next) stitch by using the normal Long-Tail method, remembering that the doubled yarn serves as your thumb yarn in this cast on.

For the second stitch, instead of putting your thumb down through the middle of the two yarn strands and then pulling up the way your normally would, reach your thumb outside of the yarn strands and over the thumb yarn pointing downwards. Scoop your thumb under the thumb yarn and up through the middle of your thumb and finger strands.

Notice that in a normal Long-Tail, the loop around your thumb is twisted at its base. With this second, altered stitch, the thumb loop is open at its base.

Now take your needle, go over the top of the doubled thumb strand, down under the single strand thumb yarn, grab your finger yarn and bring the new stitch through the thumb loop.

Alternate the normal, more familiar stitch with the altered stitch for the number of required cast-on sts.

See how the stitches arrange themselves on your needle in pairs?

Finish Before You Begin

I'm doing something that I never, ever do. You all know by now that I've been working like a dutiful knitter on Christmas presents since June. And I'm going along pretty well, I'm proud of how far ahead of the game I am and how much I've gotten finished so far, with months yet to go before the holidays.

Until I got to my eldest sister's socks. She is a browns and rusts and oranges person, and so these socks are knitted from stash yarn in a pattern called Oak Leaf. This is a fairly easy, textured stitch pattern combining cables and lace, and it is looking gorgeous in her colors. I know she'll love these socks. But it is not in the least intuitive. Typically, lace and cable patterns become instinctive after a repeat or two. You just know in each row where the cables or the K2tog, SSKs and yo's go next. Until this one. So, in a nod to my hormones and in a bid for sanity, after finishing the first sock I have put the project into 'time out', and cast on something for myself.

The February Lady sweater. This cardigan pattern, available free through Ravelry, is based on a baby sweater pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Pamela Wynne up-sized it for women, and this particular cardigan is the hottest thing since sliced bread right now. And I just happened to have enough worsted weight Cascade 220 Heather in my stash from a going-out-of-business sale a couple of years ago. I don't think the photos show the color off properly, but it is a heathered mixture of pine green and navy blue, with an odd red haze over it that is truly gorgeous.



When one even begins a sweater there are a few things to think about, and decisions to make. It is important that you consider all the various stages and their options so that you can plan the finished result before casting on the first stitch.

First, Cast-on and Bind-off. Are they going to show? In this case - a top-down raglan - the answer is yes. The cast-on is the neckline, and the bind-off is the bottom hem and the sleeve edges. This sweater begins and ends with garter stitch, so I opted to use a Latvian Cast-on (not to be confused with the Latvian Braid Cast-on), as I like the way it imitates garter stitch. I'll end with the Latvian Bind-off and have the same effect at hem and sleeve edges.




Next, I need to think about my opening edges of the cardigan. Are they going to show just as they are knitted, or will a button-band be added later? In this case, the selvedge edges will be used as is, and the button band is knitted as you go. I opted to slip my edge stitches in my favorite way - K1tbl in the first stitch in every row, work to the last stitch, yarn forward as if to purl, slip the last stitch as if to purl.

Now, there are raglan increase lines - how do I want to treat them? I have several options: I can work them according to the pattern by working them as - M1,K1,M1. This leaves a less defined and more subtle raglan line. I could work them with eyelets - yo,K1,yo. Or I can make them with a defined line by following the M1,K1,M1, but purling that center stitch on the wrong side rows. This makes the raglan lines stand out against the garter stitch background - as in mitred corners. I went with the last choice.



With a top-down raglan, after you knit the yoke of the sweater with the raglan increases, you separate the sleeves stitches from the rest of the body stitches, and put the sleeve stitches onto waste yarn. Next, you will typically cast on a small number of stitches at the underarm area that become part of the lower body stitches. Later, after the body is finished and it is time to pick the sleeve stitches up from the waste yarn and begin to knit the sleeves, you will pick up stitches at the top of those cast-on stitches at the underarm. These become part of the sleeve stitches. Because the body and the sleeves below the division point in this cardigan are knitted in a lace pattern, there isn't a secure edge to pick up sleeve stitches from later. Considering this, I cast on the underarm stitches using a Crochet Cast-on with waste yarn, then slipped these waste yarn stitches back to the right needle and knitted across them with my working yarn. Later, when it is time to work the sleeves, I can pick out the waste yarn and have live stitches to work from.



Because I have thought through the various stages of the project before beginning, I am better prepared for what happens next, have more control over the finished product, and am happier with the more finished results. Planning ahead also give you time to practice any new techniques on a swatch before incorporating them into your project.

Speaking of Knitting Bags

Well, no matter that I try my best to be an independent woman, sometimes it takes my husband to simply walk past and ask, Did you try to upload those photos one at a time? And so it seems that Blogger, at the moment, can't take big bites of photography, only little nibbles.

Sticking with my promise to show you some of the wonderful new project bags that Lynn has in the shop, I want to show you what I have been lusting after. I don't know about you, but I have always had this mental image of a knitting bag that I'm sure is a left-over from my parents knitting back in the 60s. And I'm not into vintage. I've long been convinced that in everything there should be beauty as well as function, and these bags have both qualities, in spades.

First, Kiwi has several really cute little tool bags for knitters and crocheters, just the sort of thing you need to tuck all your much-needed tools in (I'm going to go get one of those quilter's needle-grabbers, Marianne!). And they make it very easy to transfer a project from one bag to another.



Want a project bag that doesn't scream 'old lady' every time you use it? Or are you a guy knitter or crocheter who wants to be able to carry a project along? Then the Messenger Bag from Namaste is for you. The Messenger Bag has a durable corduroy exterior and lots of pockets. It measures 16"w x 12"h x 5"d at the top, 6" at the bottom. A special zipper allows you to expand the depth of the bag to a roomy 8.5".



Namaste is known for their animal-friendly materials, but even a leather bag fan such as myself would never spot these for anything but the real thing. That is the kind of compromise I really like. The Malibu Bag is spacious with an interior divider and lots of pockets. What I admire about this bag is its camouflage. No one would look at this and say knitting bag! It looks like a top line purse and you could easily use it for one when it isn't carrying around your latest project. The Malibu measures 20"w x 13"h x 8"d.



The Laguna is a bag with a slightly larger feel. It measures 17.5"w x 16"h x 7.5"d. It is chock-full of pockets, both inner and outer, with a zippered interior divider, and handles as well as a detachable shoulder strap. Also made with that buttery soft animal-friendly 'leather'.



Also in the shop but not pictured is Namaste's Knit Tube. Think of that tubular sling that you use to carry your yoga mat to class. Make it out of Namaste's durable 'leather' and divide it into two compartments for easy use. The Knit Tube measures 26"l x 6"d.

If you are planning any travel and want a small, light project bag to take on the plane, then the Airplane bag is for you. It opens into a roomy interior so that you can root around and find just what you need.



And then closes into a little silk reticule for easy carrying.



Isn't it time you treated yourself to a new project bag? Stop in and see all of our bags from Della Q and Lantern Moon as well!