busy, busy, busy 'round here

But I thought I might mention Three Things:

1. Some lovely cashmere-y sock yarn arrived this afternoon for our lucky, lucky Sock Club members to enjoy sometime this year (not next month, though! we have something equally special planned for November...)
2. Eyebobs are on the website, including three new styles. Check out the Eyebobs page for more details.
3. Our "Ten Reasons To Love October" Sale is still going strong. If you missed our newsletter last Friday, check it out before all the yarn is go-o-one!
   

Can we pretend? (spoiler!)

I suppose I could have back-dated this post and no one would ever have known, but that would have been lying and, quite honestly, I doubt anyone would have believed it. So let's pretend instead that I actually updated the blog on Thursday and that we're right back on schedule.

First off: last Wednesday Patrick came in to finish up his unbelievable Seamless Yoke Sweater:

The pattern is in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, Knitting Around and Knitting Workshop. Patrick adapted the pattern from his copy of Knitting Around. He and his "wife" made up a different Fair Isle pattern for the yoke and changed the ribbing to a 1x2 instead of a 2x2 but other than those teeny tiny details, it's the same pattern. Here's a shot of the yoke:

It kind of makes me think of a technicolor zebra*. Or, strangely, 1970s wallpaper. When Patrick came in he was already onto the neck ribbing and only had some minor finishing to do after that. I managed to drag it away from him to get a picture of it flat:

Do you see what I see? It's something indicative of extreme OCD or insanity or both. The sleeves match. Considering the fact that he is (probably "was" by now) knitting with Kauni, the odds of managing that are very difficult. The color of yarn, btw, is Kauni W-EH. I forgot to ask how many grams he'd needed. Sorry.

All madness put aside, I'm sure we all want to see it finished and modeled (hint, hint, Patrick). So maybe some cajoling will get him to wear it into the store.

Second: we have Wendy's recently completed Kauni mitts. I'm sure you remember Wendy and her EAT hat - if you don't, check this post out. The latest creative creation to come off her needles are a pair of Fair Isle and lace gauntlet-like mitts:

Admit it, they're awesome.

Made with Kauni W-EJ as the MC and W-EG as the CC. Wendy has told me that Kauni is her new favorite to work with, so we might be seeing many more improvised designs in coming months.

This is a Kauni-centric post, isn't it? It's interesting how projects can be tied together.

Third: Gratis Knits, please! The next Gratis Knits pattern is overdue. We're still looking for submissions. Seriously, if you have an original pattern for something springy click the link above and consider it.

Lastly, a bit of silliness. The photoshoot for the May Sock Club's pattern was last week, held at a super-secret location down the street. Hah. Here's Liz:

Who was this month's sock model. Thank you, Liz. And, just because you can already see it on ravelry by might not have yet, here's a SPOILER:

...

(feel free to skip this if you want to be surprised)

...

... our designer for May is none other than the reknowned and revered Cookie A. I've seen the pattern and it is lovely.

And I think that's everything that needed to be caught up. Cheers!

*It could happen.

end of week round-up

Let's pretend it's Thursday, eh? Yesterday was New Year's Day and I can't remember why I couldn't post on Tuesday, but it's been that kind of week.

First and foremost, the promised "Gina's socks" (modeled by Gina on Monday):

Made out of ShibuiKnits Sock in ManBlue. Knit on size 1.5 (2.5mm) Addi Turbo circs at a gauge of 8 sts & 12 rows per inch. The pattern was something I made up, but am rewriting because I like it so much.

Next, we have Trish and her awesome self-designed funky hat:

Made with ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in "Spectrum". I'm afraid we didn't get any more details than that, sorry!

Then, let's see, we had a visit from da babies:

Which I had to share because of the gratuitous cuteness factor.

It should be mentioned that they came by with their daddy to pick up this year's OFB Food Drive donation box (to drop off at the OFB):

Which, I am told, weighed in at 90lbs. A fact I find rather disheartening as we collected over 130lbs last year during a food drive that lasted less than a week. Maybe we'll do better next time.

In less depressing news, we have the whatsit prototypes:

The Whatsit (once it is properly named) will be a Knit Purl pattern, which is worn like this:

(modeled by Darcy)

Cool, huh?

But I can't tell you too much about it yet, as the patterns aren't finished and it still doesn't have a name.

Moving on, to... sock club SPOILERS. Before proceeding, let it be know that you were warned.

The January 2009 kit is available for members to pick up in the store:

Out-of-town members' packages have already been shipped.

Whoo, what a week!

Regular blogging schedule should resume next Tuesday, I promise. It should also be mentioned that my New Year's resolution for the blog is to get more coworkers involved, so expect (or hope) to see posts from knitters other than myself here... eventually.

Just a little busy

We seriously need shipping elves. In the meantime, Sara is unavailable until she prints, folds, staples, stuffs, wraps, addresses and ships all of these packages singlehandedly with a little help from her friends. Which means no bloggy goodness today for all of you. :(

September Sock released... spoiler alert!

Beware, beware! There art spoilers in this here post, that might catch the unwary most fiendishly...

Okay, they're not huge spoilers (my one photo is pathetically blurry and the other one I'm borrowing doesn't show the pattern in detail, mwahaha), but I don't want to ruin the surprise for those of you who are waiting patiently for your package in the mail. Which, incidentally, we sent out this morning:

Pity our mail carrier, Gina. She took the shock well, it must be said.

In other news, before we get to the spoilers, Tami came in to show off her Deep Blue Sea Sinuate Scarf (say that 3x fast) which she finished just over a week ago. She used Marnie MacLean's pattern and her own handspun yarn. The yarn was spun using two hanks of Fleece Artist Blue-faced Leicester, I think (the same stuff I made my muffin cap with). Seem to remember her buying them a while back. I'm sure we can all agree that the finished scarf is gorgeous:

I hope Tami will forgive us for the blurriness of the photo, we've been having technical difficulties with the camera again.

And, finally, last but not least...

I bring you SPOILERS...

Let's see, let's see. I don't want to ruin too much of the surprise, but also know that some of you are sitting on the fence waiting for the release to decide whether you want to join in the fun or not.

The September kit (both the yarn and the pattern) was designed around the popular Portland neighborhood, "The Pearl". The yarn was specially commissioned from Koigu and the pattern was designed by Portland local Sarah Pope. And I'll admit right now that my picture to the right isn't much of a spoiler, since it's so blurry you can barely see either the sock or the kit... but, hey, it gives all y'all an idea of what we're sending out this month.

Kim, a.k.a. akimbo on ravelry, has lent us the use of her photos, which are much nicer than mine (she used a photobox and everything).

(Bless her.)

I think that's everything important that's happened in the past couple days. If not, it'll pop up in the next post. Also, I'm going to corner our two new employees Leslie and Nancy for a nice photo and introduction.

skif sweaters, wicked plans, and spoilers

Let's see, let's see... so much has been happening in the past fortnight, it's hard to keep it all organized. Starting in order with the title:

1. Skif sweaters.
I finished mine (little happy dance) and was overjoyed to see WrenSu's super-spiffy Mateo in the Knit Purl flickr group's photo pool. And because so many people (including my coworkers) were enamored with the thought of a finished skif sweater, it was relatively easy to get a couple of modeled shots for the blog...

Project specs:

• Pattern: Neptune/ Button-back Pullover by Skif.
• Yarn: Joseph Galler Inca Cotton in "Ecru", 4 skeins.
• Needle: 4.5mm/ US 7 32" circulars.
• Idiosyncrasies: the sleeves are 3" longer than specified in the pattern.
• Review: loved the pattern and ADORED the yarn.

Of course, all y'all already know that I bought yarn for a second skif sweater before I finished the first. But I was good and persevered and only just CO last night (honest). I'm finding the second one just as hard to put down as the first was... This is looking like it's going to be a dangerous trend.

2. Wicked Plans.
Oh, there are so many, really. Leaving this many slightly crazy knitters alone together always makes for interesting results. We've got, upcoming:

• a Tips & Tricks column by Judy Wilcox
• the SKIF KAL will resume in September with a yarn sampling and emergency aid class to follow through December(ish).
• a Getting Raveled party & meetup (info forthcoming)
• and, finally, a Sock Club KAL group on ravelry
  

3. Spoilers. I promised you spoilers... and here are two we're willing to part with:

• LavenderSheep's Sock Club yarn, clicky here for a little spoiler.
• Koigu is going to lead as planned. You have no idea (unless you've heard us panicking in the shop) how worried we were just a week ago. It had seemed that Koigu wouldn't have their yarn ready in time for the Club, but it's been shipped and should arrive at the store soon. And, while these are neither the pattern nor the colorway we've commissioned for the Club, I'm even more excited by this news because of the Fortress Of Solitude socks I just finished:

I enjoyed working with the yarn so much, I'm really looking forward to getting my own Sock Club September kit.* And I suppose it's not too much to tell you that there just might be speckles (like those seen above) on our soon-to-arrive yarn, too. Ooh!, there's another spoiler.

And now I've got to go... we've got a rowdy Sip'n'Stitch group up there tonight and a newsletter to get out tomorrow.

*Did you honestly think that half the staff here weren't the first people to sign up?

good news, other news, and 13 sheep

Since this is a blog, I can't really ask our readers which they'd like to hear first. So I'm going to start with the "other" news. It's not really bad, inasmuch, just a big change.

The Blogger no longer works for Knit Purl and will not be posting to this blog anymore. (We just lost half our subscribers, didn't we?) She's gone on to greater and brighter things (I really hope so, anyway), but wishes us well. After some slight nagging, we might have a couple more bloggers to add to the list. Look for future posts by Liz and Sandy K.

The good news? Ooh, I got looots of good news. Like, hm, we just got in our giant mondo huge shipment of sock yarn blanks for the Sock Club. 19 micron superwash Merino wool is so super soft and squishy that it really feels ideal for an afternoon nap you might need after hauling in 60 kilos worth of yarn...

You can probably tell we had a little too much fun with all the yarn fresh outta their boxes. But, admit it, you've always wanted to build a nest out of yarn - I seriously can't be the only knitter to have wondered about it.

And, just for those of you who, like 3M, were wondering how many sheep it took to produce 60 kg (132 lbs) of wool, well...

Thirteen.

At an average of 10lbs of usable fleece per year per Merino sheep, we just took in an entire flock's worth of yarn in a single afternoon. Admittedly, our flock doesn't have to be fed or shorn, but it certainly "smells better" according to 3M.

As for more good news? Two teasers:

1. I have a Sock Club spoiler that I'll post next time. We just got the final skein in a series of test dye-runs that will, literally, blow your socks off. Once 3M photographs it, I'll post a link to the pic, so those who don't want to know early won't.
2. And... one of us here has completed their SKIF sweater. No, I won't tell you more until later. You'll just have to be patient.
   

But that'll all be for the next post. Right now? I gotta skein and divide up all those hanks so they can go to their respective dyers.

Shameless yarn (and sock) pr0n

It's no secret that Knit Purl is starting our very own Sock Club in September...


In fact, I have to be careful what I say to whom, let I spoil the surprises we have in store.

But, luckily, I have a treat for those of you who are sock-inclined - a sneak peek at one of our dyer's work. Now, the yarn I made these socks with will not be the same colorway we've commissioned. Still, it's intended to give you a taste of what Knitted Wit's yarn is like.

Now, Knitted Wit is a brand of yarn dyed locally by Lorajean K. Who is currently expecting a little one of her own to knit for. So her line of yarn will be a bit hard to get for a while :( Still, congratulations are in store.

I found the skein in question on the PDX Knit Bloggers Sock Yarn Crawl a while back and agonized for too long over the "perfect" project to make with it. Enough time passed that I finally CO the first pattern I could find and went with it. Very quickly, I was glad I had been adventurous and felt duly rewarded.

The socks below were knit with Knitted Wit's Superwash Merino Fingering in the colorway "1970's Locker Room" (great name, huh?), using Jean Townsend's "Pretty Petals Socks" pattern.








I wish I could give you more sneak peeks, but I don't want to ruin the surprise entirely. Of course, if you search around online, you might just find out who some of our very talented and very cool other Portland-area dyers are.