The Post That Never Ends

Not exactly. But since the blog hasn't been updated in almost two weeks, this is going to be one of those super-mondo-huje posts to catch everyone up to date. A slightly crazy idea, yes, but it should work. Now, since there is so much to cover, we're going to do blurbs instead of biographies. But, if you want to see more pix from this post, see our flickr account.

First, we have Farrah's magnificent Seraphim Shawl:

Which she brought to the Sip'n'Stitch on the 15th. I'm afraid that the camera involved does not enjoy after-dark photography, so the image is rather blurry. Sorry, Farrah! But, for readers interested in her shawl, here it is in her ravelry notebook.

The very next day, Ellen of Seattle stopped by to show us two of her favorite FO's:

Her Litla Dimun lace shawl, and the back:

She decided to add a purple border to her project (love it!) in order to give the finished shawl a little more pop. The entire effect was quite stunning. Then, of course, she had to make us feel inadequate when she pulled out her Pheonix Mitts, based off of a pattern in Selbuvotter:

Made with Jamieson's of Shetland Spindrift.

At some point last week (I don't have a info sheet, sorry!), Bobbie dropped by to show off her adorable collection of baby hats:

All made for newborns at the maternity ward of her local hospital (no, we didn't get the name).

Rachel came in last Thursday with her finished 'Rob's Socks':

Made with happiest girl! sock yarn in 1970's Rec Room. Personally, I love the pooling and flashing. I couldn't find her info on ravelry, but maybe they will show up soon? She made up the pattern, and it looks like it would be fun to try...

On Friday, Liz forced poor Jessica to show off her Gretel hat:

About which I can find no information. It's red. That's about all I know.

Moving on to a project I do have information about... Joan's New Kauni Cardigan:

Yes, that is the Joan Schrouder. After we admired her cardigan for awhile, Lindsay finally inquired about the pattern. It turns out that Joan did design the pattern herself, but told us that she wouldn't be writing it up as it was too difficult to convert into multiple sizes. Sad. It looked fantastic and also resulted in a stampede to the Kauni wall by all who were present.

Right after Joan left with her cadre of Seattle-Portland Yarn Crawlers, Tami came by with the cutest little FO's ever. She used the yarn we provided at a "Sample It" to make a collection of teeny tiny mittens, sweaters, hats and socks/ stockings:

I hope she'll forgive me for cropping the picture. The camera was misbehaving again. There's also the Worsted Bambino Hat in the group, but methinks the teeny tiny mittens will the 'awww' contest. If you want specs on each of the individual projects, see Tami's ravelry notebook.

Then, finally, the last of the FO's - two hats. Which Liz and Lindsay modeled, albeit grudgingly. Here we have some silly hat-ness:

Liz has an Ana Bandana made with Silk Maiden in "Peridot" and Lindsay chose the Road To China/ Flurries hat, which is a sneak-peak of an upcoming pattern. But, before the camera was put away, we made a pile of staff WIPs:

One cashmere/silk Qiviut Smoke Ring, an Esperanza scarf and Linday's earwarmer that is currently just an i-cord (that statement should make sense in a week or two). There are several other WIPs around, but many are Top Secret at the moment. So, to distract you from considering the implications of all that, here's the latest issue of Vogue Knitting:

Now available in the store, and featuring a pattern and profile of our favoritest photographer/ blogger Jared. Grab one while you can.

And, whoosh, I think that's everything. Until, well, tomorrow (in which we shall attempt to resume our regular blogging schedule) stay warm!

slightly overwhelmed

We have so much going on at the store right now (what with the Holiday Special going out on Friday, visiting instructors to organize and the holidays approaching waaay too quickly), that everything is a little discombobulated at the moment.

On the subject of the holidays (and classes, technically), we can finally reveal the surprise ornaments from Sandy Kay's workshop last Wednesday:

The stocking was designed by Kristin Spurkland, the star by me and the wee Santa hat by Sandy Kay. And, yes, the Christmas ornaments will be available as kits (and another workshop!) for $12 ea/ or 3 for $30. The star pattern also has instructions for making a six-sided star or Mogen David, for those interested. The kits will be available online this Friday.

Let's see, let's see. We've got several Newsletter article updates:

1. Both of the Jamiesons of Shetland colorwork tams are sold out/ back ordered. Before I left the store on Friday, I made sure we had enough yarn for TEN tams. When I arrived yesterday morning... we had enough for one. Clearly I underestimated the level of interest in these two patterns. I'm sorry about that! We're working on getting the yarn and patterns back in stock ASAP. Please bear with us in the meantime.
   
2. Both of Jared Flood's intermediate knitting classes are FULL. There is a waiting list. Call us at 868-656-5648 (toll-free) with any questions. Also, if you want more time with Jared, he's agreed to a lecture on January 8th, 2009. Details are forthcoming. There will be an entrance fee (we're betting we're going to need to rent a very large space), part of which will go to charity. Stay tuned for more information.
   
3. Yes, the Holiday Special will be sent to all of our Newsletter recipients, I promise. Honest.
   

And, finally, Kandyce (Jenni's youngest) turned 3 months old today:

Aaaaww.

Feel free to plotz.

True Plies: A Taste of Ye Olde Country

True Plies: Jamieson's of Shetland 'Spindrift'

Jamiesons of Shetland has been producing Shetland wool yarns for over a hundred years. Mostly known for their Jamiesons' Shetland Books, I have to admit I never considered using the yarn for anything but Fair Isle or cable work. On a lark, I decided to try out their Spindrift yarn, one of the more popular Jamiesons lines. I wish I had been fast enough to finish the project I started with it, but at least it's halfway done.

Realizing I needed another pair of mitts, I bought two balls of the yarn in the color "Mulberry" (at $5.00 for 115 yds/ 105 m, it wins the economics award) and CO the first of another pair of Campanula Mitts. While it is intended to be worked at 7.5 sts/ inch on US 3 needles when knitting Fair Isle or cables, I decided it'd look grand in lace work on US 5's. Turns out I wasn't wrong (for once):

The yarn is crisp (gives good-to-great stitch definition) and has a nice loft (it's well-plied and airy). Since I've mostly spun my own Shetland wool before this experiment, it was interesting to start with the yarn already made. A lot easier, too.

One thing I did miss was the fact that when spinning from fleeces you can pick out the finer wool (from the Shetland Sheep's neck) and use it separately for lace and baby garments. This yarn was probably a mix of the entire sheep's fleece, and thus an average of the different parts of the coat.

Still, it was rather soft for an unblended rustic sheep and quite pleasant to knit with. All in all I really liked working with it - the plies didn't split, it didn't break or crackle at all, and it's also colorfast (notice the pink stains on my Brittany's? Those came from something that wasn't colorfast).

Last night I finished the first of my Campanula Mitts, wove in the ends (this yarn is nice and "sticky", so I think the ends won't pop out), and blocked it with a steam iron. It went from being kinky and scaly (we all know how awful unblocked lace looks) to something I would proudly wear in public:

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the first mitt, but I'm sure the idea is expressed. The yarn blocked beautifully. That there next to the mitt and yarn is the second mitt (not a Brillo Pad) that I cast on this morning. At the rate I've been knitting on this (and every other project I have OTN), I might actually finish them before the end of the month.

My review, in the end? I like this yarn. And while I wouldn't recommend it for baby garments, it would be fantastic for outerwear and, you guessed it, socks (it's not super wash, but that's beside the point). I'm definitely going to keep it in mind for future projects. Maybe one day I shall even attempt Autumn Rose.

... or maybe not.

Next week? Oh, the choices! What shall I review?