Quickie

Today has been on the hectic side, so unfortunately blogging (which involves sitting at a computer undisturbed for some time) has been pushed off so many times that now it's 10 minutes to 6 o'clock and this post still isn't finished. Which means brevity is definitely the better part of valor right now.

First. Have you see our Easter basket? You know, the one in the eCard we sent out a week ago? This one, in fact:

Well, if you haven't and are in need of some Easter Basket Inspiration, drop by to see it in person. The eggs (painted, hand-felted, and hand-knit), bunnies and chickens are worth a visit...

Or so we're told.

Two. Since I have no customer projects from the past two days immediately available (alas), I am afraid I only have one FO to show off:

Which is, incidentally, a store sample in case you want to touch it or try it on.

Anyway. It's Porom*, by Jared Flood, knit up with Habu Textiles Bamboo XS-32 in "Green", which is not up on the website right now (it's a new color) but will be soon. I can tell you, quite honestly, that it is just scrumptious to knit with and the finished hat is lovely. You can also see more photos here.

Third, finally, the Josh Jakus UM bags are on display!

You may have seen our excited tweet when they arrived. Seriously, there are no words to describe how awesome these bags are. And, it's obvious from the admiration they receive from visitors, that we're not alone in our appreciation. We also have, by Josh Jakus, their line of felt accessories. Everything from a wine bottle cozy to the coolest eggflat you'll ever see:

It also makes a great yarn storage device/ centerpiece.

All of the Josh Jakus pieces are made with recylced industrial felt excess and are made in Berkeley. The designs are entirely modern, unique and perfect for a variety of purposes. We're certain that these will be very popular among knitters as they're both practical and stylish.

And that is everything I could cover in 15 minutes. Toodles until next Tuesday. Look for a Newsletter in your inbox tomorrow!


*We like the pattern, what can I say?

Show & Tell

This was going to be a very short post (where my knitters at?), but luckily I managed to corner Tilly, Martha and Liz this afternoon for an impromptu series of photographs. But, if all y'all don't start popping in with your WIPs & FO's we might be in some trouble soon (hint, hint). So, without further adieu, I present a small parade of FO's.

First, we have Tilly's Cherry Blossom Bag (made with Cascade 220, Cork Chenille & ShibuiKnits mango wood handles). Now, aside from it being absolutely lovely and very well done, it's important to note that this was Tilly's FIRST (I repeat, first) "real" (direct quote) project. How humbling is that?

And she also lined it herself*...

It's almost unfair, isn't it? My first "real" project was a lumpy hat. Am I alone here? What was yours?

Anyway.

Martha brought out her Easy Raglan Sweater so that we might 'ooh' and 'ahh' over it (which we did, it's adorable!):

The pattern is from The Expectant Knitter by Mary Connolly. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash in "Turtle" (which is such a great gender-neutral color, if I may say so). It's so cute!

And, finally, all I have to show for ten days of frustrating knitting is... another porom. Behold, the front of my tweedy porom:

...and the side:

Now I really must stress that the frustration was my own fault** as I misread the chart and didn't bother to swatch (I know, I know, bad knitter!), so my first attempt was simply enormous. Lesson learned, I got it. I'm about to embark on a dangerous journey because of how much we at the store looove this pattern... but that will come later.

Now, I was going to show all y'all Micah's knitnotwar 1,0o0 crane, but I forgot to take a photo of it. Maybe on Thursday, with the eleven new cranes we got in yesterday (did you see that we're up to 75?!). Until then, keep dry!

*Yes, that's a zipper in there, too.
**Not Jared's.

You'd never believe it, but...

We do knit. A lot. So do our customers (also a lot). Much of the time, this blog focuses on a variety of other yarny things (new shipments of yarn, visiting instructors, etc), but today we have a project-packed post* for your vicarious pleasure.

First, we have A (remember A? our very adventurous 8-year-old knitter...) and her very first finished pair of socks:

And side view:

Which, we were told by her mother, she had begged to be brought to the store and show off "all week". How awesome is that? She's clearly been bitten bad by the knitting bug, and we might just have the next EZ right here in Portland.

Of course, as soon as A took off her shoes to show off her socks, her little brother proudly pulled up his jean cuff to proudly display the Coriolis socks his mom had made for him:

To which his older brother announced that he had a ton of socks made by his Mom, too, but wasn't wearing any right now (but would be wearing them next time, if I wanted to take a photo then). I can tell that this is going to be a very knitterly family.

It was all very cute and quite endearing to see handknits so well appreciated.

After the Parade of Handknit Socks ended (always fun to watch, honestly), we had two deliveries of felted cranes for the knitnotwar 1,0o0 KAL. The first was by Mandy (who brought in eleven cranes, all made with Cascade 220):

And closely followed by Tammy, who was clearly not to be outdone, as she brought in sixteen cranes:

Personally, I think they're just trying to make the rest of us look bad. Or, it might be motivational, since I just bought yarn last night to knit even more cranes (my count is two, for those of you lamenting your lack of progress, please take comfort in the fact that you've probably outknit me by now).

In any case, these two knitters together were responsible for upping our crane count substantially. Thank you, Mandy & Tammy!

Next, at some point this week**, Farrah came in with her finished Porom (by brooklyntweed). For some reason it was modeled by Lindsay and not Farrah herself:

It's so cute and, well, French, isn't it?

Love it. Which might explain why Liz and I are each working on one ourselves. Anyway, back to Farrah's lovely hat, it's made with Rowan Felted Tweed and has some slight modifications from the original pattern - a reduced stitch count and it was knit on smaller needles.

And, finally, at the end of our list of ongoing & finished knits we have the Staff Projects:

For this week, anyway. I announced to all and sunder at some point this afternoon that I would be taking a group shot of any WIP's/ FO's provided to me by my coworkers. You cannot imagine the madness as my coworkers literally threw their WIP's & FO's at me. I suppose they were all so relieved that I didn't ask for a model, that this seemed like a reasonable request***.

I hate to start at 12 o'clock (top, center) since it's mine, but it makes the most sense. First (the socks) are a pair of socks (yes, obviously) made with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Tuscany". I made up the pattern as I went, and they're for my SIL. (closeup here)

Second, at about 2 o'clock, are Wendy's adventures in colorwork. A pair of gloves (not matched) from Selbuvotter and a lace'n'colorwork gauntlet she's making up with Kauni W-EJ. (closeup here)

Next, at 5 o'clock, is the i-cord cast on of Jenni's very recently started Mermaid cardigan. Pray for her, that's a lot of i-cord she's got to knit.

Then, stretching from 6 o'clock to 11 o'clock, is Marj's Cabled Rib Wrap. She chose to pair ShibuiKnits Baby Alpaca DK in "Rapids" with ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud in "Mist" and it is just gorgeous. There's no other word for it. I think we've all considered rolling in it, it's simply that luscious.

And, finally, at 9 o'clock we have Liz's Aeolian Shawl (from the most recent knitty), which she is knitting up with Habu Textiles Cashmere. If you want to stalk this project (who wouldn't, right?), here it is on ravelry.

Whew! I think that's everything (those are all the photos I have from the last week, anyway). Check back on Tuesday for photos of Beth Brown-Reinsel's classes this weekend and the updated crane count. Happy knitting!

*I dare you to say that three times fast.
** Dates, knitters, I need dates when you fill out a project information sheet. This also goes for staffers (yes, I know you read the blog, too)
*** Or I'm reading too much into this and they're all just really proud of their WIPs. Both are likely.