HRYC
Would like to knit all the things: Part II
I would like to knit everything. Seriously, the amount I think I can knit in a period of time does not even remotely come close to how much I can actually knit.
On the needles right now is Celestite in Sauterne Malabrigo Lace. As I knit away, my mind wanders to images of myself wearing hand knit cardigans that don't exist yet.
Here's a little wish list of cardigans I would like to knit and wear to garden parties, Christmas festivities, to the movies and to drink wine in the sunshine with friends...
Stonor by Belinda Boaden (this one by Lily Kate is knit in Fyberspates Oyster. Droooooling).
Besides the fact this is a beautiful pattern, Fyberspates just released brand new colours. They are so incredibly delightful I may have let out an excited squeal when the email arrived. As soon as our order lands we'll be posting about it, to be sure.
The Queue Project hasn't been forgotten either. Nope.
I now have allocated yarn to knit Veera's Hooray Cardigan - it's going to be a pale sage green shade of Knitsch Krissie DK (mmmm cashmere merino)
Another queue project pattern is White Pine by Amy Christoffers. This one probably won't be started until next year - it's also going to be bright sunshine yellow.
Oh, this next one - swoon. Beautiful, well thought out neckline, and that lace panel on the back. YUM. This knitter is a sucker for surprise details.
Devonshire by Pam Powers
Possibly should stop looking and start knitting...
Would like to knit all the things.
For a few weeks now, the only projects on my needles have been small ones. Hats, socks, mitts, little bits and pieces. It makes me a little twitchy to not have something bigger on the go. Something I can sink my teeth into, something that is reassuring and can be picked up night after night without too much dilemma about what it is I should be working on.
Way back when the last Malabrigo order arrived, I nabbed a couple skeins of Mal Lace in Sauterne. The yellow is so absurdly happy I simply couldn't resist. Yellow is my favourite colour, after all. I wound up the two skeins, thinking to look for a cardigan pattern and nab the last skein of Sauterne on the shelf if I needed it.
SOMEONE BOUGHT IT. Which happens in a shop, right? But it made my pattern choice a little tricky. I was going to knit Rocio by Joji Locatelli - I love the lace panel in the back and the neck line:
But without the third skein to rely on, my concern for having enough yarn was great. So, back to Ravelry. After much discussion at Sat Sit & Knit, we came up with Celestite by Cecily Glowik-MacDonald. Yes, it's supposed to be knit in fingering/4ply. But same needle size should make it work (she says, ha!). I like that it doesn't fully enclose the body, has an elegant neck line and is reasonably straight forward. All that yellow really needs to speak for itself.
I've cast on and knit almost the entire yoke in 24 hours. Not bad! But now i'm itching, seriously itching to knit more big projects. Namely cardigans. A girl simply can't have enough cardigans, especially for a New Zealand summer in windy Wellington where walking out the door without a cardi on a sunny day is asking for serious trouble.
I'll leave my new cardigan wish list for the next post. For now, back to knitting yarn the colour of sunshine!
Technology, baby!
It seems to be a week of ticking things off a very long (and in some cases very old) list of Tasks To Be Done.
Most exciting this week is that I have finally set up a computer screen in the shop - all connected to the internet so you can browse Ravelry, knitty.com, or any other yarny website you like. Or look at pictures of cats.
And for a bit of old school technology, there's now a swift and ball winder set up away from the general busyness of the shop, so feel free to bring in your skeins of yarn to wind up. Hooray!
Finally, just because pretty pictures of yarn make me happy, a finished object! What with Christmas now being next month (oh, the terror!) lots of people are now in to gift knitting season. The Honey Cowl is a super easy, quick project - this one used two skeins of Malabrigo Rios in Purpuras. It's delightfully squishy and soft.
Have a great knitting filled weekend! Now that things are being ticked off the list hopefully that will mean more blog posts...
Bigger on the Inside - a yarn club
It's been quite some time since the last Knitsch yarn club. For many and varied reasons. When someone specially requested DK yarn in a certain colourway though, it set my mind whirring. How about themed yarn club? One where you can pick and choose yarn quantities?
Let's do it!
Can you guess the theme? Yeah, of course! It's a Dr Who theme! Couldn't help myself!
There are a bunch of options available in yarn colours inspired by the Doctor. Two have been on the shop shelf but not listed online before. One has never been seen. And you can choose between 100% merino DK or Knitsch sock.
Sign ups go live at 12pm Friday 26 October. Once you're registered, we'll then discuss your order and an invoice will be issued.
The Options:
DK
Colours:
Tennant or Rose
100% merino DK
specify how much you would like
mailing date to be confirmed with you once order finalised
10 spots available ONLY
$21 per 100g
Sock
Colours:
Tennant
Idris
Rose
Specify how much of each color you would like to receive each month (minimum 100g)
20 spots ONLY available with unlimited quantities
For example, to give you some ideas:
500g of Tennant over 3 months
or
100g of each color over three months
or
150g of Tennant
200g of Rose
100g of Idris
Sock prices:
$26 per 100g
sent in 50g skeins
Payment by 9 November
Mailing dates:
15 November
14 December
24 January
Plus $12 for shipping
Next Steps Crochet: guest post by Sofia
Thanks to Sofia i've caught the crochet bug well and good - as have lots of our eager crochet learners. Whether you've learned the basics with us, or would like to add to your skills, the Next Steps class is the way to go. And it's this Saturday!
Take it away, Sofia!
There have been several very successful 'absolute beginners' crochet classes held at HRYC now and I've loved how enthused almost every one of the newbie crocheters have got about the craft. One recent comment was 'if I'd learnt to crochet before knitting I can see I might not have learnt to knit'. I doubt that's really true though. I can now knit too, I've not knitted a lot, but I can do it and I intend to do more of it in future even though crochet is my first love. Trouble with crochet is, you have to learn much of the more advanced stuff by yourself, there's not many crochet classes beyond the beginner level but there are loads of techniques that can move crochet beyond the granny square and several techniques that I wish I'd been able to learn from someone in person. So I'm sharing my new found knowledge in a 'next steps' class suitable for those that can already crochet a little.
One of the 'must know' techniques we'll cover is a more advanced method of chaining called the foundation single crochet, it's much stretchier and so it's ideal for clothing, plus it gets rid of that frustrating 'first row' experience. Reading charts is another technique many people have mentioned they'd like to learn. There are some gorgeous patterns which make a whole lot more sense when charted thats for sure! Best tip I can give you is this; read your chart anti-clockwise or from right to left as that's how we create our 'fabric'. We'll also cover a few different methods for joining squares and something called an invisible decrease so hopefully there's a little bit of something interesting in there for a few of you.
I must admit, I'm really looking forward to it, I'm hopeful I might pick up a tip or two from those that come along as well!
Take it away, Sofia!
There have been several very successful 'absolute beginners' crochet classes held at HRYC now and I've loved how enthused almost every one of the newbie crocheters have got about the craft. One recent comment was 'if I'd learnt to crochet before knitting I can see I might not have learnt to knit'. I doubt that's really true though. I can now knit too, I've not knitted a lot, but I can do it and I intend to do more of it in future even though crochet is my first love. Trouble with crochet is, you have to learn much of the more advanced stuff by yourself, there's not many crochet classes beyond the beginner level but there are loads of techniques that can move crochet beyond the granny square and several techniques that I wish I'd been able to learn from someone in person. So I'm sharing my new found knowledge in a 'next steps' class suitable for those that can already crochet a little.
One of the 'must know' techniques we'll cover is a more advanced method of chaining called the foundation single crochet, it's much stretchier and so it's ideal for clothing, plus it gets rid of that frustrating 'first row' experience. Reading charts is another technique many people have mentioned they'd like to learn. There are some gorgeous patterns which make a whole lot more sense when charted thats for sure! Best tip I can give you is this; read your chart anti-clockwise or from right to left as that's how we create our 'fabric'. We'll also cover a few different methods for joining squares and something called an invisible decrease so hopefully there's a little bit of something interesting in there for a few of you.
I must admit, I'm really looking forward to it, I'm hopeful I might pick up a tip or two from those that come along as well!
