A regal shawl, a wacky hat, and some colorful felting

I swear I was going to post this yesterday until I realised that we had a staff workshop in 10 minutes... so it got delayed. But we do have more photos for it!

First and foremost, prepare yourself to be amazed, with Duffy's (a.k.a. fiberqat) Queen Anne's Lace shawl:

Over 6 feet across and simply gorgeous. She was so (rightfully) proud of herself she brought it in to show off. A big 'thank you' to Tsipa (right) for helping Duffy hold it up during our impromptu photoshoot. And here's a center detail:

And the lovely edging that makes me think of peacock feathers:

Duffy said that it was an easy and very enjoyable knit. In fact, her ravelry notes compare it to "crack" (see link above). Hmm, sounds dangerous. Here's the pattern info on ravelry.

All in all, I think the best description is "wow".

Next, something completely different, is another amazing project that you have to see to believe... Wendy's most awesome self-designed EAT hat (okay, that's not what she's calling it):

Made with Kauni W-EM & W-EN for a friend who's a chef. Note the fork & knife motif as well as the inverted wine glass detail. Wendy is clearly crazy. In a good way, of course, but it must be said.

With those two projects, I bet I'm not the only one feeling like an underachiever right now. Oy.

In other, slightly smaller, FO news... we have NINE more cranes! Giving us 138. Almost half-way there. Keep 'em coming, guys!

And, finally, the reason this post was postponed last night... our staff Artfelt workshop. Here's us getting started with our base layers of wool laid down:

And here's the felting demonstration as best could be approximated (without a dryer on premises):

(with a peek at Lindsay's & Marjorie's unfelted pieces)

If you want to see more of the process, or pictures from our workshop, see our flickr page. I'll try and nag everyone to finished their projects over the weekend and bring them in next week for photos. Look for them in a week or two.

And that's everything, for yesterday today. Check back tomorrow for a sneak peek at our upcoming Mother's Day Special!

Such a lot.

I'd apologize for the tardiness of this post, but it was rather unavoidable. The past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the store what with a series of enormous shipments, some slight technical difficulties and a long-awaited visit from Catherine Lowe. But, before we get to all of that, we have a Boy-O-Boy cardigan knit by Elizabeth:

The pattern is from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders and is here on ravelry. Elizabeth used ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in "Wasabi" for her project, though I have no information on how much she used or who the finished cardigan might be for (blame Sandy Kay, not me).

Next, we have another knitnotwar1,0o0 Crane Count and a little blurb from the creator. First, the update: 12 more cranes! Which brings our total up to 129 cranes and puts us at 43% towards our goal (and, yes, you can see all this information on the sidebar, but I wanted to mention it anyway). A couple of weeks ago, I emailed Seann about the origins of the name "knitnotwar 1,0o0" because we've received many an email with that question in some form or another. Here's Seann's reply:

It's a silly reason why it is 1,0o0 and not just 1,000...when I first started the project a dear friend of mine and I were talking and she thought that the project sounded very serious while knitting is generally so fun and relaxing. I certainly didn't want folks to only regard it as a super serious project (it really is fun to knit the cranes and the spirit of it is supposed to be happy and hopeful!) I started adding a "o" in the title to just visually trip up the weight of it so it was a bit more lighthearted looking. I don't know if it did the trick, but my friend noticed and it made her happy!

So there you go. It makes sense, considering the bittersweet aspects of the story of Sadako Sasaki and the new connotations attached to origami cranes after the second World War.

Now, moving on to more lighthearted topics, we have some new products that are so very awesome I can't but mention them.

Firstly, we have three new patterns:

• Skif June/ September/ February
• Skif Buttonback/ Swing
• CoCoKnits Pleated Ballet Flats

The new Skif patterns in particular are super exciting for a Skif freak like me. Sandy Kay and I are already talking about resurrecting the Skif KAL for this summer. How's about it, our devoted readers - yay or nay? We could meet monthly and have a yarn sampling party and who-know's-what else. Just a thought.

Second, we have a (small) library's worth of new books. Most of which are from Japan; our favorites include: Favorite Aran Knits (the cables in here are fabulous), Easy Knit & Crochet (check out those legwarmes on the cover!) and several new Amigurumi/ toy books.

Then, of course (you'll have seen this in the most recent Newsletter), we have Cookie A's highly coveted Sock Innovation.


Can I just say how much I love this book? I already have my own copy and am planning to knit at least half the patterns within. And, since we have "No Mean Feet!" tonight, maybe discussion of a store KAL isn't out of order. Anyone interested?

And, maybe, that's everything for today's belated post. Check back tomorrow (we should have some post-worthy stuff then), for a really cool FO Wendy just finished for a friend. Hint, it involves some amazing Fair Isle creativity.

BIG News

We have good news, Great News, in fact. And LOTS of it. So much, in fact, that it's going to be divided into two posts (sorry, it had to be done).

First, get ready to squee!, as the KnitPod is officially, well and truly, available for sale.

Isn't that just beautiful?

Shown above in Maple, the only reason these are actually in stock is that I/we've forbidden staffers to buy the first few made. Get one (or two) before the next lot comes in. These things are so special, you'll probably want several. Made with locally-grown hardwood by M.W., a Portland-area woodworker, each KnitPod is one-of-a-kind and truly is a work of art. Now, since there are only four KnitPods in existence at the moment, after the first four are sold, they will be sold on pre-order basis. M.W. has promised that it will take no longer than 2-weeks for order turnaround, so get ready to carry your socks in style and with an easy mind - never drop stitches, break yarn or bend/ dull your DPNs again!

Second, Kauni is BACK IN STOCK. Grab some while you can.

Third. We have 90 cranes!

Melissa dropped off 13 today.

But, since we still need more (and a reason to party), we're hosting a Crane Knit Night this Thursday during our regular Sip n' Stitch. Drop by the store to knit (a crane!), earn store credit ($1 for every crane knit that night), drink champagne and feast on chocolate and strawberries. We'll also have door prizes and giveaways... just because we can. Come by on Thursday night, it's going to be awesome!

Now I must hasten away, as my Intermediate Handspinning Techniques class starts in 5* minutes. Check back for more exciting news!

*Make that 3.

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.

A definite sense of accomplishment.

You may have noticed an eCard somewhere in your inbox this morning. It must be said that this particular eCard was several months in the making. We ordered Boutique Knits, at Lindsay's request, some time ago and had to wait while it was backordered. One copy came in and two shop samples were started. Finally, oh finally!, we had both the samples and the books in the same place at the same time and... well, an eCard was made.

Shown right is the truly awesome Sideways Grande Hat, modeled by Liz. You have to admit it looks fantastic on her. (For those who are interested, or may not be on our mailing list: the yarn is ShibuiKnits Merino Alpaca in "Mulberry", one skein.)

Next, on our list of recent accomplishments - we have 64 cranes! Many of these cranes (42 to be exact) came in this past weekend, during our Annual Sale.

Thank you, everyone, who has knit a crane (or two or twelve) and brought them by! It really, truly, does make our day to see these little felted birds come through our door.

With 64 cranes, we are approximately at 21% of our goal (look! a new widget on the sidebar -->). To some this might not seem as a major achievement, but we know better. Knitters across the country (and across Portland) have been donating their time, energy and stashes to be part of a large-scale project and it's amazing. So many of our donors have denied payment for their efforts, which really says so much about how generous knitters can be. But, since we still need 236 cranes, we're have a knit night to outdo all knit nights - our Super Crane Knit Night on April 2nd.

Since it's on the same night as our weekly Sip'n'Stitch, we'll be providing all our regular treats with a bunch of extra enticements thrown in. Come in for door-prizes, rewards and many other fun goodies to reward all the participants.

And, finally, we have one more thing to be proud of: Beth Brown-Reinsel. World reknowned for her research on traditional knitting, we've managed to snag her for a whole weekend (this weekend, actually) to teach two of her most popular workshops on historic Scandinavian garments. Both classes will include tutorials on a variety of techniques and skills necessary to the completion of each garment.

The first, The Danish Nattrøjer, will focus on blouse construction. Discover how welts and gussets can turn a blocky garment into something fitted and how to incorporate your own design into the pattern.

The second, Norwegian Mittens,will cover everything from knitting Fair Isle (or stranded colorwork) with two colors of yarn, mitten construction using a traditional thumb gusset and "seam" stitches. This class in particular is highly recommended to knitters who couldn't register for Ruth's Fair Isle workshop last month. Norwegian Mittens is the perfect chance to learn Fair Isle while knitting up a pair of mittens for next winter (or a Christmas gift!).

For now, that's everything. Next time (tomorrow), we have several beautiful customer projects (or, hopefully will, if I can find the camera) as well as an update on a variety of very interesting staff projects.