Summer Scarves | Lorna’s Laces Solemate | Purelife Revive
We’ve switched from warm and cozy to lighter and brighter, but the scarf trend continues.
A great example: the Sunday Scarf that Carolyn recently finished.
This scarf is made in two pieces and grafted in the middle, so that each tip is identical and drapes beautifully.
Carolyn made it out of Lorna’s Laces Solemate, a sock yarn that contains a fiber that regulates temperature, cooling you off in the warm weather and warming you up when it is cold. Sounds like the ideal fabric to have wrapped around your neck these days.
We’ve got lots of people working on this scarf that we made from two skeins of Purelife Revive.
It is a simple YO K2tog pattern, that ends up hanging on the bias. Good meditative knitting.
I love the combination of the tweedy yarn (it’s recycled cotton, silk and rayon) with the hand dyed silk ribbon. Each comes in several colors, so there are lots of possibilities.
It would also look great done in some of our new colors of Tempo or Tiffany, if you like a bit of sparkle.
Embrace the mistakes
I love the skinny stripes in this top down baby sweater. But since the sweater is knit in the round, the stripes spiral, rather than line up. We’ve all been there. You start a project, finally get some momentum and then look down and go “oops!”. You could stop, rip back and look up the jogless stripe technique or you could knit on with reckless abandon. Some days you just want to knit.
Anything that you do consistently is considered a design element, even the “mistakes”. So here is the tip: instead of hiding the jog, we’ve embraced it with a little chain embroidery. Susan Anderson demonstrates this simple technique here. She shows you how to chain in a circle; it is even easier going in a straight line. I originally considered sewing a row of tiny buttons between the two chains, but decided to use my favorite monster button instead.
I love the result. Anyone would think that we had planned it this way….
Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Top Down Pullover
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater in Firefly and Beluga
Happy Easter!
String Theory will be closed on Easter Sunday, April 8.
Hope the Easter Bunny brings you lots of yarn and a little chocolate!
We are open regular hours through Saturday, so be sure to stock up for your holiday knitting.
Note: The bunny above is made from Cascade Sierra and fits perfectly over a Cadbury Chocolate Egg. Free pattern here. He is nestled in a basket of Mountain Colors Jeannette, a luscious blend of cashmere and silk.
Off the Needles
Remember this from the last newsletter?
Yarn: Rowan Savannah – a heavy worsted blend of cotton with a silk thread wrap.
Pattern: Amy’s Scarf ($3.50 on Ravelry)
Modifications: The pattern is written for laceweight yarn, so I used a size 10 needle and cast on only 44 stitches. I just followed the charts without the repeat – couldn’t be easier.
I finished it! I am so happy with the way this turned out. Four skeins made the scarf about 6 feet long. I could have blocked it with points and waves, but I decided the more casual style went better with the uneven texture of the yarn.
The lace pattern is called Frost Flowers. If you type that in for a pattern search on Ravelry, you will come up with shawls and sweaters and socks and scarves that incorporate this lace. Thanks Susan for the inspiration.
Now that I’ve finished my scarf I get to start this out of Fibre Co Acadia. ( I try to have only one “must pay attention” project and one “mindless” project going at a time.)
What are you working on?
Sunday Knits Fever
We were so lucky to have Carol Sunday join us on March 11 to help launch her trunk show. She sat and knit, consulted with customers on how to adapt her patterns (and when not to) and taught a few people a clever way to make bobbles. Looks like she’s wearing her new design Old Town.
Jody finished her Sunday Knits Tapestry just for the occasion. Stunning!
The Cambridge Shawl was the hit of the show. It takes a fingering or sportweight yarn like Fresco, Road to China Light, or Pediboo. If you’re interested in making this shawl, sign up for Karen’s Jumpstart Class which covers all the tricky bits to get you going.
We had to pack up the trunk show, but we still have Sunday Knits patterns and some Nightbird Kits and lots of inspired project ideas.
Pur Pleasure
I wanted to let you know that we just got new colors of Schoppel Wolle Pur, but it seems that I never told you about the old colors. Pur is a special yarn created with a patented technology. This single-ply, lightly felted yarn knits up easily and smoothly on large needles. It is made with the finest Merino Wool, thus creating a soft natural garment that can be worn directly on the skin. The eco-friendly dyes leave practically no trace of any chemicals, making this yarn a great natural choice for children and an approved yarn of the Waldorf Schools in Germany. And the colors are gorgeous!
As you can see the yarn stripes.
Mochi Chunky Hat By Aina Tonjes
Take a look here for the headband and cowl that Lisa designed with one skein.
Baby Poonam: the Back
The back view of Baby Poonam pullover:
What’s Lisa Knitting Now? Baby Poonam
Sometimes a pattern design just calls out to a knitter. Lisa heard the call of Baby Poonam, a baby pullover designed by Norah Gaughan, because it combines two Aran knitting motifs: cables and gansey stitches. She’s knitting it out of Spud and Chloe Sweater, which is worsted weight. (More on changing gauge in the next post.)
Where’s Dahlia? Chapter 7
Here is Lisa’s latest chapter in the Dahlia story. Note there is still only one sleeve, since Lisa is waiting for her class to demonstrate the “after thought” sleeve.
Here’s Janet (great smile) modeling Dahlia (great drape) in the store. And …
Here’s the back view. To quote visitors to Dahlia at the store: ”Wow. That’s beautiful.”
I (Lisa) think that’s a great reason to knit Dahlia, besides the fact that it’s fun to make and wear: how many times do you hear “Wow, that’s beautiful” about your back view? (Eat your heart out, J-Lo.)
Evening Project #4: Spa Cloth
Step one: Pick one of the fabulous colors of Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton
Step two: Pick one of the fabulous scents of Happy Hoppers’ Soap.
Step three: Knit this easy, reversible square.
Step four: Wrap them together and go.
Great for teachers, neighbors, friends, new mothers, your mother, or to have on hand at all times for the person you forgot…
Free pattern available with yarn purchase.
