How Far Does this Yarn Go?

Have you ever had yarn that just seems to last forever?

This is definitely the case with A Swell Yarn Shops Skinny Duet Yarn. I bought this yarn back at Oregon Flock and Fiber in 2007. For Christmas that year I knit my mom a pair of socks (rav link). Then I knit a pair of baby socks for a friend (rav link) in June of 2008. I held onto the rest just in case I had a baby girl of my own. From what was leftover I knit the above pair of baby socks and a pair of mitts. The mitts I even made a bit big so they would fit for a long time. 

After all that I still have this much yarn left. Not enough for a project, but maybe a stripe or two in something! I love this yarn! 

Melker

I love this pattern! This is the Melker pattern from Pickles (rav link). The newborn size is free, but you have to pay for the bigger sizes.

What I really really love is the story behind this sweater. Blair went into Portland by himself. While there he did a bit of yarn shopping for me. He brought home these 3 balls of purple Cascade 220 Superwash and asked me if I would knit something for our baby girl. Of course I couldn't refuse him and went looking around for a pattern. I already had my eye on this one, so thought the 2 made a perfect match. 

Here are the matching hat and booties. The truth is even though I love purple (as you can tell), I actually don't find myself knitting with it all that often. I knit with a lot of blue and green. So this was a lot of fun to try out colors somebody else picked out and create a cute set for our little one! I'm sure she will love these warm woolies and hopefully they will still fit her come fall!

Maternity Leave!

Happy June! It's getting down to the wire, so I thought I would start my maternity leave a little bit early. Mostly because I'm not going to make it to Black Sheep this year. However, my lovely friend and booth partner Donna of Plover Designs is going! So most of the yarn and fiber is going with her! We are delivering it this weekend, so I'm taking it all out of the shop. Whatever yarn & fiber is left I will ship. Patterns, shawl pins, and stitch markers are still available, but for the time being the shop is fairly bare. I'm actually going to take this opportunity to upgrade the website a little bit. So the shop will be up and fully stocked sometime in late July / early August, if all goes according to plan! Though, no custom orders until September!

Of course, I will try to keep the blog updated with progress reports and lots of knitting! I still have plenty to share with you! Thanks!

Strawberry

So, the Snowbunny Set I designed was for my son, so I thought I should design something for the baby soon to be! I love berry hats! I even knit a Strawberry hat for the new baby! Then I couldn't help making little matching mitts. Of course this inspired me to make my own hat and then another one! I couldn't decide whether I liked leaves on the bottom or leaves on top, so I included both in the pattern!

Here is a side view of the whole set. I wrote the pattern for sizes Newborn, 6 month, 1 year, and 2 year. The mitts are also written for all sizes and are thumbless. I knit it out of 1 skein of Superwash Worsted in color Smokey Rose (red) and 1 skein of Superwash Worsted in color Sea Turtle (green). You only need 1 skein of each to knit both hats and the mitts in even the largest size. You can easily get other berry types by changing the color too. For instance Berry Pie would make an excellent generic berry, or Summer Sky for blueberry, or Bordeaux if you prefer a darker strawberry. The possibilities are endless!

Here is the top view of the set. You can purchase the pattern through the website or through Ravelry! Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Snowbunny

I have a new pattern for sale! This is Snowbunny! I know you are thinking it's getting too warm to knit hats and cowls and mitts, but actually these projects are perfect for on the go knitting! They are small and portable. Also, by the time it is fall you already have warm projects to wear!

I started by designing this set for my son out of handspun I made in college. I love this yarn! It is part merino part angora. I've long lost the exact makeup and have no idea how to get my hands on more, but sometimes you just do what you can. While I was knitting it up I was inspired to combine my Angora Lace Yarn with my Superwash Sock Yarn, so I could sell the pattern with my yarn! You can easily substitute any of my other sock weight yarns for an even more luxurious combination!

Here it is knit up with one strand of Superwash Sock in Sea Turtle and one strand of Angora Lace in Summer Sky. It is so incredibly soft! I handwashed and blocked the set and the Angora simply bloomed out in a soft halo. Also, since the angora is long haired, it didn't shed any fiber during the process! I love love love this yarn! 1 skein of each will make the set for all sizes, except the largest. Sizes are Baby, Child, Small Adult, and Large Adult. The hat and mitts are both knit top down for the best fit and most use of your yarn! There are more details on the website here, where it can be purchased. You can also purchase it through Ravelry here. Thank you!

Photo Friday: Little Toes!

Constance

Introducing Constance (rav link)! For a long time I have thought it would be nice to have a baby size model for the booth. 

So, one day while I was poking around Ravelry I came across this pattern. The original is simply adorable! The designer is from New Zealand, so I was a little hesitant to buy the pattern at first. I'm super glad I did! The pattern is one of the best I have ever knitted. It is written practically row by row. There is incredible detail in the pattern, down to things like a tiny indent for a navel and a crease for the butt cheeks.

I only have 2 wishes for this pattern, to make it better. The first is I wish I had better doll making & embroidery skills. The pattern walks through step by step how to do all the finishing touches, like fingers, face shaping, toes, ears, etc... My skill and knowledge of different sewing techniques made it a little difficult and I had to take things out a couple of times to fix them. I know more practice would make it better. So maybe I'll make another in the future. The other thing I had trouble with was finding baby flesh colored yarn. I looked through tons of yarn and most of them were either too yellow or too orange or too pale. The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn on 2.5US (3mm). I finally settled on Cascade 220 color #9601 Pink Taffy Heather, which is a worsted weight and used a #3US needle. So my dolly came out around a 6 month size, instead of newborn. I don't mind her size at all. I just wish I could have found the yarn in DK. I will be on the lookout for such a yarn and if I find one, you will see another of these on the needles!

CGFF Wrap Up

I finally feel like I have everything wrapped up for the most part from the CGFF. Lots and lots of little details to give it a nice put away feeling. I have been knitting a ton lately, mostly in preparation for the little one coming a few short weeks! I just have a couple of things from the show left to share with you and then maybe I can feel like it is finished for 2012!

I really wanted to share with you how blessed I am to have such awesome vendors! They are really the most generous group of people I have ever met! I especially want to thank Alpha B and Rainbow Farms Pygora for giving me little treats in appreciation for my work as vendor coordinator. It makes me feel so good to be appreciated!

On top of all the lovely goodies above I couldn't resist a few I saw in the marketplace. More fiber from Rainbow Farms Pygora (the two in the back). The brightly colored one is dyed Ramboullet, which I am dying to spin up! The one in front is from Woolgatherings and is dyed tussah silk and black alpaca. Both are scrumptiously soft. Too bad they may have to sit and wait until I have time to spin again post-baby.

The other last things to check out are:
The photo gallery
The Raffle Prizes and their winners
The Treasure Hunt Prizes and its winner
The General Survey - Please fill out if you plan on attending next year!

I have some last things to finish up on the website to wrap things up and then it should be all put away. I'm hoping to blog more regularly. I have lots to catch up on!

Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival 2012 Photos!

Photo Friday: Yep, Still Buried!