Poppin' Goofballs

This just might be the silliest thing I've knit so far! I love it...

When our Plymouth yarn rep showed us Poppin' I instantly saw something FUN. Something that you wouldn't have to spend a fortune on, something new you could try and know you'll get goofy, fun results. Now, Mom/Deb would use this in conjuntion with some other yarn in the trim of a hat or cuffs of a sweater but I knit it alone. Just for fun! Since it's a little awkward to figure out at first, I took step-by-step photos. I finished this in two nights of light knitting (the season finales of LOST, The Office and 30 Rock, to be specific).

Materials: One ball of Plymouth Poppin' ($8.99 for 66yds, Ultra Bulky)
One pair of knitting needles-pick a large size, I chose US10s

Finished Measurements: approx 5.5" wide by 70" long, it's springy & bouncy once knit up

OK!
To knit this you are going to space your stitches out so that they happen with the yarn in between the puffs.

Cast on 8 stitches using backwards loop (single) cast on. You can try out a different cast on but backwards loop causes the least headaches :)

see how my loops happen in between the puffs?

Commence the knittin'!
insert your needle as usual (if you're continental your yarn is on the opposite side. The main point is to be using the yarn between the puffs)

Wrap the yarn around, using the yarn between the puffs:Pull the new stitch through:
and push the old stitch off as usual.

You'll have to find your own groove with the yarn. After a while I started anchoring the yarn with my left index finger as I pulled the new stitch through. I couldn't photograph it though.

In this green color it kind of looks like a puffy plant or a catipillar or something. But we also have white, pink and black. We just bought one bag of each to have a bit of fun with and I hope you'll snag a skein or two to have some fun of your own!

Anticipation

We get to see our sales reps seasonally. They're armed with color cards, sample swatches and skeins, and pattern book mock-ups. Not only can they tell us all about every yarn from past seasons, they have learned all about the new yarns - gauge, fiber, pattern support, color range - before it's even available to ship to stores!

We saw our Berroco rep this spring & she showed us the fall line. NEVER have I been so anxious to receive a yarn shipment! The new yarns are gorgeous and the patterns are fashion-forward without being to "weird" or anything. I have a HUGE to-do list from these books and might cast on for something even though I'm still working on my spring/summer to-do list!

Norah Gaughan Vol 3 has made a great addition to my Norah collection.... Everyone on Ravelry kept posting when they got their copy in the mail and I just couldn't wait for mine!!

Berroco site
Buy at Sage

Berroco site
Buy at Sage

Berroco site
Buy at Sage

Berroco site
Buy at Sage

Berroco site
Buy at Sage


Berroco site
Buy at Sage


Berroco site
Buy at Sage

From the new yarns bought Cuzco, Inca Gold & Peruvia Quick. And, of course, we still have Ultra Alpaca, Ultra Alpaca Light, Peruvia and Comfort in stock from last season!

Have fun anticipating your next project,
Jen

Malabrigo update

SO! I know I haven't posted in a while and I promise I'll post something more informative than this, but I thought I would let you know that the rest of our Malabrigo colors came in for the Silky Merino and the Lace Merino. The colors in these photos are a little off, you really have to come and see them in person!!


Lace Merino:
Silky Merino:

The days have been flying by because we've been insanely working on the website to get it up and running. I'll be posting a GO LIVE date really soon!!

Have fun with the string,
Jen

Handdyed and Organic Yarn

This month I have a whole bunch of hand-dyed and organic yarns. As usual, the photos don't really do the gorgeous colors justice - you might have to come by and check them out in person.

With the addition of Silky Merino and Lace Merino, I had enough yarn to make a Malabrigo wall:
Here is the Silky Merino:

Silky Merino from Malabrigo
50% Silk, 50% wool - 150 yds/50 g.
DK weight but no gauge listed by manufacturer
Hand wash, dry flat
$9.99

And here is the Lace Merino:

Lace Merino from Malabrigo
100% Baby Merino wool, 470 yards/50 g.
Lace to fingering weight, gauge not listed by manufacturer
Hand wash, dry flat
$9.99

We were very excited to receive our shipment of yarn from Handmaiden Yarns out of Canada. Their handpainted colors were inspiring even in the tiny little snippets that were sent to us in our ordering catalog. We decided to get Sea Silk and Great Big Sea, which are both Silk and Seacell blends (seacell is made of seaweed and viscose!). You really have to see this yarn to believe it.

Sea Silk from Handmaiden
70% Silk, 30% Seacell, 436 yards/100g
28 sts to 4 inches on a US 2-3 needle
Hand wash, dry flat
$37.50

Great Big Sea is a heavier weight version of Sea Silk:

Great Big Sea by Handmaiden
50% Silk, 30% Wool, 20% Seacell - 272 yds/100g
20 sts to 4 inches on US 5-6 needle
Hand wash, dry flat
$37.50

And now for the organic portion of our program! The following yarns from Plymouth are all certified organic, use no dye at all - these are the natural fiber colors - and the labels are 100% recycled paper. They also have fabulous price points that make going green affordable!

Oceanside Organic from Plymouth Yarns
100% Organic Cotton - 109 yards/50 g.
20 sts to 4 inches on US 6
Machine wash gentle, tumble dry low
$4.99

Ecco Silk from Plymouth Yarns
100% Silk, 147 yards/50 g.
24 sts to 4 inches on US 6 needle
Hand wash, dry flat
$11.99

Ecco Silk Boucle from Plymouth Yarns
100% Silk, 96 yds/50 g.
20 sts to 4 inches on US 7 needle
Hand wash, dry flat
$12.99

Ecco Cashmere
100% Cashmere, 354 yds/50 g.
Laceweight
Hand wash, dry flat
$29.99

PHEW! Whenever I think we're slowing down for a bit it just keeps going and going... NEW YARN! We have new books, too, but I think I've gone on long enough for today. Stay well!

Have fun with the string,
Jen

New (beautiful) Yarns

I'm really excited to show you all our latest new yarns which include an organic cotton and fingering weight merino! Take a look:

From Mirasol Yarns we have 2 beautiful cottons~

Samp’a – $6.99
100% Naturally Dyed Organic Cotton
120 yds/50g – 22sts/28 rows to 4” on US 6
Hand wash, dry flat, may be dry cleaned, cool iron

T’ika – $6.49
100% Pima Cotton
91 yds/50g – 22sts/28 rows to 4” on US 6
Hand wash, dry flat, may be dry cleaned, cool iron

I personally have several summer knits on my to-do list that like DK weight yarn. I had no idea, though, what yarn I was going to pick for them - until NOW! My only problem will be deciding on a color....

And from GGH we have a fingering weight superwash Merino~

Merino Soft – 8.95
100% Extra Fine Superwash Merino Wool
185 yds/50g – 27sts/36 rows to 4” on US 2-3
Machine wash gentle, lay flat to dry, do not bleach, cool iron

This is a skinny yarn but don't be scared. I've had this yarn in my head since I started working at the store in May and have a lot of ideas for it. It would be great for trying out colorwork, like fair isle knitting, for making babies things (machine wash!) or for crocheting lacy stoles. I have some baby booties on my to-do list & I'll show you when I got those done. Super cute!

Also, all of our spring magazines are coming in and they've been really inspiring with their bright colors and simple yet flattering and fun designs. We have Interweave Knits & Knit Scene, Vogue Knitting & Knit Simple, Knitter's Magazine, Creative Knitting, Interweave Crochet, Defining Crochet! and Rebecca Magazine.





You might not have seen Rebecca before so let me introduce you. Rebecca magazine is produced by GGH/Muench and so uses all GGH yarns, of which we have Soft Kid, Aspen, Bel Air, Merino Soft, Boulino, Scarlett and Safari. It is a European magazine and reflects a fashion-forward style but not in a crazy "runway fashion show" kind of way. It only comes out twice a year and so in one issue you will get patterns for two seasons. The issue pictured covers February through July:

43 Designs!!

This is Issue #36, but we also have a few others for you to browse. Come on in and flip through them to see if you like anything :-)

Have fun with the string & if you have any questions let me know,
Jen

New Yarn

Ok, this is already a long post with lots of photos... We got a LOT of yarn this month (I don't know what we were thinking, we don't have room for it!) I won't get into a lot of editorial just because there is so much to show you, but hopefully I'll get to post more about them later. OR if you have any questions about them, leave them in the comments and I'll post replies!

Here we go....

Berroco

Berroco has come out with some great new spring and summer yarns (SOFT linen!) and we brought in their new fantastic stand-by yarn, Comfort.

Comfort – $5.49
50% Super Fine Nylon, 50% Super Fine Acrylic
210 yds/100g – 20 sts/27 rows to 4” on US 8 needles
Machine wash gentle, tumble dry low

NaturLin – $6.99
40% Linen, 60% Viscose
115 yds/50g – 24 sts/32 rows to 4” on US 6 needles
Hand wash in cool water, dry flat

Seduce – $7.99
47% Rayon (Viscose), 25% Linen, 17% Silk, 11% Nylon
100 yds/50g – 20 sts/28 rows to 4” on US 7 needles
Hand wash in cool water, dry flat

Linen Jeans - $6.99
70% Rayon (Viscose), 30% Linen
80 yds/50g – 19 sts/26 rows to 4” on US 9 needles
Hand wash in cool water, dry flat

Colinette

Colinette yarns are hand-dyed to order, colors vary even within dylots so take a look at what you’re buying and make sure you get enough! (It’s beautiful stuff)

Tao – $26.49
100% Silk
126 yds/50g – 24sts/30 rows to 4” on US 6 needle
Hand wash or dry clean, dry flat

Tagliatelli - $26.99
90% Merino wool, 10% Nylon
158 yds/100g – 11 sts/15 rows to 4” on US 11 needles
Handwash in cool water, dry flat

Parisienne - $12.99
70% Kid Mohair, 30 % Polyamide
240yds/25g - 16-22 sts/22-32 rows to 4” on US 5-10 needle
Hand wash or dry clean, dry flat

Knit One Crochet Too

I’ve been eyeing this mohair for a while and we could NOT pass up a silky, machine-washable bamboo blend perfect for kids!

Douceur et Soie - $12.49
70% Mohair, 30% Silk
225yds/25g – wide range of gauges/laceweight
Hand wash delicate or dry clean

Babyboo – $5.49
45% Bamboo, 55% Nylon
115 yds/50g – 22 sts to 4” on US 5 needle
Machine wash cold water, dry flat

Classic Elite

One-skein lace projects galore! It seems almost like magic how something so light and airy can also keep you so warm. Our Alpaca Sox solid colors coordinate with the variegated version for easy color selection.

Silky Alpaca Lace - $9.49
70% Alpaca, 30% Silk
460 yds/50g - 34 sts to 4” on US 2 needles
Hand wash cold, dry flat

Alpaca Sox (solids) - $17.99
60% Alpaca, 20% Merino, 20% Nylon
450 yds/100g – 32 sts to 4” on US 2 needle
Hand wash cold, dry flat

Aslan Trends

Asland Trends is a new “natural luxury yarns” company and we brought in a summer yarn and a spring/fall/winter yarn (an angora blend, my favorite).

Class - $12.49
55% Cotton, 45% Viscose
240 yds/100g – 20-24 sts to 4” on US 4-7 needle
Hand wash in cold water, lay flat to dry or dry clean
“with the right care, it will last forever” (hehe)

Invernal - $16.49
50% Angora, 25% Merino, 25% Polyamide
295 yds/100g – 20-24 sts to 4” on US 6-8 needle
Hand wash in cold water, lay flat to dry or dry clean
“with the right care, it will last forever”

Alright! I hope you made it through... there will be a quiz on Friday!

have fun with the string,
Jen