Breakwall

Hey folks!  Sorry I've left this blog for so long.  Thanks to all those who still check it anyway!  

I may not have been blogging, but I HAVE been knitting.  I just finished this sweater last week:

It's knit in two pieces, a left half and right half, from cuff to center.  Seams at center front, center back, and side/under sleeve, leaving slits at side hems and front neck.  The main color is knit in garter stitch, with the contrast color in stockinette.  I hope to have the pattern for Breakwall sized and ready soon!

Yarn: Rowan Cotton Jeans

MC 361 Jute

CC 360 Canvas

Needles: Size 8 bamboo circs

My first booth!

Hi all.  I know I've been absent awhile, but I have a good reason.  I have been working like crazy to prepare for my first trade show booth!  I launched my patterns at TNNA last weekend, and it went really well.  Here are a couple shots of the booth:

This was a trade only show, so I was selling to other yarn shops around the country.  I was in a "new vendor" section of the floor with neighbors like Shannon and the Stitch Cooperative.  (more great patterns!)  I also got to see the yarn harlot talk for the first time!  She was great!

To prepare, I reworked the format on all of my original patterns and had pictures taken by Maribeth.  They came out great!  I started shipping patterns last week, and am waiting for another batch from the print shop to get out the rest.  I'm putting together a website as well, and I'll let you know when it's finished.  Maybe I'll tell you about some of my recent knitting too!  

Welcome hat for Baby C.

Pete's cousin and his wife are expecting a new baby boy this month.  New babies and showers mean baby knitting!  

I made this hat for the shower with Plymouth Jean-nee, a nice soft blend of cotton and acrylic.  It comes in some great colors.  I chose the lightest and darkest blue for a one-row stripe spiral.  The technique is really cool, but confusing until you do it.  (Even when I knit it, I didn't quite get it, but it worked!)  You can see the tutorial from Grumperina that inspired it here.  

"Thanks for letting me model, Mom!" 

 

Pete didn't want to be on the blog, so I tried to crop out his grumpy morning face as much as I could.  Sorry you're still there honey!

That's Life!

The shop was featured on Fox 8 this morning!  You can see the clip from That's Life with Robin Swoboda here, as well as some other Chardon businesses.  Enjoy!  I'll post soon with pics of Audrey's Easter knitting, and my newest sweater project.  

A new addiction?

Yes, the rumors are true.  I learned how to spin last week, and it was awesome!  If you've never spun before, you've got to try it just for the mesmerizing effect it has.  Imagine the zone that knitting puts you in when you're doing stockinette in the round, wool on bamboo, and it's about 10:30 at night, and you just drank half a pot of Sleepytime tea . . . times ten . . . zzzzz.

I was so "in the zone" that I didn't get a picture, even though my awesome teacher Sierra left me with her wheel and merino for almost five hours. 

This is the first photo taken- when we were winding my first yarn onto a swift in order to ply it.  That's Sierra on the floor behind me.  She plied my yarn for me, and it came out quite pretty!

I spun 60 g total - enough for a nice hat - if I can stand to knit it!  It's just so pretty!  I washed it and set the spin since this photo, and the wool did bloom nicely, while retaining the "designer slubs."

Thanks again Sierra!  I loved it!  

Baby Elf

You may have noticed, if you peruse the sidebar, that I have not posted a single one of my "recently finished projects."  I'll try to correct that quickly.

I made this hat for Audrey a couple of weeks ago at Thursday Knit Night.  It took me an hour, plus a bit of time the next morning to replace a roll-brim with ribbing.  There never was and never will be a pattern.  I just worked an i-cord for the top, increased until it seemed a good size, knit straight for a bit, and did the brim.  Tada!

I think she likes it, as she's been wearing it every day since!  The yarn is Twister Space from Universal.  A nice knit!  More FO's to come . . .

Sock yarn, anyone?

We've gotten a bunch of new stuff in the shop recently, mostly since Shelly and I went to our trade show in January.  The New Year often inspires diets of many kinds, and some people even entertain the idea of a "yarn diet" to slim down their stash.  Just a friendly reminder to say: "SOCK YARN DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR STASH!"

So enjoy, guilt free!  

Plymouth Happy Feet

(ravelry)

OnLine Supersocke

SWTC Tofutsies

all new colors!

(ravelry)

Noro Kureyon Sock

(ravelry)

And, last but not least, Dream in Color Smooshy Sock!

(ravelry)

Yippee!!!!!