FO :: Botanic Hat

A few weeks ago, I cast on for Stephen West's Botanic Hat, and was immediately smitten.  A simple 3 x 1 rib, offset every other row by the contrasting color, with slipped stitches -- what could be simpler than that?  

Well, this project whipped up so quick and easy, in fact, that I couldn't help but use the leftover cashmere to make a matching one for myself.

Botanic Hat by Stephen West (available in the shop)

Cashmere / wool :: 4 oz.

Cost of materials: $24.50

I especially love the reversibility of the hat, and because of the way the decreases are set up (the crown of the hat is worked on 4 needles, rather than the 3 that I usually opt for when I'm using DPNs), the back side has these cool veins running up and down that merge at the top.

Come on in and give it a try!

Featured Yarn :: Hard Rock Hotel

Hard Rock Hotel

A bright and soft turquoise Brown Sheep wool runs alongside a shimmery spruce green bamboo and a slightly textured matching eyelash acrylic to make this super soft and cozy yarn.

• Fiber Content: 48 wool / 37 bamboo / 10 acrylic / 5 merino
• Yardage: 390 yards
• Yarn Weight: Worsted
• Amount on Cone: 8 oz.
• Care: Hand wash / lay flat to dry
• Pattern Suggestions: Hoodie Gloves

Also available in our online shop!

Reversible Crocheted Coasters

Like I mentioned before, it's not every year that I get to celebrate Christmas.  In fact, this year is pretty special, in a real-winter, white-Christmas, meet-the-parents-and-see-the-hometown kind of way.  


Obviously, my go-to for gifts for the family is going to be fashioned out of yarn, but you can only make so many dish towels.  

So for the brother and sister-in-law, I thought some bamboo crocheted coasters might do the trick.  I did some research and came across these, which I used as a baseline, and then made some modifications.


I went with two strands of our super sleek bamboo put together, which makes about a sportweight, and a size E hook.  


My main holdup was the color options.  It's tricky making presents for people you've never met before.  Is their home colorful?  Are they the kind of people who would appreciate red and purple on their coffee table?  


Then, I realized the utility of having these coasters be double-thick (i.e. making two identical rounds and crocheting them together for added padding and weight) is that I can make a neutral side and colorful side to each coaster, and let them decide whether they want to keep it mellow with cream and brown, or flip them over and get a little more wild.

To start these, I used a handy little trick for starting a crochet project with a closed circle center, beginning with 12 single crochet stitches into that initial loop before closing it.  Then, into each of those 12 single crochets, I made 2 more single crochets on the next round (24 sc total).

I joined to the first sc of that round with a slip stitch, drew through the loop, and cut my first color of yarn.  With my next contrasting color, I joined at a different part of the circle (alternating where on the circle you join each new color keeps it from getting too lumpy, as it would if all the new joins were piled up together), and made one double crochet into each of these sc stitches (24 stitches total).

The next round being an increase row, I alternated between making 1 dc and 2 dc in each of these 24 spaces, all the way around.  This keeps the piece growing outwards in a circle, rather than curling up like a bowl.


In order to cut down on the number of ends I'd have to weave in later, on the first round of each new color, as soon as I arrived at the tail from where I had tied off the last color in the previous row, I just made sure to work that stitch around that tail as well.  


This effectively traps it inside 5-6 stitches in the next row, so that later on, I can just snip the tail without having to weave it in and out of stitches.  


This basically means there are only 2 tails per coaster to weave in later (or, if you use the fact that you're joining 2 identical pieces together back-to-back wisely, and trap them inside...zero!)

I used a simple single crochet around the border of the coasters, held together, to join them and give them a nice little edge, and did a simple wet block to finish them off.  The fact that there are two layers to these coasters really gives them a nice weight, and a little extra padding than just one layer would.  Try out a set for your own coffee table!

Featured Yarn :: Excalibur

Excalibur

A white mohair blend is paired with very light seafoam green merino wool and a strand of silver lurex, to give the most subtle tint to this super soft, light colored yarn.

• Fiber Content: 46 merino / 24 acrylic / 13 lurex / 9 mohair / 8 nylon
• Yardage: 460 yards
• Yarn Weight: Sock/Fingering
• Amount on Cone: 4 oz.
• Care: Hand wash / lay flat to dry
• Pattern Suggestions: South Bay Shawlette

Also available in our online shop!

WIP :: Infinitude Cowl

Okay guys, I've finally jumped on the cowl bandwagon.  There are like a billion different pattern options to choose from in the cowl department, but recently one of our customers, in a moment of indecision expressed via tweet, tipped me off to the Infinitude Cowl, which I immediately decided was the perfect first cowl for me.  Even better, it comes in two sizes, so you can decide how big and loopy you want to make it!

The start of my Infinitude, in one of my favorite new yarns, California.

The cool thing about this cowl is that it has two different pattern sections, which end up looking like perpendicular rows of ribbing. 

It starts with a few inches of a simple 2 x 3 rib...although with my Botanic Hat on the brain, I made it all the way through this section before realizing that my autopilot knitting had been doing 1 x 3 ribbing all along.  I'm bummed that this makes one side look like just plain stockinette, because the elasticity of the yarn hides the single rib stitch, but that just makes it all the more distinct on the other side.

This is not one of those Mobius cowls, where you purposefully put a twist in the stitches before joining them; rather, it's a standard circular knit, that you can loop around your neck as many times as you want to make it tight and cozy.

Lovin' the soft, stretchy, squishy texture of the yarn I'm using to make this, California.  Bulky weight, 220 yards (2 cones will make an Infinitude).  Yum!

How to start a circular crochet project...with no hole in the middle!

Let's say you want to make a circular crochet project.  Like let's say, oh, coasters.  Most crochet projects that begin from the inside and work their way out (think also, granny squares) begin by crocheting a chain, joining it, and then crocheting an  uncomfortable number of stitches into that loop, from which your circle or square will then grow out of.


Here's the tricky part: this method inevitably leaves you with a big hole right in the middle of your work, as these into-the-loop stitches tighten themselves around the original loop.  

Here's my favorite trick to closing up that pesky little hole.  Start by making a loose little underhand knot.  That is, hold your yarn with a short tail tucked beneath the working yarn, forming a loop.

Then use your crochet hook to reach through this loop, and pull the working yarn through, forming the first stitch that you'll be turning into a single crochet.

Begin single crocheting over both the working yarn and the tail together, until the desired number of stitches has been reached (in my case, 12).  

Don't worry about whether your stitches are filling up the loop appropriately -- with this method, it doesn't matter!

Then, when you're ready to close up your circle and move on to the next row, just give that tail a little tug...

Watch the stitches pull towards each other in a little closed circle, untwisting them as need be if they have accidentally turned the wrong direction...

And then pull the tail tightly to fully close the loop.

See how nice and clean that looks?  No hole!

Special (Extended!) Holiday Hours

Here's the run-down on both holiday closures, and special extended hours coming up in the next couple weeks:

As you may have expected, we will be CLOSED on Christmas Day, and CLOSED on New Year's Day.

However, we know that things can get CRAZY the week before Christmas.  So just for you, just this once, we'll be open Monday and Tuesday of next week (December 19th & 20th), to ensure that all you last-minute shoppers can snag that last cone of yarn or gift certificate if you need to.

So just to recap:

December 19th - 24th: ***OPEN 11a-6p***

Sunday, December 25th: CLOSED 

Sunday, January 1: CLOSED

Make sense?  Call or email if you have any questions!

Featured Yarn :: Bellagio

Bellagio

Shades of red cotton, rayon, and acrylic are mixed with a thin variegated black-and-white yarn to make this festive and slightly textured sportweight yarn.

• Fiber Content: 40 rayon / 21 acrylic / 10 cotton / 19 wool-nylon
• Yardage: 840 yards
• Yarn Weight: Sport
• Amount on Cone: 8 oz.
• Care: Machine wash / dry OK
• Pattern Suggestions: Cool Coasters 3

Also available in our online shop!

Now I Get It.

This time of the year holds a really weird energy for me.  Right around now of every year, when it feels like the whole country -- both online and off -- is deeply entrenched in fall and holiday craziness and shopping frenzies and steaming hot beverages in mitten-clad hands, I jump right on the bandwagon, promoting gift ideas and commiserating with the woes of endless gift lists that we just didn't get an early enough jump on.


But in reality, I don't personally celebrate any of these holidays, and haven't since sometime around middle school.  I get so excited about the excitement about the holidays that I kind of dissociate from the idea that all the family get-togethers and gift-giving and cookie eating actually does happen, while I'm at home enjoying a cozy night of cooking and knitting, or the cliche Jewish Christmas of Chinese food and a movie, in an eerily silent city.


Until I was invited to spend this Christmas in Wisconsin, with Jesse's family.  A real Christmas, on apparently every level imaginable, right down to the tree and stockings and snow.  And apparently a lobster dinner on Christmas Eve.  Is this normal?  I guess if we're going to do it, let's do it all the way, right?  I think there also might be sledding involved.  I need some new boots.


So here's the deal.  All of a sudden, there is a family (whom I've never met before, let me make clear) to get gifts for, and while my split personality of retailer and anti-consumerist plays an incessant game of tetherball in my head, I have to say, I'm excited about this idea.


And now I get it!  





I have a deadline, people, and things to knit and crochet for people I don't know (but special people, like moms and dads and brothers and sister-in-laws).  So here's my plan: supplemented with savory bath and home goodies from some of my favorite UCU vendors, his mom and dad get a set of knitted dish cloths, and his brother and sister-in-law get a set of crocheted coasters!

Now I've shared my enthusiasm with you before about dish cloths, but here I just have to reiterate.  Best project ever. There are few other projects for which you can have absolutely no plan, and just wind up six baby cones of yarn (two-ouncers!), grab a pair of needles, and three hours later find yourself with a beautiful gift set.

It's been awhile since I've indulged in the dish cloth, so in a selfish plan to explore not one but two different patterns, I went with two solid colors for a Ballband Dish Cloth (which looks fabulous in solid or semi-solid contrasting colors), and two blended colors for a Feather and Fan Dish Cloth (which still shows up really well, even if you've got a very heathered yarn like this one).

Total cost for this fabulous dish cloth set: $15.50 (great gift idea! I'm saying this with authentic enthusiasm now).

Want a little help getting started?  Wouldn't you know it, we have a Dish Cloth Class coming up on Saturday, December 17th, and there's still room!  Click here to join us.


You will be hearing all about the crocheted coasters soon...they require their very own post.  I'm so into this idea.

Featured Pattern :: Ribbed Keyhole Scarf

Another new pattern that we're carrying in the shop!  Come on in and we'll get you all set with the right yarn for the project.  

This week...

Designed by Jenn Wolfe, now available at the shop!

Featured Yarn :: Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

A tweed wool of navy and light brown is matched with a muti-tone forest green mohair and a black rayon boucle to make this soft and fuzzy, bulky weight yarn.

• Fiber Content: 38 wool-cotton / 33 mohair-acrylic / 28 rayon-cotton
• Yardage: 305 yards
• Yarn Weight: Bulky
• Amount on Cone: 8 oz.
• Care: Hand wash / lay flat to dry
• Pattern Suggestions: Bella's Hat

Also available in our online shop!

WIP :: Botanic Hat

We've been carrying Stephen West's Botanic Hat pattern here at the shop for a couple of years now, but I'd never actually taken a crack at it yet.


But just the other day, a very special someone came in to visit me at work, and I later discovered, had occupied himself by leafing through our pattern book up front, while I'd been helping a customer.  He'd landed on the Botanic Hat, and he was into it.


I take the sweater curse pretty seriously, so I've pretty much avoided knitting him any garments up until now, aside from a costume tie at Phish this summer.


But, I figured, you've been in my life for nearly a year now, I think it's safe to make you a hat.  And not just any old hat -- no, the boyfriend of this LYS owner gets a cashmere-alpaca-bamboo hat...'cause he's worth it.

First up, the colors.  I wanted something with enough contrast to show the cool pattern on the crown, but in pretty sophisticated, foresty tones.  

A thick and squishy brim is made up by a simple 3 x 1 rib, with just enough height to fold it over a couple inches if he wants.


And did you know the Botanic Hat is reversible?  Yeah, it's got a super cool pattern, whether you wear it with the right side facing out...

or in!

It takes only a couple ounces of each color, so it works up to be a super inexpensive gift (unless, of course, you choose a worsted weight cashmere like I did).  Come on in and we'll get you all set up!