Knit Happens

As you might have heard, knitting designer Stefanie Japel has a new book coming out this fall – and Knit Happens and Knit-a-Gogo are teaming up to bring you a special opportunity – a book signing and design workshop with Stefanie!

If you haven’t signed up yet for the Glam Knits Design Workshop, get over to the Knit-a-Gogo website! The event isn’t until the end of October, but half of the spots are already full – people are coming from all over the country for this!

What will you do while you’re waiting for Glam Knits to come out? Well, we MIGHT just have a sneak preview for you – the pattern for the Romantic Bell-Sleeved Cardigan from the book FREE with purchase of yarn!

I couldn’t find a picture of the pattern online, so you’ll have to come in to see this one! We’re recommending Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 6-ply, Rowan Cashsoft DK, or Sublime Cashmersilk DK for this luxe retro cardi.

We have a glam Pattern of the Week for you too!

The Ingenue from Alchemy Yarns is a luxurious summer top knit in Alchemy’s Silk Purse – between the delicate lace detailing and the stunning silk yarn, this is one you’ll want to wear all year round!

Difficulty: Intermediate – knitting in round, picking up stitches, shaping

Recommended Yarn: Alchemy Silk Purse

Come in to the shop this week, buy the pattern for Ingenue and the materials to make it, and get 10% off!

(photo credits: North Light Books, Alchemy Yarns of Transformation)

Just when we start to take a breather, yarn that I had almost forgotten I’d ordered comes in! Steph and I sat down with Gina and Austin at the Alchemy booth at TNNA back in January and they couldn’t move quickly enough to get this into my hands. Knowing that I’m a big sock knitter and knowing that my customers (y’all) love their yarn, they just had to show me their newest line, Alchemy Temple. I instantly had to order some for the shop!

Just like us, life tends to catch up with yarn companies. I had calls from Austin apologizing that the Temple base yarn wasn’t in yet and they weren’t sure when it would come in… When I stopped by their booth in January with Aimée, Austin told me that the base yarn had finally come in and they were going to dye it as soon as they got home. Am I ever glad that we waited! This yarn is oh-my-goodness luscious, with saturated colors, and – this is the best part – is SUPERWASH.

That’s right, I said superwash. How fab is that? Did we test this superwash-iness? Of course! I asked Michelle to knit up two swatches for us and machine wash/dry one of them. The washed swatch came out very soft, if not a little fuzzy – but with great stitch definition, and a slightly brighter color than the unwashed swatch. The Temple is a sport weight, 100% superwash merino that has 128 yards per skein.

Also new in the shop are the Pattern Tamers. These handy pieces of fabric covered magnets will help you conquer any chart by helping mark your place – and keep it there! (I used one of our patterns of the week, Cookie A’s Mingus Sock to demonstrate.) The magnets are super strong and work through several pieces of paper and a page protector… and you get three of them! Being someone who constantly throws a pattern into her knitting bag and not always making sure that my post-its are secure to the chart (and consequently cursing up a storm because they have fallen off in the abyss of my bag), this is a heck of an invention. I have a “chart keeper” but that’s only helpful for smallish charts (and all I want to do with a chart is blow that sucker up so I can see it) and I end up cutting those charts up into pieces to make it all fit in that thing. This solves that problem. I definitely wish that I’d had these when I was knitting Cookie’s Twisted Flower Socks!

Central Park Hoodie Knitalong Update

For all of you who are knitting along on the Central Park Hoodie, check out Danielle’s blog at her website, Knit-A-Gogo. Danielle has been in the wilds of Montana for the past week, but she’s had her friend (and ours) Kathleen guest-blogging to keep everyone up to date on the latest… and to make sure that the kick-off was appropriately celebrated last Saturday. Make sure to stop by tomorrow night for Late Night to sit around, knit and show off your progress! If you want to join in and haven’t purchased the pattern yet, go here and do so. Then come in and we can help you decide on yarn!

Cookie A, that is! As we mentioned, we have Cookie A’s fabulous sock patterns now, so of COURSE we’re going to make one a Pattern of the Week! (Come in to the shop, buy one of the featured patterns and materials to make it, and we’ll give you 10% off.)

The Mingus sock pattern is knit from the top down and features twisted ribbing and lace for a stretchy, comfortable fit in two sizes. This would look great in a semi-solid hand dyed sock yarn.

Difficulty: Intermediate – charted lace, twisted stitches, knitting in the round, grafting

Recommended Yarns: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering Weight, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock, Neighborhood Fiber Co. Watershed, MamaE C*EYE*BER Fiber Merino Tencel, Schaefer Yarn Anne, Schaefer Yarn Heather

The Italian Market Bag from Y2Knit is another new pattern this week – make one to hold your shopping or your towel and beach reading! This constructed bag pattern uses knitting and a bit of crochet to make a sturdy carryall that you’ll use again and again.

Difficulty: Intermediate – knitting in the round, charted stitch patterns, crochet

Recommended Yarns: Lanaknit Designs allhemp6, FibraNatura Flax

(photo credits: Cookie A Knitwear Designs, Y2Knit)

Look at what happens when Aimée and I take a day off: new patterns that we ordered at TNNA come in!

Many of you know of my obsession love of the Cookie A sock patterns… I’ve used them in my sock classes, I may have made a pair or two (or six) of them, I’ve declared that her Pomatomus sock pattern was what got me out of my sock knitting funk last December. And yes, a few of you know that while talking to Cookie over tequila and margaritas dinner and drinks in Long Beach for TNNA in January, Steph and I may have declared our undying love for her and her patterns (hey, the Monkey socks taught Steph that socks are fun and how to kitchener at 30,000 feet and Cookie did ooh and ahh over my Pomatomus… I’m just sayin’). So when the opportunity came up to actually order the patterns for the shop when we were in Columbus, you know that I jumped on that, dragging Aimée along with me. (Not that she wasn’t willing…)

Yes, that’s right, we now are an official stockist (I love that word) for Cookie A Knitwear Designs! We carry almost all of her patterns – I think we might be missing one, but I don’t remember seeing that one for ordering – including her newest sock, Ornette! *I got to test knit that one and it is FUN.* Kel and I are entering the patterns into the system today… and who knows? We just might make one a Pattern of the Week!

Feeling hot? Pour a cold drink, pull up a chair, and crochet the Fellini Hat from Alchemy!

Using Alchemy’s unique Silken Straw yarn held tripled, this summer hat will work up in no time and keep you cool on those hot sunny days.

(Color coordinating your hat and drink is optional.)

Difficulty: Advanced Beginner – crochet

Recommended Yarn: Alchemy Silken Straw

Hey baby! Your favorite wee one will be cute and cool in the Little Girl’s Sundress or Jumper from Knitting Pure & Simple.

This quick little dress is knit in the round from the top down, to allow for adding length at the hem later. Directions are also given for making a shorter summer top. The pattern fits sizes 1T – 4T. Make one this week and take that baby to the beach this weekend!

Difficulty: Advanced Beginner- knitting in the round

Recommended Yarns: FibraNatura Cottonwood Organic Cotton, Sublime Organic Cotton DK, Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton, Rowan Handknit DK, Lanaknits Designs allhemp6, FibraNatura Flax, Frog Tree Pima Cotton, Frog Tree Pima / Silk

As always, come in to the shop during the week the pattern’s posted, buy the pattern and materials to make it… and we’ll give you 10% OFF!!!

(photo credits: Alchemy, Knitting Pure & Simple)

Yup, the Namaste bags that Aimée and I ordered at TNNA are finally in! Many of you had asked if we were going to carry their Cali collection, and while I admit that I was dubious at first – I absolutely fell in love with the bags when I got to see them in person. (There’s just something about being able to “try it on” to see how it will actually look in real life…)

To the right is the Malibu (I just may have purchased one when it came out of the box… don’t worry, there are plenty more!) While it looks just like a big hobo bag – and it is – it has more organization than the standard hobo. Divided into two compartments, there is plenty of room for a large project on one side and your wallet, keys, water, book and phone on the other! The divider – it’s a zippered compartment. Perfect for keeping pens and other clutter corralled. No more pen marks on the yarn! Available in: Charcoal, Olive, Saddle, Turquoise.

To the left is the Laguna. It’s a taller bag – so, of course you’ll be able to fit even more in there! It has a detachable strap and handles for ease of carrying. With an outside pocket and the numerous pockets and zippered compartment inside, this one is an organized person’s dream! Also divided into two areas inside, you can carry a couple of projects at once while still carrying your essentials – or you can just carry all of your knitting! Available in: Charcoal, Olive, Saddle, Turquoise.

Last up is the Newport bag. It’s the most structured of the three, with shorter shoulder straps that hold the bag snugly under your arm. Also divided into two compartments (with a zippered one in between, of course – you’ve got to love Namaste’s practicality and style sense), you will easily be able to fit a sweater’s worth of yarn with room to spare! Available in: Charcoal, Olive, Saddle, Turquoise.

Of course, we always have the ever-classic Messenger Bags in stock. Namaste won our undying devotion with those great bags! There’s a style for everyone – so come on in and take a look!

Photo credit: Namaste

Danielle at Knit-a-Gogo is starting a DC-area knitalong for the super-popular Central Park Hoodie pattern!

If you’re one of the few people (like me!) that hasn’t made this yet, now’s your chance! This cute pattern fits from a 32 to a 60 inch bust and knits up quickly on worsted or aran weight yarn on US 8 and US 6 needles. (We have lots of great yarns that would be perfect for this!)

Why participate in a knitalong? It’s fun! You can encourage (and get encouragement from) the other participants, ask questions, learn tips and tricks, see pattern modifications, share your struggles, and race to the finish!

Sign up here to participate! The pattern is available online here.

The knitalong starts July 19th – I expect there will be quite a few people at Late Night that week working on their CPHs!

IT’S BACK!

First featured in Pattern of the Week 5 way back in March, the Flirty Tank from Y2Knit has been THE pattern of the spring and summer at Knit Happens. It was so popular that we quickly sold out of the pattern, but now it’s back and we’re so excited we’re featuring it as a Pattern of the Week AGAIN! (Come in to the shop, buy one of the featured patterns and materials to make it, and we’ll give you 10% off!)

This pattern is perfect for spring and summer – the easy fit and not-too-skinny shoulder straps flatter a range of figures, and the lace patterns make for an interesting knit. The pattern fits up to a 46″ bust.

Difficulty: Intermediate – lace, knitting in the round

Recommended Yarns: FibraNatura Cottonwood Organic Cotton, Sublime Organic Cotton DK, Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton, Debbie Bliss Cathay, Rowan Luxury Cotton DK, Classic Elite Premiere, Rowan Handknit DK

Want to make the Flirty Tank but not sure how? There’s still room in our Flirty Tank class starting July 24th!

Maybe you only want a little lace? The Bits of Lace Tank from Lanaknits Designs is a great little summer project. Knit in the round with no finishing needed, this will knit up fast! The pattern fits up to a 48″ bust.

Difficulty: Advanced Beginner- knitting in the round

Recommended Yarns: Lanaknits Designs allhemp6, FibraNatura Flax, Frog Tree Pima Cotton, Frog Tree Pima / Silk

(photo credits: Y2Knit, Lanaknits Designs)