Off the hook and get ready for Summer!

New in store, embroidery, tweed and more!

Summer vibes

The weather has been up and down, teasing (or tormenting) us with summer vibes, and telling us (well me at least) that we should be getting on with some Summer makes!

So off the hook this week was Good Point (Ravelry link) by Julie Madril, this was a super fun top to crochet, and I really love Lang Baby Cotton, smooth and vibrant colours, it was a joy to work with.

This week I had one of my beginner knitting students ask me what my favourite thing to make was, which to be fair is a hard question for me to answer. 'Fun things' which was my first response didn't really answer the question, so upon pondering I suppose really, my favourite thing to make is tops. You get maximum wear out of them in the West coast, pair with a cardigan if a little chilly or not if you're not!

So if you're ready to get some Summer makes on your needle or hook, take a look at these ideas:

All Ravelry links:

Tulipe Tee by Caledonia' Dreamin' I absolutely love this Tee, you know me and flowers!!

Rimurimu Tee by Yamagara, a beautiful lace top.

Last Dance Pullover by Cata Rubke. Short or long sleeve, and you could really play with the colours and textures between the two patterns.

Vesna Tee by Ksenia Naidyon. An interesting sideways knit, one I'm seriously considering! It could be really interesting with the new Lang Merino 400 Lace, some tweed and maybe some fluff too!

Another hot contender is MiZZoni Vest by Lindsay Degan. I think this would be awesome with a Koigu Pencil set! A fun chevron knit, with stripes to keep you entertained!!

Flow top by Linda Skuja, this would work up fun and fast in Anchor Bay!

Cabanarama by Julie Madril, this pattern is from the first Let's Crochet magazine and is now available to purchase! Nancy is making this in Hand Maiden Flyss, I'll have to get a progress photo next time she's in!

The Electric Sun Tee by Rachel Misner, even though this is a worsted weight pattern, I would swatch in Lang Baby Cotton then cast on the amount of stitches I needed for the size I want. Anchor Bay would also get you much closer to gauge!

Sunshine Top by Nadedga is just oh so pretty!

Kirrie by Sonia Torner is a fun colourful and textured top and would work well in Cotton Sox, Baby Cotton or Bio Balance.

Embroidery on Denim

We had a fun filled weekend last weekend with Embroidery 202 on Saturday, and Embroidery on Denim on Sunday! Safe to say everyone had a wonderful time, and Sue popped back in the shop this week to show me her update, her flower patch is looking so good!

If you'd like to explore Embroidery on Denim we have another workshop next Saturday, May 23rd, 3pm - 6pm.

The lovely embroidery books, Foolproof Flowers and Hand Embroidery Dictionery are back in stock, along with a new Mending Handbook which is pretty fab too.

We've also be able to restock on MCreativeJ stick & stitch sets, we now have mushrooms, forest and wildflowers for you to choose from.

New in store

One very Spring/ Summer yarn, and one not so much!

First up, Evolution Sock, a new self striping cotton/ nylon sock yarn from Estelle. We have 4 fun colours for you to choose from, and I may even make a pair myself too, tempted, very tempted!

The not so Summer yarn is Highland Alpaca DK Tweed. I had originally planned to bring this new yarn in for Fall, but then my plans for a new cardigan went a little sideways when the cream colour I wanted is backordered until August/September...

The cardigan in question is Unicorn Tapestry Cardigan (Ravelry link) by Tamara Jordan. My original plan was to knit it in Rose Highland Alpaca DK with a Natural Unicorn. Natural is backorderd so required me to rethink and bring in the new yarn early! I've started off with 8 colours, but we will expand the selection, it's a lovely tweed with a soft touch, 60% alpaca/ 40% wool.

The funny thing is now, I'm not even going to use the DK for the unicorn, I decided I must have some sparkle, so I've paired the Lang Merino 150 in cream with the Glitter mohair!

I'm going to strand/ colourwork the details around the cuff and hem. I was thinking I would Intarsia the Unicorn, but on second thoughts, I'm going to duplicate stitch the Unicorn and flower motifs around the edge, and embroider the flowers around the unicorn.

And then, the very last change of plan, I'm actually going to apply the Unicorn motif to the Maggie Cardigan (Ravelry Link) by PetiteKnit. The style of pattern writing is more to my liking, and I can see me making the Maggie Cardigan more than once (and I know quite a few people have been asking me for a cardigan class, so this could be the one!) You can buy the Unicorn Tapestry chart separately on Ravelry too!

Parking update, you can now park in front of the store again after 4pm!