It’s sweater-washin’ time again (I’ve been slow this year because it’s been so on-again, off-again cool) and it has become clear to me that the next time I pick up a skein of purple yarn (or eggplant, burgundy, fuchsia, or lavender), someone needs to gently remove it from my grasp and steer me toward a nice green, or blue, or brick red, or yellow, or neutral. I know of my strange tendency to always choose purples to knit with, but seem to be powerless to break the cycle. They draw me in, so lush, so rich, so lovely – and when the sweater is no longer needed at the shop, home it comes to join its fellows on the purple sweater shelf, or shelves as it now is. And when I get dressed in the morning, and long for a nice neutral to throw on with whatever pair of pants comes to hand, there is a choice of one neutral, and at least half a dozen shades of purple glaring at me.
So, I finished this simple little top-down cardy and of course, all I see is purple, even though the predominant color is, I think, turquoise. But no more!
This was a fast project to see how Lontue would behave when blended with something else. I had tried a couple different projects with Lontue all by itself and frankly, just could not stand knitting with it. It’s a little thick and thin, and the thin parts are very thin and often hid under the thicker parts so I couldn’t take my eyes off my work. It’s a little stiff and slippery, too, so my Addi Clicks, which I adore and want to use for every possible project, just made it worse. I threw away a third of a sweater because I was so disgusted. However! Lontue is absolutely beautiful in the way it’s hand-dyed and the colors are just stunning. It’s a unique yarn that I haven’t seen before, it’s lightweight and wearable for summer, it was definitely worth seeing what could be done. Barb Melcher doubled it and made a great-looking drop-stitch scarf on big needles (sorry, no picture, but I hope to get one, just wasn’t thinkin’.) But I wanted a sweater and decided to try it held together with a lace-weight yarn, namely Silky Alpaca Lace.
It worked – the knitting was lovely and natural, the fabric feels delightful, is still lightweight and has lovely drape, and the yarns blended beautifully. The whole thing weighs about 166g (about 6 oz.) Sometimes it’s worth it to struggle with a yarn a little bit. Now I’m going to pick another colorway and do another sweater because this one is already a favorite.
Okay, enough enthusing about this. Have to show you this beautiful stuff, then we’ll get on with customer projects. New colors of Ella Rae Lace Merino – still so gorgeous, smooth and springy, excellent quality merino, love, love, love!
Caroline Simonson knitted this intricately cabled vest for a friend, based on a favorite that was fraying away. Beautiful job, and done in black, no less!
You remember Marci Frey’s sad tale of the felted tote and the bad doggie? Well, here’s the happy ending. We found handles that would cover the holes and now it’s perfect.
Marci has been busy! While taking a couple classes here, she also worked on and finished this beautiful shawl in Noro Taiyo:
Perfect colors for her! Here’s a detail of the seafoam stitch that’s used here and there and looks great with self-striping yarns:
The pattern looks like fun to do, it’s a free pattern on Ravelry called Stitch Sampler Shawl.
Barbara Garbus is a terrific knitter but likes to have something simple on the go, too. She’s making this really cute version of our Ruched Baby Blanket in a combo of Dreamland Fancy and Jelli Beenz:
Oh, and I finished my socks in Dream in Color’s Smooshy with Cashmere. What a lovely yarn to knit with!
DIC has a new yarn that I’m dying to get my hands on, may order just a smooch to see what it’s like. You know I’ll tell you all about it!
See you soon…
Trish
