Trying to keep up!

We've been getting so much exciting new yarn in the shop, and predictably we've been been itching to pick up our needles and knit up some samples (for our own satisfaction and so that you, dear customers, can see what it looks like off the skein!), but we simply can't keep up. We've made some headway by sticking to smaller, one-skein projects and we have three new samples you can examine, finger and try on (but not take home!).

First, Karen knit a lovely lace-pattern hat out of Lobster Pot cashmere (yum!) in her signature green color. The pattern is the Foliage Hat from knitty.com. This hat actually took a little bit more than one skein of this luscious, scrunchy cashmere, but the result is wonderful with the simple lace pattern admirably showing off the softly variegated hand-dyed yarn.

Then, Karen made this frivolous little scarf out of a single skein of Noro Taiyo in color #4. The pattern is called Dizzy Lizzy and is available (for a charge) on ravelry.com (requires ravelry account).

Finally, Ellen knit a quick sample hat from Austermann Natura yarn, a curious mixture of merino, bamboo, cotton, baby alpaca and mohair (whew!). It's a tremendously soft and light yarn, with a fuzzy nap. The loose, shorter fibers are blown into a central core of a slightly lighter shade, giving a curious halo effect (hard to see in the photo at right). The hat pattern is the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, also available on ravelry (but this one's free). Despite the name, it's not slouchy at all, due to using smaller-than-indicated needles and omitting one pattern repeat.

All these samples are in the shop right now. Stop by and see them and our ever-increasing inventory of yarn, awaiting your Fall knitting pleasure.

Coming soon: watch this space (and our window) for Sherry's latest sweater project: Ysolda's Vine Yoke Cardigan from the latest issue of Twist Collective, in one of our newest yarns: Schulana Pacolana.