If you haven’t had the chance to make it to an Urban Yarns party, this Friday is your chance! We have had a few happening shindigs at the shop, including Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably, as well as  Debbie Stoller. If there is one thing I can say about partying knitters: it isn’t what you might picture. Knitters are a pretty happening group that know how to let loose on a Friday night!

This Friday, the occasion (excuse), to have a party is the book Cowl Girl Knits by Cathy Carron. There will be a trunk show at the shop and ALL of the cowls in the book will be on display. There will also be several cowls that the UY gals have knit up in yarns from the shop. I have always been a big fan of the cowl, at least since I started at Urban Yarns, and I am pretty excited about this lovely book. It’s a whole book of cowls, I’m in heaven! I’ve already had a chance to see two cowls in person, Kynna has a lovely one on the go in some charmingly chunky alpaca and Amanda is knitting up hers in the soft and sumptuous Blue Sky Alpaca Brushed Suri. This pretty pink number is kind of like cotton candy, a look I find alluring.

The party details: Wine and Cheese Friday, February 25th from 7-9, at our Point Grey location.

See you there!

It’s 11:30 and I have almost missed National Sweater Day! This is a fairly aggregious error for such an avid knitter, I blame some friends who moved today and baby Hunter entirely. In fact, I have knit many more sweaters (that still don’t quite fit, but are getting closer) for her than myself. I am realizing as a write this that if I had finished all the sweaters I had started, that last statement wouldn’t be true. And there you have it, my dirty little knitterly secret: I have a terrible track record with finishing sweaters! I don’t really think it’s the sweaters though, I think it’s my intense love of knitted accessories and the ease with which I can be distracted.

Shalom Cardigan

When Anina told me that today was National Sweater Day, my first thought should definitely have been ‘I should work on my Reindeer sweater!’ but instead it was ‘I should look for a new sweater project on Ravelry!’. Thus the unfinished sweaters….. I went looking for some of the most popular sweater patterns on Ravelry and boy did I find some great ones. I like to start with the most popular because the patterns are usually (disclaimer: usually) very well written and there are lots of projects to look at. I don’t always stop at the most popular but I think it’s a good place to start. Here are the 3 popular sweaters I’m dying to knit up, I just need to pick one…..

First up is the Shalom Cardigan. This sweater description had a few words that really pique my interst: top down and button closure. I love to knit sweaters from the top down because I will avoid seaming at all costs. I think I may have mentioned my button affinity before…? The other nice thing about this sweater is the gauge, 13 stitches per 4 inches on 7mm needles, it will knit up in a snap. Perhaps this is the project I need to improve my sweater confidence. The only problem with this cardigan is the sizing. The pattern is written for a 32-34″ bust and that I am not. There are some instructions to make the sweater bigger and a lot of people seem to have done just that so it’s not that big of a deterrent for me.

Owls Sweater

Next is Owls. This pattern is wildly popular, 1157 projects and counting! I love a good cable any time and I knit an iPod cozy with the charming owl cable already and loved it. The sweater includes a lot of button eyes, which gives me yet another liscense to button. Kynna is currently working on her own Owl sweater and the thought of us paling around in matching sweaters sounds kind of fun. There is also a mini Owl (Owlet) pattern so I could match Hunter up as well…too much?

Owlet

The third pattern is somewhat new but already has a lot of projects, the Tea Leaves cardigan. One of my fave knitters at the shop knit this one up and it just looked so good I was immediately smitten. It has quite a simple shape but I’m drawn in by the details. This sweater definitely needs a hand dye in my opinion and perhaps even a slightly variegated yarn. For this purpose I am leaning towards a Dream in Colour Classy, just the right amount of variegation while remaining washable.

Tea Leaves

Now I just have to decide which one I’ll knit first, I will keep you updated!

Have you ever had a bad knitting day and needed a little pick me up? Sometimes a little luxurious yarn is the answer for me. There are some yarns around the shop that always make me happy not just to pet but to knit with as well. Here are my top 5 luxurious yarn picks (in no particular order):

1. Blue Sky Alpacas Royal: Mmmmm, not surprising that Blue Sky made the list. Royal alpaca is a thinner yarn, 24 stitches per 4 inches and absolutely buttery soft. It comes in some lighter shades and it’s perfect for a small shawl, some luxury socks, or the charming button up cowl.

2. Handmaiden Cashmere: I have knit many items with this 100% cashmere yarn but my favorite is a little one skein wonder I designed: the Simple Yet Effective Cowl. Just one skein of this hand dyed beauty and some 16 inch 3.75mm needles for a cowl that’s sure to please. If you’re in the mood for a hat instead the yarn comes with a pattern to make a ribbed toque that has been a hit with men and women alike.

3. Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca: This yarn is a little newer but has been incredibly popular, hard to keep in stock! It’s another Royal Alpaca yarn so it’s soft as can be. It’s a nice solidly dyed yarn in great colours. It’s been used for a few projects but easily the most popular is the Honey Cowl. 2 skeins of this yarn makes a nice long cowl that wraps around twice to keep you warm as can be.

4. SweetGeorgia Cashsilk Lace: Of course some SweetGeorgia had to make the list too. Another amazing colour palette and a super soft yarn with a little shine in the combination of silk and cashmere. A lace weight yarn, this beauty is perfect for any shawl but I personally recommend the Shetland Triangle. It’s a great pattern with a repeat that allows for almost any amount of yarn.

5. Alchemy Silk Purse: This yarn is another hand dye that is a great yarn to use when knitting for those allergic to wool, alpaca, and/or cashmere. As usual Alchemy’s colour palette is fantastic. Their yarns are so vibrant that the silk absolutely glows. It’s also super soft because it has hardly any spin to it. Perhaps a Springy scarf? Maybe a cardigan? Anything you knit will be a real statement piece.

With so many lovely yarns to choose from it’s time for a little yarn treat!

While I promise not to blog solely about my new little girl and her knitted wardrobe I simply had to share some pretty fabulous knitted gifts that Hunter has received. First up are some gifts from a couple of lovely knit night ladies,Ashley and Kirsten. if you want to give someone a custom name necklace as a gift, they can check it out here!

There was an evening this past fall (or was it summer? I’m losing track of time) when UY had a run on Misti Alpaca, in the rainbow colourway in particular. It was one of those knit night things where Kynna (or someone else but I find Kynna to be the most excitable) walks into the knitting ring with a new and exciting yarn and begins to ponder what she will do with it. Inevitably someone will suggest something perfect they saw on Ravelry and the thing seems to take on a life of its own. Suddenly three knitters are holding skeins of the coveted yarn and there is a small crowd around the computer searching for their very own perfect yarn-pattern match. It’s happened more than once and it’s one of my favorite things about knit night, the enthusiasm for all things fibre and pattern related.

But I digress….This particular obsession resulted in a a Colonade shawl by Kirsten and a Simple Yet Effective Shawl by Ashley. A few weeks later I came in to knit night and each charming gal had knit me an itty bitty rainbow something for my soon to be born hippie child from their yarn left over! Kirsten knit the Mary Jane Booties and Ashley knit the Bambino Bamboozle hat.  The alpaca is delightfully bright and soft, baby perfect in my books. I’m obviously a sucker for a rainbow and I find them to be especially great for precious little girls named Hunter.

The other fabulous knitted item that was gifted to Hunter is a very adorable sweater. Recognize it? It’s a sweater inspired by one of my favorite children’s books: Where The Wild Things Are. If that’s not the cutest pic, I just don’t know what is. Sara knit this sweater out of Qina, by Mirasol and it is so soft Hunter just curled herself right up in it. The pattern is Wild Thing.

Thanks so much ladies! Hunter is actually able to wear some knitted items, even though her Mummy only knit her things she will fit into 6 months from now!

While life for me is has often been all about knitting, this week has changed that rather dramatically! My baby girl Hunter Ann was born on Saturday night, January 22nd. She’s a healthy 8lbs 1oz and I love her to death already. Our little family has been relaxing at home (with a few small excursions) and enjoying our time together.

Not knowing how big babies are in general I’ve found that she fits absolutely nothing I have knit her, she is just so little! While you might know in your head that babies are little I still find myself pulling out outfits that appear to be ridiculously small only to find that she is swimming in them! I’m not worried though, she’s guaranteed to grow.

My favorite past time for the last 5 days has been watching Hunter’s facial expressions. Her Daddy and I spent at least and hour one day just watching her make faces, how different and wonderful life has become. I’m hoping that since I have birthed the perfect knitting model (if I do say so myself) I will be showcasing some of her knitwear soon! Thanks again so much to everyone who has offered their kind words and congratulations and to my wonderful co-workers/friends who were there from the beginning. Love you!

While we are all familiar with the knitting of many different types of garments, it’s nice to see something knit that’s really different. It’s knitting outside the box if you will! That’s what Amanda’s fantastic knitted jewelry makes me think of. I don’t think non-knitters would recognize this jewelry for what it is, which is also cool. Amanda has some amazing knitted jewelry kits that are available at the shop in really fantastic colour combinations.

There are a few different categories of beaded knitting: there are yarns with beads already in them, which lends your knitting a nice random bead quality. There are also many shawls that involve specific bead placement to varying degrees of beady-ness. The last category is this beautiful knitted jewelry which appears to be almost entirely made of beads, the knitting is almost your little secret.

Knitting with beads is a little scary for some but once Amanda gave me a demo I’m feeling a lot less daunted by the task. There are 2 different ways of knitting with beads (I suppose there could be more but there are 2 that I know of). The first is the obvious one: string all the beads onto your yarn before you start then move the beads to the needles as you need them. This is not necessarily a bad way to go, the beads lay quite nicely on the stitches this way. The obvious downside? Stringing MANY beads and having to run your yarn through all of them. A while back Anina knit herself up a Shipwreck Shawl and she used this stringing method. The result was stunning but she was pretty sick of stringing beads by the end.

The other method involves a little tiny crochet hook and the bead sits on top of the stitch. This method has it’s clear advantages, you can place the beads as you go without having to string them in any sort of order. This method is definitely convenient for lace knitting and knitting with any sort of fuzzy yarn. Fuzzier yarn doesn’t seem to like going through many beads before meeting it’s final destination on the needles.

If you are interested in learning some jewelry knitting skills Amanda is offering a class this February:

JEWELLERY KNITTING
(With Amanda Kaffka)
Time: 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Dates: Feb. 15, 22 & March 1
Cost: $40.00 + HST, (kit extra $29.95)