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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hey, what do ya know, I’m done sooner than I thought! Ready and rarin’, hot off the press is my newest leaflet, JA31 “WINK”, Felted Elf Slippers for Kids and Ladies: 
This is a super-fun knit, sized from a 4.5” foot (about 1-2 years) to a Ladies L, knit on double-pointed needles as for a sock, with ankle points and a cute, pointy, curly toe. I test knit the slippers in Istex Lett Lopi, since it felts so marvellously and has such great colors. Add some little jingle bells or pom poms at the toes or ankle point tips for fun, if you like, and squeeze on some fabric paint on the soles for a great, inexpensive non-slip grip. These really do work up fast…they’re knit on 9.0 mm needles, with the yarn (aran weight) doubled. They don’t take much yarn at all, with all sizes except the largest one requiring only one skein of each of the four colors (when using Lett Lopi)…the Ladies L needs a bit extra of the main foot color, so 5 skeins in total. I’ll be doing up a shadecard soon for Lett Lopi to add to the Yarn page, so that it’ll be easy to order kits. In the meantime, please email or call me (toll-free in North America 1-866-690-WOOL) for assistance in choosing colors. The leaflet on its own (which includes a clear page protector and a full color 4x6 photo) is $5.99 CDN. Kits are $23.50 for all sizes (except Ladies L, which is $28.00) and includes 4 (or 5, for Ladies L) skeins of Lett Lopi in 4 colors and the pattern, which includes instructions for all sizes. Shipping for patterns only is just a couple of stamps and for parcels, just email or call me with your order and postal/zip code and I’ll give you a pretty accurate estimate. These are fabulous gift items, and fun to knit, too! Perfect for the snow we, at least, are STILL getting! Oh, by the way, the preview for the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet is finally up. My Beachcomber Tunic is the first pattern shown, and I’m very proud of this one. Remember my sneak peak on my October 12, 2006 entry? I would love to make this sweater for myself; it’s just the type of sweater I love to wear (and looked great on me before I sent it off to Interweave). The pattern requires both knitting and crochet skills, and is done in a nice, light DK that is perfect for the upcoming seasons. Let me know what you think! The magazine will be available in the shop by April 10. |
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007 One yarn that I just can’t possibly recommend enough for spring knitting and that is up on the Yarn page, is Infiknit’s Ecoknit. 100% organic cotton that is undyed (it grows naturally in those beautiful shades)…knits to either a DK or an aran weight, is super-soft and wears like the devil! I knit my oldest the cardigan below in this yarn when she was 3 and she wore it constantly for two years…flinging it around, buttoning it around her waist…you name it, she did it…and I now have it in the shop on display, looking brand new. I washed it with Eucalan No-Rinse Woolwash in the machine (soak, spin…don’t agitate) and laid it to dry…no effort at all…each time it needed to be washed, but it’s cotton, so if you chose to wash it along with your normal laundry, it would behave as cotton does. (I just don’t chance it with my handknits…they are all washed the same way with Eucalan…except some of the socks go in cold water washes with the rest of the laundry.) I didn’t even take a Sweater Stone to it, either, as I have had to with other handknits...and it looks beautiful, still. Here’s the cardigan I made (I loved the pattern…it’s knit from button band to button band up to the armpits, so there aren’t any side seams to deal with):  Sirdar Leaflet # 2063 Sizes 0-3 months to 5-6 years Round or V-neck Send me a note and I’ll figure out how many of the Ecoknit it takes to knit the sweater for which size. Friday, March 16, 2007 Woke up to “Winter Wonderland” here this morning. Spring is such a tease. I realized there are hardly any photos this month, and that I completely forgot to show my “secret project” I knit for my mom’s birthday (which has long since come and gone, so it’s really not a secret any longer). So here it is: 
Split Lattice Anklets, which is my pattern, JA18 . I knit them out of Lang Jawoll, which I like to stock since it comes with a tube of matching darning thread in each skein. I’ve had trouble getting a current shadecard from my supplier, so recently, just to have a few new colors, I brought in a couple of shades of Regia (same weight, same fibre content, but no darning thread): pink and chocolate brown. I love this sock pattern, though. It knits up so quickly, and only uses a single skein of most sock yarns (unless the yardage is really poor and you’re knitting the largest size). They really look fabulous on a foot, when the instep pattern stretches out and can be seen properly. Late last week (or was it early this week?) I got in the 3 “mottled solid” shades of Lucy Neatby’s Celestial Merino Dream I’d been waiting for. So here they are:  Shell Pink  Skye  Light Olive For more details and all the shades, both solid and variegated, that I have in stock, please see the Celestial Merino shadecard. Those who have used this yarn just can’t stop raving about it (including me)! Here are a couple of patterns that use fingering weight, in case you’re interested in knitting something else with the Celestial Merino Dream besides wraps/scarves.
Remember, if you have something in mind you’d like to knit, let me know and I’ll thumb through all my leaflets and books and see what I’ve got! Monday, March 5, 2007 Lucy Neatby’s Knitting Essentials DVDs…just in a couple of days ago. I don’t have the sock ones in stock right now, but both Vol. 1 and 2 of the Knitting Essentials are here and available for immediate shipment. Over 2 hours on each DVD on pretty much everything you’d like to know about knitting technique, and featuring great close-ups of hands performing the actions. If you’d like a “review”, check out the January 15th entry from the Yarn Harlot. |
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THE WOOLLEN EARTH, PO Box 2530, Vanderhoof BC V0J 3A0 Canada Phone: (250) 690-7777 1-866-690-9665(WOOL) Email: |
