When the Cat Is Away . . .

. . . the mice will shovel Happy Meal toys. My kids are with my parents this week (thankyouthankyouthankyou, Mother and Dad!), and Suzanne and I are using our window of child-free bliss to (drumroll, please!) clean their rooms!

It's a little more complicated than that, but there's painting and carpeting and all manner of chaos that would have been impossible with the girls around. It's taking every waking non-working hour. Which is why I don't have any felted Koigu swatches to show.

But I did steal some time (while driving up I-95 to a Target that had the curtains that match the new bedspreads . . . ) to try something for the Black Bunny Hopalong:

This is going to be a hat. It's knit out of Blue-Faced Leicester roving, which I'm using without spinning it: I've split the roving down into slender strips, and I'm knitting them gently on US #13 needles. The result is lofty and warm and sooo soft.

It's also easy and quick and fun, all of which adds up to a good workshop topic. We'll make it Sunday, October 8 (the next free workshop date), from 1 to 5. $40 will include roving and circular needles; bring a set of double-points in any size between US #10 and #13. And if you're interested in taking the class, please vote on whether we should make the hat from bottom up or top down.

And Taiu, Knitting Circle meets tonight, so with any luck I'll be able to get some swatches done. Sorry for the delay!

Two Words I Never Wanted to Hear Together

Felted Koigu.

But it's a strange world out there, and I'm happy to introduce

Koigu Felting Merino, KFM for short.

Looks just like KPPPM. (That's why it's put up in 100-gram skeins: so we none of us get confused.) Feels just like it. Comes in the same colors. Priced about the same. Only difference is . . . it felts.

I've seen a sample. The fabric was extremely soft, both in the "lovely against the skin" sense and in the "pliable" sense. Stitch definition had not disappeared entirely. Color had faded noticeably.

We'll get some swatches going and post more about it ASAP. Meanwhile, we've got 6 multis and 4 solids on hand.

Just in: new books from Rowan & RYC!

Some of the new books you -- and we -- have been waiting for:

Arabesque, featuring ballet-themed designs by Marie Wallen and Martin Storey, uses Little Big Wool, Biggy Print and Big Wool Fusion:



Country Escape, uses Rowan's new Country yarn (which we have in stock!):



and 3 new RYC books, Classic Style (designs using the new wool/silk blend, by Martin Storey);



Classic Spirit, featuring women's and home dec items in Cashsoft Aran and Soft Tweed;
and Classic Landscape, DK-weight designs by Martin Storey.

Get 'em while they last!

Vacation knitting: part I

With apologies to the Yarn Harlot, for stealing her trademarked Sock-Wherever-I-Go thing, here is my sock, begun on Monday, heel turned by Friday. (This is extraordinarily fast progress for me right now.) In case you're wondering, the yarn is a new On-Line Supersock 6-ply that Rosie's recently got in. I'm knitting on US4s and it's going very fast.

We've been so busy stocking and getting ready for fall at the shop that we've been remiss about posting here. We'll try to be better...

Here's Marianne's answer to the age-old question, "How do I make myself a sweater out of hand-dyed yarn, when horizontal stripes aren't flattering to me?"

Less obvious in the photo are her answers to such questions as, "How do I make a form-fitting sweater when I'm knitting from side to side?" and, "Is it true that I'm not just wider across the front than across the back, but longer?"

Her pattern will be forthcoming in the Rosie Knits series, with instructions for customizing the fit (of course).

Bunny for Fish

This is my Pomatomous sock from Knitty, made in Black Bunny Fibers wool/nylon sock yarn in a never-to-be-repeated color called "Fearless Leader."

I had a moment of panic when I saw the colors begin to organize themselves. But it's actually working out just fine--even better than you can tell from the picture, really. The photo makes the light streaks look lighter and the green streaks look brighter than they actually are. Or, to put it in terms from the hand-dyed discussion last month, the camera heightened the contrast in the yarn, thus detracting from the stitch pattern. In reality, the skein has minor variation in hue (blues, with a little bit of green); moderate variation in saturation (from the brightish green through denim to some shades that are almost entirely grey); and mild-to-moderate variation in value (from navy and charcoal up to a medium, slightly-lighter-than-cadet blue).

And yes, I know there's a consistent mistake in the first half-repeat of the pattern. I was glad to notice what I was doing wrong and correct it going forward, but I wasn't going back.

Thank you all for this pleasant break from the yarn-shoveling-and-stocking business. We now resume our regularly-scheduled schlepping.

Meet your Destiny

Stop by the shop and check out these:



gorgeous new circular needles from Lantern Moon, called Destiny. We've got ebony and rosewood, in a variety of sizes and lengths. The connector is brass and the cord is nylon, and they are very smooth. (Okay, I'll 'fess up to buying a pair myself -- and they feel wonderful!)

Thanks to Mary B. for the photo!

Look Out Below!

I may have told some of you that Rowan's fall yarns were expected about August 15th.

So much for expectations.

The new yarns Tapestry and Country, plus restock and new colors in Kid Silk Haze (and Spray and Night), Kid Classic, Felted Tweed, Wool Cotton, 4-Ply Soft, Cashsoft Aran (and DK and 4-Ply), and Soft Tweed arrived yesterday.

Also Big Wool and Biggy Print, but honestly, you don't want to see those yet, do you? We're not even going to shelve them for a couple more weeks.

And today, Brown followed up with the magazine: Rowan 40.

More important: we've now got the semi-annual space crunch. Something's gotta give. In this case, it's going to be all the Yorkshire Tweeds. They're going on ebay in the next couple days, in lots by color and/or dye lot. So if you've had your eye on something, but don't want to get stuck buying more skeins than you need or losing out to some last-minute sniper, call or come in or e-mail me (lisa at rosiesyarncellar dot com) today. The weather being what it is, I can hold stuff for you until the end of the week, but I need to know what's spoken for as soon as possible. No reasonable offer refused. Unreasonable offers seriously considered.

Most important of all: this yarn arrives to remind us all that the weather can't stay like this forever. If we all hang in a little longer, cool days are on the way.