Out With the Old and In With the New

Rosie's is having a SALE!
Honestly, after having UPS deliver 5 boxes of yarn from Rowan we realized we needed to get room on the shelves for it so LUCKY FOR YOU a great selection of our winter yarns will be going on sale starting today! Time to say goodbye to that holiday knitting blues and get something nice to knit a sweater for yourself.
Here's what we've got for you:
Cascade Yarns "Dolce," a great basic with a little bit of luxury, at an even better price! Originally $7 per skein for 109 yards at 5sts/1".
SALE PRICE? $4.80!
And also from Cascade is Autunno. This is a great quick hat or scarf yarn, in great bright jewel tones giving a modern tweedy look. 99 yds/50gms, 3.5-3 sts/1".
Original price $6.75, SALE PRICE $4.05
From Elspeth Lavold is Chunky Al, a 50/50 blend of Peruvian Wool and Alpaca spun as a super soft single ply. 82 yds/50gms and 3.5 sts/1". We also have some patterns for this yarn designed by Elspeth Lavold and at $4.90 a skein (orig. $7) getting a sweater's worth is totally reasonable!
This next yarn was a great quick decorative scarf yarn for the holiday season. Just enough glitz but still a nice warm and lofty yarn. 44yds/50g, 2.5sts/1". Original price $7,
SALE PRICE $3.50! (Now that's a great deal!)
And for a couple of years now Korall has been our basic machine washable bulky wool, but with the Karabella Aurora Bulky that's in now the Korall seems sadly redundant. It comes 2 ways, solid and Fancy (tweed).
Korall original price $6.50, SALE PRICE $3.25
and Korall Fancy original price $7.00, Sale Price $3.50

And alas, though it feels like the end of an era, we say a fond farewell to our old standby, Auracania Naturewool. This yarn has served us well through the years. Many a great basic sweater was knit out of this softly tonal yarn. Now it's time to say goodbye. 242 yds/100gms, and 5-6 sts/1". Original price $9,
SALE PRICE $7.00

Project of the Month - Travelin' Mitts

You can now buy Rosie Knit's Patterns online - well, almost! We're working on it! You can buy the above pattern by clicking on the "Buy Now" Button, and you will indeed, buy it now.

The Travelin' Mitts are made with one skein of Road to China, the most deliciously scrumpcious yarn we've had in a long time. Ok,the yarddage isn't great (80 yards), and it's on the pricey side - $24 - but, for a one skein project, it is so worth it. This 65% Alpaca, 10% Cashmere, 10% Camel, 5% Yak, 10% Soya Fiber that knits up at 4 to the inch on size 7 needles, comes in the following colors:




















Still scratching your head, even after seeing these colors??? Come on! Just think of all that holiday knitting you did for other people. Think of that gift certificate you have burning a hole in your pocket. It's time to buy something for yourself!

And, if you don't like the Travelin' Mittens (although what's not to like??), we have several other one skein projects in a little booklet we made:

Is your neck cold? there are 2 neck warmers:

The Lacy Victorian Colloar

And the Winchburgh Collar, yum!

There's also a headband, but I took a crappy picture, so you'll just have to come in to see that one. And, if you do come in, and you do pet the road to China . . . maybe you'll need 2 one skein projects, 'cause you just can't get enough of this decadent fiber. Hey, it's less fattening that chocolate, and if your usual treat is a Chanel lipstick, which is $24, this is way better than a lipstick that's just going to melt in your purse anyway.

Special Delivery

So, we got a box. Well a few boxes, but here's the gist of it all.


What's that? Who is that woman?














Ahhh, now it all makes sense.




















Here it is ladies & gentlemen. Come and get it!

Back in the Game

Well folks, it's been a while. I am happy to announce that motherhood hasn't yet killed me and that I am slowly finding new ways to do the things I used to do. Can you find the baby in the office?
I am getting much better at breastfeeding and typing at the same time and accepting the fact that I can't type very fast one handed. We have been to work 3 times, and so far there have been no major disasters and even better than that, I've actually gotten work done!

I updated the home page, finally!

I scheduled new classes for February and March, and we are finally going to bring back some Sunday workshops! So get out your calendars cause here's what we got coming up:

Sweater Class
Session 1: Tuesday Jan 22nd from 6-8 pm meets for 6 Tuesdays.
Session 2: Tuesday March 4th from 6-8 pm meets for 6 Tuesdays.
$75, materials not included.
You choose the sweater and materials and we walk you through all the ins and outs of making your own sweater. If you have taken our beginner's class then this is the class for you! We recommend coming in advance to have one of our staff members help you choose a pattern and materials.

Beginner's Class

Thursday Februrary 21st from 6-8 pm meets for 6 Thursdays (Feb 21, 28, Mar 6, 15, skipping March 20th because of a scheduling conflict, 27 and Apr 3)
$125, materials included
In this intensive class you will learn everything you need to become an excellent knitter, and impress your friends and family with neat gifts this winter! No prior knowledge necessary, simply let us fill your head and hands with yarn-y goodness.


Classic Socks
Sunday Feb 10th, 17th, 24th 10am-12pm
$75, pattern included--you purchase the yarn and needles of your choice.
Jim Shelly will be teaching you how to knit a basic sock using the classic best sellling Yankee Knitter pattern. 3 weeks, every Sunday from 10 am to noon.

And don't forget that the Krazy Kolors workshop begins this Thursday night!

Sunday Workshops
Sunday Feb 7th 1-5pm, $30 materials included
Basic Hats with Stacy Morris
Learn all the you need in one afternoon! In this class you will make a bulky hat on double pointed needles, decreasing for a nicely shaped cap. You should know how to knit and purl well.

Sunday Feb. 17 1-5pm, $40 materials included
Fair Isle with Courtney Kelley
Cast on for some cute wrist warmers on double pointed needles and learn all about how to carry two colors of yarn, read color charts and design your own simple patterns! You should be confident on double pointed needles for this class.
And in other news, I am woefully late in giving everyone the TNNA scoop. I've been trying to finish this post since last week though. Like I said, one handed typing is sloooow.
Clyde and Max and I flew out to Long Beach on Thursday. The flight was shockingly successful for travelling with a 6 week old infant. He was remarkably well behaved, I got knitting done on the flight even! We arrive at LAX, which is shockingly like a Greyhound bus station in appearance and get our Thrify car rental shuttle to pick up our crappy "economy" car rental. We end up with a convertible PT Cruiser however. I have brief visions of calling Lisa and telling her we didn't make it and are still in Philly. Then taking the rental car and driving up the Pacific Coast Hwy and spending the weekend in San Francisco. But I don't. I sucessfully navigate LA traffic and arrive, sore and exhausted, in Long Beach where we immediately consume excessive amounts of food and moderate amounts of beer.
Now for the exciting part: I wake up in the middle of the night; cold, sweaty, aching all over. Oh no, I have a fever. Luckily I have an infant and now carry a thermometer with me wherever I go. Yep, fever of 101. Wow, my left breast is amazingly sore. Oh crap. I have an infection. And the funniest part of this story ('cause I know you're laughing at my misery) is that I am reading "All Creatures Great and Small" and just finished up the chapter about the cow with mastitis. Uh, yeah. Ew. So I call the wonderful midwives at The Birth Center and get a script and by 4:30pm I was on my way to the show. So I had missed the first 6 hours of the show and had to play extreme catch up. And, suprisingly, I was able to do it! One of the things I decided I love about my job is that since it is woman dominated no one thinks that now you've had a baby you are no longer as involved in your career. I didn't feel like I had to prove anything. It's just normal. People have babies. I got to talk to people about designs and colors and ideas and no one thought for a second that because I had a baby I wouldn't be as interested in these things as I was before. At the same time, people are really understanding if you are unable to do something you would have done before. Am I making sense? In any case, it was great and I felt like a normal person, not just a carrier of a tiny baby. So here are some of the things we saw for Spring:
In very exciting news Lorna's Laces and Mountain Colors have teamed up to do a design series using one yarn from each of the two companies. There will be four designs each year, one each quarter, and this is the first one!
This wonderful drapey shrug/shawl is called "Palette of Colors" and is designed by Jackie E-S of Heartstrings Fiber Arts. I tried it on at the show and fell in love. This design uses Half Crepe from Mountain Colors and Helen's Lace from Lorna's Laces. It will be available at Rosie's this Spring in four colorways.
Sandridge/Chinook

and Red Rover/Ruby Ridge.

In more exciting Lorna's Laces news they have a new yarn. This is the Green Line collection, which is all naturally dyed and 100% organic. The colors are softly tonal and the yarn, we got the dk weight, is a super soft but sturdy 100% wool. A great sweater yarn to feel good about.

The colors are (left to right) Hope, Silence, Solitude, Courage, Mirth, Dusk, Growth, Echo and Chagrin. We skipped the three neutrals (I found Silence and Solitutde to be virtually indistinguishable) and went for the last six colors. I think this is a great yarn for us, we have had a lot of folks asking for Eco-friendly yarns and I am always happy to find something new, particularly from a company we already like so much. (ps, Amanda: Took your advice and went to Roscoes Chicken and Waffles. It was delicious.)
There are new colors of Lacey Lamb, which Wendy is happily knitting up. Our half circle shawl from Victorian Lace today was knit in this yarn. It's great stuff, at a great price and the new colors will knock your socks (or shawls) off.
From Louet we got 8 colors of Euroflax Sportweight Linen and 12 more colors of Gems Fingering. I can't get enough of the Gems. Cookie A really set me onto a good thing. I had never really paid it much mind until her sock patterns started popping up and folks kept asking for the Gems. I'm so glad, this yarn has been a good basic fingering for us. And as for the linen, I have always wanted to knit a sweater out of it, but have always feared the pain. People talk all the time about how it is so stiff it kills the hands, worse than cotton etc. But if you've ever been lucky enough to feel someone's well loved linen sweater you know how great it feels. This may be the year I buy some Handeze Craft Gloves and get down to some good flax-y buisness. I must say I ordered some stellar colors. Hopefully they'll be in soon! And new from Louet, so new it's not on their website yet, is Seacell and Corn Fiber Top! Whoa. This stuff just arrived today and it is really something spectacular. Both will be available in 2 oz increments instead of the usual 1/2 lb, $5 for the Seacell and $3 for 2 oz of Corn Top. If you are a spinner you've gotta try it. I wanted to make it available for a reasonable price and quantity so that people could experiment to see if they liked it before making an investment in a project quantity. Take it for a spin and tell us what you think! Both are undyed, so perfect for hand-dyers to play with too!
There's also a new yarn from Hand Jive, the makers of Nature's Palette Fingering Weight Merino. Nature's Palette Laceweight Silk & Wool, a 50/50 merino silk blend with a super springy twist is a great yarn. We are getting it in 5 colors and each skein is 655yds/100 gms making it lighter in weight than something like Koigu yet not as fine as, say, Alpaca Lace from Misti. It's a nice gauge that we don't see very often and makes a great warm and sturdy shawl without being clunky looking.
And, I saved the best for last! The lovely people at Koigu unveiled a new yarn! It's a 50/50 merino silk blend. The put up, gauge and spin are exactly like the KPPPM but it's 50% silk! Think your favorite Koigu but with incredible shine. This stuff glows. The dyes take to it beautifully, vibrantly (is that a word?), amazingly. This is the kind of yarn that changes lives. You think I'm overreacting because I sell yarn for a living? Ha. Just you wait. I should get some smelling salts to keep on hand at the shop just in case.
So I guess that's all for now, I know this was a long post. Thanks for hanging in until the end!

Krazy Kolors Class Preview

Unfortunately, I can't make the first night of the Krazy Kolors Workshop, so this Saturday, I spent some time picking a project, and playing with color - and voila - a perfect preview of what the first class holds in store.

First, I perused patterns to find something I like. I would suggest coming to the first class with at least a good idea of what you want to knit - stop by the shop before the 31st, and we have plenty for you to look at. You can find Kaffe patterns in current and older Rowan Magazines, his own books, many still in print, and older books, which can be found on ebay, or perhaps a friend's library, or even our own free library. If you're reading this post, you're probably pretty internet savy, so what I would suggest is doing a google search, see what comes up, and if you like something, figure out where the pattern is. Kaffe revisits many of his themes over the years, and if you find something from the early 80's, you may very well find an updated version in one of his later publications. Some of his designs are just timeless, though - like the one I picked: The vest consists of 25 bands of fair isle, some bands composed of 2 colors, some of 3. I looked at the chart, and at the yarn recommendations, and I thought, ok, pick 13 colors that play nice together.

So, I went to the shelves and pulled out all of the Rowan Felted Tweed: 15 colors - done, right? Nah, Felted Tweed, while beautiful, doesn't really have a color that "pops," nor does it have a very large range. So, I pulled out all of the Reynolds Whiskey: And then I mixed them together, in what I thought were color families: And then . . . and then I stared at them . . . and stared at them - what the heck am I supposed to do next?

Luckily, in walked Lisa, allegedly for a quick stop in - but it didn't take long for her to be seduced by the colors - so much more fun than shopping for clothes! - and the color families, as I called them were disbanded, and the yarn was sorted into lights, mediums and darks - And then we threw in more yarn! - Drops Alpaca (which would need to be doubled), Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, some Misti Alpaca, which would also have to be doubled - basically if was DK, or could be DK, it ended up on the floor.

Then, we lined them up, in a color progression - And then, we started cutting. The trimming down process was based on, at least for me, taste, texture, cost, and degree of pain in the neck (i.e. doubling). And here's what I had left: And for now, that's the batch I've "narrowed" it down to - the plan now is to check my stash and see what DK's I have hanging out at home, and to do the final paring down before the first class.

Isn't this going to be so much fun!!!!

So, call the shop, sign up, and get ready to brighten up this upcoming dreary time of year - add color to February and March, and give it a try.

Save the Dates! Sign Up Now! Krazy Kolors are here!