November Project of the Month: A Cap for Nessa's Mother

It's been a busy week here at Rosie's! We packed up the Uhaul yesterday and sent Lisa, Stacy, DC and Abby down to Baltimore for Stitches East which is this weekend (Friday-Sunday) at the Baltimore Convention center. Every year we pack up part of the store and head down to Stitches where we set up a booth (three booths this year!) and sell yarn and meet people. This year Lisa, Carol and Laura are all signing Knit So Fine in our booth at 3:30 on Saturday, and we also have a trunk show of all the garments! They are really lovely. Be sure to stop by and try on your favorite! We also have a lot of the yarns there so you can purchase projects and get your book signed all in one fell swoop. Stacy is designing our booth space this year so it's sure to be adorable. Kate and I also made kits of all your favorite Rosie Knits patterns, like Selbu Modern, the Sugar Mountain Beret, Trellis Lace Capelet and more. They are super cute. Stay tuned, the kits will be available in the shop and online for holiday shopping this year. They are sure to be a hit. Which brings me to the topic of this blog post, the new Project of the Month!

A Cap for Nessa's Mother

I know the name is sort of a mouthful, but there's a story behind it.
Years ago, when I first started working here, the office was strictly Lisa's domain. Occasionally she would ask me to print out a pattern for a customer and I would take a deep breath and dive into the tangeled mess of files. Throughout the years so many patterns had been written, rewritten, edited, renamed or abandoned that the "My Documents" section of the office PC was overrun with files called things like, "Sweater revision for Frances" or "How I make my buttonholes" or "A Cap for Nessa's Mother." I familiarized myself with all of them so that I could help the customers and also so I would know where to find a basic worsted weight watchcap pattern for a toddler (the file called, shockingly, "Kid's Worsted Watchcap") so I could just print it out for a customer instead of pouring through books. There's all kinds of useful things in that "My Documents" folder that Lisa has accumulated over the years: Items like, "Big Cable Hat" "Child's Poncho" "Crocheted Kippot" "Easy Felt Bag" and "Fuzzy Fingerless Mittens".
A Cap for Nessa's Mother began as just that. A woman, ostensibly named Nessa, came in with a hat that her mother had knit years ago with yarn and a pattern from Wanamakers, so long ago that Wanamakers was not only still in business but it also had a wool department. Her mother had lost the pattern and wanted to make the hat again. Lisa looked at the hat and concocted a pattern for her. Years passed, and then I resurrected it in all it's cute glory. The time has come, and this is a great quick knit perfect for an "in-between projects" project or as a quick gift for the holidays. I knit this one in Manos Silk Blend color 3044 briar, Stacy has already whipped one up in Black. It uses under one skein of yarn, so it's also great for using up scrap yarn you have at home. I would guess that I used about 3/4 of a skein, or about 100 yds. Download the free pattern now!

See you at Stitches!

New Koigu Mori!!

Enough Said.

Oh, and this:

Handjive: Natures Palette

It is hard to believe we are still getting new yarn in at the shop. Some of the packages are expected -- yet still exciting -- standbys, some appear without warning (new amazing Japanese books in the shop!!) and some, like Nature's Palette from Handjive are well worth the wait!

When Courtney and I went to the Handjive booth at TNNA, we knew we needed to round out our selection of a perennial favorite, Nature's Palette Fingering. We brought in some new colors to add to our original grouping and now have a great selection of the subtly shaded, naturally dyed buttery soft merino for you to choose from. Think baby sweaters, hats, fair isle, socks, pulse warmers, mittens or a beautiful shawl.

While in the booth, we also saw a new yarn from Handjive, Nature's Palette Thick and Thin. This yarn is not your run of the mill bulky: it is amazingly soft, comes in whopping 150g/168 yard skeins and has really beautiful and subtle color variation. The Thick and Thin structure adds visual interest with minimal effort -- think seed stitch, a slipped stitch pattern even a simple cable. Stacy whipped up an adorable hat in mere hours using only 1/2 a skein (even with earflaps!) and plans on using the rest for a pair of matching handwarmers. One skein would also be plenty for a comfy scarf, cowl or mittens. A perfect yarn to knit a sure-to-be-loved and quick gift.


it is never too early to start knitting for holiday gifts -- whether it be a fine gauge baby sweater or socks or chunky scarf!

Dayquil = Inability to do basic arithmetic

So....I was overcome with a mini plague last week that rendered me non-functional unless heavily phisically and mentailly modified withthe help of Dayquil. Along with feeling better, when under the influence of the little orange-candy flavored muse, I lost all ability to do basic arithmetic. As a result -- and even though Jen handed me an error free pattern to format -- a few errors were made in Dahlia when I was typing it up. As of today, October 21st at 11 am, the corrected version is available here.

So sorry about this!!

Dahlia

A few weeks ago we got Ella Rae Lace Merino in at the shop in 4 saturated and varied colors. Jen immediately dove for "Primarys" -- a skein containing every rainbow color under the sun. Armed with her very bright skein, she set forth with the task of coming up with a pattern that highlighted the sproing, drape, twist and saturation of the yarn.

The end result is a beauty. The openwork pattern really shows off the colors without looking too "clowny". The entire scarf only requires one skein, making it a perfect present or affordable fall treat for yourself.

Variegated yarns can look beautiful in the skein, but lose something when knit up -- the colors don't play well, or pool in an undesirable way. Jen's pattern paired with the Ella Rae Lace Merino is an exception to this in every way and the end result really works!

If you would like to knit Dahlia, click to download the pattern below. As an extra incentive, Ella Rae Lace Merino is the featured Yarn of the Week and a steal at only $20/skein. If you purchase the yarn online, we will include the pattern for free, or stop in the shop and grab a skein in person!

KPPPM at Prayer (or, There's Hope for Every UFO)

It's a long time ago now that I decided I needed a new tallit, or prayer shawl. I kind of think it was sometime in 2002 or 2003, but it's hard to be sure; it's before this blog started, anyway.

It was not just an excuse to collect red skeins of Koigu, no matter what anyone says.

From a ritual standpoint, the design requirements were pretty simple: it had to have four corners, and it couldn't combine fibers of linen with fibers of wool. One thing I knew I didn't want to do was cast on a number of stitches, work for a long time, and cast off -- this was not going to be some extra-large scarf. I wanted something that was interesting to knit, but not real challenging, and I wanted a simple design for wearability (though I was also afraid that I'd get bored with the finished product, which will be worn weekly).

Koigu solved the boredom problem, because it's always changing. It would also be lightweight, which made it a good choice for year-round wear. I started with about half a dozen different red-related skeins, knowing that they wouldn't be enough, but also knowing I'd be able to blend new ones in. I used the same strategy as several of the Koigu shawl patterns: several rows of Skein A, followed by alternating 2-row stripes of Skein A and Skein B, followed by several rows of Skein B, and so on.

I also didn't know exactly how large the finished object should be. I like mitered things, so I planned to work from the center outward. But I didn't want a square. I made a (fairly wild, fairly inaccurate) guess about the ultimate proportion I'd want, and I cast on a number of stitches that was related to how much wider a tallit should be than its depth. I then picked up stitches along the underside of the cast-on and began working back and forth, increasing twice at the middle of the row.

As the rows got longer and longer, each skein ran out sooner. Eventually, I stopped working any plain sections; once the transition from Skein K to Skein L was complete, I immediately began alternating Skein L with Skein M. Not all of my skeins were full to begin with, since I'd begun to buy mill-ends any time I saw useful shades.

While all of this was happening, time was passing. It didn't take long for the piece of fabric to get too big to carry around easily, and this was the kind of project that got interrupted all the time for smaller, more urgent items. I never had a deadline, but about twice a year -- often before Passover, and almost always over the summer, as I anticipated the High Holy Days -- I'd start thinking that it would be really nice to get it finished.

But by last year, each row was over 700 stitches, and there were 5 circular needles in the thing (size 3, if you want to know). I began planning for the end -- a seed-stitch border, seed-stitch blocks in the corners where the ritual fringes go -- but progress was still mighty slow.

I finished in the Spring (though not in time for Passover). I tied the fringes myself, following the instructions in the first Jewish Catalog (Siegel, Strassfeld, and Strassfeld; JPS, 1973), though I bet you could find instructions on YouTube. And you know how some knitters, as soon as they see you wearing something you've made, turn a little of it to the inside to see how good your finishing technique is? The first morning I wore my tallit to synagogue, the first person to comment on it picked up a corner and looked at the tzitzit (the fringes), to see whether I'd done them European-style or Mediterranean-style. (European, fyi. The Sephardic technique looked harder.)

So there it is. The finished object weighs about 755 g, including fringe, so about 15 skeins of Koigu. It measures about 38" x 61". The size isn't perfect: at the Sh'ma, when we gather the fringes from all four corners and hold them to our lips, the lower edges are awkward and stretched. But I'm seriously not sure which dimension would have to change, or by how much, to fix that, and I'm certainly not thinking about un-finishing it to make the adjustment. The closer you look, the less red it is; in addition to the obvious orange and pink, and the yellow, brown, and black that you can see in these pictures, there are spots that have a little forest green and a nearly-navy blue. In short, as with anything that has enough KPPPM in it, I'm not sure there are any colors it doesn't have.

O.k., I'm not 100% sure it's finished. Most tallitot have a strip along the upper edge called the atarah, or crown. It usually has, either woven in or embroidered, the blessing we say upon putting on the tallit. (Some have the owner's name instead.) I had plenty of time to think about an atarah while I was knitting the tallit. Here are some options: buy one (no offense, but no thanks), embroider my own on purchased cloth (I'm not that good an embroiderer, and still not keen on purchasing the cloth), weave a strip of cloth (still have the embroidery problem). Or knit one: knit in the words (anyone seen a charted Hebrew alphabet lately?), using intarsia or lace or seed stitch, on some very, very fine yarn with very, very small needles. I'd welcome all citations to charted Hebrew alphabets, but don't be surprised if I don't cast on right away.

October Project of the Month!

There are a few well known things about me. One, I really really love (read: am obsessed with) my dogs. Two, I am always cold. And three, I love to design vintage and classic inspired knits with a modern twist.

A few years ago, I was given a double knit navy and white (reversible) wall hanging with traditional Selbu motifs on it. It has floated around in our house, sometimes hanging, sometimes covering the back of a chair, but never really finding a place in our home. (What do you all do with your 3' x 4' double knit motif based wall hangings?) Randomly, one day, I looked at the wall hanging and was immediately inspired

And so I began to knit!

The end result is Selbu Modern, a traditionally inspired beret with a modern twist. And whats best, it is perfect for keeping my head warm while walking the dogs. A trifecta of happiness!

The beret is knit with 2 skeins of Koigu KPM, (one each of the MC and CC) and the end result is super soft and sproingy. Any solid fingering weight yarn will do, though! Download the free pattern below and come in and pick out your favorite modern color combination!

Ravel it!

Jade Sapphire

In continuing with our Fall = Tons and Tons of New Yarn theme, we are happy to announce new colors and more stock of two popular yarns from Jade Sapphire: Lacey Lamb and Silk Cashmere.

At 400 yards/2 oz and variable between 5-8 sts/inch on size US 1-4 needles, the Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere is a perfect yarn for a beautiful scarf, stole, shawl or other knitting project that yearns for drape.


Lisa recently finished Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole in Golden Amber:

Thanks to Stacy, the always willing model.

Another Rosie's favorite is Lacey Lamb. At 825 yards per 60g ball for only $18, spun from the softest lambswool and put up on squishy soft balls, it is hard not to love.

We currently carry over 18 colors, including some popular discontinued ones and a few new for Fall of 08. This yarn would be perfect for heirloom shawls or fine winter accessories that call for a cobweb weight yarn, or a great way to shrink a bedspread size shawl knit in a heavier yarn into a smaller size. If the uber-fine weight doesn't work for you, consider doubling for a broader gauge range.

All of the Jade Sapphire yarns are available in limited quantity so come in and grab your favorite!

Rowan KAL

This Tuesday evening join us for a Rowan Knit-a-Long! There are so many of us who are gearing up to cast on (or have already) from the new Rowan Magazine that we thought it would be more fun if we all got together to work on our projects. On Tuesday evenings for the next 6 weeks we'll meet up at Rosie's from 5-7 to work on our Rowan projects. My hope is that this will get my project finished quicker, so I can actually wear it this Winter and still get some holiday knitting done when it's finished. I hope to see you there!

Rowan Roundup

Where to begin?
It has been pretty hectic here since the new Rowan came in. As Courtney mentioned before, we have all been working to get it organized and ready for you! Now that it is all inventoried, photographed and on the shelves, we're ready to share!

New this season is Pure Organic Wool - Naturally Dyed. Similar to the Pure Life Cotton, this yarn is certified organic and dyed with all natural plant dyes and non-toxic mordants. The yarn has a beautiful hand and softness and the colors are subtle and rich. We currently carry six from the line (How pretty would a pair of fair isle mitts in Tannin and Horsetail be?):

If you're looking for more inspiration, true to their nature, Rowan has excellent pattern support: The Purelife Organic Wool Collection. Inside you will find rustic yet fashionable sweaters that effortlessly meld the organic qualities of the yarn with modern styling. Lovage is shown below:

This next yarn needs a disclaimer: I am not normally a yarn sniffer. To be honest, I think its a little weird. But this yarn smells so good. We talk a lot about Yarn with a Capitol "Y" here, and the British Sheep Breeds collection definitely fits the bill. Minimally processed and directly in support of local British farmers and breed quality and maintenance, the 5 natural colors are a treat for the eyes.

The British Sheep Collection Book is, like the Organic Wool Collection, excellent pattern support for the yarn. Not only are there some beautiful sweaters for women, there are a few men's patterns, like Gunnerside shown below, destined to become classics:

Cocoon was a new and popular yarn for us last year so we were excited to see ten new colors introduced this fall to compliment the 7 original "naturals" in the line:

The Cocoon Collection, the new pattern book for the line is beautiful. The cover sweater, Cheri, deals with bulky yarn in a clean, sophisticated and feminine manner. Too tempting.


Not wanting to ignore the "little" guys, we expanded our collection of Scottish Tweed 4 Ply to include the whole line. It is hard to find words to describe this yarn. It is just too beautiful. Perfect for colorwork, accessories, cabling, steeking. Perfect for everything. I can't get enough.

In addition to the 4 ply, we decided to carry a few colors of the Scottish Tweed DK. I knit a sweater out of this yarn last year and it continues to be one of my favorite handknit garments. I have my eyes on another bag of Apple for a cabled sweater for fall. (We also have some exciting news about this yarn and our dear friend Laura...but thats for a later date!)

And, last but not least, we added new colors to the Kaffe Fassett Regia line and stocked up on some of the most popular from the Landscape line last year:

Two new magazines we are uber excited about are Heartfelt: The Dark House Collection by Kim Hargreaves featuring modern and funky patterns in all gauges and styles:

and Rowan Magazine 44: The 30th anniversary edition.

We've all gone a little batty for Dietrich (I am thinking steel grey with cream crochet accent and pearl buttons)

And I can't wait to see Abby in Lombard:
We also received other great patten books such as Rowan Studio 11, Winter Gifts, Vintage and Alpine and new colors of Pure Wool DK (coming soon to a website near you), and Felted Tweed:

Now all that is left to do is decide what to knit first!

Driven to Distraction

When you are overwhelmed with work, finding yourself taking one step forward to be kicked two steps back isn't it nice to feel like you've accomplished something? Like a scarf, a garter stitch scarf, on #13 needles? We just finished knitting a maddening number of sweaters on deadline only to be faced with doing it all over again, the Rowan order in all of it's 14 box glory arrived, the October Project of the Month is on the 3rd re-knit, the website is drowning me in code-of-doom, Clyde is cutting his first tooth AND he learned how to move his little body around the room (and occasionally into other rooms) by scootching. It's been quite a week.
On Wednesday last I worked at the store with Kate and a woman came in and described a scarf she had seen on a TV show. It had two leaves at the bottom, one end went into a slot on the other side. We noodled around for patterns, found a little choker type thing in Classic Elite's Make it Modern, and finally settled on Dorlynn's Koigu Neck Cozy, which is essentially what she wanted but it was in Koigu, not a quick knit and more of a...well, neck cozy than a scarf.
After work I found myself at Macy's, which is unusual for me but we had to get a watch resized. While wandering around listening to the closing notes of the Wanamaker Organ I saw the scarf! It had occured to me when the woman was in the store that this would be a pattern worth writing, and now it was kismet. When I got to work the next day I wound yarn and got out my notebook and cast on. Just a few days later I was weaving in the ends! Ah, the sweet smell of a finished project.
The pattern uses 2 skeins of Manos del Uruguay yarn held double in color #46 and a #13 needle for a gauge of about 2.5 sts per inch.
Cast on 2 sts.
k1, m1, k1
k--3 sts
k1, m1, k1, m1, k1
k--5 sts
k2, m1, k1, m1, k2
k--7 sts
k2, m1, k3, m1, k2
k--9 sts
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, m1, k17, m1, k2
k23
Now work decreases back as follows:
k2, ssk, k15, k2tog, k2
k21
k2, ssk, k13, k2tog, k2
k19
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, ssk, k1, k2tog, k2
k7
Work keyhole:
k2, sl1 to a holder, k1, sl1 to a holder, k2
Work in garter on the 5 sts remaining on your needle for 8 rows.
Break yarn and place sts on a second holder.
Rejoin yarn to the 2 sts on holder and inc 1 in each st--4 sts.
K 8 rows in garter on these 4 sts.
Rejoin sts from holder:
*K1 from holder, k1 from needle; rep 4 times ending with k1 from holder--9 sts.
k1, *m1, k1; rep from * to end--17 sts.
Work in garter on these 17 sts for 120 rows.
Work second leaf backwards as follows:
k1, (k2tog) 8 times--9 sts.
Work keyhole:
*k1, sl1 to a holder; 4 times ending k1.
K 8 rows in garter on these 5 sts, break yarn and place on holder.
Rejoin yarn to the 4 sts on holder and k 8 rows in garter.
K2 tog twice--2 sts.
Rejoin:
k2 from holder, k1 from needle, k1 from holder, k1 from needle, k2 from holder--7 sts.
k2, m1, k3, m1, k2
k9 sts
k2, m1, k5, m1, k2
k11
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, m1, k17, m1, k2
k23.
Now work decreases:
k2, ssk, k15, k2tog, k2
k21
k2, ssk, k13, k2tog, k2
k19
Continue in pattern as set until you have:
k2, ssk, k1, k2tog, k2
k7
Now:
k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1
k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1
k3
k2tog, k1
Bind off 2.
Weave in ends and block. To give it a little extra length I wet it and squeezed it out then hung it over the shower rail in my bathroom. When it was almost dry I smoothed the leaves out to shape on my bed and let them dry completely. I think this scarf would also be great in Misti Alpaca Chunky, held single. It's sooo soft. If you do it in this I would skip the hanging to dry part. Alpaca is pretty heavy and it might get too long.
I hope that the woman who was looking for this pattern reads the blog!
Ravel it!

FALL ROWAN IS HERE!

The Fall Rowan Shipment finally arrived yesterday, all 14 some odd boxes of it! Stacy has been busy rearranging the store to accomodate it all, Jen's been busy inputting it into the computer, Kate's been snapping photos and I'm busy today uploading it all to shiny new webpages. Whew! If you want to see it all in person head on in, and this Saturday and take 10% off any Rowan project in celebration! Don't miss the Rittenhouse art show while your in our neck of the woods.
Blog post with all the juicy pics forthcoming...

Rauma Ull

It all started with Selbuvotter a few months ago and was fueled by a visit to Arnhild's Knitting Studio at TNNA: Rosie's has Rauma Fever. We now carry Finullgarn, Gammelserie and Lamullgarn.

Gammelserie is a 2-ply 100% wool. Each ball is 50g, 175 yards each and spun at a recommended gauge of 28sts/4 inches but would stretch happily between 26-32 sts/4 inches. We chose 5 colors from their more traditional palette:

Funullgarn comes in over 100 colors, and we carefully selected 25 colors plus the traditional black and white. Perfect for Fair Isle sweaters or traditional accessories in modern colors, Funnulgarn is 2 ply, 100% wool. Each 50g ball is approximately 180 yards. Funullgarn is labeled at 24 sts/4 inches, but, Like Gammelserie, can work anywhere between 24-30 sts/4inches.


Lamullgarn is the finest of the three, at 30-32 sts/4inches. We went very traditional with this one, and currently have true black and bright white.

Each yarn would work beautifully in all the patterns found in Selbuvotter, but we also carry wonderful books and single patterns filled with mittens, hats, stockings, sweaters and much more. Each book has an English insert by Arnhild, and she is always available for any additional translation support if needed.

Raumagarn no. 4 and Raumagarn no.3 are tradtional pattern booklet filled with mittens, stockings and hats:
Selbustrikk is a pure accessories book with a focus on imagery and motif:

Per Tryving AS is a family accesories book:


Stacy is busy working on a pair of Selbu mittens in modern colors of OWool 2 ply and I picked up some magenta and mint green Finullgarn for some mittens as well. Abby is ahead of the pack and has already finished a pair of traditional black and white mittens from Selbuvotter (and, as we hear it, already deep into her second pair!)

Whether purely traditional, or someone who goes for a more modern twist, you, too, can catch Rauma Fever.

September Project of the Month: Sugar Mountain Beret

As cooler weather swiftly approaches Rosie's has shifted into high gear in preparation for fall. A lot of this means we've been gussying up (come check out the new space if you haven't already -- I still have paint in my hair!), excitedly putting out the new fall yarns (Rowan is on its way - check here for first notice of arrival!) and dreaming up the perfect projects to compliment your Fall wardrobe. Fall is a wonderful time of year: the smell of crushed leaves, apple cider, crisp clear mornings, hayrides, pumpkins, the beauty of foliage, my..ahem..birthday. Most importantly, hand knits are worn again after a summer hiatus and appreciated once more.

While on vacation this summer in the mountains armed with a few balls of yarn, needles and no doubt dreaming about cooler weather, Courtney designed the beautiful Sugar Mountain Beret. Knit out of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran and designed to show off the many wonderful qualities of the yarn: sheen, drape, stitch definition, softness and subtle rich colors, the beret is an interesting and enjoyable knit from start to finish. Necessary skills include knitting in the round, reading charts, lace and cable comprehension, increasing and decreasing. The result speaks for itself:

Isn't D.C. Beautiful?

If you would like a jump start on Fall, too, download a .pdf of the Sugar Mountain Beret below. Knit one for yourself, or get ahead on Holiday knitting for those you love.