Turkey Day!

Rosie's Thanksgiving Hours:

WEDNESDAY 10-8 (Knitting circle is on from 6-8pm!)
THURSDAY: Closed
FRIDAY: 10-8 (Extended Black Friday hours!)
SATURDAY: 10-6
SUNDAY 12-5

See you soon!

Thrown Together

This just in...
The new Kim Hargreaves book, Thrown Together.

A fantastic new book from Rowan designer Kim Hargreaves. This book is beautifully styled and photographed, making flipping through it's pages worthy of a night spent laying on the couch (which is how I spent part of my evening last night). The patterns have a vintage flair, as did Heartfelt--last winter's book from Kim Hargreaves. It's not just the styling on the pictures however, it's the style, cut and proportions on the garments themselves. Evie, below, is a cute basic cardigan that is designed to look 'oversized' even thought the armhole is fit close to the body and there is a little waist shaping kept close to the hem. It has pockets, always a nice touch, and uses a horizontal welt style rib of knits and purls to give textural interest and, again, a vintage look. This is a great simple sweater, perfect for a novice who doesn't want to look like she's making her first sweater.

Evie

Yarn: Cashsoft 4-Ply (also perfect for 4-Ply Soft or Cashcotton 4-Ply)
Gauge: 7 sts to 1"
Materials: 7 (8, 8, 9, 10, 10) balls of Cashsoft 4-Ply (218 yds/ball)

Sizes: (to fit bust) 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 43

Below is another great sweater, fitted to the body with a little bit of ease, perfect waist shaping, a low, modified square neck with a set in sleeve. She again uses a horizontal rib at the neck and waist reminiscent of the late 20's and early 30's and on this one the sleeve has just a little bit of a puff at the wrist before tapering into a long ribbed cuff. Great detail!

Still
Yarn: Calmer 75% Cotton, 25% Microfiber 175 yds
Gauge: 20 sts to 4" on a US 7-8 needle
Materials: 7 (8, 8, 8, 9 ,10)Sizes: (to fit bust) 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 43

The next two sweaters use Rowan Felted Tweed, one of our most favorite all time yarns.

Heather

Yarn: Felted Tweed, 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose/rayon
Gauge: 23 sts to 4" on a US 5-6 needle

Materials: 6 (7, 7, 8, 8 ,8)
Sizes: (to fit bust) 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 43

Olivia

Yarn: Felted Tweed, 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose/rayon
Gauge: 23 sts to 4" on a US 5-6 needle
Materials: 7 (7, 8, 8, 9, 9) balls 191 yds / 50 gms
Sizes: (to fit bust) 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 43

Stop in to see all 16 patterns in this great book!

Penny Straker Trunk Show!

We recently received a great trunk show featuring countless Penny Straker Designs. Her patterns are timeless, classic and cover a broad range of aesthetics and abilities. Many of us at the store relish the more traditional format (and black and white photography -- as you can see below) of the original designs, but it is always really great to see the finished samples in person.

One of the most recognizable Penny Straker patterns is the Owl Bonnet and Cardigan.

We have the infant sample in the store (even cuter in person if you can believe it!) but the pattern is offered in in multiple sizes, infant up to children's size 10 (I am constantly tempted to break out the aran weight and knit an adult sweater for myself....one day....)

Another beautiful sample we have in Innisfree, a infant/toddle aran cardigan. Knit in sportweight washable wool, it is the perfect combination of technique, beauty, classic design and hierloom quality. If you have always wanted to knit an aran, this size is a perfect stepping stone to an adult sized project as well.

For adult sweaters, we have a wonderful mix of men and women's cardigans and pullovers. Since the weather has cooled considerably in the last week, we have been passing the Shalor Pullover around. Shown here modeled on a man, and then myself, it is a perfect oversized woman's sweater as well.


Another great pattern we have in the store is the Whit Vest. Shown below modeled by Courtney and also in the original pattern photo, it is easy to see how a classic design can look modern and timeless throughout the decades depending on color choice and wearer.

We have many more samples in the shop for you to check out and the full binder of every pattern in the line! Come in, pile on the knitwear and cast on for a classic design this season.

Books Books Books!

We just got in a huge shipment of books in time for the holidays! New publications, old favorites; you name it! Here's a few ideas for your holiday wish list:

New from Stephanie Japel, author of Fitted Knits and one of the queens of the "top-down-raglan" comes Glam Knits. This blogger-cum-designer is the brains behind Glampyre.com, a popular online knitting blog. This book features tons of sexy knits and luxury yarns--a perfect gift for you this season!

This book, Vintage Knitwear, is on my list this year. As many of you know, I love knitting from Vintage patterns and have been disappointed year after year with by the "vintage" knitting books that have come down the pipeline. Vintage Knitwear is different, though. It's actually REALLY GOOD! The projects fit the models right, they are proportioned the way the originals were (no deeeeep armholes here!) and they stay true to the period in choice of yarn. All around, a great book.Looking for a few good knitting related coffee table books for the knitter in your life? If that knitter is also an artist check out Knitting Art: 150 Innovative Works from 18 Contemporary Artists. This book also includes work from my fiber professor from college, Lindsey Obermeyer! A beautiful, fun and inspiring read.

Shear Spirit is another great hardcover book, perfect for gift giving. Have a friend who spins wool from his or her own flock, or wishes s/he had a little farm of his or her own so s/he could? This book takes inspiration from 10 fiber farms in North America and includes 20 great patterns to boot!The newest book from Shannon Okey is Alt Fiber: 25 Projects for Knitting Green with Bamboo, Soy, Hemp and More. A great gift idea for the person who just can't wear wool. Pick this book up with a couple of balls of one of our bamboo, soy or other "alt fiber" yarns and you've got one gift you can cross off your list.

Knitting Noro by Jane Ellison is hot off the presses this fall season. Jane Ellison, who has been the "in-house" designer for KFI is out on her own, publishing great designs with this self-striping classic. If you or someone you love is a Noro junkie (and we know you're out there) check this book out.

I don't need to say much about Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. We've got it back in stock so come and get it.

If you have a daughter, neice or god daughter who loves to knit this is a great gift this season. Phoenix Bess, teenage knitwear designer, has published her own book with 30 patterns. Very cute, very fashionable and totally knittable.

Continuous Cables is the follow-up to Melissa Leapman's Cables Untangled from last year. More great designs from this talented designer using interesting cable techniques and formations.

And now we venture into stranger territory. All the new shiny books above are great, but my true passion lies below in the off beat and hard to find books highlighting the history and tradition of knitting that I so love.

Firstly, we have the classic Setesdal Sweaters by Annemor Sundbo, Norway's cultural treasure and historian of all things knit. She traces the history of this item of traditional Norwegian dress from it's beginnings along the hearthside to it's mass production. And for those of you who follow such things we've just (this morning) gotten word that Everyday Knitting: Treasures from a Ragpile is back in print!

And relatively new from Annemor Sundbo is Invisible Threads in Knitting which doesn't really have patterns, per se, but is more about the esoteric and magical history of knitting and the connections between the people who practice this craft. Bizarre and amazing.
A classic, back in print, is Shelagh Hollingworth's Traditional Aran Knitting. Complete with great photos of 70's mustached men modelling shawl collar aran cardigans. A great book to complete any knitting library.

This book is new for us and went home with me immediately. Traditional Island Knitting traces the history of the British and Scandinavian Isles knitting traditions and includes (somewhat dated) classic knitting patterns from each region. Amazing historical record and a great source for that basic pullover you've been wanting to make! Excuse me, I'm going to cast on.

For the knitwear designers out there, James Norbury's Traditional Knitting Patterns from Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Italy and other European Countries is an invaluable historical resource. Get this book while it's still available!

And so that rounds up our book round-up! Get in and check out what other great books we have in stock.

See you soon!

A Great Weekend!

We just returned from a great show at the Baltimore Convention Center, Stitches East. It was great seeing all of you who stopped in to say "Hi!" and it's always nice to see those familiar faces that we only see during the show. Our booth was next door to Brooks Farm this year, and we did manage not to steal yarn off the back of their shelves. Such restraint. Kate and I both bought some Cottage Craft yarn (as Kate would say, "Yarn with a capital 'Y'.") It's a very sturdy wool in a beautiful heathered brown/plum color and very scratchy. It's definitely for outerwear, I think. Stacy got some beautiful Seacolors yarn in 2 colors for a something or other and Lisa tried to buy the things on her list , managed to get none of them, but walk away (yet again) with space-dyed laceweight yarn. At least she's consistent and knows what she likes, right? It was a lot of fun, and those of you who didn't make it this year, we look forward to seeing you next year at Stitches East in Hartford, Connecticut.

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!