Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

We recently discovered that one of our classic stand-by yarns is being discontinued. Rowan's 4-Ply Soft, one of the greatest, softest, machine-washable-est (not dryer-able, more on that later) yarns is going by the wayside in favor of everyone's new favorite--the machine washable wool, microfiber and cashmere blend yarns (read: Rowan Cashsoft 4-Ply, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby et al). It's sad to see an old friend go, and while there is a time and place for the 'cash-yarns' of the world none can out do the old standard--a 100% wool baby yarn. It is king, it will always be king. Why?


Because your mother knit her baby's things with it, and her mother before her and her mother before her. Because as Elizabeth Zimmerman told us, "wool is good for a baby." Why? Because it's wool. Because it's natural, it's warm, it's soft and it has a feeling of comfort, history and home.


As you can see, I am biased. I knit my baby his going home outfit (my own design) in 4-Ply Soft, as well as his baby Moc-A-Socks (oh so cute!) and his Penny Straker Baby Owl Sweater.



I have 3 bags of Cashmerino Baby in the stash and they have never been cracked open. Not that Cashsoft 4-Ply or Cashmerino are "bad" yarns, but they are not heirloom yarns. If I was going to knit for my own baby, something that would stand the test of time and be there for future generations, it wasn't going to be with a yarn that was part microfiber. Soft, yes. But they won't wear for 100 years. They just don't have it in them the way you did, 4-Ply Soft. For a close relative or friend, I would totally go for one of the 'cash-yarns'. It's a great yarn. It will be soft, warm and easy care. It's one thing if I shrink my baby's going home sweater (because I did, but let us never speak of it again) but if my sister had--well neither I nor she would ever forgive ourselves. As a knitter, I will miss this yarn. It was a beacon of softness, balanced with sturdy and gutsy construction and excellent stitch definition in a world of wimpy merino blends.
RIP Rowan 4-Ply Soft.
You will be dearly missed.

(If you still need a 100% wool baby yarn, may I recommend Dale Baby Ull?)

Misti Lace, get it while it's hot!

Cobalt Blue, Blue Mist Melange, Carbon Teal
Cilantro Melange, Straw Melange, Orange Melange
Coral Melange, Carnival Melange, Mauve Melange

We mentioned it in a past newsletter and are happy to announce our latest shipment of Misti Alpaca Lace has arrived! Shown in these fabulous colors at $6.50 per skein with the same great yardage (437 yds!), it will be in the shop for as long as we can keep it in stock. That might not be such a long time since they're being discontinued by its distributor in Canada, so grab it while you can. However, we snatched some up just in time for that summer shawl you've been eyeing. Maybe the Fountain Pen Shawl from Spring 2009 Interweave Knits? Just a suggestion....heh heh.

Simply Shetland is here!

Simply Shetland Silk & Lambswool is a 59% silk noil, 41% Shetland lambswool blend waiting to be made into a sweater or shawl. The silk noil gives it a nubby texture without the sheen that most silks have, and the Shetland wool is soft and tweedy. The 50-gram skeins have 246 yards, which will land you at 6-7 stitches to an inch on size 2 or 3 needles. We've got it in eight gorgeous colors, each of them named after a Scottish castle:

Venlaw Castle

Slain Castle

Culzean Castle

Ardvreck Castle

At $11 a ball it's a great buy too, perfect for knitting summer shawls or even a garment. Stop in and take a look!

New book: Feminine Knits

We recently received a shipment of the book Feminine Knits: 22 Timeless Designs by Lene Holme Samsoe and just had to share. This book is beautiful!

Previously only available in Danish and Norwegian, it was recently re-published by Interweave Press, complete with yarn substitution recommendations for yarns available in the US.

Diagonal Lace Jacket

While full of projects in lace, cables, texture and fair isle, and classic and unique construction alike, the book is still very cohesive.

Lace Tiered Skirt

You will be sure to find multiple projects with that "knit me now!" appeal -- why not cast on for a cute lacy cover up for a summer night out you can finish in a week or two as well as a sweater with beautiful details you will complete for winter.

Plisse Jacket

Come on in and check it out!

WE'RE OPEN!!!!

Rosie's is open today!

We'll be here during our normal hours, 10am-6pm.

We look forward to seeing you this Memorial Day.
(Come on down if you need a break from the grill...it can get a tad smoky).

How to Weave In Ends

When you were learning to knit, you may have been told that you should never, ever tie a knot in your knitting. "But why?" you may have asked yourself. "By what other possible means will I begin a new strand of yarn? How will I ensure that it doesn't unravel and make me look foolish as I show it off to my knitting circle?" The reason behind the rule is that as your work is washed, blocked, and worn, knots make stiff nobbly bits in the otherwise uniform drape of your knitting.

You may also have wondered what to do with the tail ends of yarn hanging off the cast-on and bind-off rows. Here's what to do:

(1) When you begin and end your work, and when you add new yarn, make sure that the tails are about 6 inches long. Get yourself a yarn needle (also called a tapestry needle or a blunt needle) and thread the tail through it.
(2) You're going to make that tail invisible by actually following a row of stitches, weaving the yarn into the stitches in the rows above and below. (You're weaving in on the wrong side of the fabric - usually the bumpy purl side.) Have you ever looked closely at the stitch structure? It looks like this: Starting from the right, angle your needle so that it goes up through the bottom-row stitch and then up through the upper-row stitch to its right. Next, go down through the next stitch (the upper-row stitch to its left) and down through the bottom-row stitch to the right (the same one you started on). Go up through the bottom-row stitch to its left . . . and so on.

(3)Way to go, knitter! Now you've gained an understanding of stitch structure and made yourself a really professional-looking project. Give yourself a high-five!

Wine and Wind Party!

We had a really great time last night at our annual Wine and Wind party, and we hope you did too! Clyde made a breif appearance to see his fans, and he did not destroy anything, I'm pleased to announce. We got to see some really great yarn and I got some advice from Sherry about how to soften my world's scratchiest yarn which I purchased while in Maryland. Scratchy, yes. But beautiul. I don't have a pic yet, but it is from the Faroese islands, and I am a sucker for historically accurate yarns. More on that yarn later...

It was great to see everyone swatching and talking about everyone's plans for this years (and last years, and that other time...) purchases.

And we did wind some yarn.

I want to thank all of you who took the Rosie Bus to The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year! You guys make it tons of fun. Congratulations to the winners of our Rosie's Bus raffle grand prizes--a Namaste Laguna bag and a set of Addi Clicks!

We look forward to doing it again next year!

POTM and Wind and Wine!!

Come on down to Rosie's tonight for our annual post Maryland Sheep and Wool wine and wind. Bring your skeins to show off your loot, use our swift and ballwinder and plethora of needles to swatch the perfect fabric . We'll provide the wine (and a little cheese and bread, too!), you provide the eye candy.
Not sure what to knit with your impulse purchase of luxury hand-dyed? Why not add a skein or two of Kidsilk Haze and knit this month's Project of the Month, the Mobius Cowl? Designed in two sizes (the larger is shown above) and four different gauges for each (dk, worsted, aran and bulky), it is easy to customize to your desired finished end result.

And if that isn't quite what you had in mind, we will be happy to set you up with the perfect pattern, tonight instead!

See you tonight!

Its not too late!

Believe it or not, we still have some room left on the buses for Maryland Sheep and Wool!

If you've been waffling a bit about whether or not to go - it is a total blast and worth the trip.

Pygmy Goats!!

Go check out the amazing list of vendors if you still need more convincing then give us a call at 215.977.9276 to sign up.

An Afternoon With Ysolda

Rosie's had a great time on Sunday with Ysolda. Stacy and I were up early sprucing up the store and then after putting the final touches on our afternoon tea spread--Stacy arrived with her vintage Fiesta tea set in tow! At noon we hopped over to 30th Street to meet Ysolda, fresh from her arrival in New York and visit to The Point the previous evening.
After we hit La Columbe and Di Bruno Brothers for a much needed pick-me-up and lunch-y goodness we settled in Rittenhouse Square to chat until the event at 2:00. It was great to just relax with Ysolda, who is totally as down-to-earth and lovely as she seems on her blog.
After arriving at the shop we got all the goodies out and set the water on for tea, yes, even in the 90 degree heat. Turns out she prefers coffee so Stacy bested my painstakingly chosen tea choices from Steap with a gift of a pound of coffee beans from La Columbe.
Ysolda unpacked all of her lovely samples and we set out unsigned copies of her newly released book, Whimsical Little Knits, available at her website or at Rosie's Yarn Cellar.
She also modeled her new Fluevog's for us. She's not really that tall, I was just directed to be sure to get the shoes in the photo so I'm sort of half on the floor.

Okay, I couldn't resist it. The animals are really stinkin' cute.

Customers began to arrive and samples began to get passed around the room as everyone wanted to try on the sweaters and hats--did I mention that it was 90 degrees outside? It didn't even stop Wendy and Ysolda from modeling their versions of Little Birds for the camera.
And then we had to do the Ishbel photo shoot--and this wasn't even all the versions we saw that day!

We were sold out of books (don't worry--she brought us more!) and ready for dinner by the time we locked up at 6:00--only an hour over the scheduled end of the event, not bad! We headed to my favorite Philly dinner spot, Tria, and enjoyed some more knitting talk and excellent drinks and eats 'til we all found our exhausted ways home.
A great sucess.

As a quick note: We have all the samples from Whimsical Little Knits, and more from her website, until after knitting circle tomorrow night so be sure to come out to Rosie's from 6-8 tomorrow and bring your knitting. Ysolda may also be stopping by, so if you missed us on Sunday...

Ysolda is coming to Rosie's!

We are very pleased to announce....


And, whats more, we currently have her beautiful collection of patterns, Whimsical Little Knits, in stock. It will be available in the shop all week -- grab a copy and Ysolda will be happy to sign it for you on Sunday!

Come on down, have some tea (feel free to impress us with your dairy free cookie/cupcake/scone/muffin making prowess!), ask questions and show off your knits using Designs by Ysolda!

See you there!

Don't Forget! Sidewalk Sale this Weekend!

Its that time of year again!...

Make a special request for sun (or at least an end to the rain) and come down to Rosie's this weekend for our annual sidewalk sale. We scour our inventory, search for rare and unusual yarns squirreled away over the last season just for this purpose and bring it all out in one weekend of glorious yarn enabling just for you!

You never know what you are going to find -- custom handdyed sock yarn, a sweater's worth of a classic alpaca blend, or a hank of gorgeous silk -- all at amazing prices.

When: Saturday, April 18th, 10-6 and Sunday, April 19th, 12-5.

Come early, come often.

Bring your Rosie's bag and get an extra $5 off!!

New Spring Classes

Want to learn something new? We've got some dynamite classes going on for all levels this spring: advanced knitters, intermediate knitters, beginners, pre-knitters . . .

The six-week classes:

Beginner Knitting - The basic introductory class for those who've never held needles, or who has but needs a refresher and wants a thorough grounding. You'll learn to knit, purl, cast on, bind off, read a simple pattern, measure gauge, seam knitted pieces, and make a buttonhole. $125, and materials are included. Mondays, 6-8 pm, beginning April 13, or Thursdays, 6-8 pm, beginning April 23.

Sweater Class - Work with an instructor to knit a sweater of your choice. You'll learn to calculate fit and yarn substitutions, increase and decrease, read pattern charts, and more. Students must know how to cast on and bind off, and knit and purl confidently. $75, materials not included. Tuesdays, 6-8 pm, beginning April 28. Note: this class does not meet May 5.

Intermediate Knitting - This project-based class teaches you the foundations of more advanced techniques: cables, lace, and colorwork. Three projects will have you well on your way to conquering any knitting project in your queue. $125, materials included. Thursdays, 6-8 pm, beginning June 4.

Three-week classes:

Trellis Lace Capelet - Knit this super cute pattern written by Rosie's staffer DC Boyd! Knit using Rowan 4-ply cotton, the perfect summer yarn, this pattern will gear you up for warmer weather! $30, pattern included, materials not included. Sundays, 1-5 pm, April 19, April 26 and May 3.

Triangular Shawls Design 101 -Use Courtney's simple formula to design your own easy-to-knit lace shawl. Choose your yarn and your needles, and pick one of a few simple-to-chart patterns and get to it. $65, materials not included. Sundays, 1-5 pm, May 25, May 31, June 7.

Sunday Workshops:

Helen's Lace Mother's Day Shawl - A great way to spend Mother's Day. Knit her a shawl, bring your mom and knit shawls together, or get your kids/partner to pony up for you to attend this one-day workshop. Using Lorna's Laces "Helen's Lace", a gorgeous hand-dyed wool/silk lace yarn, you will work with an instructor to tackle the short-row shaping of this simple yet elegant shawl. $60, materials included. Sunday, May 10, 1-5 pm.

Baby Caps in Any Gauge - Learn to knit a simple hat, and to design it to your specifications using any yarn you choose! Take this class to learn how to design your own quick knits for all your friends having babies this year. A great idea for stash-busting too! $20, bring yarn and double-pointed needles of your choice. Paper and pencil helpful too! Sunday, May 17, 1-5 pm.

Granny Square Mania! -Remember those afghans on your grandmother's couch? Amazing, weren't they? You know you want to make one. Learn the basics of Granny Squares and crochet a few in the traditional colors of black, white and your choice of crazy colors to accent. We'll be using standard worsted weight yarn in acrylic or wool. $40, materials included. Sunday, June 14, 1-5 pm.

Give us a call to sign up, or come on in and do it in person!

The Other April Project of the Month

Just on the off chance that yesterday's project doesn't cry your name in quite the way you'd like, here's a more demure (but equally lovely) pattern. The Articulation Scarf is a beginner-level lace project made from one skein of Louet Mooi, a luscious bison/bamboo/cashmere blend.

It features a simple two-row repeat, the double-ladder look being achieved by working yarnovers on both right & wrong sides.

Articulation is available for free download here on our Rosie Knits Pattern page. Happy April!

April Project of the Month

Sometimes I look around me, and the artist in me just screams to get away from the strictures of "knitting patterns." Not to mention the fact that the economy has us all scrambling to use what we have instead of buying more and more. The natural move for this month's Project of the Month struck me. I took all of the leftover swatches from the past 20 years of knitting and picked the best and the brightest. When sewn together, they created this masterpeice.

In lieu of the more traditional "pattern .pdf" format we have been bringing you for the past year or so, we wanted this project to be more free-form to enable you to really use your creative minds and heart in order to produce a scarf that really speaks to you and for you as a knitter.

In our version, we also included a versatile pleat (aesthetics and function! A knitter's dream!) that not only adds dimensionality, but adds a keyhole function for an alternate means of wearing the scarf.

It's very easy to knit, and I have outlined each square for you below.

First, gather your materials.

Yarn (1 skein each of the following):

Reynold's Saucy in Lemon Yellow

Cascade Pima Silk in Pink

La Gran Mohair in Fuschia

Kohlibi in Burgundy

Noro Iro #18

Caron Simply Soft in Butter Yellow

Donegal Tweed in Black

Manos Clasica in a color that doesn't actually exist but was a prototype sent to Lisa from Uruguay

Manos Clasica #120

Manos Clasica #64

Reynold's Whisky #86

Rowan Scottish Tweed DK (which is discontinued, but you could probably find it on Ravelry)

Summer Tweed in Toast

Kidsilk Haze (held double) in 579

Rowan Cotton Braid 360 Degas

Red Heart in Yellow

Rowan Pure Wool DK in blue

Reynolds Saucy in Aqua
Cascade 220 in Green

Jameison's Shetland Worsted in Mulberry

Needles:

1 pair each single pointed needles in sizes 4through 13.

Notions:

Stitch markers

Intarsia bobbins

3 Safety pins

Darning Needle

Oh, for goodness sakes.

April Fools Day!

New Yarn! Louisa Harding Cinnabar

Every once and a while here at Rosie's we like to change things up a bit and try out a new and different yarn. This is especially true in the summer when there are a plethora of unique yarn blends available. (Araucania Ruca anyone?)

Even though it was the depths of winter and we were wrapped in woolies when we first saw Louisa Harding Cinnabar, we new it would be a perfect yarn for spring and summer.Cinnabar is a funky blend of 30% Viscose, 25% Cotton, 15% Acrylic, 10% Silk, 10% Linen, 5% Polyamide and 5% Acetate. Each colorway is 6 unique plies: 2 single plies of a natural color, 2 of a bright and 2 wrapped plies that contain a slub linen bound with a hint of sparkle. There is just enough texture, sheen and color to suit all tastes. We currently carry 6 colors in the shop, and they can be found online here.

Our immediate reaction was to use it in summer accessories -- a drapey scarf as a funky addition to a plain Tshirt, jeans and cute flats, or a shawl or shrugworn over a simple flowy dress for a evening wedding. At 20 sts/4" on US Size 7 needles, it would also be the perfect yarn for a summer cardigan or shell for an outdoor dinner or cocktail party.

If a smaller item is more your style, Cinnabar is featured in a beautiful purse on the cover of Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding.

Come in, check it out and try something new!

Saving What Date?

Jen just pointed out to me that I had all the information about Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival listed below, except the date. D'oh! We will be going down Saturday May 2nd. Sorry I left that part out!

How to Block A Project

Most patterns end simply with a one-line instruction to block garment to measurements, but perhaps you're wondering just what that means - and why you would take the time to do it.

Does blocking really make that much of a difference in the end result of your knitting? Yes.

Blocking is a way of using water or steam to set the fibers of your knitting and to perfect its shape and symmetry. It expands the fibers -- especially good for ones that bloom like merino or drape, like bamboo. Blocking is handy if you're making a bulky hat, but it's absolutely crucial if you're making a lace shawl or knitting a sweater. Have a look at what this shawl (Frost Flowers Stole, Interweave Knits, Holiday 2008 by Charlene Schurch knit by Lisa out of a laceweight Silk and Cashmere blend from Skaska for those interested) looked like right off the needles:

And a close up for full effect:

Mercy! We know there is a beautiful piece of knitting hidden in there. After blocking, it looks like this:


You can see the stitches are much more clearly defined, the knitting is flat, has grown in size and the lace pattern is much easier to see. A huge difference!

There are multiple ways to block.

Steam Blocking:
If you're in a hurry, lay your knitting out on top of a towel on a flat surface, pin it to your desired measurements and using either a steamer or your iron set to super-steamy mode, pass the iron over the whole piece. (You're not actually ironing here, so hold the iron about 6 inches above the knitting.)

Wet Blocking:

Method A (for things like heavy wool sweaters): Lay your knitting between two damp towels, positioning it so that the arms are even, the hem isn't stretched, and the entire piece is lying flat. Allow the towels to dry.

Method B (the most precise method, especially for lace and shaped items, and the method used for the stole pictured above):
1. Fill a sink with warmish water and a dab of your favorite woolwash and place your knitting into it. Instead of squeezing or agitating in any way, just let it soak. Go watch an episode of yor favorite prime time t.v. show, then come back and drain the water.
2. Carefully squeeze the water out of the knitting very gently without wringing. It would be best to begin squeezing at one end and working your way to the other without wringing.
3. Next, grab a thick towel and lay your garment onto it. Roll the towel up, with the knitting inside of it, like a sushi roll. Press firmly to allow the towel to absorb the excess water. You could even step on the roll if you'd like!
4. Place another towel onto a flat surface with the knitting on top. This is the time when you measure & pin the item out to the specifications given in the knitting pattern schematic. If it's finely worked, has lace, or has a shaped edging, use rustproof pins to pin it in shape. If you are trying to change the length or width a bit (like if your sweater arms came out a little bit too short and you're trying to stretch them), stretch the piece gently until it's the size and shape you want. Pin the piece and allow to dry.

5. Once completely dry, remove all the pins and marvel at your knitting!

Next time you finish your knitting and it looks a little wonky, don't worry. Take the time to block and you too will find a beautiful end result!

It's Time for The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!

Here's the scoop:

Every year we hire buses to schlep us all down to the wonderful fiber filled Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It's fun for the whole family, with lots of yarn, sheep, alpacas, delicious fair food and more! There are the typical county fair blue ribbon awards, but instead of pies they're judging handknits from knitters in the great state of Maryland (sorry, I'm biased. It's my home turf!).And don't miss the handspun skein competition.


favorite? The sheep to shawl competition!! Those women are amazing. There are alpacas and llamas and sheep being shown by 4-H-ers and, as always, delicious fair food to eat! Funnel cakes anyone?

The buses leave SATURDAY MAY 2ND at 7:30am - sharp! -- from Rosie's at 2017 Locust St., Philadelphia
We leave the fairgrounds at 4pm (usually back by 6:15).
Two ways to go:

Bargain Ride: coffee at the shop, comfy seat, raffle ticket for good
stuff from Rosie's, time to nap on the way home, $40 if booked by March 15th, $45 after that.

High Flyer: Boxed breakfast (muffin or scone and fresh fruit salad), fresh squeezed oj and coffee at the shop, raffle ticket, NEW! Rosie Tote, comfy seat, naptime, etc., $55 if booked by March 15th, $60 after that.

Join us! Call/email Rosie's to reserve - your payment confirms your seat. 215 977 YARN, or email rosie@rosiesyarncellar.com. The bus always fills, so call to secure yourself a spot today!