Just forget Death by Chocolate

We've got the new way to overdose through decadence with the new Staccato, by ShibuiKnits. Can I just say, "Yum!"? 

Is that a technical term? 'Cause it really should be.  I mean, look at it:

No, wait, you should touch it.  The fiber content, just FYI, is 65% Superwash Merino, 30% Silk, 5% Nylon.  I played with a skein and made an a-MAZE-ing sock with it in the Ivory...

Which, unfortunately, I cannot show you just yet.  Patience, though, shall be rewarded.  I did, however, buy two skeins of Staccato in Cotton Candy last night...

For some fun and flirty socks.  There might be a few discreet ruffles involved.  It's tempting me to go ultra-fem.  Must be the combination of the pink and the silk.

But don't be limited by my madness.  Take a minute and imagine the possibilities.  Like, oh, Connie Chang Chinchio's new Geodesic Cardigan:

(from the latest KnitScene)

Or, how about Hannah Fettig's best-selling Featherweight Cardigan?

I know I'm tempted, anyway.  They'd be fantastic Spring knits and would only take 5 - 10 skeins of Staccato. 

Shop talk.  My goodness, lots has been happening around here.  We have quite a few new yarn lines in (see above, below, and the last post!), several new patterns and, well, a flurry of activity.  Just wait for the next Newsletter, it's gonna be a doozy.

Anyway.  Onto vicarious knitting.  I convinced Jenny (our graphic designer) to share her in-progress Man Glove (remember her New Year's Resolution?), which is nearing completion:

For the inquiring mind, the yarn is Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca in "Mist Grey".  The pattern is vintage, which vintage we don't know, but I'd guess the 40's.  It's lookin' good, right?  We're trying to encourage Jenny, so feel free to leave comments!  We'll make sure she gets them.

Next, well, this also involves another New Year's Resolution.  Amazingly, Lindsay is managing to both fulfill and break her resolution in one go.  Lindsay is taking Judy Wilcox's Two Socks on Two Circulars class and has fallen mad in love with the technique.  In fact, she just bought another skein of sock yarn, Madelinetosh Glazed Sock in "Violin", to cast on another pair...

Which she plans to have to the heel (along with the green pair above - Shibui Sock in Seaweed) by the next class on Sunday.  I see a wicked addiction in the making.  But, call me callous, I'm sick of being the only sock addict on staff, so I'm not saying anything. 

Oh, alright, I did tease her a bit.  Feel free to leave comments, she'll definitely see them!

Lastly, we have an overwhelmingly huge new selection of Rowan yarns in the store.  They're not on the web yet, but they will be soon.  The additions include new colors of Denim, Summer Tweed and All Seasons Cottons.  Also in the photography box is the new Purelife Revive, which is an awesome thing (recycled silk, recycled cotton, and recycled rayon).

Expect to see these beauties on the website in a couple of weeks.

And, before I go, here's a super-cute Jake & Co. photo:

Just because.

You know how the saying goes...

"So much to do, so little time."? That seems to be our new mantra 'round here as we transition from the old website to the new, from summer to fall (big transition in the knitting business) and just generally try and keep from being buried in wool. Not that we're complaining... especially about that last bit.

Now, let's see, we've had a slue of recent happenings. The most noticeable will have been Lindsay's first blog post last week. Lindsay is our web fulfillment person and will be blogging (hopefully) once a week about customer and staff projects. If you're a web customer and want to share your current wip or recent fo, be sure to shoot Lindsay an email [info(at)knit-purl(dot)com] and she'll be glad to blog about it.

Next, we have some photographic leftovers (that I just found in the back of our fridge camera's media card), which I thought our blog readers might find amusing...

First, during Sock Summit, we had many sock-themed goodies at our various events. Including sock-shaped cookies...

and sock-shaped doughnuts, made for us specially by Voodoo Doughnuts:

Something you cannot but love, right? Socks and doughnuts... together in a non-sticky-wool way!

There was also a pic from last week's "No Mean Feet!" - which I can't recall why it was relevant now, but thought might still be interesting to our readers out in BlogLand:

During which I took a photo of Hannah's literally just-finished BeGyle Socks:

Cute, huh? That link up there, btw, goes to Hannah's ravelry journal if you want more information on the socks. You have to give her props, since she knit them (argyle socks!) in 18 days! That's just over two weeks. It kind of makes me dizzy, actually...

Moving on, we have this lovely (if slightly blurry and anonymous) photo of a knitter and her recently-finished Vintage Baby Cardigan:

I'm afraid I have no more information than that. Maybe the knitter (or the knitter's friends) read this blog and might help a poor, befuddled knit-blogger out?

Now, onto the more recent goings-on. First, very exciting, we have our Twitterific Sock Contest! Don't know about this? Check out our most recent Newsletter or the Twitterific Sock Contest page.

Oooh, it's gonna be exciting (we hope). We're going to give away one membership in our Sock Club to the lucky winner. In the spirit of inspiration and leading the way and Good Old-Fashioned Silliness*, we posted the first image:

Lindsay and I had fun with entertaining the masses at Pioneer Courthouse Square. If you're thinking about participating, do! The prizes are amazing (one year's membership in the Sock Club or a KnitPod or ShibuiKnits Sock yarn) and it's not hard to enter. Seriously. If the Sandies can tweet, anyone can.

And finally, we have from last night's The Yarnover's (Lace Knitters Night), an extremely blurry photo in which at least two of the victims subjects are visibly trying to escape**:

But, it's worth mentioning (aside from the ha!-we-caught-you factor), as three of the knitters last night were working on their Girasole Shawls from our recent KAL. It was a nice big group, too, with ten knitters on the first night! Maybe lace knitting is bigger than we think, but just really really quiet.

It could happen.

Anyway. Until next time, you might want to check out our lovely Twitterific Sock Contest page, our recently updated Calendar of Events page and, quite possibly, stalk #twitterificsock on twitter. It's gonna be great!

* We're good at that, we know.
**Nice try, Marj & Leslie.

Can we pretend? (spoiler!)

I suppose I could have back-dated this post and no one would ever have known, but that would have been lying and, quite honestly, I doubt anyone would have believed it. So let's pretend instead that I actually updated the blog on Thursday and that we're right back on schedule.

First off: last Wednesday Patrick came in to finish up his unbelievable Seamless Yoke Sweater:

The pattern is in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, Knitting Around and Knitting Workshop. Patrick adapted the pattern from his copy of Knitting Around. He and his "wife" made up a different Fair Isle pattern for the yoke and changed the ribbing to a 1x2 instead of a 2x2 but other than those teeny tiny details, it's the same pattern. Here's a shot of the yoke:

It kind of makes me think of a technicolor zebra*. Or, strangely, 1970s wallpaper. When Patrick came in he was already onto the neck ribbing and only had some minor finishing to do after that. I managed to drag it away from him to get a picture of it flat:

Do you see what I see? It's something indicative of extreme OCD or insanity or both. The sleeves match. Considering the fact that he is (probably "was" by now) knitting with Kauni, the odds of managing that are very difficult. The color of yarn, btw, is Kauni W-EH. I forgot to ask how many grams he'd needed. Sorry.

All madness put aside, I'm sure we all want to see it finished and modeled (hint, hint, Patrick). So maybe some cajoling will get him to wear it into the store.

Second: we have Wendy's recently completed Kauni mitts. I'm sure you remember Wendy and her EAT hat - if you don't, check this post out. The latest creative creation to come off her needles are a pair of Fair Isle and lace gauntlet-like mitts:

Admit it, they're awesome.

Made with Kauni W-EJ as the MC and W-EG as the CC. Wendy has told me that Kauni is her new favorite to work with, so we might be seeing many more improvised designs in coming months.

This is a Kauni-centric post, isn't it? It's interesting how projects can be tied together.

Third: Gratis Knits, please! The next Gratis Knits pattern is overdue. We're still looking for submissions. Seriously, if you have an original pattern for something springy click the link above and consider it.

Lastly, a bit of silliness. The photoshoot for the May Sock Club's pattern was last week, held at a super-secret location down the street. Hah. Here's Liz:

Who was this month's sock model. Thank you, Liz. And, just because you can already see it on ravelry by might not have yet, here's a SPOILER:

...

(feel free to skip this if you want to be surprised)

...

... our designer for May is none other than the reknowned and revered Cookie A. I've seen the pattern and it is lovely.

And I think that's everything that needed to be caught up. Cheers!

*It could happen.

Truly wicked yarn pr0n

I'm evil, I know it. But, see, if I sell the yarn to customers it won't end up in my stash. It's all about the self-preservation, see. And believe me when I say some of it has already found a new home in my Stash Containment Unit. The new Habu is particularly tempting.

The first on our list of Must-Have New Yarns are from two powerhouse favorite dyers: Schaefer Yarns and Chameleon Colorworks. Direct from Schaefer's dyepot, we have the coolest of the cool in their Memorable Women Series - the Memorable Knitters. Next to it is Twinkle Toes (by Chameleon), which is a luscious, shimmery half-superwash merino, half tencel blend:

At the moment we have 3 of the 4 Memorable Knitters Series: Mary Walker Phillips, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Emma Jacobsson. Dorothy Reade is still on order. If you're a hard-core sock knitter, you'll going to want to grab these soon as I predict they're going to go fast (and not just into my stash).

The Twinkle Toes is a little more whimsical in nature, dyed in many of Chameleon Colorwork's most popular colors plus two new themes: Ophelia and Lavender Fields. Again, I have a feeling that these will run out the door fast, but this line promises to be more long-term.

Next on our list of yarny goodness are on the recently refurbished New Wall: Abstract Fiber & Araucania. Two lines of handdyed loveliness.

Abstract Fiber is well-known by most Knit Purl customers, but Araucania is a line we're less familiar with. 100% cotton and handdyed, it'll be great this summer...

And, finally, the last of our new yarns... Isager's summer lines:

And wall. They have so many yarns we decided they needed their own wall. Anyway, back to the new yarns. For this summer they've put out six new lines:

1. Bomuld (100% mercerized cotton)
   
2. Viscolin (linen/ rayon blend)
   
3. Bomulin (cotton/ linen blend)
4. Hoer (100% linen)
   
5. Alpaca 1 (100% baby alpaca, lace weight)
   
6. Hoejlandsgarn (100% Shetland lambswool)
   

We still have several colors on order, so expect to see the wall fill out over the next two weeks. And, quite possibly on the blog, a Hoejlandsgarn WIP I'm contemplating. Also to go with the yarns are the next Amimono 2 and Marianne Isager Spring/ Summer books.

In less tempting news (but still worth ogling), we have a pair of finished Wishbone Socks:

The pattern is by Nancy Bush and was featured in the Mar/Apr 2008 issue of Piecework Magazine. I'm afraid that the information concerning these socks has been lost (I'm truly very sorry about that!), but I think I remember them being knit with ShibuiKnits Sock in "Wasabi".

And, very nearly finally, we have some...

Announcements:

1. Our annual Spring Sale starts Thursday! Drop by the store for huge savings on all your favorite yarns, door prizes, a free needle case with purchase and more. See our Events page for more details.
   
2. [Some colors of] Kauni back in stock. Kauni EQ is still on order. But we do have one NEW color and some old favorites, such as ES and EV.
   
3. A collection of new habu yarns have arrived: Silk/ Wool A-113, Silk Cashmere A-190, Wool Pom Pom (N-60), Natural Cover Cotton (A-184), Kusaki Zome (A-4), Stainless Steel Thread (N-48), Ramie (A-166), Jersey Tape (A-189). All of which are so new they aren't on our website (or, in some cases, Habu's either); but, if you'd like to drop by the store or give us a ring, we'll be glad to help you.

And, lastly, just because:

We've been having fun with all the different fuzzy mohair yarns we carry. Shown: Habu Kit 110 and Knitty's Ice Queen knit up with ArtYarns' Beaded Mohair & Sequins (sparkly bling, eh?).

That should be everything. Check back on Thursday (sale, sale, sale!) for more news about the, yes, sale, LeBrie's Nuno Felted Scarf Class and... well, whatever happens between now and then.

Late Tuesday night...

I realised the blog hadn't been updated since last week.

My goodness, have we been busy. TNNA is coming up and we have to prepare for that, among other things like the Jared Flood workshops this week and Ruth Sorensen's visit next month. Of course, in the midst of all this excitement, we have daily excitements like "A"...

"A" is 8 years old and already a knitter, she and her mom dropped by to show off her first finished sock (the second one is already on the needles). The socks are being knit out of Cascade 220 Superwash using the Magic Loop method. And, as you may have noticed (like us), "A" is wearing A Good Stripe Dress from the Spring 2008 Interweave Knits that her mother knit for her... and I think I just found "A"s dress on ravelry. How adorable is the whole picture?

That's all I've got for now, aside from a couple of notices:

• HUGE shipment of Malabrigo arrived yesterday - a little of everything but Sock was included.
• If you still haven't picked up your Evening with Jared Flood ticket(s), now's the time - though we will be handing them out.
• A nice big box of Fleece Artist/ Handmaiden yarns and kits also arrived yesterday.
  

Have a great Wednesday!

end of week round-up

Let's pretend it's Thursday, eh? Yesterday was New Year's Day and I can't remember why I couldn't post on Tuesday, but it's been that kind of week.

First and foremost, the promised "Gina's socks" (modeled by Gina on Monday):

Made out of ShibuiKnits Sock in ManBlue. Knit on size 1.5 (2.5mm) Addi Turbo circs at a gauge of 8 sts & 12 rows per inch. The pattern was something I made up, but am rewriting because I like it so much.

Next, we have Trish and her awesome self-designed funky hat:

Made with ShibuiKnits Merino Worsted in "Spectrum". I'm afraid we didn't get any more details than that, sorry!

Then, let's see, we had a visit from da babies:

Which I had to share because of the gratuitous cuteness factor.

It should be mentioned that they came by with their daddy to pick up this year's OFB Food Drive donation box (to drop off at the OFB):

Which, I am told, weighed in at 90lbs. A fact I find rather disheartening as we collected over 130lbs last year during a food drive that lasted less than a week. Maybe we'll do better next time.

In less depressing news, we have the whatsit prototypes:

The Whatsit (once it is properly named) will be a Knit Purl pattern, which is worn like this:

(modeled by Darcy)

Cool, huh?

But I can't tell you too much about it yet, as the patterns aren't finished and it still doesn't have a name.

Moving on, to... sock club SPOILERS. Before proceeding, let it be know that you were warned.

The January 2009 kit is available for members to pick up in the store:

Out-of-town members' packages have already been shipped.

Whoo, what a week!

Regular blogging schedule should resume next Tuesday, I promise. It should also be mentioned that my New Year's resolution for the blog is to get more coworkers involved, so expect (or hope) to see posts from knitters other than myself here... eventually.

in the spirit of giving

Knitters tend to be very generous creatures, in many ways. This knitterly attribute will definitely be a theme in today's post. Starting off, we have this year's Holiday Food Drive:


Not only are we, as knitters, giving food to the hungry; but, other knitters are offering prizes to give to food donors. It's such a win-win situation. We've got special skeins of yarn from Abstract Fiber (yes, yarn and not roving), adorable tchatchkes from Lantern Moon, Labels of Love from Soak, and a whole bunch of other goodies from businesses like ShibuiKnits and Bryson.

How does this work?, you ask. Well, it's simple. For every item of non-perishable food you bring in from now until December 18th, we'll give you a raffle ticket. On December 18th at 7pm(ish), we'll draw prizes for all our lovely donors.

Next, on the list of generous knitters: Liz. Who, crazily enough, knit these for a friend:


Wow. I'd want to frame them. Project specs?... here!

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock in "Ink" and "Wisteria"
Pattern: Cat Mittens by Jorid Linvik

And, finally, the sheer number of knitters who have come in with holiday presents on the needles says a lot about us as a group. Buying someone a gift card to an electronics store would certainly easier and a lot quicker than hand-knitting family and friends beautiful, one-of-a-kind presents, but knitters do it because we want to make something special for loved ones. And that's just awesome.

Of course, it's also a bit stressful when the deadline approaches and you're staring at 600 yards of stockinette. But, hey, think of the joy on the recipient's face.

And, if you're snapping at relatives and cursing your knitting needles, come and knit with us at our Last-minute Gifts Knit-a-thon this Saturday, Dec. 13th. Admission is only $5 and two items for the Food Drive, but gets you six blissful hours of uninterrupted knitting, with wine and aperitifs for fuel.

Or, if you still haven't started your holiday knitting, we have a collection of books and patterns on display (thank you, Sandy B for the poinsetta!) to help us late-starters actually get started:

Don't ask me how far I'm into my holiday knitting. We're just not discussing it.

Moving on, to more selfish projects... I started a Malabrigo Sock sock, with Indiecita and US 1 Lantern Moon DPNs:

It's amazing how much the "KnitPurlzi" has changed my expectations for traveling socks. Now I expect to arrive at Point B with unbroken needles, no tangles and perfectly un-dropped stitches. I really hope M.W. finishes the 5" prototype he promised me soon!

And, while we're talking about the "KnitPurlzi", remember to vote! for your favorite submission(s) to the Name That Gadget! Contest. (see the sidebar ---->)

Finally, we've started a Knit Purl PDX ravelry group to fill all your in-depth update needs. It's also a great place to request workshops, new yarn lines, whatever. We'll also use it to announce sales, new arrivals, or even arrivals of old favorites like Kauni and Malabrigo (which sell out fast).

Until Thursday (and the results of our Name That Gadget! Contest), happy stitching!

time to play

We're sending out a large newsletter tomorrow, so "distracted" doesn't begin to describe us downstairs folk.

But, for your amusement (and ours), please check out the poll on the right-hand sidebar and vote. I'm very curious to see which entry wins. Maybe we'll even have a finished version of That Gizmo by the end of the poll - anything's possible, right?

Other news? Not much, other than...


We just received a GIANT box of Malabrigo Sock yarn!!

Yummm. I'll admit it now, I just grabbed four skeins. Drop by this evening (Sip'n'Stitch tonight!) or tomorrow to snag some for yourself.

Now I've got to get back to the Newsletter.

the name is the game

We have so much happening at the store right now. Probably the least important on the list, but the best photographed, is my finished Ana Bandana:

Which, incidentally, I managed to harass a visiting Liz into modeling...

In "Burgundy". Knit on size 9's ('cause I can't read, clearly), but still wearable. The entire project (folds and all) took about a day and a half. I should mention that I had to rip back after taking it to the Quantum of Solace and, being completely distracted, managed to knit 6 extra inches onto it. Oy. So, all things considered, it'd probably take the average knitter a weekend day to knit.

And, it's a lot of fun to wear and keeps my ears warm, so it might have a fraternal twin soon.

Next on the list: 'tis the season. When you stop in, check out our itty-bitty Christmas tree:

Bedecked with the prettiest hand-turned wooden needlecases you've ever seen. Made locally out of exotic woods, these little one-of-a-kind beauties are just treasures for your knitting kit. At the moment, we have six in stock. Also on our little tree are the too-popular-for-their-own-good Knit Purl Christmas ornaments. I swear they'll be back in stock soon. I hope so, anyway.

On the subject of the holidays, have you donated to our OFB Food Drive yet? Aside from being good karma, we also have a collection of prizes for donors. Stop by the store, or check our Events page for more information.

And finally, the subject of our post, the KnitPurlzi. Well, sort of. Made by our favorite local woodworker (see above), we have the prototype for a new Knit Purl accessory:

A traveling, hand-turned wooden dpn/wip case. And, yes, it's loosely based off of the Knitzi - which unfortunately does not offer wholesale accounts at the moment (believe me, we asked). Leading us to commission our own interpretation of the concept. The tube is made of Black Walnut, the cap is Maple. I've been told the next version will have some notching and creative turning. Can't wait to see it.

And since I was told by the craftsmen to give it a workout, I took it with me on work errands this afternoon. Here is our little prototype saying "hi!" to the streetcar:

Now, here's the problem - we don't have a name for this fantastic gadget. Until we do, I'm jokingly calling it the KnitPurlzi. This connundrum has led to our new game: Name That Gizmo.

Submit your name by 12pm on Thursday, December 4th for entry. All the submissions will be put into a poll, which will be hosted off of the blog. The winner of the contest will win 2 skeins of ShibuiKnits Sock in the color(s) of his/ her choosing. Submit your name by commenting on this post or emailing us at info(at)knit-purl(dot)com, subject line: blog gizmo contest.

This should be interesting.

socks and the News

Wow. Progress has been made. The Holiday Special is out and I can actually see the 'wood' surface of my desk in a few places. Jenni isn't so lucky at the moment, but I think we'll be able to see her desk sometime this week. Maybe after Thanksgiving.

Today I have some cool staff (and patron) projects to share with all y'all. First, we have Mike's sock, made with ShibuiKnits Sock in "Dragonfly". He wrote up the pattern and gave it to us to share, which we have since managed to lose (it's on a scrap of yellow, lined paper if you happen to see it lying around...), but here is the finished sock for your viewing (if not knitting) pleasure:

You never know, though, the pattern may yet show up on the blog. We just have to find it first.

Right. Continuing on with the sock parade, here's (short) Sandy's cashmere sock:

Knit with ArtYarns Cashmere Sock in color #2244, using the Waving Lace Socks pattern by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Press' Favorite Socks. There was a slight hiccup in this project. The finished sock ended up way too big for the size 4 foot it was intended for. Ouch. It's now a shop sample, if you want to come by and pet it. Or sympathize with Sandy's pain.

And while we're on the subject of store workings, I have photos from LaBrie's Nuno Felted Scarf workshop last weekend:

Yes, you are actually seeing drop-cloths on the floor. It looks like they had a lot of fun, though! The workshop was focused on a particular Japanese felting technique (nuno), in which wool roving is felted over loosely woven silk fabric (a silk scarf in this case). It makes for a beautiful, gauzy, and warm finished fabric. The process involves water and a lot of agitation, hence the blue tarps everywhere.

I hope some of the participants will bring their scarves in for us to admire...

Anyway. We're doing another Nuno Felted Scarf workshop on December 13th, because we couldn't fit everyone into the one last week. So, if you're interested, I'd recommend you register now before the next workshop fills up, too.

Next on the list of things to cover, our In the News bulletin:

1. Update on the Jared Flood Lecture. Slight recap: Jared Flood (brooklyntweed) has agreed to lecture on January 8th (I think I mentioned this). At the moment, we have narrowed the choices of venues down to two suitable options and are now looking at the logistics aspect of all this. I swear to you, we're working tirelessly on this and will have registration information up soon.
2. We just got another Oleana shipment in. I succumbed, and bought one of the felted wool blankets. It's so soft and lovely that I couldn't resist. There are also several new styles of wristers and scarves in stock, for those of us who only buy cold-weather garments when it's cold enough to wear them (ask me how I'm familiar with this habit).
3. We are currently out of stock of both the Elfin Santa Hat and Beaded Silk Star Christmas tree ornament kits. Honestly, I don't think any of us were expecting to sell out in a day. We have lots more of the yarn on order, but... well, there's going to be some delay before the ornaments are on sale in the store again. Sorry about that!
4. We will be closing early tomorrow, at 5 pm. Also, we will not be open Thanksgiving Day.
   

And, last but not least, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

making html look nice

Well, as promised we have some interesting Sock The Vote results. And the ranking is (not surprisingly):

1. Michelle
2. Hillary
3. Cindy
4. Sarah
   

Michelle sold out within a day, and Hillary is likely going to be next. One has to feel a little sorry for the Republican gals, since it might be awhile before they go to good homes...

And, in self-congratulatory news, we have most of the Winter workshops online and open for registration! If you don't think that's something to inspire self-confidence, I challenge you to understand this gobbledygook:

See? Not so easy, is it? But completely and utterly worth the headache and confusion necessary to add a new instructor and class to the website.

Soooo, if you want to make this:

or this...

or maybe t h e s e :

You'd better register NOW, because space is very limited (15 students max for each of Jared's workshops) and it might be a while until any of these wonderful instructors can visit again.

And that's everything I can write for now. I still don't have Ruth Sorensen's upcoming classes up, and they're going to be doozies.