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Our Latest Crush: Acadia from The Fibre Company

POSTED: April 30, 2012 by Liz

Lately we have developed a huge crush on a new yarn from The Fibre Company, Acadia.  It is a perfect for spring knits. A 60/20/20 blend of Merino wool, baby alpaca, and silk it has a complexity that adds, not distracts, from your stitches.  It is stunning in lace, as in the detail from the Avery Cowl at left. Designed by Kate Gagnon Osborn of Kelborne Woolens this cowl is avilable as a free pattern!  If you look at the detailed sitchwork you can see how beautifully Acadia works up.  And, the colors!  We think they are excusite.  This yarn is a prefect example of an artisan yarn at its finest.  To see other free patterns in Acadia, click here! 

We also stock two other Fibre Company yarns. Terra (shown in Nettle, at right) a 40/40/20 blend of baby alpaca, Merino Wool, and silk in a worsted weight single. Its texture also gives a unique look to stitches. Road to China is a 65/15/10 blend of baby alpaca, silk, and camel.  This smooth sport-weight yarn has excellent drape and its unique blend of fibers creates a color complexity that adds wow to even the simplest of stitches. You can see Road To China in action at the far right in the detail from the Alice Cowl pattern, another free pattern avilable in three sizes. 

The Fibre Company uses only the finest grade of natural fibers including alpaca, camel, cashmere, cotton, linen, Merino, and soy to make their yarns. Their unique kettle dyed colors are rich and sophisticated.  Come into the shop to check out these yarns for yourself.  We have a few projects worked so you can see for yourself what great results you can get.

Garden Knits

POSTED: April 4, 2012 by Liz

The weather here in Colorado has us reaching for our woolies one moment and our summer lace the next.  What to knit during these confusing times? Our thoughts may be turning to the garden, but that doesn't mean we walk away from our knitting basket.  Check out this clever pattern for holding potted plants from Rowan's Wool Week pattern collection.  Pop into the shop; we would be happy to print the pattern for you.

Reaching for your crochet hooks lately? Thumb through Rowan's Purelife Home. We have a number of copies in the shop. This book is filled with clever crochet and knitting patterns for the home and garden, such as this whimsical crochet felted placemat. (Julie made a new crocheted rug for the upstairs. It is perfect for the breezeway.)

These garden-inspired patterns show off Rowan's British Breeds Collection, made from classic British sheep breeds, such as Bluefaced Leiceter, Black Welsh, Jacob, and Shetland. These yarns have a natural, irresistible charm. If you are curious to learn what the yarn's breed looks like, check out the label! We have a nice selection of the DK Undyed line.

What could be a better harbinger of spring than a bunny?  Rowan brings us yet another garden-inspired pattern with this clever stash-busting rabbit, perfect for your Easter basket.  Made from pom poms, this pattern is a great way to use up odd balls of yarn that you aren't sure what to do with. (Who says the Easter Bunny can't be a little psychedelic?)

Our needles can always think spring, even if we know that winter isn't done with us yet!

February-March Stitches Newsletter is Here!

POSTED: February 17, 2011 by mysisterknits

If you are not on our mailing list you may not have heard that the latest Stitches newsletter is out. Inside you'll get all the news from the shop, including the scoop of two brand new yarn lines to the shop - Alchemy and Malabrigo. You can check to see what classes are coming up over the next six weeks or so and find out what big name knitter will be visiting in mid-September.

As usual there is a technical article and a free pattern. In this issue there is a trendy, yet easy to knit infinity scarf pattern, Infinite Scrunch (Ravelry link), from local designer Kristi Schueler. The technical article is about grafting and we'll also be diving more in depth into that here on the blog over the coming weeks.

Don't miss out! Download the newsletter from our Community News Page (or directly).

FREE Knitting Pattern: Fit to Be Tied

POSTED: November 9, 2010 by mysisterknits

If you didn't grab the October Stitches newsletter yet, you'll want to do so soon. The November/December one will be out shortly and this free pattern from October will no longer be available for free.

Fit to Be Tied was designed to be a flexible pattern, using a smaller repeat stitch pattern so you can maximize the yarn yardage you have available. It is knit sideways from tip-to-tip, so just weigh your yarn at the start, then work the increase section until you've used nearly half and then switch to the decrease section. If using fingering weight yarn you'll get a nice neckerchief/head scarf size from a 50 gram skein of yarn. If you have 100 grams you'll get a fuller coverage scarf or shawlette. The flexibility of this pattern is great for those special skeins of yarn that are one of a kind or a splurge. The side to side construction can be friendly to handpainted yarns too. The constantly changing row length often reduces pooling and flashing.

The entire project is worked in a garter stitch based pattern so there is no purling! The lace edging is small and relatively simple and matches up well with the increase pattern of the body so the whole thing is worked with a 4 row repeat that is easily memorized for experienced knitters and a realistic project for adventurous beginners looking to give a bit of lace knitting a try.

The pattern was designed with a Art Yarns' Cashmere Sock yarn, a fingering weight blend of cashmere, wool and nylon. The flexibility of the pattern though allows for easy substitution of any yarn and gauge is only required if you wish to match the stated dimensions. It is recommended that you use needles 2-3 sizes larger than recommended on the yarn label to achieve a nice drape in your garter stitch fabric. Additional length or width in the final product can be achieved in how you block it. It can be laid flat to dry for no extra length or width or you can use blocking wires and pins to really open up the fabric and dramatically increase the size.

There were two errata in the pattern when it was first released. The fixes were made and the PDF updated on October 15th so if you downloaded the newsletter before that date, delete the file and re-download.

FREE PATTERN: Stellar Facecloths

POSTED: June 22, 2010 by mysisterknits

The free pattern in this month's Stitches newsletter is a fun facecloth pattern in the shape of a 5 pointed star, Stellar Facecloth by area designer, Kristi Schueler. It is knit using 1 skein of Frog Tree Yarn's (a fair trade company) Picoboo yarn that is a blend of pima cotton and bamboo. This yarn was chosen for its softness, slight sheen and the reported antibacterial properties of bamboo fiber. If you opt to make a set of three as shown above and use minimal ends you can likely squeeze out a 4th striped one with the left overs.

The facecloth is knit from the center-out - a perfect project for trying out all those circular cast-ons! Kristi has found the perfect mix of increase rates to allow for a pleasant ratio of point width to body size on these 12.5" (from point to point) cloths. You can read about her adventures in designing this project on her blog.

We have all discussed how great these would be in a gift basket with some handmade toiletry items like soaps, bath salts, bath bombs and sugar scrubs. Barb has mentioned just using them like doilies as well. Kristi said her grandma requested a set in Christmas colors to hang as decoration in her bathroom during the holiday season! But, they have been designed with ease of use in mind so one should not be afraid to use them. They lie quite flat without really blocking, the body portion is sized similar to most washcloths in the stores and the points of the star are handy for small areas like removing eye make-up.

As I've mentioned, the pattern is in the June issue of Stitches, but it is only available for the month of June, so download the newsletter now while you can still get the pattern!

FREE PATTERN: Cirrus Shrug

POSTED: May 6, 2010 by mysisterknits

It seems this year spring did not decide to skip us. We've had some really cool and even gray days this time around. But, before you know it we'll be finding ourselves getting chilled in over air conditioned restaurants, theaters and shops in no time. Last summer, under the instructions of a wholistic bodywork practitioner I was instructed to carry a lightweight scarf with me at all times. She was convinced a lot of my upper back/shoulder/neck pain was actually caused by cool draft on my neck and upper back. I thought she was nuts. At the time my hair was quite long and covered my neck. I decided to give it a fair go and was pleasantly surprised to find that keeping my neck covered in air conditioned environments even if I did not feel chilled really started to show some improvement in my trouble areas.

Last summer I went the route of store bought scarves. It was the quickest solution. Over the winter I've increased my store bought scarf wardrobe a bit. But it kept bugging me that as a knitter I was buying all these scarves. This shrug came about because I wanted something versatile to wear, lightweight to carry with me, and easy to tuck into my bag so it is at hand. While the shrug when worn as a shrug does not provide a lot of neck coverage, it does add some extra warmth to the upper arms and upper back - surprisingly more coverage that you think it will when you are knitting it. As a bonus, if it is your neck that really needs the coverage, you can easily wear it around your neck as a tube scarf due to its simple construction - especially the larger sizes that are a bit longer from cuff-to-cuff.

Cirrus uses a small repeat, easily memorized and non-directional lace pattern to keep the knitting straight forward and easy to knit. Choose your size based on your upper arm circumference (1" of positive ease is recommended), then you can follow the given instructions to customize the back width as directed. The options for customizing the shrug are nearly endless - make longer or fuller sleeves! You could even substitute in a different lace pattern if you are adventurous.

The pattern is available in this month's Stitches Newsletter (PDF). The model shown here is the smallest, sized for a 14" across back width and 11" upper arm circumference. It is knit in the wonderfully gorgeous Madelinetosh tosh sock yarn in the Nostalgia colorway. The two smallest sizes can be knit from a single 4 oz skein of fingering weight yarn.

Now, which yarn and color do I want to use for my own shrug? Hmmm...

Some Mother's Day Patterns...

POSTED: April 23, 2010 by mysisterknits

Mother's Day is fast approaching. How better to pamper your mother than to maker her something special? In our April newsletter we featured a very quick knit pattern - Mother's Mitts (ravlery link). They are knit from Louet Gems Fingering, but you could use any lighter weight sock yarn as well. Download the newsletter now to get your copy of the pattern.

Shawls, stoles and scarves are always a nice choice to knit for mom too. Or, perhaps you should treat yourself for Mother's Day! No one appreciates all the hard work you do for your family than you! Check out some of these free shawl, stole and stole knit and crochet patterns:

• Citron Shawl by Hillary Smith Callis
• Traveling Woman Shawl by Liz Abinante
• Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross
• Stolen Moments Wrap by Amy Swansen
• Chanson en Crochet by Mari Lynn Patrick
• Magnificent Mantle by Crochet Kitten
• Feather Stole by Elizabeth Meyers

Are you knitting or crocheting something for your mother? What are you making?

March 2010 Stitches is Here - With a FREE PATTERN

POSTED: March 16, 2010 by mysisterknits

The March 2010 stitches is available on the main web site at http://www.mysisterknits.com/community/news. Inside is a profile of a fast rising local crochet designer, Aaron Matthew Asmussen and a closer look at two of the many new yarns to arrive in recent weeks.

The free pattern this month is by local designer, Amanda Berka. She set out to make a lightweight and versatile vest that was both stylish and easy to knit. She definitely met her goal when she designed Amala (Ravelry link). Amala is essentially a tube with two armholes. If you can rib and knit stockinette stitch in the round you can knit this vest!

Simplicity does not mean sacrificing detail, however! Once the neck is complete and you split the tube to make the armholes you also turn it inside out so that the public side of the cowl when worn is in stockinette stitch. By turning it inside out she has also eliminated a bunch of purling that would have otherwise been required to achieve stockinette stitch on the public side. Clever!

The vest has wide, deep armholes to better accommodate less fitted sleeves. It also has a slight A-line silhouette to help easily float over any trouble areas many of us would like to hide. Due to the unique construction the vest is only offered in three sizes, but the introductory paragraph offers some guidance for those more experienced knitters who might wish to upsize it or even just modify it for a real personal fit.

Pattern: Amala (on Ravelry)
Source: My Sister Knits March 2010 Stitches, page 3
Designer: Amanda Berka (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed; 50% wool, 25 % alpaca, 25% viscose; 191 yds per 50 g; color 151, 4 (4, 5) skeins.
Needle Size: US 6 / 4mm circular needle, adjust size if necessary to obtain gauge
Gauge: 24 sts and 30 rnds per 4” / 10 cm in St st in the round
Sizes: Women’s S (M, L) with finished bust circumference of 32” (34”, 36”) and hip of 37.3” (39.3”, 41.3”). Zero ease recommended. Size M shown on 34” bust.

FREE PATTERN: Laridae Mittens

POSTED: February 10, 2010 by mysisterknits

The free pattern from My Sister Knits this month is a pair of quick to knit cabled mittens. With a fresh coating of snow on the ground and a chance for more in the ten day forecast there is still time to knit mittens to wear this season! These Laridae Mittens are made from Misti Alpaca's Tonos Chunky, a bulky alpaca and merino blend yarn in semi-solid colors (Avacado shown here). Knit on US9 double pointed needles they practically fly off the needles (especially if you cable without a cable needle). Laridae Mittens have an asymmetric gusseted thumb with increases occurring only on the palm side for a more anatomical fit.

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January FREE Pattern - First Cabled Hat

POSTED: January 7, 2010 by mysisterknits

For January the pattern is a basic cabled hat made from bulky yarn. It is written for three sizes and has a simple 6-stitch repeat great for practicing the basics of cabling. You can even knit a band 3-4 inches wide and then bind off in pattern for an ear warmer and not worry about cabling and shaping the crown of the hat at the same time! Make two and substitute all the C2F (cable 2 front or cable 2 left) with C2B (cable 2 back or cable 2 right) to practice both directions of cabling.

The sample above and one display at the shop is knit from Noro Transitions, but you should be able to substitute Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky or Lana Loft Bulky or for extra warm and softness Mist Alpaca's Chunky would be wonderful.

Download the PDF Version Now!