Raveled.

Not sure what’s possessed me but I’ve decided that my life and wardrobe will not be complete until I knit myself a pair of leg warmers. Really, how cute would these be peeking out from under your jeans? Or the tops of a pair of boots with a skirt? And, warm. Talk about warm. As anyone who lives in the Midwest knows, we have at minimum (wishful thinking going on here) two more months of serious winter weather. At least. So there. That’s me justifying leg warmers.

That being said, if you happen to see me sporting them ala’ Flashdance or Olivia Newton-John in her Let’s Get Physical video, you have my permission to give me a good smack.

I’ve decided it’s high time for a proper shop update…. and holy buckets of yarn what an update it will be!

So many colors! And the bases, oh the bases….

• MCN fingering and worsted
• Merino Superwash Fingering
• Cashmere (LOTS of cashmere)
• Cashsilk (both lace and dk)
• Merino Alpaca Silk Single Ply
• NEW!!! 80/10/10 wool, angora, cashmere (sport/dk weight coming in at a very nice 280 yards per skein).
• And more ~ lot’s more.

Skeined and ready to go.

Just hanging out, waiting their turn.

Now for the particulars:

There will be a sneak-update on Monday, January 25th so check the shop often as goodies will be popping up throughout the day. Then, the big and proper update will be Tuesday evening, January 26th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

The updates can be pretty exciting (i.e. fast) which can make it a bit challenging to procure enough of a specific colorway for larger projects (such as that cozy sweater you’ve been dreaming of!). So starting with the updates on Monday and Tuesday, I’m going to try offering a few sweater listings. What, you may ask, does that mean?!? Well, it simply means I’ll have anywhere from 800 to 1400 yards available in a single colorway and it will be listed as one item in etsy.  Even though I’ve taken great care to make sure all skeins in the sweater listings will be very “matchy matchy” it is important to keep in mind that there can/will still be a bit of variation between skeins, even within the same dye lot. Which, as we all know is the nature of the beast and part of the charm of hand-dyed yarn.

16 Cable Hat. Raveled.

Cables. Now that was fun. Must quickly get this to the recipient or I run the risk of keeping it myself. Talk about squishy and warm. Cables and cashmere = winning combination. If you can read French, check out the designers blog. Actually, check it out whether you can read French or not, it’s adorable.

What fun it was to read what you have on your desks/end tables/night stands. Some bizarre things like rubber rats (the things kids give as gifts!), so many knitting items, iPods, iMacs, pictures of loved ones (Jacqueline and her dog’s collar – what a tearjerker!), books and, especially this time of year, kleenex, so much kleenex!

I owe you some winners don’t I? Congratulations Peter and Pebbledash! Your winnings will be on their way……

One last bit of housekeeping, Plucky Knitter shop update tomorrow, January 13th at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Hope to see you there!

Sign-up’s Friday, January 8th – 9:00 a.m. eastern

Sign-up spots have been filled and will re-open at the end of March. Time to whip up some classics!

Raveled.

Also known as the never-ending hat. Fingering weight yarn + size 2 needles + Stockinette = Never-ending. Even this ardent fan of stockinette grew tired of it near the end. So glad I powered through though, the end result is so comfy and fun (first finished object of 2010 yay!!!).  It’s only just finished blocking and I’m already attached to it… and finished none too soon. More snow forecast today and tomorrow but I’m prepared! Ye olde noggin is now covered. I knit quite a lot of hats but, never any for me. People (ok, my daughter) take them from me.  Like to see her try and get her hands on this one. It’s all mine!

Check back later as I’ll be announcing the date and time for sign-ups for the next round of Plucky Classics – The Little Black Dress Collection!

I have the best – BEST it tell you – customers/knitty friends ever. They are crazy talented, diverse, helpful and entertaining. And helpful! Oh, I already said that, sorry. It’s just that they are so helpful!

A few weeks ago I sent out a knitting S.O.S. to the ladies in the plucky group on Ravelry that I was in need of some test knits for the upcoming show for the Madison Knitters Guild in Madison, WI (March 13th if you’re keeping track).

Anyway – the test knits have begun to trickle in and they are fantastic. I just had to share them. You can be sure I’ll be back with more as they arrive. So, without further ado ~

CanCan Mitts knit in the 80.20 merino nylon fingering weight. The stitch definition on this yarn is great – they just POP. Dare I say it – I think, with a bit of tweaking, you could easily get two pair of mitts out of one skein of yarn. I weighed the mitts and they came in at approx 42g with a whopping 76g left. These little numbers were knit by the so very generous Marla. Thank you Marla – they are perfect!!!

Herbivore – this beauty was whipped up by Ulli. Again, knit up in the 80.20 merino nylon fingering. Ulli – thank you so much, it’s simply stunning.

Look who got new specs~