Newsletter 391
Originally Published March 14, 2016
This Week's Inspiration!
Did someone say "Spring"? We always think of bunnies when we hear "Spring," so we thought we'd share some pretty darn cute ones!
Henry's Bunny is a little stuffed toy that will hop off your needles in no time. Knit in the round, it's made entirely in one piece except for the legs, which are seamed to the bottom. Our sample is knit from just one skein of Kashmir Alpakka, a super-soft, squishy blend of baby alpaca and cashmere.
Babies and toddlers will love the fun, huggable little Lamb and Bunny Lovies blankets in the new Animal Lovies to Knit booklet from Leisure Arts. Choose from 10 designs: brown bear, bunny, lamb, penguin, duck, owl, puppy, kitten, panda, and giraffe. Each lovie consists of a 12-inch square blanket with the stuffed animal head and arms attached at the center. The designs are all easy to knit and use worsted to chunky yarn. We used two organic yarns, Organico Cotton and Biosoft Cotton, for our samples.
The adorable Clayoquot Toque from Tin Can Knits is a modern fair-isle hat and is a perfect canvas for testing yarns and color combinations. We used Erika Knight British Blue Wool. With a palette of chalky pastels and bright pops that all work together, you can be sure of choosing a successful color combination!
Bunnies are not just for the wee little ones! These adorable ladies Bunny Slippers are sized US 6-8 and work up quickly on size 15 needles! We used Erika Knight Fur Wool and British Blue Wool, Ushya from Mirasol. The pattern is available for free with specific yarn purchase.
Mark Your Calendars!
The newly-released Ganseys collection from Brooklyn Tweed is an eight-piece homage to the traditional gansey of the British Isles...and we'll have an exclusive trunk show of the entire collection at Stitches South, along with virtually all thirty-seven colors of Shelter and Loft, as well as most of the colors in BT's new Quarry line.
The Yearlong Knitalong: Chevron Mosaic Baby Blanket!
The month's almost over, but we're still working on the Chevron Mosaic Baby Blanket, inspired by a stitch pattern from knitting legend Barbara Walker! It's not too late to join us if you like! Walker strove to discover those moments in knitting when something seemingly intricate turns out to be very easy. Finding color work's bobbins and multiple strands of yarn cumbersome, she developed a slip-stitch technique she called "Mosaic Knitting, " a clever way to create elaborate, colorful patterns using only basic stitches (knit, slip and occasionally purl). As Walker herself discovered, there is beauty in simplicity...and the simplicity is front and center in the Mosaic Blanket (although you won't have to tell anyone just how simple it actually is to make!). Not interested in making a Mosaic Blanket? You can still join the Yearlong Knitalong with an afghan block pattern from the Haus of Yarn Block-a-Month Afghan book.
As a genuine 'thank you!' for your participation, all materials purchased at Haus of Yarn that relate directly to each month's knitalong will qualify for double stamps on our Haus of Yarn Reward Card. DOUBLE STAMPS! We really do appreciate your participation and want to encourage as many of you to make as many of the monthly projects as possible. Earning double stamps will make it that much easier!
Not local? No worries! Join the Yearlong Knitalong virtually. We'll be creating threads for each Knitalong project in our Ravelry group. Click here to join our group and come knit along with us!
We'd love to see your projects! In process or completed...if you're on Instagram, join in anytime with #yearlongknitalong and #hausofyarntn.