A project for a sunny day

Blue Sky Alpaca’s Organic Cotton came in this week.

Every time we get in a batch of this beautiful yarn I can’t resist taking all the colours off the shelf and imagining I am about to embark on a baby blanket project. So soft and lofty – this yarn makes a very huggable blankie.
I plain, striped, garter stitch blanket would be such a joy in this yarn and easy to knit even for a new knitter. It is also the yarn featured in the Knit Cafe’s “Your First Baby Blanket“ pattern. This is a wonderfully simple project with a seed stitch border and a basket weave middle, all knit and purl with no fancy tricks.

Sometimes I like to imagine I am making a Chevron Stitch Blanket like the one we make in our upcoming workshop.

Other times I want to crochet it up into a forever growing Granny Square project.

If you like any of these ideas you can make your own. They are all beginner friendly projects and if you need a little help we have classes! Oh yes we do!

Baby Blanket Workshop
Sunday March 12, 12:30-3pm
Register HERE

ZigZag Blanket Workshop
Wednesday March 29, 7-9pm
Register HERE

Crochet Blanket Class For Absolute Beginners
Sunday March 19, 26, 3-5pm
Register HERE

Craftily yours
Kristin

Skinny Cotton Tales

Here is another wonderful cotton yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca. It’s called Skinny! Skinny is it’s name, but hey we’ve probably all seen skinnier. This yarn weighs in as a Double Knit so grab your 3.5 or 4mm needles and dig in.
Unlike her fatter cousin; the beautifully bodacious Blue Sky Worsted Cotton that I showcased here a few days ago, this cotton is less fluffy, more trim, with a sturdy core. It makes for knits that have more body, but are still cotton comfortable.

Check out this colour selection ↑

To get an idea of how Skinny Cotton knits-up. come into The Knit Café and feel it up in the flesh! We have a terrific sample.  It’s called Tee.

Tee – as the name suggests is a T-shirt. It is sized to fit 12 months, 18-24 months, or 2-3 years. This simple cotton shirt get’s seriously fun with polka dots. Yeah!
If you have never done colour-knitting before, please don’t let this stop you from making this adorable project. The polka dots are added on after the knitting with a very easy technique called “duplicate stitch”. You can see how easy it is in our duplicate stitch tutorial HERE.

You can find the Tee pattern HERE

or purchase the Tee Knit Kit HERE.

We just introduced the Tee Kit in our web shop today.
The Knit Kit comes with the Tee pattern, Blue Sky Skinny Organic Cotton and a selection of mini skeins to make the polka dots.

Craftily yours
Kristin 

Cotton Tales

A big box of Blue Sky Cotton just walked through the doors.  Blue Sky Alpaca has devised the prettiest colours for their soft, lofty, organic cotton. This is a wonderful yarn for summer knitting, or really any time you want a butter soft yarn.

Iwona is loving up this yarn for wash cloths, but there is so much more you can do with cotton. Here are a few suggestions.

Que Sera

Baby Hoodie

Presto Chango

Eyelet Cardigan

Chevron Baby Blanket

Your First Baby Blanket

“Your First Baby Blanket” is a Knit Café pattern, and we also run a class which teaches how it’s done. Next one is June 15th, more info can be found about the class HERE.

Craftily yours
Kristin

Easter Treats for The Knit Cafe

Just in time for this hippity hoppity weekend we have a new selection of yarns. Come on over and have your own Easter Egg Hunt. You can find such treats like this Rowan Pure Wool Superwash. It is practically egg shaped. I love this shelf full of Easter inspired colours but we have lots more colours besides.

If you follow us on Twitter you may already know we received our first box from Madelinetosh. We have quite a large order coming in, so we expect the rest to follow over the next week, but for now we have a gorgeous selection of Vintage which is Madelinetosh worsted weight. All hand dyed on merino wool and Superwash to boot, this is some knitters most coveted yarn.

The Madelinetosh is pictured on the shelves to the right. On the left we have fluffy cottons from Blue Sky Alpaca. This is one of our favourite cottons, so thick and so soft, it knits up light and cushy. We used it to make our sample of The Knit Cafe’s Baby Blanket project – the one we make in our baby blanket class. Still a few spots left in that class which is this Monday night!

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Baby Blanket Workshop
Monday April 13
6:30-9pm
To register
Call: 416 533 5648
Or register online HERE

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We are open this Easter Weekend!
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Craftily yours
Kristin

 

 

welcome the Blue Skies!

Roncesvalles Avenue is lousy with ice cream shops.  In a good way! When I leave the Knit Cafe at the end of the day I pass happy strollers licking their cones, loiterers on sidewalk benches with sticky faces, those in queue outside the parlors with eyes big as moons as they contemplate the flavors.  It is a Willy Wonka dream!

So perhaps I can be forgiven for being a little ice cream obsessed.
Having said this though, I think the comparison between ice cream and our latest shipment of cotton yarn is obvious.  Just look at these colours! If they don’t look like delicious scoops of confection I don’t know what does.

Choose your favourite flavor! LEMONADE  or strawberry coloured SHELL.

How about a scoop of THISTLE or a bit of PUMPKIN!

 

Don’t forget the WASABI!

 In total we have 21 flavors of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton! This soft and lofty yarn is a puffy worsted weight that makes nice snuggly knits. We’re showing off some of our other favourite  colours on our pegboard of fame! ALOE, FLAMINGO, LEMONGRASS, TRUE RED,  and MEDITERRANEAN

Delicious!

Craftily yours
Kristin

Back to School!

Today’s the day, and it seems like only yesterday we were singing “no more papers – no more books”.
September’s back to school is not just for kids.  Learning something new every day keeps ya young at heart and pretty smart too.  This Sunday is the first day of our Project Class with Kate Atherley.  Got something you have a hankering to knit and don’t know how, or just want to jump back into the knitting season and need some inspiration and guidance? Have I got a class for you!  All levels are welcome.
Call us to register: 416 533 5648. Check out all the knit cafe’s fall/winter classes here!

sleet                                      lemonade                             true red

thistle                                   dandelion                             pumpkin

tulip                                      raspberry                             lemongrass

graphite                               aloe                                       mediterranean

drift                                       tomato                                 bone

Delicious scoops of soft organic cotton. A new shipment of Blue Sky Worsted ($13 a skein) makes for a happy, happy day! This is the feature yarn in our very popular Your First Blanket Pattern.  This pattern is also taught in our Baby Blanket Workshop, the next one is Friday September 20th.

Craftily yours
Kristin

We’ve got cotton!

 

Summer is here – officially speaking, as of a few days ago, and weather-wise, as of today!  It’s a hot one.
Knitting is one of my favourite outdoor activities.  Taken with you to the park or on a weekend away, it is great for relaxing and taking in the summer vibe.  For plant-fibre enthusiasts it is also a choice time to indulge.

This past week we fully restocked the Blue Sky Alpaca’s Organic Worsted Cotton in the above colours and more besides.  This is the yarn we use in the “Your First Baby Blanket Pattern” but it would also suit the Hexagon Crochet Blanket we teach in our beginner Crochet Blanket Class.

The next First Baby Blanket Workshop is July 29

6:30-9pm

$30, materials not included

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The next Crochet Blanket Class is July 3, 10, 17

7-9pm

$70, materials not included

Call to register 416 533 5648

Craftily yours
Kristin

you sure can pick ’em!

Sometimes folks come into the Knit Cafe with a pattern in hand, looking for the exact-same yarn the pattern sample was knit from.  No substitutions are allowed for these folks.  Including when it comes to colour.
People are often confessing to me that they are afraid of colour.  They have no confidence when it comes to picking them.  Even less so when more then one colour needs to be picked. “What if they don’t go together ?” they ask.  What indeed!

This has come up a few times when it comes to this Chevron Blanket Pattern from the Purl Bee.

As you can see, right now we do have all the colours in stock for an exact replica of this adorable blanket.  However, if you wish to go out on a limb…

How about this combo: lemonade, lemongrass, flamingo, dandelion, bone, pumpkin, rasberry.

Or this one: graphite, hyacinth, thistle, drift, wasabi, jasper, sleet

Or this one even: mediterranean, drift, pumpkin, bone, flamingo, drift, lemongrass.

Or come up with just the right mix for you.  No right, nor wrong (even if it is sticking with the original).
All of the above are colours of Blue Sky Organic Cotton, and there are even more colours to choose from.  Come and see!
Craftily yours
Kristin