All I can say is – Wow!

Oh My Dear you should get here right now!

I just opened a great, big box which contained this great, big, beautiful yarn. My sources say that this may be a yarn of a limited edition. Riverside Studio has dyed us these super bulky and super-duper, soft skeins of 100% merino, superwash wool. Wow! Kathryn, at Riverside says she may not be able to dye this Super Bulky wool again so get ’em while you can!

Thanks to Thanksgiving, I have not posted in a while. Apologies,  I have been remiss in my duty to keep you up to date on the comings and goings. One of which was the arrival of Riverside Studio’s Worsted 1ply. It is so soft and dreamy that a lot of it has left the shop already, but remarkably we still have…

this!

and this!

and this too!

Also today we received some NORO!
Noro yarns make us so happy with their happy, happy, rainbow ways.  To say that it is a self-striping yarn really undersells the wonderful effect of Noro’s blending and twisting colour patterns.

Along with Kureopatora, which is the worsted weight, merino blend we had last year, we received a brand new offering from Noro called Kureyon Air.
In short it is- BIG FAT NORO!

It weighs in as a bulky weight, calling for a 9mm needle and still has all the gorgeous striping colours Noro is known for. It is softer then it’s smaller cousin Kureyon and I encourage you to come in and give it a squeeze.

If you are inspired by the pretty Noro but don’t know what to make, we have many suggestions including this classic striped scarf projects which uses two balls (two distinct colour-ways) striped. So basically it is striping yarn that is knit in stripes.

If you are new to the land of knit, and need some help in making such a scarf- we have a class for that.

The Magical Striped Scarf Workshop ( – Learn to Purl)

Wednesday November 16, 7-9pm

Register HERE

Craftily yours
Kristin

Making It Stripe and Making It Fit

Iwona just finished up a full length example of the Noro Striped Scarf we are making in the Magical Striped Scarf Workshop and it is so awesome I think I might  steal it. I was wearing it around the shop yesterday and I can attest that it is supremo-cozy!

Two different colour-ways in Noro in a two row striped pattern makes this magic happen .

Judy is also wearing a very fine sweater made by Iwona with the CustomFit Sweater Program. It is a bit of a stretch on Judy but it fits Iwona perfectly as it was made with her measurements. It is a pattern generated in the bespoke manner and then you knit it up and you have tailor made knitwear.

We have just announced a new service. We will be helping whoever is desiring to make their own custom sweater pattern with the CustomFit pattern generating program. We’re pretty excited about it.

Here are all the details:

Book yourself a one-on-one CustomFit Sweater Tutorial at the Knit Café and…

• meet us for a one-hour appointment at The Knit Café to discuss all your sweater particulars, decide on a yarn and discuss the style considerations for your new sweater.
• get help to take and record accurate and detailed body measurements to ensure a good fit
• learn how to make an accurate swatch and how to use it
• then take your time with your swatching and book a follow up appointment when we will use the information gathered from your finished swatch to create your sweater pattern.
• receive your own one of a kind knit pattern based on your measurements and your style, and get any questions answered about how to follow it.

Pick from two options when creating your CustomFit Sweater with The Knit Café

1.Sweater-makers who purchase all their yarn for their sweater at The Knit Café will get the CustomFit Sweater Tutorial described above for a fee of only $10. This goes to cover the cost of the pattern but the tutorial and follow-up appointment are gratis. In addition they will receive a discount of 10% off their yarn purchase for their sweater. Wow!

2.If you already have the yarn for the sweater of your dreams you may still join us for a CustomFit appointment. For a fee of $40 you will receive the CustomFit Sweater Pattern, the hour long consultation and tutorial, and the follow up appointment to generate the pattern.

More Info about our Perfect Sweater Program can be found HERE
Call or email The Knit Café to make your Sweater Making Appointment
416 533 5648(KNIT)
theknitcafe@hotmail.com

Can’t wait to see what sort of sweater you will make.
Craftily yours
Kristin

a sneak peak of a new pattern

Thank you to all the TTC Knitalonger’s who dropped by yesterday. It was so good to see all the smiling faces and all the busy knitting needles.

We have fun thinking up things to amuse all those who might be coming through the Knit Café for this momentous event each year. Last year we began what we hope to be an annual event. We wrote a pattern to commemorate the TTC Knitalong – last year’s pattern was 504 King West. It was a winner!
This year we had another pattern all ready for the Knitalongers

It’s called “Trip to The Island”

“Trip to The Island” is really two patterns in one with instructions to make two different lacy scarves. We will have it ready to share with the rest of the world real soon, but here is your sneak peak!

I also wanted to share with you a pic of this Knit Café display. It showcases all the wonderful times we have had with Noro Yarn over the years.

Projects clockwise from top: Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket, The Knit Cafe’s Kaleidoscope Blanket, The Knit Cafe’s Confetti Mittens, The Knit Cafe’s Woven Blanket, a good old pair of socks knit by me without a pattern. You can learn to do such a thing in our Custom Fit Knit Sock Class in the new year, or take the First Pair of Socks Class – you can use Noro to make your socks too!

Craftily yours
Kristin

 

 

Self-Striping Yarn Heaven

It is a terrific day for those of us who love stripes. You know who you are.

We have fantastical Turtlepurl Yarn nestled right where it should be in The Knit Café shelves. Striped Turtletoes yarn is a sock weight yarn that is hand dyed to be self patterning in happy go lucky stripes. Did I mention it is hand dyed, and in Canada no less! Amazing! This soft merino wool with a bit of nylon makes terrific socks. It comes bundle into two matching skeins so you can have your socks match stripe for stripe.

We also have Noro.
Noro yarn is one of my first yarn loves. Noro yarn is a wonderful yarn company from Japan that has been making very original, blended striping yarns for ages and still does it better than anyone.
I recently made this ⇓ with Noro yarn.

I almost died of hunger and thirst as I was glued to my chair in a knit frenzy unable to tear myself away from knitting with self striping Noro knit with self striping Noro in STRIPES! It was amazing.
We are teaching this project in a Beginner Class coming up in September.

We call it “The Magical Striped Scarf Workshop” after the seemingly magical qualities of Noro. The focus of this class is:
Learning to Purl!
Learning how to knit stripe patterns.
Adding elegant details to your projects like smooth selvedges and prettier cast ons and bind offs.
Reading knitting patterns.

Find out more about The Magical Striped Scarf Workshop HERE

Craftily yours
Kristin

Under Cover

When was the last time you gathered up the blankets and made a fort?
It had been a while for me, but I can’t say the same now, as it was just last week that I made this one →
The building materials came from quadruplet- Noro- blankets.
I thought it was high-time they had their place in the sun especially with the recent and auspicious arrival of Noro Silk Garden yarn to the cafe.

If you were to take up residence and gaze skyward this ↑ is what you would see. The beauty of Noro – it comes shining through! To read more about this self striping yarn check out the Mr. Noro post from weeks past.

Noro is good building materials for all sorts of things (not just forts).

Case in point ↑ The Knit Cafe’s Confetti Mitts takes advantage of Noro’s colour-magic. There are many such examples, too numerous to count. 

In other news…
You can find out about The Knit Cafe’s upcoming plans for this years Scotia Bank Nuit Blanche (all night art event) right here. Only a month to go! Hope you will join us.
Craftily yours
Kristin

Mr. Noro

Noro has always been a favourite yarn of mine.  Each ball is a little bundle of joy.

After reading all about the founding father -Eisaku Noro, I have even more reasons to like Noro. Before it was fashionable to talk of “environmental footprints” Eisaku Noro was thinking of his. His yarn company walks the walk and it’s a short one.
This industrious man set to work on conventional carding and spinning machines, adapting them to make them more efficient. Due to his ingenuity the processing from fleece to yarn was shortened to save resources. Noro saves 46% more energy compared to the industry standard. Shortening the processing also had the effect of keeping the fibres more intact retaining more of their natural properties and enzymes. Noro’s machinery creates less dust and less chemical smell which I surmise would be better for those who work with them.
Noro keeps close watch on it’s sheep. Their supervision ensures that farms are certified organic, the water and soil checked regularly and the sheep are not treated with medications unnecessarily.
Noro’s signature colour-ways are arranged by hand.  If you go to their web site you can see Mr. Noro and his team doing just that.  Wouldn’t that be a great job!

Craftily yours
Kristin

hex!

With the Crochet Blanket Class close at hand (it starts on July 22) I thought I would share my version of the blanket.
I was inspired by Maurie Todd’s beautiful creation below.  In fact I outright copied her.  Noro Sock yarn for the middles: that ever-changing yarn that gives you all the colours in the rainbow in just one ball, and a solid coloured sock yarn for the outside.

But since the recipient of this blanket was still in diapers, I  picked some peppy colours.  Lorna’s Laces Firefly for the background.
I found making this blanket addictive, especially the happy little middles that I stacked up and admired. Then I unstacked them and ordered them, reordered them, puzzled and plotted, and restacked them.  Then I made more.  Attaching them all together was not so bad either.  They were crocheted together with NO SEW SEAMS! Something you will learn in class.

When it was all done – I was not!

The finished blanket had wavy edges thanks to the hexagons and all their angles. Those of you who have made the blanket will know what I mean.  To remedy this I made “half hexagons” and added them along the edges that needed them (2 of the 4). Necessity being the mother of invention – I taught myself how.  Others have gone before me and done the same but they were not around.

This is what I did…

Comings and Goings

Is this old news now?
For sure it is good news, so all the better to repeat it.
We have Noro!
Noro Taiyo,  cotton, silk, wool, nylon
Noro Taiyo Sock  (same as above but sock weight)
Noro Kureyon, 100% wool
Noro Silk Garden, silk, mohair, wool
Noro Silk Garden Sock (same as above but sock weight)
The Taiyo is new to us.  I am especially excited to have a yarn to recommend to folks who are eager to get their needles into some Noro colour-ways but are put off by the wooliness.  Some might say darn right itchiness in the case of Kureyon (I would not- I love a wooly-wool)).  Did you know Kureyon means crayon in Japanese? A fitting name for yarn that captures the imagination much like a new box of crayolas might. All the other Noro varieties capture the same magic.
My first Noro project was my first sock project too, and I was hooked. A Noro addict and a sock addict too.  If it has been said once, then it has been said again, and it is about to be said once more now: knitting with Noro is like reading a good book you never want to put it down.  The anticipation of what will happen next is too much to bear.  What colour will it be?
Since the sock days though I have sadly not knit much with Noro. I rediscovered the joy of it all when I made my Confetti mittens. Whoever said one can never go back was not talking about Noro.  I was even more enraptured.

Also showing off Noro’s Style  are these knit works from Jared Flood. The first pic is the Mitered Mittens, a simple beauty of a pattern by the genius knitter Elizabeth Zimmerman. Made more beautiful thanks to Noro. You can find the Mitten-How-To in both “The Knitter’s Almanac”, and “Knitting Around”, books by EZ.  The second pic is Jared Flood’s Noro Striped Scarf, easy, effective, and a joy to knit!

Since December I have been diligent about blogging. Rain/shine-twice a week was my regiment.   I must now admit that my perfect attendance record has been shattered.  I missed my weekend post. Fortunately I have always found that perfection is over- rated. Perhaps you all will also forgive me for my truancy.
But really – can you blame me? The computer’s charms, they fade compared to the view from Bear Island.  Notice the yarn on the bench?  Though I may be a truant, I am no idler.

I was lucky that my vacation did not come earlier.  If it had I might have missed the visit of our old friend Sophia.  It was good to see her.  I had not done so since she moved back to the UK, some time ago. Now here I am back in the big smoke and she is now safe and sound on her own side of the pond where she is writing the nicest things about us.  I felt a little teary when I read her blog post but I concede that it is true.  The nicest people do come to the Knit Cafe- bar none!

Read all about it on Sophia’s blog aquarterto 

Nice to be back among the yarn.
Craftily yours
Kristin

a sale, some alpaca, a cardigan, and a fox

A picture may be worth a thousand words but you might want some details too.
The Knit Cafe’s annual summer sale is from July 16-24.  That means this Saturday at 10am doors open/shopping commences.  In addition to grab bins with super-duper, spectacular sale items (as much as 80% off) the rest of the Knit Cafe’s stock will also be on sale for 15% off the original price.  Just thought you might want to know.

Perhaps you will stock up on some of this:Misti Alpaca Chunky in our three best selling colours, turquoise, charcoal, and black, has finally come home to roost.  In it’s long absence it was missed.  Misti Alpaca is as soft as a Royale kitten and almost as cute!
This is the charming cover of the brand new Interweave  Magazine Weekend Knits which also takes up counter space at the Knit Cafe as of this week.  This is quite a nice edition.  The cover sweater called the Spoked Cardigan with its side to side structure and short row shaping on the yoke promises to be fun knitting with the magic Noro yarn.  The yarn that changes colours before your very eyes! No trick photography!
This well dressed fox by Lucinda Guy makes this magazine completely worth the cover price.