I know that as knitters, we have all seen pretty yarn before... 

But seriously now, have you ever seen a skein as pretty as this?

I don't know if it's the depth of color, the blended tones or the fact that this is my favorite color green, but I am completely in love with this skein of Pigeonroof Studios Cassiopeia DK in Juniper.

I acquired this skein (among others) from Krista at the Pigeonroof Studios booth at Stitches West.

I have been staring at it ever since. 

I know that I've said this before.. about other yarns.. but this might be my new favorite.

This texture. This colorway. The fact that it is an insanely indulgent blend of merino, cashmere and silk... 

I just love it.

I've wound it up and it's going on my needles right now. 

I need to find the perfect project to showcase it. 

I'll let you know what I come up with when I've figured that out.

More beautiful Pigeonroof Studios yarn available HERE.

 There are two fun new children's patterns that are coming out shortly...

These new designs are very special to me. I look forward to sharing them with you soon.

You and your little one will love them.

Illustrations provided by JillZielinskiDesigns.com

I'm back from the

Stitches West Convention

! What an amazing experience that was!

I was able to capture the show in photos and in audio for you.

Setting up....

My husband was so helpful. He did so much for the booth and ran TONS of errands for us during the show. 

I couldn't have done it without him.

 Here is our cozy little booth when all was said and done.

Lisa's

gorgeous hand-dyed yarns

made for a beautiful colorful display on the back wall.

Here is a closeup of the lovely samples we had knit up for the show in the beautiful yarns.

My Dad made this little wooden display for me to hang everything on. 

It turned out super cute and it was great to show off all of the knits at eye level.

This lovely

Cedar Leaf Shawlette

knit by Lisa in the Becoming Art

Lana Sedosa

in the "Mother" colorway 

was the sample that seriously won the most attention. This was my best selling pattern by far and 

I left the show with approx 10 copies left. And I brought a TON. 

This was definitely the most popular pattern at the show.

Another lovely sample was this

Cosette Wrap

that

Lisa

wore on Sunday. 

Its knit out of Lisa's

handspun yarn

which she was also selling at the show. 

I think that this is the perfect pattern for showing off handspun and the finished shawl was soo cushy and bouncy.

I want one now.

All in all, I had a fabulous time! I met so many fun people and saw so many beautiful things...

Which reminds me...

I have a new SURPRISE "Stitches Recap" podcast episode to share with you!

Thanks everyone!

See you there!

In Episode 50 I had the wonderful privilege of interviewing Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon-Osborne, the authors and designers behind the book Vintage Modern Knits!

They have kindly provided 2 fabulous prizes for you to enter to win!

Here is the GRAND PRIZE! 

It includes a brand new copy of the book along with...

2 skeins of Canopy Fingering to make the Cady Twisted-Stitch Mittens...

2 skeins of Canopy Worsted to make the Bramble Beret...

and another 2 skeins of Canopy Fingering to make the Abigail Hand Warmers!

The SECOND PRIZE is this lovely yarn sampler! 

It includes one skein of every yarn type carried by The Fibre Company!

All of the yarns are soo beautiful, but these are my absolute favorites. 

Incredible, really.

To enter to win one of these lovely prizes, please leave a comment (including contact information) under this post. In your comment please tell me if you have used The Fibre Company yarns in the past and if you have a favorite colorway. 

I will be announcing the winner here on March 1, so please check back then to see if you've won! Remember, only one comment per person please.

Have fun!

Drawing Now Closed! 

Congratulations to first place winner Erin Kole, and to second place winner "cricketspaw" ! 

Yay!

Episode 50!

Shownotes:

The Fibre Company

Stitches West

Seedling

 Becoming Art Cielo Worsted

The Fibre Company Canopy Worsted

Cloudy Day

Classic Elite Fresco

The Fibre Company Yarns

Kelbourne Woolens Patterns

Vintage Modern Knits

Vintage Modern Knits Patterns

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

The winner of Episode 49's

Yarn Love Drawing Giveaway

is

Theresa

! Congratulations!

*Please check back soon to enter the drawing for Episode 50!

Get 15% off a

Kelbourne Woolens pattern

of your choice at

kelbournewoolens.com

by March 15th, 2011

by entering code "

C5U67C9N " in the checkout process.

This offer is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.

*Please join me back for Season 6 of Never Not Knitting on June 1, 2011.*

Click

HERE

to download the Episode 50 MP3 file.

Get Vintage Modern Knits on Amazon

At the last minute, despite my insanely crazy, busy schedule, I've somehow cranked out this new 

Cloudy Day beret for a sample at our Stitches West booth.

It's knit out of the lovely Becoming Art Agave yarn in the heavy fingering weight. I always thought that the Becoming Art Cielo yarns were my favorite.. that was until I knit with the Agave.

Wow. That is all I have to say about that.

I thought this gray colorway called Driftwood was a very fitting match for the Cloudy Day beret. 

It's a beautiful silvery color with little flecks of gold-ish tan that show up occasionally.

I wanted to share these photos with you so that you could see how this beret looks knit up in a smooth yarn. It's a different sort of look, but very pretty I think.

Pattern available HERE.

Yarn available HERE.

Yet another new pattern! Introducing the Cloudy Day beret...

Before the warmer weather of spring and summer completely set in, I expect some cloudy days ahead. This beret is a lightweight yet warm accessory perfect for an 'overcast-yet-not-freezing-outside' sort of day.

For this pattern I chose to work with Classic Elite Fresco yarn in the Celestial Blue colorway. 

It's a beautiful hazy gray with a slight halo from the 10% angora fiber content.

I've always loved the way complicated stitches look in an angora yarn. It's such a soft and pretty effect.. but really any fingering weight or sport weight yarn will do for this project.

The body of the hat is composed of bobble and lace stitches that remind me of the way pavement or a body of water looks like with droplets of water hitting it on a rainy day.

I found this repeatable stitch pattern to be fairly intuitive and easy to memorize, and I've included both charted and written instructions for it in the pattern.

Here is the pattern information for those of you who would like to knit up a Cloudy Day beret of 

your very own:

SIZE

Women’s Medium–Large (fits 19–23” / 48–58cm head circumference)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Brim Circumference: approx 18” / 46cm  unstretched.

MATERIALS

Classic Elite Yarns Fresco [60% Wool, 30% Baby Alpaca, 10% Angora; 164 yd / 150m per 1.75 oz / 50g skein]; color: Celestial Blue #5364; 2 skeins or approx 200 yd / 183m of a sport or fingering weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate Yarns: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, Blue Sky Alpacas Sport or Melange

1 16” / 40cm US2 / 2.75mm circular needle for brim

1 16” / 40cm US5 / 3.75mm circular needle for body of hat

1 set of US5 / 3.75mm double pointed needles for top of hat and I-cord

Stitch marker

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

28 sts / 36 rows = 4” / 10cm worked in the round in St st on US5 / 3.75mm needles or size needed for accurate gauge

Happy rainy day knitting!

The pattern forecast for tomorrow looks Cloudy.

Yes, the "Cloudy Day" beret pattern will be here soon.

Grab your size 5 circulars and your umbrella...

Illustrations provided by JillZielinskiDesigns.com.

I just received my two Seedling hats back from the test knitters and just had to snap a quick photo of all of the hats together. These three are all knit in different shades of The Fibre Company Canopy Worsted; a truly decadent yarn with wonderful drape and excellent stitch definition.

Thank you to Sarah and Didi for your excellent knitting!

My new pattern, "Seedling" is now available for purchase.

This slouchy, beanie-style hat features fledgling plants sprouting up on one side. 

It's very reminiscent of the new springtime growth that I am seeing all around me in the garden.

I live in a part of the country where the weather is relatively mild... so it already feels like spring outside. I feel a little guilty sharing that since I know that many of you are buried in snow at the moment. Sorry about that...

It will be spring outside for all of us sooner or later and while you are waiting, you can enjoy this little 

springtime knit and be reminded that young new plants and warmer weather are right around the corner.

For this knit, I indulged once again in one of my favorite yarns, Becoming Art. This time in the Cielo Worsted with the colorway "Looking Out". What a lovely blend of vibrant greens. 

This yarn is crisp and offers excellent stitch definition.

I knit up a second sample of the Seedling hat in The Fibre Company Canopy yarn in the Conifer colorway. You can find this hat in the last picture. The color looks similar to the Becoming Art yarn due to lighting, but in real life the Conifer colorway is much lighter. This yarn has a softer hand and produces a fabric with more drape. Although the yarn texture differs from the Cielo Worsted, I think that it still showed off the Seedling pattern really nicely. 

Both yarns are a great option, and these green colorways are so gorgeous.

Here is the pattern information for those of you who are interested in making a Seedling hat of your very own:

SIZE 
Women’s Medium-Large 
(fits 19–23” / 48–58cm head circumference)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS 
Brim Circumference approx 17” / 43cm unstretched.

MATERIALS 
Dark Green Version: Becoming Art Cielo Worsted 100% Superwash Merino Wool; 200 yd / 183m per 4 oz / 114g skein; color: Looking Out; 1 skein or approx 180 yd / 165m of a worsted weight wool or wool blend.

Medium Green Version: The Fibre Company Canopy Worsted50% Baby Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Viscose Bamboo; 100 yd / 91m per 1.75 oz / 50g skein; color: Conifer; 2 skeins or approx 180 yd / 165m of a worsted weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate Yarns: Madelinetosh Vintage, Cascade 220

1 16” / 40cm US6 / 4mm circular needle 
1 set of US6 / 4mm double pointed needles 
Stitch markers in 2 different colors 
Tapestry needle

It's a fun quick knit that I'm sure you will enjoy! 

Happy knitting!

On Episode 49 I had the privilege of sharing a knitting story provided by designer, Gudrun Johnston and reviewing the beautiful yarns from the company Yarn Love.

Both Gudrun and Yarn Love have contributed this amazing prize for you to enter to win.

This prize includes a copy of Gudrun's new book The Shetland Trader Book 1,

 and 7 skeins of Yarn Love yarn!

I think that this skein of Amy March yarn would make a lovely Norie hat from the book...

And the Elizabeth Bennet yarn would be so nice for the Hömin Shawl.

All of the Yarn Love yarns are wonderful, but I found myself particularly enamored by the Elizabeth Bennet yarn in the colorway Allure. It's just.. alluring. I'm really into this hazy gray/blue color lately.. and this yarn is incredible. It has a beautiful sheen and texture. This would make the loveliest shawl. 

It's almost too good to use for socks..

So there you have it. 1 beautiful publication, 7 amazing skeins of yarn, 1 very fortunate winner.

To enter to win, please leave a comment including contact information under this drawing post. 

Only one comment per person please.

In your comment I would love to hear what your favorite Yarn Love colorway is! 

You can check out all of the color options HERE.

A winner will be randomly chosen and announced on February 15, 2011. 

Please check back then to see if you've won!

Spring is right around the corner and all over my garden I see new fledgling plants starting to sprout.

The wonderful new growth of Spring inspired my next pattern design.
"Seedling" hats are coming soon!

Illustration provided by JillZielinksiDesigns.com

The Spring Issue of Knitcircus magazine is out!

Inside you will find 2 little surprises from me.

One is this little pattern I contributed...

The Roses Are Red headband for little girls.

This little headband is so fun and quick to knit up! It's a perfect way to use up all of those little extra balls of leftover sock yarn that we all have laying around. 

I used Louet Gems Fingering Weight yarn for this sample and I really enjoyed how it worked up. 

There is also a significant color range available, so you have many options for creating a unique, creative piece.

I've been knitting up headbands for my daughter for years now, its only recently that I decided to write up some patterns. They are such a fun, cute little accessory and my little one has always received many compliments when she wears them.

This pattern is available in the Knitcircus Spring Issue pattern collection which is available for purchase HERE.

I really enjoyed this issue, there are so many cute patterns! I know you will too.

Besides the headband pattern.. you will also find this 6 page spread about Never Not Knitting!

I had the awesome privilege of being interviewed by Jaala for this issue. 

So much fun! I hope you enjoy reading it! 

I'm sure all of you long time readers will recognize some of these photos. :)

You will find the interview HERE.

Jaala, the Knitcircus editor, has kindly provided me with 3 copies of the Spring Issue pattern collection to give away to 3 of my readers!

If you would like to enter to win, please leave a comment under this drawing post telling me what you thought of the current Knitcircus Issue! 

Ill be choosing 3 commenters at random and will announce the winners on February 10th.

Enjoy! :)

Drawing Now Closed! 

Congratulations to ikkinlala, norabrown,  and Debbie!

Please contact me at nevernotknitting@gmail.com 

to claim your prize!

Episode 49

Shownotes:

Yarn Love

Stitches West

Becoming Art

Cream and Sugar Cowl

Knitcircus Spring Issue

Yarn Love Yarn Types

Elizabeth Bennet- My favorite!

Yarn Love Colorways

Yarn Love Retailers

Yarn Love Patterns

Yarn Love Overstock Etsy Shop

Gundrun's Blog

Gudrun on Ravelry

The Shetland Trader Book 1

Norie Hat

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

The winner of Episode 48's 

Ida's Kitchen Drawing Giveaway

 is "

Lyeng11

"! Congratulations!

*Please check back soon to enter the drawing for Episode 49!

Get 25% off the entire selection of 

Yarn love yarns

and

patterns

until February 28th!

Enter code "nnk25" in the checkout process on either

Etsy

or

Ravelry

to receive your discount.

This offer is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.

Click

HERE

to download the Episode 49 MP3 file.

I have a sweet little springtime pattern (along with another surprise)
coming out in the next issue of Knitcircus magazine! 

The spring issue will be released on Wednesday, February 2. So be sure to check it out!

I've just received back these 3 Cream and Sugar Cowl samples from my lovely test knitters.

It's a wonderful thing having my patterns knit up by others because not only does it help me get the pattern in tip top shape before releasing, but it also allows me to see what the pattern looks like knitted up in different yarns.

These above samples are all knit in fingering weight yarns, but each yarn is very different from the other and produces varied results.

The gold cowl was knit by Eliana and is out of Malabrigo Sock. A very straightforward and nice fabric. 

Malabrigo is such a classic wool yarn, I'm glad to find another great application for it.

The brown cowl, knit by Preeti, is out of The Fibre Company Road to China Light. This cowl is the epitome of soft and squishy. This yarn also gives the fabric a slight fuzz which is lovely and adds warmth.

The third cowl, the pink one, was knit for me by Sarah. This was knit from Madelinetosh Prairie which is a light fingering weight yarn. This yarn created a delicate, ethereal looking cowl. I really like the resulting effect. Its very beautiful and different.

Thank you to all of my fabulous test knitters for creating these samples for me!

I'm happy to introduce you to the newest addition to the Never Not Knitting pattern collection.

The Cream and Sugar Cowl is now available for purchase.

This is a cozy and lightweight cowl ideal for transitional seasons such as spring and autumn. 

This cowl is made up of big, fat cables knit out of fingering weight yarn, 

so the resulting fabric is quite squishy and stretchy. 

I think it's a great application for that special sock-weight yarn that we all have in our stash. So many of us collect skein after skein of sock yarn while lacking the desire to knit the accompanying number of socks. Well.. maybe that is just me. :)

Cowls are such a nice "no-fuss" accessory. I just love that quality in cowls. Not a big unruly scarf to deal with, just a nice simple piece to slip over your head for that extra layer of warmth and style.

The yarn I used for this cowl was Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Ginger colorway. 

This color is so cozy and inviting with its rich caramely color and subtle variations. 

It reminds me of the color of coffee or tea when you add cream.. and sugar.

If this yarn was a food. I would eat it. 

I have to say that I really enjoyed knitting this cowl. The pattern is simple and easy enough to knit that it went very quickly. Also, I think that this cowl is very flattering. I've designed it so that the bottom is slightly wider than the top. That way it lays well on your shoulders and frames the face nicely.

Here is the pattern information for those of you who are interested in knitting up a Cream and Sugar Cowl of your very own:

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS 

Width: approx 15”/ 38cm around on the top, approx 20”/ 51cm around on the bottom unstretched. 

Length: approx 9”/ 23 cm.

MATERIALS 

Madelinetosh Tosh Sock 100% Superwash Merino Wool; 395 yd/361m per 114 gram skein; color: Ginger; 1 skein or approx 350 yd/ 320m of a fingering weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate Yarns: Malabrigo Sock, Becoming Art Dulche Light Fingering, Madelinetosh Prairie, The Fibre Company Road to China Light

1 16” US5/ 3.75mm circular needle 

1 stitch marker 

Cable needle 

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

24 sts/ 28 rows = 4" / 10cm in Stockinette st on US5 / 3.75mm needles or size needed for accurate gauge.

Thank you to Julie Crawford of www.knittedbliss.com for being such a beautiful model and to her husband for the excellent photography.

I hope that all of you enjoy the pattern! Happy knitting!

This pattern is now available in French. Please click here to purchase the French translation. 

Illustration by Jillzielinskidesigns.com

The "Cream and Sugar Cowl" pattern is coming soon!

In Episode 48, I was pleased to share a knitting story contributed by Kirsten Kapur. I have long admired Kirsten's designs, and this Ida's Kitchen hat pattern is no exception. It looks like such a fun, exciting little knit. If only I had more knitting time available right now.. I would totally make this.

Dancing Ewe Yarns has kindly contributed 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Melange in colors #802, #806, and #807 to get one fortunate knitter started on an Ida's Kitchen hat of their very own. Additionally, Kirsten Kapur has donated a copy of her hat pattern along with her new sweater pattern, the Washington Square cardigan to this drawing prize.

To enter to win, please leave a comment (with contact information) under this post telling me what you thought of Episode 48. Remember, only one comment per person, please.

A winner will be randomly chosen and announced on February 1, 2011. 

Please check back then to see if you have won!

Drawing Now Closed! 

Winner is "Lyeng11"! Congratulations!