Bella Knitting

Natures Colors

Laura

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It's the time of year when the days are noticeably longer, the kids start a count down for the number of school days left (we have twelve and a half to be very precise), and even gardeners in northern states (and most of our friends in Canada) can plant their annuals with out worry of frost.

We spent quite a bit of time outside touring San Francisco with visiting family. I was drawn again and again to the color of the gardens. The riot of colors is in full bloom in this part of the world but I was charmed mostly this weekend by the soft and subtle colors of nature. The gorgeous grasses swaying gently in the breeze, the variety of texture and shades of similar colors.



In a coincidence similar to Sarah and Ingrid's I opened these photos from Leslie when I came back from a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. Love the subtle colors. I've added the three photos Leslie sent to our Log Cabin Flickr page. Good job Leslie! Thanks for sharing.

Sports Fan Knitting

Laura

As those of you reading the blog for awhile may have noticed, I am a sports fan. I love watching football in particular but like many of you spend hours upon hours at my kids sporting events as well. When we went to Stitches West this year half the booth was dedicated to baby projects and half to sports projects. It was fun to see the wide variety of team that knitters (and their guys) attending this California convention supported. For the second year in a row the Midwest was well represented and we sold out of Green Bay Packers colors (last year it was the Minnesota VIkings fan in attendance).

With all this fun, we've spun off the sporting collections to a new sister web site --> SportsFanKnitting.com. We've have our favorite Karabella Aurora 8 in colors for all the teams pro, college and high school. We are working with out local high school for ideas for their dance team too.

Playing with Color

Laura

One of the things I like best about visiting my LYS is getting ideas on yarn and color combinations. That's why we like to add recommendations to our web site whenever we can.

Now that I have the store web site under control, I've been able to get to a few things I've been meaning to do. The top item on that list was adding Pima Tencel color combinations for our very popular non-garter Log Cabin blanket. With summer babies on the way it seemed like the perfect time to get this done and what fun we had  with balls of yarn spread all over the table shuffling colors this way and that.

The blankets use four colors, so we combined a little of this with a little of that, loving this one, rolling our eyes at that one. Trying the unexpected just to see how it worked. In the end, after some voting we picked ten options in three palettes; Bold, Pastel and Natural.

I fell in love with some of the pretty spring pastels, now all I need is a baby to knit for! With a bit of new nifty I was able to add a page showing all the related Flickr photos. Fun.

You may not be building a Log Cabin blanket right now but I bet you might just have a bit of stash around. You might be surprised at what works together - so take a peek.

Moms that Knit

Laura

I just received this gift in my in-box. It made my entire day. What a great photo! Thanks to Dylster for sharing it with us and thanks to his mom for knitting it for him!

His Flickr caption says "I am now feared throughout the land!" I'm not sure anyone would fear those blue eyes but we appreciate his eye for taking a good photo for sure. Thank goodness for mom's who knit for their kids of all ages.

(And in case you don't already know, the hat kits can be found here!)

Double Dutch, Chunky Style!

Sarah

I knit one of Arlette's Double Dutch hats a while back, and it was so fun I knew I'd be making more. That's saying a lot, coming from me, since I tend not to repeat the same patterns very often -- but the knitting of this is clever and different, and it's a hat, so it doesn't technically count as a new WIP. (Yes, I made that rule up. It's kind of like the rule that sock yarn doesn't count as stash. It works.) So I worked on other things, and waited for the right combination of yarns to occur to me.

The other day, I was high off of the rush that comes with completing a UFO that's been in the pile for a long time (this one, if you're wondering) and contemplating new projects (despite the number of UFOs in hibernation) when I walked past a basketful of yarn and noticed these two colors of Cascade Venezia, sitting side-by-side. Perfect! So, I cast on (making up my two-color cast-on as I went along, which explains the wonkiness) and began a new Double Dutch. I want it to be big and slouchy, so I'm using size 10 needles and only subtracted about 8 stitches from what the pattern suggests (all patterns are suggestions, right?) and it looks okay so far. It may end up being a little too big and slouchy, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. For Science.

I don't think it's up in the store yet, but Laura has some of this yarn in three or four different colors (including the two I'm using), if you're interested in trying out your own super-chunky Double Dutch. If I get lazy, I'm going to cast off after knitting a few more inches and call it a cowl, which should be really cute and cozy. Or I might still do a hat, but change it up by doing a gathered top instead of the swirly decreases. I do loves me some swirly decreases, though...decisions, decisions. I'll let you know how it goes!

Viking Down Under

Here is one of our rampaging Vikings. Shhh, you may not have noticed yet but they are slowly taking over the world so lock your doors at night and batten down the hatches.

This little Brunhilde is Down Under, although she looks more like a lover than a fighter. Her name is Freya - just perfect!! :)

It's Here! Yumy New Cascade Sock Yarn!

Laura

Buying online takes a leap of faith when you don't know what you're buying. That's why Bella only carries yarns you know and we love like Karabella and Cascade. But sometimes when faced with something new what's a shopper do but go for it? This happened to me when I saw a small snippet of the new Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn a few months ago.  The price point was good and it seemed soft . . . then again I've painted an entire room based on a tiny paint chip and that hasn't exactly worked out, but since we wanted to be one of the first to get this new yarn I jumped right in with a credit card and a smile.

So when my favorite mail carrier de jour (the one with the yarn boxes) delivered the Heritage yarn yesterday I jumped up and down (there may have been a bit of a squeal too but I get kudos for not hugging him), grabbed the scissors and crossed my fingers. My very first impression was that the colors were deep and rich. I pulled out the bags, trying to remember what colors I had ordered, peering at each one through the plastic, holding the multicolor Paints up to the window light and immediately (as I know you would) started picking out one for myself.

Time for the big test  - how did it feel? The label says 75% merino superwash and 25% nylon. Perfect for socks, wash and wear that's what we want but would it feel as nice to knit with, would I open it and sigh in pleasure or would it just be 'OK'?  I carefully cut open the bag, took a deep breath, closed my eyes (the better to isolate my senses), stuck my hand in the bag and . . .

So, of course, it is absolutely lovely. Take a look at the beautiful deep colors. We didn't order them all but we did get the deep Marine blue (first blue) and Demin (the hird), the Plum which is prettier than the photo, Bark (a.k.a. brown), Moss (the lighter green) and the three lovely Paints on the right. I think these are going to go fast so I could use some help picking colors for the next order. Any of your favorites that we missed? I am not a big fan of ordering every color  since not every one can be the best one but if you like it we'll try it! :)

I am torn between two of the Paints - Londonberry (5620) and Isle of Skye (5622). I've been planning on knitting Sarah's Synesthesia Socks for a while now and think this yarn will be perfect. You can grab Sarah's free sock pattern here.

Conveniently, I also just received my new Size 1 Knit Picks Harmony circular needles (OK, OK a few more too). Yes, size 1 wood needles - they are delicate and lovely too. A match made in heaven!

More on yarn specs below ...

A New Pattern and a Sneak Peek

Sarah

I have been a  busy little bee lately, and I'd like to share some of what I've been working on. First, I'm very excited that Ravelry has started up its pattern-hosting service -- it's just one more great feature on an already awesome site. I've opened a pattern store for some of my original designs, which you can check out here. I've put up the pattern for this sweater, which you may recall from a post a few months ago.

It now has a name -- it's the Woodside Pullover, named after a charming little nearby town -- and the pattern is available for download via Ravelry for $7.50. The six sizes given in the pattern range from a 32 to 48 inch chest measurement; I think it's a good unisex pullover, so I wanted to include the smallest and the largest sizes I could without having to do weird things to the stitches. (I do have some tips in the pattern for extending the size range by working at a slightly smaller or larger gauge, for the knitter who loves to modify.)

Of course, not everyone is equally keen on the Noro Kureyon which I used, so I included some suggested substitutions in the pattern. When Bella Knitting starts carrying the complete project in a few weeks, you'll be able to choose from Karabella Aurora 8 or DiVe Autunno, both of which are very soft. We carry the former in a lot of great solid colors, if you want a sweater that's all about texture, and the latter is a super-soft self-striping yarn with wide repeats. I'll let you know when this option becomes available, of course.

And now for the sneak peak promised in the title of this post...you know how I did a tutorial on yarn overs the other day? Well, I've designed something for Bella which uses a lot of them! It's being test knit, and we're working on the pattern, so it should be ready soon! The version shown here was knit in Cascade Venezia Worsted, which I swear knits like buttah. It's a totally dreamy 50-50 wool-silk blend. Of course, since Bella Knitting is all about the options, there's going to be a second great yarn choice and an option for using beads...but I think I'll leave it at that for now. I'll share more when there is more to share.

 

March Madness

Laura

With March Madness about to spring into action it seemed appropriate to feature our Sports Fan Collection at Stitches West. Here's a picture of our Sports Wall highlighting some of the teams in the Pac Ten and my very hard working daughter Jaclyn sporting her newly completed Stanford scarf. (It was supposed to be Laura's new Stanford scarf but once Jaclyn wore it during the 20+ long hours she worked the booth at Stitches I gave in to the inevitable.)

The banners and scarves attracted both guys and gals with a wide variety of favorite teams. We had all the colors for any sports team but no list of which teams sport which colors. "Not necessary," I boasted to Sarah and Robin, "I'll know them all. Well, the NFL anyway." And so I was tested all weekend long ... messing up only when I showed my age and rattled off the Houston Oiler colors for the now Houston Texans. Silly me, I know you never would have made the same error! ;)

Hanging out there on the left side of the photo is the very bright scarf for the Oregon Ducks. It's our Patent Knit Scarf, one of four sports fan scarves we offer. It's a great scarf, super simple with lots of depth and squishiness! But there it hung, a wallflower, just waiting to be noticed instead of the more popular Peasant Lace Scarf next to it. Sadly only a few customers wanted to knit it all weekend (the yellow might have blinded them!).

This scarf is the kissing cousin to the fabulous new 2-color brioche stitch we announced a few days ago - but the polar opposite on the difficulty scale. It's knit flat and you can see how the stripes are horizontal instead of vertical  - those two things make all the difference in the world.  This stitch is super easy, I am sure most of you have seen it before ... cast on a multiple of 3 stitches then:
* yo, sl1, k2tog * keep on going, every row, both sides until you have reached your goal or run out of yarn.

We are including this as a free Bella Knitting pattern and have included the link right here in this post! 
"Gee, Laura, thanks a lot. A pattern download with only 18 characters including spaces. Just what I always wanted ! ??"

Well, not exactly. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to share our philosophy on pattern writing and customer support with you. "Egads!  Now I'm excited ... zzzzzz". No, don't panic it is pretty straight forward:

1. Knitting is fun, knitters are fun, therefore, patterns should be fun too.
2. A bit of English in a pattern goes a long way. We are not ancient Egyptians, so patterns that read like hieroglyphics don't do it for us.
   
3. Knitters are helpful and we love to share our knowledge of the craft. Wouldn't it be nice if the designer added some of his or her own insight to the pattern? A few tips and bit of history about the project or technique would add a lot to the experience.
4. Knitters like to knit 24/7. That means when I am trying a new pattern or new stitch at 3 in the morning, while munching on leftovers and watching 30 minute infomercials it would be helpful if you were sitting there next to me.

OK, so while we can not yet teleport over to your house in the middle of the night, we can try to anticipate your questions and load in some helpful tips, a picture or two, a few encouraging words and even a bit of humor now and then.

So here it is. It's free, it's fun, you'll find out why we call it Patent Knitting instead of brioche and how in the world we turned 18 characters into a five page pattern! Maybe it will give some of you highly talented Independent Designers out there a few ideas on how to add a bit of zip your own patterns. Many, many of the fabulous knitters we met at Stitches commented on the content of our patterns. We thank them for visiting and for noticing our extra effort.

Download BellaPatentSportsScarf.pdf

More below if you'd like to give or get some feedback ...

Hold on to your Hats!

Laura

Introducing the Double Dutch Hat by Arlette Thibodeau

Ready set go!  Run, don’t walk  - grab your needles, two colors of yarn and your phone (more on that later). This is  a 2-color brioche hat designed by our creative friend Arlette Thibodeau for Bella Knitting as part of our Independent Designer program.  We first introduced Arlette in our blog as a fabulous photographer. She has taken some of our best photos. 

You’re going to want to get this pattern and try it right away. Really, trust me on this one. We never push our patterns but we demonstrated this at Stitches West from dawn to dusk, and every time we put down the needles someone else wanted to see it.  We had groups, small and big, peering over our shoulders to see what was up and demonstrated until I was hoarse. I’m not sure I ever had so much fun at a trade show!

It's knit with two colors, one in each hand and results in a completely reversible hat. “But, Laura”, you say (or are at least thinking),  “I know I've seen this before and it used two hands also so what’s the big deal?” 

•    Both colors are used in every round. The other techniques pretty much work with one yarn and carry the other. You end up knitting two rounds to get both colors. Not in this case, both yarns are used in every round.

Take a quick peek at the short video and you will see why it is so fun and why we call it the “Double Dutch” hat.

[Video temporarily removed since some people were having a hard time with it. Video link is on web site until we fix this. }

Pretty nifty, so what else is different? …

•    The decreases work perfectly on both sides too. I picture Arlette sitting up late at night trying to figure this one out. It is quite the accomplishment.

Working with two color and two hands is a bit challenging – the knitting technique itself is not hard, it’s the going in two different directions (the whole walk and chew gum at the same time thing) that makes it so fun to figure out. We tried it in a group the first time and recommend you do the same (that's why you need the phone - to call your knitting friends). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll make fun of each other … then suddenly someone will cry “I’ve got it”. As we mentioned on the video (yes, there is a video - we would never leave you alone with something new like this) it takes about 45 minutes for your fingers to catch up with your brain but you’ll enjoy the ride.

Here is the NY Football Giants hat I knit after they won the Super Bowl this year. They were also super popular at Stitches and you'd be surprised how many different teams people support.Once we get going we are planning a Ravelry Knit Along. So stay tuned.

More on the hat support below …