Friday, November 27, 2020, Issue 176: It is four weeks until Christmas!

Many of you have purchased Advent Yarn Kits from various Indie Dyers! Brandi of @thegreenbuttonjar sold kits to many of my Thursday night Group.

The shop has Ambah X Advent KAL 2020 Kits from Koigu in stock in two colourways - Ammolite and Mica. The Kit contains 25 'demi' skeins of Koigu "KPPPM" (100% Merino Wool). Each skein contains 87 yards (2,175 yards total).

There are numerous patterns that can be adapted to be knit using 25 mini skeins but are also numerous patterns that have been written to be knit using 25 mini skeins!

Ambah O'Brien has eleven patterns in her ADVENT Collection!

The Adventuresome Wrap was designed with a Yarn Advent Calendar in mind to make the most of daily mini-skein gifts that appear. There are so many possibilities. Add colours in randomly, arrange your minis in a gradient fade, or keep it simple and use a single main colour instead. This is also a perfect way to use up all those leftover yarns hiding in your stash. Frequent colour changes in the lace and slip stitch sections make this knit addictive and will keep you wanting to knit on.

The pattern includes both charted and written instructions for the lace sections.

The Adventurer Scarf & Wrap was designed with a Yarn Advent Calendar in mind to make the most of daily mini skein gifts that appear. There are so many possibilities — add colours randomly, arrange your minis in a gradient fade, or use a main colour and alternate with mini skeins. This is also a perfect way to use up all those leftover yarns hiding in your stash. Simple garter stitch and chevron eyelet lace keeps this a mindless knit; easy shaping and the regular colour changes will keep you wanting to knit on. What adventure will you take with your Adventurer Scarf & Wrap? Choose between the narrower Scarf or wide Wrap versions.

Knit yourself something Rad! Radvent Cardigan is a cosy knit, featuring batwing sleeves. Wear it nipped in at the waist by closing the buttons, or leave it open at the front. Designed to make the most of a 25 mini-skein yarn set, the garment is knit from cuff to centre on each side and joined together. Perfect for a fade/gradient set, Radvent will also look glorious in a random order of colours, or you may choose to knit it in a single colour - so many possibilities. A contrasting colour is used for the cuffs, collar and hem and an option to “luxe” it up is included where you may choose to hold a strand of mohair through the project, as shown here in the sample.

A handy progress chart is included for each size to help you keep track of your colour changes and rows.

Melanie Berg's True Colours was designed to be knit with a mini skein set of ten colours but I think this design could easily be knit using a 25 skein advent kit too!

Whether your style is bold, elegant, playful, or simply unique - you’ll find this asymmetrical triangle shawl to be the perfect playground for your personality. It knits up to a generous size, with a simple lace pattern creating a stunning scalloped effect. Eyelet stripes separate gradient color bands, which become the accent color when the scheme is reversed near the end.

I came across this knit wreath today! The Cozy Winter Sweater Wreath by Denielle Widener is knitted flat, and then sewn around a styrofoam wreath, mine was 18” in diameter, and 2 1/8” thick. You could easily adjust the pattern to fit your foam or even sew and stuff it with polyfill. It uses a super bulky yarn such as Garnstudio Drops Andes, Istex Bulkylopi, 8.0 mm and 9.0 mm needles.

You all know that I love Julie Williams of Little Cotton Rabbits' beautiful knit animals and all of her wonderful patterns but here is a free pattern for Mister Fox by Drops Design! The pattern is for a knitted fox with trousers, jumper and bow-tie in Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca. The suggested needle size is 3.0 mm (US 2.5) for a gauge of 24 stitches and 32 rows = 4 inches in stocking stitch.

The Baby Fox Onesie together with Mister Fox would make a wonderful gift for any little one! The knitted onesie is for babies and knit in Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca. The piece is worked with a fox-pattern, with straps and pocket. Sizes: Premature up to 4 years.

WIP's and FO's

I have been super busy adding images that I had to optimize in order to upload them to a new app that I have added to allow clickable images below the drop down list on the website. There has been a lot of stressful, hair pulling hours spent trying figure this app out! I haven't been able to get too many done yet so this is a work in progress!

I did finally grafted the two pieces of my Ashes by Joji Locatelli together!

I love the finished piece...the spilled coffee is still vaguely there but it is barely noticeable!

This is so light and airy! I used a yarn that has less yardage than most so my plan was to knit on the first half until I had 50g left. I also did not want a wrap that was 25 inches wide so I eliminated 2 repeats and cast on 91 stitches. The finished and lightly blocked wrap is 75 inches by 16 inches wide. Perfect!

KNIT GROUP AND GALLERY

The current Knit-Alongs are the Any Sweater / Shawl KAL and the Knit Your Project: the everlasting knit-along to encourage and support you to knit is running from October 1 to December 31, 2020.

Don’t forget to post a pic to the finished object (FO) thread whenever you finish a project during the Knit-Along so that you will be included in the next draw! We will also add the option of posting your finished project to Instagram using the #sue2knitskal so that I can find them!

Natalie above is wearing her finished Sunday Sweater by PetiteKnit knit using Berroco Brielle. Kits are available in the shop.

Angie (KnittinGrapeVines) finished her stunning Puntilla by Joji Locatelli for the jojifallkal2020!

Rita (ritz) finished another test knit - Gossamer Twist Sweater by @caidree was just published today. She used the Malabrigo Mecha.

Dianne finished her Boy Bear by Little Cotton Rabbits using Bergere de France Ideal.

Angela (@angelamaria6334 kept busy! Two hats and some gnomes some of which she felted!

Kathy (chantrykathy) finished a pair of Nalu Mitts by Leila Raven!

Connie (knitnut246) added another pair of socks to her collection. Plain Vanilla Socks by Keri McKiernan knit using WYS Signature 4 Ply Sparkle in Silent Night.

Christina knit her first pair of socks - My Cup of Tea Socks by Robin Lynn! So pretty!

Carol (knittoatea) finished 2 pairs of Rye Socks and a pair of Rye sockettes by tincanknits - all knit with Malabrigo Rios!

Carol (knittoatea) also finished a pair of Emily’s Favourite Socks by Emily Foden.

Here is Patti (Patnelann)’s Choose Love Shawl #3 all finished! Shown with a Shawl Cuff by Knox Mountain Knit Co.

Sandi (sandima) knit the hat and scarf to gift and the colourful hat was a test knit she recently knit.

Jocelyne (jocblais) finished some gift knitting! Hermione’s Every Day Socks by Erica Lueder and I Heart Cables by Justyna Lorkowska.

Jocelyne (jocblais) also finished this gorgeous Barcode Shawl by Jodi Brown!

Jenny (JChan8) test knit this October Sky Scarf by Nina Talbot! Pattern is 30% off until December 1, 2020.

SHOP UPDATE

Another shipment arrived from Malabrigo! More Malabrigo Mecha, Malabrigo books and some Malabrigo Nube for the spinners wanting spin their own hand spun with a Malabrigo base!

A few of the new Ashford Adjustable Loom Stands also arrived! It fits the 40cm (16"), 60cm (24") and 80cm (32") standard rigid heddle looms.

VIRTUAL SOCIAL KNITTING

Virtual social knitting using the Zoom app! It has been a great way to knit together through social distancing! Join in with us either Tuesday afternoon from 2 - 4 pm or Thursday nights from 7 - 9 pm. We are continuing to hold our Zoom meetings each week until we can meet again in person. Clicking on the link will take you to our Zoom meeting.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 407820804

Happy Friday. Happy Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting! Keep calm and keep on knitting and making!