PURL DIVA*

Holiday/Weather Changes to Schedule

We will be closed on Monday, May 28th (Memorial Day).

A New KAL: Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf

A new shipment of Koigu arrived yesterday and opened up many new color options for the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf. Last night the Wednesday Night Knitters and I decided that this scarf should be the focus of a new knit along, so I hereby declare that the new Purl Diva Knit Along (KAL)* is the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf!

If you are interested in joining us, you can buy the pattern on Ravelry (Ravelry registration required), or here at the shop.

Here are some ideas for color combinations (with names coined by yours truly)...

Tide Pool:

Bold Rush:

Coral Reef:

Wuthering Heights:

Abalone Sandwich:

Primary School:

Winslow Homer:

A Royal Gush:

Boy Meets Girl:

Stop And Go:

Monet's Faves

Greek Isles:

Thistle Stop

The are many more color combos available, so feel free to come to the shop and play!

*What's a KAL? Click HERE to find out.

Miriam KAL Update

Liz finished her Miriam! She made hers out of Quince Chickadee in the Iceland colorway. She skipped the waist-shaping, and made the garter stitch band around the neck and sides a little shorter than in the pattern.

Some of you already know this from a recent Facebook post, but I finished my Miriam too! I made mine out of Quince Chickadee in the Pea Coat color. I lengthened both the body and sleeves.

I learned a very important lesson while making this sweater: Do not knit navy blue sweaters while nestled beneath a mohair blanket on the couch. The yarn might say 100% wool, but this sweater ended up being 98% wool, 2% mohair.

I know that some of you out there have finished (or are close to finishing) your Miriams. Be sure to swing by so I can take pics!

Friends and FOs Update

It's time to showcase some of our Finished Objects...

Here's Betsy hamming it up in the super-wearable Margot (a pattern by Linden Down featured in Knitty) that she made out of Berroco Vintage...

Julie made this lovely cardigan (designed by Jenny Watson) out of Noro Silk Garden Sock...

Cherylyn made a shop sample - the He Said She Said hat from ChicKnits - using Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky.  This is a unisex pattern which also includes a cowl (more copies of the pattern are on their way to the shop...)  Cherylyn is going to make a manly-colored version of this for her son.

Susie also made a shop sample - the Lace Capelet by Mary Heather Cougar - out of one ball of Trendsetter Super Kid Seta. This is a feather-light accessory that is warm and dressy. Judging from the Ravelry projects for this design, this is a popular item for bridemaids!

And - because I've shown you shop samples made by Cherylyn and Susie - I will show you one that I made, even though you may have already seen it if you follow us on Facebook. It's the Knitting Pure and Simple's Neck Down Cardigan, made out of Peace Fleece in the Violet Vyehchyeroom colorway. (Peace Fleece color names are so fun!  Every time I say Violet Vyehchyeroom I feel like I am revving up a car engine.)

Sometimes My Job Is Really Fun

We want to have a fun new photo for our Facebook page banner when Facebook changes its page-view format, so Paul and I had a photoshoot this morning. This photo will NOT be the new banner pic but I wanted to share it anyway.

(Potentially useful behind-the-scenes info: I'm actually fully clothed under a panel of cardboard covered with a layer of yarn from my personal stash.)

Friends and FOs Update

Time for a quick update of our customers' fabulous Finished Objects!

Barb made this adorable Puerperium Cardigan for a very lucky baby. She used Vintage DK in the Fondant color.

Betsy used Cascade 220 to make this hat and mitten set, integrating a hodgepodge of various Fair Isle motifs. These accessories will definitely keep her warm and stylin' during her upcoming trip to Denmark.

Tabitha looks like she had fun playing with color and Fair Isle motifs when making these incredibly cool gloves out of Nature Spun Sport.

Cassie tested her pattern adaptation skills by making Soay out of Quince Lark in Honey. The pattern calls for a sport weight yarn, and Lark is a worsted weight yarn, so she knit a smaller size at a bigger gauge and did some fancy math to figure out the short-row sleeve caps. We love adventurous knitters!

Also in the Adventurous Knitter category is Ethan, who created this hat based on images from the book The Little Prince. Here you can see le petit prince, the rose (near Ethan's chin), and a star. On the other side of the hat Ethan depicted a volcano and a sheep. If you know this classic tale you know why he chose these images! Now he is working on a hat that incorporates the boa constrictor part of the story (with the elephant, of course!) I can't wait to see how he manages that!

This next project is not quite finished, but it is so impressive that I thought I'd show it to you now. Adrienne is using up sock scraps from her stash (theoretically...) to make this Sock Yarn Blanket. She's actually making very speedy progress given the tiny gauge/huge size of this blanket!

Well done, everyone!