Purses and Bags

November 18, 2011 in bag, Ella Rae, Louisa Harding, Noro

The holidays are fast approaching and you know what they bring with them.

Cookies? Yes, but not what I had in mind.

Gift projects? Yes, and I know you are knitting and crocheting furiously to get them done.

Holiday parties? That’s the one!

Holiday parties are a great opportunity to visit with family and friends and take a break from the rush of preparing for either travel or house guests. On the other hand they take you away from your knitting or crocheting, but there is no reason yarn can’t still be close at hand.

Why not dress up your little black dress with one of these cute purses?

You can find these books, and the yarn to make the projects, at your local yarn store.

Party Purses

There are two version of the Grace purse in Louisa Harding’s new book “Three Graces.” These sweet little purses will work up quickly because of their petite size.

The first uses one skein of Grace Hand Beaded yarn. The simple design allows the yarn to shine.

The second version takes two skeins (one each of two different colors) because it is jazzed up with a fun, knit flower. If you can’t settled on which color you like best, this purse would be the way to go.

For a slightly larger purse, consider the Pink Cotton Purse from “Knitting Little Luxuries,” also by Harding. There are three different version shown in the book, illustrating how it can be dressed up or made for every day use.

The varied lace patterns will make this purse fun to knit as well as to use. You can make it in Grace Silk & Wool yarn with a contrasting lining for an elegant look. The matte finish of Willow Tweed yarn will still make a dressy purse, but with a different style. Or you can use Ella Rae Phoenix, a 100 percent cotton yarn, for a more practical every day purse.

Speaking of practical purses, you can download the complimentary pattern for the Hawthorn Bag from the Little Cake book from our website. This pretty purse uses six balls of Willow Tweed and has many options for embellishment.

Practical Purses

If pretty little purses like these aren’t your style, try your hand at one of these larger bags that can be used as your go-to purse for daily use. Another bonus to making bags is you don’t have to worry about whether they “fit” when you’re done.

This striped beach bag is knit in Elle Rae Phoenix and is from the book of the same name. Phoenix comes in 24 colors, which gives you many options for combining just the right colors for your wardrobe.

The Margareta Shoulder Bag is from the Noro book “Meet the Man Behind the Yarn” by Cornelia Hamilton. It shows off the beautiful Noro colors and allows you to always have some of this special yarn with you.

Felted bags are great because they are nice and sturdy. Additionally, the felted fabric gives you a “canvas” for adding embellishments to make your bag unique.

This felted bag from Sirdar is dressed up with some fun felted flowers. It is knit in Eco Wook DK yarn and the pattern is in the book of the same name.

This fabulous carpet bag is just one of 12 patterns in an Ella Rae book devoted to felted bags. The patterns all use Ella Rae Classic Wool, a 100 percent wool yarn that comes in 220 yard balls. There are 27 new colors of Class Wool this season, bringing the total to over 200 colors! With that many to select from you’ll sure to find one to please.

As you ponder the approaching holidays remember to take time to pamper yourself. Take a break from knitting or crocheting gifts for other people and whip up a cute purse for yourself. Or when your gift knitting is done and the thought of making another hat or scarf makes you gag pop a purse on your needles for some relaxing stitching.

And after you finish, share a picture of your purse with us on our Facebook page. We love to see what people make with our yarns.

Tags: bag, purse
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Gift Knitting Ideas

October 10, 2011 in Araucania, Cowls, Elsebeth Lavold, Gloves, Hats, Mirasol, Noro, Scarves, Uncategorized

Malin by Elsebeth Lavold

The middle of October is here and you know what that means.

Time to start thinking about your holiday gift knitting (and crocheting) if you haven’t begun already.

Including today, there are 73 days to December 21, the first day of Chanukah, and 76 days to December 24, Christmas Eve.

Have you ever timed your knitting? Not your stitch per minute speed, but how long it takes you to complete a project. For instance, I know a pair of socks usually takes me two weeks. A sweater for myself (an adult small), if it’s the only thing I work on, takes about a month. While a sweater for my husband, a men’s large, takes about two months.

If you are a member of Ravelry you already know that it is a great place for tracking how long a project takes, which is all important when planning your gift knitting time.

To maximize gift knitting time many people stick with simple or small projects, which makes accessories a great choice.

We have a number of books focused on accessories and other small projects that might help get your gift knitting juices flowing.

Elsebeth Lavold

The Small Things Matter Collection (Book #17) by Elsebeth Lavold is a good place to start. This book features around 20 projects ranging from hats and gloves to shawls and bags. There are even a pair of cute decorative boxes.

Most of the projects are knit in Silky Wool, which adds eight new colors this season so it will be easy to match your recipient’s tastes.

Matching the recipient’s tastes is an important first step to make sure your gift is used and not relegated to the bottom of a closet. Don’t select flashy colors for someone who likes neutrals and don’t select a complicated stitch pattern for someone who would prefer a smooth stockinette.

For your gift to be a success you need to spend some time thinking about what the person you give it to will enjoy wearing rather than what you’ll enjoy knitting. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a project that satisfies both of you.

The Malin smoke ring, shown at the top of this post, could be such a project. It calls for just two skeins of Silky Wool and features an easy lace pattern with shaping accomplished by changing needle sizes.

With the continuing popularity of cowls, your gift with be both cozy and stylish as well as fun to knit.

Mini Knits

Jenny Watson has put together “Mini Knits” books for several of the lines for which she designs.

Araucania Book #6 features 16 designs ranging from garments to home decor items.

For a change of pace there is also a cute teddy bear pattern. Just one skein of Itata is needed to make this new friend.

One skein of Araucania Itata is needed for this teddy.

If you enjoy making teddy bears, Debbie Bliss also has a few patterns. There are two sizes in her Booties, Blankets and Bears book that take Cashmerino Baby, which has six new colors this season.

There is also a free pattern for a teddy bear using one ball of Noro Kureyon on our website. Kureyon has eight new colors this season. That’s a lot of variety for your bears!

When making stuffed animals as gifts keep the age of the recipient in mind. Judge whether embroidered on eyes or plastic safety eyes will be better. For stuffing, it is easy to get either fiberfill or plastic beads at a craft store. Some knitters like to put the stuffing in a old panty hose that has been sewn or tied shut to prevent any from sneaking out through the fabric.

While Noro yarns make adorable stuffed animals they are mainly known for eye catching garments.

Jenny Watson’s Noro Mini Knits Two book covers a variety of garments from hats and scarves for both men and women to sweaters and shrugs for women of all ages.

Convertible mitts let you search for change.

One skein of Noro Silk Garden will make these cute flip-top mittens. This style of mitten is great because it keeps your fingers warm but if you need dexterity you can free your fingers without taking off the whole glove. The pattern is also fun to make with the challenge of the fingers to keep your attention.

K'acha scarf and gloves

The men in our lives can be some of the hardest people to knit for. To make it enjoyable for everyone it’s really important to select a style and color they will enjoy wearing. Showing them a selection of pictures of projects and yarns can help them narrow down what they would like. It is especially useful if they don’t “speak yarn” because instead of having to explain what they want they can just point.

This handsome scarf and glove set are from Jenny Watson’s Mirasol Mini Knits book. The set it knit in K’acha, a 60% Merino Wool, 25% Suri Alpaca, 15% Silk blend that comes in 12 jewel tone colors. Surely there will be one to satisfy that fussy man you know. The book also includes a men’s cabled hat and a boy’s vest.

Don’t worry, the book also includes plenty of pretty patterns the women in your life, including a cardigan, cowl, and hats.

If you get a start now, and plan carefully, you’ll be able to meet your gift knitting goals.

Tags: gifts, gloves, hats, mens, scarves, womens
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Be a City Girl

September 5, 2011 in Noro, Patterns

Noro's colors are alwyas in fashion.

Two of the fashion trends for this Fall and Winter are bold colors and graphic designs.

I don’t know about you, but that makes me think of Noro yarns. Sure, you can accomplish interesting color patterns though intarsia or sewing together squares that you knit or crochet…or you can just let the yarn do the work for you.

The patterns in the new City Girl book by Jenny Watson fit the bill for the current trends, but will still be wearable in the future.

This sweater coat is knee-length and features a cozy shawl collar. With the many color of Silk Garden available you can choose the perfect color to make it your own.

Transition Pieces

Worn alone or over a light coat a cape is a stylish garment.

This hooded cape is as adorable as it is functional.

The front, which you can see on our website, ties shut and has slits you can put your arms through to help keep it secure on your shoulders or to fight a draft on a windy day.

You will be surprised just what a useful addition to your wardrobe a cape style shawl can be. During the autumn months, when this is just a little nip in the air, a cape can provide the warmth you need until you are ready to drag out your heavy coats. Paired with a warm sweater a cape can help you delay coat season for that much longer.

With eight new colors of Kureyon this season you can make a cape for every mood!

Who needs a hat?

This hooded scarf (with pockets!) is another garment that will carry you through to winter and beyond. You can bundle up in the wide scarf when there is just a nip in the fall air. Then in the winter it will pair nicely with your winter coat and eliminate the worry of keeping track of a hat.

Noro Kochoran is a 50% Wool, 20% Silk, 30% Angora blend that is warm, soft, and cuddly. The angora gives it just a little bit of a halo which softens and blends the appearance of the garment. At 3.5 sts per inch, you’ll be wearing this scarf in no time!

In the Details

Strong lines and graphic colors make this one a winner.

The last pattern I’m going to highlight is this great coat.

I just love the interesting styling, which reminds me of a classic pea coat.

The contrast between the stockinette stitch body and the textured trim adds interest while you’re knitting it as well as visual interest while you’re wearing it.

Since the different textures bring up the colors in the yarn at different rates the coat has the graphic patterns that are fashionable right now with very little effort on your part.

Finish it off with some unique buttons and you’ll be turning heads wherever you go.

These are just a few of the 12 designs in the City Girl book. You can see the rest on our website, or check it out the next time you’re at your local yarn store.

Tags: Jenny Watson, Noro, patterns
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Jane Ellison Spring 2010 Update

May 19, 2010 in Araucania, Inspiration, Jane Ellison, Mirasol, Noro

For this Spring Summer I have designed Noro Kids, Araucania Summer Fruits, and five booklets for Mirasol. Which means this is the most books I have ever done in one season, seven!

Febrero from Book #9 knit in Hap'i

My Mirasol Books

This is because there has seen an exciting change in the Mirasol books. We have changed the format of the books from a big book to small booklets. The physical size of the books may be smaller but the content will be the same or even more exciting!

I love this idea and have enjoyed working with my layout designer to create a look that is fun. My first thought was to mirror the labels on the yarn with the size of the book and the cover is the same shade as the labels of that individual yarn.

Each of these books has its own feeling and theme, yet they still work together for the whole season and as always incorporates the unique Mirasol identity. So briefly there is Book 8, which uses Samp’a and is dedicated to children’s garments and accessories as I feel the Samp’a is perfect for kids. Book 9 is women sweaters using Hap’i and Book 10 is women cardigans using Nuna. For Book 11 and Book 12 I tried something different. I used the same pattern for the adult garment on the child’s garment. So for example in Book 11 garments and accessories for men and boys using Lachiwa there is a v neck sweater for the man and I used the same patterning but in different colours on the child’s tank top.

My Noro book, “Noro Kids”

Alex from Noro Kids knit in Furin.

I have really enjoyed designing these children’s patterns. It’s been such fun to see what the yarns look like in little garments. Because the garments are smaller than an adult’s the resulting stripe is wider creating a different look. For this season the 4 yarns (Aya, Furin, Sekku and Shirakaba) that Noro introduced all had an initial base of cotton and silk that then has either wool, rayon, or nylon added to it to give the beautiful fibre mixes that make Noro so unique.

Most of the garments only take a couple of balls of yarn so it’s the perfect way to discover the joy of Noro Yarns or to try out a new quality. As always I design my patterns to be simple and straightforward to let the yarns shine.

I designed these garments primarily with new knitters in my mind, but also returning knitters who want a little garment to get started with, and finally for more experience knitters who would like a weekend project or need a gift in a hurry! Those like me, who know that the birthday is at the end of January so make plans at the beginning to get that present but feel they have plenty of time and then before they know it, it’s 4 days before the birthday and I have no present!

My third Araucania book, Araucania Summer Fruits

I was so excited to use Araucania new yarns this season, they spoilt me by introducing three gorgeous new yarns – Antu is 100% cotton, Chaiten is 100% silk and Trauco is 100% cashmere.

My inspiration behind these designs started with the beautiful yarns and then I dreamt of summer holidays in a small fishing village in Cornwall that’s been brought into the 21^st century with a marina and lovely cafes to sit and watch the days go by. Hopefully these designs would look just as good in the city as they do on the beach!

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