The Knitting Experience Café

I have so much to tell you!

First up , we are hosting an informal book signing tomorrow night, Wednesday, July 1st at 6pm.  Amy King, of Spunky Eclectic, will be here to sign copies of her fabulous new book, Spin Control, from Interweave Press.

Amy will be teaching her extremely popular Learn to Spindle Class at 6:30pm. As luck would have it, she is able to come a bit earlier for an informal book signing at 6pm. Please stop by to meet Amy, see her wonderful new book, and perhaps peek at the latest batch of Spunky Eclectic yarns I hear she will be delivering.

Speaking of yarn, the shop has been full of activity these past few weeks.  New yarn and pattern lines are arriving. There are so many gorgeous new projects to knit, we hardly know where to begin.

I think Becka, Amanda, and I all snagged a skein of Spud and Chloe, the new line from Blue Sky Alpacas.  

Outer: Made of superwash 65% wool/35% organic cotton, this super bulky weight is just the thing for a quick knit (try it on a 13!).

Sweater: Made of superwash 55% wool/45% organic cotton, it’s a worsted-weight yarn for everybody.

Fine: Made of superwash 80% wool/20% silk, this sock-weight yarn is ideal for Fair Isle and detailed work—and of course, some pretty fancy footwork.

And a sampling of patterns. 

Each yarn is luxuriously soft, and - get this - washable!!  As the brilliant people at Spud and Chloe say on their website, the yarns are "family friendly and easy going, made for real life." The Sweater yarn, a worsted weight blend of superwash wool and organic cotton, felt so incredibly good and has such fantastic stitch definition, that it inspired me to draw up a new design specifically for that yarn.  Its a bit of an experiment, and I'll keep you posted.

Outer is made from the same yummy superwash wool and organic cotton as Sweater, but in chunky form.  Perfect for the earflap hats in the new pattern line. Amanda is working up shop samples of the hats now.

Fine is a blend of superwash wool and silk, and is a fingering weight.  Think elegant socks, beautiful lace, and heirloom baby clothes.

In addition to Spud and Chloe, we've welcomed CherryTree Hill to the shop and our website. You'll find their 

Supersock Merino sock yarn,

and Charmed, a chunky baby alpaca yarn with a hint of shimmer thanks to the addition to a silver thread.

Schaefer Yarn has sent us some gorgeous skeins of their most popular sock yarns: Anne, Heather, and Nicole.

I spoke with the people at Shibui Knits yesterday and found out that our shipment of their sock yarn and patterns should be arriving in a couple days.

Wow! And to think that isn't all. We have yarn from Jojoland, pins from Annie Adams, as well as the amazing Fibersphere yarn balls!

Be sure to stop by or check out our website to see all the new additions

Many of you have been asking when the next knit along will begin. Well, get those needles ready.  Announcing our 2009 Summer KAL.  We'll be knitting Kiri by Polly Outhwaite. Summertime often means a lace project. They are incredibly beautiful accessories that just happen to be very entertaining knits. For some, this will be your first lace project. What better way to tackle lace, than with a bunch of other knitters who can advise you, cheer you on, and share their tips and tricks?

While the original design was done in a mohair/silk blend, this shawl would look fabulous in anything from a lace weight yarn, to a light dk. Personally, I am debating between the mohair and a sock yarn. The advantage to using sock yarn is that your shawl is machine washable! Of course, Amy is bring some of her Merino Lace tomorrow night...

The KAL will official begin next Thursday night at Knit at Night.  To join, just let me know you'll be knitting along with us. If you want to get started early, feel free to cast on now. Watch the blog and our Ravelry group - The Knitting Experience Cafe Knitters, for updates and great tips.

Ready???

That would be a whole lotta of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Yarn. Specifically, one skein of each of their fabulous variegated colors. 

"One skein?" you say, (and we all note that slight waver in your voice as though panic is about to set in.)

 Yes, we got their starter pack to see what colors we (and you) like best. While this is a great way for us to get a taste of their yarn, it does mean that the early knitter gets the yarn for these lovelies. For now, these will only be available in the shop - or by phone if you can talk us through the pictures above to pick out the ones you want.

Same goes for these beautiful examples of Schaefer Heather, Anne, and Nicole (their newest sock yarn). 

But, we treated ourselves to full bags of Cherry Tree Hill's newest yarn:

That would be Charmed. Baby Alpaca and sparkles. Yes, sparkles. 200 yds per skein. We can't keep our hands off it.  Mmmmm... . I'll get pictures for the online store soon, but you can see, feel, and dream about it in the shop now. 

While you are trying not to drool on your keyboard, let's look at some recent knits that have stopped by the store.

Deb and her granddaughter had a beautiful pair of socks to share knit from Spunky Eclectic Sea Glass.

Peggy finished her Pioneer!!!!!! Yayyyyyyy Peggy!!!!!

Lookin' fabulous in Spunky Eclectic Summer. 

Donna whipped off the last stitch on her Show Your Colors Shawl - A Spunky Eclectic design (methinks there is a trend here.)

She used Ty Dy Sock yarn. Have you noticed how popular sock yarn has become for knitting lace? When you think about the washability factor, it makes sense.

Jen, our TKE adoptee, started and finished an adorable baby sweater out of Jo Sharp DK Wool while she has been visiting here in Maine.

Don't you love the red inset panel? Keeps baby warm, while flashing a bit of stylish attitude.

Much more is expected from UPS soon. Today brought our order of KnowKnits bags. Make sure you stop by soon to check out all the pretty colors!