CEY

How to make 3-D flowers

The Dahlia headband, designed by Tonia Barry for our Spring 2012 collection, sports three-dimensional flowers on a garter and stockinette headband in Cotton Bam Boo Print. Having trouble understanding the instructions? Tonia took some photos on-the-fly while she was knitting up her sample. If you would like to knit one yourself, you can purchase the pattern as an instant pdf download here (Ravelry link).

Knit your petals. Make 12, 6 for each flower. Cut a 24" piece of yarn and fold it in half. Thread it through a tapestry needle.

Insert through each of the four eyelets in each of the six petals for the first flower.

Hyperbolic? Nah...

It's open-front, semi-striped, flattering, and in our gorgeous mercerized Egyptian cotton, Provence. Need I say more? It's the Tremont Cardigan from Talitha Kuomi (sounds like Tabitha, only with an "l").

Color is intimidating for me. I worry too much about what syncs with what, what colors flatter me, what translates well to a garment...

Anyway, this piece stuck in my craw the second I saw it. It's exactly what I love in a sweater--not constricting, versatile, and will stand up to a beating. But I was curious...with 73 colors of Provence in our catalog, what combos can we come up with? I asked Creative Director, Susan Mills. Color is her comfort zone. And she came through with some choices. So, naturally, I knit some swatches.

Niagara Falls Pit Stop!

Betsy, Heather and Meg opted out of flying and drove to TNNA from here in North Billerica. On the way there, they stopped by Niagara Falls because, as Betsy said, "You only live once, right?"

Happy summer travels this gorgeous holiday week!

Knitting Daily KAL!

We won! Well, kinda.

The Pan-Am Jacket from Interweave Knits Winter 2011 is the newest Knitting Daily KAL! This sweater from Ashley Rao is knit in MountainTop Crestone.

If you're not familiar with the MountainTop Collection, do yourself a favor and pick up a skein. When we first released the original three yarns (Vista, Crestone and Vail), I once even heard a knitter exclaim about Vista that she "never want(ed) to knit with anything else again". I rejoiced because I love a natural yarn: untreated, undyed, sweet-smelling, and hard-wearing, these yarns are right up my alley.

Though the sweater calls for Crestone, one of the beauties of this yarn and Vista is that they're interchangeable. The only difference is the fiber content.

Color Affection for Me!

Whoever coined the malapropism "Color Affliction" sure had it right. This pattern has swept through our office like wildfire, with somebody casting on every day it seems. First Tonia, who finished hers in a weekend; then Cheryl, the consummate sweater knitter; Betsy couldn't resist it; and finally I broke down (Chelsea). I think Andi just bought the pattern too...

I'm no stranger to Veera Valimaki's patterns. Six out of thirty-one pdf patterns in my Ravelry library are her designs, putting her at a whopping near 20%. I've already made the Line Break shawl twice, am planning a Still Light tunic for this Fall (in Alpaca Sox, once I get over the idea of knitting a tunic for a 6' tall frame on US 1's), and just cast on my very own Color Affection in Silky Alpaca Lace. What do you think of my color choices? (FYI, the green is a new color for Fall 2012. How pretty is it?)

A Ravelry search turns up five projects in MountainTop Vail, four in Alpaca Sox, one in Fresco, and six in Silky Alpaca Lace.

Susan's inspiration board for Fall 2012. So many luscious new yarns!

By the way, have you sent in your Spring-O board yet? Only a few weeks left to enter for a chance to receive all 130+ new patterns for Fall 2012!

Spring-O Progress Report!

How's your Spring-O board coming along? Remember, there's still time to enter your projects on Ravelry! All you need is one line vertically, horizontally or diagonally on our official Spring-O board, and you can be entered to receive our entire Fall pattern collection! Don't forget to tag your project with the word "Spring-O" so we'll know where to look. Visit classiceliteyarns.com/springo.php for official rules and to download your very own official scorecard.

In the meantime, check out some awesome Spring-O projects from these Ravelers!