Meg's Rocky Pond

On one of my first days in the office at Classic Elite Yarns, I was given a sneak peek into the spring line. We weren't ready to introduce it to the world yet, but it was almost ready to show to yarns stores. There were so many things that I couldn't wait to put into my queue. One of which was Rocky Pond.

One of the women in our office was going to California in February and wanted to wear something hand knit.  She wanted something that was simple, not too boring to knit, and only about two weeks work from start to finish. Rocky Pond was a perfect choice! The lace pattern in the top is intuitive, and can be easily memorized, eliminating the need to look at a chart every few stitches.

Meg used Provence, a 100% Mercerized Cotton in a DK weight, in the color of the year – Emerald (the official Provence color name is Laurel).

I love the boat neck on this top, a flattering look for most women.

Knit in two pieces with minimal finishing, it was a quick knit for Meg. She managed to finish it in just under her deadline (I understand that she may have been weaving in ends on the plane and blocking in the hotel room, but she finished it before her event – which is all that really matters).

Now that spring is here – and hopefully to stay (fingers crossed) – I suspect that I'll be seeing this pretty top around the office quite a bit.

I have plans for my own Rocky Pond, but I'm planning on using Soft Linen. There is a lovely shade of green called New Fern that I can’t wait to cast on. I have a few things in my queue that I need to work on first (including my Sugar and Cream Lace Wrap for the Shawls,Wraps and Scarves Knit-Along that we will be starting shortly.), but I'm not sure if I can wait.

Are you planning on making a Rocky Pond top – or have you finished one already? We would love to see it!

Zigzag Tank

There are two things that I have been enamored of lately...stripes and mitered squares. So you can only guess how excited I was when I saw this tank from Susan Mills in the new knit.wear.

Susan used a new spring yarn, Canyon. It is a sport weight yarn made from pima cotton with a hint of alpaca, which makes a smooth and silky summer blend.

Normally, to get a zigzag look, you would need to do color work or a chevron stitch pattern. But Susan was very clever and  used the combination of mitered squares with stripes to achieve this look. 

She was also able to construct the garment by picking up and knitting along the edges of some of the squares, which means less finishing (always a good thing!).

Tanks are always a great addition to any spring/summer wardrobe. I can envision this one under a jacket, or just as is with jeans or a long skirt. 

knit.wear is available now as a digital download here and will be on newsstands April 2nd.

Photos courtesy of Interweave Press, photographer Joe Hancock.

One Sweater...Three Ways!

Convertible garments have always intrigued me. I love seeing those hang tags that have illustrations on how to wear a garment more than one way. But more often than not I can never get them to look the way they should (or at least the way they look in the illustration).

The Star Lily top from the Canyon booklet has three ways to wear it (that we know of). We put together a little video on the different ways to style the garment.

What could be better than knitting one garment, and getting three?

   

Have you knit the Star Lily and found another way of styling it? We would love to see photos! Send them to blog@classiceliteyarns.com.  

Sunburst Shawl

Every season there is one pattern that breaks out from the pack. The thing that everyone wants to knit. And this season, the piece to knit is the Sunburst Shawl by Rachel Henry in Soft Linen (available in the booklet Meadow Melody or on Ravelry.)

The shawl is a two color lace sampler triangle worked from the bottom edge to the center point (so your rows get shorter and shorter as you go – which also means faster and faster!)  It has a soft delicate vintage vibe that is so popular right now.

Soft Linen is a linen, wool and alpaca blend. The wool in the Soft Linen gives it a nice drape, while the alpaca gives it a touch of warmth and a halo that makes the shawl a great three season piece. Throw it on over your outfit on chilly spring mornings or to keep warm in the chilly A/C world that we live in during the summer months. And it's still appropriate for those fall days when you don’t quite want to admit that winter is coming.

Rachel knit the sample in Winter Pear and Titian Blue. But what if you want to try something a little different? We put our creative minds together to come up with a few other color combos that you might want to try. Using the magic of Photoshop, and a talented Graphic Designer, we are able to preview them for you.

The first color combo is Linen and Celadon. It still has a similar antique feeling, but is a little less scary for those who aren't as comfortable mixing colors.

We also paired the Linen with Titian Blue, which is a beautiful colorway.

The Botticelli Pink with the Linen is a soft color combo with a hint of girlishness. 

The blue/green color combo of the Deep Cornflower Blue and New Fern is reminiscent of the original shawl, but with a little kick.

Looking for some other combos? Maybe something a little bolder, or darker? Here are a few suggestions:

 From Left to right: Blue Grotto and Inca Gold, Blue Grotto and Titian Blue, Blue Grotto and Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Blue and Tangerine, New Fern and Deep Twilight, Kentucky Blue and Turk Red, Turk Red and Deep Twilight, Loden Green and Smokey Rose, and Kentucky Blue and Loden Green.

The shawl would also be a classic wardrobe stable knit in one color, shown here in Titian Blue:

I know you can’t wait to cast on! You can buy the pattern on Ravelry here or at your LYS. View all the colors of Soft Linen here.

Spring has arrived!

I have been waiting with bated breath to show you guys our spring line. There are so many great things to share. I hope your high speed internet is working, because this is going to be a picture heavy post!

We have 16 (16!) new pattern booklets for spring. Below I've picked a few pieces from each booklet, just to whet your appetite, but be sure to check our website for ALL patterns in ALL designs. There are 65 for you to choose from!

Canyon
four designs in Canyon

Mesa
four designs in Mesa

 

Atlantis
five designs in Classic Silk

 

Color by Kristin: Book Three
six designs in Color by Kristin

 

Bird’s Nest
four designs in Cricket

 

Domino
four designs in Firefly

 

Maple Hill Farm
four designs in Provence

 

West Garden
five designs in Sanibel

 

Plum Island
five designs in Seedling

 

Meadow Melody
four designs in Soft Linen

 

Boardwalk
four designs in Solstice

 

Fun in the Sun
four designs in Sprout

 

Surf’s Up
six summer crochet designs

 

Year Round: Perpetual Favorites
six designs in our favorite wool/cotton blends

 

Handmade Los Angeles I
five designs for the urban knitter

 

Handmade Los Angeles II
five designs for the urban knitter

 

Make a visit to your local yarn shop to see each beautiful booklet - you'll want to look at all the details, figure out what sizing works best for you, pick which color to use - you know the drill. Or download any individual pattern through Ravelry. I dare you to just pick one!

Think Spring

The past few weeks in New England has brought us lots of cold temperatures and even some snow. Yet somehow I am thinking about my queue and spring knitting.

Knitting for fall and winter seems like a more natural choice. At some point in early fall we just want to wrap ourselves up in as much wool/alpaca/llama as possible. And we know that even if we start a sweater at that point, we will still have plenty of time to wear the FO.

But spring presents a different challenge for us knitters. If you are like me, you can’t bear to not have knitting. But at the same time, I don’t want to work with the wool/alpaca/llama that I normally love during the colder months.

Luckily, Class Elite has some great spring/summer yarns, including Sprout, Seedling, Cricket, Firefly, Provence, Sanibel, Soft Linen, Magnolia, Solstice, ClassicSilk and two new yarns Canyon and Mesa.

We are almost ready to share our spring collection with you and I personally can’t wait. The collections are full off cardigans, pullovers, shawls, tank tops, tees, and accessories. There is even a dedicated booklet for crochet!

Keep checking back in the next few weeks to see previews of our new booklets and to find out more about our new yarns. In the meantime, think spring!