Central Mass Gardens, Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home is our dedicated booklet of home accessories for Spring 2011. Fifteen designs in eight yarns, all photographed in the stunning Central Mass Gardens in Lunenberg, MA. You'll find designs in Allegoro, Classic Silk, Cricket, Firefly, Pebbles, Provence, Sprout and Summer Sox. All skills levels are represented, and you'll find knit AND crochet patterns!

The Central Mass Gardens greenhouses are lush and expansive, just the place to photograph the bigger pieces featured in this booklet. I love the bed set up between rows of plants and flowers, or the cozy velvety upholstered chair sitting amongst racks of daisies. I kind of want to live there, don't you?

Happy Earth Day!

In January of 1969, an oil well below the ocean floor off the coast of Santa Barbara ruptured, releasing millions of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. The slick spread over hundreds of miles and devastated the California coastline. This event is largely credited as the inspiration behind the first Earth Day on April 22nd, 1970.

Historically, textiles have always been a major source of pollution, especially in developing countries. In an effort to be more conscious of our carbon footprint, Classic Elite Yarns introduced the Verde Collection in Spring 2009 with Allegoro, Chesapeake, Solstice, and Sprout followed with Woodland and Katydid in 2010. This spring, Seedling became the newest member of the Verde family.

All the above yarns include organic cotton or have an environmentally friendly component. Allegoro and Katydid are made at a facility that meets the standards for GOTS certification. This means the processes used to produce them, from harvesting to milling to labelling, are fully certified under Global Organic Textile Standards. No harmful substances are used and all manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible, including the use of natural predators instead of harmful pesticides. Furthermore, all materials used to present these yarns, right down to the labels made from recycled paper, are environmentally friendly.

In celebration of this year’s Earth Day and our day-to-day collective efforts to protect our planet, we are pleased to offer a collection of patterns using yarns from our Verde Collection.

Print the Verde eBook

Spring Looks, Meadow and Garden Gate

This Spring, we shot our pattern books in a variety of locations across New England. One thing was clear--we wanted our shoots to capture the essence of the season. Our booklets are a breath of fresh air, just what the doctor ordered to fight the winter doldrums.

Because location is key to communicating just the right tone, we are presenting our Spring 2011 Collection by shoot location. First, Maple Hill Gardens in Hollis, NH, the beautiful garden where we shot Meadow, four designs in Firefly, and Garden Gate, four designs in Provence. If the image below doesn't load, click here to view Maple Hill Gardens. Enjoy and stay tuned to the blog for more peeks at our new patterns!

Maple Hill Gardens, Spring 2011

April Liberty Print Colors and Patterns!

April is finally here! With this first official month of Spring comes our new colors of Liberty Print and two new free patterns. These patterns are available with the purchase of Liberty Wool from any of our subscribers, but don't fret if your local shop doesn't have them yet. They'll be available for download at month's end on Patternfish.

First our April colors...Much like the month of their release, our April colors represent cool and warm. First, there is Reflecting Pool, a blend of greens, blues and white, with a splash of lavender thrown in. Next is Campfire, a hot mix of reds, oranges, browns, and blues with an inspired electric purple stripe.

The two projects for the month are quick, gratifying knits.

Easy Baby Sweater
A raglan cardigan for girls and boys with wide ¾ length sleeves that is worked from the top down. The pattern includes sizes for 6–12 months (18–24 months, 36 months) with a finished chest measurement of 18¾ (21½, 23½)".

Liberty Wool by Classic Elite
3 (3, 4) balls 7806 Reflecting Pool

Double Thick Socks
A pair of cozy house socks that show off the Liberty Wool Print color variation with an allover double thick stitch. The result is a washable and cozy pair of socks! Written for 7 (8, 9)" foot and ankle circumference with a 4" cuff (slightly stretched).

Liberty Wool by Classic Elite
3 (3, 4) balls 7807 Campfire

Is your LYS a subscriber? Two new colors of Liberty Print will be released each month until June, and any LYS that subscribes will receive one (or more) bag of each. All our subscriptions get first priority, and will ship before any other orders. That means if your shop is a subscriber, they are guaranteed to be the first to have these colors in stock, and you'll be the first to have them!

Spring Inspiration

Home Sweet Home

Spring is upon us! The days are getting longer and our minds are turning to flip-flops, shorts, and light breezy knits. Our Spring collection is full of looks suited for the beach or the office. But where do these designs come from? Who decides what makes the cut? This week on the blog, our Creative Director Susan Mills talks about the inspiration behind the Spring Collection. Find out what goes into planning a full season of yarns and garments, and see all our Spring looks throughout the month here on the blog. Subscribe and you won't miss a thing!

Nailing together a window frame to show off our valance

I began working on the CEY Spring 2011 collection in February 2010. First, new yarns need to be chosen and new colors ordered to add to existing yarns. Choosing colors is a tricky business. We want to be up to date with current fashion trends but need to keep in mind the look of the overall palette. For Spring 2011, I looked for colors that were dusty and watered down but not quite pastel, and deeper colors with a gray or earthy tone.

Knitscene Summer 2011

Knitscene has always been high on my list of favorite magazines. The aesthetic is fresh, the styling is beautiful, and I can count on seeing some of my favorite independent designers represented. Their first Summer issue is no exception, and with four designs in Classic Elite yarns, I couldn't be happier. All photos are by Joe Coca.

The French Creek Skirt in Katydid was designed by Laura Birek who you may know if you've ever seen the pullover she designed back in 2008, an intarsia version of Shepard Fairey's Obama poster with the work "Hope" written across it. I'm not a knitted skirt person generally, but the openness of this one appeals to me. It's not as much a garment as it is an accessory, and I love the look of it over wide leg pants or a long skirt.

The Mountour Falls cardigan from Melissa Goodale is an open cardigan with beautiful, delicate, twisted cabling around the hem, cuffs, and band. Cotton Bam Boo is the perfect choice, with its combination of drape and weight.

Provisional Cast On

A provisional cast on is a method of casting on that keeps the cast on stitches live, meaning that you can put them back on the needle and knit in the other direction. You'll see it used in our Web Letter pattern of the week, the Posh Neck Scarf. You can also see it used in a few pieces in our Spring 2011 collection: Verona, Nigh Duck, Chicory and Clover. Scroll to the end for a video showing the provisional cast on in action.

1. First you need a length of waste yarn, preferable contrasting. Nothing too wooly or sticky (so don't follow my lead and use Ariosa.) You also need a crochet hook in a comparable size to your needle. Don't overthink the size of the crochet hook, I'm sure you have one that will work somewhere in your notions bag.