Mother’s Day is coming…and sooner than you think

Somehow, despite my best efforts, I am usually late with my Mother’s Day gifts. Often it is because my mother loves hand knit socks and while I can make a pair of plain socks in a few days if I put my mind to it, I am easily distracted when it comes to knitting (my internal dialog goes something like this - ohhh…I like that cardigan, I need to cast on. But wait, what about that cute top you have been looking at for months? Now is a good time to start working on that. Socks, you need to work on those socks. But I really do need a new afghan. This probably sounds familiar to many of you). I may have given her a sock with the needles still in it one year for Christmas and as soon as she opened the box, I asked for the sock back so I could finish it (full disclosure, it was only the second sock that wasn't done. And I was staying with her the days leading up to the holiday, so I felt I couldn't work on them in front of her).

But this year if different! Not only was I on time for Mom’s Day…my mother has already received her gift!

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mother. She said she wanted a new knitting project. My mom is the knitter who will make a scarf and then put down her needles for months on end (this is so not the type of knitter I am. I can't go a day without knitting.) She also likes small quick projects. I began asking her what it is she wanted to knit.

Me: A scarf?
Mom:  No.
Me: How about a hat?
Mom: Ummmm no.
Me: How about a bag?
Mom: No…not really my style.

I could see this was going to be a challenge.

The next day at the lunch table I was telling one of my co-workers about my quandary. I wanted to help find my mom something to knit. But she had shot down all of my immediate ideas. We came up with the idea of her making dishcloths  My mother is no stranger to making dishcloths  In fact when she taught me to knit when I was a kid, she taught me to make the garter stitch dishcloth that is a square, knit on the diagonal starting with 3 stitches. This is still her go-to pattern. She has made it so many times, she has it memorized (it’s a really easy pattern…you can find several versions on Ravelry).

I decided to give her some Seedling for making the dish clothes. I chose 3 different colors that I knew would go with her kitchen and pulled 2 skeins of each of the colors. My colleague suggested that I find some free dishcloth patterns on Ravelry and print them out. I downloaded a bunch of patterns and put them in a folder for her. I found a cute little knitting bag to put everything in, so she could keep it all nice and tidy.

The other day I received a phone call from my mom. She had received her package in the mail and was so excited. It was a win-win for her. Not only did she get her Mother’s Day gift early…she now had something to knit. She said she really liked the idea of getting a project to do. She loved the yarn that I picked for her, only said she was afraid it might be too nice for her kitchen - and I have to say that I agree with her. So instead she is going to use the yarn to make wash cloths for her bathroom. Luckily she used the same colors in her bathroom as she did in the kitchen.

I can't wait to see her FOs.I told her she had to take some pictures and I will share them with you when she does.

This year Mother's day in the United States is on May 12th. Are you giving your mom (or grandmother, aunt or other mother type figures) yarn for Mother’s Day? How about knitting her (or him) something special to show you care? Time is running low, but if you set your mind to it (and don't get distracted like I do), you can do it!

Catching up with MillaMia

I have long admired the patterns for MillaMia, but don’t have many children to knit for. So when they introduced their current lines of patterns I was really happy.

I recently had a chance to ask Katarina, the Director of MillaMia a little about knitting and MillaMia’s vision.

CEY: How long have you been knitting?

Katarina: I have been knitting since I was 6 years old. My grandmother taught me to knit when we used to spend our summers at our countryhouse in Sweden – on a rainy day there was not a lot to do as it was quite remote, and knitting became a favorite pastime. I then had a long break from knitting, coming back to it again when I first became a mother 7 years ago.

CEY: What is your favorite type of project to knit?

KR: With three young children (2 months, 4 and 6 years old) I obviously love to knit kids’ stuff. I love how you can be really bold and adventurous in your color choices, and above all I love how ‘do-able’ these projects are due to their smaller size. The feeling of achievement when you finish a piece of knitting is a real buzz and keeps me hooked on the craft!

  

CEY: Who is your biggest knitting inspiration?

KR: My grandmother was obviously an important early influence, but at this moment I would have to say Max – a friend who is now a colleague and has been helping us with MillaMia for the past year (managing our MillaMia blog amongst other things). Max is so passionate about knitting that it is really infectious – and her skills (she is by far the best knitter I know from a technical perspective) and willingness to help others makes all of us in her environment braver about the knitting we chose to try.

CEY: What made you want to start a yarn company?

KR: I loved knitting when pregnant with my first born 7 years ago.  But I quickly found that I had exhausted all the patterns that I wanted to knit and was struggling to find modern, stylish designs that I would both enjoy knitting but more importantly also enjoy her wearing. Luckily I have a sister who is a fashion designer by trade and so we started creating our own patterns. And so MillaMia was started…

CEY: In the past, you have focused on children’s patterns. In your new books Country Escape, Colour Coded and the upcoming High Society you have adapted many of your patterns for adults. Can you tell us about that?

KR: As you say as a company we are pretty much known for our children’s patterns. However a constant request that we would get by email and face to face at both trade and retail shows was for us to also create our designs for adults. The number of times we had people look at one of our samples and say ‘ I would wear that’ meant that in the end we felt we really had to listen to this feedback. In creating our adult collections we have taken this customer feedback at face value – adapting some of our most popular children’s designs directly to adult sizing and shaping, other designs are an evolution from our children’s styles and still more are completely fresh and new. It felt like a risk but the response has been phenomenal – it really has opened MillaMia up to a new audience of knitters which feels great.

  

CEY: Do you have plans for any more children’s patterns?

KR: Of course! We love designing for children and with my 7 week old son now available to join the MillaMia modeling stable expect some more stuff for babies too!

CEY: Any other plans for MillaMia that you are willing to share with our readers?

KR: We are thrilled to be launching some new Naturally Soft Merino yarn colors – 3 new colors in our core collection and 2 exciting shades as seasonal colors. This will be in the Fall. And of course we need to make sure we have fantastic pattern support for these new colors too.

CEY: I know you are a new mom; do you still have time to knit?

KR: I have to be honest and say juggling 2 school kids, a new baby and a business is a challenge – there were never enough hours in the day even before Johan (my new son) came along, and now with the demands of nursing and sleepless nights there seem to be even fewer! However – even if it is just a few rows that I manage – there is nothing as relaxing as knitting, so it tends to be my treat when all three are finally asleep at the same time.

You can see all of MillaMia’s designs and the colors of their Naturally Soft Merino on our website. 

Color Grid

Gail Callahan (aka the Kangaroo Dyer) developed The Color Grid after her book, Hand Dying Yarn and Fleece, was published as a tool to help people pick colors with confidence.

This is a great tool for dying yarns and picking yarns to use in color work. And it’s also great for anything else you are picking colors for…quilting, floral designs, decorating your living room and much more!

Ask to see the Color Grid at your favorite local yarn shop!

Changing Lanes

As you may know, we are having a Shawls, Wraps and Scarves KnitAlong.  I had planned on making the Cream& Sugar Wrap in Vail. But something wasn’t quite right for me when I started. I really like the pattern and I love the yarn, but I got about 3 inches into the wrap and it just wasn’t speaking to me. So I decided that I wanted to do something a little different.

I knew I wanted a lightweight shawl (although I tend to wear them more like loose oversized scarves than shawls), and something that was an intuitive pattern.  I have had my eye on the Eyelet-Swirl Stole for a while now and thought it would be a good choice.

I dug through my stash to find some Silky Alpaca Lace to swatch with. In the past I have shied away from lace weight yarn, feeling it's too small to work with. But I decided to give it a try anyway. I happen to have a lace needle in the correct size in my needle collection and cast on for a swatch. Wow! Working with lace yarn with a pointy tip, even with mostly stockinette stitch, makes a HUGE difference.

Yesterday during lunch I cast on for my Eyelet-Swirl Stole in the Beach Glass color of Silky Alpaca lace and I couldn't be happier with my choice. I see this future FO being something that I can wear with everything – sweaters, cardigans, tees and jeans, under my coat in the fall and as a lightweight layer later in the spring (when a coat is too much, but you can't quite get away without an extra layer in the morning).

I really love the fact that this knit-along has so many options. If you are looking for a layering piece for the summer, you can choose one of the wraps and make it in a lighter weight yarn. Or maybe you want to get a jump start on your holiday knitting (or finally start that piece that you gave an IOU for this past holiday season). There are 60 projects in the book to choose from and you can use any CEY yarn. It’s not too late to join us. You can read all the rules here and follow along in our Ravelry Group here.

So…will you join us?

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!

New Knitscene

I admit it - I'm kind of a girly-girl. Pink is my favorite color, I love skirts/dresses and I can’t help but oohh and ahhh over anything with a ruffle on it.

So when the new issue of knitscene arrived on my desk, I just about passed out. Right there on the cover was a super cute tank top with ruffles! The best part? The ruffles are on the back of the racer-back tank, so you don’t feel like an overgrown doll.

The Mackinac Tank by Danille Chalson is knit with Firefly, a linen and rayon blend, perfect for summer layering pieces. The ruffles are knit as part of the back and are made with simple decreases and a clever use of joining-as-you-go to reduce finishing.  

I also really love the Lindell Tee by Cassie Castillo.

Knit in Classic Silk, it's a short sleeved tee with a deep scoop neck and a slightly flared peplum, highlighted by a garter band at the waist. The body of the tee is knit in the round, so it's sure to be a fast and flattering knit. With its classic style and simple construction, this tee will take you from early spring to late fall.

At some point I'm going to have to learn to knit in my sleep, so I can make all the great designs that keep being published!

Photos courtesy of Interweave Knits. Photographer Nathan Rega of Harper Point Photography.

Knit along with us!

We are so excited to announce that we are going to be doing a knit-along from the Shawls, Wraps & Scarves book.

Rules for the Shawls,Wraps & Scarves Knit-A-Long

1. Item must be made from CEY yarn and from the Shawls, Wraps & Scarves book.
2. Open to US and Canadian residents only.
3. Cast on date for knit-a-long is April 15, bind off date is June 15. You may do a gauge swatch and any other prep work (i.e. winding your yarn, getting copies of your charts, etc.) prior to the cast on date.
4. To be considered for the knit-a-long, your project must be listed on Ravelry with the tag SWSKAL. You may enter your project on Ravelry prior to April 15, but please no casting on until then (I know it will be difficult).
5. You must upload at least one in-progress photos and a FO photo to be eligible for the prize.
6. By entering the knit-a-long, you give permission to Classic Elite Yarns to use your photos, first name and Ravelry project links on their social media sites (Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest).
7. There will be 2 categories to enter – Shawl/Wrap (over 600 yards) and Scarf/Cowl (0-600 yards).
8. Prizes will be enough yarn (current CEY) to make another project of your choosing from the Shawls, Wraps & Scarves book in the same category you entered.
9. Winner will be drawn at random.
10. Void where prohibited by law.

There are so many great pieces from Shawls, Wraps &Scarves, the hardest part of this knit-a-long might just be choosing your project. It was a difficult decision for me, but I have settled on making the Cream & Sugar Lace Wrap (of course, I am not eligible to win, but I thought it would be fun to knit-a-long with you guys).  I decided to use Vail in Parchment.  I am sure this will become an instant classic and something that I reach for time and time again.

What are you going to make?