alpaca

Projects

Another Window Display Made Entirely of Yarn

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Another Window Display Made Entirely of Yarn

As soon as we met Sonia who owns the hip local yarn shop Stash earlier this year at VK Live Seattle, we knew we’d be taking over the world together. Our first challenge, dream up a window display made entirely of yarn to show off one of their products, Simplicity HiKoo, a luscious soft DK-weight merino/acrylic/nylon blend from Skacel.

Immediately our imaginations conjured a breezy Pacific Northwest fiber wonderland where alpacas and blackface sheep frolicked over every hill. What a surprise when few miles out of town on our drive up, the stately Cascades turned to rolling pastures of sheep with guard alpacas, just like our sketch!

Our jumbo crocheted alpacas and miniature flock of sheep bounded across the pasture and right into our hearts, so we had to share them with you. Both crochet patterns now await you as instant downloads in my pattern store. (more…)

New Products

One Scoop of Mint Chip, Please!

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Here’s a tip for you: don’t mix variegated yarns and textured patterns. Like Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, neither shines when the other’s around.

Crochet stitches are even more textured than knit stitches, which means you should save your variegated colors for knitting projects with simple textures (i.e., stockinette). Textured crochet projects in particular don’t do well with textured yarns, because the clash is even more exaggerated. Got it? Ok, I want to see beautiful Ravelry project pages from now on!

Now, enough of the technical talk! In the course of learning this lesson, there’s one gorj yarn in particular I hooked up and unraveled several times, always choosing it for the wrong project. (Yes, I’m a perfectionist!). Vanquished, I used it in a simple (stockinette!) hat & glove set and it began to belt out riffs of I Wanna Dance With Somebody. 

Mint Chip Pom Pom Hat Natural Wool and Alpaca by Knits for Life
Mint Chip Pom Pom Hat in Natural Wool and Alpaca by Knits for Life.

(Somebody! Ooo! Somebody! Ooo! Somebody who loves me!)

Mint Chip Pom Pom Hat and Fingerless Gloves Set in Natural Wool and Alpaca by Knits for Life
Mint Chip Pom Pom Hat and Fingerless Gloves Set, in Natural Wool and Alpaca, by Knits for Life.

(Somebody! Ooo! Somebody! Ooo! To hold me in his arms, Oh!)

Mint Chip Fingerless Gloves in Natural Wool and Alpaca by Knits for Life
Mint Chip Fingerless Gloves, in Natural Wool and Alpaca, by Knits for Life.
(Dontcha wanna dance! Say you wanna dance! Dontcha wanna dance!)
Mint Chip Pom Pom Hat and Fingerless Gloves set instagram by Knits for Life
Follow @KnitsForLife on Instagram to see photos of my process and inspiration. Soon I’ll upgrade my 3GS, I promise!
Now the color positively rustles powdered snow from a flocked blue spruce. Maybe that’s why it’s called Snowbird. I also kind of want to lick it, so I put a big scoop of mint chip on the hat and now, indeed, I think the project is a perfect match.
 
xxxo,
Lorna
New Patterns, New Products

November Giveaway: Alpaca Ear Flap Hat Kit

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Do you know about alpaca fleece? Yes, there’s an inside scoop here. If you know it, you’re likely to prefer it to merino wool and even cashmere. Be warned: asking an alpaca lover about it will launch a long list of qualities.

Oh, do ask! Alpaca fleece (and yarn spun from it) is warm as all get-out, squishy not stiff (unlike many wools), soft as cashmere (seriously), easy on allergies, and doesn’t pill up with wear. Plus, alpacas are enviable for their sense of style (above) and deliver adorable candid moments (see cats cuddling with baby alpaca below – wha???!).

This November I’ve teamed up with a family farmer in Alberta, Canada, A to Z Alpacas, to create your best winter hat.


You can buy it in my shop here or make it yourself from the pattern here and yarn here. Or, you can enter to win both in our giveaway here. Remember that all purchases in the shop plant one new rainforest tree.

Lucky you, swaddled in alpaca fur. I can’t be held responsible if this hat makes you run around your neighborhood with exuberant delight like the alpacas it comes from: