Poet Society Tam – Madelinetosh

Anyone looking for a last minute gift?

Here is another great pattern published by Madelinetosh : the Poet Society Tam.

Whether you knit this up for a loved one or buy the yarn and pattern for a knitter friend, the recipient will be thrilled, guaranteed.

The pattern can be found either here: http://madelinetosh.com/store/index.php/patterns.html?limit=all or here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/poet-society-tam, or at The Stash.

Jill knit this up as a sample for the shop.  She used Tosh Vintage in Sugar Plum and had a meter or so of yarn left from 1 skein.  The cabling on this hat is quite elegant and it can be accented with a button or two on the brim.

Happy Stitching!  The Stash

Sea Glass Cowl by Anna Harris

I am super excited to get first crack at this pattern.  It is not available to the public yet; I will be knitting up a sample, using Mythic Yarn for the very first time.

Anna, who is both the designer of this cowl as well as a local dyer, came to the shop for a visit during a Stitch Night last month.  We were all very pleased to meet her and her lovely hand dyed yarns.

Below is Anna’s Sea Glass Cowl as well as some of her hand dyed yarn that I will be using.

 

Keep an eye out for her yarns and patterns at The Stash early in the new year.

Thurs Stitch Night – Special Guest

It is my pleasure to introduce Anna from Mythic Yarn.

Mythic Yarn is a small indie wool business in Whitby, Ontario that opened for business at the end of October. Anna hand dyes wool in small batches and you can check out some of her colours here.

Mythic Yarns will be a new addition to The Stash’s Canadian line-up. I invite you to come and meet Anna at our next Stitch night, this Thursday, November 29th.

See you all on Thursday!
Susan

More Canadian Goodies

Over the course of the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some very talented Canadian artitsts, some through the KW Knitter’s Fair, some through the Woodstock Fibre Festival and others just through friends.

We’ve expanded our Canadian yarn offering.  In addition to The DyeGuy, we now offer:

Briggs & Little

We’ve discovered country roving!  We’ve put together kits for these awesome sweaters.  They knit up super fast and would serve as great gifts during the holidays.

  

And did we mention you can thrum with this stuff?  Keep watch on our calendar as we post our winter classes which are sure to include thrummed mittens to help you keep warm during your winter activities.

Yummy Yarn Studios

These yummy creations are currently being featured in our Proudly Canadian Sock club, paired with Glenna C’s Kaywinnit sock pattern.  The colours are irresistible and are the creation of Sam Stevenson from Calgary, Alberta.  Check out her website and her super cute mittens that make an appearance in the current holiday edition of Vogue Knitting Magazine.

Zen Yarn Garden

A husband & wife team based out of Ontario, they take pride in providing the most luxurious fibres available for yarns as well as creating colourways that have a richness and depth to them that is one-of-a-kind.

Studioloo

Have you heard of Sushi socks??  Cindy from Studioloo created these fun kits.  Included are two skeins of sock yarn (enough to make one pair of socks), sock pattern and a pair of chopsticks.

Sushi socks are now available at The Stash along with other awesome skeins from Cindy’s creative lines.

Yarns of Rhichard Devrieze

Renowned fibre artist Rhichard Devrieze creates one of a kind hand painted and hand dyed yarns with unique blends of the world’s finest artisan yarns. Explore his stunning new hand dyed and hand painted yarn collection, in variegated, stipple and semi solid colorways.

DYE-VERSION

This team has an incredible talent when it comes to dying bamboo.  Dye-Version is all about COLOUR!  They hand dye only the best quality fabrics and yarn in unique colour combinations to make all your Quilting, Knitting, and Embroidery Projects truly special!

More to come!

Friends, this is just the beginning.  The more I look, the more I find and the more I buy.  Stay tuned as we continue to add more great Canadian artists to The Stash family.  Next installment is just around the corner, in December.

Happy stitching!

The Stash Team

Sample – February Lady Sweater

Knit by Jill Merk.

When Jill and I were thinking about what our first sample knit should be for the store I was hoping for something versatile enough that any customer would enjoy knitting it and wearing it.  The first thing that popped into my head was the February Lady Sweater.  I had seen it knit up at shops, I had seen it worn by people at fairs, I had seen it knit in a variety of yarns and for a variety of body shapes.

When Jill finished the sweater she agreed: “I like this pattern because it allows a more personalized fit than many of the sweaters I have knit.”

The pattern is free on Ravelry; you can also read Jill’s notes and tips below.  As always, feel free to drop into the shop to get a closer look or try it on.

Technical Notes:

The sample sweater is size 41 inches with the smaller sleeves and narrower shoulders.  5 skeins of Cascade 220 were used.

The pattern allows the knitter to customize the fit of the sweater.  The sweater is knit in one piece from the neck down and divided into sections at the underarm.  The yoke is knit until the sleeve sections almost meet at the underarms, the body and sleeves are knit until they are 1 1/2 inches shorter than desired length of the finished garment and then the garter stitch border is added.

The sample garment has M1 increases in the yoke.  The yoke was knit until it was approximately 8 1/2 inches long and required nearly 2 skeins of yarn. To try the garment on, the five individual sections (front, sleeve, back, sleeve, front) were slipped onto five long pieces of a contrasting colour of yarn.  This allows the garment to be draped over the body and the size of the underarm gap measured.

The buttonholes were made using the tutorial suggested in the pattern.  The buttonholes were placed in the garter stitch section of the garment before the eyelet increases.

New balls of yarn were joined using a spit slice.  See Knitty Spring and Summer 2010 Techniques with Theresa for a description of this technique.

When knitting the Gull Lace pattern it is easy to miss a yarn over in rows 1 and 3.

The sleeve underarm was modified using a modification from Flint Knits FLS Mods – the 9 underarm stitches were picked up and then reduced in the following odd number rounds by SSK the first two picked up stitches, K to the last 2 picked up stitches and K2TOG.  This creates a smaller garter stitch section in the underarm area.

When working the sleeve in the round, the garter stitch border is created by alternating K and P rows.

Madelinetosh Creature Comforts Cardi – done

You would have seen this in the works in earlier posts as “A complicated relationship”.

Luckily, the only challenge we had with each other was that one incident at the very begin.  It was smooth sailing after that.

This project had the right amount of veggie knitting and pattern knitting, all in one package.  I love that it was knit in one large rectangle and has just two, yes 2, seams.  And I love the colour of the yarn, William Morris by Madelinetosh in Vintage.  My favourite part is how the bits of turquoise pop up sporadically among the chocolate brown.

Thanks to LD for patiently modeling.

Pattern: Madelinetosh Creature Comforts Cardi

Yarn: Madelinethosh Vintage in William Morris, 5 balls for size s/m

Holiday Hat & Food Drive

The weather outside is frightful ….

Well maybe not quite yet, but it’s getting there.  And that’s a clear indication that the holidays are near.  Most of us are racing against time to get all our holiday knitting done and hit the malls before the madness sets in.  And while these are some of our struggles, there are people in our communities who will be struggling to feed their families and keep them warm.

The Stash would like to support two initiatives during this holiday season and we need your participation to make them a success.

Most of you already know about Ontario Hats for Hope.  If you missed our earlier communication, here’s a link to our newsletter and blog post.  A great big thanks to those who have already contributed hats and mitts.

We are also partnering with the Khi Community Food Bank, which provides support to families in Milton and surrounding areas.  They collect non-perishable food items and this season they are in particular need of school snacks (such as juice boxes, granola bars, cookies and crackers) and rice.

Bring in any of the following by Sunday December 16th:

• three (3) or more non-perishable food items, or
• a hat or pair of mitts (machine washable please),

and receive 5% off your next purchase.

Please give generously!

Rhichard Devrieze is in the house

Last week, during our usual Thursday Stitch Night, we had two special guests: Rhichard and Maureen.

Rhichard is a fibre artist and world renowned creator of hand dyed yarn.  Rhichard’s studio is in Holland Centre near Chatsworth, and I am so pleased that his unique and stunning colourways are now available at The Stash.  Visit Rhichard’s website: The Yarns of Rhichard Devrieze to learn more about him.

Maureen comes to us from Cedar Hollow Knitting Spools and she makes these:

    

This “device” is used to cork, a fun and easy craft and a great way to introduce kids to fibre arts.

Cedar Hollow knitting spools are individually hand-turned out of prime hardwood. Each spool has a lacquered finish and comes with its own lifting tool.  They are available in two sizes: 4 or 6 pegs.  You can now find these spools at The Stash.  If you’ve never cork-ed before, stop by and give it a try.

Meet Jill M.

Jill is one of the most talented knitters I know.  You can see her knitted garments displayed around the shop  where they serve as inspiration to many customers.  Here is Jill’s story.  Drop into the shop to see her knits and keep tuned for further blog posts.

written by: Jill M.

When I reflect on my knitting story my mind wanders from the past, to the present, and wonders about the next chapters.

I think about the beginning chapters of my knitting story and some of the people who played an important role in them.
I remember my Grandma knitting heavy coarse wool work socks to keep Grandpa warm while he worked in the logging camps over the winters.  Now I knit similar socks for my husband to wear when he jogs.
I remember my aunts knitting complexly cabled and argyle socks for their husbands to wear to work in their offices.  Now I knit similar socks for my family to wear.
I remember a special friend  who shared a handwritten pattern for a pair of fancy mittens.  Now I knit felted mittens for my daughter and plain ones for my grandsons.
I think about my cousin opening knitting doors for me when she taught me how to read and follow knitting patterns.  Now I often change and adapt written patterns before I knit them.

I think about the present chapter of my story and some of the people who I are part of it.
I think about the friends I knit with.  As we work on our projects we share our knitting stories.  Sometimes we celebrate the successful completion of our projects and sometimes we are looking for suggestions and inspiration to motivate us to complete them.
I think about the Guild I attend.  There I am introduced to new knitting techniques and projects.  The speakers share their expertise.  In doing so they motivate me to risk attempting to master new knitting skills.
I think about Susan at the Stash.  The samples I knit for the store allow me to work with new yarns and knit patterns I wouldn’t normally make.

I am grateful for the people who have played a role in the beginning of my knitting life and the ones who are involved at present.  I look forward to the next chapters in my story and wonder about what is yet to come.

Every story has a beginning

Before this story begins, I would like to welcome Jenn Cumming to The Stash team.  She is a talented writer and knitter and this is the first of many installments from her on our blog.  Enjoy!

written by: Jenn Cumming

Having read numerous compilations of stories about knitting, there is always included a romanticized tale of a young girl being taught to knit, either by a favoured Grandmother or mother, often in an idyllic setting.  I was taught to knit when I was around twelve years old by my own mother on the couch of the downstairs TV room.  Finding the process exhausting, I was quick to forget all about knitting until I turned 20.

In the summer of 2010 I worked briefly as a camp counselor in the mountains of Alberta.  I say I worked briefly, as the camp required me to sleep in a tipi in cougar country, with little to no use of technology in my day to day activities.  Being one to enjoy the comfort of flush toilets and the sweet ignorance of the dental structure of a cougar, I found myself swiftly on a plane, back to civilization.

However, before parting with Alberta, I made a fateful stop into a Canmore yarn store where inspiration took hold.  Amid shelves piled high with exotic yarns, the elderly shopkeeper instructed me on the basics of knitting, which I had so long ago forgot, and thus, much the same way that Gandalf encouraged a young Frodo Baggins, I too, began a life-long journey.

My first scarf was a mess with uneven stitching, and was altogether too short as I had mistakenly purchased only one ball of yarn. However, that one scarf led to many more scarves and knitting has become a part of my identity, essential to the success of other areas of my life.

The Stash Fibre Boutique offers a series of learn to knit classes every month.  See the website (www.thestash.ca) for more details and register by phone or in store!

For those readers who already know how to knit, what’s your story?