The result was fantastic. At 1.25 stitches per inch, the stitches are huge, yet the fabric still drapes nicely. Everyone who saw it picked it up and loved it. I toyed with the idea of making an afghan or even a pillow, but I wanted something that could be worn. And so, the Pebble Neck Warmer was born.

When winter finally comes, the Pebble Neck Warmer will keep you warm! I used the color Frost, which I think is a great color for winter, but Bulky is available in a wide range of natural and dyed colors.

I didn’t time myself, but I think I knit the Pebble Neck Warmer in under 2 hours, making it a perfect last minute knitted gift. Here’s how you can make yours:

PEBBLE NECK WARMER

SIZE
approx 5.5 by 33 inches

MATERIALS
3 hanks of Blue Sky Bulky yarn, shown in frost
12″ US 19 needle
1 large button

GAUGE
.75 sts = 1 inch in stitch pattern, but gauge is not critical for this project

PATTERN
Wind all three hanks of Bulky and holding a strand from each, CO 7 stitches.

Row 1 – *P1, k1; repeat from * to last stitch, k1.

Repeat Row 1 until approximately 1.5 yards of yarn remains.

Bind off loosely in pattern and weave in ends.

Attach button to center purl stitch approximately 4 inches from cast on edge. There is no button hole; you can push the button through the fabric. (Make sure the button will fit snugly through the fabric before you attach it!)

Enjoy!

This fall you can knit your first – or your most challenging – sweater and get lots of help in our Sweater Class. You can choose any pattern you like.

Knitting Pure & Simple sweater patterns are knit from the top down. There are pullovers and cardigans for kids, women, and men. These patterns work well for either a first sweater or a first top down sweater.

Blue Sky Alpaca’s Skinny Cardigan pattern makes a stylish striped cardigan. It’s knit with DK weight yarn, which you can wear year round.

The Candy Stripe Jacket has been one of this season’s most popular designs. Knit with Spud & Chloe Sweater yarn, it’s warm yet light-weight.

These are just of few of the projects you could choose for Sweater Class. We’re happy to help you find the one that’s right for you!

New colors of Koigu and Kersti yarn arrived this week, just in time for the holidays! Koigu makes wonderful shawls and socks, and I love Kersti for scarves and fingerless mitts. (I really love Kersti for sweaters, but I’m focused on holiday gifts at the moment!)

Of course, if you’re shopping for family and friends who knit, a few hanks of either of these yarns makes a welcome gift!

Olive’s hat with olives on it was knit by her mom’s friend. Mom and friend were also at Stitch Party, and not only showed me this photo, they sent it to me so I could share it with you.

This is Olive’s first day – she’s being held by mom and dad in the hospital- and she’s already fashionable in her hand knit hat. What a perfect welcome gift!

This is the first of several projects I plan to knit from Leigh Radford’s wonderful book, One More Skein. For this, Leigh recommends Malabrigo Worsted yarn, but I used Madelinetosh Tosh Sock.

I swatched first since I knew the gauge would be so different and re-calculated the cast on for a shorter scarf. It’s knit length-wise, which means lots of stitches to cast on – over 400 – but only a few rows. The original scarf is 8 feet long, but I only wanted mine to be about 6 feet.

The Tosh Sock is beautiful at this larger gauge and came out of the wash softer than it already had been. I love the pattern. It has a lot of depth when it’s on. Since it’s stockinette based, it’s curling in a bit, even after blocking, but still looks great. I made this for a friend who’s already wearing it, which is always fun to see!

We have a trunk show from Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud + Chloe in the shop. You can see the Market Vest, a Knit Chicken, the Two-for-One Socks, and more!

We’ve also received new books from two of our favorite authors/designers, Clara Parkes and Susan B. Anderson.

Clara’s book, The Knitter’s Book of Wool, is an in-depth look at knitting’s mainstay fiber with lots of beautiful projects.

Susan’s book, Itty-Bitty Toys, starts with clever beginner projects and goes on to the most wonderfully whimsical and charming collection of toys I’ve ever seen. Susan’s well-written patterns and thorough introduction will enable you to make even the most complex looking toys.

Both Clara’s and Susan’s books deserve a place in your library. See them, the trunk show and all the new yarns this Friday at Stitch Party. Hope you’ll join us!

This version was knit with 1 hank of Aslantrends new hand dyed worsted weight yarn, Bariloche. It’s a soft merino blend and comes in beautiful colorways. Of course, I always choose brown. I even had on my brown fish t-shirt the day we took pictures, as you can see.

We’ll be trying out other yarns this fall and will show you the results!

Jared Flood’s Grove mittens from his book, Made in Brooklyn

Since Jared Flood’s recent visit, I’ve had mittens on my mind. He had some beautiful mittens with stranded colorwork that were really inspiring. Like socks, mittens allow you to explore all sorts of techniques – cables, lace, fair isle, intarsia – in a small and portable project. So we’re offering lots of mittens classes, where you’ll make a basic mitten that you can wear as it is or use as a template for exploring different techniques.

In addition to our monthly Beginning Knitting class, we’ve starting running our Quick Start Knitting again. This is a two-hour class held on Saturday mornings where you can learn to cast on, bind off, and knit. It’s a wonderful refresher if you haven’t knit for a while and it’s good for getting a little intro to knitting to see if you want to learn more. At the end of the class, you’ll be able to knit your first scarf or even a blanket. If you decide you want to learn more, you can then take the 4-week Beginning Knitting class. The class fee for Quick Start Knitting is $24 and includes the yarn and needles. It’s a great gift for a friend that you think might enjoy knitting.

We’re also running our Quick Start Crochet again. Like the knitting class, it’s a two-hour class that will give you a short introduction to crocheting. In the last few years, the crochet world has exploded with new designers and fantastic patterns. Just check out local designer Kathy Merrick’s new book, Crochet in Color to see what you can crochet. And even if you don’t want to crochet entire projects, crocheted edges and embellishments can be a wonderful addition to a knitted project.

Give us a call (215-893-9939) if you have any questions about the classes or to sign up!

We took advantage of Spool’s large and sunlit classroom space – thank you, Laura! – so we could spread out and escape the hustle-bustle of the shop. It’s good we did because we needed to focus to grasp the finer points of the lessons.

Jared is a wonderful teacher. He’s enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and patient. He had beautiful knitted samples for us to see – including the original Cobblestone and Girasole! – that inspired as much as they illustrated his points.

After explaining each concept, Jared circulated the room, checking in with everyone to answer any questions and to offer encouragement. The enthusiasm and energy in the room was incredible as we all fed off each other’s excitement.

I want to thank Jared for a great weekend and everyone who took came out for a class. Please come back to show us, or send in pictures of, the knitting Jared’s classes inspired you to create!

The current Spud & Chloe line up includes two great knitting patterns for men. The Boy Meets Girl Hat pattern is knit with the bulky blend of merino and organic cotton called Outer yarn. It’s a way to add a little colorwork to mens knitting that’s cool and modern.

And there’s the Track Jacket pattern – a sporty zippered cardigan with a trim fit. The Track Jacket is knit with Spud & Chloe’s worsted weight blend of merino and organic cotton called Sweater yarn.

As soon as I saw the Track Jacket, I wanted to make it for myself. I knit my gauge swatch with the sample hank of Sweater yarn I received at the yarn market and cast on as soon as the yarn arrived. As you can see, I used the same colors – chipmunk and grass – as the jacket is shown in. I don’t think I’ve ever knit something in the colors shown, but I loved it so much that I did.

The Sweater yarn is amazing. It practically knits itself. I couldn’t wait to get home each night so that I could knit with it again. And now that I’ve washed and dried it – yes, all Spud & Chloe yarns are machine washable – it’s even softer. Because of the blend of merino and organic cotton, the sweater is warm, but not hot, and so perfect for three-season wearing.

I’ve already worn my Track Jacket every day this week. Don’t surprised if you see me wearing it a lot this fall!

P.S. In the photo above, I’m standing in front of Laura’s most recent – and absolutely beautiful! – quilt. You’ll be seeing more of it because I used it as a backdrop for several new things I’ve knit myself and a few new shop samples. The fabric is from Joel Dewberry’s latest collection, Deer Park. You can find jelly rolls and yardage at Spool!