New Additions

This strawberry yarn bowl was made by a local artist and purchased at Loopy Knit/Crochet.

This Christmas some new knitting materials came into our house. Firstly, my mom (knowing that I love to shop local) contacted the owner of Loopy Knit/Crochet in Missoula and purchased this locally made yarn bowl and some yarn for me.

I’ve been wanting a yarn bowl for about a year now. That special cutout in the side helps me pull up my yarn from its ball, while the bowl keeps the yarn from rolling around the floor and getting covered in bunny fur … or attacked by the bunny.

This bowl is a great size. The yarn is a skein of Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton in the “True Red” colorway. The skein is 150 yards, a common size for a single skein of yarn, so this bowl should hold any yarn I’m working with perfectly.

The design of the bowl itself also couldn’t be more perfect for me. I love strawberries, and when I was a little girl, my favorite time of year was the summer Strawberry Festival. One year my mom even made me a strawberry dress especially for the festival. Moms remember this kind of stuff, and it made this great Christmas present even better.

This hand-dyed vegan sock yarn is based on the colors of "The Castle in the Sky".

My youngest brother-in-law also hit a homerun with my Christmas gift this year. I’m always drooling over the beautiful, hand-dyed yarns created by Quo Vadis Handspun. Much of this yarn is dyed in colorways based on the palettes of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli animated films. This yarn is based on the colors of Laputa, the hidden flying city in my favorite Miyazaki film: The Castle in the Sky.

This skein of yarn will make one pair of socks, but I’m still undecided on which pattern I’ll use. The yarn itself is 75% bamboo/25% nylon, so it will be shiny, light and stretch back into shape. I’m going to look for a pattern using lace or cables to highlight the gorgeous colors.

New England Knits is a great book published by Interweave Press.

The final addition to my knitting collection this Christmas was a large stocking stuffer picked out by my husband. New England Knits by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre has great patterns for pullover and cardigan sweaters, as well as some really cute hats.

Many of my knitting books are focused on socks (unsurprisingly) but it will be nice to have this beautiful collection of patterns to pull from for larger projects.

I’m still knitting away on Ismael’s Stepping Stones socks, which are working up beautifully. Hopefully I’ll have finished project photos for your on Monday.

Happy weekend, and Happy New Year to all my readers!