JoJoLand’s Melody Superwash yarn is a runaway hit this fall. This beautiful fingering weight superwash wool yarn has slow, subtle color transitions that are similar to Noro yarns, but the colors are much more muted. Dusty pinks, deep blues, and shy violets mingle together in quiet harmony.

Melody Superwash yarn, color 28

Each ball has 220 yards and costs $6. It’s ideal for socks and a pair will cost $12.

The Swirl Shawl

If you’re looking for a little challenge, you could also cast on for a Swirl Shawl. The Swirl Shawl was designed with Melody’s slow color changes in mind. The pattern is made of hexagons that decrease into their centers. Each hexagon is different from the one before it, creating a subtle patchwork look.

We’re offering a second session of the Swirl Shawl class, if you missed the first one. The class begins Monday, October 13.

We’re just beginning to experiment with Melody’s subtle colorations. Let us know what you discover!

We love Mac and Me patterns at Loop. They’re easy to follow and the results are beautiful and comfortable. We often recommend their blanket patterns to beginners, and seasoned knitters love their sweaters, wraps, and scarves.

We’ve just received a trunk show featuring Mac and Me’s Fall 2008 Collection. Here’s a few of the highlights.

The O Jackie Cardigan will knit up quick in Blue Sky Alpaca’s Bulky yarn and would be great for keeping the autumn chill away.

The Skinny Cotton V-Neck is classic - it would look great in every color of Skinny Cotton yarn, and can be worn all year long.

Looking ahead to Christmas, the Guilded Lily is a great gift for your mother or sister and is perfect for keeping warm while running winter errands.

There are two new blanket patterns, the Merino Baby Blanket and the Chevron Blanket, which are sure to please blanket knitters and babies alike! Two versions of each blanket are shown above.

Trunks shows like this one are a great opportunity to see and feel the finished garments. It’s only here a short time, though, so don’t miss it!

Chic Knits designs are perfect for the modern knitter. Fresh, stylish and filled with options. Sleeves or no sleeveless, shaped or unshaped, cropped or long - the patterns are written to be customized by you to suit your aim. This also makes them a great value because you’ll return to again and again.

One of our favorites is the ChicKami. This versatile top is knit in the round. You can knit the body straight or shape at the waist, and the straps can be narrow or wide.

The pattern gauge is 20 stitches to 4 inches. We chose Blue Sky Alpaca’s Skinny Cotton yarn in french blue.

For winter, you could make a warmer version in Zara or go colorful and use Koigu’s Kersti yarn. It’s really a fun garment for any time of year!

Since I wrote about the Wave Blanket last month, we’ve had lots of knitters come in to pick out their colors. One of the first we saw finished was Ann’s, who chose sweet sherbert colors -

Here’s a few of the other combinations that have really caught our eye. All of the yarns are Blue Sky Alpaca’s Dyed Cotton, except for the ones in italics, which are Blue Sky Alpaca’s Organic Cotton.

aloe, sky, honeydew, lemonade, circus peanut, and bone

periwinkle, bone, azul, mediterranean, sand, and sky

sand, ladybug, mediterranean, pumpkin, fern, and pickle

sky, honeydew, pumpkin, ladybug, lemonade, and aloe

These are just a few of the wonderful combinations you can create. Please send us a photograph of yours when you finish!

When both of my sisters-in-law announced they were pregnant within months of each other, my Mom and I knew there’d be lots of knitting to do! Mom brought each of them to the store to pick colors for our Wave Blanket.

After finishing both blankets, Mom realized she liked the blanket so much that she wanted to do it again. So here’s number 3 -

I love the bright rainbow colors!

Mom says it’s the combination of the easy-to-memorize feather and fan pattern and the softness of Blue Sky Alpaca’s Dyed Cotton yarn that makes this blanket so much fun to knit. We stock all of the colors, so you can make dozens of color combinations.

Here’s the pattern if you’d like to knit one yourself!

WAVE BLANKET (download pdf file)

SIZE
approximately 33” by 39”

MATERIALS
6 hanks of Blue Sky Alpaca’s Organic Cotton or Dyed Cotton
40 inch US 9 circular needle

GAUGE
16 sts = 4 inches in stockinette stitch, but gauge is not critical for this project

ABBREVIATIONS
K - knit
P - purl
K2tog - knit the next 2 stitches together as one stitch.

STITCH PATTERN
Row 1 (right side) – knit
Row 2 – purl
Row 3 – *(K2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times; repeat from * to end.
Row 4 – knit.
Repeat Rows 1 to 4.

BLANKET PATTERN
CO 144 stitches. Repeat pattern. Change to new color after finishing Row 4 of pattern.

Bind off loosely and weave in ends.

Enjoy!

Summer is a tricky season for knitting. When the temperature climbs, I turn my attention to socks, shawls, and other light projects. Still, sometimes I want to make something I can really wear, but a wool sweater would be wildly inappropriate in 90 degree heat. What’s a girl to do?!

The solution: The Neckdown Shaped T-Shirt from Knitting Pure and Simple. A knit t-shirt is a great way to look stylish without overheating. I love how versatile this top is. I can see myself throwing it on over my bathing suit to cover up on the beach, or pairing it with a summer skirt and accenting it with a brooch for a vintage look.

Kathy H. knit this with O-Wool Balance yarn. Balance is a beautiful blend of organic wool and cotton; it has the lightness of cotton, but still retains the memory of wool. The blend of fibers give a great heathered look, which I absolutely love. The pattern is wonderfully simple, which makes for great travel knitting. It’s constructed from the top down, in one piece, which means no seams at the end!

If you’ve never knit a garment from the top down, you could join our Top Down Baby Sweater class, which begins on July 12. You’ll get to learn the top-down technique, but on a much smaller (and faster!) scale, and you’ll have an adorable baby sweater when you’re finished.

Scarves are the accessory to have this summer, but the perfect scarf is hard to find. When I saw the Lace Ribbon Scarf knit up in Koigu Mori I immediately reached for my needles. This is the Perfect Scarf.

We knit this scarf in just two skeins of Mori, which has quickly become the new favorite yarn around the shop. The wool/silk blend keeps the scarf light and has just the right amount of shine. The lace pattern is simple yet striking, making it a great on-the-go project that produces fabulous results.

If you want to make you’re own Lace Ribbon Scarf, we’re offering a class that starts on July 9. Give us a call to reserve your place!

Katie just finished the Skinny Cardigan — look how beautiful! The pattern is a design from Blue Sky Alpacas and it uses their new DK weight cotton, Skinny Cotton yarn.

This cardigan is a wonderful transition garment. It’s a classic shape knit in a light cotton, which makes it great for spring, summer, and fall. The stripes are also classic, I think a blue and cream version would be –very- Ralph Lauren. We’ve got Skinny Cotton in 10 great colors, so there are many possibilities!

What I like most about this pattern is the 5×1 rib that runs down the body of the cardigan. Not only does it break up the horizontal stripes, but it allows the garment to follow the shape of your body.

If you’re already looking ahead to next winter, the you could also knit this in Blue Sky Alpacas’ Sport Weight or Melange yarns.

Our very own Elizabeth is modeling Laura’s latest creation, the Candy Stripe Scarf. Laura accentuated the depth of brioche rib by using two highly contrasting colors of Malabrigo’s Worsted Merino yarn. The result is an ultra-soft and super cushy scarf that gives you a chance to show off your true colors!

Sure Elizabeth looks adorable in this cool brown and yellow version, but so would any of the guys on your knitting list.

The Candy Stripe Scarf pattern is free when you purchase 2 hanks of Malabrigo’s Worsted Merino or True Solids yarns. If you’re ordering online, just remind us to send it to you in the comments section.

Helena has her first hand knit sweater, thanks to her mom’s friend, Marnie!

The pattern is the Baby Jacket from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac. It’s knit with Koigu’s DK-weight Kersti yarn. Marnie started the jacket in a class with Laura and did a wonderful job completing it.

Helena will get plenty of use from her jacket in the chilly months ahead. And what a wonderful heirloom of this special time!

Thanks for sending us these photographs, Marnie! Well done!