South West Trading Company Trunk Show

SWTC Trunk Show Event

I love a fashion show! Tonight I went to my local yarn shop Babetta's Yarn Cafe for a South West Trading Company trunk and fashion show.

SWTC (South West Trading Company) is a family run American yarn company run by the mother/daughter duo of Jonette Beck and Jonelle Raffino. Both are lifetime knitters whom were taught by their Nona's (Grandmother's) to knit.

SWTC is known for their high quality and renewable resource fibers. I was familiar with the name SWTC and I seen their ads but I had never looked at their yarns until tonight. I am so glad I went to their trunk show to discover their yarns!

Mariposa Shawl

My favorite design at the trunk show was the Mariposa Shawl. One of the best parts of a trunk show is that you actually get to try the garments on! I was naturally drawn to the pretty and lacey Mariposa Shawl. The moment I tried it on...I knew I had to knit one!

The Mariposa shawl was designed by Merrily Parker for SWTC. It is knit in four skeins of their Bamboo yarn. The Bamboo yarn felt lovely and light. It had a beautiful drape and will be perfect for the California climate. I really like it's unique tie front which is more like a bolero wrap. I can't wait to knit it. You know me though...the flitter knitter, a project like this will take me awhile.

Jonette Beck & Lorna Misner

Another fun part about visiting yarn shop events is that you never know who you'll run into. I just so happened to run into my friend and local celebrity Lorna Miser at the trunk show. Turns out that she and Jonette are yarn industry friends and go way back. Lorna has even designed some fabulous patterns with SWTC yarns.

Thank you to Jonette of SWTC and Babetta of Babetta's Yarn Cafe for this fun event. You turned me into a SWTC customer tonight!

I met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Pinch me, pinch me. I met another knitting celebrity. Can you believe I met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee tonight!

I feel a bit of pressure blogging and writing about knitting's best loved blogger the Yarn Harlot. Well, here goes...

Wine & Cheese Party

Stephanie is in Sacramento thanks to my knitting guild The Camellia City Stockinettes. The Stockinettes flew Stephanie in from Toronto, Canada to teach two workshops this weekend, Grok the Sock and Knitting for Speed and Efficiency. The classes are naturally a sell-out!

Tonight there was a small wine and cheese party at Lizette Hopkin's lovely home to welcome Stephanie to Sacramento. This is Stephanie's first visit to Sacramento and we certainly hope not her last.

Stephanie with the Stockinettes

Stephanie was a delight to meet. She is just like the girl next door. Very easy to talk to and very down to earth. She is naturally charming and witty. She speaks candidly and from the heart. I liked her Canadian accent, too.

As for knitting, I can report that she can knit really fast. While talking with her I noticed how fast she was knitting and not even looking at her work. I am in awe of that!

If you want to know just how fast she can knit... check out her Irish Cottage Knitting technique on YouTube. It will knock your socks off!

Stephanie & Beth

So Stephanie if you read this...it was a thrill to meet you. To my knitting friend Beth (whom I know will read this) thank you for bringing Stephanie to Sacramento for us! What a weekend!

The Knitter Magazine Issue 8

The Knitter Magazine Issue 8

I snagged Issue 8 of The Knitter a few weeks ago. 

I must say that Issue 8 is just my cup of tea! 

It is filled with classic and romantic knits from some of my favorite British designers. 

Flipping through it's pages is like going to an English garden party!

So have a seat with your favorite "cuppa" and let me give you a look inside.

Sirdar Lacey Blouse

I adore this English garden tea party photo complete with it's Wedgwood Hathaway Rose china! (If you came to my house for tea...we would certainly have tea on pretty Wedgwood china!)

The pretty lacey blouse is a vintage Sirdar 1960's pattern which can be knit today in Sublime's new Extra Fine Merino Wool. It's perfect for any garden tea party!

Gertie

by Louisa Harding

Leave it to Louisa to give The Knitter another exclusive pattern! 

As most of you know, Louisa Harding is my favorite designer 

and a regular contributor to The Knitter magazine.

Her adorable Gertie pattern is adapted from her 1920's inspired Dorthea pattern in her Nouveau book. Gertie is done in an exclusive colorway for The Knitter. It is a lacey knit done in Louisa's Merletto yarn in Aqua #5 and Grey # 11.

I really love that Louisa also specifies two other Merletto color ways for knitters who would like to knit Gertie up either in rose or plum.

Strawberries & Creme

Jennie Atkinson gives us another garden party knit with her Strawberries and Creme top. According to Jennie her 1950's vintage inspired knit would look great worn with jeans, summer trousers or a pretty floral skirt. I agree!

Strawberries and Creme is knit in Rowan's Fine Milk Cotton color Tutti Frutti #487.

Garden Party Sweater by

Kim Hargreaves

Next we have another garden party or picnic knit with this chevron lace top by Kim Hargreaves. This 1930's era inspired sweater is an excerpt from Jennie Atkinson's book Beads, Buttons and Lace.

Originally knit in Rowan's 4-ply cotton which is now discontinued, The Knitter's version recommends knitting it in Rowan's Siena cotton yarn. Wouldn't it be lovely worn to a picnic with a fully stocked British hamper?!

Margeaux Shawl

Jeanette Sloan's Margeaux Shawl is a clever combination of bold intarsia flowers and airy lace for this summer shawl.

It is knit in Knitting Goddess 4ply Silk and Fyberspates Scrumptious DK yarns. 

I love it's pretty edging motif. 

Wouldn't this be wonderful to wear to a garden party?

As always...

I can't wait for the next issue of The Knitter!

In Stores Now..the New Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine!

The Fall Knitting Magazines have arrived!

There is nothing I like better than sitting down with a new magazine and a cuppa tea!

The Fall/Winter 2009 Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine

I love knitting magazines! I lucked out and picked up the new Fall/Winter 2009 Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine the moment it hit the shelf at my local Barnes & Noble!

Here's a sneak peak at the new Debbie Bliss magazine! 

I think this issue could be her best one yet!

The Need for Tweed!

Tweed is all the rage for fall and I am ready to jump on the tweed bandwagon! Sweater season is very short in California so I plan on knitting some tweed accessories to get "my need for tweed"! I really like the cable knit tweed tote in Debbie's new Donegal Chunky Tweed yarn. Wouldn't it make a perfect fall weekend "getaway" bag?

Putting on the Ritz!

Who doesn't love getting all "dolled up" and Puttin' on the Ritz?! This magazine feature has four dressy sweater jackets all appropriate for taking tea at The Ritz London or your next formal affair!

Fall for Fair Isle!

I've always adored Fair Isle knits! According to this article, I can master Fair Isle colorwork in two hues (colors) with just a little practice. I am ready to try Fair Isle! I think I will start with a Fair Isle beret!

Britannia Rules!

It's no secret...I'm a big British fan!

I love my British ancestry, Union Jacks, British traditions, tea and scones, British puddings, British china (Spode, Wedgwood, Burleigh & Emma Bridgewater), British Style (Laura Ashley, Cath Kidston, & Trisha Guild) and ,of course, British knitwear designers Louisa Harding, Kim Hargreaves and Debbie Bliss!

Fabulous Brit Knits!

I love this "Britannia Rules" magazine feature with all the great Brit Knits! I think the Union Jack pillow, Tartan Tea Cozy and Fair Isle Hot Water Bottle Cover are all fab!

I am really inspired now to knit for fall and winter. I just wish our sweater season was longer here in California than just a few months!

Have you picked up the new Debbie Bliss Magazine yet? 

As always...

I'd love to hear what your favorites are in the new issue!

My Clapotis Journey!

The Almost Finished Clapotis

This week marked a milestone in my knitting. I finally finished my Clapotis!

I love my Clapotis but it was a bittersweet project that took forever to finish. I started it on February 23, 2008 and finished it on August 21, 2009. (Yes, you read that right!)

You could say that it was love at first sight for me and the Clapotis. Since I love everything French, I fell for the Clapotis the moment I saw it's adorable French cafe photo on Knitty.com.

Kate Gilbert is the talented designer that designed the Clapotis. She had lived in Paris and discovered the French women's flair for wearing scarves. She designed the Clapotis as a diagonal drop stitch scarf. It can cleverly be worn as a scarf or as a shoulder shawl. It was published online on Knitty.com./Fall 2004 Issue.

I was late to jump on the Clapotis bandwagon. (Over 12,000 have been made and posted on Ravlery.) I did not discover the Clapotis until February 2008. That is when I started knitting lessons at my LYS Knitique and signed up for the Clapotis class. My Clapotis was modified to be a larger shawl version. It is knit in two skeins of Blue Heron's Rayon Metallic, color Deep Water.

By now you are probably wondering why it took me a year and half to complete my Clapotis. Well along the way I became what I call a "flitter knitter". I do a lot of flitting about knitting and don't always knit! I also became a blogger about knitting. And, I also knit a lot of other things during my Clapotis journey.

I recently reunited with my Clapotis and remained a faithful knitter to it. I couldn't wait to finish it. Then the worst of things happened...I ran out of yarn! I only needed a small amount to finish it. It hardly warranted buying an entire skein (at $44.00) to complete it. So Knitique and I put a knitter's "call for help" out for more Deep Water yarn.

Lucky for me, the call for help was answered. Nancy a knitter at Knitique had a small ball left of Deep Water she saved from another project. She graciously brought it in to me at Knitique so I could finish my Clapotis. My Clapotis is now finally finished thanks to Nancy.

My Clapotis Finished!

Lessons I have learned from my Clapotis:

I am a flitter knitter.

I get bored easily with large projects.

Hand dyed yarn dye lots don't always match.

I do persevere and finally finish what I start.

I can knit a large project!

Knitters are the nicest people!

Save your yarn leftovers!

(You never know who may need it!)

Like many others...I will knit another Clapotis....

only next time the original size!

Have you knit a Clapotis?

The Need for Tweed!

Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine Fall/Winter 2009

It's time to start thinking about fall knitting.

Tweed appears to be the big knitting trend for fall. I adore tweeds. They are so very British! My knitting teacher Danielle at Knitique says "we are going to see a lot of tweeds this year".

According to Debbie Bliss online her new fall/winter magazine will include updated British country classics in a feature called "The Need for Tweed"! Debbie is also introducing a new tweed yarn called Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky.

Speaking of tweed, I think it's time I pulled my Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed (discontinued) bag of yarn out of my stash and knit up a cute tweed capelet for fall. I plan on knitting the New Vintage Capelet pattern available on Ravelry.

So the countdown is on. Only two weeks to go until the Fall/Winter 2009 Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine hits US stores on September 3rd! I can hardly wait! I have really enjoyed the first two issues. How about you?

By the way...has anyone made the Debbie Bliss scone recipe from Issue One? They looked really good!

Yarn Forward Summer '09 Issue

Yarn Forward Summer '09 Issue #15

I love knitting magazines! I find them very inspiring. Blame it on the California triple digit heat, I just don't seem to be knitting as much this summer. Since I am not knitting as much, knitting magazines are my fix for beautiful knits.

I recently picked up my first copy of the British knitting magazine called Yarn Forward. I saw a summer shawl on Ysolda Teague's blog that is in the summer issue of Yarn Forward. I fell in love with her shawl and knew I had to find the magazine!

Lucky for me I found it. Here's a little peak inside:

Sophia by Anniken Allis

I love lace knitting patterns in Rowan's Kidsilk Haze. I have a lot of Kidsilk Haze in my stash that I seem to be nervous about knitting. Okay I admit it, I am a bit timid when it comes to lace knitting in Kidsilk Haze. Aren't you?

I do think I am ready though to conquer my fear of lace knitting. I would love to try this Sophia shawl but I just read it is for the advanced knitter. Hmmm...am I ready or will this have to go in my Ravely que along with all my other Kidsilk Haze patterns?

Scroll Lace by Ysolda Teague

Well, here's the reason I bought the magzine! I love Scottish designer Ysolda Teague's designs. (I love her Liesl!) I have been trying to find her book Whimsical Little Knits to no avail. When I saw her lovely Scroll Lace Shawl on her blog I knew I had to find the Yarn Forward magazine for the pattern.

Yarn Forward classifies this pattern as advanced difficulty as well. Perhaps I need to sign up for some lace knitting classes? I really do want to knit this shawl. I also love the fact that the magazine lists alternative yarns for the pattern. Louisa Harding's Kashmir Aran can be a substitute yarn. We all know how much I love Louisa's yarns so I will probably knit mine up in a Louisa Harding yarn!

Zelda by Joan-McGowan-Michael

Yarn Forward is not just filled with British knitwear designs. Check out this flirty and feminine 1940's inspired sweater by US designer Joan McGowan-Michael called Zelda. Zelda is knit in Cascade Cotton Rich DK. The magazine list the pattern as intermediate and since Joan is a US designer, it is knit in the round!

Designers Joan McGowan-Michael & Lorna Miser

Speaking of designer Joan McGowan-Michael, I had the pleasure of meeting her in person last week. Joan also resides in the Sacramento region and made a guest appearance at my knitting guild's meeting last week.

Joan and her label White Lies Designs is known for her pretty romantic knits. It was a real pleasure to meet Joan in person and tell her how much I adore her Zelda sweater! Congratulations Joan on Zelda being the "cover girl" on Yarn Forward's summer issue!

If you're a lucky knitter, you might still be able to find this summer issue at your local Barnes & Noble. Currently it seems that they are the only US retailer. You can also check out the magazine's blog for more inspiration.

As always, I would love to hear thoughts and comments about the magazine from my fellow knitters!