You drop off a load of boxes at the post office, and they tell you they had to call regional headquarters for assistance with an “emergency situation.” That would be us! Good work everybody!
We actually had to hold out our last batch of orders, mostly one and two skein orders shipping in padded mailers, due to the volume of orders and laws of physics. If you didn’t get a shipping notice yet, look for one first thing Monday A.M.!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. and those of you celebrating abroad! Our Black Friday Surprise Sale was so popular last year that we’ve decided to do it again, and we are more prepared than ever – shop with Eat.Sleep.Knit on Friday, November 27th, and you’ll get a surprise discount between 10 and 100% off (yes, 100%) of your entire order.
How it works: Starting at 10 AM ET, visit the store and fill up your cart. You’ll go through the checkout process as usual, enter your billing information, and click on “Complete Order.” Your order confirmation page will then display your personal surprise discount and your order total will be adjusted accordingly! All orders will receive a discount of at least 10%, all the way up to 100% (that means your order could be free!). You could win half off, 30% off, 75% off, but no matter what, you will receive at least 10% off, and the odds of getting more are quite good! The sale ends at 5 PM (Eastern US time), and all orders transmitted after that time will be charged at regular prices. Gift certificates and club memberships are excluded from the sale and will not be available for purchase on the website during this time frame.
10K Club Members! As a special perk to you, our most loyal customers, we will have a one hour “preview” for you before the sale – you’ll be able to shop the sale starting at 9 AM ET. This is only for customers who are in our 10K club (you should have a 10K medallion on your account page) and any orders placed during this time period will not receive the sale discounts if you are NOT in the 10K club.
Please remember that we do not accept returns on sale yarn, so all orders are final and there are no cancellations or returns once they have begun to be processed or shipped.
Because of the response we are anticipating to this event, it may take us until Tuesday to get all of the orders out, Yarn Marathon prizes earned may be shipped separately, and we can not combine ANY orders or offer yarn winding for any yarn sold during the sale. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail us as this is the fastest way to reach us, but bear in mind that due to the volume of orders and e-mail we’ll be receiving, it may take us several hours to get back to you.
If you haven’t seen her patterns before, SpillyJane has a whole bevy of amazing and adorable colorwork mitten and sock patterns, from robots and skulls to seascapes and traditional patterning. I am a big fan! And when she released the Cupcake Mittens this fall, I knew right away that I had to cast on as soon as possible.
And, okay, I’ll admit it – I had to make these in Tosh Sock because it is really soft and the array of colors is not only gorgeous but also allowed me to duplicate the colors of the original with yarn we had available immediately. But since they are 4 oz skeins, I hated the idea of breaking into a whopping 9 skeins when I’d only use small amounts of 8 of them. Hence, the kits were born!
I wanted to offer some background color options, so I’ve selected four that work well with the eight-color cupcake motif – Clover, Denim, Tern, and Wood Violet. I used one with Clover as the background color to make the mittens above. These are a quick holiday knit, especially if you have a cupcake lover in your life!
Hello from our new blog software – you may have noticed that our blog broke last week when our web host upgraded the server it lives on. They haven’t been able to help us fix it, and it appears that you need to be some kind of super coder to decipher the resultant mess, so we’re moving to a new platform that our web admin knows how to make go. I’ll be transferring the old entries over as quickly as possible; sorry for any inconvenience.
Geez Louise, the time just flies by, one day to the next and we’re adding new things to the site and packing Malabrigo Club orders and the next thing I know, it’s been a week since I posted! Without further ado, my completed Rosamund’s Cardigan, knit in Madelinetosh Eyre colorway Thyme and modified to add 3/4 length sleeves. I used 5.5 skeins and US 7 needles. I am marginally obsessed with this sweater and I love the yarn so much I’m already planning another sweater in it.
And speaking of yarn I am marginally obsessed with, we’ve had an amazing week for new shipments of yarn and I can’t knit fast enough. A ton of new colors of Have You Any Wool’s Luxe Sport are just begging to be knit into a great fall weather cardi, and we’ve brought in a fabulous new vendor, Scarlet Fleece. Both of the base yarns we’re starting with are amazing – Silk & Ivory is a heavy fingering/light sport weight silk/wool blend that reminds me of baby kittens, and Painted Merino is a robust yet exceptionally soft and sproingy superwash DK weight yarn that is on my needles as we speak.
On an unrelated note, the blog is having a horrible time with spam lately, so I’m having to manually screen all comments first – apologies for any long delays in comment posting!
It’s been storming in Georgia all weekend, and yesterday our power went out for the better part of an hour. An hour with no electricity shows you exactly how dependent you are on power – everything we thought of to do ended up needing electricity! And, okay, I have a confession – I am a little obsessed with my cats. Combine the two on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and this is what you get:
Why yes, that is a cashmere argyle sweater vest that I knit for my cats. It fits both of them quite well, even though the other one is about four pounds heavier! I used leftover Rowan Cashsoft DK from a sweater I knit three years ago (and yes, I’m aware that this yarn is too nice for a cat sweater…) – about a half a ball of the main color, not even 50 yards of the green, and mere scraps of the white. I know I am not the only one out there who thinks this is endlessly entertaining, nor can I be the only one who has a little free time and some old stash yarn you have no idea what to do with, so here’s my pattern:
Kitty Cat Argyle Sweater Vest
Yarn:Rowan Cashsoft DK or any DK weight – MC (.5 balls), CC1 (.5 balls), CC2 (10 yards)
Needles: US 5 26″ circular (you could also use DPNs for arms)
Gauge: 6.5 stitches=1″, 8 rows= 1″
Back:
CO 50 stitches with CC1.
Row 1: *K1, P1* repeat through end of row.
Repeat Row 1 five times (6 times total) or until ribbing measures .75″.
Switch to MC.
Row 7 (RS): K across.
Row 8 (WS): P across.
Repeat Rows 7+8 until you have completed 32 rows in stockinette (stockinette section measures 4″).
Row 41 (RS): BO 5 at beginning of the row, K to end of row (45 stitches).
Row 42 (WS): BO 5 at beginning of the row, P to end of row (40 stitches).
Row 43 (RS): K2, SSK, K to last four stitchs, K2tog, K2 (38 stitches).
Row 44 (WS): P across.
Repeat Rows 43 and 44 until you have 28 stitches left on the needle (five times), ending with a WS row.
Row 55 (RS): K across.
Row 56 (WS): P across.
Repeat Rows 55 and 56 three times (4 times total).
Row 63 (RS): K2, M1, K to last two stitches, M1, K2.
Row 64 (WS): P across.
Repeat Rows 63 and 64 four times (38 stitches).
Row 73 (RS): K2, M1, K to last two stitches, M1, K2.
Row 74 (WS): P to end, CO 5 stitches at end of row (45 stitches).
Row 75 (RS): K to end, CO 5 stitches at end of row (50 stitches).
Row 76 (WS): P across.
Row 77 (RS): K across.
Row 78 (WS): P across.
Row 79 (RS): K across.
Row 80 (WS): P across.
Row 81 (RS): K across.
Row 82 (WS): P across.
Row 83 (RS): K across.
Row 84 (WS): P across.
BO loosely.
Front:
Work as for back for 42 rows
Row 43 (RS): K2, SSK, K5, work Row 1 of chart, K6, K2tog, K2 (38 stitches).
Row 44 (WS): P8, work next row of chart, K9.
Repeat Rows 43 and 44 five times (28 stitches remain), working each row of the chart and switching back to MC once chart is completed, ending with a WS row.
Row 55 (RS): K across.
Row 56 (WS): P across.
Separate for V-neck:
Row 57 (RS): K13, BO 1, K14
Row 58 (WS): P13, attach new ball to other side of front, P14.
From now on, you’ll switch to the other side’s working yarn when you reach the second half of the front in the row.
Row 59 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (25 stitches total)
Row 60 (WS): P across for each side.
Row 61 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (23 stitches total)
Row 62 (WS): P across for each side.
Continue decreasing one stitch on each side of the V-neck for every RS row in this manner, and at the same time, continue side shaping the same as for the back as follows:
Row 63 (RS): K2, M1, K to last three stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to last two stitches, M1, K2.
Row 64 (WS): P across for each side.
Repeat Rows 63 and 64 four times.
Row 73 (RS): K2, M1, K to last three stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to last two stitches, M1, K2.
Row 74 (WS): P to end for each side, CO 5 stitches at end of row (28 stitches).
Row 75 (RS): K to last three stitchs, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end, CO 5 stitches at end of row (33 stitches).
Row 76 (WS): P across for each side.
Row 77 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (31 stitches)
Row 78 (WS): P across each side.
Row 79 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (29 stitches)
Row 80 (WS): P across each side.
Row 81 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (27 stitches)
Row 82 (WS): P across each side.
Row 83 (RS): K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1, switch to other ball, K1, SSK, K to end. (25 stitches)
Row 84 (WS): P across each side.
BO each half loosely.
Chart:
Finishing:
Sew side seams above arms, then sew side seams under arms.
Neck:
Beginning at base of the V on the front, pick up stitches all around the neck to the other end of the V – pick up about two stitches for every three in the sweater. DO NOT JOIN. Knit back and forth in 1×1 ribbing (K1, P1) until you have six rows of ribbing, BO loosely.
Arms:
Pick up stitches all around the armhole – pick up every other stitch – and join for kntting in the round. Knit in 1×1 ribbing for six rounds, BO loosely. Repeat for other side.
Weave in all ends.
Wrestle onto nearest available cat.