Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool August 12-18

Things were a little quieter on the knitting front this week.  But there were a few new items that caught my attention.

1.  Birds of a Feather shawl pattern by Andrea Mowry, originally published in Laine Magazine, Issue 2, is now available for individual purchase.  This shawl is a gorgeous knit using two skeins of yarn.  In the sample, Hedgehog Skinny Singles is combined with Hedgehog Fibres Kidsilk Lace, a luscious 70% mohair 30% silk yarn blend.  Check out the finished projects on Ravelry as there are already so many beautiful versions.  This shawl is definitely going into my knitting queue.

An Isabell Kraemer sweater from this same publication is also available for purchase.  Sibeal, a light fingering weight sweater knit from the top down is one of those comfortable sweater patterns we expect from this designer.

2.  I don't know about you, but I watch more podcasts on YouTube these days than I do t.v.  I especially love watching knitting podcasts as there are so many excellent ones to choose from.  One of the newer ones I love is the Yarn Pimp Podcast, hosted by owner Karen Posniak of Do Ewe Knit? a yarn store in New Jersey.  She is joined by the bubbly Danielle Guinta.  Past podcasts include a visit to the Hedgehog Fibres headquarters, and interviews with guests such as Stephen West, kristyglassknits, and Kristen Lehrer of Voolenvine Knits.  The latest episode is here.  Karen Posniak is a big supporter of indie dyers and carries a variety of brands.

Another one of my favourite podcasts is  the Grocery Girls, two Canadian knitters from Edmonton, Alberta. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching them yet check out their latest episode here.

3.  I love a sale and here is a good one:  designer Ambah O'Brien is taking 50% off one her patterns for 24 hours each day this month.  Check out her Instagram feed daily to see the design that is being discounted.  Her patterns are well written and very wearable.  I was so happy to be able to buy the Xandra Wrap, her newest publication at the reduced price. 

Here's another deal:  Hilary Smith Callis has just published Aeque, a very pretty gradient cowl pattern, that blends together five colours of fingering weight yarn. Perfect for those leftovers.   The deal is that if you purchase this pattern you can also buy any of her shawl or cowl patterns for 50% off.  Hurry, this offer ends midnight August 19th (Pacific time).

I am adding another new feature this week to my blog:

Tip of the Week:

Random stripe generator:  I  am currently working on a baby blanket using four different colours of yarn.  I was trying to decide how to effectively place the stripes when I remembered this website which generates a striping pattern for your selected colours.  I decided on this pattern:

My stripe pattern

The neat thing about this website is if you don't like the suggested combination of stripes you can refresh the page until you are happy.  

The pattern I am knitting with this combination of stripes is called the Chevron Baby Blanket, a free pattern by Espace Tricot.  This is my first time knitting with Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton.  I am not a huge fan of knitting with cotton but I have to admit that I am happy with how this blanket is turning out.

Chevron Baby Blanket

I hope you enjoyed this new addition to Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool. (My son thought of that title and I am going with it.  LOL)   Here's hoping you have a happy and relaxing weekend.