Alpacas!

Yesterday I went to an open house at the  London Dairy Alpaca Farm in Two Rivers. These animals are so wonderful and just touching their wonderful fleece makes me want to sit down and start knitting.
Unfortunately it is getting summer now in Wisconsin (finally!!!) and it is hard to imagine to knit anything for colder weather although we are just past these snowy days.....the human memory is very bad. I have knitted a great cardigan out of Misti Alpaca Chunky weight yarn and I know from my own experience that the alpaca yarn is three times warmer than sheep's wool. It is also more awesome (sorry, dear sheep I love you, too).
So whatever project your are making out of alpaca yarn be aware of the warmth this fiber provides.
I will definitely include more alpaca yarn in my projects!

The Royal Wedding Shrug/Bolero!

Of course I was taken away with royal wedding in London, too!

Especially with the bolero that Kate wore with her second dress after the church. Never would I have thought to knit with Angora yarn again and every time I think NEVER I will of course do the opposite! That's why I had to design a pattern for this cardigan. It is not all done yet because I ran out of the fuzzy material but one more sleeve and then the pattern will be out there! It is gorgeous and of course would work for any other yarn as well.

The Photos Of The New "60 Quick Baby" Knits Are Here

I really liked making these booties! The colors are not as BRIGHT in the original ones! 

I hope they will warm many baby feet!

Little Paws

Many new ideas are floating through my head! 

The days are too short to put everything in knitting though. "Little Paws" is my newest baby booty design and it seems I always like my newest one the best. This one is definitely the fastest and easiest right now. I will try it out on my beginner students in two weeks and then I will know more. 

My photographer friend Andrea Isaacs has sent me this great picture of her daughter with a hat I crocheted a while ago. 

I am always amazed how beautiful her pictures are. Thank you!

It is still winter here in Wisconsin and it is hard to come up with projects for warmer temperatures. I am thinking of shoulder wraps - maybe something you could wear when you go to a wedding! The so called Mulberry stitch is one of my favourite stitches right now. I finished a very lacy scarf out of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze

The yarn is so lovely and soft that it looks almost blurry in the photo. Well, it could be me, too. I still have not read the instructions that came with my new camera which I bought last year in fall.....shame on me. But I rather knit than read instructions.

60 Quick Baby Knits

A new book by Soho Publishing (the makers of the VOGUE knitting magazine) is on the way! It will be out in May and I think it has been almost a year since I sent off my precious goods (not telling what but there will be three items from me in that book). Guess who knitted the hat on the cover??
Yeah, it's me. Nothing to be extremely proud of since it is "just" a hat. But anyway. I still find it amazing when something that I made reappears somewhere in printed matter. Even more amazing: when people knit something that I "invented" and my idea gets multiplied. Very very wonderful.

As for example "Santa's Favorite Stocking". I taught a class about the pattern and my student Karen has probably made the most stockings in the history of this stocking! One went even all the the way to Africa! Wow! I felt so proud. She made some without the Intarsia pattern and sent me a photo so wonderful it should appear in a magazine! Thank you so much Karen!

Fingerless Gloves!

My newest design! I love fingerless gloves and since I am lately more into crocheting I came up with these! They are easy and fast to make and I have tried to cover everything in my pattern which looks more like a book - just kidding! But with all the photos it is a rather unusual pattern and even a not so experienced crocheter could make these. I am sure! 

You can buy the pattern here

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HEADBAND FLORA IS READY!!

This is a crochet pattern but it looks like knitted and you can make them so fast! How about a last minute Christmas gift?

For the next two weeks you can also find me as an advertiser on the Ravelry website! 

If you like to buy the pattern follow the button....