Monday, January 12, 2009

GWOY: January 2009 swatches

The Great Wall of Yarn for the January 2009 TNNA convention is one of my favorite things to do ... I love getting the latest yarns ... playing with them and designing with them .... knitting up swatches that show the yarn to the best advantage.
Here are the swatches I did this year (only two as the package was crushed by USPS and one skein was lost in the mail ...):
This one is O-Wool's (fully organic wool) "Legacy Bulky" in a lovely clay. I used #10s and did this cable pattern (with slight re-drafting of stitches) from Melissa Leapman's latest book Continuous Cables (which is one of those books every knitter should have on their shelves if only to do these cool, out-of-nowhere cable patterns!) This yarn is luscious and knits up beautifully! This yarn would make a spectacular hoodie with cable patterns throughout -- can't wait to start designing one.
This second swatch is SWTC's "Jezebel" (a hand-dyed sock yarn) which I did here in a toe-up, short-row heeled baby sock. The pictures don't do justice to this beautiful purple-shaded yarn that knits up in a delicious "hand" on #2 needles. I did a "heart" lace pattern on the top of the foot with a 2x2 rib sole ... than a mock-cable ribbed cuff that would hold the sock on but look a little more "posh" than a simple rib. Gorgeous, yes? Well, maybe you should see it in "real life"!

I love this opportunity that being a member of AKD gives me ... the chance to swatch with the latest and greatest from the yarn companies (with a special thanks to Heidi at Trendsetters for all she does to get this GWOY out, in and up!).

Happy knittin'




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mary,
Do offer knitting retreats anymore? They are hard to find in Colorado. Thanks.
Donna

Mary G said...

Donna -- I would so love to offer knitting retreats, but we've moved from Colorado ... maybe if we move back, I can start 'em up again. They're so much fun ... talking, knitting, knitting, talking and enjoying God's beauty in the mountains!

I'll keep you posted ... but thanks so much for asking!