Raise your hand if you are waiting for Malabrigo

The lovely Mariana from Malabrigo wrote an email that makes me want to sing!  She’s a woman of few words but important ones none the less:

“We’ve processed your yarn order. It’ll ship today.”
Hooray!!!!  One new yarn, Rios, and most of the favorites that we have come to love: Twist, Merino Worsted, Lace, Silky Merino and a few colors of Chunky.  Rios is their answer to superwash, put very simply on their website: Superwash merino wool 210 yards (192 meters)

Watch this space to hear when the Malabrigo comes in Stix’s door!

New Books!

In today’s mail, two new books from Interweave Press!

Vintage Modern Knits by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn

This is a book with some beautiful takes on classic styles.  I like the look of the yarns used throughout this book so much that I emailed Kate this morning to see about Stix carrying The Fibre Company’s fabulous yarns.  When Suzanne and I were on a retreat this fall we both fell in love with their yarn, The Road to China Light.  In fact, a hank of it fell into my hands and had to come home to Bozeman with me.

The second book is by prolific crochet-er and knitter, Kristin Omdahl, A Knitting Wrapsody.  The projects in this book are filled with geometric based designs.  You may remember the Infinity Scarf in Interweave Crochet from a few years ago.

The new Rowan magazine and KnitScene are here!

 

Some beautiful things to knit and/or crochet!  I want to move into Kaffe’s summer house along with all the knitted home decor.

Real knits for real women!  Fair isle and drapey spring knits.  Steek anyone?

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, Alpaca…

What makes alpaca yarn so delicious?  Alpaca fibers have a hollow core making it warm – warmer than wool – yet breathable.  Alpaca also is less itchy than many other animal fibers.  Many people who can’t wear traditional lamb’s wool can wear alpaca against their skin.  Yarns spun from alpaca fiber are subtly fuzzy, extra cushy, and have an elegant drape making for stunning garments, scarves, and shawls.  For all these reasons Stix has stocked up on some of the most lovely alpaca yarns available including…

… Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight
This yarn not only is a super-soft plied alpaca in yummy colors, but because it’s from Blue Sky Alpacas, you know it comes with great patterns.  My new favorite is “Olga’s Mitts” written specifically for this yarn.

… Misti Alpaca Bulky
This Bulky weight baby alpaca yarn is perfect for gratifying accessories like hats, scarves, cowls, and mittens.  The yarn comes in a great variety of solid colors and is also available in stunning hand-painted colorways.  Try out the very popular “Cranberry  Sauce” hat on Tangled.

… Joseph Galler Heather Prime Alpaca
This DK Peruvian alpaca yarn is perfect for all your medium weight projects. Each skein has an incredible 665 yards making it a great cost-effective choice for scarves, shawls, or garments.

Come by and check out all of these yarns for yourself in our ever-growing alpaca display.

Bobcat Spirit!

Bobcat knitting kits are now available.  Hats, mittens, and a stocking all with your favorite team logo!  Everything you need (except the needles) to knit the perfect gift for the Bobcat in your life.  (Griz kits available if you must….)

 

Indie Designers

Four new books from the top indie designers on Ravelry just arrived!  Ysolda Teague’s Whimsical Little Knits and Whimsical Little Knits 2 have almost all of her most faved projects.  From the stunning Ishbel lace mini shawl to the Snapdragon Tam and Mitts.  And Ysolda tries to make it easier for those just starting more difficult patterns: she gives both written directions and charts so that if you prefer one over the other, she’s got you covered.

The Shetland Trader is written by Gudrun Johnson and this book includes 10 new designs all photographed by Jared Flood in the Shetland Isles.  There are small projects and a few stunning sweater patterns in the book.

And finally Stephen West’s first book, West Knits Book One, is more of what he is good at – hats and shawls.  A total of 5 shawls and 3 hats.  Innovative and unusual patterns!

We also have individual patterns from these indie designers too!

Wall o’ Malabrigo!

Boxes from Malabrigo arrived and now Stix has a wall of one of the yummiest yarn around!  Merino worsted, Silky Merino, Twist and Lace.  Beloved old colors and some to-dye-for new ones!

I’ve started on a new project out of this Twist and boy it is going to be delicious!

 

The opposite of Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Saturday afternoon the Stix Chix had a trunk show for our favorite gifts for this holiday season.  Crafters came down to get ideas, plan their gift making and see the new gift books.  We showed new hats, scarves, mitts and the hottest item of the year, cowls.  Our goal for this event was to assist folks in planning for the gift giving season.  Get a head start on those projects so that we can enjoy the holidays without staying up on Christmas Eve to finish that last gift.

 

One of my all time favorite knitting books is Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute Knitted Gifts and this fall she has come out with a sequel, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which is just as fabulous!  I find myself returning again and again to this book and I made the Child’s Placket Sweater just last month for a speedy baby gift.  A companion sweater in the new book is the Easy Baby Cardigan.  I am very excited about this book and will definitely make several projects out of it.  Another book, Warm Knits, Cool Gifts by Sally Melville is a great combination of gifts for the whole family.  And one of the hottest books, Cowl Girls, is chock full of creative quick knits.

New Yarn!

New Fall yarns are beginning to arrive at Stix! We just got in a box of lovely lace weight yarn from JoJoLand, in subtle self-striping colorways.  Also fun is Litoral, a squishy-soft novelty yarn from Aslan Trends. Come down and pet the new yarn, and keep watching for alerts as we get more!

Finally, SUMMER!

That’s right folks, summer is finally here in Bozeman. I heard the temperature was reported to be above 90!

With summer, a new shipment from Blue Sky Alpacas! Their cotton, OMG! is so soft, so incredibly soft! And the new Multi Cotton in tonal hues, is to die for! It is the same organic cotton that they overdye in brights and pastels.

We’ve been curious about Spud & Chloe so we ordered some of that too. We have brought in 6 colors of the “Fine” to play with. It is solid colored sock yarn- fingering weight, 80% superwash wool and 20% silk. Silk, that’s right silk! Perfect for shawls, a hat , socks, or maybe a light garment like Interweave’s “Winkle Vest“.

I predict we will see more Blue Sky Alpacas in the store this fall…