Holiday Knitting Ideas- Part 6

Need a last minute gift idea??? These Wine Bottle Hat and Scarves are VERY fast to knit and make that gift of wine just a little bit special! Use any of your leftover worsted weight yarn.

Mountain Colors would like to wish everyone a joyous holiday season and a happy, healthy 2012.

Wine Bottle Hat and Scarf LINK

Holiday Knitting Ideas- Part 5

 

Missoula Mobius

This week we have our 5th holiday knitting idea!  Knit from our Monarch yarn this snuggly soft Missoula Mobius would make a lovely gift for someone special.  It can be knit with any of our other worsted weight yarns as well.  And explaining the term mobius to the recipient will make the gift even more interesting!

Grab a skein of Monarch and knit a warm gift for yourself or a friend.

Missoula Mobius Link
in the diagram on page 2 the upload will NOT display the lines and has duplicated the letters. I've tried to fix it twice,  SO...for the diagram delete the 3rd and 6th line of letters (the extra letters) and draw two rectangles, one inside each of the A, B, C, D letters that remain.  Sorry I couldn't figure out how to make the lines show up!! 

Holiday Knitting Ideas- Part 4

Great Falls Slouch Hat

 

It is snowing here in western Montana.  It's starting to feel like December!  I guess that means the holidays are approaching FAST.  To help you out with your holiday knitted gift giving we have added another free design... this week we have a slouchy hat knit out of one of our newer yarns, Monarch.  Monarch is so soft and will make this slouchy hat extra soft next to the ears.

The Great Falls Hat will make a quick to knit project for yourself or someone special on your gift list. Knit one up and then be sure to share pictures with us.  We love to see what you have made with our yarn!

Great Falls Slouch Hat link

Holiday Knitting Ideas- Part 3

We hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.  If you are like many folks you did some eating with friends or family, some shopping, maybe watched some football, and of course knitting!!  In case you need inspiration for your next knitting project check out our fun River Valley Hat. 

River Valley Hat

There are 5 "Just One Ounce" skeins of yarn used in this slightly slouchy textured hat. These yarns are Mountain Colors Mohair, Mohair Loop, Merino Ribbon, Wooly Feathers and Missoula.  Missoula is ONLY available as a "Just One Ounce" yarn.  Yarn stores have been stocking up on kits containing these 5 yarns for our Long Beach Scarf design but if you have the kit you could make this hat with the yarn instead of a scarf!!! OR buy two and make both projects!

Contact your yarn store or Mountain Colors (406-961-1900) for information on how to buy your Just One Ounce kit for the River Valley Hat.  Feel free to share this pattern (click link).  Happy knitting!

Holiday Knitting Ideas--Part 2

Woven Stitch Cowl

The second in our series of holiday knitting projects is a cowl knit with our new 100% merino wool, Monarch.  Monarch is a thick/thin yarn in a heavy worsted weight and it knits up into a super soft fabric.  This cowl only takes 1 skein of yarn and makes a wonderful snuggly neck warmer.

The pattern link is below and you are welcome to share the pattern with anyone.  I am trying a new way of linking to the pattern...if you have any trouble at all opening the file please let me know via email.  info@mountaincolors.com


Woven Stitch Cowl

Holiday Knitting Ideas-- The first in a series

We are planning to share a series of patterns that we hope will inspire you for any holiday knitting you hope to complete.  These are going to be small, quick projects!!

The first one is Lacey Jeannette Wristers, which as the name suggests uses 1 skein of our cashmere/silk yarn, Jeannette.  It is super soft and oh so nice against the skin.  These wristers have a lace panel on the back of the hand and picot edging at the top and bottom.  Two sizes are available.  For those who aren't comfortable knitting lace you could just leave out the lace and knit these in stockinette stitch.

Feel free to share this with your friends!! Just use the little print button that shows up under the pattern box and it should print out for you!!  There is also a gray button in the bottom right corner of that box and you can enlarge to full screen mode, then right click on your mouse and download the pattern!!

Mountain Fusion Teton

Have you seen our Mountain Fusion Teton??  It is fun and extremely popular. Teton is a wonderfully soft 2-ply extra bulky weight yarn.   We dye the two plies...one "fat" and one "skinny" in two different colorways and then the folks at Mountain Meadow Wool Mill in Buffalo, WY ply it for us.

Teton comes in 8 colors.  Check them out here.  The color names describe them for you!  The above photo shows all of them in natural light. Teton Berry, Violet, Woods, Sky, Flame, etc.

Best of all you can knit a VERY easy hat with one skein of Teton.  It knits at 2.5 sts/inch. On the inside of the label is a free hat pattern...or find your own design and knit a quick gift for the holidays!!

Check out this popular yarn at your local yarn store!

Featured Colorway-- Sagebrush

Sagebrush grows everywhere in the dry climate of Montana and the western United States and Canada.  For those who haven't been around sagebrush it has a distinct smell and it grows in many shades of soft gray-green. There are hints of yellow when the plant is in bloom.  Numerous fields in our valley have sagebrush...but only if they are not irrigated. We typically get only 13" of precipitation a year and sagebrush manages to grown over 3 feet tall!

Our colorway, Sagebrush, is also a soft green color with a dash of warm light brown. It is lovely when knit or crocheted into a throw, sweater, or hat!  As you look at Mountain Colors yarns be sure to look for Sagebrush!

Feature Colorway--Indian Paintbrush

Our colorway, Indian Paintbrush, was named after a plant that grows all over western Montana.  It blooms in the Spring at lower elevations and by mid to late summer it blooms at higher elevations up in the mountains.  It grows in many different shades of red-orange and it is one of my favorite wildflowers. 

On a recent camping trip I saw a lot of Indian Paintbrush....

and this spring I saw lots of Indian Paintbrush.

And here at Mountain Colors we have lots of Indian Paintbrush!!

Mountain Colors Indian Paintbrush

If you have something knit in this colorway we would love to see a picture!  You can share it in our Ravelry Group or on the Mountain Colors Facebook page.

Happy knitting!

Reversible Cables Eyelet Stole

Our friend Jackie at HeartStrings Fiberarts has designed the lovely new Reversible Cables Eyelet Stole made in Mountain Colors Bearfoot.  We saw it at her booth at the June trade show and it is even more beautiful in person.  She is such a talented designer.  She has used our Bearfoot yarn and our Winter Lace yarn in a variety of designs.  If you are looking for a new lace project during the heat of August try out a HeartStrings design and our Bearfoot or Winter Lace yarn!!

Featured Colorway--Huckleberry

Huckleberries are everywhere right now.  They are a small berry, similar to blueberries, that grow wild here in Western Montana.

At the Farmers' Market you can buy them by the 1# bag and in the woods folks have their secret spot where they go to pick their berries.  Bears also love huckleberries so that is a huge factor when picking berries in the woods!!  They make delicious jam, syrup, candy, ice cream, milkshakes, pie, muffins, etc.  YUM. 

Our colorway Huckleberry has the purple of ripe huckleberries, the reds of the less ripe berries and this colorway continues to be a favorite.  If you are in Montana be sure to taste these wonderful berries and check out a skein of our yarn too!!

Feature Colorway--Lupine

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colorway Lupine

The colorway Lupine (pronounced Lew-Pin) is named after the beautiful flowers that bloom all over western Montana in the springtime.  The lupine around here are purple and this year because we had LOTS of rain they were even more numerous than usual.

The field by Leslie's house

If you love purple you will love Lupine. 

Feature Colorway--Sun River

Sun River Valley, Montana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by JohansenGallery from Google Earth

Sun River

Sun River is named in memory of Diana's Mother.  Pat grew up in the Sun River valley about 30 miles west of Great Falls, Montana in a little town called Simms.  This is a beautiful area and a great fly fishing river.  It is very rural (approx 49 people per square mile) and very windy and cold in the winter.  Pat was a very talented batik artist and she loved pinks and purples so we wanted to design "her" special colorway.  It is a cheerful color and very fun to use in a special knitting project.  I know Pat would love it.

Our Yarn is on the cover of Knit, Swirl!!

Have you see the newly released book, Knit, Swirl! by Sandra McIver??  The cover picture of her Coat of Many Colors is done in Mountain Colors Mountain Goat yarn!!  Isn't it beautiful!!  We are so excited about this lovely book.  In conjunction with the release of this book we are offering kits (yarn only, No book) in 3 different color combinations:
     1.   Poppy--Pinks & Purples (like the cover)
     2.   Blue Flax--- Blues & Teals
     3.   Sunflower---Warm Autumn colors

Each kit contains 10 skeins of Mountain Goat in 9 different colorways...enough yarn for Size 2 in the book.  These kits can be ordered through any Mountain Colors retailer.  Contact us if you need help locating a shop!

406-961-1900       www.mountaincolors.com

Yarn Giveaway!!

It’s time for another yarn giveaway! This month we are featuring a brand new collaboration between Mountain Colors yarn and the Mountain Meadow Wool mill in Wyoming. We are so excited to be combining our talents – Mountain Meadow Wool spins the yarns and we hand paint them in our original colorways. This is your opportunity to be one of the first people to get your hands on this exciting new yarn venture!


This month we are offering three kits and three different ways to win them. That means that three lucky participants will win a kit containing a gorgeous skein of our first collaborative yarn, the just-released Mountain Fusion Teton. Along with this super-squishy bulky merino yarn, you’ll also receive your choice of one Mountain Colors pattern to knit or crochet yourself something cuddly and colorful. You can play on our blog, in our Ravelry group, and on our Facebook page for three separate chances to win!

How To Play:

- To drop an entry here on our blog, reply to this post and tell us what your favorite Mountain Colors colorway is.

- To play on Ravelry, simply join our Ravelry group and then post in the giveaway thread and tell us what your favorite Mountain Colors colorway is.

- To throw your hat into the ring on Facebook, just like our Facebook Fan Page. That’s it! Easy-peasy!

We’ll be announcing the winner in exactly two weeks, on May 28, in a LIVE VIDEO DRAWING at 1 p.m. Mountain Time (3 p.m. Eastern) in our Ravelry group.

Enjoy this chance to win some beautiful new yarn!!

Feature Colorway--Chinook

Mountain Colors Chinook Colorway

Chinook winds blow on the eastern slopes of the Rockies during the coldest months of the winter.  They bring warm air and a welcome relief to the sub-zero temperatures.  The temperature can change over 30 degrees in a few hours.  These are very dry winds so humidity drops, snow and ice melt, and people feel "better".  Most people welcome a chinook wind.

Our Chinook colorway helps celebrate the chinook winds of Montana.

Feature Colorway--Goldrush

Goldrush on the dye table

Goldrush drying

One of the fun things we do every year is name our Colorways.  The newest colors are released soon but I thought you would enjoy hearing our naming "logic"!!  We try to choose names that reflect where we live.  Montana; the mountains, woodland, prairie, or valley; local geographic features, local flowers and plants; and the history of our area.  We use all of these as inspiration. 

Mining for gold, copper and silver have greatly influenced our state.  There are ghost towns where mining used to happen and there are still active mines near towns like Butte and Anaconda. Known as the "Richest Hill on Earth" Butte produced more mineral wealth than any other mining district in the world up to the middle of the 20th century. We chose the name Goldrush as a way to remember all the hundreds of thousands of people who came to Montana in the late 19th century to work in the mines, supply the miners, or entertain the miners. 

So next time you pick up a skein of our yarn in Goldrush remember the brave folks who came from all around the world to settle in the remote state of Montana.

Another Yarn Giveaway!

For those of you who are members of the incredible Ravelry site we have a new contest going!!  Join our group....Mountain Colors Yarns and check out the contest rules!!  The prize is a skein of our newest yarn, Jeannette, a Cashmere and cultivated Silk yarn that is SOOO soft!  If you aren't on Ravelry and you are a knitter/crocheter be sure to check it out.  Membership is free!

Jeannette is a brand new yarn and we are just beginning to ship it out to stores.  If you want to knit with it be sure to let your yarn store owner know.  Have them give us a call for details!!  It comes in approx 50 gram skeins with 158 yards.  That is enough to make a scarf!!  Perfect Spring knitting!

Contact us if you have any questions!!  info@mountaincolors.com  

Spring Fling Lace Scarf

Our Silk'n Ewe yarn is a lovely blend of wool and raw silk.  It is "cool" to the touch and works perfectly for Spring.  This quick to knit scarf uses 1 skein of Silk'n Ewe and the one pictured above is knit in our new Harmony Honey.  We have included a link to this free pattern below.

Need help finding our Yarn?

We sometimes have folks contact us who are having trouble locating our yarns in their area of the country.   Sometimes they don't have a local yarn store, sometimes their local shop doesn't stock our yarns, and sometimes their shop has some of our yarns but not in the colorway or yarn style desired.

If you fall into one of these categories please let us help you!!  Our Mountain Colors website  has a Yarn Stores page.  On that page we list stores by region of the country.  Many have their email and website information listed.  Also we have Special Orders shops and these stores would love to custom order any colorway, quantity, etc that you need.  These Special Orders shops are also listed on our website.  If for some reason you still can't locate exactly what you want feel free to contact us by email  infoATmountaincolorsDOTcom  (change the AT and the DOT to the usual email symbols) or by phone 406-961-1900. 

We are open weekdays from 9am-5pm Mountain time.  Call for assistance or come visit if you are in our area of western Montana.

Happy knitting!

Patterns now on Patternfish

Well somehow it is almost March.  Where did January and February go?  We had lots of snow, ice , cold temperatures....winter stuff.  And here in Montana we can not hope for Spring weather until April or sometimes May.  So it is time to start another knitting project, grab a cup of tea and make the best of perfect knitting weather!

Are you looking for a new knitting project too?  We have recently sent almost all of our designs to Patternfish.  They are in the process of uploading them to their website and  all will be available as PDF downloads.  We even included some discontinued designs from years ago!!  Check them out! It may take them awhile to upload well over 100 designs so be patient!

Stay warm!!  Diana and Leslie