Leslie's Holiday Knitting

Almost every year I tell myself that I will NOT do any last minute knitting for gifts. And almost every year I get last minute inspiration from something I've seen or read. This year is no different. For me this year it is cowls. I like wearing them; I like knitting them and I hope my gift recipients will like them too.



I am on Ravelry and I found patterns that would work with my favorite Mountain Colors Yarns. A cowl needs to be made with something soft and not scratchy so I chose Twizzle for my Darkside Cowl (this link may only work if you are a member of Ravelry) knit in Sapphire Trail; I chose 4/8's Wool in Alpine for one Birthday Cowl and Rich Red for the second one. I am thinking of knitting a fourth cowl also in Rich Red as it's such a festive color.

If you need a quick gift idea a skein of Twizzle or a skein of 4/8's Wool would be enough to make at least 2 cowls. I haven't knit three with one color so I don't know for sure if that would work. So get those needles out, start scanning the internet for patterns and start knitting with your favorite Mountain Colors Yarn!

Holiday knitting inspirations

As always this time of year, I start planning my last minute knitting projects for the folks on my holiday gift list. This year is no different. Some of the ideas I have been considering are the Homespun Throw, the Fairisle Mittens and several cowls (patterns downloaded from Ravelry) knit in Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool.

The Homespun Throw is very fast and easy to knit but the results are stunning. Last Fall Diana made 3 different throws for folks on her holiday list. The pattern calls for 3 skeins of Homespun Wool/Silk but on one of her throws she used an extra skein of yarn to make a larger throw. This yarn comes in ALL of our colorways and makes a wonderful gift.


The Fairisle Mittens use a colorway for the background and a Solitary solid cream color for the pattern stitch. This could easily be reversed for another fun look. These are knit in Mountain Colors Mountain Goat but our 4/8's Wool would also work.

For a cowl I am planning to use our 4/8's wool if worsted weight is used in the downloaded patterns or our Weavers Wool if a finer yarn is needed. I think I could make several of these before it's time to ship my packages.

I'm off to start knitting. How about you??

Sweater Season has arrived!!!

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I like the cooler weather, the warm cast to the light in the sky, the changing color of the leaves and especially the fact that it is sweater weather. Here in Western Montana it is now officially time to unpack the sweaters for the season!!

During the summer on a long car ride I was able to finish most of a sweater. The pattern I used was our Back to Basics Shaped Pullover. I am so pleased with the results. I knit it using our Twizzle yarn and it was quick to knit, comfortable to wear and very soft. Of course I used my favorite colorway (Red Willow) and that makes me want to wear it ALL the time!!







If you haven't seen our Back to Basics patterns check them out and if you haven't used our Twizzle yarn I highly recommend it! It is my new favorite yarn.

Happy knitting,
Leslie

New Duets Project

Summer has been a blur of activity here in Montana. We had perfect weather and NO smoke from forest fires. Yeah. We have been dyeing lots of yarn to prepare for the release of our latest Duets project in conjunction with Lorna's Laces.
This project is a vest designed by Ginger Luters and is called the Tuscany Vest. You can order these through your local yarn shop. If they haven't heard of this kit have them call us!! It is brand new!

The color of this vest is not coming through correctly and I can't seem to fix it. The vest comes in a choice of color combinations...Rust, Browns, Blue/Greens or Purples. This photo is suppose to be of the purple combo. Maybe it's just my monitor....!! Check out the Mountain Colors website www.mountaincolors.com for more information on all of the Duets projects and a better version of this photo.

Happy knitting,
Leslie

New Yarns are shipping!!

Summer is FINALLY in full swing here in Montana. We had snow the second week of June and it has slowly been warming up since then. Today we are forecast to hit 100. Our dyers have been dyeing like crazy and we've been shipping out the new Winter Lace and RiverTwist yarns to many yarn shops. Be sure to check with your local store to see if they've ordered and/or received their yarn yet.



Don't forgot to check out the Duets projects we are doing in conjunction with Lorna's Laces. The shrug has been very popular and the sock kit is a crazy design by Cat Bordhi. Later in August there will be a vest designed by Ginger Luters!

Our website is in the process of being re-done so some of the newest yarns and colors aren't online yet. Our website designer is hoping for mid-July. Sorry for any problems this may cause you.

For those who are flooding in the midwest and burning up in California our sympathies are with you. We can relate too well with the folks experiencing lots of smoke from wildfires as we seem to have them every year around here. Luckily this year, despite high snow levels, our rivers did not have any drastic flooding. Mother Nature seems very grouchy lately.

I have switched to small projects as it is too hot here to have a huge sweater on my lap. We live in an area where not many folks have air conditioning (including me) so we have to try and stay cool in other ways....dipping in the local river or lake, sitting in the cool basement, sitting in front of a fan, etc. I hope all of you are having a good summer so far and happy knitting to all!!

Our New Lace Weight Yarn--"Winter Lace"

We have recently started shipping our new lace weight yarn, Winter Lace!! Ask about it at your local yarn store. Some may not yet even know about it as our trade show, TNNA, is this weekend and we will be displaying it there for the first time. It's 50% Wool, 50% Silk and it's lovely. The put up is just under 4oz, 1200 yards.


Winter Lace comes in 10 of our colorways:
Chinook
Crazy Woman
Deep Blue (a solitary solid)
Marias Falls
Mountain Twilight
Red Tail Hawk
Red Willow
Ruby River
Sierra
Wild Horse (a new for 2008 colorway)

We have had lots of requests for a yarn like this so hopefully everyone will be pleased with this beautiful new yarn. I have never knit any lace and I am ready to start something so I can try out this incredible, lightweight yarn!!

Happy knitting to all.

Getting Ready for LOTS of new things

Well we haven't been very good about posting in the past month. But we have a REALLY good reason!! We have been preparing to introduce our new designs, 5 new colorways, 2 new types of yarn, the spinning fiber (I mentioned that before), and the second in the Duets series with Lorna's Laces. Whew.

Our photo session was last week and when we woke up that morning it was snowing. That made for a VERY cold photo shoot. We had two college gals modeling and they were frozen by the end of the 4+ hours it took to take all the photos.






Encourage you local yarn shop to inquire about our latest yarns. One is a merino wool with an incredible mixing of colors. The other is a wool/silk lace weight yarn. Warm up your spinning wheels and get ready to try out the targhee top we have been selling too. Targhee is a breed of sheep and it produces a very soft, lofty fiber.

Our second Duets project will begin shipping to yarn stores next week. It is a sock kit designed by Cat Bordhi and it uses yarn from both Mountain Colors and Lorna's Laces. Check it out!!

For those headed to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival this weekend have a blast. I would LOVE to go to that show sometime...I grew up in Maryland but left before that show became so popular.

Happy knitting, spinning, crocheting, etc!!