Look for us in our New Home

Shalimar  Yarns is on the move

New Website http://www.shalimaryarns.com

New Blog  http://www.shalimaryarns.com/blog/

Please join us there for the Pre-Order Update on 

Feb 18 at 11AM EST.

Please update your address book for our new location. We don't want you to knock on the door of this empty house.   You won't want to miss the excitement of Shalimarch, new colors, a yarn club, and so much more.  

We look forward to seeing you in our new home.

Shalimar Pre-Order Update Feb 18

Shop Here – Wednesday, Feb. 18th, 12 Noon EST

Our first Pre-order Update of 2015 is here! As we prepare for Shalimarch – our 8th Anniversary Celebration, this Update will have over 50 colors available, including our new Spring colorways. We’ll be having some great KAL’s and lots of fun on our Ravelry Group, so come join us!

We’ve been working with the talented Melanie Berg on a very soon to be released design that showcases our fabulous luxury Enzo Sport. Perhaps Perhaps is a top down 3-color shawl that incorporates easy lace with a stunning contrast striping. For lots of color inspiration for your Perhaps Perhaps, check out our Palettes thread on our Ravelry Group.

Purchase 3 or more Enzo Sport and receive
Perhaps Perhaps
by Melanie Berg – FREE

Yarns available in our Pre-order Update:
Enzo Sport
Breathless Lace
Equus
Paulie Worsted
Enzo Worsted
Breathless DK
Paulie
Enzo Aran

This is a Pre-order Update. All yarns will ship within 2 weeks.

Sunday Morning Inspirations

Inspiration can come from so many angles.  The masters of color in the world's design houses are today's inspirations.  Decorator fabric can use the most unexpected combinations in a rich and wonderful way.  The fabric has a deep dark,  possibly Shalimar's Midnight in Mendoza, a bright, how about Passionfruit or the combination Sonoma and a light, say Oyster.  The warmth of gold in Sapote and Bark is what really makes this fabric special.  We tend to shy away from golds and yellows for some reason, but they add so much life to so many settings.  How about a striped sweater in this combination?

Winter Morning - A New Year KAL

Winter mornings are a quiet time for beginnings. It can be the start of something new. We have time to contemplate what we want our knitting to be in 2015. Are there techniques we have always wanted to learn? Is there a pattern that has been in the queue waiting patiently for our attention? Is there Shalimar stash that yearns to be a sweater or shawl rather than a skien? Are there cables that need to be explored? Are there textured stitches that make us want to reach out and touch it?

 Tag these projects

ShalimarWinterMorning2015

Are your Winter mornings a time to reflect on the past year? It can be a time to complete and continue initiatives you’ve already started. Review the Shalimar projects you have OTN and join in with

ShalimarWinterMorningWIP2015

Cast on or continue your Winter Morning project in any of the Shalimar yarns bases. Post progress photos and completed projects. Complete by Feb 28.

We welcome the discovery a Winter Morning may bring.

Join the conversation on the Shalimar Ravelry thread.  

Anticipation

This time of year is full of anticipation.  We spend the whole month of December getting ready for the gatherings of friends and family.  We spend time thinking about just the right thing to bring a smile to our loved ones faces.  Do they love the feel of a new pair of socks?  Do they look forward to "The annual making Fudge" event?  Do they practice for the Holiday card tournament?  What shade of yarn will make their eyes sparkle for the new hat?

Anticipation is for knitter's too.  I love the sensation of walking to the mailbox in hopes of the arrival of a squishy yarn package.  My queue of full of ideas for the next knit.  I anticipate the updates for this special yarn I have come to truly appreciate.  This process is has three steps of delight for me.  The first giggle of delight comes when I match my queue with the yarn in the update.  The second whoop comes when the shipping notice arrives in the inbox.  Yes! it's on it's way.  Then the days of waiting while Mr. Postman tortures me a bit.  This part is the lesson in patience.  And the the triple whoop comes as the package is opened.  Ummmmmm.  I squeeze and pair the skiens together.  We knitter's really do have fun, even before the knitting has started.

Enjoy this time of Anticipation.  May you find joy in the simplest of pleasures.

Join the conversation on the Shalimar Ravelry forum while we chatter about the knitting projects for the New Year.

Let's keep our Hands Warm

The Wrap It Up! KAL has been full of beautiful mittens and fingerless mitts.  Here are just a few.

These beauties are mindofwinter's Loden Mittens in Haven Land! Katie Scarlett.  The pattern is free with the purchase of two or more skiens on the next RSS update.  Details here.  

KnotPerfect's Crimpy Mitts in Enzo Worsted Mephisto Waltz 

ellejay119's Corsetted Mitts in Equus Chaps

ellejay119's Wood Hollow Mittens in Equus Whistlestop.  We have all fallen in love with the pairing of Equus and Cables.

ellejay's Wheaten Mitts in Paulie Juniper Berry and Wellies

 

ellejay119's Fan-cy Fingerless Mitts in Breathless DK in Buttermilk

drlinak's Slofock Mitts in Breathless DK in Dirty Jeans

ellejay119's Adiri Mittens in Equus Driftwood

ellejay119's Audrey Gloves in Equus Cape Cod

juliehart's Zart Mittens in Equus Toast Points

We invite you to pull out that single skien of Shalimar and cast on a pair of mittens.  Join us on the Shalimar Ravelry  Forum.  

Cyber Monday at Shalimar yarns

Monday, December 1, 5AM  right here.

Join us on the Ravelry Update thread to let your wishes be known.

Let's freshen things up a bit

Last week I spent several days stripping wallpaper off the guest bath by the kitchen.  Look at those lovely Jacobean flowers.  I loved them so in 1995.  It was time for a fresh look.  

I have a friend that is an paint artist. She can do amazing things with Sherwin Williams paint and a vertical surface.  We started the discussion of the treatment and the shades to use.  The walls needed to compliment the granite and the mirror I had made from barn wood from our farm.  Her husband is a wood craftsman.  He cut sections of 150 year old beams and siding to create a mosaic that frames the mirror. 

This is how it turned out.  I've added a few Shalimar colors for you, just incase you want to knit my bathroom wall.  

Join the Shalimar discussion in our Ravelry forum.  We all love to see what you are working on.  

Stitches of Anticipation and Love

I am going to be a Grandma.  My Son is going to be a Dad.  My little Joey, who now honors his lovely wife by being at her side every step of this sometimes difficult journey.  I can hardly wait to see them as parents.

There is great joy in sharing something created by our own hands - whether it is food on the table, flowers from the garden or hand knits.

This baby must have a  handmade blanket.  My mind went to crochet immediately.  My Grandmother taught me to crochet.  I remember working a crochet blanket under her guiding hands for my first born.  My dear daughter-in-law has a great sense of style.  I admire it so.  We talked Missoni zig zags for inspiration.  We all have a color style.  Joe is my green guy.  Lyssa can make neutrals with a bit of metallic really sing.

I wanted the blanket to be open in some rows and solid in others.  I wanted to be able to change the shading of the design as I worked across the piece.  It is truly personal that way and more interesting for me to create.  I enjoy creating the color combinations so much.  Off to the stitch dictionary shelf for a starting point.  The palette of shades was chosen and the swatch was made.  Breathless DK was my yarn choice.  This couple will appreciate the true luxury of the blend of merino, cashmere and silk.

The whole time I worked this I daydreamed about this little one joining our family.  Is it too much to create something so luxurious for a baby?  I think not.  There would be no greater way to honor it than to have it used so much that it is eventually worn out.  Our hand knits are not made for the shelf but to keep us warm with softness and style. Maybe it will bring a smile as the little fingers find the open lace and peak through.


There is such great joy inside from the giving.  Do it. Join in.  Find that project that will be just right for someone you love and create it.





This baby blanket is Meandering Trails Blanket.

Join the creation chatter of all things Shalimar on our Ravelry forum.  

One little extra

Sometimes we knit a sweater and it needs just a bit of a tweak after all the instructions have been followed.  We wear it the first time and realize that an improvement can be made.  This was the case with my Morrocann Nights.  This is a lovely design by La Maison Rililie.  I was particularly intrigued by the texture across the body of the sweater and the transitions to the waistline.  The shoulder are graced with a cable.  I worked it in Paulie in the color way Byzantium.  The sweater is a top-down seamless knit.  The fit was easy to adjust as I knit.   Paulie is to lightweight, but warm.  The blend of merino, camel, silk and cashmere is the definition of luxury in my book.  There is a soft halo, yet there is good stitch definition in the textured sections of the knit.  

I wore it on Saturday for the first time. I tried on a half dozen layers underneath it.  The neckline was wider than I wanted for an afternoon baby shower.  Maybe a bit of shoulder would work for a date night look, but not today.  It also kept rolling. You can see the rolling tendency here in this WIP photo.  

I think the fix is a bit of crochet.  A round of single crochet will stabilize the cast-on edge.  I also did a few decreases as I worked the single crochet.  5 sc, sc2tog was the formula.  Don't giggle too much as you gaze at the working yarn.  See all those kinks.  I had used every inch of yarn to get the sleeves as long as possible.  I am unraveling my gauge swatch for this bit of work.  

The neckline seems to need just a bit more so I added an embellishment that will stabilize the neckline even more.  It is a row of slip stitch that is worked through the knit sts rather than over the edge.  It looks like a little braid laying on top of the fabric.  

After these two rounds, I took it to the steamer once more.  I worked perfectly.  The neckline doesn't roll and it won't stretch out over the shoulders.  

Join the Shalimar discussion in the Ravelry forum. 

Falling Sleeve KAL - The wonders we share

There will be photos of the wonderful finished sweater soon, but I thought you might like to know some of the other delights of the Falling (S)leeves Sweater KAL.

Shaligals are:

• Suportive of the Swatch.  We cheered each other on with advice about sizing, needles, blocking, and appropriateness for the pattern chosen.
  
• Admire the search for the right pattern.  We enjoy the dialog of finding just the right match for yarn and  pattern.
• Sports fans - We love knitting in football season.
• Interested in how we keep track of increases/decreases in our patterns.   We do this in so many different ways.

• Generous.  Many projects are being knit for others.  Not just baby sweaters, but full adult sweaters.  Big hearts work through our hands.
• Part of a team.   Knitters working on the same projects cheered each other on.  There were many Bailey's Irish Cream, Amaro, Pier 60 and Adiri Knitters. 

• Collectors of many types of knitting needles.  We all have favorites that seem to partner with our personal knitting style.
• Compassionate when another Shaligal shares a loss.

• Empathetic when a section of a sweater has to be raveled to make it just right.

• Appreciative of a well defined cable pattern

• Work with patterns on traditional paper or with technology on an tablet.

• Wise enough to know (or learning to be) to alternate skiens when knitting with hand dyed yarn.

• Willing to adapt a pattern for personal style - necklines, waist shaping...

• Chatty about Sleeves!  What is it about sleeves that can be so enticing?
  
• In awe of sweaters others knit.  Our personal queue grows and grows.
• Giggly when we say the word Naked
• Want modeled sweaters with the smiles showing
• A resource when you have a question about any knitting technique

So if you ever wonder whether you should join a KAL, remember there are extra benefits well beyond the completed project.

Join the conversation in the  Shalimar Yarns Forum on Ravelry.

Breathless Lace

Let's look at Orza, a new sweater design by La Maison Rililie  .  The shades of color and variations on the striping really intrigue me.  

I'll be testing Breathless Lace.  I had just one skien of Buttermilk in the stash.  I chose a ChiaoGoo Knit Red Lace needle in 3.5mm/US 4.  Let's see how it works up before the RSS Etsy update today where I can get the rest of the shades I want.  

The first thoughts as I cast on were a bit intimidating.  This is lace yarn.  I just finished a sweater in at the beefy wooly yarn Equus.  I had to get my lace mindset put back together.  It didn't take long.  The first few rows on any project are a bit fiddly.  We need a bit of fabric on the needles.  I felt like I was knitting in slow motion until about the 5th row.  By this time the gentle halo was starting to show it's beauty.  First a bit of garter stitch, then on to stockinette stitch.  

This swatch has been gently steam blocked.  It improved so much with the steam that I think a good soak will improve my stitch evenness even more.  

Gauge on the stst section works at 14 sts for 2".  This is spot on gauge for the textured stitch she calls Beaufort .  You can see it shown right above the stst section.  This is a great start.  The gleam of the silk in the yarn is really speaking now.  The halo is filling in the spaces.  My hands are really starting to get into the lace groove.

Now onto the the stitch patterns specified in the design.  I split my swatch into halves, knitting one on each side.  In hindsight, that was not a great plan.  The row gauge is so different on them it distorts the pattern some.  I still think we can learn something.  

The lace pattern is used for the sleeves.  The openness is really delicate and interesting.  The double decrease was easy to work with these needles.  The glow of the yarn showed off even more. I hope you can see the halo of the cashmere filling in the lacy gaps.  I was a bit skeptical as I started.  Would this yarn would work up to gauge?  Once again it came out spot on.  The resulting fabric is very soft, delicate and lustrous.  

I need to work on my color combinations now.  The undyed shade is beautiful.  Think how I'll feel about this when I start working with the hand dyed shading.  This will be a really special sweater.

Join us for a discussion about color choices on the Shalimar Yarns Ravelry forum RSS update thread.

Where to find color inspiration?

Traveling is a nudge to look around for me.  I try to absorb how this place is different than what I know so I pay attention a bit more.  There is an appreciation for home that is renewed, yet an admiration for another place is kindled.

Portland has an amazing rose garden.  Look at these!  The subtlety of shades and combinations.  The vibrancy of color.

The Japanese Garden is serene and full of textures of green, brown, gold and grays.

  

  The walk along the Oregon coast beach is blustery, sandy and wide open skies.

Then there was the early morning run in Volunteer Park in the Capital Hill section of Seattle.  

There is color inspiration everywhere.  I'm happy I noticed.  Now I have to figure out how to integrate this inspiration into my knitting.  It's almost time for mittens, hats and cowls.  Maybe a slip stitch pattern.  I can use multiple shades. The layers will make the accessories warm.  Mittens inspired by a walk on the beach.  What shall I call them?  Off to the stitch dictionaries.  

For other Shalimar inspirations join our Ravelry forum.