coming soon!

these are "teaser pics" of a stole just finished by Andrea P.
it uses the new Mini-Mochi yarn and is looking just gorgeous!
we will have the pattern and etc info up on the CrystalPalaceYarn site soon! keep an eye on the top section marked "what's new" !

Migrating cables

These hats were a LOT of fun to do. The free pattern is here Swirling cables
Cabling and pretty yarn, and then a wee shift to make the cables dance

it came about b/c my dh wanted a new hat but couldn't choose the colors! so voila - two colors.
of course the hat would be equally lovely and handsome with only one color.
the quasi-bulky Kaya makes this a quick knit and if you too have cold weather a warm hat is just the thing!
you can see the Kaya colors here Kaya color card

more wonderful new patterns!

this is a great new outfit!
it's a set of capelet and wristers free capelet pattern , knit in the roses colorway of bamboozle bamboozle colors.
this is a yummy bamboo yarn (great for vegans too)

holiday towels

free pattern for gifting ! Knit with lovely soft CPY Cotton Chenille CottonChenille colors

KnittingDailySeafoamTowels

blessings, :L

adorable - i want one!

This great shrug is knit with Kaya Kaya yarn card , and goes up to 1x. i love it, and really want one myself.
The free pattern is hereKaya Shrug Pattern

blessings, :L

New! New! New! !!!

Ooooh, can you tell i'm excited?

I get to tell you about the wonderful new Panda Soy yarn - pictures here PandaSoyCard

and here PandaSoySwatches
and then this handsome fella! This is Ian in new Panda Soy socks knit by our Alaskan Knit Team member, G'mom Beth! Her daughter, Ian's mom, gave us permission to show off this Cutie! what a smile!!

I think he likes the socks too!

You will find out that the yarn has a wonderful "hand" and feel as fabric. It doesn't feel like cotton, or like Maizy [which i think has a velvety feel]. It is rather silky, and has that nice Bamboo sheen... i think you will love it!

We should have a pretty summer sock to show you some time soon.

Ps more surprise news coming!

blessings, :L
don't forget to send me pics of BLUE Crystal Palace knits! for april contest!

i love these!

needlelittlelove
the design is called the 'Pour Moi' wrister - knit with Bamboozle in the Rainforest colorway, which is also snazzy.
I have to get some of this yarn!!

the designer modified a wrister to be fingerless gloves - as described above.

blessings, :L

Panda Silk Contest Two (Nov1-Nov30 don't miss out!!)

Hi,

this is the blogpost for your comments in our 2nd Panda silk contest. I will stop counting entries at midnight 11/30 so don't be late!


we have 3 winners for the first panda silk contest:

this post will stay at the top of the blog until 12/1
andey layne [http://andeylayne.blogspot.com]

cherryl [http://knittinwingnut.blogspot.com]

& Susi - junglemama

each won 2 skeins of panda silk in their choice of colors.
anyone know these folks?
please write me at proflaura@firststepinternet.com or drlauraAsirius@gmail.com and thanks! [i am embarassed to tell you that my former email hasn't been working - thanks to Andey for letting me know!]

contact me &/or i'll try to reach the two of you that i can.

Susi-i can't follow any trail with your email to find you
blessings, :L

Star Search - Wednesday this time!

I wanted to show you a gorgeous man's sock design by Laura fiberdreams, for the new Maizy (corn fiber) yarn. The innovative title is "diamonds in his shoes"!

Laura [hmmm why do i love that name? LOL) has graciously permitted CPY to post the pattern, but do remember copyright, and specifically that the pattern is for personal use only! It is Laura's design!

I do understand the fun & agony of designing for one's significant other. In my case, Al has this thing about TALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL socks, so he wants a sock that's about 13 in above the heel, and then of course the larger man's foot.
so i usually do socks for him with a sport/dk wt. Merino-5 is a perfect yarn, knits quickly and soooo soft and lovely, and he's a happy camper.

blessings, :L, laura
ps have pics of a just finished "Ribbons" sock design using the new Panda Silk.

winners 3 !!! for first panda silk contest

Hi there!

am pleased to announce three winners:

andey layne [http://andeylayne.blogspot.com]

cherryl [http://knittinwingnut.blogspot.com]

and

Susi - junglemama

please go to the Crystal Palace Yarns site HERE
PANDA SILK
and select your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices of yarn. Some colors
are in now, and can be send quickly, others are still not here.
I will also need to have you email me privately drlaura.sirius@gmail.com
with your addy and full info - including color choice!

... Congratulations!

And for everyone else, the 2nd contest of 4 has just opened, so come try again!
We will have winners for November and December and January!

blessings, :L

kid merino- Runic Cables and Mystic Lace

True confessions: am totally in love with this yarn. you have to see the incredible diversity of colors kid merino and every color is amazingly even prettier knit up. Knitting the yarn is a real treat. on top of that, the yarn is so well behaved you can not only use it for cables, but also even for stranding and color work! i like the diaphanous [sp?] gauzy look i'm getting here with 2 strands on a #8 us needle - it's light and yet warm.

The Runic Cables scarf is for my dh, Al. I've put in runes for happiness, prosperity, partnership,

and all sorts of good things.

The 2nd scarf - presently called Mystic Lace - is for ?? possibly even me. It's also 2 strands, on #9 and a "not fun" needle. I didn't have the #9 in CPY bamboo, and have to use a bamboo with a bad join. I have addi's in the right size, but they are two slick for the yarn, and frankly made my hands ache.

An example of the gorgeous color versatility is the band of Nasturtiums at the beginning, in with the Violet mix, and the lace band, which is fall herbs, and soo much prettier than the picture or even the ball would have you expect. This scarf is about double in length now, and will take new pics soon, after i knit a wee bit more.

I've just finished a 2nd lace band in the fall herbs, and am dithering about a green to use as i have two - the new vine green, and the sage - both lovely but different tonalities.

This is a "right brain" scarf so the yarn has to tell me what's next, LOL.

I want to do a couple more rounds on the runic cables, and change colors, and then back to scarves and the mystic lace scarf.
I also have to decide about more colors or not... al says not to use too many, but they're soo pretty - i can't stop!

blessings, :L, laura

ps don't forget our panda silk contest! have more panda silk socks and etc to show you soon!

the kitten on the left is Shasta, who's so sweet she purrs every time you pick her up.

the rascal on the right is Shiva. he's not really cuddley, yet spends a lot of time sitting on the back of my chair or by my feet. in fact, i worry that he gets more attention.

they've learned not to touch my knitting. i've been lucky. the kittens only got the knitting once or twice - dragging a sock across the living room and of course pulling the needles out. since then, if they touch the yarn, i put it away and play with them instead. never give them any yarn to play with as they can't distinguish an ratty old ball from something special.

i goofed once and let shiva play with a short circ, size 3 us, i think, that i didn't use much. well, he chewed the cord so badly it's totally not usable for knitting anymore.

Panda Wool

These pics are of a sock design i'm playing with, using 2 new colors of Panda Wool. One is called Neptune, and the other is Night Shades. The honeycomb with Night Shades behind the Neptune works well (towards the bottom) but the rows above don't show off the Neptune inside the Night Shades. So the knit is working out differently than my vision,
but now i see how best to do it.... This is a man's sock, and so far DH loves it. The colors are just smashing!







The sock below is Panda Wool "Circus" and is knit by Debbie. More details at Embellishknits


Debbie's gorgeous knitting! so even and pretty!

You can see these colors and more at http://www.straw.com/

blessings, :L

Maizy

These lovely Maizy socks were knit by Trish - link

to blog here: Random Threads

Nice aren't they?

blessings, :L

Vog 'on Panda Cotton

The socks shown here are by "Fluffy Knitter Deb" and are going to be Panda Cotton footies for Deb's mom - in a very yummy colorway called "Blueberries- grapes".

(I am using it, among others, for a luscious Kid Merino Scarf Crystal Palace Yarns and i promise the colors just sing!)

You can see more about Deb, including the amazing list of knail lacquers here Fluffyknitterdeb. I think she said that the pattern was "Vog'on" from Knitty.

blessings, :L, laura

More Maizy

This sock was designed & knit by Debbie H and is a nice Man's {large woman's} cabled sock. The colorway is "night shades" and is awfully nice (high on my dh's list of socks he'd like).

The pattern will be available FREE on the website Crystal Palace Yarns

I love the way Debbie has the cables juxtaposed to one another. Just lovely!

blessings, :L

Washing RED Panda Cotton

er ummm... the official name is Lacquer Red.
I think this photo is gorgeous on several levels - the socks - the workmanship, the design, the shape, and then the presentation!
i adore oriental brocades and this is just exquisite - and do you see the wee bits of red right below the toe on front sock?

yum. that's photo composition, and of course lures me into more reading on Katie's blog

but most impressive of all is that Katie's dh kindly did the wash and there were no shrieks of dismay .... i always used to do my first sock wash in the bathroom sink, and it's nice to know i can omit that step!

blessings, :L, laura
back to my own knitting - baby socks with puffin [2nd pair of set] and me socks in Panda Silk.
I am already planning Dobby feet though.. mismatched pair.

Panda Silk

These are progress pics through Clue 6 for the Mystery Shawl KAL. You can learn more at Knitflix, where Bogie also has fun pics of the CA State Fair.

These pictures are of Panda Silk and Debbie's adventures as she knits and moves. It is just so luscious! You can read more at EmbellishKnitshive.html

I probably showed you these before, but this is a test swatch i started with the plum color.

blessings, :L, laura

Vanilla Creme by Annie

This beauty is by "Annie Coleman", whose blog is here . The pattern is embossed leaves, and the yarn is Vanilla Creme in Panda Cotton.


I must confess, i adore every CP yarn that i've touched so far, but this is downright sneaky!

I've not had a chance to try this colorway, and am now sooooooooooo in love!

Too many projects in front of this to do it soon, but i love how the design shows so beautifully yet the color plays with your senses...

great work!


blessings, :L, laura
suffering through 92 degrees. i should be watering and fertilizing my tomatoes, as the crops are pitiful. it's too hot for them too! the best thing about this year's garden is all the sunflowers we DIDN't plant. the birds did it! that's right. they've popped up in all sorts of odd places, and we just left them. someone once told me that many seeds do better once they've had a trip through a bird's ailimentary system! LOL

Fun with Yarn

I've been having a ball playing with a new Yarn from CPY called Puffin. It is just amazingly soft, feels like suede and is a lot lot lot of fun to work with! (er umm, i keep having more ideas). It seems to really show detail as you work with it, and did i mention soft? It truly is soft enough to convince ANY fiber snob, and that includes my own husband who wants slippers sometime!

First, This hat and booties are by Barbara Breiter & can be found at Crystal Palace Free Patterns. Colorways for the yarn are here. Barbara also knit this great cowgirl vest (it would be masculine i think in black, and there's a great buckskin color!) This yarn does have that fun fringe feeling,

so these are some of what I've been knitting and designing myself - the wild west fringed baby and adult slippers... as well as plain baby slippers. and i have a wonderful (er um IMHO) hat almost done. The baby blanket is by Susan Druding and the adorable model is grandson Marcelo. The blue buttoned hooded cardi is by Dawn Leesman and it's Marcelo modelling.

That's also Marcelo in the lime hoodie by Barbara Breiter, who is the hat designer too!

Trust me, you want to touch this yarn, as i don't think there's anything i can say to convince you until you touch it!

Blessings, :L, laura

PS I am knitting some wonderful designs with this yarn that will be in an upcoming issue of STRANDED, the newsletter by Bonnie Franz at http://www.bonniefranz.com/

PPS I need to show you kitten pics. They are growing fast! Unfortunately, as we give treats to our elderly Siamese who is very very elderly, the kittens are being lured to want such goodies instead of baby food.