Cute Puppies! Hoofies! & Kogarashi!

Well now, lots of knitters have enjoyed the little quick-knit Holiday Ruff kits. Marge sent us this picture, how increidbly adorable is this??!!

It does not get cuter than this

Marge added a bit of her own white around the outside, a very nice touch I'd say.
And for the large dog lover, here's Sydney's Labradoodle puppy named Halie. What a darling pooch! She's a real handful, though!! But she got a ribbon at doggie school, I hear from her proud parents.

or maybe it does

The Noro Kogarashi has finally arrived, and we're itching to start one of the 2 fantastic coats in the pattern book, but we all have some Christmas knitting to do first. So now's your chance to beat us to it!

Noro Kogarashi, finally!!

We only have enough for a sweater in each color (unless you're tiny and can pull off a sweater in just a few skeins) so that means, about 10 of you will get this yarn in the amount you need for a show-stopping garment!!
As soon as I finish the Christmas stocking I'm making to benefit the Food Bank of Monterey County, I'll get right on that. It's a big yarn and really won't take that long.
And now here are some hoofies!

Hoofies: Bison Booties

Booties made from bison down. Machine wash & dry. The luxury yarn that's perfect for your favorite baby! A really easy knit. We decided to make kits out of this since the yarn is pricey. The bootie kits are just $20 for the yarn and the pattern (actually, 3 different bootie patterns). Don't you think they're perfect for the precious baby in your life! And must I remind you that they're machine wash & dry??
Other updates:
We got the bill for the "Dare" (see earlier blog for picture) so watch for that (they always send us the bill first!!) You're gonna love that one.
Oh, and Lantern Moon will be sending their new ebony & rosewood exchangeable needle sets this week!! Oh boy!!

Phone Problems

Aw, geez, those turkeys at AT&T have choked off our phone service, and we're mighty unhappy about it! Not that we can do a darn thing about it until next Monday, when they've deemed to put us on their repair calendar!
We are still checking our phone messages, from our cell phones, and we will also keep close tabs on our email:
Joan@monarchknitting.com
We are open today, T-Day eve, from 10AM to 3PM, closed T-day, tomorrow, and open again on Friday at 10AM. We will have regular hours straight up until Christmas Eve (M-S 10-5:30, Sunday noon-4).

Sorry for the inconvenience. Have a great holiday!

Noro, Luana, & a UFO-Busting Secret

First, the sneak peek we promised of some new Noro yarns. We don't expect them in until March. By that time, everyone will have completely forgotten this post.

Next spring's Noro yarns

In the middle of this photo is a nubbly yarn called Tanabata. We loved it for its riotous color and texture both. It's what they call a "hot mess" and we adored it!
On the lower edge of the photo, you see the new Taiyo sock yarn! Oh boy! We love Taiyo because of its cotton content -- in fact no one we know has been too sensitive to wear Taiyo! So it's perfect for a sock yarn. This will replace Kureyon Sock (but Silk Garden Sock will still be available). Many people had problems with Kureyon sock being too harsh for footwear, but I say it was a fantastic yarn for other things, like shawls, weaving, and even very lightweight felting. Oh well! Apparently my paltry purchasing can't keep the whole line afloat!
Finally, on the upper left you see an incredible yarn -- oh no! I forgot the name! -- which is so unique!! It is this multi-colored thick yarn on one side and there's a white tape yarn glued to the back! No kidding! What will Mr. Noro think of next??!! Here it is knitted:

Remember, none of this arrives until March at the earliest. But the Kogarashi (far upper right in top photo) is still expected real soon. That is, if they haven't lied to me again.
Now on to a cool new yarn that just arrived today! And it's going to be fantastic for your holiday gift projects.

From Austermann (distributed by our friends at Skacel) is Luana. This yarn is another unique construction, like a big soft net. It's honestly cloud-soft. I'm going to make a cowl on size US 15 needles a la a picture we have from the style section of the New York Times. Wait til you see.

Finally, your UFO-busting tip. Now, you may have guessed that out of the oodles of models we begin to knit at the shop, we might not get them all completed before either the yarn is going away, or we've run out of steam. In the following case, I lost my momentum on a sweater after the fun lacy bottom part was over and the miles of stockinette stitch started. Sound familiar?? This was about 2/3 of a back. I was probably right about at the armhole shaping, if I know me, which I do, quite well.
So I took it home (the yarn's about gone), stared at it for a month, then yesterday I knit a few rows of garter st at the top, bound off, and sewed the stockinette st part up, leaving the (fortunately reversible) lace part un-seamed.

Wa-la, a cowl. And a nice warm yet fashionable one at that. Go ahead, check your UFO's. You can have my tip for free.
We're expecting rain, so happy, cozy knitting!

We'll see about this

Well hello again. It's been a depressing day in Joan's home knitting nest. Sakura is exhausted from watching 7 inches of a complicated lace shawl get frogged. Oh well.

She hates it when we tink

Now on to the fun stuff. Here's something called "Dare" which is soon to arrive, hopefully in time for fast Christmastime gifts. It's even nice on Koryn without getting knitted! It's a fun yarn with big tufts on it.

So so wild

Now for a peek at some yarn that is supposed to arrive soon, but we're not really trusting the source yet. Actually, 2 yarns. One is just like ChaCha (that ruffly stuff we all love) but it's variegated, so it's even cooler. The other is called Triana, and it's a knitted net! Which you knit kind of a-la-Chcha but it turns out so-o-o-o cool. Wait til you see.

Yep, it's a net to knit. Nice nails, Koryn

Hope you get the chance. They promised, but they lie.
Also on the way, the most delightful, cloud-soft Italian baby yarn called Baby Milk. Yep it's got milk product in it. You'll love this stuff, I practically guarantee it.

Italian Baby Milk yarn

Next: A sneak peek at some of next spring's Noro yarns!!

Pix of New Yarns

I promised to add pictures of some of the new yarns we got in, so here's a shot of the Fame Trends from Marks & Kattens:

Wow we are rapidly running out of this awesome yarn, and I'll have to get more soon!
Then there's the Opal sock yarn we brought in, and again, because of the great response, we'll bring in some other colorways soon (this brand went from hard-to-get to really easily attainable! Goodie!)
One of these is a cotton blend, the other is inspired by a famous German artist (Hundertwasser):

Oh, and brand new, 4 new colors of Encore worsted, our great go-to yarn for inexpensive, hard-wearing, machine-everything yarn. These are all "marled" which is that barber-pole effect:

And we have a new holiday kit! It's a cute little (easy-knit) jingle-bell ruffled collar for a dog, the Holiday Ruff Kit. It will also come in large, soon. Snicky looks darling in it, but sometimes he's a bit of a temperamental runway model.

More soon!

New Stuff!

Hi Everybody!

Charles M. Pooperton III

Charlie says hi, too. Look, he's smiling. He is a Giants fan.
;)

Now for the new stuff. First for you rabid MadelineTosh fans: The Vintage has arrived. This is just like the DK we had, (Superwash Merino) but in a worsted weight (4.5 sts= 1 inch according to the label). Same fantastic colors.

Tosh Vintage

(The huge Tosh DK shipment is still a few weeks off.)

And now, new yarns from Norway:

Jarbo Naturgarn

Jarbo Naturgarn, a thick 'n' thin wool/soy blend (yep, soy, so soft!) which comes in just a few colorways, all natural color blends, plus red, and will make the most fantastic scarves, plus a really easy hat that is not quite done in this picture

This is now a cute hat

but is now finished and presumably gracing Koryn's lovely head as we speak.
Then there's Marks & Katens Linen -- but, you say, you already carry Euroflax! But, we say, this stuff comes in other great colors and also, in 50 gram hanks at just $7.95, suchadeal! What about that!!??

Awesome colors in M&K Linen

Also, Elisabeth at Swedish Yarn Imports is rushing us a fantastic pattern for a little one-button jacket made on a bigger needle, in garter stitch, out of this linen and you are gonna love it I bet.

We also got in two new sock yarns, both of which can of course!!! be used for shawls and other larger- needle, useful, great-gift projects: Fame Trends, a really soft, subtly colored sorta single ply type yarn, and yes, back again, a couple of Opal brand yarns, including a mostly-cotton one (we needed that). Pictures of those coming soon.

Finally, never enough baby patterns, so a buncha new ones are here, from Churchmouse patterns, no less, which guarantees that they are over-the-top charming, yet easy as heck. The line is called Wee Ones and wow are these things cute. We're not kidding about easy, either. Really. Easy.

You can't beat cute AND easy

Next up: Opal & Fame Trend pictures, plus if you know me you know I'm the Queen of the Cheap Store Fixtures, so wait til you see the dumpster diving I've been doing! Haha!!