Free Pattern! - The Manly Scarf

It's getting to be that time of year again, the scarf wearing, and giving time!  

I finished this scarf recently to give to my boyfriend, Dave.  He lost his old one on the streetcar! 

It's easy, and looks great, and the combination of black with the variegated colourways of Malabrigo makes it nice and manly.  Plus it's got absolutely zero itch factor – Malabrigo is soft enough for even the pickiest of mens necks!  Here you go! 

The Manly Scarf

Needles : 4.5 or 5mm 

Yarn : Malabrigo Worsted - two skeins, one black, one other colour

Cast on 25 stitches with the black yarn

knit two rows

switch to the second colour, and knit two rows

switch to the black yarn, carrying it up the side of the scarf, being careful not to pull too tightly. 

Continue knitting two rows of each colour and switching, carrying the yarn up the side, until the scarf is the desired length, or you run out of yarn! (I used about half of a ball of each colour) End with two rows of black.

Cast off loosely, weave in ends.  

Wrap, and place under the tree, for a fantastic present for the men in your life! 

Classic Elite Yarn - Oh My!

We were so excited to find out there is a Canadian supplier for Classic Elite yarns and when we did - we jumped on the bandwagon to order us some of this scumptious stuff! It was hard to pick which one to show first because we love them all:



Alpaca Sox
Nylon, Alpaca, Merino
450 yards, One Skein makes a pair
$24.00



Lush
50% Angora/50% Wool
123 yards, 4.5 sts=1"
$12.99



Princess
40% merino wool, 28% rayon, 10% cashmere, 7% angora, 15% nylon
150 yards, 5 sts=1"
$10.99



Inca Gold
100% Alpaca
109 yards, 5 sts=1
$10.99
109 yards

Sock Yarn Galore!

It has been awhile since we last posted, and we are so sorry! We have some great news and I find it hard to contain the excitment.

We have received so much sock yarn in the last week, we are bursting at the seams. Look at all the FA sock yarn we received:



And another picture in it's home:



We also received new colours of Misti Alpaca Sock Yarn:



Not sure if this is the best for last or not, but it comes pretty close! This is one of the new yarns we have brought into the Naked Sheep = Classic Elite Alpaca Sox. The picture doesn't do it justice. Please come in and feel it - it is so freaking soft.



Each skein will make a pair of socks and the price range is between $22.00 to $27.00.

WE promise to post more of the fiber goodness more often as we can't be the only ones to enjoy such fab stuff.

Knit On.

Lisa

How cute is this dress? This is the Wiggle Dress and Bolero designed and knit by Kate Atherly aka wisehildaknits. It is made with Luxury Superwash DK and Crystal Palace Squiggle yarns. This is an exclusive pattern available at the store. What a great Christmas gift, non?



It is even cuter and a sweeter on this cutie:



The patterns are $5.00 each and we care a wide range of colours in both yarns.

Good news - The Naked Sheep is now open on Mondays! Come browse or knit with our newest team member - Kim! She is very friendly and has a great eye for colour.

We are now carrying Tahki Donegal Tweed! This yarn is so wonderful, words don't do it justice. The price is $16.99/skein and has 183 yards. You can make a 43" sweater with just 6 skeins. We have the Cobblestone sweater on display at the shop, so if you are not sure about this yarn, take one look at the sweater and you'll be in love.

We have been very busy beavers scouring our suppliers' pattern libraries to bring you some great ones. We now carry a large quantity of Pure & Simple Patterns, Fiddlestick Knitting Lace Patterns - from easy to extremely difficult, toy patterns, felted purses, mittens, hats, blankets.

In the very near future, Zephyr Style patterns will arrive! These are all made knitting from the top down using any worsted weight yarn.

Our newest book arrivals are Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark, Magic Loop how to book, Fitted Knits, Debbie Bliss - The Baby Knits book and oh so much more!

We hope to see you soon!

With the weather turning cold on us now - what a great time to learn how to knit socks to keep them warm and toasty! We have a workshop on October 10th and 17th to help you work your way through to a finished sock. Emily our great instructor will lead you through knitting the cast on, leg, gusset, foot and toe decreases. At the end you will have completed a mini sock to get you prepared to make a pair to fit your footies!

The cost is $50.00, the sessions are 2 hours each and we include 4.5mm needles and a ball of worsted weight yarn. Call us or come in to the store to register.

Your feet will love you!

Eco Wool!

Yes, two blog posts in one day today! I just couldn't wait to telll you all that the Cascade Eco Wool, and Eco + have arrived in the store! Apparently, we are the first in Canada to be carrying this yarn, so do come in and have a look!

Eco Wool is a 14-16 st / 4 inch wool comes in beautiful right from the sheep colours and has a whopping 437m per skein!
Eco + has the same yardage, and comes in some wonderful non-sheepy colours!

That means that you'd only need 3 skeins for a sweater!
Just look at this comparison... a normal size skein vs. a ball of Eco Wool:



It's HUGE!

We've got lots in stock, so come on in, and check it out!

Fleece Artist is In!!!

It's always an exciting day at the Sheep when the big boxes from Nova Scotia arrive. We are now burtsting with colourful and smooshy soft sock yarn and roving!



Also, we've got a bunch of great Moebius Capelet kits, with a fantastic pattern from Cat Bordhi in beautiful colours,



And, some super warm thrummed mitten and sock kits for those cold winter nights, after snowball fights!


Come and get them fast, because Fleece Artist tends to fly outta here!

Malabrigo socky goodness!

When we got Malabrigo's sock yarn in a few weeks ago, I really couldn't wait to start knitting with it. This yarn is so soft, and smooshy, and amazing to knit with. and the colours are just amazing! they seem to shimmer, and the verigation is so beautiful!


This is a sock that, regrettably I'm not knitting for myself. It's just a basic no-purl feather and fan pattern, and I love it.
And, this is one of the advantages to knitting a sock with magic loop - you can try it on as you go!



and yes, I've already bought another skein in green for socks just for me!

The fall weather is fianlly here, and at the Sheep we hare very happy to see new knitters taking up the craft to keep themselves warm on these crisp cool days. The first attempts at knitting can be a little bit frustrating, but we're here to help you out, and we have some great classes coming up that are intended to do just that!

Here's a look at some exciting classes that are coming up soon...

Mobius Cast-on

Thursday September 25 7-9pm.

$30.00/ person

Are you are fascinated by mobius knitting, but completely stumped by the process? You're not alone, thats why we have this class! In this one 2-hour session knitting wizz Kate Atherly will cover the mobius cast on, as well as knitting and finishing with an i-cord bind-off.

Magic Loop Socks

Monday September 29 7-9

$30.00/ person

For those of you out there who love to knit socks, but are not very fond of DPNs, magic loop knitting is the solution for you. This technique will allow you to knit in the round on one long circular needle (which can be reused on other non-sock projects!) Instructor Sarah will cover casting on and knitting in the round using magic loop. You will also learn how to adapt basic sock knitting techniques to magic loop (heel, gusset, toe)

Smart Knitters Finish First

SaturdaySeptember 27 9-11am

$30.00/person

In this two hour workshop you'll learn smart techniques that will speed up the knitting process. Instructor Kathryn has some great tips and tricks that are sure to make you knitting more fun than it already is!

Of course, these are just a few of the classes that we offer at the Sheep. You can visit our website for more class details.