A Yarn Crawl Recap

This past weekend we had our first ever San Luis Obispo Yarn Crawl with four other stores in our area, and it was a great success!

We first want to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the crawl and to all of our amazing sponsors who provided prizes for the participants.  We learned so much and can't wait to have future Yarn Crawls. If you missed it this year, be on the lookout for next year's event! It was a blast!

We also wanted to recap some of the fun that happened in our store during the crawl!

Joanna from Chic-a bags stopped by and we had all of her adorable print needle cases and project bags out on display for a Trunk show!

We carry a lot of  Chic-a bags and will be expanding our selection after seeing a lot of new patterns we hadn't seen before!

Shop all our Chic-a bags in our Webstore.

Lena from Garnstudio also stopped in to give some expert pattern help for the DROPS patterns.

Find all our pattern books in our Webstore. And we now have the NEW Fall pattern books in stock! That is books 149, 150 and 151, plus a new Childrens book, number 24.

One of our favorite happy customers is also one of our speediest knitters. Eldra stopped by during the crawl to show off a BEAUTIFUL poncho she made in DROPS Nepal in Fall colors.

This is perfect for the season, and you can make your own with this free pattern.

The original pattern is made with supersoft and fluffy Alpaca Boucle, but we love the look that Nepal produced for this garment!

Shop all our Nepal in our Webstore, or choose another worsted weight yarn to make your own poncho.

 

Our first group of knitters that completed the Crawl!! They had a great time and we had a great time hearing about their fun day at each shop! Congrats ladies, and best of luck in the raffle!

   

 Another great visitor to the shop this weekend was Tammy! We donated some yarn to Tammy a few weeks ago for The Red Scarf Project and she stopped by to show us the creations she made. These scarves are donated to children in or leaving foster care, which is a great cause. Thanks Tammy! If you're interested in finding out more info about donating to this cause check out the Foster Care webpage here.

After the Crawl we are just swimming with ideas about new projects and variations on projects, so you'll see a new post about the fun stuff we have in the works SOON!

Until then....

Happy Crafting!

XO

 

We Love Lace

Knitting lace patterns can seem intimidating if you've never worked with them before. They often involve yarn overs and dropped stitches, which can seem a bit mysterious until you've mastered them.

We have the perfect pattern for those of you who have never tried a lace pattern and want to learn, or even those of you who just want a simple, interesting scarf pattern.
Instead of using very fine lace yarn for this, its easier to learn on thicker yarn or by holding yarn double.

DROPS Design 127-26 is made in its original version with Fabel, so it has some fun color variegation, but there are many different ways to make up this scarf. If you love the color changes and wash-ability of Fabel, shop all our colors in our Webstore.

If this pattern seems a little scary, watch these tutorial video to get some practice with these techniques:
Dropped Stitches Tutorial Video
Yarn Over Tutorial Video

Print this pattern for free

In the store, we have a version made with two strands of Alpaca held together, which gives this scarf a cozier and bulkier feel. Holding two colors together also gives more of a tweed color effect to the scarf. Browse all our Alpaca colors if you like this looks of this scarf best.

And stuck on our needles currently is this same scarf made with Cotton Light and Glitter.  Glitter is a great addition to hold along with thicker yarns to add to patterns you want some to have some pizzazz! It's a metallic and shiny thread in a variety of colors which adds sparkle without adding bulk. And usually just one bobbin of Glitter is enough for a whole sweater.

Order some Glitter from our Webstore.

The Cotton applied to this pattern makes for a super soft and washable scarf. Doubled up on a cool fall day, this scarf is warm without being itchy or too hot. This is also the cheapest version of the scarf, since Cotton Light only runs $2.90 per skein. Take a look at our Cotton Light!

 

Make your own version of this scarf and post the finished results on our Facebook or Ravelry page! 

Once you've mastered this lace pattern, you can make this adorable sweater with it!

Find the pattern here. 

Happy Crafting!

           XO

Cutout Sleeve Sweater

We just designed this awesome cutout sleeve sweater at Nordic Mart, which we also like to refer to as the "Hardcore Sweater."

This sweater is awesome because it looks like something you could find at H&M or Forever 21, but this one you can make yourself in any color you want! The other awesome feature of this sweater is that its constructed from a basic sweater pattern, so if you don't like the open sleeve look, just close the sleeves for a plain sweater!

 It can be made in a ton of fun colors. We used Cotton Light for our versions, but any DK weight (group B in Drops yarns) yarn will work.  It would be great to see it in Lima, Merino Extra Fine, or even our newest limited yarn Drops Loves You #4 !

To stick with our original pattern:

Browse all of our Cotton Light Colors.

Click here to view and download the free pattern! (pdf file)

You can also find this pattern on Ravelry.

It uses between 8 and 12 skeins of Cotton Light (read: between 25 and 35 dollars! Score!) and size US 8 needles.  You can find all of the supplies in our Webstore.

Post photos of your finished project on our Facebook Page, we would love to see some differing colors or yarn varieties on this stylish project!

Happy Crafting,
XO

Amber's Sweater

We love taking inspiration from Drops yarns and various patterns and making them our own. Our staff member Amber made some alterations to an awesome pattern, so we're sharing it with you!

The pattern is the Charlotte Cardigan designed by Deborah Wilder.  It is available for purchase on Ravelry here.

A lot of our customers made this sweater in their local knitting class, so we've seen a lot of great versions come through the shop. The original pattern is a short sleeved cardigan. This picture is of our great customer Eldra and the version she made in Big Merino!

Amber decided she liked pullover sweaters more than cardigans, and altered the pattern accordingly. She used Drops Merino Extra Fine to make stripes and longer sleeves, added buttons to the top, and we LOVE the results.

To make your own:
To extend the sleeves, follow the long sleeve option in the pattern until you reach the desired length. Amber went with 3/4 sleeves just past her elbows.
She knit the top of the pattern as it is written to make the neck opening, and then joined the two sides to continue down the body of the garment.
She then picked up stitches along the right edge of the opening and added a section with four button holes. She picked some wooden buttons and voila! A very cute pull over version of the Charlotte Cardigan.

If you need some help with buttonholes, here are a few tutorial videos to help you out.
Button Holes, vertical
Medium sized button holes
Small button holes

It's a very cute cardigan by itself as well, so whether you stick to the pattern or make some alterations, this pattern gets 5 stars from Nordic Mart!

Merino Extra Fine is a great yarn choice for this sweater since its lightweight, super soft, and Superwash treated, making it machine washable! Browse all our Merino Extra Fine colors in our Webstore.  You can also use Big Merino, or any yarn in our DK or Worsted groups

We can't wait to see your versions, share them with us on our Facebook or Ravelry page!

Happy Knitting, XO