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It’s a New Year coming our way!

A new year…
A new day….
A new knit …

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Endings and beginnings! I think that most of us have our own little rituals that mark the end of the passing year and the ushering in of the new one!
I have a whole bunch of Irish coursing through my veins so I most definitely have a few of my own. Little things that make me feel like I have tidied up all the loose ends and works-in-progress for the year. I either work in those pesky loose ends or do some much needed ripping out. Like my gran, Winnie, I sweep out the last remnants of the ending year and whatever it brought my way in order to make room for the hope and dreams of the year to come. I light a few candles pour myself a glass of bubbly and dream and plan.
I don’t know about you but I am going to raise a glass to all of us for making it through 2016! Quite the year!

Before I go on about sock club sign-ups and such, I want to take a moment say a heart felt THANK YOU!! for being a ray of sunshine in our little Blue Moon world. You are the best! We love our knitters, spinners, weavers, crocheters and feel honored to serve you in bright living color and warm woolly goodness! It is truly a pleasure that we are grateful for!
We wish you so much joy, peace, love and knitting in 2017.

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Since our RSC sign-ups start the first week in January part of my New Year ritual for the past 12 years involves prepping for the upcoming Rockin’ Sock Club year and also watching as my lovely Notorious bunch of knitters return for another year of knit fun. What better way to keep track of time than a stitch at a time that gives us wonderful socks.

We will have the magic sing-up button live on Monday the 2nd of January. We have some pretty exciting plans for the year with our super talented designers and design team. I think you’ll be thrilled. I know I am pretty flipping excited.
Sock Opera the Musical!
Yup…pretty excited!

Excitement for the coming year for Blue Moon is pretty high! We have so many wonderful KAL’s lined up for the year with seriously fun themes and talented designers. Our first KAL of the year is with our buddy Karen Alfke and is going to be a year long knit-a-long!! I know!

We have a few new bases coming in that I can barely wait to share with you. Oh my goodness!! You are going to LOVE these yarns!

We will be at Vogue Knitting LIVE in New York at the Feather Your Nest booth with lots and lots of yarn, some of which are out fabulous new bases which you are going to want to meet in person for a woolly squeeze! I made some special New York colorways that I am pretty tickled with. There will also be quite a few lovely knits design samples. Our buddy Shannon Squire will be helping Terri out in the booth and will have a whole bunch of her Blue Moon designs with her.
If you are Vogue do drop by and say hi to Terri and Shannon and peruse the goodies they have. There is a limited number of the New York colorway Specials so you might want to plan to stop by early so you don’t miss out!

One of the designs I am really excited to be sharing with you is the stunning cardigan, Tualatin by Emma Welford

There is a whole lot to love about this design. The cables…oh the cables and the detail on the back. I am smitten!!!
You will be able to see this beauty and in person at Vogue and Emma has been generous enough to give us a pattern discount!
Emma used our Targhee Worsted (Dakota) for her stunning design!!

Speaking of stunning we will also have this beauty on display by Carol Feller!

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Landscape Waves is one of my all time favorite sweaters!!

A whole lot of knit goodness and really that is just the beginning which is appropriate since it is just the beginning of the New Year!

Goodbye 2016!! I know you taught us a whole lot. I know I have learned a lot this year. There has been a whole lot of loss this year. As someone who has experienced great loss I will say that I will greatly miss those dear souls and I will carry them in my heart.

Peace and love to us all!!
xoxo

Peace, love, and knitting!

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Love is the bridge between you and everything! rumi

There’s quite a few hours left to finish those last few rows, cast-off and work in those loose ends of your holiday knits parade. There’s also enough time cast-on and finish something smallish. Hope does spring eternal, especially knitting hopes!
I am actually casting on today for 2 gifts but I do not have to have them done until the end of next week so…yay!!!
My family celebrates Solstice and Christmas, one of my favorite times of the year.I love the peaceful aura that permeates this season. All the magical twinkling lights especially at night in the snow. I love the traditions and just having time with my family and friends.
This year has been very very different both for me and my whole family. I feel this is in part due to the loss of my mother right before Halloween. Loosing your mother is a big loss that takes a whole lot of time to get your head and heart around. A whole lot of my love of this holiday and the traditions that I have passed on to my family come from my mother.
I was thinking yesterday as I looked at the tree still all twined up on the front porch and the empty cookie tins and holiday decor that I was just way to busy with Blue Moon this year to get my act together. All the snow did not help matters either and then last night as I was doing some (almost last minute) shopping it hit me. It hit me in the wine aisle at Zupans, as I considered the wine to buy for our Christmas Eve mulled wine, that it was not that I was too busy or otherwise occupied with the everyday business of life. Nope, it’s just plain old grief that has held me back from my usual joyous celebration of this season.
So…today after I finish wishing you lovely knitters a lovely holiday. I am going to finish my coffee and honor my mom, who would so not be down with this lack of mine. No way, nothing kept Joan Hook from her holiday celebrationing. I am going to put on the my favorite holiday music and start some cookies baking. I gonna put up the Christmas Tree and spend three whole days not working and hanging out with my four favorite people on the planet! Oh…and I am going to knit and spin a little too. I have 2 projects patiently waiting for my attention.
I was going to tell you all about Vogue Knitting LIVE and how we have sent a whole lot of yarn to Feather Your Nest for their booth and about 2017 Sock club sign-ups which start on the 2nd of January and Emma’s stunning sweater but I think we will save that for next week.
I wish you all so very much love, light and hope! Love each other! Thank you for being such a richly textured and colorful part of my life! I feel truly blessed by each and everyone of you!
A few special notes of love to:
The Vancouver HandSpinners for knitting the yarn we donated to them for the homeless here in the Pacific Northwest and for the brave souls at Standing Rock.
Also, to all of you knitters who have purchased yarn for the Pussy Hat Project. Because of you Blue Moon is able to send a nice donation to the ACLU thanks to you!!
Sheri Berger of the Loopy Ewe, thank you for letting us donate yarn and be a part of your lovely holiday giving project.
I send to all of you for whom this season might not be the most wonderful a big hug.

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And lastly…chickens in the snow! Just cause.

xoxoxo

sock it to 2017!

We’re putting the finishing touches on 2016 (and some would say ‘thank goodness!’). Right after we slide through the holidays, we’ll be looking onto clean, blank calendar pages – one of my favorite times of year. Fresh starts! Clean slates! So many possibilities!

It’s natural for us to think about improving things, doing it better in the new year. Better food choices are a natural starting point – but what about better knitting choices? What would you like to do to make 2017 your best, most productive knitting year?

I’m gonna start the ball rolling with socks. It’s no secret that BlueMoonLand loves its socks: they’re an endless platform for creativity (as our legion of sock designers from the Rockin’ Sock Club will attest); they’re portable; and they have so many interesting steps that you don’t have time to get bored!

Combine all that with Tina’s wicked sense of color humor and you’ve got a match made in heaven for a super-fun and productive Year In Socks!

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Supreme Black Dalek in Tigger Targhee is ready to take on 2017!

Let’s think of all the great ways you could take on a Year In Socks:

  1. The Pair-a-Month Challenge: knit up a pair of socks each month and you’ll have a full sock drawer by the end of the year! A friend of mine is on Pair #12 for his 2016 challenge, and he’s thrilled with what he’s accomplished. Pairs for himself, for his partner, for his mom … and a memory of a month in time attached to each one!
  2. The Gifting Challenge: Isn’t this the time of year where you say “Next year, I won’t try to knit all my holiday gifts between Thanksgiving and Christmas!”? Wise thought, but how to make sure that happens? Do a variation of #1 above: make a list of each of your loved ones who are ‘sockworthy.’ Knit a pair a month, wrap them when you’re done (don’t forget to label who they’re for!), and hide them in the cupboard marked ‘Gift Shoppe.’ Come the holidays, you’ll have a trove of pre-wrapped presents all ready to gift – and you can spend December relaxing, taking walks – or casting on a pair of socks for yourself!
  3. The Skill-Builder Challenge: Socks are such a nice, compact place to learn a new skill. Never tried lace? or cables? or reading a chart? There’s bound to be a great sock pattern out there that incorporates some new technique you want to know. And while you might struggle a bit through the first sock when the technique is new, by the time you hit the second sock you’ll be much more comfortable – and ready to take that technique off into the world of bigger projects, like sweaters!
  4. The Try-a-New-Tool Challenge: Stuck on two circulars? Try a pair on Magic Loop! Never tried double-points? Want to learn how to knit TAAT (Two-At-A-Time)? Any tool can be used for any sock pattern – why not get comfortable on all of them?
  5. The Play-with-Color Challenge: If you’re like me, you have a little ‘safe spot’ when it comes to color. Open up your closet and you’ll see a sea of … grey, or green, or name-your-favorite. Trust me when I say that Tina is your gal when it comes to shaking things up and thinking outside the box when it comes to colors! And socks are such a great place to play with color; for minimalists like me, it’s a little ‘subversive’ moment in my wardrobe. I may be wearing all neutrals, but no one knows that I’ve got Farmhouse socks on under my charcoal trousers. Extra credit: sign up for the Rockin’ Sock Club and you’ll have Tina-curated wardrobe-expanding inspiration every other month in your mailbox!
  6. The Yarn Challenge: If you are feeling a bit of sock burnout, might it be that you’re not changing things up enough? If you love your tried-and-true sock pattern because you love the way it fits and all, what about branching out into a new-to-you yarn? Tina’s brought in two yarns recently that I had been dying to try – so I’m whipping up one of my Unpattern Cuff-Down Socks in Tigger Targhee (that’s them, above). I’m loving the bounce and the matte finish – and suddenly, I’ve got my sock mojo back! Next on my list to try: Super Sparkle. Because a girl needs sparkly socks, right?
  7. The Rockin’ Sock Challenge: Thousands of avid sock knitters can’t be wrong – there’s no better way to immerse yourself in a bunch of sock-lovin’ fun than to sign up for the BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club. Six shipments a year, great color stories to go along with exclusive colorways, great patterns (and not just for socks) … the fun doesn’t stop all year. If you’ve never signed up before, let me tell you it’s such fun to be part of a group of avid socksters – excitedly awaiting their shipments, then ooh-ing and aah-ing over the colorways, digging into the patterns … Even if you don’t knit up every pair that year (though we all swear that this year we’ll keep up!), you’ll expand your notion of sock-ness into another dimension.

Turkish Bed Socks from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas – getting ready for gifting!

Of course, you can combine any of the above to double the impact! Try a new yarn for your next gifted pair of socks; learn a new skill with a new yarn; knit up your Rockin Sock Club projects as gifts … Any way you slice it, you could slide into 2018 a better knitter thanks to your socks next year.

Double Your Pleasure

We’re all about the cowls this winter over here in BlueMoonLand. Such a great way to mess around with tasty bits of yarn; and bonus: at the end of a little bit of knitting, you get something warm and soft to wear around your neck! This week, the cowl mania continues with Northwestern Exposure Cowl, a fun brioche pattern from the ever-talented Jessica over at Weaving Works in Seattle.

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Sometimes I think the only thing better than playing with a Blue Moon yarn is putting together colorways..! So many different fun combinations, even if you’re ‘only’ trying to combine two colors.

This week, I put together a seasonal speckle with a shaded solid since the pattern uses two colors, one round each, in brioche stitch (aka Fisherman’s Rib). The resulting fabric is visually complex, but so easy to knit – just slipping stitches, yarnovers, and knits and purls, using one yarn at a time.

I used to think that the softness of Crackpaca couldn’t be beat… But now I know that it outdoes even itself when worked in brioche! The texture of this fabric is truly out-of-this-world soft. 3D soft. Next-level squoosh factor!

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The hardest part about this project would be choosing just one set of colorways. I’ve just spent an inordinate amount of time today messing around with possible combinations, and I’m nowhere near done yet (although it’s already gone teatime around here)!

 

I chose Winter Wonderland with Royal Blue for my cowl:

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… but now I also want to knit Heckley Speckley with Star Sapphire:

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… and Jingle Sprinkles with Boysenberry:

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… Ooh! And what about Autumn’s Up with Walkin’ the Dog?

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So many choices when you start putting two together… It really does double your pleasure – and that’s even before you start knitting!

Baby it’s cold outside…

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It’s a snow day here at Blue Moon which basically means I am here working alone which is all kinds of peaceful. I am getting so much done!
Don’t get me wrong I love team Blue Moon, they are the best. It’ just that sometimes having quiet gives one space for colorful new thoughts and ideas!

Like…
V is for Vagenda!!!
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Super hot electric pinks!

Have you heard about the PussyHat Project
The Pussyhat Project aims to provide the people of the Women’s March on Washington D.C. a means to make a unique collective visual statement which will help activists be better seen and heard.
And to also provide those of us who cannot physically be on the National Mall a way to represent ourselves and support women’s rights and those we love.

As much as I would like to be there I can’t. However, my daughter and a whole bunch of friends and family will be there and so I am knitting them hats! I will most definitely be there in spirit.

We already have quite a few appropriate pinks:
Hot Flash
Psychobarbie
Rosebud
China Rose
Rosetta
Tit for Tat
Help Us Rhonda
Rose Quartz
Fuchsia Rose
and now…
V is for Vagenda!

Thanks to Kat Coyle and The Little Knittery for putting this all together! Check out their web page, mission statement and blog. The pattern they have supplied is super cute and an easy and quick knit. There is a place to send hats if you want to knit one (or two) show support and be involved.
We at Blue Moon are donating 20% of our December sales to the ACLU.

Okay…my buddy Karen just showed up for weekend knit shenanigans. Yay!!! And speaking of Karen, did you read her blog post this week (sweater dreams) on knitting for ourselves.

This month starts our next 3 spinning adventures. Long Wools!! If you want to join in the fun there is still plenty of room and time. The first shipment leaves at the end of December.
Rockin’ Sock Club is up for Gift Certificate purchases for the holidays. The gift that keeps on giving all year long!

Okay my lovely wonderful knitterly friends.
Have a great weekend.
Stay warm and safe.

sweater dreams

There’s no denying it: we are definitely into December. For many of us knitters, this means we’re knee-deep in gift knitting for the ones we deem ‘knitworthy.’ The ambitions of the fall, our heady notions of knitting EVERYTHING! for EVERYONE! are getting a bit more real. We might even be cutting a few choice things off the list (Uncle George is getting a hat instead of socks because … ya only gotta knit one!).

Hang in there, knitters – crunch time is upon us, but relief is in sight. A few short weeks from now, the last ends will be woven in, the bows will be on the packages, the packages will be in the mail, and then…

Personal Knitting Time begins.

Some call it ‘Selfish Knitting,’ but personally I think that’s a little harsh. If you’ve spent some considerable time making thoughtful gifts for others, isn’t it appropriate to also dedicate some time to making something for you to enjoy?

If you’re like me, you’ve been queueing up sweater patterns for just such an occasion. January, with all its promises of fresh starts, really calls for a cast-on of some magnitude, don’t you agree? ‘Tis the season for a solid sweater project you can really sink your teeth into (especially if you’re doing a food ‘reset’ after all that holiday eating – a cast-on is a calorie-free treat that keeps your hands out of the cookie jar!).

So now’s the time, knitters: start planning that January Treat Sweater. Pour yourself a mug of eggnog and open a tab in your browser with your Ravelry queue, a second tab with the Blue Moon colorways, and dream big!

Here are some ideas from my queue to get the creative juices flowing:

v-neck-boxyV-Neck Boxy by Joji Locatelli

A new variation on her wildly popular Boxy designs, this eminently wearable, totally forgiving silhouette would be a dream to slip into after the holidays. Worked from the top down this time, with a V-neck opening (so flattering on many of us!), it makes a great platform for fabulous fingering-weight yarns. But knitted at a gauge of 23 sts = 4″/10cm, it’s quite open and drapey… Not all yarns can hold their shape when knitted that far open.

Enter Cloud Nine: a sport-weight wonder in superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon. That’s the trifecta for combining softness with reliability in a long-living fabric. Its gauge range is pretty phenomenal, too: knitted down for socks and the like, it can go as dense as 7 sts/1″, but it holds its own all the way up to the light-DK range… So the 23 sts = 4″/10cm gauge in V-Neck Boxy would be right up its street!

1300 –2050 yards means 4 to 5 skeins will set you up right – just as soon as you can pick a color! The Shaded Solids are all so tempting…. I have a skein in Porcini that’s just begging to be swatched for this, just as soon as I get that Christmas stocking done.

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breathing-spaceBreathing Space by Veera Välimäki

Can’t decide on just one color of Cloud Nine? Or want to bring a little stripey fun into the dark months of winter? Look no farther than Joji’s comrade-in-arms, Veera, for inspiration. This stripey pullover sounds like just the thing for the post-holiday rush. One lighter shade (she’s using some speckles here – wouldn’t that be fun?) over a darker MC for high contrast… and then that striping on the bias! No winter doldrums possible with this design.

820 to 1370 yards (2 to 4 skeins) of MC plus 320 to 620 yards (1 to 2 skeins) of CC will do it; the hard part will be deciding on color combinations! Putting together colors is just a load of fun in and of itself: what about Tree Toots with Deep Unrelenting Grey:

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or A Speck of Autumn with … just about anything!a_speck_of_autumn_sk

 

… Aaaand just when I thought my queue couldn’t possibly get any longer, Tina texted me this morning with a link to this bit of loveliness:

img_5017_small2Crossing Over by Hanna Maciejewska

That waist detail! That collar! The ribbed back! I don’t even know where to start with the loveliness. And if you’re wanting something a bit more robust for a winter instant-gratification knit, this great open-front cardi done in worsted weight should do the trick.

Look no further than Targhee Worsted for this one: at 18 sts = 4″/10cm, the gauge is spot-on, and the bouncy reliability of the Targhee would shine in this design. I love how Targhee Worsted showcases texture: the half-brioche ribbed back would snap into relief. And the lightweight warmth would be fantastic to snuggle up in on the couch with a good book, or to running errands in on a windy March day.

1000 to 1900 yards for this design means just 2 or 3 skeins of Targhee Worsted will do it (and so few pesky ends to weave in and slow you down!).

I used to have a (store-bought) cardigan in college in a shade much like Chana Masala, and I wore it all. the. time. It’s a surprising near-neutral that sets off other colors beautifully (especially blue jeans!).

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It’s perfect timing to order up an SQ (‘sweater quantity’) of any of these right now: that gives the Barn Girls time to dye them, dry them, bundle and ship them to you so you can cast on the sweater of your dreams in your pyjamas on Boxing Day!