Tonight, I’m exhausted. I’ve spent the last three days getting pictures ready for the new Lopi and new Lang books.

Both Istex and Lang manage to cause us internet shops just a ton of trouble in getting the pictures of the designs in the new books (Laurel! stop complaining!)

There are 2 new Lopi books, #29 & #30, plus four others that, while older, we haven’t had since we sold out of the Canadian stock over 4 years ago. They are all wonderful, and the new ones are just killer. They make you want to pick up and knit some Lopi.

       At the moment I am myself knitting a Christmas present for a family member from regular Lopi.  I can’t tell you what it is exactly because it would give away the surprise if that person reads the blog.

But I am simply loving knitting it–it is so satisfying! The knitting moves right along, and there’s nothing easier than Lopi for two-handed fair isle.  The resulting beautifully patterned yoke is so attractive for such little effort.

Now I know some people are turned off by the feel (the hand) of this yarn.  No, it’s not merino, baby alpaca, or supersoft synthetic.  But it isn’t meant to be worn next to the skin.  It’s for outerwear. And it has many advantages over softer yarns for this use.   Plus, it does become softer with washing.

It doesn’t bother me to knit it right from the ball.  If you have a contact sensitivity to harsher feeling yarns, then I suggest skeining the Lopi from the ball (Bulky Lopi already comes in skeins), tie it in several places, then soak in a cold water bath with a good dollop of  leave-in hair conditioner for an hour or so.  Drain, roll in towels, and hang to dry, then knit.  This will reduce the harsh feel a lot.

The other big announcement is there is a new Lopi coming — Fingering/Lace weight Lopi, called “Einband”

It is beautiful, we saw it at TNNA.  There is also a dedicated book for this yarn that is coming too.  Because of the very light weight and the spin, it becomes very soft after washing, and will definitely be a winner.  Here’s a sneak peek of one of the patterns:

Next up Part 2 of Incredible Fashion– LANG!