It is absolutely, positively astounding to see the incredible fashion that comes out of the Lang design team every six months.

This fall we have 3 new books, all jam-packed with wonderful styles and at an incredible price.  I mean really—where can you do better to get 50+ patterns for $12?

Fatto a Mano 183

  This is the cover of the new Fatto a Mano for Fall 2011.  There are patterns for every one of the wonderful Lang yarns that we carry, plus a lot more.  We can order some of the yarns we don’t carry, and we’ll be happy to help you find a substitute for the yarns that aren’t available in the USA.

And this one?  This is Vintage.

This is simply comfort food for knitters and crocheters!

The patterns in this book are the garments and accessories that everyone likes to create and wear, but rendered in the newest yarns.

There are patterns for women, men, and home decor.   You’ll fall in love with them all over again.

And another fun book–Accessories!

There is a huge variety of accessories in this book– Hats, Scarves, Mittens, Gloves, Wrist Warmers, Leg Warmers, Capelets

30+ patterns for $6.95

Check them out at the website.

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!

hot       Hot           HOT

2¢ per yard   Berroco SofTwist Reynolds Cotton Tail Wendy Darling Reynolds Play Time SWTC Tofutsies Louet Riverstone Kertzer Ovation Reynolds Washday Wool Swedish Yarns Baby Ull Kertzer On Your Toes

3¢ per yard Swedish Yarns Bomull Sport Fortissima Socka 6-ply Kertzer Sirocco Berroco Suede Reynolds Soft Sea Wool Mission Falls 1824 Wool Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome! Berroco Touche Reynolds Sunday Best Twilley’s Freedom Spirit

4¢ per yard Big Mexiko Naturally Aspiring Cherry Tree Hill Organic Wool Naturally Tussock SWTC Bamboo Limbo Color Limbo Mexiko Naturally Merino Fine Country Silk

Huge discounts on Luxury Yarns at 5 – 6 – 7 & 8 Cents per yard!! 5 cents/yard:  Lang Street, Jewel FX 6 cents/yard:  Isabella,   Cherry Tree Hill Possum Sock,    Discontinued Louet Euroflax Sport colors 7 cents/yard:  Berroco  Pure Merino 8 cents/yard:  Discontinued  Louet Euroflax Worsted and Chunky Heathers

These prices are well below our clearance prices, because we don’t want to move the yarn in our relocation.  Many of these prices are below wholesale cost, that is, what we paid for them. All these yarns are sold by the ball.  Limited to stock on hand. All sales final.  Free shipping does not apply. Sale good through July 7, 2011.  No coupons necessary.

These yarns are great for your projects or for charity knitting. Please pass this flyer on to your knitting group! Help Us Move — Thanks! Laurel & John Murphy  Handknitting.com Questions?  laurel@handknitting.com

Yes, I do it too, and there’s that sort of panicky feeling.  Can I really finish that ________ in time?  (You fill in the blank)   But we just got in this exciting new yarn from Trendsetter called Flamenco.  Reminiscent of ChaCha, it’s great for quick-to-make scarves but with a very different and very feminine look.  It looks like a tape yarn in the ball, but it actually is meant to be pulled open and knit like ChaCha through the loops on the long edge.

This solid color scarf that I created took just one ball and can be done in just a few hours.  It measures about 40″ long and about 5″ wide.  For a longer or wider scarf, use 2 balls.

“Knitting” with this yarn takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while you’ll find it’s no more difficult than ChaCha to knit.  There are, though, a few tips I’d like to share with you.

You can use a needle up to size 10 US, but I recommend an eight or nine, and no smaller.   This is because it’s a bit slippery and if your loops are big around a small needle, you’ll be more likely to drop one, and you really don’t want to do that.   If you are using a contrast yarn, use the size that matches the gauge of the contrast yarn.

Flamenco comes in balls, and you don’t have to rewind it like ChaCha, but you have to stretch the yarn out crosswise so that you can see the mesh.  It still will want to close up on either side, but that’s ok.  Unwrap about a yard at a time, pulling it from side to side until it’s about 3″ wide.

To hide the beginning of the yarn, the best results will come with a mitered triangle fold.  Lay out the stretched tape with the raw edge at your right hand.  Pick up the lower right corner and fold diagonally up and match the spaces to the top edge.  You will now have 3 or 4 spaces that will have double threads along the top, and a folded diagonal edge on the end.  You have to remember to treat the double threads as one for the first two rows.

The most simple scarf comes from threading your needle through every opening along one edge, for as many stitches as you want.  Turn, insert the right hand needle and place the next opening on the needle and pull through.  (Those of you who carry yarn in your left hand will have an easier time of this than the rest of us.)  Continue across (don’t forget the double threads on the end!), and when you look at it on the needle don’t panic.  After these two rows it will look all floppy and stretched out, but once you continue with the 3rd row it will take shape into a consistent width.

Next post:  how I did the scarf above a little differently.

New Weekly specials just uploaded: Worsted weight & 4Ply. Check it out at http://www.handknitting.com/This_Week_s_Special_Value_s/336.htm

While we were at Stitches East, we were lucky to have Bruce Weinstein drop by the booth to see and feel our yarns. Bruce is a really interesting guy–a prize-winning author of cook books and has just published his first knitting book:

We got to talking and I asked him to take home some Mountain Meadow Wool, and some Supreme Possum Merino. After we got home I thought to send him some baby camel, because it’s a yarn I love and I don’t think it gets enough attention.

So guess what? Bruce agrees, and blogged about our camel! Check it out here.

Thanks, Bruce!

New products come all at once in the fall. That’s because this is the busy time for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and winter is on the horizon. It’s time to get revved up for the big knit/crochet season, not to mention holiday crafting.

So much has come in lately, I just can’t seem to keep up with it, and unfortunately it’s the blog that comes in last.
Time to fix that.  I seem to go at this blog thing in fits and starts” — I guess I need to post a reminder that I should include the blog with every update we put into the newsletter or on the front page, not to mention other things.

So here’s the latest item that arrived, just yesterday:

Namaste Messenger Bags and Hip Holsters:

Of course I wouldn’t have      invested in the  inventory          if I hadn’t thought they were just great.

The messenger bag is just like those that bicycle messengers use to transport documents and whatnot on Wall Street.   You may have seen a picture of one of these guys on a bike with a bag strung across his back.  This is the same thing, but with big improvements, including a padded laptop pocket, and plenty of room for other stuff.

The Hip Holster is a great improvement over fanny packs.  There’s a strap but you can also thread this on your belt.    Easy.  Very Easy.