Collector's Items

Hi Knitters,
Well, today I want to share some of the wonderful finds I collected this fall on my travels. I first saw this beautiful bag in a Vogue Knitting feature on fun new items. The magazine had a much larger version in the photo but it was in the same colorway. I fell in love with it immediately. It is made by a company called Be Sweet. The bags are made in Africa through a coop. I got my bag here. Jackie special ordered it for me and it took about 6 weeks to come in, well worth the wait.

It is a heavy fabric so I am glad I ordered the smaller version. It is like that punch needlework but with chunkier fabric. It is sweetly lined in a green check fabric and has an inside pocket. I have tucked a couple balls of Rowan's new Cocoon yarn in here to carry with me. I am designing a new women's hat with this. Hopefully I will finish that up soon and will have a new pattern available for you.

Finally I photographed the beautiful yarn Dani dyed in honor of Itty-Bitty Nursery, it matches the cover. She calls it Itty Nursery and she over-dyed pink with a blue to create all of the lavender/blue goodness. I love it and can't wait to knit up a quick pair of socks with this soft, squishy yarn. Please check out her shop where she has fantastic yarns. Every colorway is unique and wonderful. Plus Dani is as nice in person as she is talented in knitting and dying, this is a good place to lend support. She has good, positive energy.

Here is my other skein of Sunshine Yarns that is called Fiesta. This yarn was inspired by Dani's friend Alison who knitted the Manos Cotton Stria hat in itty-bitty hats. Dani liked the colors so much she made a colorway out of it. Dani also told me that Kate Gilbert bought a skein of this at a yarn festival this fall. That's kind of fun to know.

At Purl I bought a few small items. I bought this beautiful, warm pink Koigu for starts. What a great color, mm-mm-good. The other item is the Turbo Needlegauge by Skacel. This is my second one of these. I use this handy tool so often, probably several times a week. I have needles flying everywhere around here so I am constantly trying to figure out what is what. I use a lot of dpns and they have a way of straying. There is also a 2-inch ruler on the top of it. Handy, handy!

Check out this sweet kit I picked up at Purl as well. It is a crochet kit by Make Make. It is a tiny purse with a zipper in the back. I love it. This is a Japanese kit and when I bought it the shop person had to dig around in the back for the English directions. I can't wait to make make this one!

In Michigan I went to the this great new-ish shop called City Knitting. The owner, Lorilee Beltman, is adorable and friendly. This is a shop that is warm and welcoming, more like a hang out atmosphere. Lorilee generously gave me this hot selling t-shirt designed by her shop. Look closely and you will see the clever design. Great shirt, great shop! You can order these online I think or give them a call.

That's all for today!

best, susie

p.s. I am so excited to see that a group for Itty-Bitty has been started on ravelry. I just joined myself a couple of days ago and this morning I wrote my first ever reply to a discussion forum, pretty exciting for me (I'm a simple girl). The group's name is Itty-Bitty Knits and the members are so nice! Thank you.