Nicole from the podcast Stash and Burn, is wearing the best slouchy beret, made using the Basic Tam pattern from The Knitter’s Book of Handy Patterns. Knit up in the Gusanito colorway, eggplant.

Vera is wearing a sweater with arresting diagonal eyelets, made from a Russian pattern. She used a lovely color of Cascade 220.

Lorraine shows off the gorgeous poncho made from a pattern in an old issue of Interweave Knits. She used Encore Chunky.

Patty’s cozy blanket is made up of crocheted squares using a medley of Encore Chunky shades.

And finally, Susan’s kids show off their fabulous handknit hats, from left to right Beth, Claire and Maggie.

Bob brought in her amazing triangular shawl knit using Malabrigo Lace. Such a lovely transition of patterns, here’s a close up:

And here is Mer showing off her beautiful stole made with Tahki superior. The detail shows off the diamond lace pattern:

Makes me itch for fingering weight yarn, needles and some charts!

Don’t you just want to curl up next to the tree wearing a pair of these festive socks? Dan knit them up using Dale of Norway’s Baby Ull. They are sure to keep someone’s toes toasty!

Claudia had George model this gorgeous Building Blocks scarf design from Kaffe Fasset, using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. He is such a handsome dog.

As I’ve written before, it is always such a pleasure to see customers return to the store with their finished projects. The yarn leaves the store as an idea and sometimes we are lucky enough to see it “all grown up.” When I write up a Customer Creation post, I usually fill in a basic description of the yarn used and pattern, that is until I came across the knitting of Jim Schram. Jim’s knitting boggles the mind. It is beautiful in its complexity. So to completely buck convention, here is Jim in his own words, a true artist talking about his work.

The shawl below was knit using Malabrigo brand 100% cotton on size 3, 5, 7, and 9 circular needles. The triangle starts at the center base of the neck with size 3 needles, increasing the needle size during every pattern transition — Leaf becomes Rose becomes Ripple then back to Leaf again. Knitting each row creates several individual increases, thus forming the finished triangle.

The peach sweater below is a Christmas gift for my cousin, Michelle. It was knit using two colors of Malabrigo brand worsted 100% cotton on 24″ size 3 circular and dpns. The yarns were factory-dyed in solid and variegated pink, then later tinted peach using natural sandalwood powder, with alum and cream of tartar as the mordant. Two steeks were knit for the armholes which were later cut and machine-hemmed before joining the sleeves.

There are ten stitch patterns involved: Simple Seed, Lorgnette Cable, Twining Vine Leaf, Flame Chevron (sides under the arms), Diamond Cable-topped Crossed V, and Candelight stitches form the body, with frilly half-Horseshoe and Roman Stripe patterns at the waist, and Tulip Bud edged simple seeded cuffs. The princess-style sleeves have a Three-Leaf run with Diamond Cables containing a Double-Seed fill for visual interest. The background is simple reverse stockinette.