Fall in Love: A New Blog Series

[caption id="attachment_676" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="photo credit: Martha Stewart Living Magazine"][/caption]

Fall in Love is our new, 5-part blog series, highlighting all that is fall -- the trends, colors, and feeling of this fall season captured with knitting needles and crochet hooks. Best of all, this blog series will give you plenty of inspiration to pick up your favorite Malabrigo Yarns and get to work on something special for the fall season!

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. The kickoff will be tomorrow with some terrific Fall Fair-Isle knitting patterns and a quick study in choosing and pairing colors for them.

Chau, Hannah

Koolhaas Hat at Koolhaas Library

[gallery]

At Seattle we stop by the amazing Public Library

More information about the pattern here

Junkies Preparing for October Stockpile

If you're looking for a little push starting your holiday knitting, please join many Malabrigo lovers over on Ravelry, where the Malabrigo Junkies Group will be picking up their yarn and needles and casting on this October for "Stockpile", an event designed to help knitters focus on the upcoming holiday season and the inevitable need for hand-knitted gifts!

The Junkies provide not only plenty of hand-holding and friendly support, but they get a little competitive too, with contests and fabulous prizes provided by none other than their favorite yarn company.

Contests this year include:

"You Can Do It" - Tackle a new technique or knit something that is a challenge to you, stretch your skills and post your progress along the way.

"One Skein Design" - Design a pattern using a single skein of a Malabrigo yarn, writing it up into a pattern that can be sold or downloaded for free on Ravelry.

"Most Junkie Designs Completed" - Members compete against each other to see who can cast on and complete the most patterns designed by Malabrigo Junkies members.

"WOW" - Impress the judges by making something at least 70% from Malabrigo yarns to show off your skills, personal style or knitting prowess.

"Most Generous Member" - The heart of Stockpile, this contest is all about who can finish the most one-skein presents for family, friends, or favorite charity.

All the Stockpile contests mentioned here can only be officially entered by Malabrigo Junkie Group members (membership is free, of course), and have rules that should be carefully read over before jumping in.

If competing isn't your style, there are also an abundance of Knit-A-Longs this October for the different parts of the body, so that whatever you're knitting, you can find someplace to hang out and post your progress. As always, there are random drawings from people who participate, so make sure that if you're playing along, you post something somewhere!

It is so much fun to participate in this Junkie annual event, and I hope to see you over on Ravelry myself (my username is Hannahbelle)!

Chau, Hannah

Weekly Color Feature - Bubblegum Queen

Feeling inspired? Try these Malabrigo colorways:

[caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="470" caption="Worsted in Cognac; Silky in Sand; Lace in Apricot; Twist in Pearl Ten, Terron; Sock in Eggplant, Playa; Rios in Primavera "][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Malabrigo for Kids!

Munecos, a brand-new Etsy shop, is open for business! The three-woman Uruguayan team, headed up by Monica Bacardaz, has set up an Etsy store to sell their high-quality stuffed animals. Each animal is made from Malabrigo yarns and stuffed with Corriedale, making them 100% natural wool materials. The animals are made in pieces using crochet, knitting, embroidery and sewing techniques, and assembled by hand too! Here's a picture of Monica working at home:



If you have a friend or know someone who really appreciates stuffed animals, you should certainly check out Munecos!

Chau, Hannah

Weekly Color Feature - Last Breath of Summer

[caption id="attachment_650" align="aligncenter" width="321" caption="photo courtesy of project wedding"][/caption]

Feeling Inspired? Try these Malabrigo Colorways:

[caption id="attachment_651" align="aligncenter" width="444" caption="Angora in Shocking Pink, Sock in Archangel, Silky in Plum Blossom and Natural, Lace in Periwinkle and Apple Green, Twist in Sunset and Damask"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Pattern Roundup!

Wow! I did a pattern search and there is a HUGE new grouping of fall patterns designed for Malabrigo Yarns of all weights. I put together a mosaic to share them with you below -- it's a big one! Click on the links with the names of the patterns to find your favorites.

1. Petal Beret, 2. Blackberry Beret, 3. Henry, 4. A Slice of Autumn/Spring, 5. Twice Around Circular Scarf, 6. Bracken Shawlette, 7. The Orchid Thief Shawlette, 8. Fisherman's Net Cowl, 9. Wyatt, 10. Lenina, 11. Chillout, 12. Madeline Earflap Hat, 13. Indian Summer, 14. Lemniscates Cowl, 15. Whippoorwill, 16. Baby Heart Hat

Chau, Hannah

Antonio and Tobias at Needlemarket!

If you're going to the 2010 Northwest Needle Market this year, keep an eye out for Antonio and Tobias! Needlemarket is the "World's Premiere Wholesale-Only Market", and happens yearly just outside of Seattle, Washington. If you live in the area or you're a wholesaler stopping by (they say people come from over 200 different stores), don't forget to check out the new colors we have in several of the bases, or take a good look at Rios, our new superwash worsted base!

There will be a fashion show and tons of opportunities to interact with vendors and other store owners. For details on location and attending, check out the website.

The guys would love to see you and say hello, and I personally can't wait to hear all about what they've seen, and share some of it with you here on the blog.

Chau, Hannah

Designs for Malabrigo -- Lorraine Hearn

Lorraine alerted us that she has an entire page of Malabrigo Yarn patterns on her website! We thought it'd be great to link you to it, since she not only offers them on Ravelry on her design page, but you can get them through her website as well (just scroll down to the bottom of the page), if you aren't a Ravelry.com member! Most of her patterns are made by using Rasta in creative ways. If you've got a skein at home and aren't sure what to do with it, this might be a good place to start looking.

[caption id="attachment_635" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Loopy Necktie pattern and photo by Lorraine Hearn"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

A Very Versatile Knit

If I could only knit one thing this fall, I know what it would be, after seeing the fabulous Bertrand Louis pattern that has recently popped up on Ravelry. Written by the brilliant katushika, who also wrote pattern favorite Wurm (a hat that has proven excellent on nearly any head shape, with nearly any yarn), this piece is a cowl, hat, headband, sweatband -- all in one. You could knit a whole parcel of them and give them as gifts! Written for our Merino Worsted, it's entirely possible to make them in any color you like, and have one to match every coat and outfit.

I gathered up a few of my Merino Worsted favorites on Ravelry - click the links to go to the individual Flickr/Ravelry Project pages for a closer look! There seem to be new ones popping up every day, too -- I plan to make one myself before too long.

[caption id="attachment_628" align="aligncenter" width="387" caption="Louis Bertrand pattern by Katushika, show in Amoroso by Halfbrits, Emerald Blue by Stephylococcus, Fuschia by Flopeanut, Vetiver by Verushka -- click this photo mosaic to go to the Ravelry Project Pages!"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Playa Color

This summer I was walking along the beach when this appeared

[caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Playa Verde, Maldonado, Uruguay"][/caption]

I found this as a nice combination for a wool and Playa  (beach) has born. It comes in Sock and Rios

[caption id="attachment_622" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Playa "][/caption]

Antonio