The Official Crystal Palace Yarns Blog

Mini Mochi

2008-12-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

Been too busy doing yarns and patterns and have let posting slip. CPY's other blog SOCKS and MORE is a much more active place - so be sure to check there often.

Meanwhile - we've add an exciting new yarn for this coming season: Mini Mochi - a fingering weight in super changing colors useful for socks, lace, baby items and more. Merino Superwash (80%) + nylon (20%) are combined.

See all the 8 colors here: Mini Mochi Colors

We've also added a new yarn to our Bamboo Blend PANDA series:

Panda Superwash - a blend of bamboo, superwash Merino and nylon.

See all the 21 Panda Superwash colors HERE.

Susan

2008-07-19T21:56:00.001-07:00

We've added two new yarns for FALL 2008
They will arrive by end of July.

Panda Silk DK (a new weight of our popular Panda Silk)
(a blend of bamboo-superwash merino wool-silk
and
Panda Soy (a blend of bamboo-soy-elastic nylon)

See the color cards on our Web site:
Panda Silk DK here:
www.straw.com/cpy/yarns/pandasilkDK-card.html

Panda Soy here:
www.straw.com/cpy/yarns/pandasoy-card.html

Susan

How Fast Can You Type?

2008-04-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

OK, I know this is silly and has nothing to do with yarn and knitting - but it's fun if you like to see how fast you can type. I did 4 trials and picked my best one to post here.

Susan

So - here's my Challenge:

68 words

Speed test

2008-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

We've been busy adding many new patterns and colors to our Crystal Palace Yarns collection - see the web site, especially click on the What's New section at the top of any page to see what we've been up to!

Meanwhile BE SURE TO VOTE on Tuesday if you are in a Super Tuesday state.

I'm endorsing Barak Obama - here's a wonderful video recently made supporting him!

Cheers,

Susan

2007-10-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

I've been really bad not posting here for so long! But Laura is doing such a smashingly good job of updating the Socks-and-More CPY blog that I've been lazy. Be sure to visit the Socks+ blog for lots of great looking knits with an emphasis on CPY sock yarns, but also much more!
[Plus, we are having a Visiting Contest to win balls of our new Panda Silk, due at end November - so pop over and sign up for the drawing.]

Meanwhile, I'm working away to get a lot of the new patterns for our yummy Merino 5, superwash Merino (5/inch) yarn up on our web site. Merino 5 retails for under $7 at most yarn shops! See all the Merino 5 colors HERE

Here are a few photos of the new patterns due very soon!

Below is my 19 mos old grandson, Marcelo, wearing a new cardigan.

Below is a lovely Teddy Bear Motif Baby Blanket knit with 2 strands held together.
This pattern is posted here: Teddy Bear Blanket in Merino 5

But we're not just focusing on babies and toddlers - we have several women's sweaters coming in Merino 5, too. Below is a stunning flared Eyelet Sweater, a block textured stitch short sleeve, and a striped pullover using a printed and coordinating solid color. And there will be more to come.

Remember, all the CPY patterns are free on our web site and we encourage knitting shops carrying our CPY yarns to share the patterns with their knitters who are buying our yarns.

~ Susan D. for CPY

New SOCKSandMORE Blog to visit

2007-07-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

Don't miss visiting the new SOCKS and MORE blog - with lots of socks in CPY sock yarns.

If you have knit a sock with Panda Cotton, Panda Wool, Maizy or the soon to arrive Panda Silk - post a photo on your blog and we'll link to you! Or we'll post your photo if you send it to us.

Visit the CPY SOCKSandMORE blog here.

New Margarita Felted Bag Pattern up

2007-07-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

We've just added a sparkling new felted bag by Terry Ross to our free pattern collection.

It's called MARGARITA as it reminds of a sparkling salt encrusted drink.

The free pattern is here

The pattern uses Iceland, Musique and Little Flowers.

Send us a photo if you make your own Margarita! We'd love to see yours.

~ Susan

Lovely Felted Bowl using Aran Marl

2007-04-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our Aran yarn makes beautiful felt - I ran across this lovely bowl on Kathyrn's Knit Together - Homage to Hestia blog

The rose colored top on the bowl is Aran Marl color #3005 - a deep rose color

We used Aran solid colors in our popular English Garden Bag by Terry Ross seen in the photo at the left.

The pattern for this English Garden Bag is
HERE

~ Susan at CPY

Knitting in the Valley: Monkey

2007-04-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Knitting in the Valley: Monkey

A great looking pair of cool socks in Panda Cotton (fall herbs color) for summer wear - knit in Cookie's Monkey pattern from Knitty.com - check them out at the link above.

~ Susan

Panda Cotton blooming all over!

2007-04-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

We are having a lot of fun finding blog and web posts of knitters showing their Panda Cotton (and Panda Wool) socks! And some in Bamboozle, too. There are a lot of them.

I'll link them as we find them - but if you have a photo on your blog or web site, let me know and we'll link to you.

Here are a couple new ones.

Boy's Spring Socks by Stacy in Panda Cotton

Bamboozle socks
Twelve Steppers Blog

Strawberry-Lime color
Panda Cotton socks on Debbie's blog

And, CPY is adding a NEW SOCK yarn of Corn Fiber called MAIZY

You can see the color card for the printed colors for Maizy HERE
Solids coming, too.

~ Susan at CPY

Bunny Hop socks - Waterfall Rib

2007-03-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I found another great pair of socks done in our Bunny Hop yarn - a pattern called Waterfall Rib from the Sensational Knitted Socks book by Charlene Schurch.

Julie D. Knit them and shares a photo on her blog - HERE

If you have something you've knit in Crystal Palace Yarns on your blog - leave me a message and I'd love to link to them!

~ Susan at CPY

And Another Panda Cotton Sock!

2007-03-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

It's nice to see that another woman with big feet can make a whole sock from a ball of Panda Cotton! Since Panda C. is a tad thicker than some sock yarns (we thought we were doing folks a favor fixing it to knit on 1.5-2 size needles at 170 yds/ball) we see people worrying that they won't have enough.

So at the Loopy Ewe's Blog we see a photo of a Panda Cotton sock for a size 11 foot! done with just less than one ball.

Check it out here in "faded jeans color".

Susan at CPY

Ferny Footies in Panda Cotton

2007-03-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

I always browse around the Blogs looking for interesting projects done in our yarns and found a great one just posted for a pair of Footies in the fern color of Panda Cotton - see the photos and comments here on FluffyKnitterDeb's Blog.

She also includes a link to the pattern she used, Essence of Elfine footies.

Thanks Deb for sharing your project.

~ Susan at CPY

2007-02-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

Lots of new Sock Patterns appearing now on our Web site -
visit the Patterns Sorted by Yarns and see the Panda Wool, Panda Cotton, and Bamboozle links.

http://www.straw.com/cpy/free_pattern_yarnssort.html

Bamboozle Afghan link

2007-02-01T00:59:00.000-08:00

Want to see a gorgeous Feather and Fan afghan knit from our new Bamboozle yarn? It was knit from the Ann Norling pattern in the soft limeade green color.

See Julie's Knitpickin' Blog entry
here
persinable.blogspot.com/2007/01/reveal.html

I hope Julie's friend Roberta loves her new baby blanket!

Our son and DIL have twins due in May - I think I'll get going on two Bamboozle blankets soon!

Susan at CPY

TNNA Booth in San Diego

2007-01-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

We're just back a week+ ago from the annual So. Calif wholesale yarn show (TNNA) and I took some photos of our booth.

At one end (left) we had the collection of bags from Terry Ross' new super felted bag book: Twelve Bags Fulled. The books begin shipping now! All bags made with Crystal Palace Yarns, too.

At the right end we showed off a collection of socks knit with our new Panda Cotton and Panda Wool socks yarns (bamboo blends) and Bamboozle (bamboo blend sweater weight, but fun for socks) and Bunny Hop socks too (angora blend).

And in the center we showed off all our Knitting Needles:
Our Original CPY Bamboo in the black packages
Our DAISY colorful resin needles in yellow packages
and
Our New STAR Bamboo (light colored, natural bamboo) in ecru packages

Stay tuned for new yarn news!

(Pssst..... we are working on a Corn fiber Sock Yarn now!)

Susan at CPY

Multi-Directional Scarf in Iceland

2006-12-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

There's a lovely Multi-directional Scarf knit in the Icestorm color of Iceland shown here on Lesley's Knitting Blog:
honeybeeknits.blogspot.com/2006/11/multi-directional-scarf.html

And she has a link to the free pattern on a web site as well.

~ Susan

New Bamboozle - the solid colors range - 55% Bamboo

2006-11-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

We've just received advance sample balls of the 16 solid colors coming in Bamboozle, CPY's new 55% bamboo - 24% cotton - 21% elastic nylon, yarn for Spring 2007 (but the yarn will be here in Dec-Jan).

There will also be printed colors coordinating with the solids. You can see some of the printed colors in the Preview HERE.

This is a photo I took of all the solids grouped together.

Bamboozle is a treat to knit with - soft and lustrous! We already have two patterns on our web site and more coming. Go to Free Patterns Sorted by Yarn Type and click on Bamboozle to see what arrives.

Our CPY Spring is ALL bamboo oriented - 3 new bamboo yarns and a new collection of Bamboo STAR Knitting Needles to offer a choice of two types of top quality bamboo needles you have come to expect from Crystal Palace.

~ Susan

Panda Wool Sock Yarn - preview

2006-10-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

We are ever so excited about our two new sock yarns for Spring 2007 (although they will arrive in December - so you don't have to wait for Spring!)

Both yarns are bamboo blends - one with wool and the other with cotton:
Panda Wool and Panda Cotton.

Panda Cotton will also have some elastic fiber to help the socks hold their shape and not become slouch socks!

As with all CPY yarns there will be a wide range of printed and solid colors which will coordinate. Panda Wool has 20 colors and Panda Cotton will have 29!

Check our CPY Web site's What's New page for more information and more photos and projects.

~ Susan

Crystal Palace On the Blogs

2006-10-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Andi has used Meringue in a beautiful crocheted sweater.

Virgin Wool is making a Breast Cancer scarf with Iceland. And boy that stitch definition is great!

Dim Sum Knitting made the Mason Dixon washcloth in Cotton Chenille.

And Kat-Knits made some wrist warmers with Bunny Hop.

Bamboozle Preview

2006-10-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

We are going to have a Bamboo Spring 2007 at Crystal Palace Yarns. Knitters love our CPY Bamboo Needles - now they can knit our bamboo yarns on our bamboo needles.

We are adding 3 yarns with principle bamboo content:
Bamboozle for knitting at aran gauge - 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon
and 2 new Sock Yarns - Baby
Panda Wool - 45% bamboo, 41% wool, 14% nylon
Panda Cotton - 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon

We took some preview photos of Bamboozle - there will be prints and solids, pastels and strong colors. This yarn is fun!

~ Susan

Bunny OP Sock

2006-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

It's so much fun to meet a designer online and get to know them and find out you really enjoy the give and take of talking yarn, science, politics (we agree on a lot!) and more.

CPY is fortunate to have met such a cool sock fiend in Laura Andersson (visit her Sirius Knitting Web site) to learn more about her and her knitting.

Anyway, back to the topic of SOCKS.
Laura has been working on two different sock designs using our new Bunny Hop yarn and she just emailed me scans (so the sock is a tad flattened due to scanning, but nonetheless gorgeous). Stay Tuned for the Pattern appearing soon on the CPY Web site!

Here are the photos of Toe-Front and Side view of Bunny OP sock!
The sock pattern is now up on our site
http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns2/socks/bunnyhop-OP-sock.html

Can't wait to get my hands on these Bunny OP socks!

You can see a Bunny Hop sample card HERE

Today this is,
Susan

2006-10-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

A new grandchild does make a yarn company's thoughts turn to Baby Items ... and Crystal Palace is no exception.

See the new Baby Hats and Baby Blanket in Bunny Hop by going to the What's New Page on the CPY Web site.

Sock Lap Dips

2006-08-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't checked out what's new on the straw.com website, here's a little update. We received the lab dips on our new bamboo blend sock yarns yesterday and they look great! One's a bamboo-cotton-elastic nylon blend and the other a wool-bamboo-nylon mix.

Just imagine your favorite Crystal Palace colorways available as soft and sturdy sock yarns. I would tell you all of the fabulous colors, but I don't want to give away the surprise (alright, I've seen red cinnamon and seascape -yummy!)!!!! But I will say that they look awesome and will look fabulous on your feet. I can't wait to give them a whirl!

Happy knitting!
Angela

Crystal Palace Yarn on the blogs...

2006-08-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Romancing the Yarn has two balls of Squiggle that she wants to use.

Yarn Crawl has a Finished Object with Fizz trim.

Sincerely Yours has tested out her crochet skills with Shimmer.

Keep on knitting!!!

Angela - Crystal Palace Yarns

-have you knit something with Crystal Palace Yarn? Let us know. Send us a photo of your finished object, or a link to your blog if you've shown it there and we'll post it on our blog. Email: angela at crystal palace yarns dot com (spelled out to prevent spam).

Choo Choo Clapotis

2006-08-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite things: the clapotis pattern from knitty and Crystal Palace Choo Choo.

Some very kind person knitted a clapotis for Knitty Editor Amy Singer out of Choo Choo. I would have never thought, but choo choo provides the knifty color and the springyness that makes knitting the clapotis great.

check it out: (the August 4th post on the knitty blog)

I'm knitting a Clapotis myself from Crystal Palace Creme, which is a 60/40 blend of wool and silk.

Now for you beginning knitters, this pattern may seem a bit difficult, but fortunately there's a yahoo group 1500 knitters strong to help you.

Happy Knitting
Angela

English Garden Bag -in progress

2006-08-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Some people have been clamoring for some English Garden Bag progress pics and Cynthia has a photo on her blog.

Check it out!

Angela

The Perfect Going Away Gift For Back-To-School

2006-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

One of our staff created the School Colors Pillow. It's knitted with double stranded cotton chenille. Our version is knit up in UC Berkeley colors, but with CPY chenille available in tons of colors, you can make one for your favorite school. The pattern includes a link to a directory of the school colors for every US University and 2-year college. This pattern is also a great way to learn how to strand two colors in a row -make sure you twist the yarns when you change colors.

Go team Go!
Angela - Crystal Palace Yarns

Get Started Now

2006-08-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Holidays are coming. It may not seem that way right now with the hot summer sun, but December is only a few months away. So to get you inspired I've come up with a few Crystal Palace patterns that are fun, easy and quick to knit.

The obvious knitted present is the ever-present scarf. They're useful, and really nobody can have too many scarves. Plus, use a more masculine color and these scarves are great gifts for the men in your life.

The new arans make some beeeautiful scarves:

The Aran Print Lace Scarf and the Aran Ribbed Scarf

And the Aran Squared Hat and Scarf Set

Cameo makes a darling matched capelet and bag:

Lace is a beautiful gift for your mom, sister or grandma:

Lacy Waikiki Kid Merino Shawl

Cat's Paw Scarf in Kid Merino

Happy Knitting
Angela

Looks Like Someone Else Discovered the English Garden Bag

2006-07-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

More CPY on the blogs!

Crafty Bernie!

Gelsominalucchesi made a Big Net Shawl!

Vickie Howell Guest Blogs on Shelterrific and showcases a pillow using Deco Ribbon and Shag!

what a way to find new blogs to read...

Angela

Did Somebody Say Bunny Hop???

2006-07-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

Clara Parkes gives Bunny Hop the Knitters Review test -and it passes with flying colors!!!

Here's the scoop on Bunny Hop's availability:

The truck arrives next week and we will ship immediately to our vendors. Stay tuned for photos of us unloading the truck!

Your Local Yarn Shop will have it in stock by mid-August!

Any questions? email angela @ straw . com

Crystal Palace on the Blogs

2006-07-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hey it looks like Angel Hair yarn likes the new Sequoia.

And Strickanfall knitted a flower-shaped washcloth in Cotton Chenille.

And Wave_of_Atla knitted the Asymetrical Cable Hat from One Skein with Iceland in Icestorm (my favorite colorway!)

And here from a while back is a comprehensive review of double pointed needles, and Crystal Palace Bamboo comes out on top!

If you see another blog that mentions Crystal Palace, go ahead an email me at:
angela at straw dot com

Angela

A Little Birdy Told Me...

2006-07-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

That we might be introducing some sock yarn for Spring 07. Can you imagine that? I would love to see some of the cpy colorways for socks. Code Pink, Fall Herbs, Irises, Walnut, Strawberry-Limes, Icestorm, Sandstorm... I've only been knitting socks for the last year and I was surprised how easy it was. If you can use dpns, if you can knit a hat, if you can decrease and follow a stitch pattern, you can knit socks.

But be careful. It can be addictive.

You may not know that doubling up on kid merino works as a luxurious sock yarn. Check out this lacey ankle sock pattern created by Cathy Campbell. It only requires two balls of Kid Merino, and if you use one solid color and one variegated color, the results are stunning! Or try the striped socks if ribbing is more your thing.

If you'd rather knit something with a larger gauge, check out these cozy slippers.

Happy Knitting
Angela of Crystal Palace Yarns.

New Patterns Are Up!

2006-07-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

A bunch of new patterns have been posted to Straw.com!

The Shetland Lace Scarf is a new favorite and it only requires 2 balls of Kid Merino. It's on my holiday gift list. It's a simple pattern that packs a lot of punch. It's knit lengthwise, which means you have to cast on a ridiculous quantity of stitches, but you only have to knit a couple of rows before you're finished. I recommend using stitch counters as you cast on so you can keep track of your stitches more easily. I usually don't do that b/c I'm lazy, but I'm not going to waste my time counting and recounting 177 stitches. Aside from that lengthy cast-on, it looks like I could knit one of those in a week -and I've never even tried knitting lace before!

We also have a new Merino Stripes vest. I know you're not thinking about it now because it's so darned hot outside, but winter will return, and it will be cold, and this vest is just the thing to warm you up. It takes 4-6 balls of yarn and depending on the colorway you use, it could be suitable for the lady or gentleman in your life.

So what are you knitting right now? I just brought home a bag of the new Creme in periwinkle to make a clapotis for someone this Christmas. You remember the clapotis don't you? It's that beautiful shawl on knitty that's knit on the bias with dropped stitches. The pattern calls for a silk wool blend so I thought that Creme might do the trick. I'm also hoping that if enough people try Creme for a clapotis that we may be able to get printed colors made...

Photos to come soon!

Happy knitting
Angela of Crystal Palace Yarns

Knit Night

2006-07-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I went to my regular knitting group last night and I brought the English Garden Carpet Bag with me and there was quite a response. One lady wanted to buy the yarn immediately. Another woman had seen the bag online and thought it looked even better in person. There has been some concern on message boards about the availability of the new yarns, but rest assured! Taos, Aran, and Creme have been shipped to many of our participating vendors.

Bag felting has become especially popular of late, which can be attributed to the work of Nicky Epstein and Beverly Galeskas. Also I've found that it's a great way to grow out of scarf knitting. Making felted bags is a fantastic way to learn shaping -it's less expensive and less time consuming than knitting a sweater. One of my first big projects was the Nicky Epstein Flower Market Bag, which can be found in her Fabulous Felted Bags book. It was so adorable -I absolutely HAD to knit it despite the fact that I had only knit simple scarves. The idea that I could shrink the bag and hide any potential mistakes made me fearless in my attempt. If you think you're ready to felt your first bag, check out many of the free Crystal Palace patterns available here and here's a little tutorial on felting. The books listed above have much more comprehensive instruction. Try using Crystal Palace Fjord or Iceland for your next felting project. It has a soft and pliable finish.

Seriously once you start felting, you'll start using it to fix any design challenge in your house. Need coasters? Use your felted test swatches. Need more baskets? Use your extra balls of wool fashion rectangular boxes (one pattern can be found in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book).

Here are some basic shaping tips that would have helped me when I was figuring out the shaping of handbags with increasing and decreasing:

1) Many patterns say simply "decrease 1 every other row". While the pattern doesn't specify what type of decrease to use, it is important to use the correct decrease method. How you decrease will dictate how the bag shapes and if you use inconsistant decreases your bag will turn out a little lumpy.

*On the right side of a bag:
-knit 2 together slants to the right
-slip slip knit slants to the left

*On the purl side of a bag:
(slip 1 kwise) twice, return the two stitches to the left needled and purl 2 together through the back loops = right slant.
purl 2 together = left slant.

*(reference: The Reader's Digest Knitter's Handbook, 2001, pages 116 and 117)

Say for instance the bag you've chosen to do is knit from the top down and tapers a bit towards the bottom. On the knit side you would knit 2tog for the first decrease in a row, and ssk for the second decrease at the other end of the row.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Angela of Crystal Palace Yarns
PS: Oh yeah we've started distributing BAG HANDLES! Available in stores in late August. Check them out!

Welcome!

2006-07-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the official Crystal Palace Yarns Blog. We're hoping to create an interactive experience for all of the knitters out there in blogland. We want to know what you're knitting and why. We want to know what you love about our yarn, which colors you like and what... you may not like so much. We want you to share your finished objects. Send us photos and we'll post them!

Photos can be sent to angela at straw dot com (spelled out to prevent spam)

We're going to discuss the new yarns (the beautiful new Arans, the silky Creme and the colorful Taos) and any yarns currently in development. We're going to give you breaking news of any new patterns. We're going to have contests, warehouse tours and knit-alongs.

The big pattern this week is the English Garden Carpet Bag designed by Terry Ross, our resident bag felter. Made with Aran, Taos and Deco Ribbon, it is a fabulous bag for fall. With a felted body and appliqued flowers, it will certainly turn heads for any of you heading back to school.

We hope you find this a valuable knitting resource. We're going to include the blogs of those local yarns shops that carry Crystal Palace Yarns. And we have links to the color cards for all of our yarns to assist you in choosing the colors for your next project.

Stay tuned to this spot!

Angela, of Crystal Palace Yarns

Coming Soon

2006-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon to a computer near you, the official Crystal Palace Yarns Blog