Category Archives: Illimani

NEW Colour Flow

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Holiday Gift Parade

It’s chilly outside today, which means it is time for me to start reminding about knitting for the holidays. You’ve got about 2 months until Christmas, Kwanzaa and Yule, if you’re Eastern Orthodox you get an extra few weeks, but Hannukah is REALLY early this year (Nov 28th!). I’ll try to keep throwing in the interesting stuff, abut the project suggestions are shifting into small achievable goals. Let the parade of giftable projects roll!

Stay tuned for:

  • Hats & Headbands
  • Mitts
  • Scarves & Infinity Scarves
  • Cowls
  • Legwarmers
  • Wraps & Shoulder cozies
  • Slippers & Slipper-socks
  • Holiday decor
  • Fast blankets & throws

SEE OUR PAST GIFT PROJECT IDEAS

NEW Estelle Colour Flow

For a few years clients have been telling me they LOVE the soft, airy look and texture of blown yarns like Drops Air, but does it come in something more colourful? Well, this fall one of our distributors introduced something just of the sort, so if you like Drops Air, then Estelle Colour Flow is for you!

Estelle Colour Flow is a super-soft yarn with lots of fun! It’s made with merino wool that is literally blown into a nylon core, making it super light and airy, like knitting with a cloud (without the precipitation). The colour changes all by itself, making it an entertaining and pretty knit. It’s a bulky weight, so it will knit up reasonably quickly on 6mm/US10 needles. Colour Flow is knits really well with other fuzzy yarns (see below for more on this). NOTE: this yarn is feltable, so it must be hand washed.

SEE PROJECT IDEAS FOR THIS YARN

  • 80% Merino Wool (exterior), 20% Nylon (core)
  • 50g/125m
  • Bulky Weight
  • 6mm/US10 needles
  • 14 sts = 4″/10cm
  • Hand wash, lay flat to dry
  • Made in Italy

NOTE: if you love one of the pattern suggestions linked above, but you want to use a solid coloured yarn, try Illimani Amelie, it’s a perfect fit!

How Much Will I Need?

  • Hat: 1 skein
  • Cowl/Snood: 1 to 2 skeins
  • Scarf or Infinity Scarf: 2 to 3 skeins (4 if you want it really big)
  • Legwarmers: 2 to 3 skeins
  • Shawl/Wrap: 4 to 5 skeins
  • Blanket: 10+ skeins

Colour Flow Free Hat Pattern

When you purchase this yarn you’ll automatically receive an email with a link to download a free copy of the Colour Flow Slouchy Hat Pattern (above).

Materials

Mobius Cowl (in progress)

It gets a bit busy around here in the fall (which is awesome, no complaints), so here’s a pic of our first solo project, a Mobius Cowl. Scarves, cowls and wraps knit LENGTHWISE will look amazing with this yarn, the colour gradation in the yarn will do all the work! The pattern is an oldie – you can’t beat a classic.

Mods

  • Use 6mm/US10 needles (36″ or longer)
  • Cast on 174 sts
  • Reduce each garter section by 1 round for each group (5 rounds becomes 4, 6 rounds becomes 5)
  • If you are a new knitter and can’t deal with the mobius cast-on, just use a regular cast on and make it without the twist.

Materials

Estelle Colour Flow combined with Drops Air: both strands knit together on 9mm/US13 needles

Yarn Combining

Yarn combining has become a ‘thing’, and I’m glad it has, because it makes textiles that much more fun and interesting! I’ve embarked on a little experimentation, and found that Estelle Colour Flow works up beautifully held with other fluffy yarns:

Colour Flow & Drops Air 

1 stand of Estelle Colour Flow + 1 strand of Drops Air on 9mm/US13 needles =.12 sts & 16 rows/4″ (10cm). The combination, besides knitting up nice & quick, is deliciously soft and squishy. The fabric is still light, but they have a bit more body than if you worked with them on their own.    (colours: Colour Flow 42205 River Rock & Drops Air 05 Brown Mix.

SEE PROJECT IDEAS FOR COLOUR FLOW & AIR COMBINED

If you’re interested in experimentation I recommend combining it with either Drops Air or Drops Brushed Alpaca & Silk to keep everything super-soft and yummy.

A closeup of Estelle Colour Flow combined with Drops Air: both strands knit together on 9mm/US13 needles

I can’t say I’m in love with the colour combo I chose above (it works, but I find it a little depressing, the brown is sort of stealing the colour’s ‘life’), but I’d like to give it another shot holding the Colour Flow with a light grey, light beige or cream coloured yarn. I’ll try the fun skein below (colour 42204 Pinata) – it became unruly so I threw it on the winder and yowza it looks purty!

Estelle Colour Flow wound up on a machine: colour 42204 Pinata
Bird escaping light-box

I tried getting Gru into the game, but he was having none of it (and I was out of treats). This is what birds look like right before they take-off.

NEW PROJECT Getting Warmer

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The sweater in this picture is Carbeth, made with Cascade Eco Peruvian Tones

Getting Warmer

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get this project out to you (it’s been in the store window for a couple of weeks already) – you know how it goes … Life! Anyway, I thought it would make a great little neck accessory as the temperature drops. I love little shoulderettes, they’re so cosy and are great for changing seasons.

This one is Getting Warmer, a FREE pattern, and we made it with a yarn that’s new for us, Illimani Llama II. Illimani is a little company located in Quebec that imports gorgeous yarns from South America, especially alpaca and other camelids, like llama.

The pattern is pretty straight forward and is fairly accessible for beginners (depending on your level of beginnerness, of course). The ‘special’ skills include knit & purl in the same row, working in the round on circular needles, decreasing, and reading a pattern. Basically, if you can make a hat, you can make a Getting Warmer. The project works up on 6mm/US10 needles, so I think it qualifies as a “small, achievable goal”.

BTW, many thanks to Adrienne for doing the heavy lifting on this project!

Yarn Options

The yarn we used, Illimani Llama II, was a delight! It is super soft and is made from 100% de-haired llama, so it basically feels like baby alpaca (de-haired means that when the fibre is being processed the coarser parts of the coat are removed, leaving only the soft undercoat).

Other yarns options:

Cascade Eco Merino: one skein of Cascade Eco Merino would make an entire Getting Warmer, which would be pretty economical at $38.

Drops Air: two skeins of Drops Air would make a looser, more relaxed look, and the price tag would look sweet at under $20.

Diamond Baby Alpaca Sport: three skeins of super soft ‘n sexy Diamond Baby Alpaca Sport would make a neckie-thingie you’ll want to cozy up next to at the bar and offer to buy it a drink.

Berroco Vintage Chunky: three skeins of Berroco Vintage Chunky will get the job done with style and grace for people who are sensitive to wool or are really good at wrecking things by putting them in the washing machine.

Mineville Merino 2ply: If you want a little colour, you can still scoop up 3 skeins of Mineville Merino 2ply from our Clearance section!

Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk: if you want mega texture, go for a super soft mohair effect with Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk. For a loose, airy texture knit with a single strand (3 skeins), and for a denser, warmer fabric work with 2 strands held together (6 skeins). Both options are super affordable, from $18 to $36.

Materials

Needle Hack

If you don’t already have these needles in your kit, you might be interested in some Knitter’s Pride Interchangeable needles: you just buy one set of 3.5″ tips and two cords, and it saves having to purchase two separate circular needles. But note, you MUST get shorter tips that are 3.5″ to 4″ long! Any longer and they won’t work with the 16″ cord:

If you prefer Addi needles, they also make interchangeable tips that are the right length:

These shorter needles are ideal for making hats, neck things, baby things, and will always work with the longer cords from their respective brand. If you’re feeling like why not dive in and buy a whole set with a bunch of sizes (its usually more affordable than buying them one size at a time), here are a few brands who make them in the right size:

Short Interchangeable Needle Sets (with 3.5″ to 4″ tips)