Zine Scene: PomPom Quarterly 5th Anniversary!

Pom Pom is celebrating their 5th anniversary, and they're doing it with another great book! In this edition, they're featuring 16 fresh and forward patterns. There's even a recipe for their birthday cake at the end! It really is a beautiful book full of gorgeous pictures and art. As always, we like to showcase our favorite patterns:

Sevilla by Thea Colman

© Nicole Mlakar

This long wrap is knit lengthwise, which really shows off the chevron lacework and wiggly squiggle going up the center of the wrap. With only 5 sections, 2 of which are the same, this simple pattern will achieve beautiful results.

Anniversaire by Beers Välimäki

© Nicole Mlakar

Knit all the cables! This stunning sweater employs four different cables, which go together seamlessly. Knit this comfy grandpa sweater to keep you warm this year and every year!

Bon Bon by Joji Locatelli

© Nicole Mlakar

Twisted stitches meet twisted lace in these adorable fingerless mitts. Knit in the round, these beautiful and simple mitts are finished with a cute pompom. You can definitely sit and eat bon bons with these mitts!

Knees-Up by Juju Vail

© Nicole Mlakar

These socks-meet-leg-warmers will surely warm your little toes! Starting with a garter rib, the leg ends in an "afterthought heel", and the sock concludes in stockinette. This pattern will surely keep you on your toes!

Hoopla by Dianna Walla

© Nicole Mlakar

What's all the hoopla about?! This hat is amazing! Knit bottom up, Hoopla starts with ribbing, followed by a beautiful Latvian braid. Next comes the interesting colorwork and, finally, the crown is formed after the colorwork is completed. A must-have pattern for hat enthusiasts!

What pattern is your favorite? What Anzula yarn and colorway would you choose? We love to hear your responses!

Pattern Spotlight: Miki

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Miki Swatch in Frankie and Charcoal Gerty

Miki, pronounced mee-kee in Japanese, means flower stem. This hat looks great on everyone, so no matter who you're knitting for this pattern will be a go to. It's knit from the bottom up with two contrasting colors of Gerty. The hat features a slipped stitch pattern that is reminiscent of a flower stem. I had a lot of fun swatching with Gerty and coming up with the stitch pattern. The yarn has a lot of bounce so I knew it would work well with slip stitch.

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You only knit with one color at a time, super easy!

Slip stitch patterns are really fun to knit and it creates a warm and cozy hat. You are only working with one color at a time, so it's much easier to knit than it looks. The colors are carried up on the inside of the hat, so there is no need to cut your yarn as you knit the hat. This yarn takes dye very well. The colors are so vibrant. There are so many possibilities of color combinations with Anzula’s beautiful colorways.

One of my favorite parts about this pattern is that you will have enough yarn to make a second hat. Gerty’s yardage is very generous. As you can see, I reversed the colors for the 2nd hat. You can knit one for yourself and then gift the second one.

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Alternating colors makes super cute hats for best friends, parent/child, siblings, or any other 2 people who like each other.

Gerty blocks out beautifully. It plumps up nicely even after blocking and I do love a good blocking. I highly recommend blocking because it brings out the best of the wool. Gerty does best with a short soak in cool water. (Note from Team Anzula - If you add anything to the water, make sure it's designed for hand dyed yarns. Please don't use laundry detergent or softeners. They aren't great for hand dyes)

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The pattern is now available on Ravelry here. From now until Oct 13, you can buy Miki for a discounted price of $4 by using the coupon code “GertyLove” at the checkout. For yarn shops that would like high quality print copies for their store, they can be purchased at wholesale through Stitch Sprouts.

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You can find more of Angela’s designs on Ravelry. Follow her on Instagram to see what she is currently working on.

Gerty is available in the shops listed below, all of whom are happy to ship!

Baskets of Yarn - Charlotte, NC - (704) 733-9053
Wasatch and Wool - Park City, UT - (435) 575-0999
Yarn Refuge - Reno, NV - (775) 384-1600
Knit One Purl Two - Rockford, IL - (815) 904-6030
Harps & Thistles Yarn Emporium - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - (234) 208-9482
Avenue Yarns - Albany, NY - (510) 526-9276

Special orders only: Swatches - Fresno, CA - (559) 435-2813
Special orders are dyed to order and are typically ready in 3-5 weeks.You can place a special order for Gerty (or any of our yarns) at your favorite local shop. See a list of shops here and our map here. 

Pattern Spotlight: Escondido Falls Shawl

Ready for an adventure with cables and lace and color? The Escondido Falls Shawl is a wedge-shaped shawl worked from the bottom up, with an edging of lush lace and dense cabling. You can work it in either two colors, in one color, or in one color for the body and cable section, and a second color for the lace.

I got to meet Gerty, Anzula's new 100% Targhee yarn, this past summer at TNNA. I'm big fan of American wool, and was thrilled that Anzula was coming out in a breed-specific American wool, milled in the US, in their amazing palette of colors.

I decided to do a two-colored cable shawl to explore how Gerty would play with the cables, lace, and colorwork. I chose Clay, a greenish neutral, as the contrast color for the lace and cables, and Teddy, a warm rich brown, as the main color.

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Escondido Falls Shawl in Clay & Teddy Anzula Gerty.

After working on the pattern, I thought it's be great to do a single colored version as well, for those of you who just want to play with TWO techniques (cables and lace) at a time. :)  

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Escondido Falls Shawl in Blueberry Anzula Gerty.

The Targhee is extremely bouncy. You can block the heck out of it and it springs back.  I initially blocked the two-colored cable shawl to 90¼” / 229 cm along the lace edge to really open up the lace; it now measures 77¼” / 196.5cm, two weeks or so later (the lace edge looks great). 

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The lace is still perfect even with the spring back of this bouncy yarn.

I chose to give this shawl a California place name. I love exploring California parks, and especially waterfall hikes. There are some really neat waterfalls in the Los Angeles area, especially if we’ve had a wet winter, and one of the best is Escondido Falls in Malibu.

See my blog post here for more details. (Tip: sign up for my newsletter via my blog to get a discount on this pattern through midnight October 2nd 2017 PST.)

The pattern is available on Ravelry for $7. Line by line instructions are included for the single color version; the two colored version is charted only.

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Keep up with all things Stephannie on Ravelry here and on her website sunsetcat.com.  

Gerty is available in the shops listed below, all of whom are happy to ship!

Baskets of Yarn - Charlotte, NC - (704) 733-9053
Wasatch and Wool - Park City, UT - (435) 575-0999
Yarn Refuge - Reno, NV - (775) 384-1600
Knit One Purl Two - Rockford, IL - (815) 904-6030
Harps & Thistles Yarn Emporium - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - (234) 208-9482
Avenue Yarns - Albany, NY - (510) 526-9276

Special orders only: Swatches - Fresno, CA - (559) 435-2813
Special orders are dyed to order and are typically ready in 3-5 weeks.You can place a special order for Gerty (or any of our yarns) at your favorite local shop. See a list of shops here and our map here.