Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

Do you remember this bookmark I made out of Spud & Chloë Fine last summer? The bookmark was knit up on US size 2 needles. I love the leaf pattern. I mentioned that I wanted to take this same stitch pattern and work it up in Spud & Chloë Outer on US size 15 needles.

Well, I finally did! It makes a spectacular leaf-filled scarf! I am going to tell you how to make your own Leaf scarf coming up. If you want to get ready you’ll need 2 skeins of Outer and US size 15 needles (or the size to get 2 stitches per inch in stockinette). I made my scarf in the Peat #7204 colorway. Any color of Outer would look great.

This is an addicting knit. I couldn’t put it down until the scarf was done. My scarf was completed in a flash.

I’ll be back after the holiday with this fabulous scarf pattern for you! See you then.

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

Unfortunately, I have not heard from the second winner of the pencil bag and new pattern giveaway. Fortunately, though, I have a new randomly selected winner! Congratulations to:

I am a huge fan of all the Spud & Chloe patterns - I’ve already knit Lovey Dovey, Playground Hoodie, Camp Hoodie, Two for One Socks, and Track Jacket, as well as ribbit, tiny turkey, the cupcake, and many of Susan’s other wonderful free patterns. I can’t wait for all of these new patterns to come out so I can start on them next . . . but it would be great to be able to spend Christmas break getting a head start on one of them!

Come on, Andrea!! Contact me so I can send you some Spud & Chloë love in the mail! I need your mailing address. My email is on the sidebar.

You may be wondering about this fantastic cowl. Yesterday Allegra Wermuth Sheffelman, of Petite Purls, had been tweeting about a cowl she designed out of ONE skein of Outer! You can’t beat that.

I couldn’t wait to see what she had come up with because she was so excited about her new creation. I was blown away by this cowl. I will be making one or two of these for sure! Triple love it.

Allegra made her cowl out of the brand new Outer colorway called, Bayou. Isn’t it gorgeous? She must have received some of the new colors to preview for Petite Purls. All new colors of the Spud & Chloë yarns and patterns will be available in January 2010!

If you’d like to join me in knitting one of these, I would love it!

Here is the pattern link for the free pattern for the Eleventh Hour Cowl!

Here is the Ravelry link for the Eleventh Hour Cowl!

I have been knitting up a storm over at this branch of the Spud & Chloë headquarters. Whipping up a slew of new projects and ideas for you. Stay tuned…..

Hey, Andrea!! Please get in touch so I can send some gifts to you!

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I am back with the two winning comments today! Each selected winner is receiving a Spud & Chloë pencil bag and their choice of one of the 6 new Spud & Chloë patterns that I previewed on the last post.

The randomly selected winning comments are:

December 17, 2009 at 8:49 pm Mariah Miller says

Oh I’d love to knit the pixie poncho for my good friend’s daughter.

Thanks for the give away!

And:

Oh my goodness! There are so many fun patterns I can’t even decide what I’d want to knit first. I think the bears, followed by the fun socks, and then the tea-party cardi.. oh my! Happy Holidays and thank you for all the lovely patterns you give us.

Congratulations to both BethR. and Mariah Miller for winning the giveaway! You have until Tuesday, Dec.22nd to contact me with your mailing address and your selected pattern choice. You can email me at: susan@spudandchloe.com to provide your information. We will quickly send out your prizes! Woo hoo!!!

Now, if you are wondering about the photo I posted today let me tell you about it. When I was in Tulsa at Loops, Shelley Brander, the owner of the shop had a brilliant idea. Shelley actually has lots of brilliant ideas. Shelley told me how she was thinking of a way to display the Spud & Chloë patterns right next to the yarns on the shelf so the patterns were visible and accessible. She came up with the fantastic idea to take the mini-pattern cards out of the Color Kit boxes, punch a hole in a corner and place them on a large ring to hang on the Spud & Chloë yarn shelf. This way customers can quickly see all of the patterns and yarn in one quick swoop!

We loved the idea so much that we tried it out for size. I hope this inspires some of you to try this out at your yarn shops. It will make things a little easier! Thanks Shelley, you are awesome!

Sending much love and good cheer to all of our Spud & Chloë friends during the busy holiday weeks ahead! We hope you get to spend some time knitting and relaxing with friends and family over the upcoming holidays. We’re all planning on it!

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

The photography is a little shady this morning at about 4am. There isn’t really good anything at 4am, especially lighting. Please forgive and maybe even forget:) I’ll be back with better photos soon.

I may as well kill some time with you today. I am sitting in O’Hare airport again, waiting for my flight to Little Rock. I’ll tell you what, it’s downright chilly in here. My fingers are freezing. Earlier this morning my fingers were toasty warm as I added the elf ears, elf arms and elf hands to my Tiny Elf. I even wrote down what I did just for you. You can see my suitcase is packed and ready to go right behind the elf.

The Ravelry link for the Tiny Elf Knitalong is here.

Without further delay, here is the next part of the pattern for you:

Ears:

On one side of the head pick up 3 stitches with Ice Cream and one double-pointed needle. Use 2 double-pointed needles to work back and forth.

Row 1: purl

Row 2: knit

Row 3: purl 3 stitches together (1 st remain)

Cut the yarn and pull the end through the remaining stitch. Pull the ear upward so the ear points up.

Repeat on the other side of the head and line up with the first ear. Weave in all ends to the inside and trim to stay inside.

The photo above is showing picking up the ear stitches on the side of the head. Be sure to leave a long enough tail to place on a yarn needle and then pull to the inside.

Arms and Hands:

Arms:

On one side of the body (use the photo as a guide) pick up 3 stitches with Ice Cream and one double-pointed needle. Use 2 double-pointed needles to work in I-cord. Work in I-cord until the arm measures 2 inches from the pick up row.

The photo above is showing how I attach a new color. I simply tie a half-knot around the current color. I tighten the knot up and slip it all the way up to the needle. Then I start knitting with the new color. Here is the rest of the pattern for the hands.

Hand:

Switch to Grass.

Next row: kfb in each stitch (6 sts)

Place 2 stitches on each of 3 double-pointed needles and begin working in the round.

Rnds 1-4: knit

Stuff the hand with a tiny amount of fiberfill.

Rnd 5: k2tog on each needle (3 sts remain)

Cut the yarn and place the end on a yarn needle. Pull through the remaining stitches and pull up tight to close the hole. Pull all of the ends to the inside and trim to stay inside.

Repeat the Arm and Hand on the other side of the body lining up the arm position with the first arm.

Okay, I’ll be back with some elf legs and elf shoes later. I packed the Tiny Elf in my suitcase to work on later tonight. All that’s left after that will be a little elf scarf and an excellent elf face! Then we are done. Quick as an elf can wink (is that fast?).

Take care, Knitters.