Hilltop's Super Socktacular Monday

We are so lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest, where artists are everywhere and knitters and crocheters share their work, even across state lines! On Monday night, Hilltop hosted a visit from Kalani Craig, of Portland's Shibui Knits, to celebrate their yarns' new presence at the shop. We will be carrying their superwash, gorgeously hand-dyed sock yarns, as well as the light and shiny Silk Puff, and a silk/mohair yarn called Silk Cloud.

Here Kalani models the brilliantly-constructed Origami Wrap, knit in Silk Puff. The sweater is created as you wrap it on your body, and it was quite a performance in itself to watch it being put on!

The Origami Wrap completed!
Kalani demonstrated a unique toe-up method for casting on socks. If you start from the toes and work up, you don't have to worry about having enough yarn to finish your sock; just make the cuffs shorter.
One of our resident sock experts, Kat, demonstrated knitting socks with the Magic Loop method, which uses one long circular needle. Kat, Kalani and Kathryn were all on hand to show off different approaches to sock knitting and answer questions. You can knit them toe up, or top down, one or two at a time, on double points, on one circular or on two circulars-- there are so many ways to make a sock! Kat is also modeling Transparency, another of the Shibui Knits patterns, in Kidsilk Haze. (We have these patterns at the shop, too.)
These are just a few of the colorways in the Shibui Sock yarn, which is sooooo soft. That blue and brown one would be perfect for man socks. Even the "solid" colors have subtle variations in shade, which would give the yarn a beautiful amount of depth without potentially distracting from an equally nice and complex stitch pattern (like fancy lace or cables).