Shop Update!

I've finally gotten around to sitting down and spending some real quality time with my Etsy site! I've updated it to include listings for my new Green label Aran Weight yarn. Here are a few pics:

To see more visit my shop. It took forever to photograph all the colours, but now that they're all up I feel like I've been so productive today! I also mailed 2 wholesale orders today. So, things are really moving along over here at TFA. Progress is very exciting!

Best shoes ever!

About a month ago I decided that I needed new casual shoes to wear around with jeans and my usual casual apparel, but I also decided that I was too lazy to trek it downtown to do some actual shopping. I ended up at this website, and the rest is history. Yesterday my lovely custom keds arrived in the mail and I couldn't be more smitten.

I didn't actually plan on designing or buying a pair of custom keds, but then one thing led to another and I was experimenting and playing and ended up with what I think is a pretty cool result! It's a photo of a swatch that I knit with yarn that I dyed printed onto a shoe that I customized. They just feel so special! I just wish that I had had the foresight of printing Tanis Fiber Arts on the side so that then they'd be a complete TFA marketing package! But maybe the knitted shoe look speaks for itself. Chris said they kind of look like slippers... 

I love them!

I think they look especially nice when worn with a nice pair of hand knit socks!

Elijah in blue

Last year for Christmas I made this adorable wee elephant for my god-daughter. The pattern was so cute and though my particular version turned out a little bit wonky (crooked trunk and all) I loved the overall result. There's just something so sweet about a hand made stuffed animal! So when I saw tons of these being knit up on ravelry, I couldn't resist continuing the stuffed elephant trend and made this year's Christmas gift, Elijah, in Tanis Fiber Arts Tidal Colourway.

If it's possible, this elephant is even cuter than the first. I have plans to make one in every colour I dye. It would be so cute it pink or yellow! I'm not sure what I'll do with them all, maybe just line them all up and hug them when I need a pick me up!

I've got a couple other projects to blog about in the near future. I made my first pair of Monkeys using this lovely skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Purple Rain:

They're lovely and I'm a convert to the monkey's. I've already cast on my second pair in Tanis Fiber Arts Orange Blossom, and though I love my Purple Rain monkey's, they're really nice in the tonal colourway because it really shows off the graphic lace.  Finished photo's will be posted shortly.

TFA Koolhaas

There's an exciting new yarn from Tanis Fiber Arts (if I do say so myself!) It's an aran weight superwash merino wool. (To be added to my Etsy site shortly!) Perfect for cool weather winter knits, like this hat!

It's Brooklyn tweed's beautiful Koolhaas pattern knit in my chestnut colourway. I think the subtle colour variations work really well with this textured geometric pattern. I can't wait to knit up more projects using this yarn. I think that next on my needles will be the February Lady Sweater, but I just can't decide what colour to knit it in! I think it's a good sign that I like all of my colourways enough to want to knit my favorite projects out of them. Not to sound like a brat, but it would be bad if I made colourways that I didn't even like myself, but seeing as how I like them all so much that I can't chose which one to knit first... that's got to be a good sign!

This hat's supposed to be a gift for Chris's uncle... but it may not make it out of the apartment... Chris seems to have taken a liking to it.

Turn a square hat

Ever since my Fiddlehead mittens, I have become a huge fan of using kureyon yarn with a neutral base. I followed the pattern for brooklyn tweed's Turn a square hat exactly and have reconfirmed to myself why I love this combo so much. Here's the finished result, please forgive my model for being so serious looking in this photo:

And here's a detail shot of how the circles turn into squares at the top of the hat, genius! 

I think that this colour combo is especially successful because it's very subtle in places, like at the top where it fades to very light shades of green and yellow. It doesn't have to scream "Hey! I'm multicoloured Noro yarn!" It still gets the point across. I was so inspired by this combination of yarns that I'm cooking up plans for a classic cardigan for me using this stripe effect, as well as a striped sweater for Stella, but we won't wear them at the same time of course. I was sort of planning on giving this hat to my brother for Christmas, but I'm kind of in love with it, plus I've already worn it a couple times, so I may have to make him another one, I also think that my dad would look awfully cute in a striped hat. Good news is, it's a nights worth of knitting! We may be a very stripy family before I'm over this. 

And just for kicks, this is what passes for very amusing in my household. It a dog with a tiny head wearing a hat!