Year In Colour Club - September

The September installment of the TFA Year in Colour Club featured the beautiful Uxbridge Shawl pattern designed by Laura Chau. The yarn is Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn in a colourway I've called Autumn Sun, because really, isn't the light in Autumn amazing? So soft and golden.

As usual, this colourway is difficult to describe. It's red, no purple, maybe even brown in some lights, with hints of gold, maybe orange, and is that a grey tone coming through? Yeah, even I'm not sure what colour it is exactly, but I do know that I love it! Like many of my favorite colours, it's complicated, it can't really decide what it wants to be.

To see what we did for previous Club shipments check out these blog posts: January, March, May and July. Or visit the TFA Club Pinterest board!

For Amanda

My older brother Luke is marrying his soul mate in just over a week from now. Amanda is awesome. She really is the perfect match for Luke and we're all so happy that she's officially going to be a part of our family. 

Mom wanted to knit something for her to commemorate the event. She decided on the Celtic Knot Stole designed by Sarah Kendra Hughes. Luke, as well as his groomsmen (including Chris!) will be wearing kilts at the wedding. Luke's Scottish heritage is important to him, so the Celtic themed stole seemed perfectly appropriate. We brainstormed colourways and fibers and after much ado finally decided on this gorgeous custom colourway that Chris dyed for mom. It's the type of colour that is impossible to photograph! It changes with every light, sometimes looking green, then blue, then purple even gold! It's magical. Mom's ravelry Project page can be found here.

Mom worked on the stole on and off all summer. Now that it's officially finished and blocked, it truly is a work of art. 

She used almost two skeins of TFA Silver Label Mulberry Silk yarn for this project. Amanda's tall and will look gorgeous and elegant in this large stole.

The perfect row of eyelets created by the knitted on border on each end is just the type of finishing that I love. I know that mom is very happy with it too. 

When wrapped around your shoulders this stole is lush and cozy, but when held up to the light it's incredibly airy.  I love it!

Mom did an incredible job with this stole. Though Amanda probably won't wear it everyday, it's the type of thing that she can hold on to forever and pull out at important events when a gorgeous, hand knit, celtic stole is appropriate. Welcome to the family Amanda!

TFA Tuesday: Spring Gingko

Pattern: Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl

TFA Yarn and Colourway: Silver Label Mulberry Silk in 'Spearmint"

Top Tier Knitter: Astrid (Ravelry ID)

Totally Awesome  Because: Silk is so great to knit with in the summer, since it is lightweight and buttery soft, so you don't mind knitting wit hit even when it's very hot outside. A little silk shawl /scarf like this is such a great summer accessory.  I love how the yellow highlights in the silk Spearmint look like gold, it's just so beautiful. Such a great pattern choice, too! Project page can be found here.

Fairview Scarf Pattern - a sneak peek

Are you guys all as excited about the launch of the new Red Label yarn as I am? I really wanted to have a pattern ready to introduce at the same time as the yarn so people would have a good idea of what they could do with one very precious skein. The pattern is being test knit and I am giddy. Both yarn and pattern should be available mid-October. Don't worry, I will definitely be keeping you posted. 

TFA Tuesday: Ifgenia

 
Pattern: Ifgenia


TFA Yarn and Colourway: Pink Label laceweight in 'Seabreeze'


Top-Tier Knitter: Jo (Ravelry ID, blog)


Totally Awesome Because: I love this lace half moon shawl. The lacework is stunning, and  it's a great big beautiful shawl like this that totally makes you appreciate getting 1000 yards of laceweight in a single skein, since weaving in ends for laceweight shawls can be a real challenge! her finished shawl is stunning- it looks so soft and light weight, and ever so slightly vintage. I love it! Project page can be found here.

Dahlia

psst :: Go check the TFA Ravelry group to see if you won the giveaway!

I finished my selfish knitting project last week, and it's awesome! I've loved the Dahlia cardigan designed by Heather Zoppetti since the first time I saw it (and I'm clearly not alone since there are already over 275 projects for this pattern on ravelry, and it's only been out for a couple of months!)

The construction is unusual and really interesting, both to knit and to admire once the knitting is done. It's the perfect combination of beautiful fancy lace and calm simple stockinette, with a seed stitch border... amazing.  

I made a few very simple mods that you can read about on my Ravelry project page here. 

I have one other drapey, open front cardigan and I practically live in it, so this is sure to become a wardrobe staple as well. The yarn used was actually a sample batch of 4 ply merino/cashmere/silk that I was playing around with, it’s lovely but I don't plan on stocking this yarn base in the future. It is really similar to my Purple Label merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn. (but I will be stocking a merino/cashmere/silk single ply yarn in the near future! So stay tuned for that!) The colourway is one of a kind, its something in between Atlantic and Deep Sea. 

This sweater could definitely benefit from a pretty brooch to keep the fronts closed on cooler days, I'm going to keep my eyes open for something special. 

It's officially autumn here in Montreal. I put this sweater on for a photoshoot yesterday evening and then kept it on all night because it was quite chilly. Yay for sweater weather!

Brownstone Cardigan

Chris loves his Brownstone Pullover so much, that he decided to knit himself another one, this time with a few simple mods to turn it into the perfect, scholarly cardigan. He prefers wooden toggles to regular buttons, and I can't say that I blame him, they look perfect on this sweater. The yarn is the very sheepy and wooly Lismore Sheep Farm yarn that we picked up while at our cottage out East this summer. This is Chris' second favorite yarn in the world (second only to TFA of course!) it's definitely on the rustic side, probably too itchy for most, but Chris doesn't mind it at all.

Chris used to claim that he wasn't a cardigan person, but clearly this sweater proves him wrong. I think its the elbow patches that make him love it so much. They are "vintage" brown suede elbow patches that my mom has been hoarding away since the 70's! 

Chris hates modeling, he's much more comfortable with a prop, so we took a bunch of photo's of him with our most photogenic family member.

Possibly the best part? The night after Chris cast off he settled into the sofa for a casual night of tv, and within 10 minutes of sitting there he became antsy and wanted something new to cast on for! He's a real knitter!

TFA Tuesday: Garnet Shrug

 Pattern: Dream in Color Shrug

TFA Yarn and Colourway: Green Label Aran Weight in 'Garnet'

Top-Tier Knitter: Pauline (Ravlery ID)

Totally Awesome Because: I'm so used to admiring Pauline's beautiful knits for her daughters,  so it's nice to see her knitting up some lovely treats for herself! I'm a sucker for a great shrug. Lovely, bright shrugs like this can totally transform an outfit- they not only keep a chill away, but add a lovely hit of colour. Pauline's project page is here.

TFA Ravelry Group Giveaway

Last week TFA Blue Label Fingering weight yarn hit the amazing landmark of having over 1000 projects listed on Ravelry. I'm so excited by that number that I want to share the joy and am doing a Ravelry giveaway. It's like a blog giveaway, but instead of leaving a comment here, head on over to Ravelry, join the Tanis Fiber Arts Ravelry group, and leave a comment in this thread.  A winner will be picked at random and announced on Friday.

What are you entering to win? A skein of TFA Blue Label Fingering Weight yarn of course! In the winner's choice of any of the new colourways, Gold, Brick or Spruce.

Good luck!

New Fall Colourways!

I have three new very Autumn inspired colourways debuting this weekend at the KW Knitter's Fair:

Gold, Brick and Spruce. I am pleased as punch to be adding a few more warm, cozy tones to my collection. 

Here are a few more close-ups for you to enjoy:

Gold, super soft and in Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn. 

Yellow Label DK Weight yarn in Spruce, rich and dark, don't ask me why, but for some reason it makes me think of chocolate!

And lastly, possibly my favorite new shade, Brick dyed in a new base I'm bringing on a test run to the Fair this weekend, Red Label Cash Silk Singles. This yarn is amazing, it's incredibly soft and shiny. I really hope that you all love it so I can make it a permanent staple in my collection!

I'm off to the Fair! Have a great weekend everyone!

Adelia pattern

September always brings lovely cool breezes, crisp nights, and the desire to knit warm and toastie cold weather accessories! The Adelia pattern includes three options that all feature one lovely flower and heart motif: a cowl, fingerless mitts and full mitts. One skein of each of two coordinating colours of TFA Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn is enough to knit a cowl and the pair of mitts of your choice, either fingerless or complete. Thanks to the cashmere in the yarn these accessories are extremely soft and comfortable to cozy up in. 

I hope that you'll enjoy knitting them as much as I enjoyed designing them. The heart on the gusset is probably my favorite part! I knit my cowl and fingerless mitts in Atlantic and Sand, and my complete mitts in Poppy and Natural. 

$6.00 CAD

Details:

Size: Cowl: one size fits all, finished measurements 18.5” circumference and 9” tall. Mitts: S (M, L) = 6.5 (7.25, 8)” – Mitts are designed be fitted.

Yarn: TFA Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn, 1 skein of each of two contrasting colourways makes one cowl and one pair of mitts, either fingerless or complete. Cowl and Fingerless mitts pictured feature Atlantic (colour A) and Sand (colour B), full mitt pictured features Natural (A) and Poppy (B).

Needles: 3.25 mm 16” circular needles for cowl
2.75mm (3mm, 3.25mm) dpns for mitts

Additional Tools and Materials: Stitch marker, waste yarn, tapestry needle

Gauge: 28 sts and 34 rows = 4” in charted pattern on 3.25 mm circular needles for cowl.

All the pattern details can be found here on my website .

Ravelry pattern page here.

Ombré Cardigan pattern

Introducing my new cardigan design. The Ombré cardigan was inspired by my desire to knit a fun garment using two strands of Pink Label Lace Weight yarn held together. The resulting fabric is squishy yet light, the perfect little cardigan!

This is a fitted cardigan with a v-neck and 3/4 length sleeves. It is well suited to endless colour combinations, but of course, I chose my favorite shades of blue for my version (cobalt and midnight). I love how it adds a pop of colour to any outfit.

I'll be bringing hard copies of the pattern along with plenty of lace weight yarn to the KW Knitter's fair with me this weekend. Tomorrow I'll be debuting another new pattern, it's going to be a busy week!

Details:
Size: 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 44, 48, 52)”
Yarn: 1 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins Tanis Fiber Arts Pink Label Lace Weight yarn in colour A and , 1 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins Tanis Fiber Arts Pink Label Lace Weight yarn in colour B. (Sample shown in ‘Cobalt’ and ‘Midnight’ colourways.) 
**NOTE: Yarn is held double throughout entire sweater.
Needles: 4mm, 32” circular needle. Sweater is knit in one piece from the top down. 4mm, dpn’s. Or size needed to obtain gauge.
Additional Tools and Materials: Stitch markers, waste yarn or stitch holders, tapestry needle, 7 buttons, (more or less depending on the length of your sweater).
Gauge: 23 sts and 32 rows in 4” in stockinette stitch with yarn held double.

All the pattern details can be found here on my website.

Ravelry pattern page here.

$5.00 CAD

TFA Tuesday: Most Perfect

Pattern: Petrea

TFA Yarn and Colourway:  Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn in 'Spearmint'


Top Tier Knitter: Elspeth ( Ravelry ID, Blog)

Totally Awesome Because: Can you imagine how wonderfully soft and luxurious this litter sweater is?! One of the things that is impressive about this knit is that it really makes the most of a luxury fiber like this cashmere yarn- the shorter style and sleeves mean that you can really get a good little garment out of a couple of skeins. Spearmint is a lovely, cool colour that is perfect for summer. And I'm a sucker for photos in a gallery, there is something so wonderfully symbiotic about hand knits and paintings/sculptures. Elspeth's project page can be found here.

Blue Label

I was pretty excited when I noticed on Ravelry today that there are currently 997 projects done in my Blue Label Fingering weight yarn! How cool is that? When it hits the 1000 mark I think I'm going to do something special. Stay tuned!

Today must be a Blue Label day because I also read this neat blog post about TFA Blue Label yarn. I don't know anyone with size 14 feet, so I haven't had to test the limits of my sock yarn that much, but it's very good to know how far it can go!

Though it's Labour Day, Chris and I are busy at work putting the finishing touches on our prep for this weekends KW Knitter's Fair. I've some exciting news about items that will be debuting at the show, I'll be sharing it all later on this week. 

A new sweater

I've been working on lots lately, getting ready for the KW Knitter's Fair, working on some new patterns, new colours, new ideas. The other day I was hit hard by the urge to cast on for something new, and something entirely for me, something that didn't require me to have to think too hard. I'd been admiring the Dahlia cardigan, designed by Heather Zoppetti from the the Fall 2011 issue of Interweave knits, and when I realized that I had the perfect yarn in my stash for it I cast on immediately. The yarn is a one of a kind colourway that I dyed up months ago, it's sort of along the same lines as Atlantic, but with more turquoise. The base is a merino/cashmere/silk sample that I've been playing around with, I don't think it's right for TFA, but it did inspire me to look in a new direction for future TFA yarns.

This sweater is really neat, it's a completely new construction for me, and though it is unusual it's very intuitive and once you get the swing of it the stitches just fly off the needles. It features afterthought sleeves which I'm really excited about. I've never knit an afterthought sleeve but I'm extremely comfortable with afterthought thumbs from knitting so many pairs of my Grammy's mitts. 

I learnt something interesting about my knitting self while working on this the other day. Last Sunday we lost power from about 4pm until 11pm, I spent some time knitting in the afternoon, and in the evening though the light was getting dim I continued to knit. This sweater features a lot of stockinette so I am perfectly capable of knitting it in the dark, but do you know what? Even though I could knit with my eyes closed, I've discovered that a big part of the joy in knitting for me is in actually getting to watch the stitches form and the colours in the hand dyed yarn shift. I don't like knitting when I can't stare at the fabric that I'm creating, even if it's just plain stockinette, I really like watching it grow.