New Year, New Me. LOL!

Oh my gosh I hate what I’m about to type so much but here it goes… I’m committed to blogging once a week! Aaaah! There it is. In bold! I hate it because I hate coming across apologetic for not having blogged regularly at all for several years now because, well, I know that you all know why I haven’t had the mind space to blog, right? You all know what’s going on in our world and how taxing it is on everyone who lives on planet Earth! So, no apologies, life is crazy, I had no time or energy but I miss it and I KNOW that I would feel pretty happy to have a place to share some thoughts once a week. I’m going to aim for Tuesdays. And maybe even bring back the 5 Things Fridays posts! I’m so optimistic!

The other reason I hate making promises about a regular schedule that I intend to keep is because I know myself very well and even more important to me than keeping a schedule is my ability to stay flexible and move things around if I have to and if writing a blog post doesn’t fit into one week I want to give myself the permission to skip it, no guilt! The way that I hope to be able to live up to this commitment is by keeping the blog posts completely organic and journal-y. They may not all have a specific topic or thesis or even a point! LOL! They’ll be about knitting mostly, because that’s mostly what I’m interested in, but maybe sometimes also about reading or baking or shoes. Whatever I feel like writing about on that particular day! I’ve got my newsletter for real news (be sure to sign up at the bottom of any page on my website!) I’ve got Instagram and the podcast for everything else, this blog is just for me. Just for me but also I hope you’ll read it. :)

So, friends, here’s what I wanted to share with you today that I’m kind of struggling with. I want to focus more on designing. I’ve always thought of my designing as being complementary to my main focus which is my yarn dyeing business. And while that’s true it’s also true that it’s basically an entire business all on it’s own and I need to give it more attention. The beauty of selling patterns for me is that there is no immediate additional work involved after the sale of the pattern. You have to understand that I’m coming from a hand dyers perspective where every sale involves a massive amount of work after the fact. I receive an email saying that I’ve made a sale and then the work really begins. The yarn gets dyed (if it’s not already) labeled, shipped… that sounds simple enough but it’s literally days of work and physical labour. When I get an email saying that a pattern has sold I exhale, say a little thanks and move on. No extra work!!! Obviously there’s extra work in terms of pattern support emails but it’s apples and oranges. Anyways, you can see how this would be appealing right? I want to be completely frank, it’s also a totally different amount of money earned, I could not support my family on my pattern sales alone - and that’s quite a statement because I have over 100 published patterns and have been a designer for over a decade. Kind of goes to show how hard it is to make it as a designer right? Now, if it were my only source of income perhaps I would be able to generate more sales because I would prioritize it more than I do now… regardless, it’s an area of my work that I really love and that I find very fulfilling but also very challenging. It’s definitely where I experience the most imposter syndrome. Are my designs unique? Special? Does the world really need another cabled hat? To that I say, Yes! Never enough cabled hats!

So 2022, here we go. Blogging, designing, living my best life. Maybe splurging on fabulous shoes… Who knows what the year will bring!?

The Ceej Hat + Holiday Hat Pattern Sale + Five Things

First up, the exciting news that ALL OF MY HAT PATTERNS ARE CURRENTLY 20% OFF! You can browse them here on my website (CAD) and here on Ravelry (USD). No coupon code needed, the sale runs until the end of the day on December 25th so you’ve got loads of time to pick your favourites.

Among those patterns there’s one new design that just launched yesterday! The Ceej Hat (on my website and Ravelry) is a classic ribbed beanie with really neat decreases that are just so satisfying to knit. A version of The Ceej Hat is the only hat that Chris has worn for the past decade or so. It’s a classic 1x1 ribbed beanie that is very versatile in both fit and style. Every time I post a picture of Chris on social media there is a very high likelihood that he is wearing one of his signature watch caps - regardless of the weather, he’s a hat guy and this is his hat of choice. It is high time that Chris’ hat has a permanent place in my pattern collection. This pattern is written for baby to adult, instructions for both DK weight and worsted weight yarn are included. You can make it marled, faded, striped or a solid colour (Chris’ favourite). This hat is classic and cool, just like Chris.

Our of the 4 photos above only 1 of them was taken with the express purpose of showing off his hat! The others were taken for the mug, his Atari Sweater and the hoodie but of course he’s wearing his hat because he always it! LOL!

Honestly, these perfect marled/faded decreases make me unreasonably happy! This is why we knit!!!

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a collage of my work like this! I’ve published a lot of hat patterns over the years and taken so many photos looking off into the distance!

Ooooh this skein of Golden Mojo (a new colourway featured in a new fade) is on fire!

Action shot of Chris making magic.

Micah and I working on a Christmas embroidery from Diana Watters Handmade. Her kits are so gorgeous!

Ok, so I bought these sweatpants for $30 at Winners without being familiar with the brand because they are so cute and that red waistband? Yes please! And then when I got home I googled the brand and WOW! What a score. These are $250 sweatpants! LOL! Are they worth that price? Absolutely not, are they worth the $30 I paid for them? Heck yes! You’ll notice I’m wearing them in 3 of the photos in this post. Price per wear I could definitely get my money’s worth even at the $250 price tag.

Also, I really don’t want to make every post I do about my dirty mirrors/windows but man do photos ever highlight my dislike of windexing!

Almina Shawl featuring our Luxe Yak/Silk DK

Pattern: Almina by Lisa Hannes

Yarn: New TFA Luxe Yak/Silk DK in Caramel Chaud (coming on Boxing Day!)

Ravelry Project page here.

Mods: I used 3 full skeins of DK for this shawl rather than the aran weight the pattern calls for. It’s very easy to modify for gauge as it’s basically 2/3 cable pattern to 1/3 ribbed edging so I knit the pattern with my first 2 skeins and then switched to the edging on my 3rd skein. I’m really happy with the size and cozy factor.

I reached a place in my life long ago where I categorically do not NEED another shawl and I feel weird about that. The lack of holes in my knitted wardrobe paired with the fact that I just can’t stop knitting is something that I grapple with. In my head I know that knitting is my job and it’s ok to knit all the things even though I really don’t need them to wear because I do need them as samples of my yarn and I do need to knit to be happy. :) Still, I always feel weird about having so many of my knits just sitting around and not being used. The truth is, I don’t need to keep all of these samples because I don’t do trunk shows or knitting shows and if I did one day I’d probably only bring my most recent examples of knitted items, the things that are the most fresh and relevant.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that I think that I should start selling some of my lesser worn knits. I’m going to go through all of my knits and make piles of what I wear a lot and can’t bare to part with vs. what I’ve barely worn and should probably move on to a better home. It’s a big job for the new year!

Back to this beautiful shawl. The yarn! It’s a new super luxurious DK weight base we’ll be debuting during our annual Boxing Day update and I am very excited about it. 60% superwash merino, 20% yak, 20% silk. The fact that the merino is superwash does bother me, but I’ve made pease with it for now. It’s luxe, it’s drapey, it’s incredibly soft, takes the dye beautifully in a gorgeous layered, rich way and I can now say with confidence, that it is really lovely to knit with. I’m gifting this yarn to my mom for Christmas. That’s how nice it is!

I think that my favourite thing about this yarn (other than the softness and squishiness) is the fact that the undyed yarn is a warm grey, not creamy white. It means that we don’t have any super pale shades (no white or light greys) but all of our colourways have this gorgeous layered look to them. There’s a beautiful depth and richness to the colours that give them a heathered quality that I just adore.

Above is a picture of two cute sweaters blocking which happen to be completely unrelated to this post but luckily there is a rainbow of Luxe Yak/Silk in the corner there to give you a glimpse at the depth of colour. It’s such a gorgeous rainbow.

We’ll be debuting this yarn on Boxing Day as part of our biggest update of the year which features free shipping on CAD/US orders over $30 site wide. It’s an exciting day. I hope to get at least one more sample started (likely not finished) before then because I’m dreaming of a sweater in this yarn. Specifically the new Campsider sweater by Alicia Plummer. I would have cast on by now but I’m really having a hard time picking a colour! Literally any colour would be gorgeous for a sweater. We’ve dyed them using different recipes and aiming for different results than our PureWash line of yarns - the nature of the base made me feel like it needed it’s own thing. But I think that means that I need to come up with new names for all of the colourways. My least favourite part of me job! Life is hard.

This year’s Boxing Day Update will not be quite as big as year’s past because frankly, we’re tired. We’re doing our best, we’ve been doing this for 15 years (WHAT!!!???) and we needed a slower fall and that means a slightly slower Boxing Day. We’re still aiming to have lots, it will be our biggest update of the year by far, but we’re just not willing to kill ourselves the entire months of December and January to make it bigger than ever. Seems reasonable right?

This yarn will be priced at $42 CAD for 100g = 230 yds and is plump enough to work in both your dk or light worsted weight projects.

Yak is warmer than wool and is arguably softer than cashmere (lets say it’s as soft as cashmere and avoid arguing). Since this yarn is definitely next to skin soft I think that my preferred projects for it would be shawls, hats and sweaters. It’s dreamy and delightful and I as soon as is just the motivation I need to power through my Christmas knitting so I can focus on more Luxe Yak/Silk knitting projects.

September Sweater

Pattern: September Sweater by PetiteKnit

Yarn: TFA PureWash Sock in Garnet held together with TFA Kid Mohair in Roulette.

Ravelry Project page here.

Mods: I used @lialykke mods - full instructions and photos on her instagram stories. I messed up the mods a wee bit by working the shaping every 4th rather than every 5th row so it's kind of a mod of a mod but it all worked out. I also messed up the sleeves because I neglected to read the instructions and just knit straight forever without any shaping. Oops! My sleeves are extra poofy and I can't say that I mind.

This sweater gets a 5 star rating from me. A 10/10 would recommend. It’s encapsulates so much of what I love in a sweater! Ultimate in coziness, beautiful rich colour, it glows.

Worked in all over brioche stitch this sweater is a feast of texture. Working increases and decreases in brioche is so graphic and beautiful, using @lialykke’s mods highlight that aspect of it and add a lot of interest to this sweater if you ask me. It’s a lovely sweater without the added detail on the front but I find the mods make it more modern. I love it. I’m also a big fan of a double collar. It makes the neckline very neat and structured looking.

Sweaters like this always surprise me because even though it’s fuzzy and slightly oversized it’s still very light and airy. The pattern is written for a worsted weight gauge. I’m tempted to knit another version with a single strand of worsted weight rather than the mohair fingering combo I opted for this time. It would be a completely different sweater, more structured and rugged. It’s so interesting to think about what a difference the fiber choice makes.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m becoming a red person! It’s just so eye catching and rich. I don’t own a ton of red, so this sweater certainly fills a gap in my wardrobe and I’m happy to have it.

Hope your week is off to a great start! Yesterday was a holiday in Canada and my kids have the day off of school on Friday so this is a very short week for us. 3 day weekends are my comfort zone. Down with the 5 day work week!

Five Things

I have a new FO and I am so ready for the coziest of falls!

Speaking of cozy, I have been drinking turmeric lattes a lot recently and my favourite recipe is this one. I add more turmeric than it calls for and mix up the milks I use (oat milk is a fave) I love the fresh grated ginger and I’ll sweeten it with agave syrup. 10 stars.

Speaking of favourite recipes. As you may recall I did a mildly extensive lemon square bake off last spring, for me the hands down winner is this one. Getting this pan was also a game changer in my square making journey.

Chris bought mushrooms at the farmers market last weekend and we had 2 fantastic mushroom meals this week. Hooray for mushrooms!

Five Things

Speaking of beautiful palettes… I’m crushing hard on these skeins.

We’re officially in fall but are still soaking up every ounce of sunshine we can get!

I made apple crumble pie last weekend and it was just ok. Send me your favourite apple crumble recipes! Not too sweet, crispy crust, the perfect crumble that holds together without being powdery, y’know?

Flash back Friday: 3 years ago I was seaming my Polygon Blanket (pattern by Tin Can Knits). This photo of the cramped dining room in our house really gives me lots of feelings. We lived so large in this space!

The 2 sweaters I'm dying to knit this fall!

So, there are actually way more than 2 sweaters that I will be wearing all fall. The above photo is of me finishing up the most glorious fall/winter cushy cozy piece of knitting ever! It’s a September Sweater by Petite Knit knit in the loveliest shade of pinky red. I’m into it. Expect to see an FO post for this beauty soon. I’ve also got a new magical striped pullover that I’ll be sporting weekly for the rest of my life, more on that soon. But, 2 new sweater patterns have made my heart skip a beat and I’m very excited to knit them this fall.

First, a little backstory: I have had this fringed vest number pinned on pinterest for years. I’m obsessed. I think that it’s originally from Banana Republic from maybe 2016 or something. By the time I saw it it was no longer available to purchase and I’ve even tried scouring ebay for it with no luck . It’s been on my list to design something like it for ages but then I came across the Cold Shoulder Crop by Park Williams and my jaw dropped. It’s the perfect jumping off point for this sweater!

The Cold SHoulder Crop by Park Williams. image by Park Williams.

I may modify the cable and I’ll absolutely be adding fringe to those sleeves. I’m currently deciding on what yarn/colour to use. I have a solid pale grey merino/silk blend that I’m considering. I’ll keep you posted!

My second current sweater obsession: Newspaper Pullover by Joji Locatelli.

Newspaper Pullover by Joji Locatelli. Image by Joji.

Joji’s new Ready For Fall collection is picture perfect. Beautiful knits, beautifully styled and I really love the photography. It’s so perfectly autumnal and Joji has never looked better. How does she do it!? My current WIP (September Sweater mentioned above) is knit in brioche stitch and I am smitten. I’ll happily tackle another brioche sweater as soon as I’m done with my current WIP. I have not narrowed down my colour choices yet. It looks so good in black and white but I will almost definitely do something a little more colourful because that’s just me. Not even entirely sure that I’ll keep it to 2 colours.

Nothing beats fall knitting season, am I right!?!? So many plans, so much to look forward to! What are you planning to knit this fall?

Five Things

Our kitchen island works HARD!

These shoes were thrifted and I can’t decide if that’s gross or not but they sparkle and are gorgeous!

They walked home from school all by themselves!

Very seriously considering a fun wallpaper for the powder room. Jaguars? Come on!!!!

Back To Work!

Earlier this morning I quietly restocked all of our Core Collection colourways and bases on our website. Head over to the Shop Yarn tab to see what we’ve got in stock. We’re slowly but surely getting back to work after having taken the summer off and it’s a transition that will take a bit of time. We don’t have kits of mini skeins of any kind available yet, but it’s all coming!

Our summer break was an incredible change of pace that we desperately needed. I always say that we work extra hard 10 months of the year in order to take 2 months off and that felt especially true last year. We have so much going on in our personal life with 3 young kids, all with their own unique set of needs, we’re managing an ongoing renovation (which I’m sincerely hoping will be wrapping up within a month or so) and just general Covid/life juggling. Last year was intense and by the spring I was almost at my breaking point. That sounds dramatic but burnout is very real! This summer I vowed that this school/work year will be different. I’m going to make lists! I’m going to be organized! I’m not going to take on more than I can handle! Life will be smooth sailing! LOL. I’m aware that nothing ever goes according to plan and things will never be perfect but I figure that it’s worth at least trying for a better sense of balance.

I hope you all had some time to relax and recharge this summer. Here are a few pics from our summer break.

xo ~ Tanis

Five Things

This article by Abigail Rasminsky for A Cup Of Jo this week really resonated with me. Earlier this year I decided to re-dedicate myself to blogging because I felt that I was really missing that deep dive into topics and I thought that blogging could give it to me. My return to blogging hasn’t been as deep of a dive as I had maybe hoped, but after reading that article I realized that what I’m feeling is totally normal and perhaps, like everything these days, it’s pandemic related. It feels like I’m treading water while keeping everyone around me afloat and that gets to be exhausting. I don’t have any answers, but I wanted to share the article as I found it so relatable and sometimes it just helps to read someone else articulate exactly what you’re feeling.

These guys! This was supposed to be a photo of Rowan and Chris accidentally twinning but it turned into an adorable family snapshot and I love it!

Beautiful and short-lived peony season.

I’m working on a new sweater and I’m totally in love! I’m knitting a pullover version of my new Gartrell cardigan pattern and am using all of the colours in my stash! Lots of stripes, but no ends as I’m weaving in as I go. ;)

Pool fence finally going in and I”m super pumped to have a safe yard soon! It’s going to be beautiful. Right now it doesn’t look like much but check out our inspo!

Did you know that I’m obsessed with hanging clothes to dry? It’s a funny thing to be obsessed with I know, but I just love it! I do it all year long. My preference would be for a clothes line but we don’t really have a suitable spot for one in our back yard and these racks do the trick. Also, I’ve been using this TruEarth detergent and am a convert. Works like a charm and zero waste!

Five Things

Chris worked super hard to get our scary looking pool up and running and the kids are absolutely making the most of it (even though it’s still pretty cold for swimming!)

Good hair day - had to document.

I finished this cutie pair of socks this week. Thinking of publishing the pattern.

I told you our house is a fixer upper right? This summer we’re tackling the bathrooms and I’ve been dreaming of tiles! Here are a few samples I was eyeing at the tile shop. Any guesses as to which 2 I chose for our primary bathroom?

Mini Skein Sets are back!

Tomorrow’s shop update is all about Mini Skeins! The shop will be updated at noon ET with 3 different Mini Skein Sets (bright, pastel and speckles) and loads of Sock Sets as well. I’ve already added the images of everything that will be available to the listings but they will be marked as sold out until noon tomorrow when I add all the inventory. Exciting!

These Mini Skeins are made possible because I’m finally able to purchase 25g mini’s from my manufacturer! Up until now I only had access to full skeins so every single mini we sold was hand wound into a mini skein by me (or the poor unfortunate soul who worked for me). Since I haven’t had any outside help since the pandemic the first thing to go was the mini’s. They are just too time consuming and labour intensive to do on my own. I managed a few Sock Set updates but from now on they should be way more manageable! The base I’m making them with is our Blue Label Sock Yarn. It’s a sturdy 80/20 superwash merino/nylon sock yarn. I’ve been using it for years and it is a wonderful yarn for socks and garments alike. All the details are in the listing. ;)

Now, what to make with a Mini Skein Set? Great question. My answer: the sky is the limit! You can use them together in a show-stopping colourful yoke for a sweater or break them up and use them for a collection of ornaments, toys, tiny striped knits… add a MC and use them for stripes in something like my Lifesavers sweater. Rainbow shawls and scarves, marled projects! Literally anything. I love having a big bin of leftovers hanging around to use for colourful projects and mini skein sets are basically a shortcut to the world’s best leftover bin. Here are a few ideas that I can’t stop thinking about myself:

Summerland Sock Set by Summer Lee (or basically any Summer Lee Knits sock pattern set!), Rock It Tee by me project by Emily, Luminosity Sweater by me, Simple Stripes by SuviKnits particularly inspired by this project by Skeincocaine.

It just makes me feel good to have an assortment small amounts of colourful fingering weight yarn at my disposal at all times! I knit a lot of projects where I want to use a little bit of a lot of colours and I used to stress over breaking into a full skein for a small amount - that’s where mini’s really come in handy. Although, I have to add that I no longer stress about those things. Breaking into a brand new skein of yarn, even if only for a little bit of yardage, is better than not using the skein at all and it ultimately just adds to my bin of leftovers so I’m totally comfortable with it now!

The 25 g skeins are also the perfect thing for Sock Sets! I’ve paired a 25g mini in our Blue Label sock yarn with a full skein of our PureWash Sock (all of our fingering weight bases can be used together beautifully). I love knitting simple socks with these sorts of sets. I tend to favour my Trusty Toe Up Sock pattern for a perfectly basic but fun sock when using these colourful sock sets.

In case you can’t tell, I’m incredibly excited about the return of the mini’s and hope to be able to have them in stock pretty regularly going forward. I’ll likely mix up the palettes we offer but you can be pretty confident that there will be lots of rainbows available in the future! See you tomorrow!