Five Things

Super excited to have launched my Seaboard Sweater pattern this week along with sweater kits!

So ready for hat season!

Twinning and loving life!

We shipped all the October Club skeins this week and I LOVE the colourway. Also trying my best to cut down on the amount of plastic we use in our packaging and am using paper bags over plastic bags as much as I can.

I pre-ordered this book by Katrina Rodabaugh months ago and it arrived this week! Totally fantastic. I love it. I’m going to put a patch on a pair of jeans this weekend.

Seaboard Sweater Pattern

Introducing the Seaboard Sweater! This pattern is available for sale on Ravelry here. 

Enjoy this pattern at 25% off for the first week! No coupon code needed, discount is automatically applied. Sale ends Oct. 23!

In 2014 I designed the Seaboard Tank as part of our Year In Colour Club and I became slightly obsessed with the punchwork lace stripes. I used the lacey stripes as a jumping off point for this sweater but then took it to the next level by adding colour blocked stripes (in 2 widths) and a subtle cable detail up the sides that really floats my boat. It took a few years for the tank to morph into a sweater but now that it’s here I’m so happy to have it as part of my sweater collection.

See that cable detail??? Cute, right? I love it. This was such a fun design for me. The shape is simple so it’s all about the details. I designed this sweater to be worn with 8-12” of positive ease, which I find super flattering. The lace panels really add to the drape and easy-breezy fit.

Happy Tuesday friends! Can’t wait to see your Seaboard Sweater colour combos. ;)

Hello Old Friend - Four Seasons Hats

Pattern: Four Seasons Hats - originally published in December of 2011. 

Yarn: TFA Blue Label Fingering.

Ravelry pattern page here and original blog post here.

This was my very first for sale pattern! I believe it was also my first foray into knitting slouchy hats and charting my own colourwork patterns and man did I ever catch the bug. The fingering weight slouchy hat is the perfect vehicle for experimenting with colourwork. Just the right size to really go nuts with your motifs. I knit the autumn rose hat first and then just couldn’t stop. After all these years I still love these hats and wear the winter hat the most often. Something about this classic palette that just goes with everything.

I also LOVE those swallows on the spring hat and used it on a baby sweater which reminds me that I should revisit this pattern and put these awesome motifs on more knits! I kinda want to tackle a Strange Brew sweater with those swallows… Wouldn’t that be awesome!?

Five Things

Today’s Dyed-To-Order Update is live!!! What will you be knitting with these gorgeous colours?

This week I completed and blocked my Golden Hour Shawl and Micah helped.

I also finished this adorable little sweater, I’ll hopefully sew on the buttons today.

It is sweater weather guys!!!! Kids in sweaters makes me so dang happy.

Willow wearing a sweater I knit when I was pregnant with my first baby. Thrilled to finally have someone to wear it. It’s definitely one of my favourites.

Dyed-To-Order Update Tomorrow!

Dyed-To-Order Update Tomorrow starting at 8am!

I am very excited about tomorrow’s Dyed-To-Order Update!!! The 6 gorgeous colourways shown above will be available in the limited edition section of our shop for about 24 hours, or while quantities last. The Update will go live at exactly 8am, but since it’s dyed-to-order there is no mad dash to get there right at 8am sharp, the colours will be available all day so you can plan, browse and shop at your leisure. I hope to leave them up until Saturday morning unless something crazy happens and we sell way more than we can reasonably dye before then. If that’s the case, thank you in advance and we’ll do this again as soon as we can! ;) To be safe, try to get your order in on Friday, late orders will not be accepted.

We will have these colourways available in the following bases: PureWash Fingering, PureWash DK, PureWash Worsted, PureWash Chunky, 8-Ply Twist Fingering & Purple Label Cashmere Sock.

I’m trying something a little bit different this time around. To put together this palette I started with 3 of our all time favourite and most requested speckles (Silent Movie, Crystal and Mona Lisa) added 2 of our best sellers from our last Etsy update (Speckled Iris and Hologram) and then just for fun rounded out this pretty purple palette with a brand new semi-solid Cloak. I’m thinking about sweaters and cozy cool weather knits. They come together to make a pretty awesome fade as well.

See you tomorrow!

Moraine For Willow

Pattern: Moraine by tincanknits

Yarn:TFA PureWash Worsted in Garnet, Poppy and Bisou.

Ravelry Project page here.

As soon as I saw the sneak peek of this pattern on Tin Can Knits Instagram feed I fell hard. It reminds me a lot of a sweater that I had in university - only this is much nicer of course. Knit in worsted weight yarn this is a quick and satisfying knit. I love the subtle colour blocking in those lovely snowflakes in the yoke. A classic sweater in a classic palette for my classic beauty Willow. ;) This project came right on the tail of my series of scrappy Flax sweaters knit from stash and I stuck to my stash only rule for the most part by picking a skein of Poppy and Bisou off of my yarn wall and only reaching from the shelves for the MC Garnet. I am really happy with the choice of Bisou as the lightest shade rather than Natural or Sand for example. It’s more fun and it’s also more forgiving in case any of that bold red dared to bleed! (it didn’t bleed btw, and it shouldn’t but as a yarn dyer any combination of red and white/natural makes my heart rate go through the roof!)

Such a beautiful sweater. Now to knit one for myself… I feel like if I owned this sweater I would take up cross country skiing, it’s THAT powerful. I love it.

Five Things

My little brother got married last weekend! It was an incredible day for many reasons and one of the highlights for me was that all the bridesmaids got ready together at my house. We turned the TFA office into a beauty salon.

At our best in our wedding day finest.

Packing up orders from this week’s Etsy Update.

Nearing the finish line on this gorgeous Golden Hour Shawl.

She’s seriously cruising. No one can stop her now! It’s also officially sweater weather and I am jumping for joy!

Small Speckled Update Tomorrow!

Smitten, Cabin Fever, Island Hopping

Loose Change, Terrarium, Jade Mist

Big Chill, Hologram, Shipwreck

There will be a small Etsy Update tomorrow at 9am ET featuring the colourways pictured above + many more. This update is almost all fingering weight - mostly our awesomely cushy and squishy 8-ply Twist fingering weight yarn, which I am really loving right now. There will be a few other bits and bobs included, like some of our recently discontinued colourways.

This update isn’t massive but it feels like it’s about time to get back into the swing of things around here after what feels like a very gradual re-entry into full time work now that fall and back to school is officially upon us. I’m really hoping to be able to make updates a more regular thing.

What’s your favourite style of TFA update? Do you like to see lots of new, unique colourways? Big updates with lots of choice or smaller updates happening more frequently? Just a hand full of colours offered in lots of bases? I’d love to hear your feedback!

Hello Old Friend - Buttons Cowl

Pattern: Buttons Cowl - originally published in February of 2011. 

Yarn: TFA Aran/Worsted Weight.

Ravelry pattern page here and original blog post here.

A cowl/neck warmer is the perfect vehicle for showing off a stitch pattern. Seriously, open a stitch dictionary, pick your favourite stitch and work it in the round. You’ve got yourself a cowl! I love this textured bobbly stitch pattern. I like it so much I may need to revisit it soon, maybe on a wee sweater for Willow?

Remember when I used to post pictures of Stella? Poor girls, trust me that she is still very loved and gets loads of snuggles. She’s a behind the scenes dog now. Ah kids…

Five Things

We have had a pretty busy week and have an even busier and more exciting weekend ahead of us. My little brother is getting married!!! The girls in the bridal party are all getting ready at my house tomorrow morning so we have been frantically doing what we can to make our place look as lovely and photo ready as possible (just don’t go down into the basement…)

After 8 years of wanting to do this i finally painted my office doors blue! Such an improvement.

We caved and bought a microwave. We haven’t had one for years but gosh is it ever annoying to heat leftovers in a pan/oven for a “quick” lunch. I’m sorry. I’m a microwave person now. Bonus points if the microwave is cute.

I desperately want to be the type of person who can keep a plant alive and I have to say I think I’m making minor progress in the right direction. I currently have 4 living plants in my house!

We are working on a fun speckled update! Stay tuned for an announcement next week. This is one of my favourites so far. I may just have to reserve a skein for myself.

This girl!

Hello Old Friend - Grammy's Hat & Mitts

Pattern: Grammy’s Hat & Mitts - originally published in December of 2010. 

Yarn: Aran/Worsted Weight.

Ravelry pattern page here and original blog post here.

One of the defining memories I have of my grandmother is of her knitting. If I were to describe her to you, I would say that she had thick glasses, she didn’t like carrots (a fact that as kids we always associated with her poor vision) that she made the best biscuits and chicken soup and that she was a knitter. She knit all sorts of things, socks and sweaters included, but what I remember her knitting the most is hats and mitts. And not just any hat and mitts, these specific hats and mitts. Though I’m sure she veered from these patterns sometimes, I can’t prove it. So, when I embarked on my fledgling career as a knitwear designer I knew that I had to honour Grammy by writing up her patterns. Though I sometimes stray from these patterns and knit different styles of hats and mitts (gasp!) Chris does not. He has knit quite a few hats in his knitting career and they are all this pattern! Sometimes he’ll switch up the ribbing repeat, but that’s as far as it goes. I love it. Grammy would be proud!

Five Things

This week I seamed my polygon blanket! Now I’m just missing a few 1/2 poly’s and the border. Almost there!

Unglamorous shot of our front door that I really love for some reason. We’re getting a new front door with a bigger window to let in more light and an actual seal to keep out the cold.

The boys and I made these sugar cookies and I can’t believe how cute (and tasty!) they were.

Was planning a shawl design with this palette but in the end I realized that it really wants to be a Golden Hour Shawl so I’ll be casting on for that today!

Awesome. ‘Nuff said.