Off the Needles: Tanis Fiber Arts

I have been a member of Tanis Fiber Arts Year In Colour Club for the past two years.  Six times a year Tanis mails out a skein in a new colourway with a pattern.  I always admire Tanis' skill with colour. This colour, Mosaic, is one of my favourites this year.  It is a combination of "gold, spice and dirty denim" to quote Tanis.  The yarn is in Orange Label which is a mix of cashmere, silk and merino worsted weight yarn.  It is so lovely to knit with and this colour looks spectacular in the sunshine.  The pattern that came with it is called the Framed Slouch.  This hat pattern has cables and was a fun knit. The brim can be folded up if you want less slouch.  I will be definitely knitting another one and I am sure it will prove to be a very popular pattern once it is widely released.

Framed Slouch

Another knit that I finished this week is the Inspira Cowl: the Steampunk version.  I bought the yarn at The Knitter's Fair in Waterloo a couple weekends back...check out my info here.  I love working with a yarn that changes colour...it's so much fun to see what colour combination is coming next.  I used the recommendation from the owner of the The Needlework Emporium and cast on 150 stitches and didn't do any decreases.  I really like the way it turned out.

Inspira Cowl

There is nothing like a fast knit!  As for my Pull Me Over sweater I have run into a bit of trouble.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I had decided to knit long sleeves at the last minute and sadly did not have enough yarn.  So I ordered more Madelinetosh hoping that the dye lot would be very similar to the yarn I already had knitted.  Unfortunately the yarn that arrived this week looks too different to use.  So I have been ripping out the one long sleeve to make it 3/4 length and adding that yarn to the other sleeve. I am not sure if I have enough yarn to make that second sleeve 3/4 length.  I will work on that sweater later today and see what I can do.  Very frustrating.

The Rhinebeck Sweater Book and Other Great Patterns

There are so many new patterns cropping up on Ravelry that I wish I didn't have to work and could just sit and knit all day!

Here is a list you should check out.

First up is Ysolda Teague's The Rhinebeck Sweater book and e-book.  If you go to her website you can look at all the patterns and preorder.  Pumpkin Ale is one of the patterns I am excited about.  This book contains patterns by many of the top knitting designers like Thea Colman, Gundrun Johnston, and Cecily Glowik MacDonald just to name a few.  The book and e-book will come out November 6th.

Another pattern that I quite like is called I Heart Cardigans by Tanis Lavallee (of Tanis Fiber Arts). This lovely worsted pattern has cables and looks like the perfect fall sweater.  Love it!

I am a big fan of Amy Herzog (who by the way has a cardigan pattern in The Rhinebeck Sweater book) and she has come out with a pattern called Dalriada in sport weight yarn.  It looks like a very flattering style of cardigan that will suit many different body shapes.

Gabbro by Carol Feller is another sweater pattern that looks lovely to me.  It is a fingering weight sweater with some pretty lace work.

And then there is CustomFit which is a new venture by Amy Herzog.  Basically you pick your yarn, knit a swatch, take your measurements and through Amy's program a sweater/cardigan will be designed for you to your exact measurements.  I am on waiting list to do that as they are unrolling the program slowly.  You can see what some test knitters have made using Amy's program here.

I find the knitting industry so exciting right now.  There is so many ideas, designs, yarn choices...the possibilities are endless.  It really would be a great industry to work in and I envy those that do.

Pull Me Over in progress

As for my knitting status I have stalled on my Pull Me Over sweater pattern. I decided I really wanted to do long sleeves and I ran out of wool.  A new skein of Madelinetosh 80/10/10 worsted is on its way to me so until then I am working on a fun little pattern called the Inspira Cowl using some Classic Elite Yarn Liberty Wool.  It's a fun pattern and is knitted with two different coloured multicoloured skeins so the yarn colour you are knitting with keeps changing.  Here are my details here.

Inspira Cowl

So happy knitting to all of you.  What patterns are you excited about?