Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool: September 18-24

I love this time of year. Although it is still hot where I live, I know sweater weather is around the corner.  There are so many beautiful new patterns and yarns cropping up on Ravelry each day.  Here's my picks for the highlights of the week:

Hot Patterns:
1.  If you are looking for a shawl that uses up some smaller quantities of yarn check out Melanie Berg's new pattern called True Colors.

2.  Thea Colman has come out with a new cabled cardigan pattern called Nor'easter.

3.  Josie Paquin and Heidi Kirrmaier have teamed up to create the Strong and Free collection which consists of 3 cardigans, 3 pullovers and 4 accessories all knit (or dyed) in Canadian yarn. I really like the Mount Pearl hat pattern.

4.  And if you are in the market for a baby cardigan pattern here's a cute one:  Aimee's Rainbow unisex cardigan by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne


Free Patterns:  
1.  Knitty Deep Fall 2017, 12 free patterns from designers such as Laura Nelkin, Julie Crawford, Carol Feller, and Amy Christoffers.  Check out Julie Crawford's cowl pattern below.

Alicorn by Julie Crawford
©Knitty Deep Fall 2017 

2.  The East Coaster Cozy is a free pattern until the end of September.  This cup cozy looks like a perfect gift.

3.  The Espace Tricot ladies have done it again.  Using the leaf pattern from the sweet cardigan Norwegian Fir they have created a baby blanket called Petits Pins.  It is so pretty, isn't it?

Clubs:If you are a fan of Julie Hoover's designs then you may be interested in her Sweater Club 2017 which was introduced this week.  By joining this club you will get two exclusive sweater patterns (one cardigan and one pullover) featuring a Woolfolk yarn in the quantity you need.

Yarn Festivals:

Gauge Dyeworks (available at Knit City)

One of my favourite things to do is to go to a yarn festival.  There is nothing like being around other knitters who are as passionate as I am about all things knitting.  I love having the opportunity to touch and feel yarn that I have only seen on the internet. For example, new colourways by Gauge DyeWorks will be available for purchase, such as the gorgeous colourway above. I am excited to be going to Knit City for the first time this year and I will be sure to write a blog on the event.  The Canadian west coast yarn festival, an annual event held in Vancouver September 30-October 1st.  Besides the amazing yarn market there are so many designers, classes, speakers and vendors. I can hardly wait. 

YouTube Videos:
If you are looking for some company while knitting check out Andrea Mowry at the Yarn Pimp's store.  Interview here.

That's just a tiny drop in the bucket of what is new in the knitting world.  Please feel free to add your own favourites in the comment section below.  Happy knitting!

Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool: August 5-11

Today I am trying something new on my blog which I hope you enjoy.  I have highlighted a few patterns, KALs and yarn that have caught my attention this week in the knitting world.   

Week of August 6-12

1. Thea Colman (Baby Cocktails) came out with a new hat pattern called the Boston Flip.  This hat was designed as a gift to her daughter, and her daughter's best friend, as they go off to college this fall.  The explanation for the hat's design was incredibly sweet.  Read all about it on her blog. 

2.  Joji Locatelli has come out with two new patterns this week:  the Longline Cardigan and the Bobble Cowl.  Both patterns are knit in Malabrigo Mechita which is a fingering weight yarn.  She is offering 20% off all her patterns from August 10-20 using the code jojifallkal.   This sale is in anticipation of her Knit Along starting September 1 running until December 10th.  More information can be found here.

3.  Carol Feller, another prolific designer, has come out on Instagram and on her website with a new sweater design called the Camira Cardigan which will go on pre-sale on August 19th.  The first clue will be released October 7th. This is one KAL I am considering participating in.  I think this pattern will be very interesting to knit.  I participated in a previous Carol Feller KAL and knit a sweater called Capall Dubh which I absolutely love.  More information is to follow.

4.  Another sweater pattern that caught my attention was Fresh by Josée Paquin. This sweater would be a great stashbuster and would be a fun knit.   Josée uses Julie Asselin Fino fingering yarn combined with a Julie Asselin's Leizu Fingering Gradient Set.  Love it.

5.  A new publication entitled Plum Dandi Knits:  Simple Designs for Luxury Yarns by Melissa Schaschwary and Alicia Plummer is available for preorder on Amazon.  It is being published November 30, 2017 by Interweave and I am sure it will have many beautiful designs.

6.  And finally, I know I don't have to tell you about Andrea Mowry's newest pattern and Mystery Knit Fade Along called What the Fade?! starting August 31st.  However, what you might not know is Hedgehog Fibres is having another Colour Sets sale on August 12th where you can purchase a six skein set directly from the extremely popular dyer to use for this pattern.   (One can dream.)

That's my round-up for today.  I had fun compiling it and please feel free to add any other items that you are excited about in the Comments section below.

Now I can't leave you without any yarn pictures.  How about a few shots of some of my recent purchases?  Although I will not be joining in the Mystery Knit Fade Along I do enjoy a skein of speckled yarn.  There are so many beautiful ones to choose from...it's mind boggling.   Here are a few of my faves:

Primrose Yarn Adelaide:  In Between the Lines

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles:  Bubble & Bounce

  

Life in the Long Grass (LITLG) Fine Sock:  Shack

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles:  Poppy

What am I going to do with these skeins you ask?  I am not sure, but with these colourways I am going to have fun figuring it out.  

Happy weekend everyone!

Gray Rose: by Thea Colman

I just made the sweetest little hat called Gray Rose by Thea Colman.  Although I had intended to knit this pattern for myself, it didn't quite go as planned. For some reason I chose to knit the hat in the smallest size.  I have to admit that I didn't bother knitting a swatch with the yarn and I ignored my inner voice telling me that the pattern was turning out too small for an adult sized head.  But I was enjoying knitting this adorable pattern so much that I decided to just finish it and put it away in my bottom drawer, as a future gift for someone special.  I definitely want to knit it again in an adult size at some future date.  Ravelled here.

Gray Rose

I loved knitting with the West Yorkshire Spinners DK yarn that I had bought in Scotland a couple summers ago.  It is a Bluefaced Leicester yarn and I find myself gravitating more often toward knitting more with sheepy yarns and less with superwash yarns.  When I was buying this yarn I thought that one could only find this yarn in Scotland or England but I soon discovered it in a Canadian yarn shop on a trip to Vancouver. 88 Stitches in Langley, British Columbia has a great selection of it both in DK and Aran weight.

WYS Bluefaced Leicester Yarn

I used my leftover Woolfolk yarn for the flowers and it worked perfectly with the WYS yarn.  I added some Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Yarn in Tidal for that punch of colour.

woolfolk far

After knitting Gray Rose I knew that I wanted to use the rest of my West Yorkshire Spinners BFL to knit a cozy sweater.  I decided on Georgetown by Hannah Fettig in her published book Home & Away.  Each pattern in this book provides you with the option to knit a seamed or seamless sweater.  Although I haven't had much luck with seaming sweaters recently I am determined to master my skills, so I have jumped right in and chose the seamed option.

I can hardly wait until it's done.  

Gotta go...must get back to knitting. Have a great week!

Spring Time

Work is really interfering with my knitting time these days.  I have so many projects in my queue waiting patiently to be started.  There are not enough hours in the day.  However, spring is in the air and I am excited by a few things.

1.  My Line Break Shawl by Veera Valimaki.  I can't tell you how much I love the Primavera colourway, it seriously makes me happy everytime I pick it up to knit.  This pattern is such a relaxing knit too, easily memorized, but not boring.

Line Break

2. The Approaching Knitter's Frolic in Toronto on April 26th.  I already have my shopping list ready and have picked out what booths I will visit first.  One booth is the Sweet Fiber Booth, a dyer from British Columbia.  I have long admired her yarn but have yet to see it in person. Shall We Knit, a yarn store from Waterloo, will be there too.  This store always comes with a lovely assortment of yarn, including String Theory's Caper Sock Yarn, which is one of my favourites.  A new line of yarn they carry is Skein Top Draw from Australia which interests me too. There will be no Tanis Fiber Arts booth this year but the yarn will still be there in the Purple Purl booth...another one of my favourite yarn lines. And that's just to name a few.  As I look at this list I realize that this may be a costly visit!

3.  Easter is one of my all time favourite holidays of the year. Both my children were born in springtime and I just love the weather, the flowers, the greening up of everything.  Last year, during my trip to London in March, my husband and I popped into Harrod's to have a look around and look what we saw:

Easter Egg at Harrod's

And in case you can't see the price look below:

Yep, 795 pounds.  It left me speechless and that doesn't happen very often.

4.  There are so many lovely patterns being published recently.  There is the Blackberry Bramble  by Thea Colman which is a cowl knit in a Scandanavian Motif using two colours with a third colour added for a surprise pop of colour. It is knitted in a worsted weight with 20% cashmere content.  I would love to wear this next winter.  For a lighter cowl Fine Tune by Joji Locatelli caught my eye as well.  It is worked lengthwise using short rows with stripes which is perfect for using up any leftovers you have.  It is knit in a fingering weight yarn.  Maha52's version of Byrum by Cailliau Berangere is simply beautiful.  She used a combination of Madelinetosh Sock in Well Water and Silver Fox and it is stunning.  

So there you have it....a list written by a frustrated knitter who has big plans and no time!  Time to go grab a bit of knitting time while I can and enjoy the lovely weather.  I hope you find time to do what you love.  Have a great week.