Visiting Craft South & Haus of Yarn, Nashville

My husband and I took a holiday in late November to Nashville, home of the Grand Ole Opry.  After a particularly challenging fall at home, Nashville was just what we needed.  Nashville is a city full of music, artists, bars, delicious restaurants, and cool coffee shops.  We had an amazing food tour that took us to restaurants that I would never have known existed.  We enjoyed walking around the city and seeing the amazing sites including the murals painted in so many places.  Here are a few of my favourite photos:

What Lifts You Wings 

Barista Parlor

Breakfast at Biscuit Love

So many bars are on Broadway with musicians playing
by the open windows

Jack Daniels tour

Of course no holiday is complete without a trip to the local yarn store.  

Craft South was the first place I visited.  Opened in 2014 this store sells fabric, yarn, embroidery supplies and sewing machines, and offers weekly classes in a variety of crafts.

You can tell that each item in this store is thoughtfully chosen and beautifully displayed. Craft South has a good selection of yarn, including a variety of Quince Yarns and Camellia Fiber Co. yarn, which I did not photograph.  I wish I had taken more photos of the yarn and fabric, and trust me when I say, I could have spent a lot more time (and money) there!  Here's just a snapshot of a few things that caught my eye. 

A enormous wall of Koigu

Colour Block Scarf Kits (Manos del Uruguay Maxima)

Christmas Stockings

Huge walls of material

The most gorgeous quilts were on display

Lots of stitching kits

The second place I had a chance to visit was Haus of Yarn. I spent a lot of time in this store and took lots of photos. This was a big store that had a large selection of yarn brands in various weights. The thing that struck me about this store was the huge number of samples.  I love seeing how different yarns knit up as it provides invaluable information to a knitter. 

When I walked around this store I was in a knitter's shock...so many yarns (many which I had never seen in person)...it was a bit overwhelming. I love the size of this store, everything is perfectly displayed and there is plenty of room for the shopper to mill around.  Come have a look:

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter

Brooklyn Tweed Quarry

Plucky Yarn & Pop Beads Shawl

Old Rusted Chair and Woolen Boon

Woolen Boon Yarn

Yoth Yarn:  Best Friends

Tokyo Shawl

Many kits were available
I loved this one full of Isager Yarn

Fringe Supply Co.

Waxed Canvas Field Bag by Fringe Supply Co.

Starting Point by Joji Locatelli

Backyard Fiberworks

Feyre Shawl designed by Shannon Cook
(knit in Cestari Traditional Yarn)

Mason Dixon Field Guides

Spincycle Dyed Yarns

Watercolors knit in Big Bad Wool
& Favorite Blanket knit in Berroco Modern Cotton

Yarns of Rhichard Devrieze

Isager Alpaca 1

There were so many more yarns, patterns and kits I could have taken pictures of.  I was very impressed.

You know you have had a good trip when you are leaving and wondering when you can return.  That's how I felt.  I loved this city. We were there for five days and I feel there is still so much I want to see and do.  If you want a fun getaway this is the place to go.  If you are travelling to Nashville and have any specific questions please don't hesitate to ask.

If you enjoy reading about different yarn stores here are some of my favourite places that I wrote about on my blog (links provided):   Tolt Yarn and Wool (Part 1 and Part 2), Churchmouse Yarns & Teas, Fibre Space, Looped Yarn Works, 88 Stitches & Ginger Twist Studio.

F.O. Deep Woods Toque by Kiyomi Burgin

Pattern:  Deep Woods Toque
Designer: Kiyomi Burgin

Yarn: Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock:  80% merino 20% nylon
Colourway: Vintage Lace

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere Sock:  70% Merino 20% Nylon and 10% Cashmere
Colourway: Maize

Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere Sock

Needles:   2.75mm and 3.25mm

Ravelry: my notes

Added Notes:  
1. This was a fun pattern to knit.  Once I got through the 5-1/4 inch of fingering weight ribbing the tree pattern knit up quickly.  I like the way the brim folds up offering that extra warmth on your ears.
2. Tanis Fiber Arts and I go way back.  She was the first indie dyer I bought yarn from in 2011 when I got back into knitting. Since that time I have knit 38 projects with her yarn!  When I saw the colourway Tanis dyed for Knit City this year I knew I wanted to do something special with it.  I decided to knit Deep Woods Toque which had been in my queue for some time.  I love how good this colourway looks when paired with Antique Lace.  The bonus is I still have enough of the Tanis Fiber Arts skein left to knit another small project.

3.  The only modification I made was to knit the first row in the same colour as the trees and not in a contrasting colour as the pattern suggests.

I hope you are enjoying your knitting and are not too frantic during this holiday season.  Happy weekend!
p.s. Thank you to my daughter for modelling this hat.  I had her in mind when I knit it.

F.O. Waterbirch by Sylvia McFadden

Are you looking for a lovely pattern to quickly knit for someone special this holiday season?  I have a suggestion for you...Waterbirch by Canadian designer Sylvia McFadden.  The pattern was published earlier this year in a book entitled A Stillness of Trees, and includes three gorgeous, bulky weight shawls.  It is available in paperback and as a download.  

The first pattern I chose to knit from this book was Waterbirch and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with how it turned out.

Waterbirch

Pattern:  Waterbirch
Designer: Sylvia McFadden

Yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky Solid (55% Merino 45% Silk) Chunky weight 4 skeins

Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky

Colourway:  Lavender (a lovely combination of lilac and blue)

Needles:   8.0 mm

Ravelry: notes from my project page

Added Notes:
1.  This is the kind of pattern that would work well with any bulky/chunky weight yarn.  The pattern only calls for 265-274m (290-300 yards) of yarn.
2.  The gauge on Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky Solid was smaller than the yarn used in the pattern.  As a result I ended up using 8mm needles instead of the suggested 10mm.  The great thing about Waterbirch is you can keep repeating the pattern to make the shawl as big or as small as you like, therefore, utilizing every bit of yarn you have.  I ended up knitting four repeats of the pattern using up all of my four skeins (total of 488m).  With blocking my shawl grew quite a bit making it a great size to wrap around your shoulders.  I loved the combination of silk and merino as the silk in the yarn gives the shawl a bit of a sheen which is hard to capture in a photo.

2.  Blocking:  I love how a good soak opens up a lace pattern.  You can see below the difference between the two photos.

Preblocking Size:  76 x 30"

Post blocking 78" x 38"

I enjoyed every minute of knitting this shawl.  It was done before I knew it.  I am a huge fan of Sylvia McFadden and have knit two of her patterns which I absolutely love (Lanterns and The Elder Tree Shawl).  I will be definitely knitting more in the future.

Have a great week everyone!  Happy knitting!

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

This is such a busy time of year for many people, but it is important to take time for yourself to rejuvenate.  When you have a minute here are some knitting related news items that might interest you:

Contest
Yarn Canada is holding a contest to gift yarn to individuals and groups who knit or crochet for good causes.  They’re giving away $2000 worth of yarn and are hoping to get as many applicants as possible, to ensure the prize will have the maximum impact.  Here's the prizes they will be giving away:

1 x $500 of yarn to a Canadian group who knits or crochets for a good cause

1 x $500 of yarn to an American group who knits or crochets for a good cause

10 x $100 of yarn to Canadian or American individuals or groups who knit or crochet for a good cause

 All the information can be located here.

Free Pattern
This is a great time of year to check the Ravelry pattern page daily as many designers will offer free patterns for a short time.  Here are a few that look like fun:

Getting Warmer is a cowl knit from the bottom up in bulky weight Woolfolk Luft yarn.  The pattern is by Espace Tricot and would make a great holiday gift.

Sheepish Little Hat Light  a sweet fingering weight hat by Melissa Kemmerer available in sizes baby to adult.

Diagonal Striped Garter Stitch Loop knit in a chunky weight yarn by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.

New Publications/Patterns

A Brooklyn Tweed Holiday Lookbook has been published just in time for the holiday season.

The amazing designer Kate Davies has provided a sign up for the West Highland Way Club which is a club and design collection.  The fun starts in January when club members will receive three months of weekly patterns.  At the conclusion the newly published 120 page book is mailed with all the patterns included.

Deep Woods Toque is a rereleased pattern by Kiyomi Burgin using Madelinetosh Light. I have wanted to make this hat since it was first published in Knitscene 2015 and I am finally knitting my own version.  I have combined the beautiful Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label in the colourway Maize with Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock in Merino in Vintage Lace.  I am loving these two colourways together, but there are so many other possibilities.  Read more about my version here.

Deep Woods Toque by Kiyomi Burgin

The annual Indie Designer Gift-a-long began on November 21st and runs until December 3.  To help knitters out 311 indie designers are offering their patterns at a discount until November 28th.  Very Shannon and Jane Richmond are two of the designers involved, but this is also a great time to check out newer designers, and to knit with a group of people focused on holiday knitting.  See Very Shannon's 25% off discount code.  Offer is only good to November 28th.  Don't delay.

Podcast
I am always on the lookout for new YouTubers or podcasters who are entertaining to listen to while I knit. Knit Collage is a new to me podcast.  Check out the latest episode here.

I hope you found this round up helpful and that you make time for some peaceful and relaxing crafty time over the next few weeks.  Happy knitting!

F.O. Camira by Carol Feller

I can't tell you how much I enjoy knitting a sweater or cardigan which is constructed in an unique way.  For example patterns such as Hitofude by Hiroko Fukatsu, Japan Sleeves by Joji Locatelli, and Capall Dubh by Carol Feller are examples of beautiful patterns with interesting constructions that I have knit.

Once I saw Carol Feller's gorgeous cardigan for this year's KAL (knitalong) I joined right away. I knew I was in for an entertaining knit.  I was not disappointed.  The directions were broken up into four clues and were very clear.  Additional help, if needed, was available in the discussion boards and that made the project so easy and fun to follow.  Here are the details:

Pattern:  Camira

Camira front view

Camira back view

Designer: Carol Feller

Sweet Fiber Yarns Merino Twisted Worsted

Yarn:  Sweet Fiber Yarns Merino Twist Worsted (100% Merino 183m)
5.5 skeins

Colourway:  OOAK 

I have been a long time fan of Sweet Fiber Yarns and was lucky enough to snatch up six skeins of this yarn at the Knit City yarn festival at the end of September. (I used the word snatch as it was an extremely busy booth and these were the only skeins of this particular colourway).  It is very hard to capture the correct colour of this yarn, but the swatch below gives you an idea of the gorgeous mix between purple and  blue. 

Needles:   4.5mm & 4mm

Ravelry:  Camira

Added Notes:

1.  The construction of this cardigan was unique and very entertaining. The directions were broken down into four clues. The first step was to knit the center column of the back. 

Clue 1

Next the sleeves were constructed coming out from the center column. The bonus of this step was having the sleeves done so early in the pattern.

Clue 2

Then stitches were picked up around the front and the back and the rest of the body was completed for Clue Three.  For the final clue the collar and button band were knitted.

 2.  I did not want my cardigan to have too much positive ease and kept that in mind when choosing the size.  Prior to blocking the sleeves were a bit snug and the sweater length was not quite as long as I wanted.  But as with anything knit with superwash yarn, the cardigan grew with blocking, and I am very happy with the resulting fit.

3.  I tried to take some photos of myself to show you the fit.  My son usually helps me out when I need a photo taken of myself but he was not available to help.  Luckily I finally bought myself a tripod and I braved the cold weather to try and get a decent shot of myself. The following was the best one out of the bunch.  All the ones with my face in it consisted of me with either a weird expression on my face or the photo was not in focus.  I definitely need to practice! 

I would highly recommend this pattern as it was a very fun knit, but not difficult at all.  If you are nervous about knitting this cardigan, there are lots of photos and support given in the Discussion Boards, that should answer any questions you may have. Enjoy!

F.O. Ghostwood Mittens by Kiyomi Burgin

Pattern:  Ghostwood Mittens

Designer: Kiyomi Burgin

Yarn: 
Rowan Kidsilk Haze:  70% Mohair 30% Silk 
Colourway:  665 Hibiscus

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino:  100% Merino
Colourway:  La Vie En Rose

By combining a worsted weight yarn with a mohair/silk blend I ended up with a fluffy, cozy pair of mittens.  I am so happy with them.

Rowan Kidsilk Haze

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino

Needles:   3.25mm and 3.5mm

By using this smaller needle size the fabric produced is quite dense, which is perfect for keeping out the wind, and keeping your hands nice and warm.

Size:  2

Ravelry: My notes
Added Notes:  This is a lovely quick pattern to knit.  The cable design adds a nice touch of visual interest and is perfect for those new to cabling.

I love learning about designers that are new to me.  It wasn't until I was writing this blog post that I realized that a bunch of designs I have admired over the years  were designed by the same person...Kiyomi Bergin, a fellow Canadian.  When I look at her collection I am amazed by her talent. Here are a few of my favourites:  Kiyomi designed the Deep Woods Toque that was originally published in Knitscene Winter 2015 magazine and has been in my queue since then.  The designer has recently re-released it.  Other favourites published in Pom Pom Quarterly are Windlass, Carlu Pullover, Boum, and Fragmentation.  I also really like Fredericton, which is a gorgeous his and hers shawl collared cardigan.
Kiyomi has a twin sister named Sachiko Bergin, who is also a knitwear designer, with a gorgeous collection of designs as well.  Check out their website Needle Leaf Designs for further information.

Time to go cast on the Deep Woods Toque!