Fyberspates Blog

Fresh Inspiration Knitting Volume 2

If you've been following the blog for a while, you'll know that there's a lot of Fyberspates love and appreciation for Kyoko Nakayoshi, the designer behind Cotton & Cloud. Kyoko was the designer of the very popular Iwerne Cardigan from Scrumptious Collection Volume 3 so when she released her latest collection, featuring Fyberspates yarns, there was immediate 'ooooo-ing' and 'ahhhhh-ing'.

Cotton & Cloud is a unique blend of Japanese & Western cultures. Often using seamless and short-row knitting techniques, the designs offer a tactile experience of innovative knitting, producing elegant and wearable knitwear for all ages. A champion of fun, ethical and creative living, Kyoko designs with yarns from companies who are leading the way in eco-friendly raw materials, focusing on new discovery and making heart-warming and lasting things by hands.

Kyoko's latest Collection perfectly showcases this commitment to knitting enjoyment and heart-warming things to make with your hands. Fresh Inspiration Knitting Volume 2 is an e-knitting book; a compilation of fresh & inspirational knitting patterns including 3 garments and 2 accessories. In Kyoko's tell tale design style, she presents 5 gorgeous pieces that we're pretty sure you'll love as much as we do. 

 

(c) Cotton & Cloud

The Trailing Ivy cardigan features Scrumptious Aran to give a gorgeous squooshy drape, perfect for the lush cable details. This asymmetric cardigan was inspired by the way trailing ivy follows the light from the sun. It features chunky cables worked in short-rows to create the attractive curve around the neck. 

 

(c) Cotton & Cloud

The matching cable is also used for the sleeves, where its size increases slowly to give the visual illusion of a slightly-flared sleeve. The technique is concentrated on the cables around the collar, with the rest knitted in stocking stitch. This is an enjoyable, ‘brain-teaser’ project that will reward you with a beautiful cardigan!

Sized from a UK 8-22/32-42 inches at the bust, you will need between 6-10 skeins of Scrumptious Aran. The sample here is shown in the Teal Green colourway. 

You can order print versions of the Collection or download the ecopy today by following this link. We love it Kyoko- congratulations!

 

Introducing....

 

It's so exciting when you introduce a new yarn to the family and we have been bursting to tell you about this one for a while. Well, it's nearly here!

 

Cumulus is our 74% Baby Suri Alpaca and 26% Silk blend that comes in 25g balls of 150 metres [164 yards]. This Light Fingering/ Heavy Lace weight yarn is a wonderful alternative to Mohair with its’ fine ethereal halo. However, with 26% Silk content comes incredible strength and sheen making this delicate yarn surprisingly hard working.

 

Available in our well-loved jewel tones as well as a new palette of soft colours specifically developed for this yarn, Cumulus is perfect for fine accessories and garments. This unique blend will produce a light fabric that has the kind of loft and breathability that only Silk and Alpaca can provide. Due to the larger needle size required to work it into a fabric, it’s also an economical choice as a little goes a long way. Cumulus will add more than just texture to your wardrobe: it will give you a yarn that works all season round.

 

We're busy plotting pattern support and collaborating with some amazing designers to bring you inspiration for this gentle little yarn but in the meantime we will be taking a small sampling to Unravel for you to preview. Yes, you can get your hands on this before it wholesales or goes in the Fyberspates shop. 

 

Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for pictures later in the week. 

Inspiration and Unravel

A pattern relaunch recently had us all swooning over on the Ravelry group recently- Inspiration Knits has relaunched her wonderful Song of The Sea pattern in time for Unravel. This is particularly timely as she will also be hosting Fyberspates yarns on her stand at Unravel. So you'll get two opportunities to purchase some yummy hand dyes. 

Song of the Sea in Scrumptious High Twist DK 'Blue Mountain'

We featured Song of the Sea some time ago and you can read all about it here but this latest update means that you can now knit your own version from Lace weight all the way through to DK. Basically, you can have a beautiful art deco inspired cowl all year round and justify multiple yarn purchases. How convenient!

Faery Wings

The sample that really made everyone sit up and take notice though was this wonderful sample in Faery Wings. Louise has a booth stocked up with Faery Wings, Twizzle Silk, Hight Twist Scrumptious DK and Vivacious 4ply. As a result, she's worked up some amazing samples with her army of knitters, to tempt you into purchasing her patterns and some yarn. 

 

The collaboration will not end when Unravel does though. Stay tuned for some very exciting news about kits very, very, soon!

Call Out

We had a great time with the Blog and Podcast Tour and it really made us think about ways we can encourage more hands on interaction with new Fyberspates products. We have a few things in the works that we'd love to get YOUR input on so we're making a call out....

 

If you are a knitter that considers yourself a dab hand with stitchwork, technique and finishing, we might be in need of your services. We need some new yarn roadtested. That's right, new yarn. We'd like feedback on how it works up and blocks and we also want some fancy pictures to go along with it. 

 

So if you're the kind of person who just loves the way Ravelry allows you to share your project notes, showcase your photography and chat about what you've been up to, we'd love to here from you over on Ravelry. There's a dedicated thread just gone up telling you how to reach out. 

 

We can't wait to share this with you!