Fyberspates Blog

Seaglas Top

Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing

Fyberspates yarn has made the front cover again and this time it is the turn of Scrumptious Lace for this summer design by Elanor King of CatchLoops on the cover of the latest edition of Knit Now. The Seaglas Top uses only a very small amount of yarn, so it’s an affordable luxury and perfect for your holiday wardrobe since it takes up so little space! Within the magazine you will see it styled on two competely different models and it absolutely works on both so we think it's a very versatile and flattering design. 

Available in sizes XS through to 3XL, it is designed to fit a 71cm to 132cm bust with 10cm positive ease. Knit in Scrumptious Lace, our 55% merino, 45% Silk Lace, the smallest size requires only one skein of each colourway and the largest size takes only an extra skein for the main colour. The colours used here are Eau de Nil for the main colour and Jen's Green for the contrasting lace detail. 

The issue is on sale from today in craft stores, newsagents and supermarkets across the UK and worldwide from the Knit Now website. It will also be available digitally via the Apple Newsstand and (for those without Apple devices) from our website. Paper copies will be available to buy here: http://www.moremags.com/knitting/knit-now while digital editions are here: http://www.moremags.com/digital-editions/all-devices/knit-now. 

 

Scrumptious Lace is currently in stock in the shop or ask your nearest retailer. 

British Knitting Awards 2014

It's that time of year again- the British Knitting awards voting form is up! In previous years, Fyberspates has done very well in the awards and it would be really encouraging to do so again this year. Looking through the form there's so many categories we'd love to be nominated in from favourite baby yarn (hello Vivacious) to best brand. If you love Fyberspates yarns, website or blog, please would you think of us when you vote?

Many thanks!

Voting is here if you haven't already

Spice Route

 

It was while tidying up a few things over on Pinterest the other day, we realised that we haven't shared a fab new pattern with you featuring Vivacious 4ply!

(c) Inspiration Knits

Spice Route by Louise Zass-Bangham of Inspiration Knits, shows the different moods of a variegated yarn with its bands of smooth stocking stitch, blurry purls, textured garter and strands of colour. The alternating textures make it reversible - unlike other dropped stitch designs. The vertical bands are edged with stitches worked through the back loop, to ensure good definition.

The optionally beaded ends add a glamorous sparkle; a finishing touch for a special yarn such as Vivacious, our 100% Superwash Merino high twist yarn. The pattern is available in 3 sizes: S (16 x 150cm / 6 1/2 x 60 inches), M (24 x 150cm / 9 1/2 x 60 inches), and L (33 x 150cm / 13 x 60 inches). All 3 only require one skein of Vivacious too!

(c) Inspiration Knits

The sample here is worked up in 'Lavender Haze' which is now available from the Fyberspates shop or your nearest retailer. You can check our stockists here. 

If you want to cast on in company, Louise is also hosting a knitalong this month in her group. Thanks for another great pattern Louise!

Cumulus

When we launched Cumulus, our 74% Alpaca and 26% Silk heavy lace weight yarn, we approached various designers who we thought might enjoy working some designs up for us. When we got talking to the very talented Susanna IC, the excitement was contagious and yarn was quickly shipped and the result was a truly spectacular shawl. 

Susanna is an accomplished designer whose beautiful shawls and designs have been published in the Twist Collective, Interweave and Knitty. She has an extensive self published collection too and we were thrilled when Susanna responded so postitively to working together. I don't think any of us were quite prepared for HOW perfect the design was going to be though!

(c) Susanna IC

Inspired by its namesake Fyberspates yarn, the Cumulus shawl lets the gorgeous yarn take center stage by using a very simple lace pattern evocative of the cloud shapes.

(c) Susanna IC

Cumulus clouds can be formed from water vapor, water droplets, or ice crystals and so Susanna added some sparkling beads reminiscent of the inspiration. The beads also add lovely drape to the gossamer yarn (550 6/0 4.00mm seed beads).

(c) Susanna IC

This shawl is worked in one piece starting with the lace border along the bottom edge and is shaped into a crescent with simple stockinette short rows (no wraps). While the lace pattern may seem intricate, it uses only basic stitches, all reverse rows are purled, and addition of beads is optional.

If you want to knit your own version, there is plenty of Cumulus ready to go in the shop today. Also, as a special Intro-to-Ravelry offer, the pattern price is 10% off - ending midnight, May 21. The discount is automatic, applied to the cart, no coupon code necessary.

A huge thank you to Susanna for such stunning work!

Change

Change is never an easy decision, especially when you have grown your business from scratch with hand dyeing luxury yarns at the core. Last month I made an announcement in the Ravelry group and now the dust has settled a little, I want to share my immediate plans for the coming year. 

 

As lots of you know, there are two aspects to my business, I have the hand dyed part, which my mum and I do in my little unit in the Cotswold’s on a fairly small scale. Then I have the commercial side which is large scale commercial dyeing. The commercial side of Fyberspates is growing fast and needs a lot of attention, more so now than ever. As I jet off today to TNNA I will be focusing on the most recent branch of our brand, Fyberspates USA. 

When preparing for a big dye session in preparation for Wonderwool, I received the news from my Landlord that he was ending my lease with short notice due to the fact they are converting my little unit into a cottage. As a result I have taken the decision to create a natural pause in my hand dyeing for a while and concentrate more on designing and developing the commercial yarn ranges of Scrumptious, Gleem, Vivacious and Cumulus as well as working on new lines of wholesaleable yarns and pattern support. With Fyberspates USA also needing a little nurturing in these early stages, it seems a good time to take stock, consolidate and think about the many ways in which Fyberspates has grown as a company. There's so much new product development going on behind the scenes this is not so much an end as a new start in some ways!

I will attempt to have plenty of my own hand dyed yarns for Woolfest but I will no longer be doing my regular updates after this time for a while. I am not saying the hand dyed won’t come back, but for at least a year I need to effectively manage the growth of the other part of my business. What you see in the shop now is the last stock before the post Wonderfest update. Any stock I bring back will be added in one last update and then, with the exception of a few kits, you will only find Scrumptious, Gleem, Viviacious and Cumulus. 

 

If you want to be sure to catch the last of the handdyes in person please come and say hi at Woolfest on the 27th-28th June 2014 or catch the last update when we get back. We'll also be keeping you up to date with any new yarn or pattern development this way too. There is of course always the Ravelry Group, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!

I want to say thank you all for your wonderful support over the past 10 years and hope that you will continue to support me with my other yarns that will continue to be available both on the Fyberspates Web site and through your local yarn shops 

Jeni