Fyberspates Blog

Woodland

This month, Vivacious DK is featured in Let's Knit magazine in a design by Woolly Wormhead. Woolly is a Hat expert and so the feature offering tips and tricks for knitting from Woolly is the perfect accompaniment to the Woodland Hat design. 

(c) Let's Knit Magazine

Woodland is available in multiple sizes: to fit head circumference 45.75cm, 50.75 cm, 54.5cm, 57.25 cm and 61 cm. The yardages work out as 102m, 133m, 166m, 200m, and 240m so all but the last size can be knit using just one skein of Vivacious DK which comes in 115g skeins of 251 yards (230 metres). 

(c) Let's Knit

This slouch is perfectly textured for the Silver & Bronze, colourway that the sample uses and shows of the hand dyed charm of Vivacious DK perfectly. Being Superwash Merino, Vivacious is a perfect choice for hardwearing accessories and DK makes it a good transition piece this Autumn. The Silver and Bronze is a great uisex colour choice but we think it would work in any of our 12 colours- it's such a versatile design. 

To find out your nearest stockist of Vivacious, please check out our retailers list on the website and grab your copy of Let's Knit to get knitting today!

 

 

 

'Hitch' by Stephanie Tallent Blog Tour

Welcome to the Fyberspates leg of the Hitch Blog Tour! There's been lots of great posts so far and we've been pondering what angle we want to take with our post. While we were flipping though the pages, we were really struck by the number of finer weight yarns that are called for in this book so we decided to stick with what we knows best and talk about yarn. 

'Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock' by Stephannie Tallen is produced by Cooperative Press and contains 29 patterns ranging from men's knits to small accessories to ladies garments. It is available for direct download both on Ravelry as well as directly through Cooperative Press and retails for $16.95 USD or approx £10.87.In this dramatic collection, knitwear designers have taken inspiration from Hitchcock’s films to create some pretty film worthy knit wear. Whether you are planning a train ride to Mount Rushmore, a shopping excursion to a Bodega Bay bird shop, or simply a night peering out your rear window, this collection will keep you in the proper, stunning wardrobe for your Hitchcock adventures. 

(c) Nick Murway 

The Eleven Hundred Dollars Sweater, pictured above, is designed by Elanor King and is typical of the knits you will find in this classic looking book.The sweater is worked from the bottom up then moves on to some interesting construction methods. The waistband is worked in the round to the crossover, then the body is worked flat and splits into back and fronts at the armholes. The sleeves are worked flat, top-down. There is a good range of sizes 30- 54 inches and is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 Ply / Sport Superwash.Scrumptious 4 ply Sport is a 45% silk, 55% superwash merino base with 400 yds / 365m per 100g skein.

This is where we really started thinking about the yarns called for in this book as there's some fabulous yarn producers featured and it seems quite an honour to be included amongst them. The noticable thing though is that over 2/3rds of the patterns call for fingering weight yarn. This is because when drawing from fashion of this era as inspiration, there are certain design requirements that mean anything heavier than a sport weight yarn starts to look too modern as generally, 20s-50s knitwear was knit at a finer gauge.

Vintage knitwear has many benefits as a result of its lighter fabric: it's much more flattering due to less bulk and lasts longer from the lack of friction in everyday wear. This means that the slightly daunting yardage that is required to knit a whole garment starts to seem much more reasonable as you're doubling your knitting pleasure but also it will last far longer once complete. This durability was particularly important during an era that saw the Great Depression and two world wars that meant frugal garments were essential. Not only that, but knitting such small stitches means our mistakes are much harder to pick up on- hurrah!

(c) Nick Murray

This book is full of authentically styled pieces with all the benefits of modern designers creating the patterns. A call for finer weight yarns invariably leads to sock yarns which, like the Scrumptious 4 ply Sport, are machine washable. The designs themselves are updated too as typically waistbands of this era were worn a lot higher and foundation garments created a completely different shape for women compared to what you or I would typically wear now. The garments have been lengthened and sized accordingly and there's good schematics to help you chose the most flattering shape to really carry off such a classic style. 

(c) Nick Murray

We've really enjoyed thinking about how our modern day expectations for knitting can be combined with classic knitwear and hope you'll enjoy knitting some of the wonderful patterns such as the beautiful colourwork Thorne Hill Cowl or the '3 Second Kiss' Sweater. You can find suitable yarns for these pieces in the Fyberspates shop by clicking on the 'Fingering/ 4ply' Section or 'Sport/ Heavy 4 ply'. You will find colour tones in stock that are particularly well suited to this era like this Rural Charm 4ply BFL Cashmere and Silk in 'Antique Velvet'

Rural Charm in Antique Velvet

We'd like to thank Cooperative Press, Stephanie and Elanor for giving us this opportunity to be part of the blog tour. Here are the next stops:

12/11/2013: Hazel Knits

13/11/2013: Knitcircus

19/11/2013: indigodragonfly

22/11/2013: A B-ewe-tiful Design

25/11/2013: knittingkirigami

 

Enjoy!

Envelope Hat

Autumn weather is a knitter's favourite weather surely? Cold enough to pile on layers of handknits but not too cold and miserable to spoil fun or inhibit limbs from moving with too much bulk. A great hat is a must this time of the year so we were thrilled to see the Envelope Hat by Sephanie Gaustad appear in the lastest issue of Knit.Wear. 

(c) Interweave Knits

The Envelope Hat has some pretty interesting construction too. This hat is made from a scarf-like length of knitting. After binding off, the two ends are brought across one another and stitched to the center back of the crown.

(c) Interweave Knits

The yarn called for is Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply/ Sport, our 45% silk, 55% superwash merino base. The sample here is shown worked up in the colourway 'deep chestnut' and at less than 1 skein to complete the hat, is a super quick and luxury knit. 

 

You can purchase your yarn to knit Envelope Hat here in the Fyberspates shop or at your local yarn store and don't forget to pick up your copy of Knit.Wear Fall/Winter 2013. 

 

Hitch Blog Tour

Just a quick announcement to make you aware that Fyberspates will be part of the 'Hitch' blog tour. There's some really interesting contributors and stops along the way. In case you want to catch them, here's all the stops:

5/10/2013: Knitting Kninja

7/10/2013: Herrlichkeiten

8/10/2013: Knit and Travel

9/10/2013: Knit & Knag Designs

10/10/2013: Wooly Wonka Fibers

11/10/2013: Verdant Gryphon

15/10/2013: Impeccable Knits: Shifting Stitches

16/10/2013: Rewolluzza

21/10/2013: Knitwear Designs by Carolyn Noyes

22/10/2013: Peacefully Knitting

23/10/2013: Dark Matter Knits

24/10/2013: Turnknit: Dani Berg Designs

25/10/2013: SweetGeorgia Yarns

28/10/2013: doviejay knits

29/10/2013: Triona Designs

30/10/2013: Tactile Fiber Arts

4/11/2013: A Knitter’s Life

5/11/2013: Catchloops

6/11/2013: Yarn On The House

7/11/2013: Ramblings

!! 9/11/2013: Fyberspates !!

12/11/2013: Hazel Knits

13/11/2013: Knitcircus

19/11/2013: indigodragonfly

22/11/2013: A B-ewe-tiful Design

25/11/2013: knittingkirigami

Eleven Hundred Dollars Sweater

We love patterns with a story and a sweater pattern dropped into our mailbox recently at Fyberspates HQ that had a whole film behind it. The Eleven Hundred Dollars Sweater, designed by Elanor King is part of the soon to be released Cooperative Press book ‘Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock' by Stephannie Tallen. In this dramatic collection, knitwear designers have taken inspiration from Hitchcock’s films to create some pretty film worthy knit wear. Whether you are planning a train ride to Mount Rushmore, a shopping excursion to a Bodega Bay bird shop, or simply a night peering out your rear window, this collection will keep you in the proper, stunning wardrobe for your Hitchcock adventures. We chatted with Elanor to find out about her favourite movie moments and what she enjoyed most about designing from this inspiration.

It seems we are not the only ones who are a little scared of Hitchcock’s fabulous ability to scare his audience. Elanor said ‘”Although horror and thriller movies terrify me to the point of hiding behind the sofa, I have been known to mute a Hitchcock film just to watch the gorgeous costumes by Edith Head. Rear Window is the movie that I took for my inspiration for Eleven Hundred Dollars - Grace Kelly has such feminine style in it. She wears deep V necks, lots of chiffon and her waist is so tiny! I've tried to incorporate some of these elements into the design: the sleeves are 3/4 length bishop style and in a mesh lace so there are hints of skin peeping through. The waist is emphasised by the deep waistband and geometric zig zags. The difference in ease between the band and the upper body (3") also enhances the wearer's shape. This is a top that would look great on a woman with curves (and that's not a euphemism!)”

What is really striking is Elanor’s attention to detail so it comes as no surprise that the pattern includes lots of interesting details and different techniques to keep a knitter’s interest when working the project. Elanor has captured a Lisa's character with her design as Lisa’s clothes in Rear Window are fabulous celebrations of femininity: cross-over tops, wispy, floaty material, teeny-tiny nipped-in waists. The geometric lines and princess seams flatter and curve the waist and the sleeves are a flirty knit mesh with lots of shape. When Lisa shows off her Paris dress to Jeff she tells him it’s “A steal at eleven hundred dollars”, thus giving us the name of the sweater.  

The sweater is worked from the bottom up then moves on to some interesting construction methods. The waistband is worked in the round to the crossover, then the body is worked flat and splits into back and fronts at the armholes. The sleeves are worked flat, top-down. There is a good range of sizes 30- 54 inches and is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 Ply / Sport Superwash.Scrumptious 4 ply Sport is a 45% silk, 55% superwash merino base with 400 yds / 365m per 100g skein. Of the yarn, Elanor said, “It's a fab yarn, giving gorgeous colour contrast and stitch definition in the mosaic stitch waistband. It ran very smoothly for me and thus worked up quickly, which is important in a 4-ply sweater! Also! It *ahem* withstood with grace a wee bit of frogging and re-knitting... I've been swatching lots of things in scrumptious since.  For the KAL in April, I think I'll join in and work up another version in navy and beige. Though I'd also love one in a Cornflower blue and Cream colourway; and Jen's green is my favourite colour.... so many choices!!!! One of each!”

We are so glad Elanor enjoyed the yarn and look forward to seeing more of her designs. This title is currently available for preorder from the Cooperative Press website, and will be released on September 27. Pre-orderers will receive two exclusive, bonus patterns: one for a cabled cowl and the other for a cloche. To get your own colour combinations of Scrumptious 4 ply, please visit our shop. Stay tuned for more news from the book as we are proud to be part of the ‘Hitch Blog Tour’ later in the year. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cerris

It is always a great day when the new season’s Twist Collective comes out and I’m sure we’re not the only ones who cease all work to pour over each new pattern. This time, the real icing on the cake was a stunning new shawl design by lace super designer Susanna IC using Scrumptious 4 ply sport. Once we had stopped gazing adoringly at the images, we got in contact with Susanna to tell us more about this yummy design and her crafting career to date.

 

(c) Jane Heller

After nine years in Europe, Susanna IC now lives in San Antonio with her husband, two sons, one guinea pig and countless balls of yarn.  She has an extensive background in studio arts and art history, which inspires much of her knitting. In addition to many online and print publications, such as Interweave Knits, Twist Collective, and Knitty, her projects and designs can be found on Ravelry, and on her website, www.ArtQualia.com.

 

The pattern itself is called Cerris and is a crescent shaped shawl worked from the scalloped lower edge to the top. It features a wide lace border worked with your choice of beads or bobbles, and a cabled centre section shaped with short rows. Quite frankly, we love it.

(c) Jane Heller

The feeling is apparently very mutual as Susanna really enjoyed Scrumptious yarn. Susanna described her process of working with Scrumptious as “a great experience”. She said, “the yarn has a wonderful stitch definition and does not split easily, which was important in creating the lace and cable textures.  The generous silk content gave the finished shawls beautiful sheen and drape, while the deep, rich colors (Cherry and Midnight) were perfect for the two Cerris samples and the autumn season.” Depending on the size of shawl (small or large), Susanna’s design requires 1 (2) skein(s) Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-Ply Sport which comes in 399 yd (365 m) per 100 g skein and is made up of a luscious 45% Silk, 55% Superwash Merino.

 

Susanna explained her inspiration for the shawl. “In autumn, I love taking long walks through the forests.  The air feels refreshing after the long, hot summer and I always find the changing colours of nature inspiring.  I wanted to create a large and cozy shawl; something to wrap around to keep warm as days get colder in autumn. Cables combined with lace seemed the perfect pairing for this project and this textured pattern reminded me of leaves falling from oak trees - I find the variety of oak leaf shapes with their wavy edges fascinating.  The shawl’s name comes directly from the original inspiration as well - ‘Cerris’ is one of the many oak species.”

 

You can find the Cerris pattern on Twist Collective here or on Ravelry here. Scrumptious 4 ply is currently in stock here at the shop. To keep up to date with new patterns in Fyberspates yarn, please come and join in the chatter on our Ravelry group or like our Facebook page. 

 

 

We've Been Nominated!

Exciting news! We've been nominated in TWO categories for the Lets Knit British Knitting Awards 2013.

It is such an honour to be chosen amongst such a select few as one of the best in British producers. We are entered for the 'Best Luxury Yarn Brand' and 'Best Independent Yarn Brand'. If you would like to check out the other fabulous yarnies nominated or vote (for us!) please visit the voting page here. Good luck to all the other nominees!

Vogue Knitting Magazine Features Scrumptious

... and one of our favourite designers.

This month saw the release of the Vogue Knitting Fall 2012 Issue which also happens to be an anniversary issue. It makes us feel extra special therefore that these lovely mittens are featured in Scrumptious yarn, designed by Lily Kate France. The Cabled Mittens are written for sizes Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, 1X,and 2X and we just love the gorgeous cables on them.

Vogue Knitting Fall 2012, photo by Rose Callahan

This knit requires 2 skeins of Scrumptious Aran and is shown here in the Teal colourway. Scrumptious Aran is a delicious blend of 45% Silk and 55% Merino and is available in skeins of 180 yards (165 meters) per 100g. To get knitting you must have mittens, visit our online shop here or check at your local yarn shop for stockists. 

Stop The Press!

Our lovely Jeni and the wonderful world of yarn dyeing is featured in the latest issue of Knit Now magazine, out this weekend for subscribers and hitting the shelves next week. The article can be found in Issue 13 and features stories of yarn dyeing, some top tips for the coming season and a special pattern using Sheila's Sock yarn.

Well done Jeni!

Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2012

We've spotted another lovely knit design using Scrumptious yarns and this time it's in the very prestigious Vogue Knitting Magazine. The issue is already released, Early Fall 2012, and is available from your local yarn shop or retailer and features a combination of 2 different weights of yarn to great effect.

Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2012, photo by Rose Callahan

The design is called the 'Fisherman Rib Scarf' and is designed by Christina Behnke. The scarf measures 8 inches wide by 63 inches long but would obviously be very easy to adapt. The thick sections of Behnke’s thick-and-thin banded fisherman’s rib scarf are created by holding together a strand of Scrumptious 4-Ply Sport and Scrumptious Lace. The wavy look is created by alternating two needles of different sizes and strategically placing increases and decreases.

To create your own Fisherman's Rib Scarf, you will need 1 skein of Scrumptious 4-Ply Sport Superwash and Scrumptious Lace. The sample is shown here in the 'Teal' colourway. Don't forget to check out the website or your local yarn store for some Scrumptious.