January SALE 2014

We're preparing to wind down for Christmas here at Fyberspates HQ but we just wanted to let you know that this year's January Sale is going to be spectacular! As always we'll be uploading loads of goodies on the 1st January 2014 for you to treat yourself to after so much hard work over the festive season. 

As well as our usual sale items of things like tangled and lucky dip yarns, we will also be featuring some pretty sweet discounts, exclusive yarns, a bundle of hands dyes that have not been featured for a while and more to help us get the hang of.... our NEW website! Yes, 2014 is shaping up to be pretty exciting indeed. For more information, keep an eye on Facebook, Twitter and the Ravelry group where Jeni will be popping up details as she prepares everything. 

Have a wonderful Holiday week everyone!

By Popular Demand

Wow!

The response to the sneak peek of Volume 3 of the Scrumptious Collection has been so huge that we couldn't resist sharing just a little bit more before we plough on with adding final touches to release preparations. Thank you for all the great responses and excitement that you've shown. It's nice to know that it's not just us who can't wait for this Volume to hit the shop! 

 

Here's some of our current favourite pictures making us smile as we eagerly wait for the first prints to arrive at Fyberspates HQ. It's honestly as bad as waiting for Father Christmas. Well.... almost!

Something New

Things are busy as ever here at Fyberspates as we wind down 2013 and get ready for some BIG things coming up in 2014. The first of which is going to be a brand new Scrumptious Collection!

We're busy plotting a release that will include a Blog and Podcast Tour, some giveaways and promotions and some knit-alongs. We're so excited! While we put the finishing touches on the Collection (and devour some more mince pies to fuel us through this month) here is a little sneak peek of what to expect.....

Keep your eyes peeled over the coming month as we'll be sharing little tasters both here, the Facebook page and our Ravelry group to make sure everyone is as excited as we are!

Colours of Shetland

(c) Kate Davies Designs

We are thrilled to be able to announce that Fyberspates are now the official distributors of 'Colours of Shetland' by Kate Davies across the US and Canada. Her dedication to sharing her passion for Real Wool as well as documenting textile history has made her a favourite amongst knitters and fibre artists; something we have long admired. Her design work has a cult following amongst knitters who are drawn to its' intricate Fair Isle and motifs that instantly bring Shetland to mind. It is a pleasure to be distributing such wonderful book. 

'Puffin', (c) Kate Davies Designs

With its beautiful photography, engaging writing, and signature hand-knit designs, Colours of Shetland will inspire you with the varied shades and hues of Britain’s most northerly isles. The book brings the creative process of hand-knit design to life in an exciting new way. In Colours of Shetland, Kate takes you on a northern journey, exploring wild and beautiful island landscapes through words, projects and pictures. Situated in the rich context of the Shetland places, wildlife, objects and people that have inspired Kate, each design in this book has its own engaging ‘colour story’ to tell.

'Stevenson Gauntlets & Sweater', (c) Kate Davies Designs

Through the pages of this book, you will get a taste of the heritage that makes Shetland one of the world’s most knitterly destinations, and be inspired to knit with yarn that has a genuine connection to the landscape in which it is produced. Showcasing Jamieson and Smith Jumper Weight, the flagship Shetland yarn with a marvellously varied palette, each project features the clear instructions and attention to detail that are hallmarks of Kate’s designs.

'Scatness Tam', (c) Kate Davies Designs

Alongside ten original patterns that are a joy to make and wear, Colours of Shetland offers the hand-knitter food for thought and a feast for the eyes.

 

To find out how to purchase or wholesale the publication, Colours of Shetland, please contact us at sales@fyberspatesusa.com.

Fyberspates USA

BIG news!

Up until now, Fyberspates Scrumptious range has been made available thanks to Lantern Moon, our distributors. While Lantern Moon have done a great job in getting our brand recognised Lantern Moon has decided to focus more on their core products, and in turn we have made the decision to go our separate ways. 

Gleem Lace, now available for wholesale

What is very exciting is that we are setting up our own distribution centre in the USA, which will start shipping out to stores directly from February 2014. All of our much loved Scrumptious range will be available, as well as Vivacious and Gleem wholesale lines for the first time in the USA!

Vivacious DK, now available for wholesale

As you can imagine, this is an extremely exciting time to set things up in a way that works best for us as distributors and also for our customers overseas. We are delighted to say that we have now put together a strong US team and are in the process of setting up a FyberspatesUSA website. This will provide information for retail customers, together with a shopping cart system for wholesale customers allowing you to place your orders online for prompt despatch.

Vivacious 4ply, now available for wholesale

If you would like to receive further details and digital shade cards of any of our wholesale yarns, please do not hesitate to contact us via the Fyberspates website, via our US based Sales Manager Sean.Larson01@gmail.com or sales@fyberspatesusa.com.

 

SourDough

It was over a year ago that another real passion of Jeni's began to leak into the Ravelry group, FOOD. After lots of chat on Twitter about the Sour Dough starter that she would be making, a Sour Dough along started in the Ravelry group, enabling baking and all kinds of chat about the perfect bready accompaniments. 

 

It's back! Chatter picked up again thanks to a brilliant cookbook that we're recommending you add to your wishlist if you're a serious bread fan. Dan Lepard is a baking genius and his books have taught many of us on Team Fyberspates where it is at when it comes to baking techniques. They just work, every.single.time. So the book that's got us all chatting again? The Handmade Loaf. 

Jeni popped back up on the thread last week and shared this picture of her potato bread bloomer made with a very different sourdough starter and got everyone back on the sourdough wagon- it's lush! Sour dough starters are a mixture of water, flour and natural yeasts which can last for years if kept fed and loved. It's what gives sourdough bread that distinctive twang and the name 'sour'. 

 

This starter however uses raisins and yoghurt which makes for some pretty lively starter thanks to the natural yeast in raisins, and the yogurt adding bacteria and acidity. We can't share the recipe here due to copyright but we can urge you to grab a copy and get baking this holiday season. 

 

Bon appetit!

The Yarn Bowls Are Back!

Currently in the shop but selling fast!

Our Hand crafted Ceramic Yarn Bowls are made by the potter next door to our studio, the inside is glazed and the outside has hand drawn motifs. There is a little slit for your yarn to pull through if you want to use it as a Yarn guide. Each one is slightly different, and will have an irregular shape, and that's part of the charm!

Each bowl is roughly 9 cm/3.5 inches high and 17 cm/6.5 inches in Diameter, perfect for a 100g/4oz ball of yarn. These would be the perfect gift for the knitter in your life this Christmas (or just selfishly rewarding yourself for being fabulous.... ahem). 

There are nine designs to choose from: Bees, ladybirds, dragonflies, trees owls, bunnies, kitties, seahorses, beach hut, and dandelions. Go catch one in the shop now!

Boo Humbug!

A few days ago noticed a high volume of Fyberspates Faery Wings 4ply flying out the shop like some kind of frenzy, only to discover the cause: The Boo Knits seasonal Mystery KAL! If you haven't discovered Boo Knits and are a lace fan, we'd highly recommend perusing her patterns.

 

Boo Knits personal motto is "Maximum Impact with Minimum Stress" and so aims to produce patterns that are quick to knit, easy to knit and yet look as though they really must be much more complicated! With the Boo Humbug Advent Scarf KAL, there is the promise of another fun but stunning knit.

The scarf has been designed as an ‘Advent shawl’. That does not mean that it is Christmassy, patchwork-like or a series of unrelated patterns lumped together but it flows beautifully and can be worn whatever the season depending on your chosen yarn. There is definitely no holly, berries, baubles, nativity scenes, reindeer or tinsel here - just a scarf for you to knit for you during the most giving season of the year. Just a little selfishness!

Designed with sport-weight in mind, the pattern affords enough flexibility that as long as you allow for your yardage and needles there is no reason why you could not knit it in a lighter, or even heavier, weight yarn. If you are following the pattern's suggestions for yarn, you will need 2 skeins of Fyberspates Faery Wings our 67% Silk, 23% Kid Mohair, and 10% Nylon base, 550 beads and size 3.75 mm, 4mm and 4.5mm needles. The pattern is charted and contains full written instructions.

The first clue will be released on 1st December - the biggest clue and the centre of your scarf. The following clues will be your pattern blocks, one for each end; these will be released on the 8th, 12th, 15th and the final clue will be out on 19th December giving you the opportunity to wear your new scarf on Christmas Day or be able to gift it to a loved one. 

To join in the fun and get your copy of the pattern, click here and to purchase suitable yarn, please visit the shop which has just been restocked!

'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!

October KAL Finisher's Parade!

We had some yummy entries for our October KAL over on the Ravelry group and just had to share the results. It may have led to some serious enabling for all of us because the chatter about the different bases and knitting experience was very, very tempting! Isn't that what a KAL is all about though? Sharing our crafting experiences? 

(c) Dominey

First up is Dominey's beaded Knit Night version. Dominey worked her shawl up using Rural Charm 4ply BFL Silk Chashmere, a really popular luxury base. This yarn is gorgeous as it has a wonderful texture, soft, but yet with the bounce of Blue Faced Leicester for a wonderful knitting experience. The colourway used here is called 'Tropical' and the beads she chose match the colourway perfectly. Great work Dominey!

(c) RachRoss

Then came RachRoss' version in Scrumptious 4ply 'Dandelion and Burdock' colourway. We love the pattern notes about how much this scarf grew with a good blocking- gotta love that 45% silk content!

(c) Yarn-Artz

Next up we have Yarn-Artz's Knit Night shawl that she knit in one weekend while holidaying on a narrow boat. How's that for a holiday souvenir? This version was worked up without beads but with eyelets on both sides of the scarf. We are loving how versatile Louise's pattern is! The yarn is Vivacious 4ply, our wonderful high twist Superwash Merino in the 'Mixed Magentas' colourway. 

(c) YorkshireJules

YorkshireJules' version was another Knit Night without any beads but also wthout the eyelet borders too. We were particularly excited about this one as it was worked up using our latest Twizzle Silk base in the 'Rich Plum' colourway. Can you believe that this was a first attempt at knitting to a pattern, knitting with fingering weight yarn, and knitting on circulars? We couldn't either- well done YorkshireJules!

(c) Flowerpotsmum

Nipping in just in time for the deadline was Flowerpotsmum with her nonbeaded, no eyelet Knit Night shawl. This is another Twizzle Silk version in the 'Aubergine' colourway. We think the 70% Merino and 30% Silk Singles base is just perfect for squishy garter stitch projects that drape lovingly around your neck. 

 

Want to be part of this month's parade? Come and join in our hat KAL. Go on, you know you want to!

October KAL Finisher's Parade!

We had some yummy entries for our October KAL over on the Ravelry group and just had to share the results. It may have led to some serious enabling for all of us because the chatter about the different bases and knitting experience was very, very tempting! Isn't that what a KAL is all about though? Sharing our crafting experiences? 

(c) Dominey

First up is Dominey's beaded Knit Night version. Dominey worked her shawl up using Rural Charm 4ply BFL Silk Chashmere, a really popular luxury base. This yarn is gorgeous as it has a wonderful texture, soft, but yet with the bounce of Blue Faced Leicester for a wonderful knitting experience. The colourway used here is called 'Tropical' and the beads she chose match the colourway perfectly. Great work Dominey!

(c) RachRoss

Then came RachRoss' version in Scrumptious 4ply 'Dandelion and Burdock' colourway, part of the unique handdyes range. We love the pattern notes about how much this scarf grew with a good blocking- gotta love that silk content!

(c) Yarn-Artz

Next up we have Yarn-Artz's Knit Night shawl that she knit in one weekend while holidaying on a narrow boat. How's that for a holiday souvenir? This version was worked up without beads but with eyelets on both sides of the scarf. We are loving how versatile Louise's pattern is! The yarn is Vivacious 4ply, our wonderful high twist Superwash Merino in the 'Mixed Magentas' colourway. 

(c) YorkshireJules

YorkshireJules' version was another Knit Night without any beads but also wthout the eyelet borders too. We were particularly excited about this one as it was worked up using our latest Twizzle Silk base in the 'Rich Plum' colourway. Can you believe that this was a first attempt at knitting to a pattern, knitting with fingering weight yarn, and knitting on circulars? We couldn't either- well done YorkshireJules!

(c) Flowerpotsmum

Nipping in just in time for the deadline was Flowerpotsmum with her nonbeaded, no eyelet Knit Night shawl. This is another Twizzle Silk version in the 'Aubergine' colourway. We think the 70% Merino and 30% Silk Singles base is just perfect for squishy garter stitch projects that drape lovingly around your neck. 

 

Want to be part of this month's parade? Come and join in our hat KAL. Go on, you know you want to!

Next Month's KAL

We've had a lovely time knitting along with each other in the Fyberspates group on Ravelry and there's some gorgeous FOs already (more on those later). There's still time to enter if you haven't aleady though so get kniting!

 

To give you a chance to prepare yourself and your stash for next month's KAL, here's what we'll be creating in Fyberspates yarn: a choice of two hat patterns from the very lovely Buttons and Beeswax. You can choose from either Autumn Gold or Gwithian for your chance to win a skein of Vivacious DK. You could knit both of course as double entries are allowed (heck, multiple entries if you're that speedy)!

 

(c) ButtonsandBeeswax

Autumn Gold is a lightweight, 4 ply lace hat, great for Fall and Spring when there’s a slight chill in the air. For those of you looking for more of a shorter, beanie style hat, there is an option to start decreasing early. The hat is knit in the round, and instructions are provided written and charted for both right handed knitters and left handed mirror knitters.

 

Autumn Gold requires one skein of our fingering base, Rural Charm BFL Silk Cashmere. This 100g skein is made up of 70% Blue Faced Leceister, 20% Silk and 10% Cashmere with a yardage of 439 yards. It benefits from the sheen of silk, the softness of cashmere and the strength of BFL to give great definition. Lucky for you there's currently some in stock!

 

(c) The Knitter Magazine

Those after a quicker knit could choose Gwithian, a sunburst pattern in a gloriously rich yellow colour is guaranteed to put a smile on your face every time you see this hat! The lace pattern is worked in a DK-weight merino yarn from Fyberspates, called Vivacious, which provides excellent stitch definition. The pattern is written for three sizes so could be a great choice for getting ahead with the gift knitting. See? We think of everything!

 

 

Vivacious DK in Deep Aqua

This hat calls for one skein of Vivacious DK, our bouncy 100% Superwash Merino base. This skein comes with a yardage of 251 yards per 115g skein and guess what? The Merino is suishably soft next to the skin for a non itchy brim and with all this bad weather, it's good to know it's superwash. It's in stock now too!

 

 

There will be more more updates in the group about discount codes, where to get your patterns and of course, lots of chatter so please come and cast on with us on 1st November 2013.  

 

Woolly's Mystery KAL 2013

Are you a Hat addict? Are you into one skein wonders? Is it time for a little mystery? Christmas knitting leaving you uninspired? 

WE HAVE THE ANSWER! The Woolly Wormhead 6th Annual Mystery Hat-a-long!

The Knit-A-Long will be based in the Ravelry group and you can find the relevant thread here for discussion of the pattern. Instalment update notifications will be sent out via email on the following dates: 1st November (1st), 9th November (2nd), 17th November (3rd). The final pattern will be released 27th November.

Although the final hat is a mystery, there are some clues..... The style of this Hat has some flexibility - on one hand, it may remind you of Camden Cap, and on another, it may remind you of Limpetiole. Throughout the pattern options will be provided to tailor the Hat to your style, and there will also one or two elements to the design that won’t be included in the final pattern!

This pattern would benefit from a solid or semi-solid yarn. Something with a bit of bounce would be ideal. The suggested yarn is, in fact, Vivacious DK, the lovely bouncy 100% Superwash Merino base. It's in stock now!

Vivacious DK in 'Spiced Plums'

Pattern support is provided on the forum in the Wormheads Hats group, and anyone new to a Mystery KAL will be offered guidance and help. Any specialist techniques will be discussed, and PDF tutorials will be available, as always. Below is a list of skills needed, and even if they are new to you, there will be plenty of knitters to guide you through.

Skills: 
Knit & purl stitches 
Knitting in the round 
Increase and decrease technqiues 
Twisted stitches 
Travelling stitches 
Provisional cast-on 
Joining live stitches 
Short rows

Sizes: 
To fit sizes: 18 (20, 22, 24) in/ 45.75 (50.75,56, 61) cm 
Finished sizes: 16.25 (18.25, 20, 21.75) in/ 41.25 (46.25, 50.75, 55.25) cm

Yardage: 
Swatch: 33yd/31m for the swatch for a 6in x 6in swatch on 4mm needles 
Hat: 158 (196, 228, 266) yd/145 (180, 209, 244) m

We're in. Are you?

 

New Colours

We have just had our first batch of new colours arrive and they're perfect. Want to take a look?

 

Scrumptious Lace in Loganberry

 

Scrumptious Lace in Seaspray

Both are available in Scrumptious lace, our luxury 55% Merino and 45% Silk base. We're also of the opinion that these work particularly well together and see some fabulous stripes and motifs this season. What do you think?

Peacock on a Walk

It's not just knitting patterns in Fyberspates yarn landing in our inbox that makes us drool, we love crochet too. This new pattern caused quite a stir recently as we think the creator is one talented lady. Lena Fedotova is a knitting and crochet designer from Ukraine, traveling around the world in an old wooden boat. She currently stays anchored in Montenegro. Her latest design, Peacock on a Walk is typical of her designs that are textured and interesting to look at as well as create. 

(c) Ravliki

Made with gorgeous Gleem Lace yarn, Peacock on a Walk can be a scarf or a stole, depending of how many inner pattern repeats are worked. It is crocheted bottom up in one piece and can be made to any length. The lace border repeats (“feathers”) are added as you go. The scarf is easy and fun to make, but assumes at least an intermediate crochet skill level because of its construction, use of post stitches and a rather unusual method of creating picot. However, once you get the pattern, you will sail through this project.

(c) Ravliki

Gleem Lace is 55% Bluefaced Leicester and silk, and is available in 874 yards (799 meters) per 100g skeins. It comes in 12 stunning colours and is gorgeously shiny, giving a luxurious fabric for beautiful textured stitches found in this scarf. To get your skein please visit the Fyberspates shop or check with your local yarn store. 

 

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. 

 

Delayed Socks

Sometimes, when you're chattering on Ravelry or Twitter about your latest knitting WIPs or FOs you suddenly realise that you didn't share some good news. We absolutely had one of those moments recently when our lovely friend and Fyberspates Team Member, Jen AC, shared a picture of her Budleigh Socks in Vivacious 4ply. There was a panicked moment of 'did we tell everyone about THAT book from THAT designer?!?!?!' 

Jen AC's Budleigh Socks

What now follows is a post all about the talented Rachel Coopey aka Coopknits and her gorgeous book Coop Knits Socks. Coop Knits Socks is recent publication featuring 10 of Rachel’s original sock designs. These well-written patterns are accompanied by exquisite photography by Jesse Wilde, as well as step-by-step tutorials for techniques such as Kitchener Stitch and Afterthought Heels. There are even some rather lovely models that you might recognise.....

 

(c) Jesse Wild

Each design is beautifully balanced and well thought-out, giving both experienced and novice knitters the chance to create socks that are beautiful and wearable, while being enormously enjoyable to knit. Many of the clearly written patterns use a variety of skills, including cabling, grafting, lace and twisted stitches and provide a great opportunity to try out new stitch patterns.

 

(c) Jesse Wild

Within the book there are 3 designs featuring Fyberspates yarns. There is Willowherb, knit in Vivacious 4ply in the amazing 'Mixed Magentas' colourway. This slightly variegated colourway is a wonderful velvety colour that really showcases the non-uniform petals combined in this lace and twisted stitch pattern.

 

(c) Jesse Wild

Also in Vivacious 4 ply is Dawlish, with bold lines of cables and twisted stitches that were inspired by the shapes and colours of marker buoys bobbing on the water. This bright and fresh colourway is appropriately called 'Sunshine' and is perfect for really making the cables pop. 

(c) Jesse Wild

Then there is Brighton, knee-high socks that are just so fun and so stylish! Knit with Sheila's Sock, these bright and cheerful knee-high socks start with a ribbed cuff before leading to bands of stranded colourwork in bold geometric patterns. For those of us who are slightly daunted by the idea of knee high colourwork socks, there are instructions given for a shorter, mid-calf length version too.  

 

Jeni on a rather cold beach in Shetland, modelling for Coop Knits Socks!

We love Coop Knits Socks and hope you do too. You can get hold of your copy of this fab book here and of course, check out the Fyberspates shop to get your sock yarns to work your way through the book!

New! Yarn Bowls

These are absolutely gorgeous and we're thrilled with them and the reaction so far when we announced them on the Ravelry group and Facebook. We received our first test batch last week and they're coming to Ally Pally for some feedback so stop by and grab one and let us know what you think (we're at stand stand B31).

The yarn bowls are completely hand-made at Salamander Arts, a studio right next door to Fyberspates HQ. These bowls are uniquely created for Fyberspates to create a bowl that will display your yarn as well as keep it safe while you knit your latest creation.  Julie, the creator, makes her own plaster moulds and then slip-casts the bowls using porcelain slip (liquid porcelain.)  When they are completey dry they are sprayed with two colours of underglaze (a sort of paint for ceramics) – jade and leaf green to make a turquoise shade. They are then ‘biscuit’ fired to about 1040 degrees. Julie then hand-draws all the designs on and glaze the inside with a clear glaze to give a smooth, gloss finish.  The bowls are then fired again to about 1200 degrees. This lengthy process gives the unique finish you can see and makes the yarn bowls perfectly formed for your knitting needs. 

It was wonderful colaborating with Julie to agree the perfect finish, size etc for a yarn bowl and we're thrilled with the result. You can find Salamander Arts on Facebook and we are hoping there will be more bowls to come very soon!

Autumn Whispers

It's getting a little chillier and while the nights are drawing in, the daytime isn't quite so chilly that we need thick woollens (yet). So in the meantime, that means lighter weight garments take front row in our daily wardrobe and just in time, Carol Feller has published this great cardigan design. 

 

(c) LittleFellers

Autumn Whispers is knit from the top down using the contiguous method of shoulder shaping, this cardigan is lightweight and elegant. Knit with Vivacious 4 ply which is our High twist superwash 100% merino wool yarn, this cardigan can be knit with from either a short or ¾ length sleeve to create a look just for you.

 

 

(c) LittleFellers

Carol worked this sample up in the 'Copper Tones' colourway which is perfect Autumn colours. The Vivacious 4 ply is ideally suited for these fine structured knits as Merino is a naturally strong yet soft fibre next to the skin and has a beautiful hand across the fabric. Merino has the natural characteristic of working up into a breathable fabric for those last rays of summer that suddenly make an office hot and stuffy but can also warm and insulate for the crisp autumnal mornings. 

 

 

(c) LittleFellers

Autumn Whispers is available in multiple sizes starting from 16"(finished back width at bust) through to 27.75” and the smallest, short sleeve size only takes 2 skeins of Vivacious 4 ply. So grab your yarn here, a copy of the pattern and get knitting as we think this simple but satisfying knit will work up really fast to give you a garment ready to wear this Autumn.