Today is the day my friends! I am beyond excited to announce this year's TFA Holiday Gift Bundle! I've done things slightly differently this year in that I've set it up as a pre-order item. That just means that you can order it any time between now and when it sells out (I've got loads, don't worry!) but they won't start shipping until around the first week of December. Basically it's just more practical for me to bundle the shipping as much as possible, so, hopefully this system works for you too.
OK, so let's get down to the knitty gritty shall we? This year's bundle is cool. I love it! I don't know what to talk about first... how about we start with the yarn? That's actually the last thing that came together for this bundle. I had all the other elements and we kept experimenting with colourways and nothing felt right. I'd put all the items together and then I'd look at Chris and I'd yell: "MORE FESTIVE!!!" This year's bundle is truly festive. Like, literally snowflakes and ornaments and mittens and Christmas lights festive. The colourway had to tie it all together, and friends, I really think that it does! Dyed on our Cosmic Blue Label fingering weight base (sparkles = festive!) we dyed up a colourway that captures all the colours of vintage Christmas lights and in honour of that we've called it Tannenbaum. This is what the greenery on the outside of my house looks like around the holidays. This is the holidays embodied in a sparkly skein and I LOVE it!
Of course we've got the annual TFA Calendar included in the bundle and this year's tote bag, which I'm very proud of Chris for designing. We brainstormed quite a bit before coming up with this design idea. It's fun and knitterly and wintery and when I attempted the design myself it was a total flop. I was ready to move on but Chris decided to give it a go on his own and the results are stunning, it's exactly what I wanted! Kudos to Chris for having mad skills. ;) As far as tote bags go this one is a goodie. It's 100% certified organic cotton, it's big enough without being too big (15 x 14 x 3") it has a gusseted bottom so it can sit up straight AND it has a zipper! The zipper is the kicker for me. I'm going to get a lot of use out of this tote.
And finally we have the wee gems that make this bundle truly special. The little extras that will make you squeal when you open your box. A beautiful wood ornament featuring a custom watercolour print of my Snowfling Mittens designed and handmade by Wild Canary Studio. The ornament is exclusive to the bundle and it's very special. Amy, the artist behind Wild Canary Studio, is a friend of mine from way back in my art school days. I'm a big fan of her work and follow her closely on Instagram (you should too!) and earlier this fall she posted about her wooden ornaments and dared any Christmas keeners to start their Christmas shopping early! Well, I'm nothing if not a Christmas keener so I immediately bought a set of ornaments and when they arrived I did exactly what I'm predicting you're going to do when you open your bundles, I squealed and clapped and called my mom. I reached out to her with the idea of collaborating on an ornament for the bundle and not only was she game, she was amazing to work with. She painted a custom watercolour of the mitts and produced all the ornaments I needed incredibly quickly. She's a good egg and I will treasure my Snowfling ornament for years to come.
And last but not least, I have ventured into a new territory of design and I think I may have fallen in love. Enamel pins. They have been all the rage for a few years now and I don't know why it's taken me so long to jump on the bandwagon but I am now very firmly on it. I've got 2 designs in the shop right now and plan on adding more as inspiration strikes. Keeping with the Snowfling theme this bundle includes an enamel pin design based on my mittens (again, thanks to Chris for the design work!). Spruce up your knitting bag, your jean jacket, your lunch box, heck, spruce up your life with these fun new pins!
So, there you have it gang, the 2017 Holiday Gift Bundle. Your Christmas wish list is now complete. You are welcome. :)