I’m still trying to figure out what is the best way for me to communicate with you and deep down in my heart I want it to be the blog. I’m considering all sorts of options. Our newsletter will always be active, but what about Patreon? Substack? Youtube? Instagram feels like it’s on the brink of collapse… for now I’ve decided to post yesterday’s newsletter as a permanent blog post in case you want to reference any of the pattern suggestions or browse the links. Not that you can’t already do that from the newsletter in your email but… like I said, still trying to figure out what makes the most sense! Crazy times. If you have any thoughts about how/where you’d like to keep up with TFA news, don’t hesitate to leave a comment letting me know!
🇨🇦 Grassland Sport, our 100% Canadian grown, milled and dyed yarn, will be restocked on Friday at 9am ET! 🇨🇦
This yarn is truly special and pretty unique in the hand dyed yarn landscape. Sourcing a 100% Canadian yarn, that has the qualities that my customers and I enjoy, has been a very long road! Since starting TFA in 2007 I have always sourced my base yarns from Canadian manufacturers, but though our yarns have always been “spun in Canada” they haven’t been grown in Canada. When I was able to get my hands on this fantastic base last fall I was (and remain!) absolutely thrilled.
This yarn is a mix of Corriedale and Targhee wool, which create a beautifully soft, plump and slightly rustic in appearance wool yarn. It’s perfect for stripes, cables, lace, colourwork. Honestly it’s just so versatile.
Oblique knit in Grassland Sport. Pattern by Emily Green.
Swatching with Grassland Sport. Wearing my Fleetwood sweater!
Because this beautiful yarn is available in limited quantities (a small manufacturer needs to manage their production very carefully) I have been treating this yarn as the precious gem that it is in my collection and have so far only knit myself 1 garment in it. I knit Oblique by Emily Greene and it was the perfect first project. I’m itching to cast on for a new design in our Grassland Sport, I’ve even swatched some ideas! It’s high on my list of priorities for this Winter/Spring season.
Incase you aren’t sure what you’d like to make with it, I’ve pulled a few suggestions for you below. The inspiration is endless! I did a quick search on Ravelry for patterns knit using Sport weight yarn and then picked a few that caught my eye to highlight for you, but this is by no means an exhaustive list! You can tell that I have a fondness for stripes. LOL.
top row: Sporty Stripy Raglan by Heidi Kirrmaier, Eri by Isabelle Kramer, Aimée Cardigan by Joji Locatelli.
middle row: Missoni Accomplished by Espace Tricot, Drawing Sweater by Tomomi Yoshimoto, Autumn Alpine by Caitlin Hunter.
bottom row: STRIPES! by Andrea Mowry, Artus by Natasja Hornby, Tulip by Melody Hoffman.
All of the Grassland Sport in Friday’s update will be ready to ship. We are working under very strange circumstances these days with the threat of tariffs always looming. We’ve been given a 30 day reprieve and will be shipping as quickly as we can. Canadian orders won’t be affected at all and hopefully given the tariff delay, US orders won’t be affected either.
A few random things before signing off:
Here is a really interesting read with lots of informative links from Anna at Longway Homestead about the Canadian wool industry.
I canceled my Amazon Prime account this week. I will now be shopping exclusively at Canadian Tire - it’s honestly kind of amazing.
I blogged last week!
If you want to learn more about our Grassland Sport yarn we did a whole video about it here.
My Cambridge Vest - V-neck edition is almost ready for you!
Thanks for being here. xo ~ Tanis