I learnt a new trick!

Pattern: Flax by tincanknits.

Yarn: Variety of TFA worsted weight yarns in: Chartreuse, Mint, Lucky Penny, Retro and Gold.

Ravelry Project page here.

I’ll never tire of scrappy sweaters. I seem to only knit tiny scrappy sweaters but I’m making it my mission to change that this winter. A Tanis sized scrappy sweater is definitely in the works! So, the super cool thing about this sweater, other than the fun colours obviously, is the fact that I learnt a new knitting trick while making this one! I tried a new way of dealing with the inevitable holes that you get in the underarms when knitting sweaters from the top down. Suzanne Bryan’s tutorial Avoiding Holes at Underarms is a game changer. It’s essentially what I’ve been doing all along, but much more clearly explained than I’ve ever managed to do in a blog post. Watch the video, try the technique the next time you’re picking up sleeve stitches, and thank me later. :)

Five things

I finally updated the TFA Star Kit listing to feature actual finished shots of the blanket. Pretty right!? If it’s sold out now that means we’re already busy making more. I’ll keep restocking as frequently as I can so check back often!

Up to our eyeballs in Metropolis orders and not the least bit mad about it. The Dyed-To-Order Update orders (how many times can I write the word “order” in this caption?) are almost all out the door.

We’re doing a Metropolis KAL over in the Ravelry group. Check it out here! Also, this is the spookiest photo you’ll find of me… if you look closely there is a spiderweb in between the bars in the top left corner. Spooooooky!

We made these cinnamon rolls over the weekend and they were amazing! I thought that we might not get through them because they are so decadent, but we totally polished them off by the afternoon.

This was the scene in my bedroom when I was putting away my knit samples after Knit City. My samples are actually just my wardrobe and it is definitely very wooly!

Five Things

Don’t forget that today is the last day to order from our Metropolis Dyed-To-Order Update! The Metropolis listing will come down at 8pm tonight.

As you may know, Chris and I traveled across the country last weekend to participate in our first knitting event in 7 years and our first ever Knit City. Logistically it was more than I’m used to but once we wrapped our minds around shipping a pallet to a logistics company and paying all the extra material handling fees etc. it turned out to be not so bad after all. I wouldn’t want to do it all again next week, but next year? I could totally handle that. The Knit City experience was profoundly positive. The vibe of the show was so supportive and friendly. I was nervous going into it, but the experience was one for the books.

Something that I wasn’t expecting was just how great it was to see all of our yarns set out on shelves like this. Since we work from home and do not have nearly enough space to properly display all of our inventory I never get to see it like this. It made me proud to look around and see our booth looking so cheerful. It definitely makes me yearn for a little shop front that we could have permanently set up.

Here are a few pics from the weekend plus a new knitting kit I’m coveting.

Chris workin’ the booth! I love seeing all of our yarns displayed like this. It’s a wee bit crowded but… SO MUCH COLOUR!

Chris again… workin’ the booth. He really came into his own last weekend and embraced being part of the dynamic duo that makes up Tanis Fiber Arts. He’s enjoyed his role behind the scenes up until now but I think that the Knit City experience helped him come out of his shell, which is very exciting for me.

The Love Note Sweater by Tin Can Knits was a show favourite. This group shot was awesome! We’ve got Love Note kits for sale here.

Now that we’re back home it’s time to unpack all the samples! It was pretty cool to see so many of my hand knits hung up around the booth. Maybe I need to start hanging them up around my house like art? Also, DANG I’ve got a lot of colourful knits!

Speaking of knitted art… How awesome is this new pattern from Stephanie Earp!? Yoke O’Clock is my new favourite thing ever. She’s selling kits with all the hardware on her website. Run don’t walk!

Metropolis - A Dyed To Order Update

After a whirlwind weekend in Vancouver for Knit City we are back home and back to work! Metropolis was a runaway hit, I didn’t bring nearly enough of it and we sold out way earlier than I had thought we would. I’m thrilled that you like it as much as we do and I can’t wait to see all of your Metropolis knits! So, without further ado…

We are having a Metropolis Dyed-To-Order Update RIGHT NOW! Metropolis is available in loads of bases + a custom 5 Skein Fade for the entire week!

The beauty of Metropolis is that it hits that sweet spot of being a super fun and dynamic speckle while at the same time being kind of a neutral. How is that even possible!? It pairs beautifully with so many of our tonal colourways, as illustrated in the lovely collage I’ve put together for you below. :)

Clockwise from top left: Tartan, Caramel, Brick, Garnet, Plum, Fig, Cloak, Slate, Aurora, Ravine, Teal, Hunter.

It would be amazing as the main colour in a colourwork sweater like Crazyheart with any of those gorgeous jewel tones as the contrast shade(s). Or how about knit in stripes in a Duochrome or Seaboard Sweater? And of course we all know it looks fab all on it’s own like in the Metropolis Sweater.

As part of this update I’ve also put together a custom set of Metropolis 5 Skein Fades. As you can probably tell, I’ve had a lot of fun prepping for the launch of this colourway. I’ve been playing around with colours and have been reminded of why I love doing what I do! it’s all about the colour and the combos and the squishing of the yarn and the joy that I get from all of it! For the millionth time THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to do this.

xox Tanis

Five Things - Metropolis edition!

We’re at Knit City in Vancouver this weekend! It’s a very big deal for us to be travelling across the country for a show. We’ve never been away from the kids for this long (4 nights!) and though I’m going to miss them like crazy I’m excited about the adventure! Wish us luck and please come by our booth (#359!) and say hi if you’re attending!

This week has been all about those last minutes touches as we prepped like crazy to make sure we’re ready. Fingers crossed I haven’t missed anything too major. I launched my new free Metropolis Sweater pattern earlier in the week and am excited to see projects popping up on Ravelry for it already. Woohoo!

As soon as we get back from Vancouver we are planning a Metropolis Dyed-To-Order update. Mark your calenders for Tuesday, October 8th! I’ll send out a newsletter with all the details. We’ll have Metropolis in lots the bases. it’s guaranteed to be fun.

We all know I’m excited about the Metropolis colourway and it will be making it’s debut at Knit City. We’ve brought loads in lots of different bases. Can’t wait to see what you knit with it.

We’ve also put together a new 5 Skein Fade built around the Metropolis colourway. From left to right the colourways are: Capital, Metropolis, Museam, Jam Jam, Downtown.

Metropolis in the making.

The September Hat by yellowcosmo knit in PureWash Worsted Metropolis.

Metropolis sweater close up. YES to those speckles!!!!

Badass Knitter

Chris’ TFA sweater knit in PureWash Worsted in Charcoal and Natural.

Guys, would you just look at this gorgeous man who knit himself this incredibly badass sweater!? He’s a total rock star in my books. He had a very specific concept in mind with this sweater design - and yes, he designed the entire sweater himself! He spent the summer working out the text fonts on a beading app he downloaded to his phone and I really think that he has a gift for charting out fonts. Look how crisp and clean yet super interesting all his different text styles are! It’s a gift.

He knit this sweater in pieces and then seamed it (ok, full disclosure, I seamed it because I love mattress stitch, but he totally could have). Knitting it flat made all that intarsia colourwork possible and also means that the seams add a nice amount of stability to an adult garment like this. Chris finds that his sweaters tend to grow in length as he wears them. I think that seams are the way to go for him. We used the Flax pattern by Tin Can Knits as a starting point for the stitch counts.

I’m so proud of Chris for tackling this ambitious knit. When he told me what he was planning to do, I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t entirely supportive. I thought that he was biting off more than he could chew, that he wasn’t ready for intarsia, that there was a good chance it didn’t work out. It felt like a lot of work to center all those different motifs. But MAN am I glad that he ignored my exasperated sighs and just went for it! It taught me a really valuable lesson, ok, two lessons.

#1: Never underestimate Chris.

#2: Don’t overthink it! The more you learn about a craft the more you learn about “right” and “wrong” ways to do things and those limitations that we put on ourselves can be crippling. Chris came into this project with no pre-conceived notions about how it was “supposed” to be done - he just had an idea and made it happen in whatever way worked best for him. Even though I try to fight against it, I know that I suffer from self-imposed knitting “rules”. Watching Chris work through this sweater and having conversations with him where I would say “well, you can’t do that in a sweater” and he would say “why not?” and then I would have to concede that there was no good reason why he couldn’t do whatever the heck he wanted was a welcome wake up call!

Chris is a rockstar and I love his new sweater. He also knit his hat! In case anyone was worried that we might lose Chris in a snowstorm this winter, fear not, there is zero chance of that happening with this shining beacon of a hat on his head. His hat is the Roku hat pattern by Olga Buraya-Kefelian and it’s such a great beanie.

Knit something adventurous this year! The world needs more badass knitters.

Metropolis

Introducing my newest pattern Metropolis. Metropolis is available as a free Ravelry download.

The Metropolis colourway will be making it’s debut at Knit City in Vancouver on October 5th and I’ll have a Dyed-To-Order Metropolis update on Tuesday October 8th.

What could possibly be cozier than a simple, chunky sweater with generous ribbing and a turtleneck that dreams are made of!? I fell in love with this colourway and knew I wanted something simple yet spectacular to let it shine in a garment. If you need me, I’ll be the one walking around on perfect fall days snug as a bug in a rug in my ultimate chunky sweater!

This year I have developed a renewed love for simple, classic shapes and patterns. Wether it’s a fool proof sock pattern or a classic beanie, I’m always on the lookout for my new go-to pattern. That type of straight forward construction and classic wearability is exactly what I was aiming for with this sweater design. Though I happen to be obsessed with our new Metropolis colourway I think that this sweater would be equally beautiful knit in a solid or tonal colourway. The chunky gauge makes the knitting fast and fun. It’s knit from the top down in one piece. There are a few short rows to lower the front neckline a smidge and the turtleneck is worked at the end from picked up stitches around the neckline. It could easily be modified to be a crew-neck if (gasp!) turtlenecks aren’t your thing. I opted for a generous amount of ribbing on both the body and sleeves but that would be an easy mod as well - adjust it as much as you like! That’s the beauty of simple, straight forward patterns like this, they are prime candidates for customization! 

We developed the Metropolis colourway to debut at Knit City this year. It’s our first big show in 7 years and our first ever cross country show and we definitely needed something extra special to bring with us. It reads as grey but has so much going on! It’s a fun one for sure and I’ll be posting more about it soon. It will be making it’s debut at Knit City this coming weekend and for all of you who can’t make it fear not! We will be doing a Dyed-To_order Metropolis update on Tuesday Oct. 8th so you can knit all the Mtropolis knits your heart desires!

It’s sweater weather, let’s make the most of it!!!

Aqua Love Note

Due to popular demand I’ve gone ahead and put up a listing for Love Note Sweater Kits! I will be adding more colour combos as I can. Such a great knit!

Um… Can you tell that I’m happy with my sweater?

Pattern: Love Note by tincanknits.

Yarn: TFA PureWash Fingering in Atlas and TFA Lace weight Mohair in Speckled Iris.

Ravelry Project page here.

I knit myself a Love Note sweater and my life will never be the same! This is the first fingering weight + mohair sweater that I have worn (I have a pair of mitts, a hat and another sweater all knit with 1 strand of fingering weight held together with 1 strand of mohair but I haven’t had the chance to wear them out yet really) and it is a game changer! Here is what I love about it:

1) The fabric is incredibly lightweight, airy and flowy yet somehow still warm and cozy. It’s heavenly. This is knit on 6mm needles at a pretty loose gauge and I love it.

2) Holding 1 strand of fingering weight in a speckled colourway with 1 strand of mohair in a complementary speckled colourway creates a watercolour effect. The new colourway that is born by combining the 2 strands is magical. It has movement and layers and seems to glow from within. I love knitting with speckles because every stitch is a different colour and when you add in a strand of mohair it takes the whole experience up a notch! Also of note - adding in a fuzzy strand of mohair has a way of toning down a bright or intense colourway, making it infinitely more wearable. I have loved our Atlas colourway since the very first batch we dyed but couldn’t see myself wearing an entire sweater in it until I mellowed it out a bit with the mohair.

3) The shape of this sweater is just so easy to wear and flattering. I knit the longer version (there is a cropped option given in the pattern as well). I may have added even more length than the pattern called for - I kept trying it on and adjusted the length so my sweater would hit right at the top of my high waisted jeans. I’m thrilled with the length and always love a high-low hem. Though I am petite I have a long torso. Every body is beautiful and unique and making my own clothes lets me customize the fit to be exactly how I like it for my proportions.

I just cannot get enough of the colour. I tried to edit it down to fewer pictures but couldn’t do it. So, without further ado, here are 1 million pictures of me wearing my glorious new Aqua Love Note!

SEE how magical this fabric in this colour is? It’s almost shade shifting. Mermaid-esque even. I’m crazy in love.

I am planning a big speckles + mohair update for early next month where I’ll put up loads of pairing suggestions. We are attending Knit City in Vancouver next month (October 5-6th!) and as soon as we return from that it will be update central around here. This month has been completely taken over by show prep but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Flex Tee

Pattern: Flex by Heidi Kirrmaier.

Yarn: Fibra Natura Good Earth in the colourway Legion.

Ravelry Project page here.

Now that it’s officially Fall it feels like the perfect time to finally blog about this summer knit! My timing is impeccable… My Sunshine Coast is definitely my most worn summer knit so I thought I’d give another one of Heidi’s summer patterns a try and Flex did not disappoint. I still favour my Sunshine Coast, that pattern is perfection, but I think it’s the yarn selection, not the pattern that I’m less crazy about this time around. I came across this yarn online on super sale and thought I’d give it a try. It’s totally fine, just turns out that I prefer the 100% linen I used for my last summer knit. I’m a newbie when it comes to cellulose fibers and I’m glad that I tried out this new-to-me yarn so now I know more about what I like and don’t like.

I took these FO shots during a walk in the woods with my family last June. They’re just quick snaps with my phone and I feel like you can really tell. The phone’s camera had a really hard time dealing with the lush green foliage and the colours as well as the focus are both kinda off. Somedays I have time to plan real camera photo shoots sans-kids but most of the time I’m just trying to do the best with what I’ve got. Such is life!

Next on my list is patching those jeans! I bought the jeans with ripped knees because I like the fit and cut though I hate the rips. I don’t know when it happened to me but I am no longer a ripped jeans kinda gal apparently. These may be too far gone to patch well but I’m gonna give it my best shot. I’ll report back with the results!

Five Things

I’ve posted a few sneak peaks of this sweater on Instagram and because I cannot keep a secret and am excited to share it with you all soon!

Rocket, Crystal and just a sneak peak at Bisou in the background. My favourite colours on the drying rack.

We were given a few monarch butterfly chrysalis’ a while ago and this week 2 of them “hatched” and the most beautiful and friendly butterflies emerged! They would walk right up onto the kids fingers (the boys were so careful!) it was really amazing.

Every little bit helps. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Had lunch with my sister yesterday (so happy we live in the same city again!) and she was wearing the most beautiful hair comb.

Five Things

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway. A winner has been chosen at random and it is Karen Collins! Karen said:

“What lovely yarn! My father was born on 4/13. It was Easter Sunday and his siblings thought the Easter Bunny brought him.”

Karen, your father and I share a birthday! Send me an email and I’ll get those skeins in the mail to you asap!

This gorgeous order is destined to become a wee Crazyheart sweater.

I am so thankful to live a block away from this glorious urban (or at least suburban) forest.

A gorgeous specimen from our walk in the forest earlier this week. How does Mother Nature do it!?

I hadn’t realized what a perfect fall colourway Red Light is. Featured in our White Light Skein Sets I have a renewed love for this shade!

The boys and I are reading Harry Potter for the very first time. They are riveted!

A Giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! Comments are now closed.

I woke up this morning feeling like today is a great day to host a giveaway! Don’t you agree? There’s just something about a Wednesday morning that just screams GIVEAWAY! I perused my shelves and came away with these two beauties. A skeins of PureWash Fingering in a very special version of Magique (this skein came out of the dye bath a little more blue than the rest of the batch - always a good thing in my books) and a skein of Laceweight Mohair in Rocket. Lots of possibilities for these two skeins, can’t wait to see what the winner comes up with for them!

To enter to win please leave a comment right here on this blog post. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on the blog on Friday the 13th. My lucky day! (Fun fact: I was born on Friday the 13th! Not in September though.)

Good luck and Happy Wednesday!