Articles

Apr 22 2022

Heather’s Stripey Socks

Author: Mairi McKissock

Bright, stripey hand-knit socks socks with contrasting orange heels.

Heather made these fun stripey socks using the Urth Yarns Uneek Socks kit, together with a bit of orange scrap yarn for contrasting heels.

She chose a simple, top-down pattern using an easy heel-flap turn.  In order to keep the stripe pattern consistent, Heather used a contrasting yarn for the heel.  We think this makes the socks look even more fun!

Urth Yarns also publishes some interesting patterns for this kit, including some freebies.  But, pretty much anything is going to look good with this l-o-n-g repeat self-striping yarn.

 

Nov 14 2021

Pat’s Illusion Bat Shawl

Author: Mairi McKissock

Now you see it, now you don’t!  Pat’s Illusion Bat Shawl is her first foray into the world of shadow knitting.  This is a technique where you knit 2-row stripes in contrasting colours, and make a pattern from the placement of knits and purls.  Purl sections in one colour contrast against knit stitches in the other colour, and vice versa.  The whole design only shows up when you view it at an angle.  Straight on, all you see are stripes.

The pattern is the Illusion Shawl Bat, available on Ravelry.  Pat used four skeins of Artfil Belle, two each of charcoal gray and hot pink.

Like all shadow knitting patterns, it’s very easy to work.  But, you do have to keep track of knits and purls, so there’s a lot of counting involved.  As long as you don’t mind that, it’s a really fun technique!

Aug 26 2021

Lisa’s Bubbles and Brioche

Author: Mairi McKissock

Bubbles and Brioche is another of the popular Stephen West shawl designs.  Lisa knit this with a mix of sock yarns from Canadian independent dyers.  Nina carries a fine selection of hand-dyed sock yarns to choose from, and we love the strong contrasts that Lisa has chosen.  That neon yellow-green colour really pops!

Lisa says that what she liked most about this pattern was:

  • learning the brioche stitch. 
  • the interesting stitch pattern changes incorporated in the design
  • the very cool “peacock effect” by the end of the project
  • how much fun it is to do the bubbles
  • using high contrast colours that really make them pop!

We agree that it’s a great pattern for learning new skills – nothing too difficult, but tremendous fun from start to finish.

Oct 27 2020

New Yarn – Fibre Co. Amble

Author: Mairi McKissock

Posting date: 27 October 2020

Amble is a new fingering weight/sock yarn, available now in-store and from our online shopping portal. It’s a terrific product – a bit more interesting than your average sock yarn.

For starters, it’s an incredibly versatile yarn, suitable for just about any fingering weight project, including cowls and scarves with next-to-skin softness requirements. Plus, it’s machine-washable, for easy care. A great choice for heirloom-quality baby things.

The warm, modern colour palette will be familiar – these tones and hues show up in other yarns from The Fibre Co., one of our favourite suppliers of quality yarns.

But the backstory for the yarn is just as interesting. It uses eco-friendly processes for sourcing, blending, treating, and dyeing the fibre that are leading edge, and second-to-none. Read more about this interesting yarn here.