Tag Archives: yarn club

What to stash this week: canyon of yarn

By |
1

For this round of Knitting Our National Parks, Stephanie of SpaceCadet Yarns was drawn to the gorgeous browns, greys and oranges of the canyon that appear to be reflected in the hazy sky, with the shock of turquoise of the Gunnison River running through it. Her Gunnison colorway is available on not one, not two, but four different bases, from fingering to worsted! You can preorder the yarn on Indie Untangled through Friday, February 15 and will ship the last week of March. As always, 10% of sales will be donated to the National Park Foundation — the last round provided more than $800, which will go to the parks that need the most help after the recent government shutdown. 

Once Again, a collaboration between Marian and designer Deb Gerhard, features a Fair Isle yoke combined with simple cables, showing off either a gradient or a subtle variegated colorway. The yarn is available via Marian’s website and the pattern can be found on Ravelry.

Knit Collage creates unique handspun yarn, as well as yarn that is made from fabric. It is true art yarn, enhanced with flowers and ribbons or spun into interesting textures with fun colors. 

February’s installment of the McMullin Fiber Co. Literature Society is inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma. Act fast if you want a yarn that is “handsome, clever and rich,” as signups close February 5.

For The Indie Project, Sam of Lavender Lune Yarn Co. is teaming up with a new indie dyer each month, and each of them will dye a colorway inspired by the same photo. For February she is teaming up with Joyce of The Flying Kettle. The two-skein kit is available to preorder through February 7.

Designer Kelly Sandusky of Aspen Knits has designed the Pinnacle Shawl with two DK-weight skeins of dyer Heather’s favorite colorways, Sassy Ballerina and Honey Mead. The shawl has a variety of stitch patterns and the heavier weight helps this project fly off the needles. You can use the colors in the sample or create your own from the selection of Delightful DK in the Sew Happy Jane shop.

TGIS: Thank Goodness It’s Sheep! Laura and Co. have bags in three fun fabrics, a limited-edition “Woolfred” Yarn Sock and a new wider medium-sized project bag. All of it is on sale today starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time and until Monday at midnight.

Last chance for Margarita Day, the first installment of Despondent Dyes’ Faux Holidays Club.

Cog Yarns has openings for a February Mystery Sock Club.

Eden Cottage Yarns is having a DK update and a Yarnuary sale.

What to stash this week at VKL or not

By |

At this year’s VKL NYC, MollyGirl Yarn is part of what has been dubbed the Megabooth, a collaboration between Angela, Woolyn, One Geek To Craft Them All, Yarn Over New York and Wee Ones Creations. Highlights include the City Windows kit, which includes a pattern by Rachel of Woolyn, and skeins from MollyGirl and Yarn Over New York, a new base called Boogie Woogie comprised of 85% Italian Superwash Merino and 15% nylon, Rock Star Sport for all those new sportweight patterns, signups for Volume II of Mollygirl’s Spotlight club, which is themed around the musical Wicked, and a new set of fun enamel pins featuring artwork by Xandy Peters — one of the folks Angela met during that first VKL four years ago. 

But if you’re not in NYC this weekend, don’t sweat it — everything shown on Angela’s Indie Untangled post will be available online on Monday, January 28!

Liz of HighFiberArtz, an Oregon-based IU newcomer, dyes colorways inspired by things around her, on high-quality bases in weights from lace to worsted.

Sew Happy Jane has a new base for the new year: Springy Sport, because sport is the new fingering. And get 10% off when you spend more than $100 with the code OVER100.

In plenty of time for V-Day, the Pandia’s Jewels Romance Collection features new colors, stitch markers and kits. There are several yarn bases to choose from, from fingering to DK weight.

Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations is opening sign-ups for her Enchanted Forest Shawl Pin Club. It includes a monthly shipment of an exclusive shawl pin, notions, as well as yarn, pattern and book suggestions.

Despondent Dyes is introducing the Faux Holidays Club.

Lambstrings Yarn just had a new beginnings-themed shop update.

What to stash this week: mini mani-yak

By |

Stephania of Three Fates Yarn takes a different, less speckled path than other indie dyers, and her semisolids and gradients are perfect for colorwork projects that require the colors to stand out from one another. Enter her Helios mini skeins. Comprised of 60% Superwash Merino, 20% yak and 20% silk, they are a great match for items that require a bit of luxurious warmth with next-to-the-skin softness. Stephania has moved from Etsy to a new home on a new website, so step in and take a look around, and get to know her and her lovely yarns a little better.  

Tamy recently debuted her Harpers Ferry shawl, which uses a main color contrasted with mohair and mini skeins (see above on where to get minis!). The result is a beautiful melding of high-contrast color, though you can also use a gradient for a more subtle look.

And speaking of minis… Jen of Porterness Studio has a new mini double-sided Yarn Life and stockinette motif sterling silver necklace. It’s designed to show flip as you wear it during the day to show off both sides. It normally retails for $125, but Indie Untangled readers get an introductory price of $95 with the code IndieYarnMini25 through January 24.

As the Outlander series comes to a close, so does Inner Yarn Zen’s Season 4 Outlander Unclub. Pictured is a photo of the yarn from Round 2, which is available on its own or as part of a package with all three rounds.

This is going to be Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks’ new view in New Mexico and it’s inspiring her New Beginnings yarn club. This quarterly club will ship in March, June, September and December and you can get one skein to up to four skeins per shipment.

Amanda of Wild Hair Studio has one of the few flocks of Romeldale/CVM sheep in the southeastern U.S. This breed, which is considered endangered, will be highlighted in her quarterly fiber club, which is now accepting members. Each club release will include roving, batts or smidgens (mini batts) of a Romeldale/CVM wool and/or Romeldale/CVM wool blend from her studio. If you’re more a knitter than a spinner, there is also a handspun option!

Slipped Stitch Studios is bringing you some enchantment under the sea. No, not the dance in Back To the Future, but a collection of project bags and other goodies featuring mermaids, sharks, narwhals and more. They’re on sale today at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

Kate of McMullin Fiber Co. hosting a winter make-along with prizes and loose rules. To enter, you can make a project using 50% or more of McMullin Fiber Co. materials and post about it publicly on social media. She’s kicking off the MAL with a sale: use the code TREATYOSELF for 25% off everything in the shop until January 24.

The latest October House Fiber Arts shop update includes a few colorful additions that should brighten up your dark winter days.

In time for the new year, Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations is releasing Tree of Life shawl pins, which symbolize rebirth and new beginnings.

Dye Is Cast Yarns has a limited edition Valentine’s Day 2019 colorway.

What to stash this week: fab finds

By |

Heather of Heather’s Yarn Barn is dyeing small batches of colorways each month all inspired around a theme. This month’s colorways have an antique theme and include Yellow Flowers (pictured above), Rusty Old Keys and Lavender End Table.

Yarn clubs are such a great way to explore the work of new-to-you dyers, designers and other creative folks, and to fall in love with colorways that you may not have found on your own. Of course, you need a perfect theme to tie it all together. Diane of Lady Dye Yarns has been dedicated to promoting the work of women color in the fiber industry, and her latest club, called the Fab 8 Craft Club, is comprised of products from eight black female yarn-trepreneurs, including Brooke of Fully Spun.

Laura and Co.’s January Bag of the Month serves up some cuteness, but you’ll want to wash these creatures’ mouths out with soap (hand wash, of course). They have chosen three super cool designs from artist Cynthia Frenette. Preorders open today 9 a.m. PST and close at midnight on Monday, January 14.

Heather of Earl Grey Fiber Co.’s Afternoon Tea Collection is a quarterly collection of sock sets inspired by the best hot beverage. Three new sock sets, which include one full skein and two coordinating minis, will be debuting in a shop update on January 19.

Julia’s new free Nimbus hat is designed to be knit with either fingering, sport or DK weight yarn held with mohair silk lace. The cable crown shows off your inner supernatural strength, even on days when a rain cloud is hovering over you.

Grab the Mrs. Frog colorway from IU newcomer Wobble Gobble Yarn.

What to stash this week: Indie Goes West

By |

If you’re local to Portland, Oregon, and free on February 2 from 5-8 p.m., then you should snag tickets to Indie Untangled’s first West Coast event! I’m teaming up with Thao of Nerd Bird Makery and we’re bringing together a select group of Northwest dyers and makers and also introducing a few indies from the East Coast. Click here for all the info. 

If you miss summer camp, there are still spots open for the Pacific Coast Handmade Craft Camp taking place September 12-15 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Activities include knitting, sewing, embroidery, dyeing, block printing, weaving, mending and more. The fabulous instructors are: Sonya Philip (100 Acts of Sewing), Simone Kereit (Owlcat Designs), Michelle Russell (Left Coast Dyer), Cleo Malone (co-owner of Cast Away yarn shop) and Sarah Pedersen (The Dye Project).

Class up your 2019 with these elegant bags from Slipped Stitch Studios. Their New Year Elegance Party kicks off today at 9 a.m. Pacific Time and includes a limited number of ready to ship bags in sparkly fabrics.

Sign-ups for the 2019 Indie Untangled Where We Knit Yarn Club close this Monday, December 31! Don’t miss out on this quarterly club that brings together four dyer/designer teams that will collaborate on an exclusive colorway and accompanying accessory design inspired by where they knit.

Clockwise from top left are inspiration photos from Life In the Long Grass and Rizzaknits, Martin’s Lab and Justyna Lorkowska, Asylum Fibers and Woollywormhead and Fuse Fiber Studio and Knitting Expat. 

Zen Yarn Garden is having a massive Boxing Day sale. Use the code 25OFF to get… 25% off yarn and knitting kits, including their lovely kit for Andrea Mowry’s What the Fade. There’s also free U.S. shipping on orders of $99+ and free international shipping for orders of $299+.

Learn more about Marissa of The Spun Bunny, a “bunny shepherdess” and creator of color for yarn and a variety of spinning fiber, which of course includes angora from her adorable bunnies. Marissa is offering 35% off items in her shop, excluding calendars, through December 30 with the code THANKYOU.

Patrick of yarn company Rosy Green Wool and designer Melanie Berg have teamed up to raise money for the Against Malaria Foundation, a charity that saves lives. Only $2-3 buys a bed net treated with insecticides that can protect two people from malaria for up to four years — much less than a skein of hand-dyed yarn. Please join me in making a donation. Additionally, I will be donating 10% of all sales of in-stock items in the Indie Untangled shop through January 31, 2019 to the campaign. 

What to stash this week: yarn wizardry

By |

Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks was inspired by the photo to create not one, but two colorways for the latest Knitting Our National Parks installment, including one that debuts a new base. Her speckled Winter Wizardry will be dyed on Aurora, a 100% Superwash Merino single-ply fingering, while Wizard Sky will be dyed on Flou (which means fluffy in French) a laceweight mohair/silk blend that would be perfect to carry along with Aurora.

Both colorways will be available to preorder on Indie Untangled through Friday, December 21. As always, 10% of sales will be donated to the National Park Foundation.

Tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, Nancy of Tika Bags is holding her first ever Facebook Live sale! There will be special products just for the sale, including her Deja Vue clear box bag in new fabrics, matching Zippity Vue mini bags, mega-popular sweater-sized Zippity Vue large bags and a few Tika Bags kits that include a Deja Vue project bag with skein of Twisted Owl Studio sock yarn.

Miranda’s new Frail scarf is a garden of elegant brioche. Indie Untangled readers get 30% off until December 14 with the code INDIEFRAIL, with the pattern including a discount for the gorgeous recommended yarn.

Just in time for sweata weatha, Debbie of Murky Depths Dyeworks is debuting newest base, Neptune DK. It’s a 100% Merino that’s perfectly squishy and is available in seven saturated colors, including a new hauntingly beautiful gray called Ghost Rider.

Sign-ups are open for the Little Women installment of McMullin Fiber Co.’s Literature Society. Get a single or double dose of yarn in an exclusive colorway that celebrates the March family and their friends.

Slipped Stitch Studios has a winter collection of yarn socks and project bags available and Llamicorns will be back in the shop today at 9 a.m. Pacific. As part of the December fun, orders over $50, instead of $100, get free U.S. shipping.

Heather’s Yarn Barn has some new colorways in addition to crocheted velvet hair scrunchies with free domestic shipping. You can also spin the wheel when you visit her store and get the chance to win discounts from 5% to 25% off.

October House Fiber Arts has a new colorway called Social Graces, the perfect neutral, dyed on Robin’s incredibly soft and silky MCS Fingering.

Buy one skein from the Pandia’s Jewels Jane Austen-inspired Regency Collection and get a set of stitch markers free with the code JANESBDAY.

Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations’ new Warwick Reflections shawl is inspired by Warwick Castle and the River Avon. A Warwick Reflections kit includes yarn from Why Knot Fibers and a Celtic Shawl Pin.

Signups for the Yarnover Truck’s Yarn Club is open to new members until Wednesday.

Once Upon A Corgi has new enamel pins with doggies and yarn.

What to stash for your holiday knitting

By |

It’s official: holiday knitting season is now upon us! Bronwyn of Casapina has you covered with her gorgeous Winter Light collection. It includes six patterns — two cowls, two hats, a set of mitts and a pair of socks — that are for sale individually or together for a discount in an e-book. There’s also a freebie that’s perfect for your leftovers. And, in true Casapinka style, each pattern is paired with six winter cocktails or mocktails to warm you up during your knitting breaks (though she’s not responsible for any dropped stitches this may cause).

Tamy just released a set of new accessory patterns, Inseparable and Ravenhill (pictured here), designed with the gift-giving season in mind. Both use yarn from Lolodidit and she has lovely kits on her website. You can also get a discount on both the kits and the pattern this week.

You can’t resist some sparkle around the holidays! Big Foot Fibers’ Gingerbread Men is a mini skein set of five colors inspired by the best Christmas dessert. The first update sold out, so grab yours during round two, going on now.

Sign-ups for next year’s Indie Untangled yarn club are open through the end of the year or until the club sells out. Grab your spot now! There’s also an option to give the club as a gift to your favorite knitter. 

IU newcomer Humble Bumble Fibers Company has sock blanks.

Eden Cottage Yarns is having their next update on Wednesday featuring Pendle Chunky.

Untangling C.C. Almon of Javapurl Designs

By |

C.C. wearing her A Walk in the Park Cowl.

Knitting and caffeine seem to go together like, well, yarn and needles. C.C. Almon of Javapurl Designs takes that to the next level with her designs, many of them coffee related, or with a geeky twist. There’s also a bit of Gilmore Girls thrown in (again, coffee) as she often collaborates on collections with her daughter, Dami.

C.C. also often works with dyer Julia of Pandia’s Jewels, and for this year’s Where We Knit yarn club, she created two items: her Brackett’s Landing socks and cowl are now available to purchase.

When and how did you learn to knit and how did you decide to become a designer?

I’ve always been crafty having grown up with a great-grandmother who did needlework, a grandmother who painted and sewed and a momma who did lots of crafts including cross stitch. I dabbled in lots of crafts over the years, but had always wanted to learn to knit. Why? I’m not sure. I didn’t know anyone who knit. It was just always calling to me.

So I finally answered the call in 2005 when I purchase a Learn to Knit kit from a big box store. I was instantly in love! The first few years, I knit mostly blankets and hats.

Things exploded in 2012 when I took a sock knitting class. In 2013, I released my first big pattern (Rescue Me, Chin Boy, & Show Me the Stars – a Doctor Who-inspired Socks) after I was gifted a gorgeous skein of yarn that I knew needed to be a certain pattern, but I couldn’t locate one, so I made it up.

Since then, I’ve designed 60 patterns (mainly socks, but also shawls, cowls, and a few miscellaneous things).

What did you do before becoming a designer and how does it inform your design work?

My final job before I became disabled was as a hospital chaplain. My primary unit was the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I desperately miss working with those wee babes and their families. As a way to continue to bless them, I designed my Top Down Preemie Hat pattern (free on Ravelry) with seven sizes from 24 weeks to full-term. Since 2014, I have knit one preemie hat each week which I then donate to a local hospital.

How did you decide to team up with your daughter, Dami, and how do you work together on your designs?

My Dami (she’s 19 years old and a freshman in college) is a prolific knitter. For a couple of years, she helped me by knitting the samples for my designs. In 2016, she had an idea for a pair of socks inspired by the TV show Elementary. Once she designed those, she continued with eight further patterns and she is now working on a collection of patterns inspired by one of her favourite musicals, Hadestown. We haven’t both collaborated on singular designs, but rather design our own things that then come together in a collection or book.

Tell me about what inspires your designs.

Our pattern design inspirations range from geeky things like Doctor Who and Elementary, to TV shows such as Gilmore Girls and Outlander, to coffee, to colourways that demanded to be something, to locations such as the city of Edinburgh, and more.

What’s the first thing you do when you start designing a pattern?

I need to connect to the specific thing that inspires me (whether it’s a TV show or a colourway or a location or a coffee drink) first and then the design flows out of that.

What are your favorite colors and have they changed at all since you started designing?

PINK!!!!!!!!!! Always PINK!!!!!! (Although I have surprised some people recently by sharing that my second favourite colour is orange, not bright orange, but rather that autumnal burnt orange.) I love PINK so much that we designed an entire book inspired by the colour (Tickled PINK ~ two designers, four indie dyers, eight PINK-tastic patterns).

ks.jpg” alt=”” width=”700″ height=”700″ class=”size-full wp-image-15447″ /> I Love You More Than Pumpkin Spice Socks

Where is your favorite place to knit?

In a coffeeshop with a cuppa coffee (what kind varies by the season, pumpkin spice lattes are my absolute favourite) with either a good friend to chat with or a good book to read or an intriguing podcast to listen to.

What to stash this week: a knitting journey

By |

I’m thrilled to open sign-ups today for the 2019 Where We Knit Yarn Club. This quarterly club, which will begin shipping in February, brings together four dyer/designer dream teams: Life In the Long Grass and Cassondra Rizzardi of Rizzaknits, Martin’s Lab and Justyna Lorkowska of Lete’s Knits, Asylum Fibers and Woolly Wormhead and Fuse Fiber Studio and Mina Philipp of Knitting Expat Designs.

Each pair will collaborate on an exclusive colorway and an accompanying accessory design inspired by their favorite spots to whip out their WIPs. Their inspiration photos are shown in the image above, clockwise from top left; both cozying up with a tasty beverage and travel knitting are represented. (I also got a little peek at the cocktail-inspired colorway that Caroline of LITLG has been working on for the first installment, and can honestly say you do not want to miss getting your hands on it!)

Speaking of awesome yarn clubs, here’s one not to be missed. Diane is collaborating with Louis of Brooklyn Boy Knits, Amanda of Brown Gyrls Knit, Thao of Nerd Bird Makery and Coffee by Kee — all amazing men and women of color who have been dedicated to promoting diversity in craft — for a Winter Solstice Yarn Club. You’ll receive a skein of worsted weight yarn dyed by Diane, an exclusive knitting pattern by Louis, stitch markers by Amanda, an enamel pin by Thao and a choice of coffee or tea, plus a surprise item. Sign-ups close this Wednesday, November 21.

A beloved fabric from Slipped Stitch Studios’ past is back, with a new spin. The Ghastlies have returned, and this time they have yarn! Bags and accessories in these two fabrics, along with yarns from Skeino, vintage embroidery scissors and stitch kits, are available starting today at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

Every day is Small Business Saturday at FiberCrafty! The fiber marketplace is having a full weeklong frenzy, with plenty of shops offering coupon codes, free shipping and other goodies.

Stephanie of Rock Solid Designs did an awesome collaboration with Jenna of Fiberrarium for Knitter’s Day Out in Harrisburg and there are a few of these Sloth sets still available. They include a medium project bag and a skein of Fiberrarium Conservatory Sock (a 90/10 Merino/nylon blend).

‘Tis the season for Julia of Pandia’s Jewels to create another seasonal sock kit based on C.C. Almon’s Peppermint Mocha Sock pattern. Each kit includes a skein of Julia’s Snug base in the Peppermint Mocha colorway, a Ravelry pattern download code and this cute hand-stamped progress keeper.

Victoria has released two new patterns for her lovely yarns. Above is the Laverton shawl, which brings together three Eden Cottage yarns to create a beautiful, wearable piece. There’s also the Gatekeeper cowl, a simple, quick-to-knit cowl designed to make the most of a single skein of Pendle Aran. 

No need to be afraid of these three ghostly colorways from Holly and Ivy, inspired by A Christmas Carol. Ghost of Christmas Past is a golden yellow that captures the warm glow of a candle, Ghost of Christmas Present is the rich pine green of the second spirit’s velvet robes and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a dark blood red.

Shanna of Lambstrings Yarn also has some holiday colorways, and they are far from traditional. Her two holiday sock sets are mystery packages inspired by either Krampus or Saint Nick. Each set will contain a full skein of Tralala Sock and two mini skeins in contrasting heel/toe/cuff colorways. Preorders close next Friday.

Purple Lamb Fiber Arts has created Twelve Days of Christmas mini skein sets.

What to stash this week, whether at Rhinebeck or not

By |

If you’re not on your way to the Hudson Valley (or if you just can’t get enough indie-dyed yarn — I have friends who order from online updates on the way to MDWS), Kim of Western Sky Knits is having a fall-inspired shop update. It includes some lovely mohair/silk 1-ply lace weight skeins, perfect for stranding in your winter sweaters. She also has a new single-ply DK-weight yarn, made of 100% Superwash Merino, which takes the dye beautifully.

Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks is on her way to Rhinebeck and, of course, is bringing a ton of yarn, everything from laceweight to super bulky. She will also have a bunch of specials throughout the weekend, culminating with 25% off all yarn in the booth from 1 p.m. until closing on Sunday. 

Bijou Basin Ranch had Jonathan Berner of Seattle-based MJ Yarns work his magic to capture the subtlety and brilliance of sunrise at Bullion Gulch in southern Idaho’s Croy Creek Trail System on yak yarn for the Knitting Our National Parks Project. Resplendence will be dyed on Bijou’s Tibetan Dream sock yarn, a luxurious blend of 85% yak and 15% nylon.

The yarn will be available to preorder on Indie Untangled through Friday, October 26. If you’ll be at Rhinebeck, you can see and pet the yarn in person at the Bijou Basin Ranch in booths 13 and 14 in Building C. It will also be on display at the Indie Untangled Trunk Show on Friday. As always, 10% of sales will be donated to the National Park Foundation.

Preorders for the Slipped Stitch Studios October Bag of the Month started a little early. Woodland creatures include gnomes, hedgehogs, owls and the illusive silver fox. Orders will only be available until Monday, October 22.

New for October from Wolle’s Yarn Creations are horoscope yarns, made of skin-soft, fingering-weight cotton in generous 480-yard skeins.

Inner Yarn Zen is launching an Outlander Unclub. What is an “unclub,” you ask? It’s a series of kits delivered over three months that can be purchased each month without a commitment to all of them. Marietta will dye yarn inspired by scenes, characters or locations from Outlander, and there will also be special gifts, including project bags, stitch markers and a secret surprise.