Tag: preview knitting

Ardenwald

I was getting ready for another road trip back to Toronto when I received an invitation from Brooklyn Tweed to preview knit once again. This time, for their Holiday’19 collection.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I needed a project to keep me company for the 5+ hours of travel. I got to choose from 4 different accessories and surprise, surprise, I ended up picking the one described as “cabled beenie” 🙂

To me, cables in hats are so satisfying. It’s just enough to keep me engaged without dragging on forever. I really enjoy knitting it!

Ardenwald is nothing like I’ve knit or seen before in a cabled hat.  I got a modern Celtic vibe to the design and together with the name, made me think of Arwen from LOTR…

(Google Arwen, or her chambers in Rivendell and you’ll see what I mean!)

The pattern came with instructions for both DK and Worsted weight yarn which I appreciated. I like having options! I’m the kind of girl who will buy the same shirt in 3 colors if I really liked it. I’ve made the Blueberry Waffle Socks at least 3 times now because it’s easy to memorize and fits well. I definitely see myself making more Ardendwald hats in the future.

I had some leftover Brooklyn Tweed Arbor yarn in my stash in the colorway Sashiko which is what I hoped to use for my hat. Since the pattern calls for 2 skeins, I knew I was taking a risk in purchasing just one. I didn’t know if the dye lots were a thing to think about with BT so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I checked my LYS, Wabi-Sabi but they didn’t have the color in stock so I checked Rosehaven Yarn Shop in Picton, ON.

Turns out they had it so I just went for it! I pre-paid for the yarn over the phone and asked them to cake it up so it’s ready to knit. I was leaving for Toronto the following day and Picton was on the way!

My plan was to cast on and knit the ribbing as soon as we hit the road and hope that I had enough yarn to last me the time to travel from Ottawa to Picton which was about 2 hours. If the dye lots weren’t an issue, I would have the ribbing done at least and my next ball was ready to go. If there was a variance in the color, I decided I’ll just pick up 2 skeins of another color.  I didn’t mind having Sashiko back in my stash since it’s one of my favorites!

This was the best photo I could take on the road. As you can see, it’s a perfect match! The smaller cake to the left was purchased 2 years ago from The Knit Cafe and the one to the right was the new one.

While we were in Toronto, I stopped by my old LYS, The Knitting Loft to pick up a Lovafur Pom Pom. I didn’t see any on their website but I knew they carried this brand so I called to see if they still had some. Turns out they just received a new shipment in! It was my lucky day 🙂

I had navy in mind but I fell in love with this dark bluish grey!

No mods except for going up a needle size. I’ve noticed making this adjustment to most patterns lately so I went ahead and cast on with a size larger than what was called for on the pattern for DK. I finished the hat in 3 days and I am so happy with how it turned out!  I didn’t bother with alternating skeins and I also skipped the soak bath. I just sprayed it with a few bursts of steam to smooth it out.

// Pattern: Ardenwald Hat by Jared Flood //

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// Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Sashiko //

Love it!!!

Thanks so much, Brooklyn Tweed for having me! xo

Rivulet

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I was honored to be invited once again by Brooklyn Tweed to preview knit their Wool People 12 collection. If you recall back in January, I preview knit the Freja cardigan by Jared Flood for their Winter 18 collection. (I talked about preview knitting before here and on the podcast.)

Wool People is Brooklyn Tweed’s annual collection of independent designers from around the world. It was tough to pick just one pattern to preview knit for this collection. There were so many talented designers to choose from – Annie Rowden, Isabell Kraemer, Emily Greene, Shannon Cook, Melissa Wehrle – just to name a few. In the end, I decided to knit Rivulet. It’s a lace cowl knit in fingering weight designed by Shannon Cook.

She is a fellow Canadian and I’ve knit one of her patterns before – twice – the Laylow shawl. I’m a long time admirer of hers. Totally drawn to her modern aesthetic and am dream knitting so many of her patterns such as the Veronika Cardigan, Haro shawl, Hudson, and Bradway.

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As I’ve previously mentioned, it isn’t mandatory to use Brooklyn Tweed yarn to preview knit. It just so happens that I enjoy using it! Another dilemma – choosing a color! I’m typically a neutral lover but I was just drawn to Hayloft. I pictured this gorgeous yellow mustard wooly goodness around my neck and shoulders.

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As soon as I got passed the border and completed the first half of the chart repeat, I knew this was going to be amazing.

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Slowly but surely, I could see the geometric lace emerging…

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I was enamored by the contrast of my turquoise handmade stitch markers against Hayloft that I decided to make a matching progress keeper from an old necklace. I also decided to wear OPI’s Closer Than You Might Belem nail polish from their Lisbon collection because 1) it’s a perfect match and 2) I was going on a trip and needed to get my nails done anyway. I can’t even describe how satisfying it was for me and how happy this sight made me feel!

pi_rivulet_5Radley and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this year. As we sat and reminisced about the past 20 years (married for 10; together since high school), we realized we’ve never traveled alone as a couple before. It’s always as a family, with the kids so we decided while we’re young we’d do something totally different.

Kind of last minute – we talked about going away in passing earlier in the year but never really booked anything. We simply couldn’t decide where to go. Also, keeping in mind a  trip at the end of this month which was booked from last year,  we didn’t want to go to another all-inclusive.

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We decided to go to Amsterdam. At first, we were going to fly into Berlin then take a train to Amsterdam then Paris. It would have been nice, but we only had 10 days. We knew there were lots of things to do so we chose to just stay in Amsterdam and relax and explore. I’ll probably upload a vlog at some point (hopefully!). I brought Rivulet with me on this trip. I knew I will have lots of time to work on it on the plane. Towards the end of our trip, we ended up spontaneously taking a drive to see a little bit of Germany. So, we checked out 3 days earlier than planned and went on the road. More knitting time for me, yay!

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We read that it rains a lot in Amsterdam and even though I’m not a gambler at all, I decided to take a chance and only pack dresses and sandals. (Luckily, no rain that week) I brought a bunch of woolies with me for the flight because I get cold easily and I’m so glad I did. We had a pretty long layover in Keflavik, Iceland on our return flight home and Radley had surprised me to go to Blue Lagoon, Iceland! He even packed me a suit and a hat 🙂

Rivulet is a charted pattern but I was able to travel and knit on it easily. I figured out a hack that made it super easy to knit and read the chart. I’ll show it on my next podcast if you’re interested!

I’m so glad I was able to make this shot work…. I literally had 10 minutes to pull it off before sunset.

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Although this is a charted pattern, when I returned home and was able to knit several repeats without interruption, it clicked! It is very intuitive and relaxing. It had a nice flow which was an absolute joy to knit.

It’s my first rectangular shawl and I love how it wears!

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Like a big, cozy, hug!

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My son, Ryan took these photos for me. The day we planned our photo shoot, it had been raining non-stop but thanks goodness it cleared up about an hour before sunset.

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These were taken at Wilcox Lake in Oak Ridges – about 10 minutes away from our house. We go here quite often because of the stunning view and has a really great playground for the kids.

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There is an option to add buttons and I was waiting to see photos of my fellow preview knitters wearing it as a cowl before deciding on mine. This pattern was just released yesterday but I’m liking what I’ve seen so far! I’m going to see if there are any buttons from my mom’s old clothes I can use.

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I’m so happy with my Rivulet. Shannon did not disappoint! So elegant, so modern!

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Simple texture + simple lace. I just love it. And Hayloft is going get me in t-r-o-u-b-l-e!!! I’m obsessed!

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Pattern: Rivulet // Design by Shannon Cook // Wool People 12

Many thanks to everyone in Brooklyn Tweed for having me once again! 

Freja

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Back in October of last year, I was invited by Brooklyn Tweed to Preview Knit a pattern of my choosing from their upcoming Winter 2018 Collection.

Preview knitting is different from sample knitting and test knitting. At this stage, the pattern has already gone through an extensive knitting process and technical feedback was not a requirement. I was given the pre-layout version without the finalized pattern name.

A couple months later, I was delighted to find out that the garment I chose was named Freja –  meaning Lady, Goddess of love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology.

I love the name Freja and if you recall from my first vlog, I had named my dress form after her!

How serendipitous!

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“For insouciant style you can dress up or down, Freja is a quick knit with big impact. An open front with a swingy A-line shape and a textured shawl collar make this sculptural piece easy to throw on over any outfit, and in chunky Quarry, it’s an ideal cozy overlayer. Add angled patch pockets for the perfect functional accent.” – Brooklyn Tweed. 

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Just my cup of tea!

I used Brooklyn Tweed Quarry in the colorway Gypsum. I hadn’t tried it yet and to be honest, was a little skeptical, having read too many tips on how to use this yarn. In the end, I decided to give it a shot and see for myself exactly what the fuss is about. I made notes – just in case…

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I’m happy to report that I experienced no breakage with Quarry while knitting. NONE. It was an absolute pleasure to work with – from hand winding the skein into a ball – to spit splicing (my favorite!).

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Every technique Jared incorporated in this design resulted in an effortless knit. If only I had a dollar for every time I stopped in awe to tell Radley “I am blown away by this”.

It’s not an easy feat to keep things simple. To know when to stop – when you’ve hit the sweet spot by adding just a hint of texture to keep interest.

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The classic stockinette paired with an easy to memorize texture along the neckline produced a sophisticated garment. The pockets are optional but I highly recommend. The construction is ingenious!

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At first, I knit the longer version of the sleeves (7″). I wore it for a couple of days and really thought about what I like and need for a cardigan. I still had about 70% of the last ball so I wasn’t worried that I will run out.

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In the end, I decided to go for a 3/4 length sleeve and for little me, that translates to roughly 10″. I ripped back the binding, added 3 more inches to each sleeve then re-blocked.

I’m so happy with how this turned out. Part of the reason why I was so impressed is that I had never worked with Quarry before. The stitch definition really made the texture pop. It works up really fast because you’re using a bulky weight yarn, but it’s not heavy. It blocks out like a cloud.

Freja is a timeless, carefree cardigan that I see myself living in for many years to come.

pd-freja-4Freja by Jared Flood 

I would like to thank Jared Flood, Korina Yoo, and everyone at Brooklyn Tweed for inviting me to be a part of this collection. It was a true honor and pleasure to preview knit and work with you! xo

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As always, here’s a list of shows I watched while working on this project:

  • The Walking Dead – Season 8
  • Vikings – Season 5
  • How To Get Away With Murder – Season 4
  • Top of the Lake – Season 2
  • The Handmaid’s Tale – Season 1
  • Outlander – Season 3