Colette is coming to town

My discovery of indie yarn dyers and knitting pattern designers was a slow one. I spent most of my life being an "isolated crafter" - I didn't know other makers so I made do on my own, with cheap materials, mainstream books, and not much information. When I did finally discover that indie companies existed, I immediately fell in love. I am only a beginning sewer, but I knew that if I loved the indie knitting movement, the indie sewing movement was the only direction I could go in. I skipped over the Joann discount bins of fabrics and patterns, and jumped right into designer fabrics and independent pattern designers. Where am I going with this?

Well, Colette Patterns is coming to town. Sarai, the founder and designer of Colette, will be hosting their Boston Spring Party at Grey's Fabric on April 6th. Not only do we get to meet this amazing designer, but Grey's Fabric is offering 15% off everything in store, and 20% off if you wear something made from a Collete pattern. My original plan was to make the Crepe dress, pictured above, but then I remembered I am a very slow sewer and I have that whole "get some sleep in April" plan. So I am making a Laurel blouse instead. It has no zippers, which makes me feel like I can pull this off in time. I ordered my pattern and fabric, and am anxiously waiting for them to arrive. Are you coming, and if so, what are you making?

Who are some of your favorite indie designers, both for knitting and sewing patterns? I love discovering new designers!

Images borrowed from Colette

PJs and Sweaters

This has been such a busy month, with so much yarn-making and very little sleep. I am furiously dyeing yarn to ship off to a store in Japan, and more to go to a couple of new stores in Rhode Island and Georgia. I am telling myself maybe I will get to sleep in April. This frantic pace has left my brain quite fried, and I keep forgetting to share things, like the pajama pants class I took.

I can't believe it was already so long ago, but at the end of February I took a class on how to sew pajama pants at Gather Here. I wanted to make something for Nate, and an excuse to use Lizzy House's Constellations fabric. The plan was to make pants for Nate in class and matching ones for myself later, but the pair I made weren't quite baggy enough for him. So I kept the dark blue ones for myself, and am currently making some for him with the black constellations I got at Grey's Fabric. What I am most excited about? Having both pairs finished and making him pose for pj pant photos with me! Coincidentally, this is Nate's least favorite part.

I finally finished my cursed Folded sweater. It still needs a light blocking to even out the crinkly yarn from the frogging, but it fits and it's cute. I had some issued with yardage, but I'll tell you all about that when I have proper finished photos.

Speaking of sweaters, those swatches are in my new Merino/Cashmere/Nylon DK yarn (Wine Harvest colorway) and for a class with Ysolda. As a Christmas gift, my mom got me a spot in the Your Perfect Sweater online class. The class is fantastic, though I admit I am way behind on the lessons. In April, I will continue to overbook myself sleep and actually make this awesome sweater.

Friday Finds #17

You guys, this month is totally kicking my butt. I remember looking forward in December and thinking March would be a rest-and-catch-up month for me, but it has been the complete opposite. Also, can we be done with the snow already?

1. Homemade deep dish pizza. Someone should make this for me.

2. Whitney has a flock of 26 chicks!. So cute, but so much work! Have you or would you ever keep livestock?

3. I obviously need a cat-shape return address stamp.

4. Purl Bee delivers another fantastic pattern - the Sweatershirt Sweater, knit in light worsted yarn. Could go well with a squishy DK!

5. Bark Decor is one of my biggest handmade crushes, and they just came out with these wolf totem leggings. Love!

Have a great weekend!

Original image sources can be found by clicking through the links

All the fiber

The North Shore Yarn Crawl is come and gone. My trunk show on Saturday was AMAZING! It's so wonderful to meet customers in person and talk about what they're making. At the end of the day I was almost out of yarn, and filled with so much joy from the outpouring of love and support I received from everyone. I am super bummed I forgot my camera at home and got no pictures of all the amazing projects people brought in to show me.

I did manage to sneak in a bit of a shop update so I can share some of the brand new colorways with you non-locals. Even though you didn't get to join in the Yarn Crawl fun, you can still see some of the pretties that debuted this weekend!

I stole some Hecate from my inventory to make myself a new Hitchhiker, which I've been using to neglect Nate's socks. They're almost done though! We have another snow storm predicted for tonight, so it's still cold enough for him to wear them.

I also finally snapped some photos of my haul from last weekend's fabric shopping. I got some Constellation fabric by Lizzie House in black to make pajama pants for Nate, and some tape measure fabric to make into a skirt for myself. I'll be using the Sewaholic Hollyburn Skirt pattern.

After trying Lucinda's fancy Gingher fabric scissors, I couldn't bring myself to use my crummy generic fabric scissors anymore. I treated myself to some nice Inspira shears (by Pfaff), and some seriously overdue pinking shears. Lastly, I bought The Negroni men's shirt pattern to make for Nate. It's kind of like a peace offering to make up for my splurging.

How did you spend your weekend?

Cross your fingers for no snow storm!

Friday Finds #16

This has been such a strange week, as I've been running around trying to play catch-up and not getting nearly enough sleep. Today I find myself thinking both, "I'm so glad it's finally Friday!" and "I have no idea how this week ended so quickly!"

1. Cats and a bunch of colors. How can I not want this?

2. Tomorrow is my hand-dyed yarn trunk show at Seed Stitch as part of the North Shore Yarn Crawl. I'll have over 150 skeins, including brand new yarn bases and new colorways!

3. Loving this sweater pattern for sock yarn! I think using a semi solid and a variegated colorway would be beautiful rather than just plain solids!

4.Love this playful print!

5. How sweet is this vintage strawberry pin?

Original image sources can be found by clicking through the links

A Day on the Town

After such a difficult week and an unexpected snowstorm on Friday, when Saturday rolled around I wanted to treat myself to a nice day - one filled with simple yet happy things. So I drove into Boston to meet up with Lucinda of Sew Wrong.

We headed to South Boston, where we walked through some serious slush to get to KO Catering and Pies. They are a small place specializing in Australian-inspired food with a focus on savory meat pies. It was my first time there, and I will definitely be back!

We then walked off our pies by wandering over to Grey's Fabric and Notions. I only make it there a couple of times a year, but it's one of my favorite stores. The owner, Sarah, is super friendly and helpful (she showed me how to sew a zipper on the spot!). My favorite part is the wall of sewing patterns. Sarah has them all displayed on ledge shelving, which makes it super easy to browse her selection, and very difficult to walk away without buying one.

After fabric shopping, we wandered through the Mohr & McPherson showroom. This place makes me wish to win the lottery and refurnish my whole house. Even though I bought a lot of fabric, I didn't buy an awesome green $900 arm chair. So really, I actually saved money, right?

How did you spend your weekend?

Lucinda posted a great and detailed review of Grey's Fabric on her blog.

Knitting On

This is one of those moments in blogging where I ask myself, how do I talk about something intensely personal and difficult in a blog that shows my life through a very specific lens of delightful moments and creativity? If there is such a thing as a right way, I don't know what it is.

Last weekend was very difficult. Not only because Nate and I were horribly sick and spent Friday hospitalized, but especially because we lost a very dear friend on Saturday morning. After a short, brutal fight with Leukemia, our friend has moved on, leaving a hole in our lives, and our hearts full of bittersweet memories. I considered him part of my family, and I know he will live on in our shared memories and stories.

At times like this, I cannot help but wonder what mechanisms people use to cope with grief. Many knitters seem to fall back on the well-know, and probably overused, quote by Elizabeth Zimmerman: "Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises." And so I did.

On Thursday, in the last hours before getting sick, I made my last trip to Windsor Button. For those unfamiliar, Windsor Button started as a notions store 75 years ago, and eventually grew into one of the larger, more varied yarn stores in the Boston metro area. Their closing sale has been running for a couple of weeks at this point, and the store was visibly picked through, full of sadness and leftovers. I came away with some Malabrigo sock yarn, and 5 wooden buttons for this baby cardigan. This cardigan carries the majority of my grief, knitted in daze over the span of a week. The dark green Malabrigo yarn is in the process of becoming socks for Nate. And so here I am, knitting on.

Cardigan pattern: Gramps by Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Destash nylon/acrylic blend, worsted weight

Edited to add: I should perhaps clarify the cardigan is a surprise for my baby brother. My dad doesn't read blogs, so I can post spoilers!

Friday Finds #15

So I know it's technically not Friday anymore, but Nate and I were hit with a brutal virus on Thursday and were out of commission for a few days. We're still recovering and slowly catching up on everything. Here are a few lovelies that have been cheering me up!

1. Delicious Dutch babies

2. The beautiful photography of Myoung Ho Lee

3. A beautifully patterned quilt

4. Easy rosemary crackers - can't wait to make these!

5. A lovely bedroom in soft pastel colors

Original image sources can be found by clicking through the links