My first autumn design to be released into the world this August was Barbicel in Pom Pom Quarterly's Issue 22. Barbicel is a long open cardigan, a great layering piece for your autumn wardrobe because of the lightweight fabric created by Holst Garn's Supersoft 4ply. This was my first time designing a cardigan and also my largest design yet. I thought I would write about the development of Barbicel and then do a little something fun for my followers and readers.
Read moreFell Garth II for The Fibre Company
I spent most of my summer away and traveling which also meant away from my blog. Now that I'm back into my working mode, it's time to start blogging again! Many might think I take a break from knitting in the summer, the hot temperatures and wooly garments don't really seem like the best combination. However, I'm often very busy at this time. I'm focused on designing upcoming winter garments and also preparing for the launch of autumn pieces. This summer was particularly special since it marked the release of my first sweater designs! This past January I started branching into larger projects and I'll talk about my first two sweaters in this post.
Read moreStockholm
I can't believe that it was already two weeks ago today when we spent a day in Stockholm. Eero and I left Helsinki on Monday night by cruise ship. We woke up to many islands and Swedish summer cottages passing by our window before arriving in Stockholm. It was a gorgeous day with absolutely clear blue skies. We walked from the ship, along the harbour and through a few of the islands that make up Stockholm.
I only had one stop on my list while we were in Stockholm for the day and that was Makeri 14. I only knew that Makeri 14 stocked Pom Pom Quarterly so I thought I would at least check out one yarn shop while I was in Sweden. Makeri 14 is tucked in behind the Swedish Royal Palace along a narrow cobble stone street. It may be a small shop in size but I was excited to see they stocked many of my favourite yarns to work with. I was pleased to see companies such as Toft and Socks Yeah! alongside copies of Pom Pom Quarterly.
As for books, I came across Penguin by Anna Maltz, and was happy to reunite my project bag with it for a brief time. This was my first purchase from the Edinburgh Yarn Festival earlier this year. It has accompanied me during my recent travels through Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Another happy find was Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey on the shelves as well. It is really touching to see there has been interest in this book all over the world. It was a pleasure to meet Stephanie, the owner of Makeri 14, and sign the remaining copies she had.
I indulged in a few skeins of Holst Garn's 100% Supersoft Wool 2ply which was a new yarn for me. I picked out a few colours that will remind me of the Swedish architecture.
Photo Credit: @makeri14
For the rest of the day we continued to wonder through Stockholm and headed to Södermalm to check out that area. We came across a beautiful little bistro called Woodstockholm for lunch. I don't normally post pictures of what I'm eating but some of the meals on this trip were too gorgeous and delicious to forget. There's also a slight chance some future blog posts may be more food related than knitting, so I do apologize in advance. This meal at Woodstockholm consisted of amazing fresh fish topped with an Asian style salad, black sesame seeds and kimchi mayo. I know I'm not doing this meal justice in my description but it definitely was one of my top five meals during the whole trip. ƒf
We finished our day in Stockholm with tea and coffee at Kaffe and a pint elsewhere in Södermalm before heading back to the ship.
Unravel
I'm almost packed and ready to hop on a train to Farnham this afternoon. Unravel, a festival of knitting, is this weekend and I'm excited to finally experience this event I've been hearing so much about!
Illustration by Emma Block
Join me in Farnham this weekend! You'll have three days to treat yourself to delicious yarns, talks and workshops at the Farnham Maltings building. I'll be kicking off the weekend with teaching a class. My Stranded Knitting workshop has sold out and I'm excited to share my revamped Foxy Friends pattern with my students! Hope to see you there!
