Last October I had the opportunity to fly out to Vancouver and attend Knit City, a weekend knitting conference and marketplace. I wasn't teaching or selling, so this trip was purely to attend the event for myself and finally meet designers, yarn dyers and shop owners that I had been admiring from afar. Plus, this was a perfect excuse to visit Vancouver for the first time. I had only been to the West Coast once before and that was to attend Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle, nearly five years ago. VKL was my first knitting conference experience. It was overwhelming and very energizing at the same time. After a weekend of classes and talking to other very supportive knitters, it was here, where I decided to make a real commitment to publish my own designs. A few months later, my first design, Take Heart, with published in Pom Pom Quarterly.
Read moreBarbicel in Pom Pom Quarterly's Issue 22
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 moreSparklers and Happy 5th Anniversary to Pom Pom Quarterly!
Four years ago this summer, I purchased my first copy of Pom Pom Quarterly. At this time I was designing and selling my finished knits through boutiques and craft fairs but wasn’t seriously thinking about publishing my designs as patterns. However, I’m so happy that this has all changed and has now become my primary focus. I’m creating new designs every month now and have Pom Pom Quarterly to thank, along with the kind and supportive knitters who have shown interest in my work. Pom Pom published my first pattern, Take Heart, in 2013. After that I felt confident to continue to pursue inspiration for new designs.
It’s been a learning curve but still an incredibly fun journey these past four years. I’m thrilled to have taken many steps of that journey alongside Pom Pom Quarterly. After a move to London, an internship, many cups of tea, my first book and a move home, I am very honoured to have worked with the Pom Pom team and to also be able to call them my friends.
I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of their anniversary issue and am thrilled to be featured alongside many creative women whom I admire. "Summery" items aren’t my forte so I was thankful when I heard this issue wasn’t particularly seasonal and that they were looking for quintessential Pom Pom designs. I personally love designing and knitting hats and I thought it would be fitting since my first design with Pom Pom was a hat.
I’ve been working with some simple and repeating knit and purl textures and wanted to bring that into this piece. I was paired up with Kettle Yarn Co and super excited to work with Linda Lencovic's gorgeous blends again. I previously had used her Islington DK for my Ketch Harbour shawl, in my Take Heart book. This time, I used her Beyul blend, a gorgeous combination of merino, silk and baby yak… yeah, that’s right, baby yak. It’s available in different weights, DK, 4 ply and lace. I decided on the 4 ply to create a lightweight beanie.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
So here’s Sparklers, I hope you will enjoy it! This project is knit with Kettle Yarn Co’s Beyul 4 ply, one skein of each Electric Amaranth and Yurt. Reverse the colourway and you’ll have enough for a matching hat, one for you and one for your BFF! Linda is now offering kits and has other fantastic colour ways listed in her shop. I highly recommend trying this blend. It’s so lovely to knit with and the pompoms it creates are just precious!
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
This issue is packed with fifteen other designs and the usual articles, illustrations and recipe. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, especially with that rose gold logo! Congratulations to the Pom Pom team and everyone else involved in this issue. I can’t wait to see what's next for this group of creatives.
Photography by Nicole Mlakar.
Fog Harbour for Quince & Co.
Please welcome Fog Harbour, my second design to be released this year. I'm also really happy to say Fog Harbour is a part of Quince & Co's latest accessory collection, Scarves, etc 6. This is my first time working with this yarn company but I am no stranger to their gorgeous blends. This fall amirisu published Phōs and in 2014, Pom Pom published Selsey, both which were knit in Quince's sport weight, Chickadee. Fog Harbour was my first chance to work with their yarn called Ibis. This a chunky weight yarn, 50% merino, 50% mohair and incredibly cozy. Ibis is sourced and milled in the United States like most of their yarns. I thought I would share the progress of this design.
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