Fibre East & Lambton Panes

As some of you will know, Third Vault Yarns is due to be at Fibre East on the 30th -31st of July, 16 days away! Eek! Come down and join us at Redbourne Community college in Ampthill, Bedford, we'll be in the Romney Marquee.

All systems are a go over here, I've been dyeing up a storm, I may even do some sewing! That being said, I thought that you deserved to see some pretty awesome new things at Fibre East. So i've come up with new colourways, am launching the Gytha base in person and oh Yes! The most exciting new things are the Cowtown Knit collaborations!

Kate of Cowtown Knits is really lovely and i've been incredibly lucky to meet and get to know her over drinks, food and most importantly Knitting, at our local knit night run by Yarn in the City. When I was first considering Fibre East, I was looking for someone to share a larger stall, unfortunately my fellow designers and yarn/fibre producers were jetting off on holiday and unable to join me. Lucky for some right? This did spark a conversation on how we could still collaborate and from a bit of back and forth, some oooohing and aaaahing Lambton Panes was born.

This gorgeous shawl inspired me to work with Gradients and play with some neutrals. I first worked on a Custom gradient in the Cowtown colours which was perfectly paired with Blue Steel to create the beauty you see below.

Since then I've been working to create a range of Gradient colourways for you to choose from to make your own unique Lambton Panes shawl. These will be available for purchase as kits at Fibre East. Though if you won't be able to attend, never fear because pre-orders are live in the shop from Today! You get to choose from the fantastic Gradient colourways below and some solids, that paired with a physical copy of the pattern and some themed stitch markers make up the kit.

Cowtown (The shawl colourway with blue steel)
Was created from the Cowtown Knits colours, Salmon Pink, Wheat, Mint and Turquoise.

Hawkeye
Was inspired by its namesake, the Marvel character Hawkeye from the Comics. With his Pink/Purple on Midnight blue threads.

The Poisoned Apple
Was inspired by the TV series Once Upon a Time, playing with some of the central charters,  Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin and The Evil Queen. The two villains of the piece conspiring to keep snow white and the other residents if storybook in the dark, harsh reality of the real world.

Kryptonite
This colourway speaks for itself representing three different colours of kryptonite, Gold, Green and Blue.

Quarter Quell
Inspired by the Hunger games and the game board of the Quarter Quell, The colours represent the different sections of the wheel.

As a way to say thank you to all of you that have bought from Third Vault Yarns before if you come see us at one of our show this year, Fibre East, Nine Worlds, Yarnporium or Festiwool, wearing one of your TVY creations you get an automatic chance to win something in our lucky dip, be it a discount for that show, coupons for the shop, mini skeins, even a full skein of yarn! So come visit us and wear your work proudly!

All about that Base... and the Competition Winner

I'm often asked what inspires the names of the yarn bases that I use, so I thought i'd give you guys a quick rundown of the named and current base line up for Third Vault Yarns.

I try to pick base names that embody the yarn's qualities whilst also staying true to TVY's Sci Fi and Fantasy leanings, mostly because I'm a big geek and it's fun.

The Lace Weights

Interstellar
Interstellar is a gorgeous, squishable soft base with fun sparkles, it's a non superwash extra fine merino and silk blend yarn that is perfect for shawls and light weight tops. Named because the subtle and sometime bold sparkles from the stellina reminiscent of stars, and the rest is but situated between.

Tesseract
This gorgeous silky yarn, has both glow and lustre created by the high percentage silk and the fantastic crispness and richness of Bluefaced Leicester wool this luxury yarn represents the glowing richness of the Tesseract from the Marvel Universe, the Infinity Stone containment vessel.

The Sock Weights and Long Haulers

Ship's Mechanic sock
Which is sadly now leaving the line up, due to being discontinued by the Supplier. I'm on the hunt for a good base replacement, so you'll probably see some different sock yarn blends in the store until i settle on a new one and name it. Though I will say in keeping with the style of Ship's Mechanic i'm looking for a good strong but soft sock. So you might see a gorgeous BFL/Nylon in the future.

This base is named in a nod to a one of my favourite Sci fi's and a certain Firefly class ship mechanic, Kaylee. Who embodies both hardiness and prettiness. This mechanic is just as at home in a dress and baubles as she is with a screwdriver and wrench in hand. Which is the perfect fit for this hard-wearing yarn that is perfect for socks with it's lovely juxtaposition of softness and strength.

Companion 4ply
It's a common theme in Sci Fi and fantasy for the protagonist to have one or two trusty companions, this fabulous superwash merino yarn is the perfect base to come with you on your knitting journeys providing strength and softness. So it's named in tribute to all the companions throughout the galaxy, travelling in time and space, through the black, respectable or otherwise, be fearless knitters, go on I dare you!


Hevelin 4ply
Hevelin is a fingering weight Merino Cashmere Nylon blend, full of softness and warmth. Sinaya Dk also an MCN blend came first, so when it came to naming the fingering weight version I wanted to stay in keeping with the theme.With that in mind Hevelin is another Norbear from the Liaden Universe and as the Ambassador, arguably the most important.

The Great All Rounders

Echo Dk
It's no secret that i'm a big fan of Joss whedon's sci fi works, so when I was thinking of a name for this soft, bouncy, washable, versatile base, I thought of Echo. A kickass active played by Eliza Dushku in dollhouse. The versatility of this year makes it ideal to become anything, just like and active. So choose what imprint(pattern) you want to mold it into and don't forget Echo will bring her own oomph to make your project extra special.

Jayne in One Skein
The name just says it all, this cake of squishy goodness, is for those most cunning amongst us, with a love of shiny, shiny things. Another base named and designed with a nod at my favourity Sci fi. This yarn and base is specifically dyed and measured out to use with the Jayne in One Skein pattern to knit your very own Ma Cobb hat. Though in the same vein, don't be a afraid to knit anything you wish!

Selkie Dk
This dual natured 50/50 Merino and Silk yarn bring both drape and softness to the table. It was named with a view to it's dual nature and inspired by the seal people of myth and folklore, the Selkie. They often make appearances in fantasy tv shows such as Lost girl and I felt that the hypnotic duality of these creatures perfectly embodied this cool and warm glowing yarn.

Sinaya Dk
Sinaya is named after a Norbear from the Liaden universe. Norbears are said to be fearless with a lively dispostion and natural empaths. They are sharing creatures that are warm and comforting, just like this yarn with the merino and cashmere lending incredibly warmth and cuddlyness and the nylon giving it that strength of character. You can't help but want to wrap yourself in this yarn, there is nothing like to gorgeous squishyness to make you feel extra comfortable, so the name was really a no brainer.

The Heavy Hitters

Space &Time
Space and Time are Sister bases, both the same weight and put up at 3plys. However they differ in wool type. With Space a 100% Merino Base and Time 100% Blue Face Leicester. Named thus as space and time are key features in Science Fiction stories and in Tv shows I know and love such as Dr Who. With these two bases all of Space and Time is open to you :P

AND FINALLY

I had such a hard time choosing, because there were so many fabulous suggestions. In the end though, partly because you caught me at a time where i'm re-reading and re-experiencing my love of Discworld. The newest most Fabulous, Squishy Soft Worsted Weight base is Gytha! (First suggested by Claire)

Gytha Worsted

Is named after a Nanny Ogg, from the Discworld Series. She is a loveable and much liked character, to all but her many daughters in law (Which is said by many to be her only failing). This warm welcoming fully figured mother and witch embodies this yarn, It's ridiculous softness and ability to take colour, along with it's good wearing qualities, make it the perfect yarn, for something next to the skin soft or to wrap you up in warmth as a jumper, it's almost magical ;D.

Thank you so much to everyone that made suggestions, they were all fantastic and Adipose and Aslan were such close contenders! Gytha Worsted will be making it's debut in the Shop next month and will be available for a damn good squishing on our stall at Fibre East on the 30th and 31st of July. 

And the winner is.......

You wonderfully awesome people have spoken.The theme for Quarter 2's yarn club is.......

As with most fandoms Terry Pratchett's Discworld is near and dear to me. I fondly remember reading the books and watching The Hog Father at Christmas. Discworld was a source of much laughter, probably more than a little confusion and silly memories! Also for those of you who like a good table top gaming session, Ankh-Morpork the game is really rather fun!

I am really looking forward to re-exploring and re-discovering the world of Discworld with you for this club and I can tell you right now I am strongly inclined to create a colourway called boozin' blue men in kilts.....

As before sign ups go live for subscribers to the yarn club mailing list on the 30th (tomorrow!) and will be available to everyone 1st week of May. Sign ups will only be open until Monday 16th of May this time around, and remember there are only a limited amount of places so don't miss out, if places fill up then sign ups will close early.

The club box will include a set of mini skeins, themed goodies and an exclusive club skein which can be in one of our 100% superwash merino bases, Companion 4ply, Echo Dk or Space Aran. Or you can change from one our standard bases to one of the luxury bases.

• Tesseract lace 600m (55% Sw Blue Faced Leicester 45% Silk) + £4 per skein
• Hevelin 4ply 400m (MCN - 80% Sw Merino 10% Cashmere 10% Nylon) + £4 per skein
• Sinaya Dk 212m (MCN) + £4 per skein
• Selkie Dk 212m (50% Sw Merino 50% Silk) + £2 per skein

There will also be a limited number of single 100g skein offerings for £16 + postage, if a luxury base is chosen add £2 or £4 per skein depending on the option as detailed above.

Extra 100g skeins can be added to the club box or with the single skein for an additional £15 (standard skein) each.


Whilst you wait though, check out my newest pattern release!

The Noughts and Crosses Cowl is now live and available to purchase, both as a pattern on Ravelry and as a Kit in the Store

Themed Quarterly Yarn Club ~ Firefly

Quarter 1 is drawing to a close, bringing with it the end of the first instalment of the Quarterly Yarn Club. For those of you that didn't get a chance to join in the fun, here is the final club box and the gorgeous yarns and goodies that everyone received.

I have a lot of fandoms that I'm particularly partial to. Firefly being one of my all time favourites. So I was thrilled when it won the vote. I really enjoyed creating it and I'd love to take you through my different inspirations for the colourways present in the Club. Starting with the Exclusive Club skein 'Serenity'.

Shown on our Tesseract base

Serenity was inspired by it's namesake, the Firefly class ship that is home to our favourite crew. I wanted to show the ship as a little battered but still well loved and beautiful in its own way. With maroon and orange flashes across the skein overlaid with a silvery grey/black reminiscent of the scene when the ship is flying though a sea of Reavers in Serenity. Lastly I definitely couldn't forget to add the section of engine burn orangey yellow, so that when in skein form it looks like Serenity is in full burn travelling through the black.

Crew Member Companion minis

Captain Tightpants/Mal

For Mal I really wanted to represent his bold nature as well as pay homage to his browncoat loyalties. To this end I played with rich reds and browns, whilst also including some yellow and beiges to balance out those colours. As I've said before I think his and Inara's colourway go beautifully together, both very bold and in brilliant contrast.

Reader/River

River was a hard one to represent, as in speaking to others, I've found she in particular is interpreted so differently. Even by me in this case, as her colourway very nearly ended up completely different. I had originally gone for a strong rich blue and Sage/olivey green to represent her dresses in two key scenes, both in the TV series and the film. However at the last moment I changed my mind and her colourway became silvery blue with more blue flashes and red speckles. As I think it represents the dancer's fluidity with which she carries herself but also a nod to her fighting skills and her scattered mind.

Companion/Inara

I have previously spoken about my inspiration for Inara's colourway, and how I feel the rich layered purples represent her strength of character and her beauty, so it was a pleasure to include her as a mini for this club.

Pilot/Wash

Wash and Zoe will always be my personal favourite characters aboard the ship, so it was a no brainer when I chose Wash as one of the crew member skeins, With his quirky one liners and his snappy dress sense how could I not! I took inspiration from his crazy shirts, with their pale green under colour and colourful prints and patterning. I followed this by creating a light mint green underlay and using orange, blue, teal and black for speckles and splashes.

As to why these four over the others, I have been working on some new Firefly themed colourways that I will début in the next quarter as well as some more Dr Who inspired colourways. Some of the ideas I had for crew members for Firefly couldn't be demonstrated to my satisfaction on mini skeins. Hence why these 4 of 9.

Goodies!

We can't forget this club's wonderful goodies. made in collaboration with some other artisans, including buttons from Crazy buttons and Allsorts, and some charms from Pinz n Thingz.
The notions pouches and stitch markers were made by me with the buttons made by Angie of Crazy buttons, she does beautiful work.

I will be offering themed notions kits upon my return from holiday in April and there will be a limited number of these Firefly ones up for grabs, so if you like them don't miss out!

Now onwards! Boldly into the next quarter and the beginning of voting on the next theme. Thanks to everyone on Ravelry who gave suggestions in the group as to possible themes for next quarter, The Random thing picker has spoken!

The themes for voting are!

• Discworld
• Fifth Element
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Don't worry if your theme isn't here for voting, I'll be working on lots of new colourways on my return from holiday so you'll see one or two based on some of the different themes suggested to me, Also keep an eye out towards the end of this year, there will be some exciting things happening, exciting but kind of secret so I can't share them just yet :D

In other news, there will be a "Because yarn is expensable, right?" Market Night this coming Saturday April 2nd over on the Facebook page, don't forget to check it out as all our ready to ship yarns will be on offer. with 10% off over £20 spent and 15% off over £50.

So what are you waiting for, Get Voting and Get Shopping!

Colourway Creation: My process

I love working on new colourways, though it isn't something I do all the time. Especially when it comes to repeatable colourways. Often when I dye for the sake of dyeing or myself I just throw colours together to see what madness comes out of it. This part of my process is very haphazard, but often informs my more structured dyeing. I like to play with colour to see how they combine in a more real way than on a colour palette.

When designing a new colourway I usually have been prompted to think about a Fandom or theme and then I tend to select the first few things that come to mind to take down the research rabbit hole.
So for example when working on the Phat Fiber samples for January with the Theme  'Dragons and Fantasy'. I had originally been thinking about fiery reds browns, colours I don't dye often, but are commonly associated with Dragons and their fire breathing ways.   However when it came to dyeing my samples I was suddenly reminded of Eragon by Christopher Paolini and thought it would be nice to play off other colours, so I was guided to his dragon in particular Saphira.

Once I've got a firm inspiration, I start thinking about how to represent this using colour and how the colours should best be distributed across the skein. For Saphira, it was really important that I looked at 3 colours, the slight brown, purple and the rich but kind of dusty blue. To create the colours I was looking for I extended my colour palette, especially as I am dyeing this colourway on Superwash yarn, I can make full use of how dyeing on this type of yarn creates a layered effect.

So with a view to the final blue, I chose an icy blue grey, to add that level of dustiness and also to neutralise the cream/ yellow colour to the undyed yarn. I then chose a warm brown and strong purple. With a final rich blue.

I then decide the strength of each of those colours I am going to use, which will determine where the colours are very deep or pale. In this case I kept the first colour as is and chose to go for paler versions of the brown and purple as they were secondary colours to the blue. The blue I decided to use at half strength.

When it comes to dyeing the skeins I think about how I want each of these colours to be represented on the skein, whether the colour has to be across the entire skein, if I just want flashes of the colour, whether it should be a completely solid colour or if in itself it should be a semi solid. This determines the method of dyeing I use for the colouway.

In this case I chose a semisolid method for both the icy blue grey and the rich blue, and the same resist method of twisting my hanks for the brown and purple to give flashes across the skein in different sections.

The final product on the Space Aran weight base!

Don't forget there is only a week left of voting time for the Themed Quarterly yarn club. Vote in the Ravelry group, Facebook or in the comments on this post . Go ahead and subscribe to the club mailing list to get first dibs on the club sign ups (which are limited in number) on the 31st of January. Sign ups will be available to everyone else  in the first week of February.

Your voting options are
1. Doctor who
2. Firefly
3. Random Fandom!

So Many WIPs... So Few FOs!

It seems since my last knitting post about the Soft Stones Pullover, I've been pretty terrible at finishing my projects :(

I certainly didn't manage to complete 12/15 jumpers in 2015. I won't be attempting it this year either but it is one of my knitoloutions to finish more WIPs (so based on my jumper WIPs, i'll be almost there!) and knit more in general.

My finished items from 2015 (a few of which are pictured above)

• Wurm hat for a friend
• 2 x Stained glass shawlettes
• Ease Jumper
• Sandshore
• Soft stones
• Swing me right round
• Cowl for a swap
• Shawl for a swap
• Hawthorne singlet
• 3 x Amigurumi vampire bats

Unfortunately my list of Works In Progress, is pretty long..
They amount to around

• 8 Jumper projects from 2015 or previous (I generally gravitate to knitting Jumpers)
• Battleship
• Blue Sand cardigan
• Skappelgenseren 
• Catskillz cardi
• SMRR KAL Jumper
• Crop top
• Super secret test tck
• Buttony
• 2 Accessories (including a scarf for a friend)
• various other small projects

In addition to my WIPs above, I have added another jumper and a few more accessories. On top of that I have several designs in the works for this year. Including the rest of the Short Row collection that the Stained Glass Shawlette belongs to. 

This collection explores the use of short rows as design features, and the way they can be used to provide structure and shaping. It will consist of the Shawlette, a Shawl, Wristwarmers, a Tank top and a Jumper. These will be released to the collection at different points this year so stay tuned to pick up a fantastic discount on the collection when the first pattern is released.

What are your knitoloutions or craftoloutions for 2016? Share them in the comments :)

New Year, New Things and the Quarterly Yarn Club

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2016!

We've lots of new and exciting things coming up this year, more shows, new bases, new designs and of course, more yarn!

We are starting a Themed Quarterly Yarn Club. Sign ups will be limited for each quarter but will be 100% worth it!

The first quarter runs from January to March

The first month of every quarter (in this case, January) you get to vote on your favourite theme from a shortlist of themes. Subscribers to the Yarn Club list get to go first and have more weight in the decision (they also get first dibs on sign ups). So subscribe to the list now if you're interested: here

At the end of the first month the theme is announced and sign ups are open through the second month, these are limited though, so don't wait!

In the third month the club yarn goes out!

What do you get?

Each Club membership of £42 gives you a skein of yarn exclusive to the club (and club members) for the year, a set of mini skeins and some mystery theme related goodies and accessories.

You are able to choose one of the following Superwash Merino bases for your exclusive skein of yarn.

• Companion 4ply
• Echo Dk
• Space Aran

You also have the option of picking one of our luxury bases for a little extra

• Tesseract Lace (55% Sw Blue Faced Leicester 45% Silk) 
• Hevelin 4ply (80% Sw Merino 10% Cashmere 10% Nylon)
• Sinaya Dk (MCN)
• Selkie Dk (50% Sw Merino 50% Silk)

Please note that our Ship's Mechanic Sock base will be available but will take the colours slightly differently from the superwash merino and BFL bases above.

There will be an even more limited number of just the exclusive skein sign ups for £16 available as well.

So without further ado get voting in the comments!

1. Dr Who
2. Firefly
3. Random Fandom!

Or head over to Facebook to vote in the comments there, don't forget to include your email address when commenting on the blog, so we can contact you when sign ups go live!

In the meantime check out the shop update!

The Festive Season Begins - A gift from me to you!

It seems to have crept up on us without us even realising, The countdown to Christmas begins with less than a month to go.

Have you got all the presents that you're giving or are you a last minute shopper?

Buying or Making? Are you the main Fibre Artist in your life or do you have friends or a partner that fills that role?

Either way we've got lots of wonderful Yarnie and Geeky themed gifts for the yarn lover in you or those you care about.

To make it easier on the wallet at a time when there are loads of presents to buy, Third Vault Yarns is being a bit American and offering you some Black Friday to Cyber Monday deals, and because this weekend is such a rush and you may need a little selfish shopping time after, we've extended our offers to end Midnight GMT Tuesday 1st of December.

We've added loads of new things including project bags, which can be bought individually or as a discounted set with yarn and our new knitting needle sleeves, and of course lots of new yarn!

10% off Purchases over £40 with coupon code: Cunning10

15% off Purchases over £60 with coupon code:  BIGDAMNHERO15

To round it all off every order, yes EVERY order will get a chance to win a free mystery gift packaged with your order.

Happy Shopping!

Festiwool Fun and the Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who came and saw us at Festiwool, we had a great time! 

A really quick shout out to some of the people I met at Nine Worlds, it was lovely to see you again and lovely to meet you to the new faces we met yesterday :)

For everyone that asked about the shawl pattern that I was wearing in the Deep Space colourway. The pattern is by Sylvia Bo Bolivia and is called 'Like a Little Knitted Notebook' , Mine is a modified version with one skein of Companion 4ply, Stockinette instead of Garter stitch and y/o increases instead of normal ones. Made for me by a fantastic knitter in the States because I've been busy beavering away on some new designs which I will be posting about in the coming weeks.

If you missed out on getting some of our yarns, there will be a shop update in the coming week, in the meantime the store has been organised to show the previous inventory minus the sold at Festiwool. thirdvaultyarns.etsy.com

Everyone that bought something from us yesterday will know we were holding a giveaway for our Festiwool exclusive skein in Merino Bamboo Lace, this fabulous skein goes to.......

......Drumroll please.......

Sabina B

All purchasers were assigned a number in order of purchase and then the winner was selected through the use of a random number generator.

For everyone that didn't win, you get another chance to win a different skein, if you like Third Vault Yarns on Facebook, we are very nearly at the 100 likes threshold so drawing will be happening very soon!

The winner of the giveaway has been emailed and they have 7 calender days to respond, if they do not claim their prize the winner will be redrawn.

Inara and Na'vi

Hi all,

If you've been following Third Vault Yarns on Facebook or Instagram, you'll see that I've recently posted pictures of two of my colourways on the TVY Companion 4ply base.

Companion 4ply is a soft squishy 100% Superwash Merino, that dyes up in vibrant colours. It's a 4 plied yarn that knits up beautifully, and is wonderful to work with (I'm knitting with it myself, I would never pick a yarn to dye that I wouldn't knit with). The base yarn is named after Companions in the Sci Fi and fantasy genre, from whatever walk of life they may come from. Be it Doctor Who, firefly or something else.

Inara 

Is a colourway dyed in varying layered purples, inspired by and named after Inara Serra, Companion by trade, friend and on and off member of crew of Serenity in Firefly and more often than not sparring partner to the ship's captain one Malcom Reynolds. I chose these colours to represent her because I see her has a vibrant character with lots of depth, and tend to associate her with the colour purple. Watch this space though as I might be adding more Inara inspired colourways in the future, based on her fantastic colourful and rich outfits throughout Firefly. If you're a fan of Cowboy's, Space and science fiction, go watch it, it's currently available on netflix if you already have a subscription or i'm sure elsewhere if you get a chance to look. 

Na'vi

 A colourway made up of layered blues, teals, greens and a splash of purple. It was inspired by the Na'vi people, and the beauty of their home world the moon of Pandora, as shown in James Cameron's movie Avatar. I loved the movie, even though I saw it ages ago when it first came out, and definitely think it's worth a watch if you haven't seen it.

These particular yarns will be coming to Nine Worlds with me on the 9th of August so if you want to pick them up there that will be your first chance, otherwise they should be available mid August in the Etsy store.

Check back for new colourways and more information about their inspiration in the coming weeks.

A Very Quick Update and Sale information

Thank you to all of you that purchased my pattern through Ravelry and outside of it, it's a great feeling to know that people like things you've made enough to pay for them. Also just in case you have yet to buy it but are considering it, the pattern Swing Me Right Round is still half of till end of Saturday, so only a few more days.

Right now I've moved from Leeds to London and am still sorting out my things. I really need to make room for myself as my space has shrunk by well over half, so I need your help to do so. Over the next few weeks i'll be de-stashing some of my yarn (I know it pains me to let it go), which will be added to either my stash trade page on Ravelry or Ebay.

Some of my current de-stash items for your viewing pleasure....

100% chunky wool singles yarn

One cone of 100% Silk DK from Colourmart

8 x Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted in Wild Violet

I am also having a sale at my Etsy shop, as I am clearing my stock to make way for a new venture. More hinting I know... So to get 30 % off , use the coupon code 30OFF when purchasing an item from ArtistrybyL.

If your interested in my yarns, but would prefer a trade i'm also open to that (can't help restashing...) So let me know :).

Today's the Day!

Remember when I said that I was working on a pattern for my Jumper? Well my jumper pattern is all written, tested by two lovely ladies to iron out all the kinks and ready for you to knit.

Having spent time knitting and writing the pattern, I now understand how much hard work goes into writing a knitting pattern that is clear and detailed, so I really thank all the designers for the patterns that they've written and I've found easy to use. So much work goes into the process.

I want to thank my wonderful testers, who have both created lovely versions of my jumper pattern, and given me advice on how to present the pattern to you. The pattern was originally going to be released as is, with the detailed calculations within the pattern for each person to do to ensure they make a size tailored to them, now the pattern will be released with a spreadsheet that does all those calculations for you. So all you have to do is take your measurements as shown by the schematic and add them to the spreadsheet. Then you'll have all your numbers returned ready for you to start knitting the pattern.

Swing Me Right Round pullover

The pattern is available for download and purchase from Ravelry here, you do not have to be a member of Ravelry to purchase, however if you are, it is best to be logged in when you purchase so that the purchase and download is associated with your account. For a limited time the pattern is discounted by £2 with the coupon code: thevaultisopen . I will be providing help and support from my Ravelry group Third Vault on the Left.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Having finished and published this one, I've been bitten by the designing bug and i'm working on another pattern which will be ready for testing in the next few weeks, details will be available about this on my group.

If you thought that was all the big news I alluded to last post, there's more! The rest will be revealed soon so stay tuned!

Quick Update

I'm finishing off my Masters at the moment, in my last stretch of exams. So I haven't had the time to make an update. I've finished off my version of Soft Stones, the beautiful Jumper i wrote about last time and started a few other projects. I even squeezed in some dyeing time to get ready for my next test knit. Oh Alfa (Atelier Alfa designs on ravelry) I can't wait for your Winter Wheat DK!

My Soft Stones

I opted for shorter sleeves, as I think they work better for me in this jumper (The picture is of me in the Computer lab, a very brief pause for pictures and then to work). I'm even considering doing a sleeveless version in the future as the jumper also looked great on me as a t-shirt. Perhaps though in summer yarns, and certainly not until next year at least 3ply weight yarn and I have some need of a separation for a while. Which makes it even better that my next big project in June will be my DK jumper for Alfa, Are you ready to see my three colour gradient? It's not the greatest picture but i love them, The colours are semisolid and really glow in person. They'll be much easier to see when they are all knitted up but that'll be a post toward the end of June or early July (maybe even graduation cardigan, yes wooo! that's coming up this year). Well cue crappy picture...

Not bad for a quick day of dyeing

As I said, I've been a busy bee with Uni work, but that's not all I've been up to, so stay tuned for more exciting, patterny, fibrey things in the future!

Quick request for you lovely people out there, if you comment on this post or on any of my others, please share it with me if it is a google + comment so I can interact with you or answer any of your questions if you have them :)

I told a big fat lie...

When I said I didn't see any lace in my future I lied, Once my Sandshore was finished I was given the opportunity to test one of Atelier Alfa's patterns in a fingering weight yarn but as the rows were very long and it was a long cardigan, I tucked my tail between my legs and hid in a corner. I promised I would test the DK version, I look back at the fingering weight version and everyone's lovely tests and kick myself for it. After that decision I thought I need to knit something and i want to try something new, nevermind my Funky Grandpa yarn finally being picked out and languishing in a corner. Ooooh look at this lovely jumper, test knit? why not? I have so much 3ply stash it'll be perfect.....

My finished Sandshore

Wait WHAT? You don't want to knit a 4ply cardigan because you've never knit that thin before and aren't sure you'll be able to knit it fast enough, and you've decided to knit a thinner 3ply jumper in less than the time allotted for the 4ply?  I'm definitely a little crazy. Anyway this past month (April) i've been having my first experience with  3ply knitting.

PROS:

• Creates a light fabric
• Requires less balls of yarn
• Can destash some of my (rather large?) lace/3ply stash
• I'll be less gunshy of 4ply for funky grandpa

CONS:

• It takes a very long time
• I want to burn my project because it takes so long even though I love the way it looks....

I'm finally working on the sleeves of my Jumper which i'm managing because even though i'm ready to chuck it out of the window in frustration I dyed some pretty yarn for it, and it's a pleasure to watch it grow in those colours. My only issue is it's not growing fast enough.

My sleeves are being knit in these lovelies!

As I worked through the body part of the pattern I went with bad jumper practice for me and whilst I added some shaping to better fit my shape I refused to do short rows for my bust. Massive mistake, I have a bust and I need to accommodate it. Now even though the jumper body is pretty lovely in most ways, it rides up in the centre front. *face palm* Still i'm not changing it, I don't have the time or inclination to rip out the 10+ inches I knit afterwards. I did however add in lifelines near the waist area where a I joined a new ball of yarn thinking I might go back and change the shape a bit with a contrast colour and rib stitch band at the waist. That part won't happen but I might go back there and add an extra inch overall.  Experimental edits for the win. I've added in two lifelines and hope I can rip out the centre, Knit and extra inch and graft like my life depends on it.

To compound the insanity because I love the shape so much i'm considering knitting another one without sleeves in a summer weight with stripes, short rows and other joyful stuff. This project has seriously driven me insane. This time however it will be a project much tempered by my other lovely projects. As soon as this baby (it's been a punishing labour) is done I'll be casting on for Funky Grandpa and Blue sand cardigan both by La Maison Rililie. Maybe I'll also cast on the summer version of this jumper but I doubt it'll be ready by this summer. In the meantime if you aren't a 3ply scaredy cat then check out the wonderful pattern by Ela Torrente of Modish Knits

It is very well laid out and clearly written, it even got me trying out a few new techniques which really work for the pattern.

If all that excitement wasn't enough I wrote up the pattern for my Jumper and it's currently being tested. So hopefully my next post will be about the Jumper pattern being released! The pattern is one size, but that one size is your size, i'm hoping to integrate the pattern with my blog so that you guys can get the pattern customised for you at no extra cost.

In the meantime though i need a name! So i'm going to scamper off back to my rabbit hole and have a think, if you have any ideas for the jumper let me know :)

My Knitting year ahead

I realised I only slipped in a very brief mention about the Ultimate KAL by the Plum Dandi Ravelry group in my last post, even though i've been knitting for it fiercely since the 20th of January umming, and aahing and planning since before it started on the 9th. I chose to make Ease by Alicia Plummer because I look at that jumper and every time I see it, it screams relaxed comfort to me. I want a jumper that does that. So I swatched, don't get me wrong I hate swatching and I do the bare minimum if I can get away with it. Massive slap on the wrist there. If you haven't knit with a yarn before, quite possibly on those needles (even if you have done it with others to a different gauge) SWATCH because it could and likely will come back to bite you in the ass. I think the people who can get away without swatching are really confident but above all tend to know how they knit with a good base range of yarns and needles, but also they maybe knitting things they don't care about the fit of.

So, if you're knitting a scarf or a rectangle or something without shape, you don't need to swatch, if you want a garment that fits that works with your body, you swatch, you calculate you do the hard stuff that knitting asks of you, so at the end of you however many hours, you have a piece that you don't hate because it doesn't fit right, you might hate it for other reasons, you picked the wrong colour, the pattern wouldn't have flattered the person you are anyway, etc.  It won't however be because it doesn't fit!

Swatching in the round - on top of my revision :P

Yes if the pattern requires you to knit in the round SWATCH IN THE ROUND. There are some helpful links to tutorials for doing this from Techknitter to Ysolda both invaluable resources that definitely know their shit! What it all boils down to is, knit to one end of your row and instead of turning your knitting take it to the other end of your needle (DPNS or CIRCS required) take the working yarn from the other side of your swatch, loop it round your hand loosely and knit back across from the end where the yarn wasn't, repeat.

I've digressed a bit from the point of this post though, which is to tell you a little about what i've planned for my knitting year, and the end of the Ultimate KAL. I finished my Ease! I love it, I played with colour, I played with the fit and I made it me. Obligatory bathroom mirror selfie (vom at that word!) below

I added Horizontal Bust Darts (through short rows), I added an invisible/ inseam pocket i changed up the sleeves using a chart from a different pattern, I switched up the shoulders with another similar pattern. I was unafraid to make it different and mine. Never be afraid to do that with your knitting, just as you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, I was all over the internet  looking for links, I deliberated on a million things asked my Stitch 'n' Bitch group for their opinions and forged on, with a fair amount of swearing and frustration. I got so frustrated with the sleeves I jumped onto several different projects mid knitalong! I do however love it now, it's very me and very fun, whilst also being slightly outside my comfort zone. Plus it's finished before the end of the Ultimate KAL that is due on the 9th of March 'happy dance'. I did actually start another that was also for the KAL whilst i knit Ease, but I didn't expect that to be finished. However it is a perfect start to my summer knitting. I decided a while back, summer knitting got started in the winter/late winter so i could finish it and actually wear it in the summer and not have to wait a year for appropriateness.

I'm knitting Sandshore now, by Alicia Plummer again, but I do love her patterns I have A LOT of them. As others have said, it is a pretty quick knit relatively it is flying off the needles (that could be more to do with the size of the needles and the different gauge, I knit my Ease way tight on 4.5mm needles instead of 6 or 6.5mm). Large gauge things which make a holey fabric are a little hard for me, but in this case i'm going with the flow because it looks good, it works in the pattern and everyone's pictures and i've not worked with the yarn before so i'm developing a preference for working with it in a certain way as I go. If I was to show this to a certain bulletproof knitter I know and love, she might have an apoplexy. 

For the rest of my year it's going to be garments galore, mostly for me, depending on how I feel I might throw a gift into the mix, but I am a selfish knitter. Why so many garments?

I've only gone and joined another KAL the Tin Can Knits KAL on ravelry. 12, yes 12 garments in 2015, AAAAAAAARGH, am I setting myself up to fail? after all I graduate this year and hopefully get a job so will be quite probably busier, much busier than i am now. Where will my knitting time come from? It is however a goal, a challenge but a goal and hey i'm 3 jumpers in, 2 down 1 finishing off and 9 left to go. I don't see laceweight in my future this year, but one or two fingering, most definitely my funky grandpa, I have wanted it for ages and it has been earmarked since last year. Now it is a very real possibility because i've 100% decided on yarn 

2 Kingcraig lambswools, and 2 drops delight

The other jumpers in my list include some summer weights and some winter knitting, it's all gravy, maybe. So I shall keep you guys updated as I go and post pictures of them all together at the halfway mark. Next post though will be about finishing number 3, cardigan for the summer and the ribbing technique that I plan to try and try and share my process. Stick around you won't be disappointing and do not be afraid to join in!

NB: I did not use that particular tutorial for horizontal bust darts, I used the secondary tutorial you receive with all of Mary Annarella's patterns . I found the above when I was discussing bust darts with other people on the forums about using bust darts. 

#tck12sweaters2015 #ultimatekal

It's Finished!

I've finally finished a jumper that I designed and made from scratch completely off my own back. It was hard work. I didn't follow the general advice on designing your own knits, which would be to calculate, measure, write then knit, so I pretty much did the first bit and knit and played around with it from there. I think this method works to a point, I guess especially when your not hugely experienced with creating different shapes and so wouldn't know how to write it out, but in that case your probably better of getting out some graph paper and drawing it out.  It is certainly an interesting experience working something from a picture in your head, especially when it comes to adding design details and figuring out how it will all fit together.

   

Anyhoo I don't have great pictures of my jumper yet, what with the weather and all, but as soon as i do they'll be up here! I'm on to my next projects, finishing off the winter ones and taking part in Plum Dandi's (Alicia Plum and Melissa S) Ultimate KAL with my version of Ease/Birchbark. I'm looking forward to intentionally doing something with colour in my knitting unlike the above jumper where i ran out of yarn!

I've been searching for ages for a better representation of the top Jennifer Lawrence wears in Catching Fire to sleep in on the train, as I fell in love with it from that angle alone, so this morning i stumble across this on shopyourtv.com

You can just about see the back
on the right

I've fallen out of love, it wasn't what I envisioned and so it has me a little dissapointed. Though i'm sure if i had a go at it and made some changes I could love it again. I'm actually really interested by the concept of a knitted bodysuit, though in this case it seems a shame to have it so short, as I definitely couldn't carry that off in RL. On the other hand I adore this set from the same fall collection...

Doing a little search there wasn't anything like it on ravelry so maybe it could be a future design project.....

Catching up, and Unwinding in Brighton...

Well it's been an age, and to think my last post was berating myself for missing a month. Not been very dedicated unfortunately. You'll be happy to know though that I finished Grey Matter Cardigan, though I didn't succeed at any of the KAL's except Aidez, and I fell out of love with Carpino. I did on the other hand find some yarn for Millwater that should be lovely so I will likely be knitting that soon.

My Aidez was a bit of a roller coaster in all honesty, I started it in Crelando Meli in teal which is a lovely springy Superwash merino wool. I just didn't love it for my Aidez. I adored the cables in that yarn, just not the Stockinette for the pattern. After working on that iteration up to past the pocket join (I added pockets and a hood to my version), I had to put it down as it wasn't quite right for me. So began the hunt for more yarn, fortunately after much disappointment commercially, I hunted through my stash and came up with some navy aran tweed. I swatched this yarn a lot as the pattern called for a super bulky. In any case it worked out in the end.

More information about the trials and tribulations of my Aidez are available on my project page, so check that out if your interested and would like the chart for the back cable that I created. If you would like to use it and would like a key for the chart let me know in the comments and I'll put one together and add it.

Since then I have been #knitting a Drangey (by Stephen West) for my wonderful but equally grumpy Bf, that buys me yarn so in the eyes of my knitting friend's is a keeper :) Also a new t-shirt, which originally was being knit as a long floaty t-shirt for summer, after much urging was kept at a shorter length and improvised a lot! I have to say I only used the pattern to figure out how many stitches to cast on. I finished this little top on Saturday, which meant that I got to wear it to Unwind! Feast your eyes :)

#Unwind Brighton was absolutely lovely, though my journey there was hell and unfortunately made an unplanned start in Leeds at 3:30 in the morning! We won't talk about that though. We got there to be greeted by visions of knitted creations, probably not quite as many as you would expect mind, it was only the few people that had, had the presence of mind to knit for the summer, as believe me the weather was incredibly hot! I took well over an hour to do my first circuit, in which time I fell for some gorgeous Madeline tosh which was then totally eclipsed from my regard, by some delicious Old Maiden Aunt yarn. Lilith definitely knows her stuff, there was a trunk of her scrumptious superwash merino 4ply on the floor and after 5 minutes of looking, I knew I was in it for the long hall and promptly parked myself on my ass in front of that trunk and dived in. Oh the Colours! Oh the Squishyness! Oh the wonderful Sci- Fi Inspired Colourways. Truly a woman after my own heart, don't tell my boyfriend!

Two hours to the end of the day

That trunk was now empty

Alas I was short of funds and it took me nearly two hours to settle on two of her colourways, 'To the black' a sumptuous ode to a wonderful series and 'Selkie' which is earmarked for Balmy by Alicia Plummer. I showed remarkable restraint in only getting four, as a wonderful friend of mine may have spend £120 there alone! There were 600 skeins of yarn at the Old Maiden Aunt stall at the beginning of the show, and after just one day, well I felt sorry for the ladies turning up on the Sunday. We positively cleared her out, leaving perhaps 50 tops skeins left, she even gave myself and my friend a skein each free!!!! On top of all that and incredible patience from her and her partner, Lilith let me try on her Raiun, which is  a pattern I own, but as with all knitting patterns rarely do you get the chance to see if it suits you before you go to the effort of knitting it. So muchos thanks to her for that and I love it, I'm scrambling around in my stash for the yarn to do it in, but it may very well be an Old Maiden Aunt Merino silk which will be saved up for.

One of each colour in our haul (there were four of us)

Speaking of saving up though I have been going through my stash and have decided to sell some of it off, little by little. If you get a chance please check out the auction for 200g of Noro Kureyon  in shade 260. Along with those I'm selling some of my hand dyed bumper sized (250g) skeins in the colourway riot pink. There are 2 of them for £15 each in a lovely 100% British wool. I will be selling more of my hand dyed yarn, but this will likely be when I get all the pictures done to add to my Etsy store. If you are interested in any hand dyes, send me a message on Google +