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

Origin Stories & Updates

Now every Superhero, and Super villain has one, unless you're the Joker and then well you just cray.....

Not saying i'm any of those things, but I thought I'd share a little bit about my origin story or how Third Vault on the Left and Third Vault Yarns and Designs came to be.

I've always been a crafty person and I love to dabble in things and have a rather terrible or beautiful habit of throwing myself into a new craft very wholeheartedly until i'm at least decent at it (or blindly bashing on anyway, shhhhhhh!).

Anyway I learnt to knit at a very young age. I was taught by my mother on the playground, didn't have the patience to appreciate it at that age though as I was far more into footy and fashion design. I grew up always wanting to be a fashion designer and loving sewing, designing at every chance I got. I loved making things for everyone, to the point I'm pretty sure my family got a little tired of my handmade gifts for Christmas, Birthdays, (but you know I was having a clear out and I found a little lavender potporri bag I hand sewed for my mother, for a long ago mother's day tucked into one of her drawers, long since stopped smelling, but cherished).

Over the years I re-discovered knitting, making random things and putting them down to go to the UFO pile in the sky. I still remember the cringeworthy bright orange and chocolate brown scarf I decided to make my mother on our large family holiday to America, I spent a fair amount of my time in that Huntington beach house, proudly knitting that acrylic horror. That's not me talking down about acrylic, it has its uses and you can get some really lovely acrylic, evidenced by my spanish hauls from New year 2015, this however was bargain bin walmart stuff.

Fast forward to University I'd finished Textiles A Level and was currently studying my first year of Computer Science at University (I know right, a little bit of a disconnect). I decided at the end of the year I wanted to do a fashion show, a whole collection of outfits telling the story of a young lady, morning to evening and random stops in between. That was great fun, a little harsh on the student budget because by this time I was in LOVE, with Silk, not the cheapest certainly but it turned into some gorgeous pieces.

Fast forward 2010-2011, I was on placement at Microsoft and had seriously messed up knees. On crutches for 4 months and nowhere near as flexible or able to be kneeling on the floor drafting patterns and cutting fabric. I made one thing that whole year, I loved it but I took so many breaks making it, definitely a lot more labour and pain than love at the time. I got back to university, my social and crafting pursuits wildly up in the air (I still struggle with my knees at points). Promptly joined the Stitch n Bitch society which had undergone a massive overhaul whilst I was away and took back to Knitting like a fish rediscovering water. I've been doing it ever since. 

The next year I with a couple of friends took over the committee and in the spring/summer term, after discovering a love of hand dyed yarn, decided to teach a workshop for the members. Promptly taught myself through youtube videos and random tutorials, tested out a couple of things with another friend and comittee member and taught the class. Everyone loved it and so did I, Never really stopped since. I taught another dyeing workshop, kept dyeing for myself and eventually did some commission dyeing. Upon graduating I said F- this I want to do something I love and share my love of geekiness colour and yarn with others so here I am now :) I took up knitting design, mostly to assuage the designing bug that just wouldn't quite and my complete inability to knit a pattern, jumper or otherwise without making changes for me, or playing with the design. Be fearless knitters people!

 My own origin story !

My first 2 hand dyed yarns, food colouring and white vinegar :)

On a serious note, getting back in to knitting did a wonderful thing in helping me through a time when I took a big knockback, and suddenly found that I couldn't do half the things that I loved. Yarn, Colour and Squishyness, played a very large part in adding a little bit more joy to my life. In getting into dyeing yarn for sale, I wanted to share that feeling and love, the evocativeness of colour, the tactileness and the ability to dream and create with something and make it that much more beautiful with the work and love we put in.

In other more current news, Unravel started today! I'll be there from tomorrow morning, checking in with Porpoise fur and Yarn in the City in the Barley Room and the YARN oh the YARN.
I found myself singing today ( as per my recent fortune cookie, "sing every day")

"You put a spell on me, and I want your yarn!"

So yeah I might be leaving my purse little lighter and my bags a little heavier!

I'll also be wearing the Sample of my Newest Shawl Pattern Stained Glass, published last week and only on Limited Time Discount for a few more days.

Only available on Ravelry at the moment

I might also be wearing the fingerless gloves designed to be knit with this shawlette in a kit of two 50g skeins of fingering weight. Come find me if you want a preview :D.

There will be a large shop update next week and a final teaser for the Firefly yarn club (only 2 more spaces). Until I get the whole box finished and sent out.

Until next time, let me know if you'll be wandering at unravel, we can have a knit, chat and a yarn ogle :P

This Quarter Y'all, it's just so Goram Shiny!

I keep saying there are exciting things going on this year and it's true I can barely contain myself! For now I'll just stick to exciting things happening this quarter.

Firstly Sign ups are live for this Quarter's Yarn Club. Woooooooo! Firefly! There are only a limited number in total, and some of them are already gone to subscribers! So if you want a club box or exclusive skein sign up here now!

From next week I'll be posting little teasers of the goodies in the box, which I'm really excited to share, however the full contents of the box will remain secret until all the boxes are received in March.

Stained Glass Shawlette will be published this month, so keep an eye out for it, you never know, there might be a limited time discount when it goes live! It uses Misha's Obsessions Merino Silk yarn as part of our #yarniedesignerswap, so check out her yarns and look out for the gorgeous socks she designed in Third Vault Yarns Companion 4ply.

Coming up this month for those in London and the surrounds, Unravel 2016 is happening at Farnham Maltings. From Friday the 19th to Sunday the 21st, there are workshops, talks, and a fabulous list of exhibitors! Also exhibiting is the brainchild of some wonderful ladies London knitters should know and love, or at least have heard of, Yarn in the City! They are launching the London Craft guide, a fantastic book of amazing patterns, for the craftsmen/women and the many bicraftstitchual or is that polycraftstitchual among us, I never know! It's currently available for pre-order over on the Yarn in the City blog. I can't wait to get mine! They will also have some of Third Vault Yarns on the stall including the custom colourway I dyed for YITC. They're posting teasers of it knitting up on Instagram so go take a look, it's got me far too tempted to grab it all back! It will be alongside some fantastic yarns from other Dyers we know and love.

March looms very quickly after that, to much baited breath and Club box reveals!

I'll be teaching a dyeing workshop at my alma mater, Oh Leeds how I miss you!

Though the event on everybody's lips, that has so many guarding their wallets and adding to those savings in preparation is Edinburgh Yarn Fest! We're only adding to those savings to have a massive splurge really! I'll be there shopping, possibly with some samples and coupon codes, but also just to hang with some of the wonderful people. Including Porpoise fur, I wouldn't be surprised if Rachel uses her knowledge of science and chemistry to add pheromones to her fibre because it's just to dye for! I don't even spin...... yet! Also gracing us with her presence will be Kate of Cowtown Knits, what better way to view her patterns than with all the yarn around us, so we can match it to what we want to knit, sounds like a plan y'all!

All that and I've not even really touched on half of it! FAR TOO EXCITED!

Deadpool next week people, deadpool next week.......

What are you looking forward to this Quarter?

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!

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!

Techniques for Swing Me Right Round: Short Rows and Grafting #backtofrontKAL Part 2

There are a few techniques in the pattern that are not necessarily standard to all jumper patterns, though are really handy to know how to do. There are links to tutorials for all these techniques in the techniques section on the first page.

Short rows

Short rows are a requirement in the pattern to work the shoulder slopes on the back and the front of the jumper. There are many different short row techniques out there including wrap and turn. However the recommended short row method in the pattern is either Japanese short rows or German short row. This is because these methods are simple and less noticeable in the fabric, in fact there are many times that I have gone back to look at my knitting and I can't see where my short rows end, because it blends in so well. Of the two methods in the pattern German short rows are the simplest and easiest to do, they don't require any extra knitting supplies like stitch markers or pins and they are easy to work both when doing the short row and closing it.

German Short Rows

On the WS Side
German short rows on the wrong side are created by purling to the last stitch before you turn your work (or if you are adapting a wrap and turn pattern, purling the stitch you would have wrapped) and after turning to the RS bring the yarn to the front between your stitches then slip the last stitch from your LHS needle to your RHS needle.

 Lift the yarn up and over the LHS needle, so it carries the stitch below upwards and continue knitting. You will now have what looks like a double stitch on the needle where you turned.

On the RS side
To do a German short row on the right side all you need to do is knit to the last stitch where you turn (if in a wrap and turn pattern, knit the stitch you would have wrapped), turn the work and slip your last stitch. Lift the working yarn over the needle as if you are doing a yarn over from front to back and bring the yarn back to the front. Then purl up to your next turning point.  There will be a what looks like a double stitch on the needle where you turned.

These double stitches are useful for showing you where your turning points are and are worked as a single stitch. The beauty of this is that the lifted stitch closes any holes between the two different levels of stitches at your turning points and also creates a smoother step. It is also less visible from both sides of the knitting when picked up. So when you go to incorporate your short rows into the fake shoulder seam, you only have to knit or purl as you normally would treating the double stitches as one single stitch. Nice and simple, and very neat.

Grafting

Grafting is also referred to kitchner stitch. The wrap front of the jumper requires grafting in the centre if you elect to knit the pattern as written either bottom up or centre out with the bottom half of the jumper being knit first. Whilst grafting requires patience, it is actually relatively simple to do neatly in plain stockinette and in a ribbed pattern.

Lucy Hague's instructions for grafting in pattern are amazing and can easily be translated here, for this particular pattern the stitches that you will be grafting in pattern are

p1 k1 p1 k1 p1 Knit x stitches p1 k1 p1 k1 p1

To prepare your knitting for grafting, Get another cable needle and pick up the stitches from the provisional cast on/ or waste yarn left at the back, this should match the amount of stitches you have left on your other needle after joining the left and right wrap sections together. This ensures you have two sets of live stitches, For the purposes of grafting your front stitches will be the bottom and the top stitches will be the back stitches. So when you hold it up the RS of the bottom will be facing you and the WS of the top will be facing you behind the bottom.

With 2-3x the length of your row of yarn for grafting, add your sewing needles and follow the instructions below by when the instructions say purl, pulling the needle and yarn through the centre of the stitch from behind, and when the instructions say knit pulling the needle and yarn through the centre of the stitch from the front.

Here is a useful grafting video showing you the stockinette method.

With this in mind you follow the instructions like so

1 p st, 1 k st on F
F: purl off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on
1 k st, 1 p st on F
F: knit off, knit on
B: knit off, purl on
1 p st, 1 k st on F
F: purl off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on
1 k st, 1 p st on F
F: knit off, knit on
B: knit off, purl on
1 p st, 1 k st on F
F: purl off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on

Then
2 (or more) k sts on F
(Stockinette grafting)
F: knit off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on

until you reach your last knit stitch before the next purl where you will then

1 k st, 1 p st on F
F: knit off, knit on
B: knit off, purl on
1 p st, 1 k st on F
F: purl off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on
1 k st, 1 p st on F
F: knit off, knit on
B: knit off, purl on
1 p st, 1 k st on F
F: purl off, purl on
B: purl off, knit on
1 k st, 1 p st on F
F: knit off, knit on
B: knit off, purl on

All credit goes to Lucy Hague for the grafting instructions, I have only organised them into the order used for grafting in this pattern.

Let me know if there are any other techniques I should go over.
Have you had any experience grafting in pattern before?

Swatching and Getting Started #backtofrontKAL Part 1

This is the first part of the Swing Me Right Round Knit- along series, with tips and tricks on how to use the pattern, #knitting help and general advice to follow.

Remember the pattern is on SALE through September for the knit-along with code KALtime! and is free with any purchase of Companion 4ply or Echo Dk for the KAL.

I've previously stated the importance of #swatching , mostly because I honestly cannot stress it enough, especially if you want to knit the Swing Me Right Round Jumper. This beautiful jumper is requires essential swatching as the idea is not to knit to a standard size but based on your measurements, because of this there are some calculations involved, but don't worry there is a link in the pattern to a handy spreadsheet that enables you to input your gauge ( over a 4in square), your measurements and it does the calculations for you to tell you how many stitches to cast on for either construction option and how many stitches you should have at the important sections.

A quick note on choosing yarn - whichever yarn you choose to use for the pattern, 4ply, Sport or DK weight yarn, pick a yarn with a high percentage of wool for structure and warmth. Blends can be nice especially if you would like to add drape when choosing a thicker yarn. The thinner yarn choices will have more drape at the pattern gauge.

Lets first start with Swatching

As a knitter something you learn over time is what type of knitter you are/how you knit. I know I knit quite tightly which hasn't changed a lot, though my tensioning is certainly more consistent now as opposed to when I started out. So with an understanding of what type of knitter you are pick a size of needle you think will let you achieve gauge with the yarn you've chosen. If you haven't quite figured out what kind of knitter you are yet, that's fine too, just start with the recommended needle size for the pattern. Which in this case is 3.5mm. The pattern gauge to achieve is 21 stitches by 32.5 rows per 4”/ 10 cm in Stockinette stitch.

This colourway is gorgeous layered and gradient turquoise and greens, plus notoriously hard to photograph!

I've chosen to knit myself a second Swing Me Right Round, this time in a fingering weight yarn. My Yarn is Third Vault Yarns Companion 4ply in the Emerald City Colourway, available as dyed to order (please note the yarn is a deeper green with teal than can be seen in the photos).

Knit your swatch larger than the recommended amount of stitches, to allow for easier pinning and measuring, always measure from the inside of your swatch, as the consistency of your stitches will likely vary when closer to the edge of the swatch.

I've knit mine to 26 stitches by 41 rows, granted I did switch needle sizes in the middle. I started out with the 3.5mm needles but after 21 rows I realised that my tight knitting was getting me nowhere near gauge and I went up a size to 3.75mm needles which kept me happy (I like a tighter look in my knitting) whilst also taking me closer to gauge. Though still out by 3 stitches, which is fine as I can just put my actual gauge into the spreadsheet for my calculations.

Technically it is better to cut your yarn and once you've cast off your swatch so that you can then wash and/or block the swatch the way you would treat your garment. However I'm not a fan of cutting my yarn, unless we are steeking and that is a whole different ball game! As I will be steam blocking the garment that's what I've done to my swatch.


Taking Measurements and Using the Spreadsheet

A link to the spreadsheet is available on the first page of the pattern.

The schematic above shows where each part of the jumper should lie on the body. Use a flexible tape measure to get your measurements. You can do this yourself or ask someone else to help.

Adapted from one of the great croquis produced by www.dctdesigns.com

Measurements

• A - This is taken from where you would like the lowest point of the jumper to hit, or your hips.
• B - This is taken from your natural waist, the point where some people go inwards between their hips and bust.
• C - This is taken across your bust.
• D - This will be the distance between the bottom of your Jumper and your Natural Waist
• E - This measurement is the distance from your Natural Waist to your shoulder.

These measurements should be put into the spreadsheet, I won't show you my exact measurements because I'm shy :P

The purple oval shows where to input your measurements

The green ovals show your calculation output, based on your gauge which is put into the sheet under the schematic and your measurements.

Depending on which construction method you choose, you will either use the Stitches at Natural Waist number (Centre Out) - which if you choose to do the top part first will be halved, or Stitches at Bottom number (Bottom Up).  This will be your number of cast on stitches.

Casting on

Centre Out - This Cast on will be a provisional cast on

I use the long tail provisional method this is a great video for the provisional method I use by PostStitch on Youtube. This link is included in the pattern.

Bottom Up - I recommend a Tubular Cast on because I love the way it looks

Tubular cast on tutorial wonderfully explained by Ysolda
Long Tail cast on tutorial explained in pictures, alternatively follow the provisional method video with only one yarn/ no waste yarn. (using two different balls of your yarn, does make it easier, as it saves you having to judge the length of tail you need), when finished casting on, cut the yarn that goes over your thumb (what would be the waste yarn).

Pattern Chart

The pattern chart direction differs depending on which construction option you pick, with Centre Out you will be knitting the pattern downwards and likely doing some increases to your hips. The measurements above show that I need to do 2 increases as I knit downwards. For best effect I will do all but two of the pattern changes shown in the chart as switch rows (where I neither increase or decrease into the pattern) where you use the stockinette stitches either side of the pattern and bring them into the pattern. The increases I will do at pattern change 1 and 4 to space it out but also to make sure that the slope of the garment is big enough before it gets too far down to my hips. If you have more increases you can space them out accordingly.

For bottom up you are likely to be decreasing instead, try to space these out evenly so do them at every other pattern row change, if you have more or less than suggested in the pattern then space them out accordingly with more decreases as you get closer to the natural waist.


Happy Knitting! Let me know what information you would like to see next about knitting the Swing Me Right Round pattern.

#yarn #wool #handdyedyarn #knittingpattern #sale #tutorial #thirdvaultyarns

Swing Me Right Round #backtofrontKAL

It's been a while since the release of the Swing Me Right Round pattern, but I decided to hold a Knit along running from September 7th to October 31st on Ravelry , to coincide with the kids going back to school and autumn/ fall weather putting us back in the mood for wool knits.

The Knit- along is being held in the Third Vault on the Left Ravelry group and projects should be tagged with backtofrontKAL

For the KAL I am offering £2 off the pattern for the first month (September) please add the jumper to your cart and use the code : KALtime!

I am also offering those who purchase/ have purchased Third Vault Yarns Companion 4ply , which incidentally is listed in the shop in some lovely geeky colourways, the pattern completely free with another coupon code, which will be sent to anyone having purchased through the shop. If you purchased Companion 4ply from Nine Worlds or through another avenue, please contact us via email or through our Facebook page. Any Custom Orders for the KAL will also receive a free gift!

The KAL can be joined any time before the end of October with no obligation to finish knitting by the end, however if you would like the opportunity to win prizes you must reach either over 50% completion or complete the entire Jumper with finished pictures. Details of the prizes are below.

Prizes

• For those who finish their jumper before or on the 31st of October and have finished pictures with their jumper on the project page will be entered into a draw to win one of three skeins of Third Vault Yarns yarn, either Echo Dk or Companion 4ply and the noughts and crosses cowl pattern due to be published end of October.
• For those that joined in but have not completed their jumper by the deadline but it is over 50% complete, the person that posts the funniest picture of them with the jumper will receive the noughts and crosses cowl pattern, with a discount code for Echo Dk

Keep an eye on the blog if you're taking part as I will be talking through the pattern and the process, with some hints and tips.

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

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 +