A whole rainbow of Scrumptiousness (thanks to our new shades)!

We've been busy working on lots of exciting new things here at Fyberspates HQ and we're very excited to launch seven new shades of Scrumptious 4ply!  

From rich Raspberry to bright Persimmon, cheerful Daffodil, juicy Key Lime, soothing Jade, intense Ultramarine and vivid Amethyst, our new additions to the range were developed with the help of the queen of rainbows herself, crochet designer Amanda Perkins.  

Our aim was to create a rainbow of glorious colour when these new shades are combined with our existing palette.... a bit like this!  Don't you just love a GIF?

Scrumptious 4ply shades clockwise from top (new shades are marked with a *): #302/Gold, #324/Persimmon, #321/Kiss, #323/Raspberry, #315/Magenta, #329/Amethyst, #328/Ultramarine, #317/Denim, #308/Teal, #319/Azure, #327/Jade, #313/Jen's Green, #326/Key Lime and #325/Daffodil.  

Giveaway time!  

Leave a comment below telling us your favourite colour from the new shades and what you would knit with it and we'll pick one lucky winner at random who will receive a skein of Scrumptious 4ply!    

You have until Midnight (BST) Friday 19th August to enter, good luck!  

Happy knitting!  

Gorgeous new pattern alert! Essie by Ella Austin

We’ve got a fun new bit of news for you today, Kay and Ann from Mason Dixon Knitting are running a giveaway on their blog to win the yarn to make this gorgeous sweater, Essie by Ella Austin, knitted in Scrumptious 4ply.  

We're big fans of Ella's distinctive style and quirky colour work and this sweater is no exception.  Knitted top down in the round to keep finishing to a minimum and with a boxy, easy to wear shape the clean lines are pepped up with the addition of little contrasting popcorn stitches around the neck.  

Essie is part of Ella's new Colour and Line Collection, which is full of inspiring and fun to knit designs.  

We love this cute summer sweater, so if you feel the same you can check out the pattern here and enter the giveaway on the Mason Dixon Knitting site here.

Don't delay, the giveaway runs until Saturday 4th June at 11pm Eastern time (EST)

Good luck :)

Pattern Week: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

It's the last Friday of the month and that means it's time for a pattern!  

This month we decided to choose the gorgeous Dollis Shawl by Anniken Allis, which you might remember from our second Scrumptious book: 

Dollis by Anniken Allis In Scrumptious 4ply Teal and Oyster

We love Anniken's shawl designs and this crescent shawl is a fun combination of eye catching beads (addded with a crochet hook, but you could leave them out if you wanted to), beautiful lace and relaxing garter stitch short rows, ending with a knitted on lace edging which is really fun to work.  

You'd need two skeins of the main colour (shown here in Oyster) and one skein of the contrast (shown here in Teal), or if you wanted to make the shawl in one colour you'd only need two skeins.  

Previously only available as part of The Scrumptious Collection Volume Two, we've decided to make it available as a stand-alone Ravelry download and until the end of next month (London time: 23.59 GMT+1 Tuesday 31st May) you can get 30% off this pretty shawl using the code Dollis.  Just click on the picture to go to the Ravelry page!  

Happy Knitting!

Meet Jen Arnall-Culliford and a special Birthday sale!

Tech editor extraordinaire Jen Arnall-Culliford is one of our favourite yarny people and as well as working with us, she also works with amazing designers like Kate Davies and Rachel Coopey!  

Jen turns 40 today and to celebrate, she's offering 40% off any of the gorgeous patterns in her Ravelry store for forty hours until 16.00 London time (BST) tomorrow (Wednesday 27th April 2016)!  You don't need a code, just add the patterns you want to buy to your Ravelry cart and the discount will be applied automatically.  

(All the designs pictured are available to buy in Jen's Ravelry store, just click on the pictures to be taken to the pattern pages.)  

We though it would be nice to get to know Jen a little better, so, Jen, it's over to you.....

Jen wearing her Knotted Kernel Cowl in Scrumptious Aran

40 random facts about me…

1. I have 3 Blue Peter badges (standard, green and silver in case you were interested). This is my favourite random fact about myself.

2. When I was 17 my chosen career path was opera singer.

3. Nic, my colleague and Art Director describes me as “Good with a haddock slap when required.”

4. I have enjoyed a nice glass of (very weak) gin and tonic since I was about 6 - to the horror of my grandmother.

5. I have a cat called Ginge who likes to ambush us in the garden.

6. I ran my own gardening business for 2 years, but my own garden is always more neglected than I would like.

Arncott in Scrumptious 4ply, which made the front cover of our first book, The Scrumptious Collection Volume 1

7. I love birds!

8. Puffins are my all-time favourite birds, but I’m also a sucker for owls, blue tits, nut hatches and penguins.

9. I studied Chemistry and French at university, and have a doctorate.

10. I love selling things so much that Kate and Tom suggested I could have a successful market stall after I worked with them at Edinburgh Yarn Festival this year.

11. I really don’t like peas.

12. But peas are OK when eaten raw and freshly picked in the garden.

13. I talk about knitting so much that my husband learned enough about knitting to quit teaching and become a technical editor.

Sonning in Scrumptious Lace

14. I once taught at an Anglo-European secondary school, where I sometimes taught Science through the medium of French.

15. If you tickle me for long enough I might have an accident (that factoid is brought to you courtesy of my children!).

16. I love aubergines. Probably too much.

17. I like to stack the plastic kids’ cups in rainbow order.

18. I am a board game geek! My favourite game is Puerto Rico, but my family won’t play with me as I usually win.

19. I constantly change my mind about what I most enjoy knitting. At the moment I’m loving cardigans.

20. I almost always wear at least one hand-knit.

21. I have a shade of yarn named after me (Jen’s Green in the Scrumptious range).

Scrumptious 4ply in Jen's Green - named after Jen!

22. I will never ever run a marathon. EVER!

23. I played in a gamelan orchestra in London when I was a teenager and we appeared on children’s TV a few times.

24. I snore.

25. I’ve been married to Jim for 15 years and I still pinch myself that he said yes when I proposed.

26. My hair is extremely poorly behaved, and a source of much early-morning amusement to my family.

27. I had a hair disaster the week before my wedding, when the hairdresser topped up the hair dye with bright orange halfway through my appointment.

Tirrold in Scrumptious Lace

28. My favourite TV show of all time is ER.

29. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A would be my save from the waves track if I were to appear on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

30. I can’t listen to music when I’m pattern editing, but I love to turn up the volume when I am drawing knitting charts.

31. Build a Rocket Boys! and The Seldom Seen Kid both by Elbow were the soundtrack to drawing charts for The Book of Haps.

32. I have a second cat called Ollie, and he likes to keep my knees warm while I knit.

33. Writing the experimental section of my thesis was the perfect training for editing knitting patterns. I constantly see the parallels between science and knitting.

34. I have had to concede that despite my inner view of myself (formed as a very geeky maths/science teenager), I might be creative after all.

35. The knitting design that I’m most proud of was my Redlynch Shawl, but is about to be superseded by my design for The Book of Haps (Kate Davies' upcoming book).

Jen, wearing her favourite design to date, her Redlynch shawl

36. To date, I’ve designed more with Fyberspates than with any other yarn brand. The saturated colours and beautiful fibres inspire me no end.

37. I hold my RHS General Certificate of Horticulture, and love doing tree identifications with the kids.

38. I’ll forever be grateful to Jeni for supporting my decision to go freelance, and booking me to work on her first pattern book, The Scrumptious Collection volume 1.

39. My favourite knitting slogan is, “that shit will block right out”.

40. I plan to be just as excited about my 94th birthday as I was about my 6th. Birthdays should always be fun.  

Murcott in Scrumptious DK

Happy Birthday Jen!  Hope you have a lovely day :)

Project Focus: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

We had such fun picking out our favourite Scrumptious 4ply projects on Ravelry this week, there were so many gorgeous finished objects to choose from!  

Eventually we managed to narrow it down a little, but we've still got plenty to show you, so let's get started!

As usual, just click on each picture (or any of the links to the patterns used) to see more details of the project on Ravelry.  

MorganeD's Vitamine D

We thought we'd start with some beautiful garments like this Vitamine D cardigan made by MorganeD.  She chose to make Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier using shade #304/Water and we think it's a lovely match of yarn and pattern, the silk in Scrumptious gives the cardi drape, which exactly what this pattern needs, perfect for spring.  

carenw's Selfish Talavera

Here's another gorgeous knit for spring, we love this pretty lace top by carenw, she chose to knit Talavera by Amanda B Collins in #313/Jen's Green, I love delicate lace patterns like this knitted in vibrant colours!  

BlossomingKnits' LVD (Little Violet Dress)

This project is more adventurous!  Knitted dresses are a lot of work, but this looks like it was worth all the effort!  This amazing dress was knitted by BlossomingKnits who chose to knit the Principesa Dress by Sarah Wilson with #305/Purple.  The dress also uses Scrumptious Lace for the lace patterned edging (#505/Purple - some of the shades in Scrumptious 4ply are also available in Scrumptious Lace, perfect for projects that need the same shade in two different weights of yarn).  

Now on to some awesome accessories (I think we can allow a bit of alliteration on a Friday?) :D

wilckepedia's Change of Heart

We're coveting this pretty cowl knitted by wilckepedia!  The contrast in textures between the cables and lace is beautiful against the garter st background.  If you fancy making your own, you might want to take a look at the pattern that wilckepedia used, Change of Heart by Justyna Lorkowska, such a lovely match for #301/Cherry.  

knitgirl389's Green Turtles Journey

We love this shawl, knitted by knitgirl389 using #311/Flying Saucer and the inventive Turtle's Journey Shawl pattern by Heather Anderson.  The stitch definition on the turtles is perfect and the colour seems somehow appropriate as well!  

Mariasha's Filmstrip

Next a completely different style of shawl, I love the strong graphic lines and bold contrasts of Mariasha's Filmstrip, knitted in #301/Cherry and #307/Slate using Suvi Simola's Filmstrip pattern.  

Last but not least, another two colour shawl, 

LVallentin's Isbutik

I love this combination of two muted shades of Scrumptious (#303/Oyster and #304 Water) that LVallentin has chosen for her Isbutik.  So sophisticated and easy to dress up or down (I can just see this shawl worn with jeans or a pretty dress).  If you fancy making your own, the pattern she used is the Glacerie Shawl by Hilary Smith Callis.  (If you take a look at the pattern page there are lots of striping options to choose from too.)  

That's your lot for today!  Hope you've enjoyed looking at the projects we picked out and thank you to these lovely knitters for letting us feature their wonderful projects :)

Happy Knitting!  

Pattern Focus: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

It's pattern focus week again!  

We've got some lovely Scrumptious 4ply pattern ideas for you this week, including a few with some really intriguing constructions.... so let's get started :)

Our first pick is this stunning shawl, Raindrop by Kyoko Nakayoshi (available at Fyberspates stockists), which uses just one skein of Scrumptious 4ply.  

Raindrop by Kyoko Nakayoshi (image copyright Cotton and Cloud)

This is such a pretty shawl and I love the construction too, the radiating spokes of double yarn overs and increases, cleverly worked into the lace border make a nice change from more traditional triangular shapes.  

If you're ready to try a more challenging knit, why not have a go at Ann Kingstone's lovely Mallorn sweater? 

Mallorn by Ann Kingstone (image copyright Verity Britton)

Knitted seamlessly from the top down using Scrumptious 4ply in Gold, this sweater has a really clever construction beginning with an i-cord neck edging from which two sets of stitches are picked up, one in Scrumptious 4ply (shown in Cherry, which is visible behind the lace at the neckline) and the other in Scrumptious Lace (in Gold, to match the rest of the sweater, which is then used for the lace overlay section at the neckline).  This gives a gorgeous effect which really makes the sweater stand out from the crowd, I really love the inventive construction!  

If you want something a little smaller, but still with a clever and unusual construction, why not try Foolproof by Louise Zass-Bangham?  

Foolproof by Louise Zass-Bangham (image copyright Louise Zass-Bangham

With no cast on or cast off, this cowl uses two contrasting shades of Scrumptious 4ply (shown in Oyster and Dandelion and Burdock) to great effect with a series of bold stripe patterns.  

As we showed you last week, Scrumptious is wonderful for textured patterns as well as lace, so it work perfectly in Amanda Clark's cheerful Summer Blooms Shawl.  

Summer Blooms Shawl by Amanda Clark (image copyright Amanda Clark)

Love those bobble flowers!  Such a great combination of texture and lace!  

If you love larger scale all over lace patterns, then Tintinhull by Jen Arnall-Cullford might be the perfect project for you.  

Tinitinhull by Jen Arnall-Culliford (image copyright Jen Arnall-Culliford)

I love this beautiful and unusual lace pattern, it'd make a lovely stole to wear to a summer wedding or even bundled up round your neck on a cold day as a scarf.  

Last but not least, how about this delicate lace panel cardigan, Arachne by Lien Ngo (available from Fyberspates stockists)?  

Arachne by Lien Ngo (image copyright Lien Ngo)

We love the turned hems and the arrangement of lace motifs around the edges and cuffs, which make this cardigan perfect for dressing up or down.  The original was knitted in a one-off hand dyed shade of Scrumptious 4ply, but we think it would be perfect in a go-with-everything shade like Denim, or for a gorgeous pop of bright colour, Azure.  

Hope this has given you some inspiration!  

Happy Knitting!  

Yarn Focus: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

It's April and that means it's time for our new yarn of the month, Scrumptious 4ply!  

...... And that means new swatches :) 

We covered lots of different types of stitches this time and the yarn handled them all really well.  But first of all we thought we'd start with a bit of crochet: 

I love a little crochet motif square (this one is a design in progress, so watch this space) so I fiddled around with a few trebles and clusters and came up with this: 

Scrumptious is lovely and soft to crochet with and makes really lovely clusters (from my other swatches I think it would make great bobbles too).  The thing I find most annoying when crocheting is splitty yarn, but this didn't cause me any problems.  

I used a 3mm hook for this square, but I think a smaller size such as 2.5mm would work well if you wanted a firmer fabric.  I don't think you'd get such a nice effect with a larger hook though, so I'd be inclined to use a 3mm or smaller, depending on how tightly you tend to work (tension is such a personal thing).  I used soft pastels (Baby Pink and Natural for this swatch) for all the swatches here, but there are some gorgeous bright jewel tones and rich darker shades which would look amazing too (Azure and Dandelion and Burdock would really pop in a square like this).  

Next on to some simple lace: 

This swatch (knitted in Flying saucer on 3.25mm needles) is knitted in an easy cloverleaf eyelet pattern and has a lovely drape, which would be perfect for a shawl or cowl.  However if I was going to knit a garment, I think I might want a slightly denser fabric (using a smaller needle to get a harder wearing fabric) if I was intending to wear the sweater a lot.  But the stocking stitch fabric in between the eyelets is neat and consistent with a small amount of elasticity.  

Now on to some more complex patterns..... 

This little swatch is probably my favourite: 

This stitch is from one of my Japanese stitch dictionaries, although worked the undulating columns of knit stitches through the back of the loop because I wanted to show how amazing Scrumptious 4ply is when worked in twisted stitches.  I used Glisten with a 2.75mm needle for this swatch as I wanted a really nice crisp result (twisted stitches tend to work best when worked to a firmer tension).  I love the stitch definition of this swatch, it's so clear and crisp!  The sheen of the silk in Scrumptious helps the textures stand out too (look at those little bobbles)!  

Now for a fun combination of cables and lace: 

This stitch pattern is really unusual (it's from another of my Japanese stitch dictionaries) combining lace and cables and showing off two of the best properties of the yarn, beautiful stitch definition and the shine from the silk, making cables which really pop and lace which blocks out beautifully.  I knitted this swatch in Baby Pink using a 3.25mm needle, you could use a slightly smaller needle, but not too much as the cabled sections in a stitch pattern like this are quite dense.  These textures are pretty bold, so probably best kept to accessories or an accent of a garment, but in the right piece it would be amazing!    

Next, we thought we'd show you Rachel Coopey's Divelish mittens from Scrumptious Collection Volume 3: 

These mittens are knitted using Slate and Natural on 2.5mm needles which gives a lovely even, stable fabric, despite the silk content of the yarn which could cause some looser stitches if a smaller needle was used, as it doesn't stick to itself in the way a 100% wool yarn would.  The key to this is using a smaller needle, creating denser fabric and holding the yarns firmly in place.  The other advantage of this is that it creates a lovely cosy fabric that keeps out even the coldest drafts!  

Last but not least, I knitted up a swatch using Scrumptious 4ply and Cumulus held together (here it is next to the simple lace swatch so you can see the difference in tension): 

This knits up to a double knit tension (22 sts to 10cm) on a 4mm needle... oh the possibilities!  (Time to start plotting now :)

We hope this has given you some inspiration for using Scrumptious!  

For those who want to know, here are all the yarn details: 

---

Yarn information

Content: 45% Silk, 55% Merino Wool

Recommended needle size: 2.5 - 3.25mm (US 1.5 - 3)

Tension (gauge): 28 - 24.5 sts and 37 rows to 10cm (4") over stocking stitch

Number of metres per skein: 365 metres (399 yards) per 100g skein

Washing instructions: Machine wash at 30°C on wool cycle