Pattern Week: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

April 29, 2016 Lottie

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!

April 26, 2016 Lottie

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.

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.

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.

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

Project Focus: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply

April 22, 2016 Lottie

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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,

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!

Happy Easter! Yokes for your Yolks

March 24, 2016 Lottie

As it's Easter this weekend we thought we'd do a little Easter fun this week!

A little Yolks knit-a-long!

Last year, we launched a fun little free pattern on Ravelry for yoked sweaters for eggs called Yokes! (Surely a pun is one of the best reasons to write a pattern?)

We had so much fun seeing everyone's little Yolk sweaters for their Easter eggs last year and we'd love to see more of them, so if you fancy making one, we'd love to see your efforts!

There are of course prizes!

Our three favourite Yolks sweaters (the more inventive the better) will win a pattern of their choice from the Fyberspates Ravelry store! All you have to do is knit a little Yolk sweater from the pattern in any yarn (it doesn't have to be Fyberspates, any leftover 4ply yarns will do) and share it with us either on Ravelry in our Yolks knit-along Eggstravaganza thread (more puns, sorry), or Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #fyberspatesyolks and bring a little knitted fun to your Easter preparations!

We will pick our two favourites on the Thursday 7th April and announce the winners on the blog the following day.

They're super quick to make and only take a very small amount of 4ply weight yarn, such as Vivacious 4ply. We knitted the ones pictured above in Sea Green and Sunshine, Lavender Haze and Mixed Magentas and Sunshine with Sea Green stripes for a fresh springy look, but you could add more stripes or a little fairisle, or a contrasting yoke and sleeves.........

or make a hoodie (we knitted ours in Mixed Magentas):

or a cardigan version (we knitted ours in Copper Tones with the French Knot buttons in Mixed Magentas):

There are instructions for both of these options in the pattern, so why not use them as a starting point for more ideas? Put bunny ears on the hoodie or embroider tiny spring flowers on the cardigan.

What are you waiting for? Those eggs are getting cold!

Everyone at Fyberspates, Jeni, Andy, Lottie and Chris would like to wish you a very Happy Easter!

Happy Knitting!

Project Focus: Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply

March 18, 2016 Lottie

It's been really hard to pick our favourite projects this week as there are so many beautiful projects in Vivacous 4ply to choose from on Ravelry.

So, after a lot of deliberation, here are just some of our favourites (as usual just click the pictures to see more details on each project)......

Vivacious is perfect for garments that you'll want to wear again and again as it's both hardwearing (thanks to it's high twist) and machine washable (thanks to the superwash merino wool), so that's where we'll start!

We adore this beautiful lace cardigan knitted by Helen. She chose Deep Aqua to knit the Hitofude Cardigan by Hiroko Fukatsu which has a fascinating seamless construction, we think it's the perfect combination!

Next, we have a gorgeous sweater, knitted by Judy.....

Judy used Justyna Lorkowska's Nogat pattern to knit her lovely cable and lace sweater in Peacock, the stitch definition is fabulous!

Concluding our selection of sweaters is Louizette's Florence cardigan: , knitted in Spiced Plum

I love this style, it looks so comfy and easy to wear but pretty as well, the kind of cardi you'd wear all the time!

Fancy making an heirloom project? What about something like this stunning blanket, Leaves of Grass by amusementcell?

Knitted in Peacock, this blanket is knitted using the Elizabeth Zimmermann Pi shawl method (where every time you double the number of rows you've knitted, you double the number of stitches). So while it may look complex, for the majority of the blanket you actually only have a lace pattern to concentrate on, rather than difficult shaping.

If you prefer smaller projects, fear not! We found some gorgeous accessories too. First we have a couple of pairs of socks!

We love the travelling stitches on littlemissyknit's Socks, they look great in Copper Tones:

And we love the combination of variegated yarn and a simple knit and purl pattern on iamfiona's Dumbledore's Christmas Tweed socks, knitted in Tweed Imps:

If you fancy something bright and pretty to keep your neck cosy you could try a project like one of these next two:

We love knittybaker's p r e c i o u s cowl, knitted in Mixed Magentas, a really lovely accessory that you can wear long like this, or wrapped twice round your neck for extra warmth.

Last but not least, a pop of bright colour in a simple relaxing project:

We love laceloveslinda's Rae a Drop of Golden Sunshine scarf, knitted in Sunshine, it's such a happy project (love the sunflowers in the background too!

Thank you to all these lovely knitters for letting us use their gorgeous project photos! We hope this has given you some inspiration :)

Happy Knitting!

Pattern Focus: Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply

March 11, 2016 Lottie

Last week we showed you what sort of stitches and needle sizes work best in Vivacious 4ply, so this week we thought we'd give you some ideas for patterns that would work really well in this yarn.

There are so many gorgeous patterns on Ravelry that would work beautifully in Vivacious 4ply that it was hard to narrow them down to just a few, but here are just some of our favourites! (As usual, just click the pictures to see more details of each pattern.)

Let's start with a sweater with attitude, Åsa Tricosa's Sweatrrr!

Sweatrrr by Åsa Tricosa (Image Copyright Åsa Tricosa)

Åsa has a really distinctive modern style which I love and this jumper is a perfect example of that. Knitted in Silver and Bronze Vivacious 4ply with a bold, contrasting sleeve insert and little intarsia squares, the colourwork is perfect for using up those part balls of gorgeous yarn that you can't bear to part with. It only takes 3 - 5 skeins of the main colour so it's a fairly economical sweater too. Best of all, it's knitted seamlessly using Åsa's Ziggurat top down method, so no sewing up at the end!!

If cardigans are more your thing, then why not try Carol Feller's Autumn Whispers Cardigan?

Autumn Whispers by Carol Feller (Image Copyright Carol Feller)

Another top down design, this lovely little cardi (shown here in Copper Tones) is knitted using a different but equally intriguing seamless technique, the contiguous method (which you can learn more about in the Contiguous group on Ravelry here).

Carol has provided instructions for knitting short or three quarter length sleeves as well, so you can make whichever you prefer. It doesn't take much yarn either, between 2 and 4 skeins for the short sleeved version and from 3 - 5 skeins for the 3/4 sleeve version. I'm really tempted to make one of these for spring, it'd be perfect to throw on over a dress or jeans and a t-shirt!

We also love this stunning colour block sweater, Stay the Same by Veera Välimäki:

Stay the Same by Veera Välimäki (Image copyright Jonna Jolkin/Veera Välimäki)

Veera has used Spiced Plum to contrast strongly with pale grey in her gorgeous modern sweater design, which we think is really flattering and easy to wear. I love the dipped hem worked with short row shaping and the button detail too!

Fancy a really pretty shawl? We love this beautiful design; Enchanted Forest by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes:

Enchanted Forest by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes (Image Copyright Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes)

This crescent shaped shawl is knitted top down using two skeins of Vivacious 4ply (shown in Sea Green) and features botanical themed cable and lace patterns. Ágnes's designs are really pretty, so her Ravelry page is well worth a look!

We couldn't do a post on Vivacious 4ply pattern ideas without mentioning some awesome socks!

Dawlish (shown in Sunshine) and Willowherb (shown in Mixed Magentas) by Rachel Coopey from CoopKnits Socks Volume 1 each use a skein of Vivacious 4ply and use the great stitch deinition that the yarn has in both cables and lace to great effect.

Another pattern that really shows off Vivacious's stitch definition, is this one, Ironbridge by Louise Zass-Bangham:

Ironbridge by Louise Zass-Bangham (Image Copyright Louise Zass-Bangham)

We love the way these twisted stitches and cables look on this, the textures are just gorgeous.

Last but not least, just for fun, is this little pattern that we did for Easter last year, Yolks!

Yolks by Jeni Hewlett and Charlotte Walford

You only need a tiny bit of yarn so they're perfect for scraps and leftovers and the pattern is free too, so why not make some to dress up your Easter egg hunt this year?

You can also see all our single patterns for Vivacious 4ply here and patterns in Vivacious Volume One here.

Happy Knitting!

P.S. Don't forget, our Becloud Hat pattern is still free with the code becloudhat until midnight tonight (GMT).

Pattern Focus: Fyberspates Cumulus

February 12, 2016 Lottie

It's the second week for a our current yarn of the month, Cumulus. So that must mean patterns!

(As usual, if you want to see any more details about the patterns, just click on the picture.)

One of the best things about Cumulus is how versatile it is. Thanks to the fuzzy texture of the yarn it adapts well to a wide range of different needle sizes, depending on the look you're after and what you want to use the finished fabric for.

Our first pattern recommendation is one that showcases how well Cumulus works on larger needles.

This absolutely gorgeous shawl by Susanna IC on Ravelry, is also called Cumulus! You'd only need 3 balls of Cumulus (shown in #910/Sea Green) to make this delicate shawl and it would make a lovely extra layer over a pretty dress on a summer evening or worn like a scarf in the winter.

We absolutely love the way the beads are added to the lace pattern, helping the fabric to drape nicely.

If you prefer a larger, less lacy shawl, why not try Affinity by Louise Zass-Bangham? If you read our post last week, you'll know how well Cumulus works when combined with other yarns, and this shawl showcases that, using Cumulus with Scrumptious 4ply (both shown in Water) to highlight the contrasting textures.

Again, this example uses beads (applied with a crochet hook), but it would still be lovely without them too. You'd need 3 balls of Cumulus and a skein of Scrumptious 4ply to make this shawl, and there are plenty of similar colours to the Cumulus range in Scrumptious 4ply. Why not try some of the combinations below?

Fancy a sweater instead? Why not try Mithral by Carol Feller?

Knitted on 4mm needles to give a drapey fabric, Mithral combines a simple lace pattern with a ridge pattern for a sophisticated yet easy to wear sweater that will work up surprisingly quickly. There's plenty of guidance in the pattern for altering it, so you can make the sweater you want. I really need to finish mine! It's the perfect light weight sweater for layering, I love how floaty the fabric is, while still being warm. It works really well in bolder colours too, the sweater shown above is knitted in #913/Slate, but I'm making mine in #907/Magenta. Cumulus is very economical for sweaters too, this one takes just 7 - 10 skeins (or 6 - 9 skeins without a cowl neck) and is sized for nine sizes from 32 - 56 inch bust.

If you'd like a closer fitting sweater, how about Modra by Vladimira Ilkovicova?

Knitted on smaller needles than Mithral (3.0mm and 3.5mm) to give a firmer fabric, Modra would be perfect to wear over a crisp white shirt or a camisole, and looks just as good worn with jeans as it would with a dress or skirt. The sample pictured is knitted in #904/Teal, but if that's not your colour, we think it would look stunning in #912/Camel or #911/Silver. Another economical sweater, it takes just 5 - 9 balls.

Last but not least, we love Cumulus for big cosy shawls, like this one, Etherow by Anniken Allis!

7 balls of Cumulus (shown in #908/Plum) make this lovely big shawl, perfect for bundling up in on a cold day or slipping over your shoulders on a cool summer's evening.

Which pattern would you make?

Happy Knitting!

Project Focus: CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

January 22, 2016 Lottie

So, this week we thought we'd show you some of our favourite Ravelry projects made using Socks Yeah! After a lot of deliberation, we chose these gorgeous knits.....

First, we have a beautiful project from the pattern that we showed you last week, Hulanicki, knitted by Michelle in #105/Danburite:

We love the beautifully defined architectural stitches on these!

If you prefer a relaxing project, we think something like Jen's lovely Plain November Socks knitted from Rachel Coopey's Dave plain sock pattern (from CoopKnits Socks Volume Two) would be perfect!

These socks look great in #106/Kunzite. We love her photo styling too!

Next we have Mandy's super cute Alfrick socks, knitted in #105/Danburite and #110/Malachite:

I'm a big fan of fairisle knitting so I adore these, and I particularly like the way the knit and purl textured pattern echoes the stranded colourwork on the rest of the sock.

Last but not least we have another lovely pattern from Rachel's CoopKnits Socks Volume Two, Orville (not the duck). This gorgeous pair were knitted by Gail for her son:

We love the cables on these so much!

Hope you've enjoyed this little look at our favourite projects in Socks Yeah! If you want to see more projects in this yarn take a look on Ravelry here.

Happy Knitting! :)