Owl from Quince and Co has arrived at The Knit Cafe

Last Spring we were lucky enough to get a delivery of linen yarns from Quince and Co. Sparrow and Kestrel are the perfect summer-jumper yarn. Now, we are pleased to announce that we are showcasing another great yarn from this yarn institution. These snowy and blustery days deserve a warm and woolly sweater yarn and “Owl” has flown in to fit the bill.
Owl is a blend of Alpaca and American Wool. It is produced with the same socially and environmentally conscious ideals that Quince and Co applies to all it’s products; picking local fibres when possible and having their yarns spun in a historical wool mill.  Owl is a woolen-spun yarn which means it is spun to be light and lofty. It has a spongey and crisp feel. It softens when knit and reveals the drape and the halo of the Alpaca fibre.
The colours are so enticing – from subtle to deep and rich. These colours are derived from blending different colour of natural fibres before over dyeing.
You can check out all the colours available at The Knit Café in our webshop

For inspiration; you can do not better than this book by Pam Allen called “Plain and Simple”. It is full of the kind of sweaters that you would want to wear every day! We have a few copies in the shop-proper. Feel free to drop by and take a look. You can have a look at more patterns designed for the Owl yarns on the Quince and Co website HERE

Also new in-shop are Twig and Horn Interchangable Knitting Needle Cases. When you buy your needle tips and cords separately for your circular needles you will need somewhere to house them. Wouldn’t you feel like a super-pro with a stunner needle case like this?
The Knit Café has a few in the shop you can check out along with newly stocked needle tips and cords from HiyaHiya. You can now buy interchangables by the piece and mix and match to your hearts content.

 

I also have pattern news! The Knit Café has just released a new pattern on ravelry.  It’s our latest knitting pattern designed for our Yarn Club. The pattern is called Way Up North. Sweet and cozy slippers are knit in a seamless construction similar to a toe up socks. They feature geometric, colour-work style and loops at the back of the heels we call  “slipper grippers”. You can use them to help ease the slippers on your tootsies or to hang them up when not in use.

The slippers are knit with Julie Asselin Douillet.  This is a super-sweet, bulky yarn. A sturdy one-ply with excellent fat stitches that really show off Julie Asselin’s beautiful hand dyed work.  Julie is one of our favourite Canadian hand dyers. She always seeks out unique yarns to work with. The Douillet is a sturdy woolly mix of Rambouillet and Columbia sheeps wool. We still have a bit of the Douillet in stock but act fast as we are running low!

Craftily yours
Kristin

Happy 2019 Crafters!

2018 is in the books!

        

What a year it’s been!
We brought a few new crafts to the Knit Café, including embroidery classes taught by our new collaborator Sam Lamb, and punch needles classes. The first one was hosted by the super-star Arounna Khounnaraj. The Knit Café also hosted our very first Trunk Show featuring Westlake Knits, followed by another Trunk Show with Yarn Indulgences.
We also added new supplies to our stock including Linen yarns from Quince and Co and sweet embroidery floss and darning wools from Sajou, and we got a brand new yarn line from Brooklyn Tweed – a merino wool called Peerie.
New Knitting patterns were created like our very first toe-up sock pattern called Tulip the Tip-Toer and a fluffy, oversized scarf called Plume, a handmade mushroom ornament pattern, and cables mittens made with Yarn Indulgences’ yarn called Branching Out, and now for 2019…..

…something new!

 A mitten pattern called “Knock Out Mittens”

These mittens are made with this really neato yarn from local alpaca farm Old Mill Alpacas. Complete and total creation of this yarn is produced just a short drive from The Knit Café. We love that this yarn has such a small footprint, but that is not it’s only appeal. Made with Alpaca fibre, it is so soft and thanks to the unusual spinning technique called “core-spun” it has a really unique look. So bubbly and bobbly and fat too, this is a bulky weight yarn on it’s way to being super-bulky. This core-spun yarn is very different then other yarns we have worked with so we embarked on making a pattern that would suit the rarities in the yarn. The “Knock Out Mittens” are the result. You can get this pattern free with purchase of the yarn in the shop and in the webshop too HERE.

Also new is the shop…

Eco Cashmere from Blue Sky Fibres made with 50% recycled cashmere, and 50% virgin cashmere. Wow!
 
100% SuperWash Merino DK from Mineville Wool Project, and Rambouillet/Columbia Wool, in bulky-weight from Julie Asselin called Douillet. Both are hand dyed in Canada.

We are cooking up some new treats for you all in 2019, and hope to tell you all about them soon. Thanks so much for all your support. Craft on!!!

Craftily yours
Kristin

Holiday Hours and Boxing Day Sale!

Happy Holidays Everyone
The Knit Café’s Holiday Hours:
December 24: open 10am-3:30pm
December 25: closed
December 26: closed
December 27-30: open regular hours
December 31: open 10am -3:30pm
January 1:  closed

Our Boxing Day Sale begins December 27 at 10am
and ends December 31 at 3:30pm
Everything in the shop will be 15% off!
Special bargains on especially selected yarns
See you there!

A New Yarn from Brooklyn Tweed – Peerie is Here!

We are unpacking our first shipment of a brand new yarn from Brooklyn Tweed. It’s called Peerie. Hailed as being the softest of all the Brooklyn Tweed fibres Peerie is made of 100% merino wool. It is a fingering weight yarn – just the perfect thing for colour work patterns but with a bouncy twist that will make crisp cables and textures too.
Like all Brooklyn Tweed yarns Peerie is made entirely in the USA. The sheep are breed in Utah and Nevada and the wool is spun to perfection into a smooth 4-ply construction in Maine.
We have 9 colours of Peerie now nestled into the Knit Café shelves, 9 more will be coming any day and even more colours in the next few weeks. We wil keep you informed.
To coincide with the launch of Peerie, Broooklyn Tweed has created a new hat pattern called Lucerne. They have also released several of their other patterns with new specs suited to Peerie – Afton, Ashland, and Boardwalk.

Craftily yours
Kristin

 

Reclaimed Cotton Yarns

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reinvent, Reinvigorate, Rejoice!
The Knit Café has two new products that hit all these notes.

Billie Jean Yarn by Wool and the Gang
It’s made from all the bits and pieces left over when making your favourite pair of jeans. All these off-cuts would otherwise end up in landfill but they have been repurposed and spun into this gorgeous cotton yarn. All the colours are variations of blue as no dyes or chemicals are added to the fibres.
This is a lovely cotton that will make comfy garments perfect for Spring and Summer wear.

     

Jersey Be Good by Wool and the Gang
Is also made from remnants left over from textile manufacturing. In this case it is surplus t-shirt material that is remade into yarn. Cotton with a wee bit of elastane has amazing crafting potential for imaginative souls. Knit it or crochet it into household goodies like pillow covers or puffs. Make it into hand bags and bins and hampers of all kinds. Macramé your heart out and make wall hangings and plant holders and jewelry. Add it to your tapestry weaving for a chunky textural treat. Iwona has already taken some home to remake her Chevron Rug Project of years past. You can find that pattern HERE.

Both Jersey Be Good and Billie Jean Yarn are in The Knit Cafe’s webshop!

Craftily yours
Kristin

Nothing says Happy New Year like Hedgehog Fibre!

Our Happy New Year present has arrived and it’s a big box of Hedgehog Fibre Yarn! Our lucky day is also a lucky day for you if you are also a fan of this hand dyeing enterprise.
Hedgehog Fibre has rocked the yarn landscape with their amazing colour explosions like fireworks!

27 colours of Hedgehog Fibre Sock are now in stock. This yarn is great for socks or shawls or SWEATERS! WOW! wouldn’t that be great!

In addition to the glorious colour ways that Hedgehog Fibres regularly stock they also create whimsical limited edition colours they call “Potluck” colours. The Knit Café has 4 of these potluck colours! See them above. There are only four of each so come in soon if they strike your fancy.

We also have 10 delectable colours of Merino Aran. This extra squishy two ply yarn screams HAT! to me, but you decide.

Craftily yours
Kristin

Brioche-ing!

There are so many beautiful projects made with brioche-stitching out there right now. Brioche patterns look almost like ribbing stitches but with this technique and two colours you can make a fully reversible fabric that far surpasses good ol’ rib in its scope.

We are still in love with the beautiful Crosshatch Scarf pattern we made last year from Brooklyn Tweed’s Woolens Collection.

There are a few Indie Pattern Designers that are just brioche-crazy, in a good way. One of them is Stephen West, who has many brioche patterns, hats, scarves, sweaters and wraps including the one pictured above called Briochevron Cowl and Scarf

Andrea Mowry has some gorgeous patterns too including this fantastic hat called Vintage Prim.

Then there are some very advanced brioche patterns out there like this one by Lesley Anne Robinson. It’s called Dandelion Fields.  

There are also more simple one like the Brioche Bandana Cowl by Lavanya Patricella.

All four of these designers have many more brioche patterns in their lexicon, I encourage you to check them out if you are interested in this kind of knitted fabric. If you are intimidated to start your first Brioche Pattern all on your own then you are in luck, we have a class for that, and it’s this coming week!

Brioche Knitting Class

Wednesday October 11, 18, 6:30-8:30pm

Register HERE

In this class we make this cute and serviceable cowl. Explore brioche stitching in rounds with both one colour and two colour techniques. Learn to recognize your stitches and fix your mistakes.

Craftily yours
Kristin