HRYC
Happy new year, with new discounts!
Ngā mihi o te tau hau - happy new year!
I had the great fortune late last year of spending a week with all four of my siblings for the first time since early 2020.
I had the great fortune late last year of spending a week with all four of my siblings for the first time since early 2020.
Much needed time spent among the trees
And that was it - a short trip up the line and back again, before heading back to the proper job on 3 January. Despite its shortness, I managed to carve out time to do things I enjoy (reading, knitting, sewing, and making stuff), things that needed to be done (weeding the garden and clearing out general stuff), and thinking about what I want 2024 to be.
I hope you had something similar. Even if it wasn't a trip away, or a big long break from whatever occupies most of your time, maybe you had the chance to clear your mind of daily life for a spell.
One thing that was finally ticked off my to-do list was a solution to a problem that has been floating around for years. How to offer some sort of discount to those of you who want to buy yarn to make a garment, especially larger size garments, without some complicated admin on my end. Something that allowed for a range of prices, so wasn't locked to a certain dollar spend. My thinking is that the reward of a discount shouldn't be exclusive to those who have a greater disposable income to start with. Blame the bleeding liberal heart of mine for that one.
Introducing our new, permanent,
discount structure!
Easy as that. The items don't all have to be the same to qualify, there's no minimum spend, and the discount is automatically applied at checkout. And there's no exclusions.
For orders with quantities that fall in-between these levels, the discount will be the lower number. So 8 items will get the 5% savings, 12 items will get 10% off.
It's an imperfect solution in trying to make things a bit more equitable across sizes and financial ability to buy lovely yarn. But imperfect is better than nothing!
Summer projects for warm-weather making
With summer in full swing, i'm thinking about what to make with the beautiful BC Garn Allino we have in stock.
Allino is a blend of linen and cotton, making it cool and robust (the linen adds extra strength). Aside from making excellent dish cloths thanks to the extra scrubby ability from the linen, it is wonderful for a whole range of projects.
First up is a freebie, and a good chance to practice crochet if you're new to the craft or a bit rusty. The Crocheted Project Bag by Jessica Gore is available to download for free on the Sweater Collective website, and Allino would give nice structure to help the bag stand up.
Another crochet project, the Limonata pullover is found in both the Summer 2023 issue of Pom Pom and in the Pom Pom Crochet Anthology. Made up of sunny motifs, you could carry this one around in your crochet project bag for making circles while out and about.
For the knitters, Jessie Maed's Outline Raglan will let the drapey linen / cotton combo of Allino shine. Nice and simple knitting, too, for post-holiday brains.
Sari Nordlund's Cephisso cami is a cool layering piece. While it's designed for two yarns held together, these come to a DK weight so will work for Allino (make sure to check gauge).
A few of you have asked if I'll be getting in Sari's new book - and it is on the list. Pre-orders will available in the coming weeks.
Finally, a boxy tee by Veera Välimäki in the form of Hiesu Sweater. Allino will make the texture a bit crisper, and this one is about to go on my needles.
For Southern Hemisphere friends, I hope you are staying cool and enjoying the good weather!
Trend spotting: Vests
Kia ora! Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we are well into Spring, and for the last month or so i've been drafting this post. Time to get it onto the blog and shared with you.
So, vests - they seem to be the latest thing in fashion this year, and so expect to see a lot more of them around. I thought a run-down of some of my off-the-rack faves followed by options for handmade would be useful. The thing I like the most about current styles is that they are nice and boxy. As someone with boobs, I find fitted vests tricky to wear. Boxy vests also means not having to give up comfy slouchy tops and tees, either.
Buy it:
Twenty Seven Names Sleeveless in Seattle Vest
Make it:
Lighthearted Slipover by Clara Eggers [Ravelry Link]
Buy it:
Make it:
High Tide Shell by Lindsey Fowler [Ravelry Link]
Make it:
Daisied Vest by Eugenie Girou [Ravelry link]
Buy it:
Make it:
Yu by Valerie Ng, in Neons and Neutrals
Make it:
Roosty Tank Top by Ella Gordon [Ravely link]
Vests give us the chance to wear hand knits in these weird transition seasons that can be both hot and cold and everything in between. For the sleeve averse, it means no sleeves (hooray) and also much quicker knitting than a full sweater.
Happy knitting!
Bubble cardigan KAL
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about wanting to knit all the things....and then this week, Stephen West came out with the Bubble Cardigan.
Oh sweet woolliness above, I am in love. Doesn't it look so perfectly squishy and an excellent use of all those single skeins of 4ply we have floating around?
Because I can't help myself, and I know you can't either, let's do a KAL!
Oh sweet woolliness above, I am in love. Doesn't it look so perfectly squishy and an excellent use of all those single skeins of 4ply we have floating around?
Because I can't help myself, and I know you can't either, let's do a KAL!
Bubble cardigan KAL
use the hashtag #dutchbubbleKAL on instagram to join us
There are prizes!
They will be drawn at random, all you have to do is tag your project progress and we'll put you in the draw.
KAL will run from today until the end of August, and we can't wait to see your colour combos.
There are prizes!
They will be drawn at random, all you have to do is tag your project progress and we'll put you in the draw.
KAL will run from today until the end of August, and we can't wait to see your colour combos.
Prizes:
$100 gift voucher for Holland Road Yarn Co
Copy of 52 Weeks of Shawls
plus a few other things Tash can rustle up...tbc!
Yarny news and pattern round up
Over the last week i've had very itchy fingers, want to cast on all the things!
Firstly there's the great new release from Cinthia Vallet - Josie the Turtle.
As big fans of Franklin the turtle stories, Elliott has asked for to be made as soon as humanly possible.
Then there's the very cosy looking Odds and Ends cardigan from Tina Tse - an excellent way to use up all those random bits of yarn around the house.
Casting on a pair of socks for me is just right kind of comfort knitting - so I finally settled on making the Lempi socks by Rachel Coopey from 52 Weeks of Socks.
I'm still constantly flipping through 52 Weeks of Shawls as well, trying to decide which I want to wrap up in the most - I think it may have to be Quicksand by Hanna Maciejewska:
And while we don't stock Brooklyn Tweed yarn any longer, that doesn't stop me lusting after their beautiful patterns. Chabot by Alma Ball is already my dream wardrobe - so maybe I should finally cast this on too?
Firstly there's the great new release from Cinthia Vallet - Josie the Turtle.
As big fans of Franklin the turtle stories, Elliott has asked for to be made as soon as humanly possible.
Then there's the very cosy looking Odds and Ends cardigan from Tina Tse - an excellent way to use up all those random bits of yarn around the house.
Casting on a pair of socks for me is just right kind of comfort knitting - so I finally settled on making the Lempi socks by Rachel Coopey from 52 Weeks of Socks.
I'm still constantly flipping through 52 Weeks of Shawls as well, trying to decide which I want to wrap up in the most - I think it may have to be Quicksand by Hanna Maciejewska:
And while we don't stock Brooklyn Tweed yarn any longer, that doesn't stop me lusting after their beautiful patterns. Chabot by Alma Ball is already my dream wardrobe - so maybe I should finally cast this on too?
