I thought I would not buy much in September, thus making my average per month expenses a bit better and more in line with what I had anticipated. I did spend a log in July and August, mostly on beautiful yarn I am so happy to have with me.
Patterns
For a few days in September, Meret Buretzberger – butszeria about everywhere, had a 20% discount on all of her patterns because she needed new glasses ! I had two of her patterns in my favorites, two beautiful tee-shirts, that I bought :
The Verkehrt Pulli is a very interesting tee-shirt construction that you can wear right side up or upside down for a different effect. I anticipate it will be as fun to knit as it will be to wear. The Rheinfall Tee is a bit more classical with a waterfall type of collar, reminding Meret of one of her favorite places. The sample is in hemp, a fibre I am quite interested in trying. I may use some of the cotton I have in stash too 🙂
When Tori Yu released her Borough Hood, I immediately liked it, and recalled I already had the Manhattan Hat in my favourites. So I got both ! I’ve been wanting to knit a hood for about a year, when the ladies over at Cady Jax Knits made one. I do agree that every sweater should have their detachable hood. I still am planning for that project without having made any.. So yes, hoping a beautiful pattern will get live at some point. The Manhattan Hat is my next Christmas present cast on !
Yarn
Yes I am on a yarn no-buy project, no I have not paid for or planned to buy any. My second son was home a week ago, coming back from a conference in Glasgow. “Bring me yarn for my Bday” had I said to him as a joke, and he did ! He sent a picture from the shop and I sorta guided him by yarn composition (no acrylic if possible) and weight (DK) and he delivered ! He brought this Marriner 100% Superwash Merino in grey and white that caught my eye in the picture, and a couple additional colours of his choice, a true red, a bright gold and a cobalt blue.
Now to find a pattern to use all of them. They are not quite in my own colour realm.. What would you think of a Vertice Unite by Stephen West ? Too clingy ? I’m quite undecided, to be continued then !
So this September was quite quiet for spending, only €31,69, adding up to €1122,81 for this year, and €124,76 per month. Kinda making up for the summer frenzy 😺
I’ve had the yarn in my stash and the pattern by Wool and Pine in my library for quite a long time now. I mean a long long time, over a year now. I got the yarn for this project, all from La Bien Aimée, a four colour fade in Merino Singles and a companion Mohair Silk.
I got to change one of the colors after receiving the skeins. I talked to Julia from LBA and she agreed with me that the Fiori colour way was too pink and too light, she recommended me a few alternatives. I went with Storm, and Fiori turned into a Musselburgh Hat.
What I did not expect was to like the Air Guitar colour way so much. I even wished I could knit the whole sweater with it. I won’t because 1- I am on a no-buy year for yarn, with rules of course, but no way I’m getting three additional LBA Merino Singles skeins. And 2- Air Guitar is not listed any longer on the LBA website, two good reasons ! The speckles on the dark background are spectacular.
So, I’ll use my fade. The mohair strand does not darken it much, which is good. The fabric is so soft and bouncy, it will be quite warm.
I know I will enjoy wearing it much and I know I’ll be very proud of it too. For now and for the first time I am enjoying the knitting process. I mostly am a project knitter, mostly monogamous, and really work for the finished object. For now I savor knitting with luxury yarns for the first time in my life (including the hat in Fiori), who would not 😻
People are all over little scarves or ascots these days, is that what you call a trend ? More in my next Wooly News series I’ll be filming in a week or two 😺
When Pia Trans from Fiftyfabulous on Instagram, YouTube and Ravelry released her Heatwave Scarf pattern, I immediately feel in love with it and casted one on. My initial plan was to use this acrylic with a bit of wool giant yarn balls my mother gave me. I have almost 1kg of yarn there !
Last year I knitted two scarves a a beanie for my three son’s Christmas presents, and realised that the care for theses very nice wools was a bit of a burden, so I had a run with the mostly. acrylic white balls of yarn. Turns out I did not like the outcome with the Heatwave Scarf pattern. I choose another one which suits the yarn much better and am now only second scarf.
Anyway, I did use the two very fine mohair I had in stash, first the orange Fonty Kidopale I used for my son’s and my dad’s beanies, and then the dark blue La Bien Aimée Mohair in Winterfell I have in stash for an upcoming Sorrel Sweater. Both are beautiful and I love the results. Two light and warm scarves that will cover my throat and the front of my chest without any bulk as you do not have to tie a not. Just tuck one end into one of the yarn over holes and adjust it to your neck, done !
As you most probably already know, I sorta follow the little scarf trend. I have made 5 of them now, 2 for Christmas presents, the Sweet Li’l Scarfette by Ambah O’Brien and 3 for myself based on the Heatwave Scarf by Pia Trans. The ones made with mohair from La Bien Aimée or Fonty are soft, warm and beautiful. Just perfect with a shirt and a jacket. The one I made with this acrylic yarn my mother gave me I do not like, mostly because the yarn does no suit the pattern.
All that being said and done, I really wanted some other kind of scarf. A small one, in 1/1 rib and not garter that would stretch such as the Sophie Scarf by PetiteKnit, with pointy ends and a stitch motif. I had one stitch pattern in mind from one of my Japanese Stitch Dictionaries.
As soon as I finished the Heatwave scarves, I casted on a 1/1 rib, pointy ended little scarf with a wrapped stitch motif inspired from one of my Japanese Stitch Dictionary books. I like it a lot, and will make some more for gifts. I wanted a scarf that was not too wide, that would wrap twice around my neck, in 1/1 ribs that won’t deform when used, and with little pointy ends. I delivered !
Since then I made Additional ones, with Hosltagrn Tides in Pearl held double (left pic) and single (right pic). If I make another one with a single strand of Tides, I’ll increase the number of stitches and use a smaller needle size. The fabric is a little light and not wide enough. Perfect for a bag or as a headband though !
A perfect practice for a first design. I already have improvised sweaters and tee-shirts, non of them with a somewhat elaborated shape or a particular stitch pattern. Success and it perfectly fits my needs and requirements 😺💛
This summer, during July and August, I visited three farms and yarn stores and bought yarn according to my yarn no-buy year guidelines (I allow myself to buy yarn in stores, given there are none next to me).
Now that I have all this beautiful stash, what are my plans or fantasies ?
This time, I will follow one recommendation some one gave me in a comment on my YouTube channel : print it from a real Xerox big copier that can keep a good resolution even when copying on a large scale !
Second, the rest of the colours was to knit a Hide and Peak by Maxim Cyr that I’ve had in my queue for a long time. I wanted to knit the body in a dark grey colour, but they were out of stock (good for them !), so I bought the light brown one instead. I the mean time, Isabella Clark released the Fields Of Gold and the light browny beige Mohair cardé got an immediate reassign ! Fields of Gold it will be. The light blush pink, light grey and yellow will wait for another visit to the farm and the dark grey hopefully.
Fuzzy Mohair From La Ferme De L’Accroche Cœur
Ferme de l’Accroche Coeur
Mohair From Ferme de l’Accroche Coeur
This was a new farm to me, that I had been following on Instagram since the beginning of the year. When I visited, I first contacted her and turns out she had just opened her brick and mortar shop in her farm the day before ! She will keep selling open markets. When I visited, I already had a project style in mind : knitting a Bohus type colour work sweater. I need to find a design that will fit my yarn and gauge now 😺
Wooly Wool From Laines À L’Ouest
Laines à l’Ouest
Laines à l’Ouest
After I spent some time in the Pyrénées and Poitou, I went back home for my last weekend before work. I decided to drive to Lessay in Cotentin, a 1.5h trip, and go to the Laines à l’Ouest shop. I could not see the sheep as they were in a barn due to the higher tides that flood their usual pasture. It is common here in Normandie.
A beautiful shop, a very friendly host and marvelous rustic yarns. I may have found my substitute to the one from Iceland I have been drooling over for quite some time.
I bought these two 1kg cones in the undyed white yellowish kind and the grey brownish one.
When I saw the grey one, I immediately assigned it to the Highland Thistle Sweater by Carolyn Holbrook. The right colour, the right yarn weight. I do not have a real plan for the whitish one other than a Mare by Natasja Hornby in combination with the grey one. I think I’ll use the very as the background couleur and the white as the accent one, as shown in a sample.
In both places I also got yarn for Rosemary Grant and shipped it to Australia (not talking about clearing customs for her..). She received it and likes it 😻 She also shipped some Australian yarn to me, so I guess this will be a swap, win-win 💙
Welcome back to Wooly News ! After some complicated life events, I decided not to place too much writing, filming and editing weight on myself and place the Wooly News series on hold. I think I can manage to plan an episode a month, would that be okay with you all ? So for today, here is what has caught my eyes and attention in the wool and fibre community.
Patterns
We are still in Summer with warmer weather (although much less warm than during the previous weeks), we are still in tee-shirt weather. Nonetheless, I start to look at more Fall or wintery sweater patterns, even though my queue on that subject is well filled. The Erdene Sweater by Valentina Bogdanova has an interesting stitch pattern at positions where you usually knit plain stockinette.
The effect is very interesting, with beautiful lace on the shoulders, the sleeves and the sides. The sample is knitted with sport weight yarn, perfect for my new acquisition from Laines À l’Ouest !
Not one pattern in particular, but a whole series ! Estelle Yarns has loads of free patterns of their own to choose from, mostly accessories. You can find a few sweater patterns though. Of course, being a yarn store in Canada, they feature yarn from their area, but not only. Have a look at their free patterns pages as they also list other creators and producers (this is how I found them).
Trends
People have been on a small scarfs trend. Several YouTube Channels have mentioned them, knitted them, or published patterns for them. Two main examples come to mind :
Pia from Fiftyfabulous Strik just released a small scarf pattern, the HeatWave Scarf. She published it a bit earlier than anticipated because Caitlin and Jackie started the trend. Her pattern is a bit different and reminiscent of the scarves she was using during her childhood, with a hole to slip one end in and make it hold in place without bulk :
To be honest, I had a couple patterns in my library that I had sorta planned to use to finish some left overs of mohair.
I did go with Pia’s pattern to knit trendy little scarves with mohair I had in my stash. Airy, light warm and perfect to cover my chest ! With a little dent into my stash, which is always good.
I also started knitting Christmas presents for the young ladies in my life, my beloved SIL, my son’s and nephew’s girlfriends. I used some of this huge white sports weight and somewhat hairy ball of yarn my mother gave me. No fuss for them to take care of as it is 88% acrylic and 12% wool. A spin in the washer and go ! I used Pia’s pattern for the one on the left but do not like the end result with that yarn (I love it with lace mohair as recommended in the pattern). I already have two Sweet Li’l Scarfette by Ambah O’Brien.
Had a break with the other patterns as I had ideas of my own and am currently testing them out. More to come with a complete creation, stay tuned !
Funny how trends go round and round, some of these free patterns are over 10 years old and I have had such a silk scarf in my closet for over 30 years 😺
Stephen West 2022 MKAL
That is such a big event ! Each year, can I say thousands of people gather to follow the now set in stone Stephen West MKAL. An institution all by itself. A pattern that perfectly matches Stephen and Penelope yarn, a huge following, a success example in the industry. This year’s theme is Twists & Turns, not completely new to SW’s patterns, but a bit newer for the big 3-colour yearly one 😺
I won’t play along, as I won’t have enough time to keep up, as I am into projects I love, and as I prefer to see what the Twist & Turn theme will deliver. I think I’ll like it. We’ll see !
You know I love La bien Aimée’s Corrie Confetti made from recycling yarn from her studios on her worsted Corrie base. If you live in the US, Hedgehog Fibres also has a recycling program that works a bit differently. They will recycle all the yarn you send them and will produce the Tweedy DK line. You’ll get a discount depending on the amount of yarn you send to recycle : 10% for 200g or more, 20% for 500g or more and 30% for 1kg or more.
For now there are two main colours, Tweedy and Tweedy Noir. There also is a limites edition in collaboration with Madelinetosh, Dreaming in Light and Future Reflections. A nice initiative I would also dream for if I was on there American continent !
On that note, La Bien Aimée will release Corrie Confetti in Ochre, third edition, on September 9th at 4pm (Paris time). Plenty to buy from on each sides of the big ponds !
Yarn Advent calendars
Once again I’ll pass. I’m not much into advent calendars now that my sons have grown and I do not buy the chocolate ones any longer. You most probably have seen the first ones popping up this summer, a trend and excitation I feel far away from. I kinda think of my leftovers as mini skeins I do not need to buy. The influence of my yarn no-buy year may be ?
Books
a Bien Aimée – New Book in the works
I have not pics to show, La Bien Aimée is going to publish a second book with Laine Publishing, I will most probably buy it, as I enjoy her first one so much. This should be an “eclectic collection”, whatever that means !
I usually cannot make it for their live sessions and watch afterwards, while I knit ! They are very productive, do a lot of test knits and samples for other creators and stores, including the Little Red Mitten yarn shop that also has a YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/c/LittleRedMitten.
Lots of good ideas, a bit too much yarn for me as I easily get tempted, friendly talks and visits, family news, a bit of butta, all the good stuff !
funky music
I love happy music that gives me bright feelings, as far as feelings can have colours or visual tones.
I love them so much I have 5 CDs ! The Bamboos is an Australian funk group from Melbourne. I like all of their productions I have listen to. Knitting in the morning, in the evening, driving the car to go to work, uplifting vibes and mood. Give them a try 💛
I knew I wanted to buy mohair from Aulon during my short vacation in my beloved Pyrénées, which I did ! I also had two other places in my mind.
La Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur
First a new farm in Poitou, La Ferme de L’Accroche Cœur. I had been following them for a while, as these young lady who was for two years with the owner of the Mohair d’Aulon en Pyrénées. She took over her parents farm after they retired and moved to raising goats for their wool. She started her flock with goats from the Pyrénées, both ladies are very carful about the genetics and fleece quality of their goats, and carefully breed them.
Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur – Vouillé
Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur – Vouillé
The goats are incredibly friendly and kind, they come for scratches behind the ears and they do not hit you with their heads. These goats do not do that !
Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur – Vouillé
Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur – Vouillé
They are good mothers and not aggressive. The lady keeps the males for yarn, after being neutered, she has one (or more, I do not recall) for reproduction and cross breeding with other flocks. Even the male fleece is soft and long.
She produces a very beautiful 100% mohair (a difference from the Aulon farm that has 5% silk and 5% merino for the heavier wool, 10% silk and 10% merino for the lighter wool, 30% silk for the mohair cardé), she usually sells her production on open markets. She had opened her store just the day before we arranged my visit !
She made her store so beautiful in a barn, with nice wood floors, stone walls, hight ceiling showing the marvellous wooden work of the roof. She shares the shop with her mum who sells china from the area.
I did splurge a bit, and got a sweater quantity to knit colour work. Yes, with mohair !
Ferme de l’Accroche-Cœur – Vouillé
The yarn is so shiny that is is difficult to photograph. A very soft mohair for a cosy and warm sweater.
Laines À l’Ouest
After I went back home from my Pyrénées and Poitou (with my mother) two weeks vacation, I arranged to drive for 1.5 hours to Lessay in Normandie on my last free Saturday. Once again, I had been following Laines à L’Ouest for over a year, and wanted to get some of their yarn.
They try to revive a local sheep breed that went almost extinct. They produce a very rustic yarn and now offer these 1kg cones that caught my eyes online. Their shop is just fabulous !
Laines à l’Ouest – Lessay
They also host pieces from local artists, poteries etc.
So I got two 1kg cones from this undyed yarn, one in the beigy creamy whitish colour from the clear fleeces and one from the greyish browny kind from all the fleeces, from white to black with all the grey and browns in between.
Laines à l’Ouest – Lessay
Laines à l’Ouest – Lessay
In both places, I also got 2 skeins to swap with an Australian online friend (the greenish blue mohair and the two smaller skeins above). I hope she likes them !
Patterns
Fields Of Gold by Isabella Clark
Heatwave Scarf by Pia Trans
I also got two patterns.
The Fields Of Gold by Isabella Clark I had been waiting for and bought on release day. It will perfectly fit the light brown Mohair cardé I got in Aulon in July ! I like the wheat pattern in the from, the subtle cables in the back, the fact you can adjust the length, the fit and of course the sleeve length. A pattern that should fit most body shapes.
The Heatwave Scarf by Pia Trans was a bit of an impulse cat-on after I saw her video where she presented it. She sorta released this pattern early as everyone is knitting small scarves and ascots ! What I liked about her patters is the vaporous aspect of the scarf, the long ends that will keep a chest warm and the ability to tuck one end into the other to avoid having a bulky knot in the neck. This one I am swatching with yarn from my stash to knit Christmas presents.
August and Year Summary
All in all, I spend way more than anticipated this August (and all summer tbh) : €373.53 for a gran total of €1091.12, so €136.39 per month. More than I had planned for ? Yes. Am I feeling bad about it ? No. Good ? Yes. I have beautiful yarn in my stash that I will use up to my next summer vacation 💛
Knit Now 