2017 was a roller coaster ride for us and I find reflecting useful, both for putting things in perspective and for moving forward. Here we go!

The company that I worked for these past 12 years changed dramatically, and I decided The Blue Brick was a better place for me. It was hard and scary and I miss free time and regular pay cheques, but The Blue Brick benefitted greatly from my presence full time. I never thought I would leave that job, but looking back I’m glad I took the leap.

We launched Ombré Knits; our first pattern collection, started our pop-up colour line, developed and added a tonal line and hired our first two employees (including my dad! Yay for daddy time!).

We launched several patterns, attended lots of festivals and spent time out west at Vogue Seattle and Knit City, thanks to Valley Yarns and the Nifty Knitter.We expanded to the US and formed partnerships with lots of new Brick-and-Mortar stores across Canada. We received a write-up in Vogue Magazine, spoke at several guild meetings and met tons of new friends. We finished up with our first of what will hopefully be an annual tradition; The Blue Brick Holiday Party. It was a great year for The Blue Brick.

There was also loss. My father in law passed in November, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Kali lost her father over the summer. Our family cat, Ollie, passed away last month. I am of mixed feelings about revealing this next bit, but I’m going to say it in the hopes that it’s helpful to someone to know that my life isn’t my instagram feed; this year I had two miscarriages.

Each miscarriage was followed by periods of depression, poor eating, anemia and sleeplessness. Orders were late, people were mad, and I was trying not to talk too much about it. I felt so many things, loss, guilt, like I was copping out, talking about it too much, (oh god, not playing the miscarriage card again!) and making a mountain out of a molehill. I felt like I was asking for sympathy, making people feel awkward and airing my dirty laundry. I felt the responsibility to care for everyone else’s feelings (How are they gonna react? Are they sick of hearing me complain?) instead of my own. I tried to hide it on a professional level, to keep my social media posts upbeat and happy, to not ask for more time on order fulfillment. I’m still not sure if that was even healthy, but that’s what I did.

I know someone who raises highland cattle and works three jobs to support her cows. I know someone who makes complex chainmail while suffering MS. I think all small business owners know what I’m talking about here, when it comes to loss, sickness and grief. We pour our hearts into what we do, knowing the sacrifice it takes. It’s hard to get time away and it’s easy to put our needs last.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”- Plato/ Philo of Alexandria/anonymous

Sammy and Arya were the willing recipients of my pent-up maternal tensions. I poured all my emotion into yarn, and into Arya who was just a puppy and played a huge role in the healing process. Sometimes I just wanted to fling my phone across the room but instead I’d take a cute photo of her and post it online. Never, ever underestimate the healing power of animals.

Lest anyone think it was just a terrible year, read on!

The greatest part of our year, no contest, was getting the girls. Sam and Arya are the loves of my life, and my babies in every sense that matters. Sammy’s journey in particular has been beautiful to watch and has made me feel that I have done something worthwhile to steward a little life, which is mama enough for me. I cannot imagine life without them.

Among other amazing people, I met Kali, a friend who has been there in countless ways already, even though we haven’t actually known each other a year yet! Brandt, Treena, Bob, Linda, Lindsay and Ruth, Annika and Susie, my entire weaving guild,*everyone* at the Nifty Knitter, I know I’m forgetting names here, but so, so many wonderful new faces in my life.

My parents moved to Burlington to be close to us and to support us, which has meant the world to me.

The summer rocked. We tried to be done with dyeing by about 3pm every day, which meant beer and burgers on the back patio, knitting and reading and napping and all kinds of long, warm, awesome weekday evenings. Every Tuesday mom comes over with fresh bones for the girls. We built a gazebo.

I joined the local weaving guild and took a weaving class with an amazing teacher; so I learned how to warp my 8-shaft loom at last! I’m so excited to see where my weaving adventure takes me.

A few weeks ago I received the unexpected message that, with enough training and commitment, I might be able to qualify for my Sandan (Third Degree Black Belt) this coming year. I was electric with happiness when I got the word, and immediately afterwards humbled, scared and uncertain, coming on the heels of my physical condition (or lack thereof) and poor performance in class. I don’t feel worthy, but I’m ready to work to get there, and come what may, I know I’ll try my best. I’ll post progress and training shots online!

This coming year we’ve got big plans. I’m going to start teaching dyeing workshops around the GTA and hopefully some of the festivals; tonal and ombré! I enjoy teaching and inspiring so hopefully I’ll get a chance to connect with some of you there.

Ombré Knits 2 is in the works; and I’m so excited about the patterns, which will leverage ombré and tonal together for exciting new projects.

Sammy is getting her own colourway and I’m hoping to start a fund-raising initiative for the Niagara Dog Rescue – more on that come Sammy’s homecoming anniversary.

My focus this year is community; I want to meet as many of you as possible, do KALs together, teach workshops, have knit nights, do guild talks and just generally feel more connected to the core group of knitters who have always gone out of their way to support us. You are my foundation, even if you don’t know it yet, and you are why we do what we do!

We wish everyone a healthy, happy, creative 2018 filled with peace, love and inspiration. We can’t wait to spend more time with everyone and make beautiful things together!

Thank you for reading <3
With so much love,
Shireen, Tito, Sammy and Arya

Wherein I am relentlessly trampled into the snow and puppy absconds with my hat.

Sorry guys, it’s not normally my habit to get too personal on the blog but orders are late and folks have a right to know why; earlier this month my beautiful, compassionate father-in-law passed away. I mentioned it on instagram, but didn’t realize to what degree this sad news would set back production. We flew to Winnipeg see him before the end, which thankfully, we got to do. When we got home he passed away, so after a tumultuous week we flew back for the funeral. All told we missed 2 weeks of production time, and for a small business like ours, that’s a lot. This doesn’t include time to grieve or to rest. Small business life is like that, and honestly, I still wouldn’t have it any other way. I hand-paint every gradient, and can do a maximum of 40/day. If you do the math, late orders become an inevitable reality; a fact I failed to convey to customers, which is totally on me.

It never rains but it pours; the following week my cat died, and then our water heater gave out (heat is essential to dyeing). I realize my problems are not my customers’ problems, Christmas deadlines are looming and the post is starting to slow down with the holiday volume. I’m so, so sorry for the impact this has had and I feel awful.

I have to beg a little more patience from folks who have waited too long for their orders, or have received shipping deadlines from me that didn’t happen. I’m truly sorry, and if anyone affected by this would like to email me about a discount code or a full refund/cancellation then I am more than willing to make it right.

We expect all late orders to ship by Friday. If you have questions or concerns please feel free to write to me at hello@thebluebrick.ca.

Best,
Shireen

Whew! It’s been a whirlwind but twelve new colours are ready for launch tomorrow.

Moody and tonal, but also rich and layered, these colours will expand our line to allow for multi-skein projects, sweaters and blankets etc. Gorgeous on their own or paired with a gradient, I can’t wait to see what you make with them!

You may have seen some colours on instagram that don’t appear to have made it to the final twelve. This is likely because I couldn’t reproduce them to my satisfaction and they came up while I was playing. Those skeins are still around, first dibs will go to folks who are attending our Holiday Party, and any OOAK skeins left over will go online.

Before I show off todays colours I want to mention two changes to our regular line; Tulip and Daisy are leaving the scene. It was a hard decision for me, especially Daisy, but it’s time to change things up. If you still want Daisy or Tulip and they’re gone from the site you can always shoot me an email and I’ll do a custom order for you.

Replacing Tulip and Daisy are two of the favourites from our pop-up colours this year; Rose Gold and Copper Slate. Both these colours will be added to our ombré line starting tomorrow as regular gradient colours. The icons are not quite ready yet, but you’ll recognize the ones we used for the pop up.

This gentle colour is called “Succulent”:

And lastly, this is “Winter Grass”; rustic but neutral:

That’s all folks! Everything starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see the projects that come out!

Todays colours flow across the warm end of the spectrum, and there’s one crazy addition called Iridescent. Confession: it’s not exactly a tonal, more of a variegated, but it comes from a photo I’ve wanted to do something with ever since I took it and it simply did not work as a gradient.

Next up is a brilliant red that I wanted to call “Sumach” but ended up naming “Torii” after the Torii Gate shrine that I shot in Kyoto. Not for the faint of heart, this is one saturated red!

Now for something softer; this gentle, almost neutral blush colour is called “Flamingo”.

And lastly, a colour that I’ve called Lilac in the past few weeks but changed to “Aster”. Aster means star, which doesn’t make a lot of sense for a purple colour, but it’s named for the New England Aster; a flower that is common in Ontario. I caught this one at dawn, covered in dew, and before it had opened its bloom to the sun for the day. When I came back later that morning the sun was up, the dew was dried, the flower was open and somehow I thought the magic had gone out of it a little.

Tomorrow; neutrals and a few changes to our gradient line (hint, if you really loved Daisy or Tulip you might want to order them soon!). All colours launch Friday!

Today’s colours cover the green-blue spectrum, and two of them hail from across the pond; Grotto and Ireland.

Grotto looks quite different from the earlier versions I posted – I had a shot in mind that I wanted to coordinate the yarn with. I shot it in Italy, in Capri, where there is a natural formation called the “Blue Grotto”. The opening is so small that you have to lie back in a row boat to enter, and the boat is pulled in by a chain. Once there, the colour of the water will blow your mind, I put my hand in the water and watched it glow. You’re only in there for a few minutes and the light conditions were challenging, so I’m also proud of managing to get a shot, though I would have liked to go again without the camera and just experience it.

Ireland is actually the same shot used in an old club colour, but expressed differently in the yarn. I shot it in the Ring of Kerry, through a bus window, hence the hard colour tinting. Normally I would have dumped the shot, but in this case the motion blur, the tilted angles and the vignette from the window all lent a mood to the shot that I really enjoyed.

Finally, Quidi Vidi. Pronounced “Kiddie Viddie” it’s a lake in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We shot the lake in the evening, with a slow shutter, just as the dusk light was ending. The results gave the lake a beautiful blue tone in the final shot, while retaining the warm tones from the surrounding rock.

Warm tones will be showcased tomorrow, and everything launches Friday :)

---

Thank you to everyone who took the time yesterday to send us a sweet note about Ollie. Each and every note means a lot to us <3

---

If you follow us on Instagram (@thebluebrickish) you will have seen some new yarns popping up lately; a tonal line that is intended to be a compliment (not a continuation) to our ombré line and give folks more options for multi-skein projects. They’re also gorgeous for use on their own and, should you want to make a sweater etc., they are all available on the exact same bases as the gradients so no more worrying about finding a close match and getting gauge all over again!

A few notes about our Tonal Line; The final colour choices will be here on the blog and on instagram over the next few days. They will all launch on December 1st and will be a permanent addition. They may look a little different from some of my ‘working models’ that I’ve posted about lately, but it was important to me that these colours be reproducible before I released them, so there has definitely been some tweaking.

Tonals are tricky, and not quite as formulaic as our gradient line. If you want to make a sweater, I’d recommend buying enough with a little to spare all at the same time; and I will make sure it all gets dyed in the same lot. Regardless, I definitely recommend striping your skeins for the best results possible and to avoid unwanted pooling and colour changes. Here’s a tutorial.

There will be either 9 or 12 colours total (TBD), and I’ll show off a few a day from now til the 1st :) I’m pretty excited about them, they’ve taken on a different personality from y gradient work which is generally bright. These are dark and moody and I love them; the kind of colours I’d wear for sure. As with our other work these colours are inspired by, and ship with, our photography.

Without further ado, here are the first three!

Cobblestone:

Cobblestone is dark, but quite complex. There are layers of turquoise, slate, brown and black under there, along with light speckling in both brown and turquoise. It’s rich and subtle.

Terra:

Warm, and utterly autumnal with gold, cayenne and taupe layered in to create something evocative of walking though one of our favourite places; the Terra Cotta reserve.

Bauline:

This piece took on its own life as I dyed it, based on the sunset I shot from Bauline, Newfoundland. A small fishing community, the beach was littered with the detritus of fishing gear lending tones of rust, stone and lichen.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these :) Stay tune to the blog for the next few days to see the rest!

 

This evening we had a calamity; my sweet cat Ollie, who I’ve had for 10 years since he was 9 weeks old, passed unexpectedly from a cancer that went undiagnosed until it was too far along. He was fostered as a baby by a girlfriend, she put his picture on Facebook and just like that, Ollie was mine. I lied to my parents about him following me home (they didn’t believe me for a second).

There is no way to put this gently; Ollie was a terrible cat. He peed on things with the discernment of an aficionado who understands that leather is better than laminate, and that purses are preferable to litter boxes. Move that litter box one inch to the left and you would be rewarded with a contemptuous pool of pee, a statement on our perceived incompetence. His favourite hobby was to lie on his back in the middle of the floor and extract a tithe of blood from anyone who tried to pass. I secretly believe that dogs are for people who love to be loved, and that cats are for those who don’t mind being silently held in contempt. Ollie embodied that theory.

Except me.

I could rub my face in his belly and make him purr like a chainsaw. I could hold him like a baby and rub his face against mine. I was his mama, and we loved each other like mad.

He clawed a girlfriend so hard once that he left the claw in her palm. We left a friend house-sitting for a week and returned to find him clawed to the elbow, shaking, emphatically telling us “never again”. I once overheard a vet talking about him saying “If that’s the same #($)@!* (insert invective here) cat I saw Tuesday there is no WAY I am treating him without a general anesthetic.” He got so anxious in cars that he would void in his carrier, leaving us to bathe an angry, poop covered ball of claws and teeth afterwards.

Ollie was also, as it turned out, a lemon. At 4 years old we discovered in one expensive weekend that he had a heart defect. We fought hard for him, and we watched him fight too; to breathe, to live. We emptied savings accounts, borrowed money from friends and even pled with the bank to make it happen, and it worked, Ollie came back home to reward us with his cantankerous self for 6 more years. From then on I assiduously monitored his heart, thinking it would eventually be the thing to kill him. There’s some small comfort in the vet telling us we did well; Ollie’s heart was stable to the end.

I could rock him like an infant and he came when I called. He never learned to meow, opting instead for an inquisitive “Purrrrup?” when he was with me, usually a request to jump up onto the sofa for a cuddle. Ollie was an olympic level cuddler and could go for hours, happily snoring, purring and shedding his way through dreamland while I tried not to move and wake him.

When it was time to sell the condo we moved Ollie to my parents place. It was meant to be temporary; but my folks fell in love and so did he. My parents didn’t know it, but they were born to be cat owners. They needed something that liked to be worshipped, and didn’t need to be walked. Ollie settled into being their benevolent ruler and remained with my parents until his untimely end.

He didn’t suffer much that we can tell. Yesterday he had trouble breathing. The vet found a mass in his kidney, which we were supposed to have diagnosed today. Instead Ollie passed, peacefully, albeit unexpectedly, at home with mom and dad. He was loved and cuddled to the end.

I miss my baby. I loved him and his hilarious habit of supervising everything we did from his signature position of lying flat on his back, thus earning the nickname “Junior Foreman”. I miss his cuddles and his snoring and his motorboat purr. I miss being his mama, and holding that privileged place of being the one to cuddle and calm him, and how good that made me feel. We had a special kind of love and I will miss him always.

RIP Ollie. I hope you are somewhere with ample sunny spots, extracting the tithe of pain from those wishing to cross rainbow bridge like some kind of jumped up security guard. Regardless of whether the theory is true, I know the image would make you happy.

We’ve finalized the Blue Brick Christmas kits – which will launch on November 1st at noon EST, and will be available a little longer than usual; until November 5th at 9pm EST or while supplies last. There are a limited number of kits, so if that’s on your list you’ll want to visit the store early.

Each kit contains:

• A Blue Brick note book for your creative thoughts!
• A 2018 Calendar full of gorgeous yarn photography to keep you inspired all year long
• A zippered, lined, 5″x 8″ notions bag, for all your yarn-related goodies
• A small bottle of peppermint scented wool wash with lanolin oil to condition and cleanse your knits and leave them smelling festive!
• 1 skein of either our cashmere sock or cashmere sparkle sock. Both are 500 yard skeins of unbelievable softness.

Specs on yarn:

MANITOULIN MERINO SPARKLE
80% SW Merino/10% Cashmere/10% Silver Stellina
500 yds / 457 m per 5.6 oz / 150 g skein

MANITOULIN MERINO SOCK
70% Superwash Merino/20% Cashmere/10% Nylon
500 yds / 457 m per 5.6 oz / 150 g skein

Kit’s will be $99 CDN each, and they will launch at the same time as the yarn. The yarn will also be available on the specialized bases, in case you want more than one skein. Please feel free to email me with any questions at hello@thebluebrick.ca ahead of the date :)

And now, for something unrelated and adorable; Arya’s halloween costume <3

A few years ago we had an ice storm at Christmas, which caused quite a bit of damage. There were felled trees, covered cars, and downed power lines; a real mess. It was a beautiful mess though, and of course we spent it outdoors with cameras.

That year was a good year to think about the true meaning of Christmas. Lots of folks who normally wouldn’t spend the holidays together congregated at the homes that had electricity, and there was a general good vibe of strangers helping each other out and laughing about the inconvenient, but lovely weather. So, a Blue Christmas isn’t a sad thing; it’s an amazing thing.

I wanted to start this one early to make sure everyone has their yarn in hand well ahead of Christmas, so this colour launches on November 1st at noon EST (We’ll be at Vogue Seattle and need to sleep, haha) , and will be available a little longer than usual; until November 5th at 9pm EST.

There will be special bases that we normally don’t offer, including a luxurious Merino/Cashmere/Nylon sock, and a Merino/Cashmere/Stellina Sparkle sock. I’m also working on a kit that will have all kinds of goodies for that fiber lover in your life, details coming soon!

Blue Christmas goes from a silvery grey to a deep blue, reminiscent of the sky on those snowy evenings, just at dusk. Maybe while you’re out tobogganing, or warm inside with a cup of hot chocolate. It’s festive and shiny; especially if you opt for MCN sock, Sparkle Sock, or Cashmere Lace.

Please remember that, once I take the product down from our website, I start dyeing to order. Depending on the popularity of the colour, it can take me up to 4 weeks to get it all in the mail. My commitment is that it will all ship before the end of November, to minimize the risk of holiday shipping delays.

Stay tuned to find out what our gift kits will look like! There will be a limited quantity (likely only 30) so you might want to set your clock for this one :) This will be our last pop-up for the year and we’ll start again in Mid-Jan!