The Blue Brick

New bases!

May 31, 2017

Rose Gold opens for sale tomorrow :) From 9am EST to 9pm on Friday you’ll be able to order as much as you like, in any base. Now seems like a good time to talk about the new bases that also launch tomorrow!

MCN Lace; Soft and shiny, delicious against the skin, a real luxury lace with tons of drape. 600 yards to 130g, shown in the left of the photo below.

Merino Cashmere Sparkle; soft and *extra* shiny. 500 yards to a skein, and available in limited quantities, only for Rose Gold, shown in the right of the photo below.

100% Merino Worsted; Poofy and soft, a very full worsted with great stitch definition, on 200 yards per 130g.

The worsted and the lace are new, permanent additions to our line up, I hope you love them!
June Club Colour – Rose Gold

May 23, 2017

For the inaugural club colour I wanted to do something a bit different – classy and a little understated, but very summery and chic all the same. I decided to take a crack at a colour that normally appears under much shinier circumstances (and I confess to being worried it wouldn’t work) but I was delighted with the results :)

Clockwise from left (not including yarn shots) Cake Pops, Eyeshadow, Hair, Headphones, Shoes.

Remember – this is an opt-in club, so no membership required! From 9am EST on Thursday June 1st until 9pm on Friday June 2nd Rose Gold will be listed for sale on our website, along with all the other normal colours. You’ll be able to order any base and quantity you like, including (drumroll!) Lace and Worsted! Starting June 1st I will also be adding lace and worsted for all our standard colourways.

After 9pm Friday I’ll take the colour down and start dyeing to order. Please note: for this particular colour there is no inspiration photo, and because I’m dyeing to order, fulfillment may take up to 4 weeks (though we will endeavour to make it much, much sooner).

Lace weight will be 600 yards on a delicious Merino/Cashmere/Nylon base. It’s got a bit of shine to it and feels like heaven. Skeins will be $42 ea. (same price as the MCN, since this is our new luxury base). The worsted will be 200 yards of a very squishy worsted, with great stitch definition and wonderful drape and softness. I know you’ll love them both!
Irritating Errata

May 16, 2017

My apologies to anyone who has been caught by the errors in my book! We did our best, but a few things slipped past us, please see below:

MIGRATION

There are decreases missing on Chart B of Migration. from both the chart and the written instructions.

Row 11: K5, *k3, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2 ; work from *, k5, yo, k, yo, k5, *k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k3 ; work from *, k5.

Row 13: K3, yo, ssk, k, *k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k ; work from *, k2, k2tog, yo, k2, yo, k, yo, k2, yo, ssk, k2, *k, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2 ; work from *, k, k2tog, yo, k3.

Row 15: K5, yo, ssk, *k, k2tog, yo, k5, yo, ssk ; work from *, k, k2tog, yo, k4, yo, k, yo, k4, yo, ssk, k, *k2tog, yo, k5, yo, ssk, k ; work from *, k2tog, yo, k5.

LONGBEACH

Chart B Written directions did not match the chart – the chart is correct. Written directions below:

Chart B – Written directions
Row 1 (RS): Kfb, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p2, k2tog.
Row 2 (WS): Sl, k2, *p4, k2 ; work from *, pfb, sl.
Row 3: Kfb, k2, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p, k2tog.
Row 4: Sl, k, *p4, k2 ; work from *, p2, pfb, sl.
Row 5: Kfb, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p2, k2, k2tog.
Row 6: Sl, p2, k2, *p4, k2 ; work from *, pfb, sl.
Row 7: Kfb, k2, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p2, k, k2tog.
Row 8: Sl, p, k2, *p4, k2 ; work from *, p2, pfb, sl.
Row 9: Kfb, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p2, k4, k2tog.
Row 10: Sl, p4, k2, *p4, k2 ; work from *, pfb, sl.
Row 11: Kfb, k2, *p2, k4 ; work from *, p2, k3, k2tog.
Row 12: Sl, p3, k2, *p4, k2 ; work from *, p2, pfb, sl.

MAPLE HAT:

The pattern specified both Killarney sock and Escarpment DK – only Escarpment DK is needed for this hat.
Yarn Club

May 13, 2017
Thank you so much for the overwhelming YES you guys sent my way when asked if you’d be interested in a yarn club! I have so many photos that I don’t get to use in our regular collection, so this is a chance for me to play.

Here are our options:
1. Option 1 – The Opt-in Yarn Club
  Every other month, on the first of the month (starting in June) I’ll post that month’s colour. There will be no pattern, only yarn. You will be able to order that colour for about 48 hours, in any of our normal bases and in any quantity, and then I’ll dye-to-order. If you like it, order lots. If you don’t like it, ignore that one! The cost of the yarn will change each time and shipping will be the usual price.
2. Option 2 – The Membership Yarn Club
  Every other month (starting in June) I’ll send out everyone’s subscription yarn. The yarn will be a surprise and I’ll ask folks on Ravelry to post no spoilers until the 15th of the month.
  Yarn may be in any of our main bases, or on a specialty base that we don’t normally stock (sparkles, silk, cashmere, oh my!)
  The cost for 4 yarn instalments (June, August, October, December) will be $180 for Canadians (which works out to $45/skein incl. shipping) and $200 for US customers (works out to about $50/skein incl. shipping). No pattern for this one either, just the yarn. Base could be anything except twins. If it’s going well we’ll start again in February.
I like to feel out people’s preferences before proceeding, so please vote here and let me know your thoughts :) Monday I’ll start figuring out the June instalment!

Thanks for all the love, this will be fun!
Lace at last??

May 10, 2017

Bases have so much personality; they can really make or break your colours. Some of them are luxurious to the touch, and some of them practically drink in colour. On the other hand, some of them aren’t robust enough for my ombré dyeing process, and some of them require entirely different treatments that are difficult to incorporate into my dye routine (like my vegan yarn experiment, lovely, but difficult to maintain). I love trying new bases, and these one of a kind beauties make their debut at trunk shows and yarn festivals-and sometimes you find something so nice you think it deserves a permanent place in the line up.

For my experiments on these bases (all strong contenders for a permanent collection!) I’ve chosen to dye just one colour; Grand Turk, so we can compare apples to apples. Grand Turk is saturated and challenging, so it was the ideal choice.

I’ve shied away from lace for a while, because of the yardage. Laying our yarn out for hand painting takes time, and the idea of a 1000 yard skein made me shudder! However, lace is versatile and beautiful and, at 600 yards, still totally usable and well worth the trouble.

I decided to experiment with two different lace bases; Here is a 100% merino. It takes colour beautifully, and would come in skeins of 600 yards.

But why not go big and try a luxury lace while I’m at it? This lovely thing is 70% Merino, 20% Cashmere and 10% Nylon. 600 Yards of pure luxury.

Then there’s the hole at the other end of our offering; worsted. Worsted, so easy, so versatile, so satisfyingly quick, has long been missing from the Blue Brick line up. I’ve been experimenting and searching, and I think I’ve finally found the right base; it takes colour like a champion and it’s soft and smooshy to the touch. Worsted would come in 200 yard skeins.

Finally, something fun. Sparkles, some folks love it, some could leave it. I personally love sparkle yarn, but I’m not sure I love it enough to add it to the permanent line up, so I had to go huge. Meet our luxury sparkle, 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Stellina. The weight is fingering, and it would come in 500 yard skeins.

So what do you all think? Let’s hear it, and I can figure out how to proceed from here :)
Ombre Knits

April 5, 2017

Late last night the book went to print – lots of time, passion, knitting, photography, layout, tech editing, spell checking, proof reading, retouching and planning have gone into this project that I confess to be so very, very proud of.

The book tops out at 80 glorious pages of beautiful photography, large charts, written directions and behind-the-scenes shots. There are 12 patterns in all.

The release plan for the book: Printed books are $35, and E-books are $29, and you’ll be able to start ordering both from our online store this Friday April 7th! In addition, printed copies will be available from our booth at Frolic (Booth 31, Shokokai Court!). Printed copies ordered online will ship after April 13th, which is when I expect the prints to arrive here, so if you can’t wait for Frolic, or are not attending, you’ll still be able to hold a copy in your hands this month :)

Now, what’s a release without a contest? So here we go; follow us on instagram (@thebluebrickish) to enter, or leave us a comment if you’re already following us, and we will do a random draw of three knitters from our instagram followers who will each receive a free copy of the E-book!

Book Excerpt:

We’re a little biased here, but we think gradient yarn is special stuff. To take advantage of the special qualities gradient yarns offer, there are a few things to consider when selecting a pattern. For example, to really show off the gradient of the yarn, you should use up at least 85% of the skein. Or, as another example, when creating triangular and crescent-shaped shawls, as your stitch count gets longer, the distance between colours gets compressed; this can impact the transitions in your gradient.

Different shapes lend themselves to different complexities of gradient, and patterns that are written to be adjustable allow you to make the most of your yardage. Patterns with lace and cables shine because the yarn, while colourful, is not busy and overwhelming, as the colours are presented one at a time rather than all at once.

It was with these, and other matters considered in these pages, that this pattern collection was written. Each pattern includes recommendations for which of our gradients suits it best. Almost all of the patterns are adjustable, and can be worked until you run out of yarn.

Refer to the list on the right to see how our colourways divide up, then pick your pattern to match. There’s lots to
choose from, with a little something for everyone. We’ve put a lot of time and passion into our collection, and hope you enjoy it!

Without further ado, here are the book patterns:

Kali

Starry Night

Longbeach

Berry Vanilla

Samwise – Shawl

Samwise – Cowl

Sandbar

Migration

Tito

Maple

Precious

Jellybean
Happy Spring! New colours :)

March 20, 2017

They’re here at last, and there’s at least at little bit of everything in stock. You will notice that two of our old colours, Labradorite and Blue Hour, have been retired (at least for now!). Hope you enjoy these lovelies as much as I enjoyed making them!

Pride is a full spectrum, from violet to burgundy. It’s the first of my ‘Canada 150’ colours, to represent our diversity and inclusiveness as a nation. The photo was taken on Parliament hill last Canada Day.

Mt Fuji is a deep navy to purple-blue, ending in a bright fuschia with speckles. I climbed Mt Fuji in 2007, climbing overnight to see the sunrise. I’m happy to have finally done something with that hard-won photo!

Hummingbird fills a long lived gap in our spectrum; greens. I want the green to be rich, but wearable. Strong, but earthy. Hummingbird (shot in Costa Rica) is the result.

Another long gap we’ve had is bright yellow. Not orang’y or sienna yellow, but a bright, punchy yellow that screams Easter and Springtime. This is Tulip; pink to yellow with pink speckles throughout.

Lastly, the dark horse of the spring collection, ‘Eggshell’. Based off the gorgeous spectrum of colour from our friend Kim’s farm, this soft colour goes from cream to mint to a rich chocolate brown. That’s it for the new kids on the block, enjoy!
Snow Dogs

March 14, 2017

It came down pretty heavily in Burlington last night, so of course I had to get some shots of my girls this morning (after digging out the car, ugh!).
Ombré Knits, Volume 1

March 10, 2017

I’ve been working on something big behind the scenes (and despite the puppies); my first pattern collection. Ombré Knits, Volume 1 is a collection designed specifically to take advantage of (you guessed it!) ombré yarns.

Ombré yarns are not like other yarns, in a few ways. Firstly, you have to use at least 85% of the skein in order for the ombré effect to be visible. Secondly, if you do a triangular shawl (as an example) as your stitch count gets longer, the distance between colour changes gets visually shorter and the gradient can ‘compress’ towards the bottom of your shawl. This can work beautifully for single colour fades, like feather, but can end up looking like wide, banded stripes with a multi colour piece like Aurora.

At yarn festivals, I often get customers who want to replicate a sample they’ve seen at my booth, or who want pattern suggestions to go along with their yarn. For all these reasons and more, I’ve written a collection of patterns made specifically to make your gradient yarns shine, and I’ve made recommendations in every case about what types of colours work best.

I’ve decided to go all-out for this book release. There are 10 patterns, and it will be available both as a printed book and an e-book. Individual patterns will be available from Ravelry as well. We have hired hair and make up artists and models. The shoot for the book will be at the beginning of April, and the no-rain plan is to do it at my friends highland cattle farm.

The planned release date for the book online is Sunday April 30th – the printed version will be released at The Knitters Frolic in Toronto next month. You’ll be able to download the book, or purchase a printed version off our website.

It’s been a lot of work to design, test knit and tech-edit this collection. I couldn’t have done it without my two most supportive knitters, Kathryn and Kali. The layout is underway now and the shoot will be the final step. We’re over the moon over here!
Sammy Update; Double Trouble!

March 5, 2017

Sammy has been making beautiful progress:

However, there was still a little bit that we couldn’t reach. She was still shy and quiet at home, and wouldn’t play in the backyard. Enter, Arya. The Beast.

Born on Christmas Eve, Arya is half Samoyed and half Siberian Husky. She is also half battering ram and half Tasmanian Devil. But, most importantly, she became 100% Sam’s BFF.

Sammy now plays in the backyard, had learned to chase balls and toys, and has a buddy to play with all the time. They wrestle, sleep and play together. It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s really helped bring Sammy out of her shell.

As for Arya? She’s lovingly known as The Monster <3 Shoe chewer, yarn eater, corner pee’er, she’s all the puppy things wrapped into one ball of pure havoc and we love her just as much as we love our Sam :) Our family just got bigger!