The Blue Brick

FO – Ocean Fortress Shawl

April 4, 2016

This past weekend, with barely 6 inches to spare, I bound off my Age of Brass and Steam kerchief (free on Ravelry, click here for pattern) using my Ocean Fortress Ombré yarn. To say I am delighted is an understatement.

The pattern used up exactly one skein of The Blue Brick Escarpment DK. I overshot it a bit, which is why I had only 6 inches after bind off. The last few minute son the bindoff were hairy, but I regret nothing.

This thing is huge, at least five feet (my armspan) wide. It covers my shoulders nicely and makes a generous neck kerchief. It was like instant gratification to knit too – only 1 skein!

I love how the colours change. I’m totally a sucker for gradient yarn. It’s satisfying on a level I can’t quite describe to watch the colours change, occasionally stepping back to admire the whole.

As a special perk, I knitted this using my awesome new chainmail stitch markers from my friends at Looner Creations :) Stitch markers are only a small part of what they do, if you are into chainmail at all then I definitely recommend checking them out!

Ombré goodness… more to come :)
Shop Update Today!

April 1, 2016
Visit our online store to see all the new goodies we’ve got in stock, including the April club, Ocean Fortress, Jade, Carnelian and Chrysocolla. There are a few things that you might find a little different!
- We are no longer offering Manitoulin Merino. This saddens me, and might not be permanent, but it was on back order for so long that I had to find another option for my luxury base. I think you’ll be pleased with the replacement though; Niagara MCN. A generous 500 yard skein of 70/15/15 Superwash merino/cashmere/nylon. Perfect for larger shawls, knee socks and a dream against your skin.
- We are temporarily also not offering worsted weight. I am seeking out an alternative to this asap.
- Our Killarney Sock and DK yardage has changed; in both cases it’s more, so I don’t think you’ll mind. Killarney sock is now 437 yards/skein and Escarpment DK is 293 yards/skein.
- Sale time! In order to clear out old inventory many of our colours are on sale – mostly anything that was autumn or winter themed. This includes the last of our Manitoulin Merino, so if that was a fave of yours, now is the chance to stock up.
- Going forward, all The Blue Brick yarns will be dyed-to-order. There are many benefits; no selling out, no cart-jacking, and only one drawback; you’ll need to give me at least 3 weeks from order to delivery. I promise it will be worth it!
- Lastly – last month I played with letting folks download the pattern for the club with their purchase. This caused a glitch in my system, because it then marked the sale as ‘fulfilled’, which cause all kinds of grief when it came time to actually fulfill it, so bear with me, your pattern will arrive with your yarn as usual, and if you send me your Rav ID I’ll make sure it’s added to your library as soon as it’s added to Ravelry.
I think that’s it… Do feel free to write to me if you have any questions at all, and happy shopping this weekend!

Love,
S.
New Goodies for Friday – Carnelian & Chrysocolla

March 31, 2016

PSST – Longbeach, the April club colour, comes out tomorrow, along with these beauties in our online store!

Here’s something totally different from Jade :) A rich, deep red, inspired by an actual sample of Carnelian stone.

Going along with my theme of looking up stone meanings:

Carnelian (also sometimes referred to as cornelian) is found primarily in India, as well as various sites in South America. It is a variety of chalcedony. The most favorable pieces are a deep red to red-orange hue. Carnelian has a long and storied past, and was once considered strictly the property of the noble class. People holding a high social status were often buried with this gem stone. Source

Next up, Chrysocolla:

Also a rich and varied colour, based off a gorgeous blue/green stone,

Chrysocolla Gemstone meaning
Chrysocolla is a very beautiful stone with many beneficial energies.It is known as a healing stone among Native American Indian cultures where it was used for strengthening the body’s resistance and bringing about calm feelings where there is upset.Chrysocolla is a stone of peace, increased wisdom, discretion.It promotes level headedness, encouraging clarity of thought and a neutral, cool attitude during turbulence. It can be used to decrease nervousness and irritability.

And finally, ‘Longbeach’, ‘Jad’e and the Ombré series yarn ‘Ocean Fortress’ will also be released tomorrow! Remember, Longbeach is only available for three days! See you at our online store this weekend :)
New Colourway – Jade

March 30, 2016

PSST! Several lovely things are coming to the store this Friday, but the big one is the ‘Longbeach’ colour way and pattern, available from Friday April 1st to Sunday April 3rd.

One of the projects I’ve been working on behind the scenes is a set of colourways themed after natural stones. I visited the Geologic Gallery on Queen West here in Toronto, picked out a few I liked and got dyeing. The first in the series, launching this Friday, is ‘Jade’.

Jade is inspired by the jade stone, of course. I don’t go in for stone meaning, but according to the wisdom of the internet, Jade is used to attract money and love, and also has protective and healing qualities. It’s also inspired by my favourite colours of this fashion season :)

Goodies in my mood board from top left: Corkia Gown By Ted Baker, Jade stones, Sydney Crossbody Bag By Fossil, middle: My new Jade yarn! Bottom: Decouart iPhone case, Normandy Blouse by Wilfred, and Half Stone Drop Ear Jackets By Fossil.

Jade is soft and lovely–neutral but not–and explores blues and greens while still feeling like a warm colour. It will be a permanent addition to my signature colour line, and available on a dye-to-order basis, on any of our regular yarn bases.

There are two more stone-based colours launching this Friday for your shopping pleasure, stay tuned!
Forty Shades of Green on Ravelry

March 29, 2016

The February Club pattern, Forty Shades of Green, has been added to my Ravelry store :) Link here!

Originally developed for The Blue Brick’s February yarn club, “Forty Shades of Green” is a one-skein cowl that is knitted sideways and then seamed. Flowing celtic cables run lengthwise along the cowl, framed by a smaller cable below and a moss stitch background. The stitch definition of our Escarpment DK lends itself to the cablework beautifully.

Don’t be intimidated by those cables; they are less complicated than they look and the rest of the cowl is just moss stitch :) I provide written directions as well as charts to make it easier for different knitting styles. The result is a cute little bandana cowl that sits up nice and high on the neck, but can be pulled close for warmth. Made from less than 256 yards of DK weight, it’s also a relatively quick knit!
New Goodies coming this Friday

March 28, 2016

Introducing the latest new ombré colour – Ocean fortress.

Blue, to lighter blue, to seafoam, then tan, and finally a sandy brown. This colour will launch in our online store this Friday morning, along with another new colour (previews coming soon!) and the April colour way ‘Longbeach’.

As with my other ombré colours, this will be dyed-to-order on whichever base you select while checking out. It allows me to circumvent things like selling out, etsy cart-jacking and people who want greater quantities. I will be moving all The Blue Brick yarn to this system over the next few months.

The photo was taken in Puerto Rice, at the 16th century Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

I’ve known from the moment I took the picture that it had to become an ombré colour :) And if you’ve been keeping an eye out for the launch of long beach… it will be online this Friday as well!
What’s the hold up?

March 24, 2016

I’d like to update everyone on a hitch in my order fulfillment this week – my yarn bases are on back order. I have fulfilled as many orders as I can, and many of you will not be affected by this, but a few will and I wanted to announce it here in case you happened to be one of them. Those affected by the back order will receive a coupon towards their next purchase, which I hope will take some of the sting out of having to wait.

I will be placing a massive bulk order this week, which should circumvent this happening in the future. In the meantime, please accept my apologies for the delay and know that I am doing all I can to make it right.

Best,
Shireen
Longbeach – Pattern Reveal

March 21, 2016

Longbeach is an asymmetrical shawl that is knitted end-to-end using 420 yards of Killarney sock, dyed in our new April colourway.

The pattern is inspired by the shape of the tide pool in the shot, and the texture of the sand in the image.

It’s a mindless knit – relaxing and relatively fast :) Perfect for TV nights.

This is the first project that really shows off The Blue Brick Ombré series yarn, and how the colours change over the course of your project.

There are soft changes, hard changes, and long blended changes depending on how the colour is designed to work. I wanted to share this a little early because I know some folks have been curious about how the ombré yarns knit up.

Pattern/yarn kit will be released in early April and available to all knitters (no club membership required) for the usual 3 day period :)
April Club Colour Reveal – Long Beach

March 16, 2016

Long Beach is up at the top of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Tito and I drove up there in July 2011, as part of our annual Canada Day road trip. We arrived at sunset, and the light was spectacular. In fact, we spent so much time shooting, immediately after driving into town, that we neglected to find accommodations (Tofino is a major tourist destination) and ended up sleeping in the Ford Fiesta we had rented, parked at Long Beach. True story.

The colours were out of this world though. The pink of the sky, the grey in the sand, the dark shapes on the horizon, the texture the water had created on the ground, the tide pools, full of life. We were captivated.

Next months club colour draws from this magical place, and of course I chose to pair it with my ombré yarn; in my mind, the natural answer to all things sunset.

Pink, fading to a pale pink, to light grey, with a hard hit of slate grey right at the end, on a generous 420 yard skein of Killarney Sock.

Whichever way you wind the yarn, it’s a beautiful combo. Incidentally, it’s also a bit reminiscent of this years Pantone colours.

© Pantone LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.

Lovely combo, n’est pas?

The pattern, which is still in the works, was inspired by the shape of the tide pool and the texture of the sand in the foreground of the photo. It’s a long, asymmetrical shawl, mindless to knit, with a curved edge along one side, designed to use up every last yard of the skein for a full expression of the gradient.

FO photos of the shawl will be coming out soon :) The kit will be available starting in the first week of April for the usual three day span. What do you think? Was sleeping in the car worth it? (We thought so.).
Sneak Peek – Sorta ;)

March 14, 2016

I am so happy and humbled by the positive, enthusiastic response to the Blue Brick’s Ombré series. Inspired by the love, I’m happily dyeing away experiments for several more colours which I’ll be phasing in over the next few months. All of them will be dye-to-order, and all of them will be available on any base, as permanent additions to my store. Hooray! Etsy cart-jacking shall become a more and more distant memory.

In the meantime, I’ve been working hard on the April club colour, which, as you might have guessed, is an Ombré yarn. I’m keeping it under wraps for now, hence the black and white previews ;)

I’ve written a pattern for a super simple, asymmetrical shawl designed to use up every last yard of a skein of Killarney Sock, and to really show off the colour shifts in the yarn.

See those little cable’y things? They’re actually just a knit-purl combo. This shawl is total TV knitting.

Colour reveal coming soon :) Have a beautiful Monday!