The Blue Brick

Mood Boards of the Moment

December 22, 2015

Starry Night is closed for ordering and all that yummy yarn is getting dyed up next week. Thank you to everyone for making my first club release such a success! The Starry Night pattern will be released on February 1st to Ravelry.

Time to look at the next club colour way, and I’m starting to put my mood boards together. This is just as much fun as the actual painting! All the mood boards are made from my own photos. First up, memories of my trip to Ireland: Rich blue/green/moss. 50 shades of green.

Then I got to thinking about brighter, more tropical things. Like this one that I’m calling ‘birds, bugs and blossoms’:

As a photographer, I never get tired of skies. Yes they’re done, but can you really ‘overdo’ something that changes ever day? Nope.

And finally, rocks. Seems boring, right? Neutral, grey, but oh-so-textural, and I would like to replicate that depth and texture with yarn.

I have no idea where I’m going next, but you’ll get to see it (hopefully) soon because I’m dyeing up all the tests over the holidays!

What do you think? Stay tuned for more ideas!
December/January Club; “Starry Night”

December 18, 2015

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter our giveaway! The winner by random number generator is Crafty Effie. Please check your Ravelry inbox for a message from us :)

“Starry Night” our first club colourway/pattern is out! Head on over to our etsy store to check it out :)

A bit of housekeeping: You have until Sunday evening to purchase the club colourway, which should make for easy, relaxed shopping. If you wish to purchase additional skeins, simply choose your desired quantity from the drop down menu labeled ‘How Many Skeins?’. Make sure you see a price associated with the additional skeins, because if you simply increase the quantity, then you are buying extra copies of the entire kit. By selecting ‘how many skeins?’ you are adding more yarn, but only the one pattern and one photo.

I have really enjoyed putting this together, and I look forward to dying up the goods! This cashmere/merino is just about the softest stuff ever, pure heaven to work with. I know you’ll love it!
Starry Night – December/January Club

December 16, 2015

Starry Night, colourway & pattern will be released to my Etsy store this Friday! The opportunity to purchase will last three days; until Sunday night, which should make for a nice, relaxed shopping experience :)

Psst! There are still 2 days left to enter my contest to win 2 skeins of gorgeous DK weight yarn in the same colour! Check it out here.

‘Starry Night’ is a generously sized triangular shawl at 56″ x 26″ that is beautifully mindless to knit, but also beautifully textural and interesting. There are literally 2 rows to remember for the body, and 2 rows to remember for the lace. The pattern is structured such that you can begin the openwork at any time, and switch back to the ribbed texture at any time, so the pattern is very easy to customize to different yarns and different tastes.

The yarn is a 420 yard skein of fingering weight in a luxurious merino/cashmere/stellina blend. The soft sparkles and the rich colour are inspired by starry nights in the winter, when Tito and I drive up north just to do night photography, perchance to catch the northern lights while we’re at it. This kit will cost $37 CDN plus shipping ($32 for the yarn, $5 for the pattern). If you choose to purchase additional skeins, they will be $32 CDN each.

Why December/January you may ask? We are on vacation for 2 weeks in the middle of January, and I didn’t want to delay the club, so I had to give myself extra time to fulfil the club orders. After January it will be once a month, starting in February.

A quick reminder of how the club works;

In the first week of every month, I will release a colourway, and accompanying pattern. Could be a single-skein pattern, could be multi-skein, and could be any of our regular bases, or even a special new base. The kit will always come with one copy of the photo, a printed copy of the pattern, and enough yarn to complete the pattern (so the price will be different each time).

For 3 days, on Etsy, you will be able to buy the kit, along with as many extra skeins as you like. After that I will close the Etsy listing and start dyeing to order – with the goal of getting it all dyed and shipped within 2 weeks, so I can focus on the following months feature. In addition to this we will, of course, have at least one Etsy update a month featuring new colourways for sale.

There is no membership to sign up for; every month you make the call on whether you want to opt in for that colourway/pattern combo! Love the yarn enough to want a sweaters amount? You’ll be able to order that too.

The pattern and colourway will be exclusive to that months kit, but after the month is done I’ll make the pattern itself available on Ravelry, for anyone who just wants to purchase the pattern itself.

I think the model will work. It allows each customer to decide whether they like the color each time, and to order more yarn if they want. There will be no cart-jacking on Etsy because the kit is available for 3 days. This is the first in hopefully a long line of lovely kits, and I really hope you enjoy it :)
Contest & Giveaway!

December 14, 2015

::Update::

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter our giveaway! The winner by random number generator is Crafty Effie. Please check your Ravelry inbox for a message from us :)

It’s contest time!

Up for grabs: These 2 DK weight skeins were part of the dye experiments I went through while developing my first colourway for the Blue Brick Yarn Club. They are one of a kind, smooshy and very slightly variegated. They are also very close to being this months club colour way, since they were part of the test rounds. Together, they are 512 yards, enough for a pretty generous scarf, cowl, or even matching winter set.

Ok! How do I enter?

Leave a comment here telling me what you would knit with this lovely yarn, simple as that! Let me know your email address and/or Ravelry user name so if you win I can reach you. You will get additional entries for sharing this post, so please tweet/facebook/Instagram/Blog away! Be sure to let me know in the comment that you shared the post so I can make sure you get additional entries; one per social media outlet, and while you’re at it, I would be delighted if you follow me on FB and Instagram :) I will announce the winner this Friday, when I launch this month’s club colour way.
The December Club – Starry Night

December 8, 2015

One of the things about a club where you opt-in every month is that there is no such thing as a spoiler alert ;) I want folks to have a chance to view, contemplate and (hopefully) fall in love with the new colours well ahead of their release. So with that in mind, introducing my first club colour way ‘Starry Night’.

Where do I start? This is some precious yarn, let me tell you. First of all, it’s sock weight, so 420 yards of delicious per skein. Secondly, it’s a blend of merino and cashmere, so it’s soft and cushy beyond belief. Lastly, sparkles. Or in this case… stars.

The colour is deep and rich and not as variegated as my usual work, because I didn’t want either the colour or the sparkles to overwhelm the pattern.

The photo itself was taken during a very long exposure in mid-winter, so I was able to track the movement of the stars themselves. When I think that it’s me that’s moving, that all of it is moving, and that my camera’s 30 minute exposure literally captured the tilt of the heavens…. mind blown.

I am knitting away on my sample for the pattern that will come with ‘Starry Night’. The club colourway and pattern will be released on Friday December 18th, and you’ll have 3 days to order club kits, or extra skeins if desired. Then I will get to work dyeing and shipping it all out.

Stay tuned in the next few days for WIP shots of the pattern; I won’t keep it a secret either! Here’s a teaser shot ;)
Wedding Bells

December 7, 2015

First off – club update!

Tito and I are away for 2 weeks in January, prompting me to release the first club instalment in December (because otherwise it will be a rather long wait) – so I am madly knitting away on the pattern sample. I’ve got to say, though I’m super nervous about my first club installation, I’m truly delighted by both the colour and the pattern. I hope you will be too!

Next up, wedding photos :) All photos taken by my super talented wedding photographer Tami MacInnis of Tami MacInnis Photography. If you’re in the GTA and looking for the perfect photographer, Tami is basically the only person I could have trusted with my wedding (being a photographer myself!) and that should tell you how amazing she is <3

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography

© Tami MacInnis Photography
Found!

December 4, 2015

**//EDIT//**
This is the strangest thing, but I never realized that every single photo ever posted to the Blue Brick was taken by me! So of course I totally forgot to credit my incredible wedding photographer Tami MacInnis of Tami MacInnis Photography. This has now been rectified :) If you’re looking for a talented photog in the GTA I absolutely recommend her!

Regular readers may recall that I lost my knitting on the day of the wedding (boo!) and that it was chock full of sentimental goodness. I’m pleased to report that my knitting has been rescued by my parents (turned out it was under the seat in their car) so I’m feeling pretty relieved. No one who isn’t a knitter could possibly understand the significance of the little ball of scrunched up fabric and string. In celebration, here are some shots of the knitting (and my bridal henna) on the wedding day.

©Tami MacInnis Photography

©Tami MacInnis Photography

©Tami MacInnis Photography

©Tami MacInnis Photography

©Tami MacInnis Photography
Colourway Mood Board

December 3, 2015

Fireworks, fireflies, ice & stars…. today I am all about things that sparkle.
A New Kind of Club

December 1, 2015

Big news – the Blue Brick is starting a yarn club (sorta)!

I say sorta because I want to do something unique with my club, which hopefully folks will find fresh and interesting. Here’s how it works:

In the first week of every month, I will release a colourway, and accompanying pattern. Could be a single-skein pattern, could be multi-skein, and could be any of our regular bases, or even a special new base. The kit will always come with one copy of the photo, a printed copy of the pattern, and enough yarn to complete the pattern (so the price will be different each time).

For 3 days, on Etsy, you will be able to buy the kit, along with as many extra skeins as you like. After that I will close the Etsy listing and start dyeing to order – with the goal of getting it all dyed and shipped within 2 weeks, so I can focus on the following months feature. In addition to this we will, of course, have at least one Etsy update a month featuring new colourways for sale.

There is no membership to sign up for; every month you make the call on whether you want to opt in for that colourway/pattern combo! Love the yarn enough to want a sweaters amount? You’ll be able to order that too.

The pattern and colourway will be exclusive to that months kit, but after the month is done I’ll make the pattern itself available on Ravelry, for anyone who just wants to purchase the pattern itself.

I think the model will work :) It allows each customer to decide whether they like the color each time, and to order more yarn if they want. There will be no cart-jacking on Etsy because the kit is available for 3 days. Of course, I will have to cap it somewhere, to make sure I can dye it all, but unless there is some mad rush I don’t see myself having to do that.

It also opens the door for some fun stuff, like KAL’s for each project.

Feel free to share your thoughts with me! The first installation will be available in the first week of January, so I’m designing away :)
Ice and Snow

November 26, 2015

There will be an update on The Blue Brick’s Etsy site on Friday November 27th at 11am, EST. In addition to our regular offerings, there will be Christmas kits available :) Christmas kits will be available for all bases except Point Pelee Lace, will cost $45 per kit, and will include the following:

1 Skein of yarn, in your choice of base and colour
1 Printed Knitting pattern, suited to your yarn (more on this soon!)
1 Framable 8×10 metallic print of the photo that inspired the yarn
3 Gold-plated stitch markers, handmade by us!

When adding things to your cart, simple choose either ‘Holiday Gift Pack’ or ‘Just the Yarn Please!’ from the drop down menu.

*If you want to make only 1 skein a gift pack, but you’re hoping to purchase multiple skeins, you will need to add them to your shopping cart separately.

Introducing a gorgeous neutral yarn, ‘winter wheat’, also based off the 2013 ice storm.

Brown, taupe, beige & gold, calming and flattering :)

And also, something focused on snow! This photo was taken in Flatrock, Newfoundland. It was typical; by turns sunny and snowing, with the ocean roiling below. I managed a photo that captured all three.

Ocean tones with the grey of the sea foam and the grey-brown of the rock face.

Now, on to more details of the Christmas gift packs! Here are, in order, the packages you will receive if you order worsted, DK or sock/single-ply merino:

An 8×10 framable metallic print of the photo, 3 hand-made, gold-plated feather stitch markers and a printed copy of either the ‘Dionne’ Slouch hat (worsted), the ‘Sencilla’ bandana cowl (DK) or the ‘I’d rather be cruising’ shawl (fingering weight yarns), and, of course, your yarn! These kits will be only $45 ($52 for single-ply merino) and make great Christmas gifts for fiber loving friends :)

The sale starts at 11am EST tomorrow, see you there =D