The Blue Brick

Hand Painted Series – Terra Cotta Reserve and the Rideau Locks

August 19, 2015

The Terra Cotta Reserve is a pretty significant place to us; we were hiking in the reserve when I first thought that it would be great to use actual leaves and flowers in jewelry, we’ve done tons of great photography there, and Tito and I will even be doing our wedding photos there. Terra Cotta was a natural choice for my next colourway, ‘Autumn in Terra Cotta’.

The Rideau Locks colourway is based off a photo taken in the picturesque village of Merrickville, Ontario. Where the Rideau runs past the town, there are still beautiful old hand-cranked canal locks. The night we stayed there, we were coming back from dinner when I saw the beautiful blue hour light over the canal; I had to run back to our room to grab the camera!

There are 4 more colourways to reveal :) Stay tuned!
Hand Painted Series – North Ontario

August 18, 2015

Our home is filling up with yarn for Friday’s Etsy update =D Here is a sneak peek of a few more of the colours I’ve prepared!

This time I wanted to do a few shots that were all centred around a roadtrip that Tito and I took through North Ontario a few years ago. We drove to the top of Lake Superior, then hit a long, largely empty highway (highway 11) to go further north through small northern communities like Long Lac, Kapuskasing and Hearst, eventually coming back south to Cochrane and Timmins. It was austere and beautiful; we travelled in the fall and could actually see the world go from autumn colours, to grey and empty, to snowy and beautiful again, all over the course of only a week, as we went further north (I made a short video of the trip! If you’re curious, y ou can see it here).

First up: This is Rossport Park. It’s at the top of Lake Superior, and I fell in love with the quiet, serene park – all rocks and water (two of my favourite things). There are only 2 skeins of this: each is a generous 472 yard skein of luxurious bamboo, nylon, merino sock.

This photo is of a spot called ‘Old Woman’s Bay’ in Lake Superior Provincial Park, also one of my favourite places! I have prepared this one in merino lace weight (980 yards), merino worsted (200 yards) and merino nylon sock (80/20), 420 yards.

And lastly, ‘Highway 11’ itself, that beautiful, empty stretch that leaves from Nipigon heading north. I have prepared this one the same as above; merino lace weight (980 yards), merino worsted (200 yards) and merino nylon sock (80/20), 420 yards. I think some merino/cashmere/nylon also made it’s way in there.

More sneak previews on the way tomorrow :)
Hand Painted Series: Kim’s Barn

August 17, 2015

Last week, I was in Calgary doing a rooftop shoot for a client when (for me) the internet exploded.

Where I was, at the time.

Earlier in the day I had posted this shot of my ‘Highway 11’ yarn being worked into my Sencilla Cowl. The photo was reposted by the amazing folks at All Free Knitting. See that number at the bottom? Where it say 54,541 people reached? I just about fainted (luckily, I was no longer on the roof).

As soon as I got back to Toronto I kicked my yarn dyeing into high gear. Now it was not about hand painted experiments, but colourways that I could paint in larger quantities, and reproduce well. I decided to start with a photo I call ‘Kim’s Barn’:

A few hours later I had this:

I’m hooked. I LOVE hand painting yarns based on my photos. It’s fun, beautiful, and (bonus!) Tito enjoys doing it with me! We’ve been working hard…

‘Kim’s Barn’ dyelot, drying in the sun

… and are planning an Etsy shop update for this Friday at 11am, EST :) For the rest of the week I’ll be showing off sneak peeks of what you can expect to find there! I can tell you this much so far, here are my bases:

Worsted weight, 100% superwash merino, 200 yards/skein
Lace weight, 100% superwash merino, 980 yards
Sock Yarn, 80/20 superwash merino/nylon 420 yards

I am also hoping to prepare some luxury sock yarn, including bamboo/nylon and cashmere/nylon in the future, as well as wool alternatives and vegan fibres, but that’s only an idea at the moment, and not something that I will have in my first shop updates.

Each skein of yarn will ship with a postcard-sized print of the photo that inspired the colourway :) Just my own little treat to make each package that much more fun to open!

Check back on the blog over the next few days to see what other photo series yarns will be joining ‘Kim’s Barn’ in my shop update :)
Starting from photos – inspiration for new yarns

August 11, 2015

Thank you everyone for the positive response to my ‘yarn based on photos’ project. I am happy to announce that I may have found a good yarn supplier, and if I like the base then I’ll be aiming to have some short runs for sale soon!

In the meantime, I’ve selected some photos for my next batch of experiments. I’m trying to keep it all in Ontario right now, but I’ll be branching out after that into photos that I’ve taken in cities around the world; from Cuzco to Mumbai, Paris to Portland, from the Ring of Kerry to the Andean mountains… this is going to be such a blast!
Yarn, Inspired by Ontario

August 10, 2015

The Blue Brick has a Ravelry group! Check it out here, and join for access to pattern sneak peeks, KALs, the latest news and, of course, a fiber’y little Blue Brick community :)

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to work on more of my ‘yarn inspired by photos’ project. I’m really delighted with the results. I’ve placed a smallish order for a nylon/merino sock yarn and as soon as they arrive I’m hoping to dye up a few short runs and make them available.

Here are my results, love to know what you think!
First up: Meaford, on the Bruce Peninsula (same as yesterdays)

Next – “Corn in Merrickville”, a gorgeous field that we shot during harvest season in a small town near Ottawa:

This is “Gryphon Ridge Eggs” – free range omega-3 eggs from our friend Kim’s farm

And finally, “Highway 11” – a northern Ontario highway that goes through communities like Hearst and Long Lac:

I’m working my way through more photos :) In the meantime, I totally welcome feedback!
A New Endeavour; Dyeing by Photos

August 9, 2015

The Blue Brick has a Ravelry group! Check it out here, and join for access to pattern sneak peeks, KALs, the latest news and, of course, a fiber’y little Blue Brick community :)

When I announced to my friends that I was going to start dyeing yarn, most of them weren’t surprised. To me, dyeing my own yarn was always something that seemed like a natural evolution of the Blue Brick. I’m not selling any at present, because I’m still working out the best bases/colours, but I do already have my theme; yarn skeins based on my photography.

It was the natural choice for me–many of my other artistic pursuits have had their genesis in a photo, and yarn will be no different. I am still getting to know my processes, and finding the bases that I like best, but I’m having a blast choosing photos and making yarn to match! My first series is all from Ontario, but I plan to branch out to other places I’ve been as my colour journey continues.

Over the next few days I’ll share some of my first experiments, and I’d love to know what you think!

This photo was taken at a wind farm in Meaford Ontario, out on the Bruce Peninsula.

The inspired yarn carries the soft blues and greens from the sky, while adding just a hint of the yellow in the rapeseed field that you can see on the horizon, and the bales of hay in the grass.

This particular yarn is 600 yards of light fingering/heavy lace to 100g. It’s an 80/20 merino/nylon blend with good durability, and it takes the dye beautifully.

The problem is, it’s a 2-ply and feels a bit ‘ropey’ to knit with. It doesn’t full beautifully when blocked either, so I don’t think it’s where I’ll be ending up, though I do like the idea of slightly oversized skeins.

My search for the perfect yarn base will continue :) In the meantime, stay tuned to see my other colour experiments!
Furbaby Love

August 7, 2015

Whenever we show in Niagara-on-the-lake we get to stay at our friend Kim’s place, aka the Gryphon Ridge Highland Cattle Farm. It’s always a treat for us city mice, and I sleep far better at Kim’s then I do at home. The crickets at night and the rooster in the morning sure beat the sound of the highway.

In the morning there is a great exodus of cattle, as Bucky the patriarch moves the herd from the back of the field, where it’s cooler at night, to the front where there is a lean-to that gives good shade.

This past weekend there was an extra treat; a baby! This furry little guy is less than 2 weeks old in the photo, and he’s all kinds of cuddly. Just look at that fur!

There is more than one baby, just look at this adorable little bull. He’s super friendly with people and even gives kisses.

Here’s another baby pic – love this guy.

I found out recently that you can spin highland cattle hair! It’s unbelievably soft, to my surprise. Kim has a lady who takes the hair that the cows shed and spins it up. She named it by cow and brought it to the Frogpond show:

Pretty cool stuff, something for me to try later :)
Dyeing at Home

August 6, 2015

The mega project that left me with sore wrists continues to plague me, so I’ve switched my sights to dyeing for a while ;) Last night I started experimenting with some new acid dyes, and I’m quite pleased with the results! Both of these are 500 yard skeins of 100% super wash merino lace. I bought a cone of the stuff, so half of my dyeing time is spent hand-winding skeins onto my niddy-noddy, but once you get into the zen of the thing it’s not so bad…. until you lose count, that is.

Experiment 1: “That looks just like all your other s#!t’ (So says Tito every time I dye something turquoise).
A greenish-blue, with just a touch of yellow-brown added, something to make me think of the sea.

Experiment 2: Terra Cotta (that was the goal, though this came out more cayenne).
A rich orange-red with small hits of mahogany here and there, to add variegation and interest.

Now, of course, all I want to do is knit them up and see how they do. They are generous sized skeins, and will make lovely shawls. More experimental dyeing is in my future!
The Niagara Pumphouse, Art by the Lighthouse

August 5, 2015

This past weekend, Tito and I participated in ‘Art by the Lighthouse’, an art show on the banks of the Niagara River, by the Pumphouse Arts Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The show was fantastic, and seemed to exist in a calm little circle, despite the terrible weather that was all around us. It was sunny and blue and we met lots of great people and artists.

What I really want to show off though, are our new jewelry displays!

A few weeks ago, at another show, I had an opportunity to see how our booth compared up against other handcrafts booths. I was a little disappointed – everyone else had tall, beautiful displays that attracted attention and gave height to their booth. Our work was laid out on the table, laid out beautifully, but from far away it didn’t look like we had much to show.

A few queries and conversations later, and I was planning to go for a drive through town after the show and see if we could pick up fruit or wine crates somewhere, when the owner, Liz, of Refuge Antiques came by, and purchased earrings from us, and I asked her if she had any suggestions.

I got more than I expected, and I can’t thank Liz enough for what a wonderful person she is – she gave me a little tour of her store, and worked out an amazing price for us on 3 gorgeous pieces; whitewashed, 1800’s barn windows. They’re beautiful, unique, and thanks to her generosity, we could afford them.

This is what we did!

Thank you Liz, for helping us raise the game on our craft booth! Your generosity really made a huge difference to us :)
I am a Bad Blogger

August 4, 2015

…And I should feel Bad.

I have all kinds of stuff to talk about (and some stuff that I can’t wait to talk about, but have to keep on the low for a few more weeks) but I’ve just been too disorganized to really it together for a blog post. We’ve been so busy; we were at the Niagara Jazz Festival Etsy Market, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Farmers Market for a few weeks, and the Niagara Pumphouse annual Art By the Lighthouse show last weekend.

We’ve gotten really good at loading our car, we no longer get lost in Niagara-on-the-Lake, we’ve eaten a lot of delicious (unhealthy) road food and show food and late night bar food, and we’re tired and happy.

We’ve gotten some cool new displays set up (more on that later) and produced some gorgeous sterling silver work, and created some cute drawings to tell people about what we do and encourage them to try things on, but that’s not here either.

I knitted something. I knitted it so furiously and with such speed that I hurt my wrist. I can’t blog about it… but now that my wrists are better and I’m free to start a new project I’m overwhelmed with possibility.

I’m spinning, and dyeing, but I haven’t documented it.

Today though, today all I have for you are photos of the sky. I shot the sky all the way there, all weekend, and all the way back. Apparently, there was hell to be had in the township over, or back in Toronto, or in St Catharines the night prior… but somehow our art show existed in a perfect, clear blue sky with perfect weather. Lucky us!