Here’s one tourists guide to the Big Island – take it all with a grain of salt, but if you travel there, here’s what I learned, my best shots, and a bit about how I got them. This is a big list with lots of images, bear with me! All the above-water shots are taken with my Canon Mark III. I use prime lenses mostly; a 28mm, a 50mm, an 85mm and a 100mm. For close ups we use the Canon 70-200 f2.8.

1. Car Rental – get 4-wheel drive. Not all-wheel, true 4-wheel. We didn’t, because as a rule I resist the up-sell speeches from folks who are renting me a car (generally I’m tired, travel-worn, cranky and already know that I’m insured so…) BUT, in this case it would have been a good idea. Here are just some of the areas that are closed to you if you don’t have your own 4-wheel drive: The summit of Mauna Kea, the green sand beaches, and Waipi’o Valley. Definitely make sure you have the right wheels if you plan on exploring!

   

2. Lava: There are two ways to go here. Currently lava is not pouring into the sea, so the only option is a 12 mile, gruelling hike. Lava is hard to see in the day, and you can easily wander the lava fields for hours without finding any. During the day the heat is unbearable. During the night the hike is treacherous. I can’t emphasize this enough – I don’t recommend going it alone.

   

   We used Epic Lava Tours, the guides were professional, patient, and informed. They got us out there safely, let me shoot to my hearts content, and got us back safely.

   

    

3. Lava – option 2: The back of the Jagger Museum has an overlook that aims towards Kilauea’s caldera. That caldera has a lava lake at the bottom, and in good conditions you can see lava splashing around. In bad conditions it’s cold, rainy, and has poor visibility, so we went a few times before things were right. The plus side; it’s an easy drive, a dramatic view, and great for anyone who is mobility impaired (or just hates  hiking).

   

4. Pro Tip: If you leave the Jagger Museum and drive down the chain of craters road, you can pull off in the parking lot for the Thurston Lava Tube. From there you’ll still see the crater, but from farther away. The angle is right to see the milky way right above it and the parking lot is pretty much deserted. To me, it was a far more interesting shot. To get the shot below I used a hard, .9 Lee Filter on the bottom of my lens to stop down just the caldera, so the stars could expose properly.

   

5. Waterfalls: Rainbow falls is pretty, easy, and there is a viewing platform right in front that is close to the lot. We were kinda bored about 5 min in, to be honest, and spent more time shooting the resident geckos. The island is covered in falls, be sure to look over every bridge and down every scenic turn off for lots of surprise falls! There are way more than just Rainbow and Akaka.
6. Snorkelling – Kona side is better for swimming; we dove into the water at many of the public beaches and found interesting fish and sea turtles pretty easily. The water is clear and warm and you don’t need go far to see lots of stuff. We thought about buying GoPro cameras but ended up getting cheap knockoffs from Akaso (which we’ve affectionately been calling the “Go Po’s”) and they worked just fine for about 1/4 the price.

   

7. Weather and food/shopping: Hilo tends to be rainy, and the Kona side tends to be nice. Having said that, the Hilo side was gorgeous for about half of our trip. Kona is touristy and has lots of shopping and dining. Hilo is chill, and has somewhat less shopping and dining, but there are still lots of great options, including more boutique shops owned and operated by native Hawaiians, which was more appealing us for gifts and such. Definitely go to Ken’s 24-hour Pancake House; it’s an institution and both the breakfast and dinner menus are amazing. Expect a line up, but trust me, it’s worth it.

   

8. Accommodations: We stayed on the Hilo side at the Hilltop Legacy for about half the trip, and the Oceanfront Legacy for the other half. The Hilltop is super conveniently located right in Hilo, with great views of the Bay and a very quiet neighbourhood. The Oceanfront is about 16m north of Hilo and is gorgeous, private, and very close to Akaka falls, the Botanical Gardens and Zipline tours. It’s a beautiful mansion with a private Lanai, perfect for knitting.  The owners are great people and we’ll definitely stay here again.

   

9. Excursions: We did two water excursions, both of which we loved. One was the Sea quest Captain Cook Memorial site; which features a giant reef, lots of cool things to see, and a 1000 foot drop off which is kinda fascinating.
   

   We had captain Kendra and Sam, who were hilarious and super friendly. We almost saw a hammerhead shark, and were given lots of snacks and drinks on the ship. Afterwards we got an educational tour of the island on the return journey.

   

   Excursion 2 was with Kona Snorkle and Sail for a night swim with Manta Rays. I can’t recommend this one enough, it totally blew my mind. If you’re skittish swimmer then beware; they’re up to 8 feet wide and will come right up to you. They are gentle giants, graceful and awe-inspiring. If you are ok to chill in kinda cold water (they give you a wetsuit so it’s really not bad) for about an hour then you’re in for a good show. I fell in love.

   

   

10. Mauna Kea; Fun fact: Mauna Kea is actually the biggest mountain in the world, but most of it is below sea level. The visitor information centre is at 9000 ft, and because we didn’t bring the right vehicle, we couldn’t go to the top. At the top is a world class astronomical observatory – when we come back it will be our first stop! There is a hill nearby that you can climb to watch the sunset – totally worth it!

    Once the sun goes down it’s a great site for start gazing. Beware though; it’s crowded and though Mauna Kea is a sacred site, expect loud, unruly folks and lots of light pollution from cars. However, if you aim up, and use a lens hood, you can still get some great stuff. The staff of the visitor centre use a laser light to walk the crowd through a star gazing exercise, an awesome experience for kids especially.

    

11. Driving: Hawai’i’s Big Island is very easy to get around in. There are 2 main coastal highways, the 11 and the 19. They meet in Hilo, and in Kona. There is also a highway 200 that cuts through the middle providing passage from Kona to Hilo in 2 hours. Fog is a problem, driving at night can be very hazardous and fog/rain can come suddenly. Other than that we found it to be pretty relaxed. There is no gas in the interior, so if you take this road, or plan to visit Mauna Kea, fuel up.

Those are our main tips if you decide to visit this amazing place! The Big Island is gorgeous, friendly, and had lots of things that we didn’t get to see, even with almost two weeks. We bought some lovely locally made items, mostly jewellery, hand painted clothing and body products. You can also buy famous Kona coffee, Macademia Nuts and bulbs for exotic plants (approved within the US only).

We have relaxed, explored, adventured and gotten inspired. Lots of great new colourways are coming. I am full of awe and gratitude for the things nature has shared with us and can’t wait to get home!

Shots taken at the Kilauea Caldera, and the 9500ft altitude visitor centre of Mauna Kea. The trip is almost over and I’m so full of soul food and colour inspiration!

This morning at 4am Tito embarked on a 12 mile round trip hike through some of the hardest terrain I’ve ever hiked on, to watch and photograph active lava flow at Kilauea.

<Lifted from Wikipedia>
Kīlauea is a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi.
Kīlauea’s eruptive history has been a long and active one; its name means “spewing” or “much spreading” in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. Kīlauea’s current eruption dates back to January 3, 1983, and is by far its longest-duration historical period of activity, as well as one of the longest-duration eruptions in the world.

The hike took about 2.5 hours to get in and 2.5 hours to get out. As the crow flies, it was probably more like 8 miles, but the constant up/down/winding path we had to take to stay safe and stay on track definitely added a lot of time. The last time I shot Kilauea, lava was pouring into the ocean, this time around it was only visible by hike and I’m glad; it was a much more intimate experience.

These photos are for perspective. It’s hard to imagine the scale of this desolate landscape without people for scale.

Can you see the red glow under the ground around Tito? That’s all lava that has cooled off a bit. You have to be very careful where you step because you don’t know how stable some areas are. In our case we had excellent guides to help us – I wouldn’t recommend going it alone. Even so, by the end, the rubber on our sneakers had melted.

It’s hard to choose favourite shots. Lava is beautiful beyond measure, awe-inspiring and primal. You are watching the earth move, rocks flow, it’s profoundly spiritual.

Anywhere you look below your feet you’ll see the lava on the move.

And to end, my favourite of them all. This giant chunk fell away and I, perhaps foolishly, jumped in front of it to shoot. The heat was so intense that the skin on my forearms burned and my lens got too hot. Afterwards I was nauseated and dizzy for a few minutes. I could only stand there for a few seconds, but for those few seconds I stared into the heart of the earth and it was worth it.

Is there volcano yarn coming when I get home? You bet.

Freshly armed with a good nights sleep and clean clothes we decided to drive up the coastal highway, cut across over the beautiful and austere desolation of Mauna Kea, check out Kona and then take the 200 back to Hilo, driving between the twin mega mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. We also threw in Rainbow Falls and a little *too* much time looking at geckos with our macro lens :)

Tomorrow it’s time to hit the ocean for some underwater work and an early nights rest before commencing our 4am 16km hike to the active lava fields!

After 48 hours our luggage has caught up to us, and I am clean and dressed appropriately for the temperature, a state I have learned not to take for granted!

Despite our luggage woes I wasn’t about to lose a day in paradise. We decided to go on a reconnaissance mission to Kilauea – the first of many happening this week. Here are some initial shots!

Lava is no longer pouring into the sea, so I was super lucky to have shot it when I did last time I was here.

However, the devastation of Kilauea remains absolutely stunning. Here are some shots we took down the crater road yesterday.

Today it’s going the other way and just possibly getting in the water :) Aloha!

First of all, a huge thank you to those of you who took the time to send me a sweet note regarding my sandan grading – I might not have responded but I read every one and the votes of confidence were deeply appreciated! The grading went well and all of us passed. On a personal note, after the miscarriages and the loss of my day job I definitely felt like I lost my way a little. This grading did a lot to help get me back on the path and re-committed to my training, and to myself. I am full of gratitude for the well wishers and the people that supported me on this journey.

Next update – the March pop up is here! It’s called “overcast” even though the picture was more like “find shelter, storm watch”. I shot that from our balcony during a spring storm when we still lived downtown and had a fine view of the lake. Overcast goes from cream through shades of blue before darkening into a brown/black. A perfect pairing for denim, moody and very wearable :)

Next up – The Blue Brick has grown greatly in the past few months, a fact for which I am immeasurably grateful. Exposure in the United States, the feature in Vogue Knitting and our patterns have garnered us a lot more attention (ok, and our dogs). As we’ve grown, growing pains come too. As of right now I am the only dyer, and the only person answering emails, so when I am sick, or working on a large goal (such as the recent grading) things can get sticky. Ombré takes time, and we only have the ability to paint so many per day, so it’s easy for fulfillments to get behind.

We are a dyed-to-order shop and it’s very hard to keep a standing inventory for anything. I apologize for not communicating this well enough, and will try to do better but here are the facts right now: orders from us can take up to three weeks to fulfill. That sucks, no doubt about it, and I will do my best to speed things up (maybe get Tito dyeing again?), but with only one dyer we can only do so many skeins per day. All I can do is promise that the skeins are dyed with care and love and are worth it when they arrive <3

Puppy Paw kits have officially earned $610 towards the Niagara Dog Rescue so far! Thank you everyone – you’re amazing! Together we have donated enough to sponsor 6 pups, and I’m sure more will be on the way!

Here’s the next bit – this month’s club in particular may take longer. We are away from March 8th to March 21st in the first vacation we’ve allowed ourselves since launching The Blue Brick. We’ve been through lots of great things, lots of hard things, and it’s definitely time. My parents are moving in with the dogs and we’re going to spend two weeks on Hawaii’s big island, documenting Kiluea’s lava flow and shooting from Mauna Kea’s astronomical observatory. I’m sure lots of amazing colourways will come from it :)

My goal is to dye as much of the club as possible before we leave. I have 8 days to churn out orders related to the club so *hopefully* we can leave on vacation without too much to worry about, but I wanted to put it out there in case we’re unable to get through it all.

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Next thing! When we return it will be all hands on deck to shoot the patterns for the book. We’re almost done with the test knitting phase, and there are 12 gorgeous new patterns that take advantage of both tonal and gradient yarns. The book is scheduled for release in April, exact date TBD. It will be online, in print, and at the Knitter’s Frolic. I will also be planning a book launch party with prizes and kits for our local team here in Southern Ontario :)

Right after the book release we’ll be gearing up for The Knitter’s Frolic and then it’s a straight run through festival season right into the fall. What a ride! We’re super excited to meet as many of you as possible this season.

Thank you to everyone who has believed in us, helped us grow, and had patience with us as we grew, learned our limits and tried to surpass them. Every day, in every way, we’ll try to be just a little bit better <3

 

It’s when I really shouldn’t be doing anything new that I feel this driving need to do something new. I have my hands full for sure; my karate grading is in a little over a week, I’m into the heavy stages of pattern development/layout/photography and test knitting for Ombré Knits 2, and sometimes just running the store and keeping up with my dye schedule is as much as I can manage. And yet… when it seems like a terrible time to design and release new colours, inspiration strikes when it wants to, and you have to go with it. That’s part of being an artist.

Some of you have already seen these colours, and now they’re being added to our permanent line.

French Blue

French Blue is inspired by a gentle pottery glaze that I loved when I still had a studio. It reminds me a bit of blue hydrangea – soft with just a hint of violet.

The second colour that we’re playing for keeps is “Not Quite Sammy”.

Even though it’s really variegated compared to some of our other colours, folks really seem to groove on this sweet, gentle colour that doesn’t look at all like my dog, but was inspired by my dog. So it’s staying.

I have another colour in my mind that is a rich (don’t say it!) yellow. It’s saffron and turmeric, it’s ancient stucco and just a bit of terra cotta. Stay tuned for more things that I really shouldn’t be doing ;)

This month may be February, but we’re already thinking of March :) When I visited the Emerald Isle I was blown away, even in March, by the sheer greenness of the country.  Grass green, earthy green, blue-green, sea-green, you name it. The country is gorgeous, the people are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met, and knitting has a rich history there (I actually got to visit Aran Island!).

Emerald green transitions through earth tones to deep brown. It’s a simple, elegant result that comes from a slightly more complex dye process; I don’t actually use green dyes for this. I do everything in a rich turquoise blue and then paint in burnt umber and gold tones to achieve this rich green.

Along with this months colour, we have a new base to announce! The winner of our yarn tasting event, introducing “Blue Mountain Sport”.

This is a heavy, rich base. It takes colour beautifully, at 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon. It’s so heavy it actually feels more like DK weight, and it comes in 350 yards of smooshy wonderfulness.

I’ll be designing around this base for the new book (release by April, stay tuned!) – it’s going to round out our offering nicely by giving folks a heavy cashmere option, great shine and solid stitch definition with no halo. We’re excited to offer this in all our colours come February 1st; tonal and gradients.

Ireland will be available in our _ombre_ section starting Feb 1st and lasting until the evening of Feb 3rd. Remember, this one is a gradient yarn, if you buy the Ireland in the tonal section it’s not the same thing (though it will be a lovely match).

Just in time to knit something for St. Paddy’s day :) Enjoy!

We’ve had Sam for one year as of January 11th! From here:

To here!

Sammy is also a great big sister. A lot of the credit goes to Arya.

To celebrate Sammy’s anniversary with us, she is getting her own colourway, kit and donation. This is not a pop-up, the colour will always be available on our site.

Tan for Sammy’s fur, White for her stripes. Pink for that little nose. Speckles because Sammy is speckled. Sweet, like Neopolitan Ice Cream because Sammy is sweetness personified <3 Plus Muddy Husky, because my girls are a package deal.

You can see from the swatch that this is *not* a gradient – it’s fun and light and as faceted as Sammy’s own personality. To honour Sammy, we are launching a sock kit: A recipe for vanilla socks, top down, using “Sammy” for the body and “Muddy Husky” for the cuff, toe and heel. We are calling it… wait for it…. Puppy Paw!

Puppy Paw kits will come with one skein of Sammy and two mini skeins of Muddy Husky, (540 yards total of Killarney Sock) a puppy paw stitch marker and the sock pattern. The retail value of the kit will be $49 and for every kit sold, The Blue Brick will donate $10 to the Niagara Dog Rescue. We’ll keep a running tally on our website :)

Look out in the next few days to see the final kit with sock samples and stitch markers! This will be online-only, to keep things simple (so I don’t need to coordinate the donations with stores) and it will launch on January 11th; Sammy’s Anniversary (and what we’re considering her birthday!).

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