August always seems to represent the last of summer; the CNE opens in Toronto, back-to-school ads are everywhere and people get their knitting mojo back on. However, from a weather perspective here in Southern Ontario, it’s still hot hot hot, and can remain so well into the dog days of early October (my personal favourite time). So for this club I wanted something that felt light, summery and warm. Something tropical, something sweet. Thus, Mint Coral was born! Sweet mint fades to cream before fading back to a rich coral, Not too pink, not too red, just right.

Mint Coral will be available from August 1st at 9am EST to August 2nd at 9pm EST, no club membership necessary, just click onto our store and go to “Ombré Yarns” :)

Earrings here, bouquet here :)

July 1st is coming up fast, and all I can think about it the July Club Colour. I mean, obviously it has to be something related to Canada Day, and not just any Canada Day, but the celebration of the 150th anniversary of this awesome place I call home.

Typically, Tito and I celebrate by road tripping, but this year we’re planning to spend the day doing a trunk show at Yarns Untangled in Toronto, and the evening looking after our doggies, in case fireworks scare them. In the future, when Sam is ready, we’re hoping to go back to road tripping-with the dogs in tow.

This one is heavy. Canada means a lot to me, and to my family. My dad emigrated from India in 1972, my mom a few years later from Guyana. They met in Toronto. I was born in Toronto, and have spent my charmed existence in a place that celebrates tolerance and diversity, to the point where, on the off times that it’s happened, it takes me a few minutes to clue in when someone is being racist. I’ve been able to reach as high as I liked, without (relative to the world scale) feeling like my gender was a limitation. I have never experienced a war zone, or want, or a hate crime. Brain aneurysms run in my family and I have universal health care that allows me to get an MRI *just to check*. I have been extremely lucky.

To me, Canada is a celebration of diversity, equality and tolerance. We’re an unembellished folk, not prone (as a nation) to extremes (except in terms of weather) friendly, polite, and generally pretty easy going. I’m not going to throw rose coloured glasses on the horrible parts of Canadian history and the present day state of things (particularly where our aboriginal bothers and sisters are concerned, I know there is much progress to be made) but I cannot visit my parents countries of origin without coming home feeling immense gratitude for Canada. I love the Prime Minister. I love the landscape. I love a pastry particular to Canada called the Beaver Tail. I love Tim Hortons.

How to sum all this up in a colour way? It’s been frustrating, let me tell you.

Attempt #1 – The provincial flowers of Canada. I tried creating a gradient from all of them, it was lovely on screen, but I didn’t love it on *skein*.

Attempt # 2 – From sea to sea, a land of diversity. This one graduates from ocean blue to white, and back to ocean blue, but with “watercolour” applications in the centre, in a broad spectrum of colour, to represent our broad spectrum of peoples. It’s lovely, but it’s very soft, and put me in mind of baby things, and didn’t seem to have the gravitas I was looking for.

Attempt # 3 – Why didn’t I just lead with this one? It’s the Canadian Flag. It graduates from deep red, to white, and back to deep red. It’s speckled throughout with black, I was so worried that it would be a contrived, and uninspired option, but once I saw it I knew it was the one.

So there you have it, the July Club Colour will be “Canada 150”, and it’s the red and white that we all love and all associate with our own ideas of Canada. And that means it’s open to personal interpretation, and that’s the way it should be, because that’s who we are.

I’ll leave you with my favourite anecdote from when my father came here from India. He initially lived in Ottawa, and since in India he had been a motorcycle repair technician, he sought the same kind of work there. His first day on the job his boss takes him to the back and there, sitting on skids… is a skidoo. My dad had no cultural reference whatsoever for this beast, so he looks at his boss and says “Well… for a start…. the wheels are missing”.

:)

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!

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!

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

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!

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!).