For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, I think the @slowfashionoctober instagram blurb says it best: A celebration of the small-batch, handmade, second-hand, well-loved, long-worn, known-origins wardrobe.

It’s a dialogue that we can all participate in, to any degree, in whatever way inspires us, and there are a set of themes to help you along. The themes are loose, as you can see from my totally random, not-exactly-fashion-related thoughts below ;)

Week one: Introductions

 

We are in an interesting spot for Slow Fashion October. We have just left our yuppie condo in the heart of downtown Toronto, for a quieter existence in Burlington. We have also left the heart of a greatly consumerist culture, where broken things are replaced, and shiney new things are beckoning from every corner. We were ready for more trees and less traffic.

We both come from cultures where things are repaired, reinforced, up cycled, made to last. We buy our eggs, preserves and meat directly from Ontario farmers. We left day jobs in media and construction to run a cottage industry out of our basement. We endeavour to keep the carbon footprint of our company small.  We love homey things, and believe in making things ourselves rather than hitting up Pottery Barn (though I confess to a deep love of IKEA, no one’s perfect!).

Because of this transition out of the Big Smoke, hectic working arrangements and being in the middle of consumerist culture, I feel like Slotober is a concept close to my heart right now :) We are not perfect; we love IKEA and junk food (though again, our goal is local farmers instead of the cruel and unsustainable process of massive cattle ranches!) and we do enjoy buying things that we try to make last.

I will try to be more mindful during our first month here in the new house, though it might be more about furniture than it is about fashion. Let’s see how it goes!

And now the most important part – dialogue! Let’s share our thoughts on the joy of handmade, the need for sustainability, a local market, whatever is on your mind!

 

 

A little assortment of what we’ve been up to (and my obsession with the colour yellow!).

We’ve shut the store down until Oct 3rd to give us time to move ourselves, and the company to Burlington. All orders are still being fulfilled, and we expect pretty much everything to ship tomorrow :) Thanks for your patience everyone, we look forward to starting up again Without all the chaos!

Love,
S&T

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The KW Knitters Fair is this weekend! 
Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
400 East Ave, Kitchener, Ontario.
Time: 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Click here for more information

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For the KW Knitters Festival this weekend I’ve introduced a fun new product that will be a show exclusive: Jelly Bean Cakes! Jelly Beans are pretty special; they’re dyed twice. The first time is to create the ombré effect, the second time is to add variation and speckles. To add to the fun, a Jelly Bean comes on oversized worsted; a generous 200g cake of 350 yards of smooshy 100% superwash merino.

Jelly Beans are not currently planned for our main store, I’ve made just 5 of each colour and plan to show them off at KW to see how people like them. Because they are very time intensive to make, I want to keep it small until people have had a chance to see them and let me know what they think :)

I am also working on a one-skein cowl project to show off the yarns, just enough texture to make it interesting, without getting lost in the yarn colours. I’m *hoping* very much to have that ready for the show as well, but it’s more likely to get posted on my blog early next week. I hope to see lots of you there this weekend!

Lots of change coming to us… yet again. I remember after we got married last October I told Tito ‘lets have a boring life for a year, let’s not start anything big’. So much for plans.

This year we really launched The Blue Brick. In fact, yarn is going so well for us that we rapidly outgrew our tiny 600 square foot condo. To live in a small space means being a champion at Tetris. Want to sew something? Clear off the dining table, move the drying yarn to the bedroom and bring the machine out from storage. Want to actually cook? Empty the kitchen of all the dyes and tubs, scrub down the counters and make them food safe before starting. You get the idea ;) This summer we put our beloved downtown pad on the market and bought a house in the burbs.

For anyone who knows me well… that’s basically the least likely thing I ever thought I’d do. We had a sweet spot, with a heck of a view, a 20 minute walk from my day job. Last night we went to the CNE, and we walked home. We could watch the air show from the balcony. I work in advertising all day, and I loved it. Total yuppie.

Toronto is the centre of the universe, just ask any of us! And we lived at the centre of the centre, basically right beside the CN Tower. Non stop action, proximity to tons of restaurants, right beside the lake, right in the heart of the city.

And yet, it was time for a change because it also meant small spaces, bad traffic and big crowds. And I’m ready for a change. I don’t love my job like I once did. I love quiet things and heritage arts and beautiful yarn. I love the idea of cottage industry, indie business and striking out on your own. It’s a complete 180 for me.

Welcome to Chateau Blue Brick, (all photos are from the realtor listing, not our decor because of course I’m planning to have a Pinterst-worthy home… hopefully? Again… plans.) which we’re closing on in exactly 2 weeks. It’s in Burlington, about an hour from Toronto in good traffic (good traffic? What’s that?). I’m in love.

The Blue Brick will have a basement all to itself where it can stretch out, make a mess, and then be invisible when we are done for the day. We will no longer live in the studio.

I will have a craft room where my sewing machine, weaving loom and spinning wheel will always be available to me. Tito will have one as well, so painting, sculpting and drawing now has a quiet, dedicated space.

It’s time for a kitchen that is actually food-safe, all the time. I love to bake, and I love fresh bread and fruit and sweet things. Our kitchen will never again have to double as our studio.

The garage will likely never contain an actual vehicle. Tito has plans for a woodworking space, and I dream of being able to start up my pottery again (yarn bowls!!).

There is a backyard. To a city gal, the idea of a dedicated, private piece of actual land, with trees and seating seems like a crazy dream. It’s a decent size, with a big patio and a gazebo that we plan to put hammocks in. There will be barbecues and reading and napping.

Toronto is beautiful. It’s crazy, it’s crowded, it’s full of stimulation and the exchanging of ideas. It’s full of culture and energy and I love every gritty inch of it. But it’s time for change, it’s time for space, and it’s time for The Blue Brick to have room to grow again. While there may initially be some culture shock, we’re totally excited for the new adventure!

First of all – thank you to everyone who came out to support us at Festival Twist! We had a fabulous time, and can’t wait for our next show – the Kitchener Waterloo Knitters Fair – hope to see you there!

Now, onto more yarn’y things :) The Blue Brick is planning to bring back worsted – but I’m trying to narrow down in what yardage. It seems to me that one gradient over 200 yards is not a lot, and if you wanted to do a 2-skein cowl or scarf then your gradient would have to mirror (which is possible totally cool). My thought is this: Is anyone interested in oversized worsted skeins? Say 350-400 yards? If 200 yards would sell around $32/skein, then an oversized skein would likely be around $48.

This would open up a few possibilities; shrugs, cowls, worsted size scarves and shawls etc. It would be far too much yardage for things like hats though. I could offer three sizes in worsted: 200 yards, 200 yard twins (mirrored skeins for mittens etc.) and oversized skeins, but that might get to be a bit of a pain for us. Because our yarn is ombré and not variegated, it’s important to be able to hit that sweet spot for yardage, to minimize waste yarn and max out your possibilities, but that’s just me.

Thoughts? Leave me a note in the comments and let me know how you’d like your worsted!

 

Is available! In our store, and on Ravelry! Lovely and textured, baby-soft in our Niagara MCN and easier than it looks once you get used to those cables. Please note that it’s only charted at the moment, though I am working on fixing that. Enjoy!