ModularModular Project Bags Are Here!

Crafty lady and Fancy Tigress, Katy, has been sewing up project bags like nobody's business. We love Katy's modern, geometric and neon-loving style and her bright project bags will keep your knitting, crochet or handsewing projects tidy as can be, safe from kittens and curious babies.

All of us at the shop use ModularModular bags, and we are so excited to carry them in the shop. If you have as many UFOs as me, you might need to pick up a few of them next time you are in. They are guaranteed to keep you and your project cheery until you bind off.

Heirloom Chevron Throw - a new free pattern!

We love Jocelyn Tunney's knitting designs. If you aren't familiar with her, she is the woman behind O-Wool yarns. At The National Needle Arts Association show this past summer, we fell in love with her newest collections of graphic blankets for Manos del Urguay. The colors and designs were irresistible! After the show she approached us about designing a throw pattern in our Heirloom Romney yarn and of course we said yes! Welcome Heirloom Chevron Throw!

Jocelyn was the perfect person to design a throw for our special yarn - she has a modern design sense that speaks to Fancy Tiger's style and she has a love and appreciation for the rustic and sustainable qualities of the yarn. She wanted to do something special for Heirloom and we think she succeeded. Heirloom Chevron Throw uses 6 colors and a series of increasing and decreasing to create a luxurious, color-blocked chevron blanket.

We spent a lot of time developing our fantastic color palette for Heirloom--22 fresh colors that play together so well. This throw allows you to pick the perfect color combo to go with your decor. The bold design of the throw will be an amazing piece in your bedroom or living room. Use the throw to add a pop of color while showing off your crafty skills!

You won't be able to resist cuddling in this thing. Heirloom Chevron Throw is knit in cushy garter stitch so it is reversible and oh-so-squishy! This throw is large at 52" x 74" so 2 people can easily cuddle together under it. It also knits up relatively quick with no purling and on size 10 needles.

When you spend time and money to make an heirloom piece such as this you want to know that your throw will last. Our Heirloom Romney is the perfect yarn for just such a project - the sustainable wool yarn comes from longwool Romney sheep. This wool will hold up to wear over time with little to no piling. If a throw this size doesn't fit into your budget for time or money, the pattern would be easy to cut in half to make a smaller lap sized blanket.

The pattern is graciously available for free download here. Heirloom Chevron Throw kits in this colorway (Summer) as well as three others will be available at the shop and in our Etsy store for your holiday gift giving. We hope you love this blanket as much as we do and can't wait to see your own color combinations. Happy Knitting!

Jaime's Lush Sweater

If you're a regular blog reader, you probably know that Amber and I recently went on a wool-filled trip to Scotland. On the Isle of Skye, we visited Shilasdair yarns where I picked up three skeins of their Luxury dk yarn. This beautiful yarn was naturally dyed with Meadowsweet - a pasture-loving plant that grows everywhere on the island. On our way out of Scotland, we stopped at a local yarn shop in Edinburgh and I picked up a copy of the newly-released book, "Handmade in the UK" by Tin Can Knits. This pattern for the Lush cardigan is one of the many amazing patterns in the book and I knew it would be the perfect project for my special Skye yarn.

Trying to re-create the lush landscape of Skye in Denver Co.

Knitting a project from yarn acquired on a trip is a great way to honor and remember your travels. My new Lush cardigan will remind me of the lush rolling hills of Skye and the great adventures we had there. The color that was dyed from Meadowsweet is the best shade of yellow and is going to be a great addition to my fall wardrobe. The yarn is a blend of wool, angora, camel and silk, so it is super soft, but tight plies mean it should wear well over time.

The Lush cardigan was a quick knit for me. The lace yoke is knit first and then the top and bottom of the cardigan are knit with picked up stitches on the top and bottom band of the yoke. This unusual construction made the cardigan seem to come together super fast. The cardigan features optional waist shaping which I included on my size 33" cardigan. The back of the cardigan is lovely with the leaf lace pattern coming together perfectly in the center back.

I finished my cardigan with metal shield buttons - fitting for a Scottish cardigan. The button band is worked last and you can choose your own button placement and determine the best number of buttons for you. I love my new cardigan - you'll be seeing this one a lot this fall!

We have the Tin Can Knits "Handmade in the UK" book in stock as well as individual patterns for Lush. Unfortunately, you'll have to travel to the Isle of Skye to pick up some Shilasdair yarns. If you can't make the trip, we have plenty of amazing yarns that would be perfect for this cardigan. Anzula Oasis would be the closest in make up as it is a plied camel/silk blend. Madelinetosh Dk and Fibre Co. Acadia would also make lovely Lush cardigans!

Jill Draper's Mohonk and Nimbus Yarns are Here!

We have a bit of a craft crush on Jill Draper. We fell in love with Jill Draper's hand-dyed yarns when we saw our friend, Stephen, knitting a shawl with Nimbus, a lace weight angora silk. Jill's colors are stunning and unusual, and the base yarns she uses are unique. Jill Draper makes her home in upstate New York and mostly dyes on US grown and milled wools.

Nimbus Angora Silk Laceweight

Mohonk is Jill's 2 ply sport weight Cormo wool made from US Cormo wool. It is springy and soft, perfect for sweaters. The colors are almost solid, but with a beautiful gentle color variegation from being dyed in the skein. The wool is minimally processed--you'll find a bit of hay here and there due to the absence of harsh chemicals during the cleansing process at the mill. This also leaves a bit of moisture rich lanolin in the yarn, the better to knit with!

We love these spacial yarns from Jill Draper and hope you do to!

Quince & Co. at Fancy Tiger Crafts

We are thrilled to announce Quince & Co. is now available at Fancy Tiger Crafts! Quince & Co. yarns are sourced and spun in the US out of "territory wool" - a blend of Merino, Rambouillet, and Columbia sheep mostly from Montana and Wyoming. Combine these awesome aspects with spectacular colors, branding and adorable pattern support and you get Quince & Co. yarns! We were delighted to be chosen as one of only 12 LYS (local yarn shops) in the country to carry these special yarns. Also, the price tag is very friendly :)

Chickadee

Chickadee is a 100% wool, plied yarn in sport weight. Chickdee is 181 yards per 50 gram skein and knits at 6 - 6.5 stitches to inch on size US 3 - 5 needles.

Lark

Lark is a basic 100% plied wool yarn in worsted weight with excellent stitch definition. Lark has 134 yards per 50 gram skein and knits at 4 - 4.5 stitches to inch on size US 6 - 8 needles. The perfect sweater yarn!

Puffin

Puffin is a single ply 100% wool yarn in bulky weight. Puffin has 112 yards per 100 gram skein and knits at 2.5 - 3 stitches to inch on size US 10.5 - 13 needles. Perfect for quick and cozy hats, scarves, and cowls!

Owl

Owl is a classic blend of 50% US alpaca with 50% US wool. The natural color is made by blending colored wool and alpaca for a heathered grey yarn that is then over-dyed. This is a light worsted yarn with 120 yards per 50 gram skein. 

Sparrow

Sparrow is the only non-US yarn in the Quince line. It is a luscious 100% organic linen from Belgium. Sparrow is fingering weight yarn and you can find plenty of patterns in the Knitbot Linen book.

Tern

Tern is another fingering weight yarn and is a blend of 75% wool and 25% silk. Tern has 221 yards per 50 gram skein and has a beautiful sheen and drape due to the silk. This would be perfect for shawls and scarves!

We have several pattern books featuring Quince & Co. yarns from super-awesome designers like Knitbot and Gudrun Johnston. Quince also has plenty of patterns available online here. We hope you love these yarns as much as we do!

Yarn Along The Rockies Yarn Crawl!

We are gearing up for 9 days of fun starting this Saturday with the second annual Yarn Along the Rockies! Yarn Along the Rockies runs from September 21st - 29th and includes 23 local yarn shops each with amazing things to giveaway to participants. Here are seven reasons you should come to Fancy Tiger Crafts during the Yarn Along the Rockies!

1) New this year - each shop will be giving away a free blanket square pattern. Collect all 24 patterns-designed by each of the shops and make your own blanket!

Fancy Tiger's YATR Chevron Blanket Square made in our own Heirloom Yarn.

2) Souvenir shop buttons are free, too, at each destination. Pin them to the map on your souvenir tote (available for purchase at most shops) to show your shop-hop spirit! We have Fancy Tiger buttons in so many colors!

3) We are now carrying Quince and Co. yarns (more on that later this week!) and will have a beautiful Quince trunk show of accessories in the shop during the yarn crawl for you to peruse and try on.

4) We will have Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People 5 trunk show in the shop as well! See all the beautiful samples of garments, blankets and accessories for you to check out. We have all colors of Loft and Shelter in stock so you can pick up some new knitting projects.

5) Enter to win one of 5 Grand Prizes! If you go to all 23 participating shops during the yarn crawl, you can drop off your completed passport for a chance to win one of five Grand Prizes! Four of the Grand Prizes are baskets filled to the brim with awesome yarn and goodies donated by vendors and one special prize is this completed handknit afghan.

6) Stop by Fancy Tiger Crafts during the yarn crawl and you can enter to win our shop prize basket. There is no purchase necessary to enter - simply stop by from September 21st - 29th. Even if you can't visit all the yarn crawl shops, you can still have a chance to win lots of awesome goodies!

Fancy Tiger Craft's shop basket could be yours!

7) Our fave local dyer, Sleep Season Goods, has dyed up a very special limited edition colorway for this year's Yarn Along the Rockies. It came out beautifully and will only be available during the yarn crawl while supplies last!

We hope to see you soon! 

Tula Pink's Acacia is here + a new quilt!

We love Tula Pink! Her collections are always filled with awesome imagery in striking colors. Her newest collection for Free Spirit shows her style in its best form to date -- raccoons, arrowheads, and more! We love it!

I wanted to make a quilt from this collection and I wanted something for my queen-sized bed that would go fast. I used the Designer Star Quilt Pattern by May Chappell as my inspiration for this quilt. My finished quilt is 90" x 90" so I cut 11" squares from 1 fat quarter bundle of Acacia. This gave me 4 triangles from each of the 25 prints in the collection.

The background on the front is Kona in Natural. For the back I pieced together my remaining 7" strips and used a cream French General Fleur de Lis print to finish it off.

This quilt was quilted by Jason Spicknall of Secret Stash Quilting here in Denver. I let Jason chose the pattern to quilt with and it is amazing. He quilted a different pattern in the cream vs the print sections of the quilt and used a sunny yellow thread color.

Acacia is now in the shop, so stop by soon to pick some up for your next quilt!

Victorian Goth Ladies Pouf It Up

Yuwa fabrics from Japan makes some of the best prints. Take this off-black print with Victorian ladies on it for instance. I'm not sure what's happening over in Japan, but I like it. I had to make something with this and the Victorian ladies demanded pouf. I decided to go with the tried and true Ysolda Pocket and Ties skirt. This pattern is a free pattern you can download here and was created by Ysolda Teague when she came to visit us a couple of years ago.

The skirt features elastic gathering in the front and back for maximum pouf volume. I went with our cotton/silk in grey for a lining and ties which means I don't need to wear a slip when pairing this skirt with tights in cooler months. The Victorian ladies feel right at home in this skirt and they are lookin' great.

If Victorian goth isn't your style, you may want to try some tiny macaroons, Rococo children, or a 19th century hats and shoe print with acid green polka dots. All of these are now available to spruce up your fall wardrobe! Happy Sewing!

Tule by Leah Duncan

Tule is Leah Duncan's first collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and it is a match made it heaven. Her beautiful color palette is rendered perfectly on Art Gallery's silky soft quilting cotton. We love the combinations of aqua's, oranges, yellows and indigos. Leah's unique art style shines bright in this collection and we already have projects in the works. Caitlin and Jaime are planning on making Desert Arrows, her free quilt pattern you can download here - amazing!

We have some beautiful pieced pillows in the shop now so you can see how nicely these prints play together - thanks Leah!

We can't wait to see what you make!

Pendleton Wool Fabrics now at Fancy Tiger Crafts!

Fancy Tiger Crafts is now carrying Pendleton woolen fabrics! We'll be celebrating tonight from 6-9pm, so please come by and be the first to take a gander at these special 100% American made, historic fabrics. In addition to being the first to get your hands on Pendleton woolen fabric, we have lots of amazing door prizes to give away from the nice folks at Pendleton!

Jaime has designed a bag pattern for the Pendleton blanket-weight fabrics which showcases the woven designs perfectly. Receive a free copy of the pattern with your Pendleton purchase. We will also be debuting Fancy Tiger Crafts's own new line of  leather bag handles and closures, which are used in the Pendleton bag pattern.

Pendleton has been milling beautiful wool fabric in Oregon since 1909. We are proud to bring Pendleton fabrics to Denver so that you can bask in their woolly beauty and sew to your hearts content!

Pendleton's 100% wool shirting fabrics are a lightweight wool that is perfect for blouses, dresses and especially men's shirts.

The heavier weight Pendleton jacquard blanket fabrics are woven so that both sides are different, but equally beautiful. These fabrics are perfect for sewing exquisite coats, bags, blankets, and home goods. Can you imagine a chair covered in these beauties?

We can't wait to see what you create with these special fabrics. Come on in to see and feel them in person!

So Much Fun with Lizzy House

--amber

The adorable and prolific Lizzy House visited us recently and we've never made so many things in a weekend!

Lizzy was at Fancy Tiger teaching two classes--the first, a mini-quilt class where students designed their own little art quilt. Lizzy went over many aspects of color and design and each of the finished quilts were stunning and totally unique.

Jaime took the class and here she is showing off her masterpiece. It turned out very cool!

Lizzy also taught a block printing class, where folks learned to carve their own design into a printing block and then used it to print pattern onto fabric.

The prints turned out awesome!

After teaching these two epic classes, the unstoppable Lizzy was ready to have a non-stop sew-a-thon, especially with the new Nani Iro fabrics we just got in stock, so Jaime and I joined in and made a million new garments.

Here are just a few of our new things...and, yes, they are all made with Nani Iro except for the leggings...

We've already blogged a few of these items, but stay tuned to see the rest up close and in the streets on our bodies! Thanks Lizzy for the good times!