Cricket is Here and We ♥ It!

Cricket is here from Anzula!

The blend of Merino/Cashmere/Nylon gives this hand-dyed DK beauty the softest, plushest feel and the enchanting color palette makes colorwork a great choice.

We fell in love with this sproingy soft DK weight yarn from Anzula after seeing Olgajazzy's Fractals hat pattern.

We have always loved the insane brights from Anzula. Olga uses them to their magical max by mixing these neon shades with delicate neutrals in this new hat pattern!

We ♥ this soft yarn so hard.

Parallel Perkins Cove Sweaters

It feels like summer already with 80 degree days in Denver. Amber and I are ready for it, though, with our brand new Perkins Cove sweaters. This pattern was recently released in the Sparrow Sans collection from Quince to promote their 100% linen yarn, Sparrow. Every pattern in this collection is so dreamy and we want to knit them all and frolic on the beach in our sophisticated linen wardrobe. Each pattern is shown in the undyed color of Sparrow - Sans. Amber and I both fell in love with everything about these patterns and had to make our sweaters in the same natural linen color. In order to change it up so we didn't have the exact same sweater, we knit the garment in two different yarns.

Jaime's Sparrow Perkins Cove 

Pattern: Perkins Cove by Pam Allen
Yarn: Sparrow in Sans, 5 skeins
Size made: 31 1/4"
Alterations: I had gauge issues with this so I made the smallest size and also cut out 12 stitches from the lower body by only casting on 4 armhole stitches on each side

 

I chose to use Sparrow for my Perkins Cove. This Italian-made, super-fine linen yarn is softer than you might expect for 100% linen. I don't often knit with linen and I had a hard time getting the proper gauge for this pattern. The sweater is knit top-down and I almost finished the body of the sweater before I realized my size 34" was going to be way too big. I ripped the whole thing out and started over. Even on much smaller needles, I could only get 19 stitches to 4" instead of the recommended 22. I did the math and decided to knit the smallest size. This worked great and when I came to the armholes I wanted to shave another couple inches off so I only cast on 4 stitches instead of 12 on each side for the armhole. The linen yarn does grow as you work with it so aggressively blocking your gauge swatch is a good way to test what your gauge will be in a finished garment.

I love knitting and wearing summer sweaters. The linen is naturally wicking and anti-bacterial and the open stitch pattern means I'll never get too hot wearing this even on the hottest summer day. The yarn drapes beautifully for this loose top. I can't wait to start the Saco Stripes next - a cute, striped tank from the Sparrow Sans collection!

Amber's Breeze Perkin's Cove 

 -amber

Pattern: Perkin's Cove by Pam Allen
Yarn: Anzula Breeze in color Clay- just 1 skein!
Size made: 34"
Alterations: short sleeves instead of long

I was smitten with this summery tee as soon as I saw the pattern. I love the natural color of the linen yarn and the elongated stitch stripe pattern. I didn't want to make the same exact tee as Jaime. When she cast on in Sans, I decided to see what other of our pretty yarns would work up similarly. I thought, what a great way to see the different fabric you would get from different yarns. I settled on Anzula Breeze, a beautiful silk linen lace weight in the hand-dyed color Clay, a bone color with subtle lavender undertones.

Anzula Breeze has a crazy amount of yardage - 755 yards in a single, adorable yarn cake. It took less than one ball for me to finish my short sleeved Perkin's Tee! What?! Check out how much I had left over in the photo below. There was certainly enough left for me to make the sleeves longer, but I liked the look of more of a T-shirt, so I cast off with about 20 grams left from my single skein of Breeze. Awesome sauce!

The silk/linen blend gives my Breeze tee a more drapey hand than the 100% linen of the Sparrow, which has a crisp look and feel. Either would be perfect to create a dreamy summer garment!

Fancy Tiger's Week of Wonder!

Oh boy, do we have a very special week planned for you. You might consider bringing a tent and camping out in front of the shop this week so you can join us for all of them. We are not exaggerating when we say that. Three MAJOR fun events are happening in the next few days at Fancy Tiger and we can't wait to see you there. All of these events are free and open to the public.

Thread Theory Meet n' Greet and Trunk Show

Tuesday, April 22nd, 7 - 9pm

Thread Theory are the duo of Matthew and Morgan Meredith from British Columbia, Canada and they design classic men's sewing patterns. Matthew and Morgan are on a US tour this month and we are thrilled to be a part of their tour! Thread Theory will be bringing sewn samples of their designs to view and patterns will be available for purchase. Come meet the makers, hang out and have some fun!

April Rhodes Meet n' Greet and Trunk Show
Thursday, April 24th, 6 - 8pm

We ♥ April Rhodes and are so excited she will be coming to Denver! Ms. Rhodes' designs include the very popular Staple Dress, Date Night Dress, and Riding Peplum! We love them all. April will be bringing sewn samples of her patterns and we will have plenty of her patterns available for purchase. Stop by to meet this sweet, dynamic, young pattern designer in person at Fancy Tiger Crafts.

Anzula Trunk Show

Friday, April 25th, 3 - 6pm 

Sabrina and the ladies of Anzula will be stopping by Fancy Tiger Crafts to sell you their yarn! They will have their full line of luscious yarns which feature unique blends of fibers like camel, silk, cashmere, linen and merino, all hand-dyed in small batches by their expert team in Fresno, CA. One-off skeins, knit samples, and hundreds of unique yarns mean you won't want to miss this event!
Imbibe some yarn this Friday happy hour. :)

We will see you this week to soak up all the inspiration from these crafty folks from around the world!

Magical Sparkly Nebula Yarn is here from Anzula!

All our sparkly dreams have come true!! Anzula's newest yarn, Nebula, is a fingering weight sock yarn in hand-dyed merino with nylon sparkle-to-the-max.

For our Nebula color palette we've chosen deep, moody hues. We love the way the flecks of sparkle catch the light and send it twinkling into your eyes. They are sure to create a mystical and mysterious handknit!

We can't wait to see what you conjure with these lovelies!

A Tale of Two Summery Xia Sweaters

 -jaime

Athena is one of those customers who is always inspiring us with her projects. She picks out amazing patterns and then comes in a few weeks later to show us her new sweater, shawl or leggings that she just finished. When she picked out some Breeze yarn in Butter I immediately asked her what she was going to knit with it. As soon as she showed me the pattern Xia by Kessa Tay Anlin, I knew I had to make one too. I am really into our summery yarns and I love knitting sweaters so much, there is no reason I can't knit and wear sweaters all summer long.

Xia is Chinese for "summer" so it really is the perfect summer top. The simple lace pattern creates a chevron pattern down the middle of the sweater on the front and back. The neck and arms are finished with a simple crocheted border - the scallops on the arms make for a feminine touch. This sweater knit up quick. Athena whipped this out in just a couple of weeks, but mine took a bit longer at a month. I am super happy with the fit and look of this sweater and am excited to wear it all summer long!

Athena's Xia is knit with one skein of Anzula Breeze. Breeze is a 65% Linen, 35% Silk lace weight yarn. Because of the fine weight of the yarn, Athena's sweater is a lighter, lacier weight fabric than mine. It is beautiful! She also made the crochet flower accessory--an optional part of the Xia sweater pattern--to wear in her hair.

I choose to knit my Xia in the Anzula Oasis - a dk weight yarn that is 70% silk and 30% camel. I used two skeins in Canary. The camel adds a little more memory and depth to the silk. I changed up the pattern a bit and chose to knit the bottom in 1x1 ribbing instead of garter stitch. I wanted a stretchier bottom band and this was a simple alteration to make to the pattern.

Now Athena and I have gorgeous matching summery buttery yellow sweaters to wear!

♥ Alchemy Silken Straw & Anzula Breeze ♥

Two new yarns are here and, by golly, they are pretty dreamy if we do say so ourselves.

We've been pining after Alchemy's pretty "yarns for transformation" for a while and are delighted to now stock Silken Straw! Alchemy's yarns are hand-dyed in hues that are bright and rich and deep and just irresistible. Silken Straw has a crisp hand that softens with knitting, leaving a shiny, drapey 100% silk fabric that is like nothing else. Cue hot yarn photos...

Breeze, our newest yarn from one of our favorite hand-dyers, Anzula, is a light and tweedy linen/silk lace. It has 755 yards of awesome-ness in one pretty yarn cake--enough to make almost any shawl or even a cardigan like the Whispy!

...and now more hot yarn photos...we just couldn't stop...

We can't wait to see what you make with these beauties!

Sebastian Yarn is Here from Anzula!

We fell hard for this yarn when Anzula was here for their trunk show.

Sebastian is a fingering weight blend of superwash Merino and Seacell fiber. A cellulose fiber derived from seaweed, the Seacell lends the yarn a beautiful sheen and drape, plus contains nutrients and vitamin E thought to benefit the skin! Sounds pretty wild, but what we know for sure--Sebastian feels like pure luxury!

The colors are all kettle dyed in small batches in Anzula's Fresno studio. We love the tonal solids and perfectly chosen hues.

I couldn't resist Sebastian and have just about finished my Maenad shawl in the soft grey-brown colors Clay and Chipmunk. I'm loving working with this yarn, it knits up beautifully!

Happy knitting!