Amber's Olive-tastic Waterlily

Summer is for knitting cute tees!

Amber's Waterlily

Pattern: Waterlily by Meghan Fernandez for Pom Pom Magazine Issue 8
Yarn: 4 skeins Tern by Quince and Co in color Seaweed
Size Made: 36
Alterations: Lengthened the body by 2"

I just finished knitting Waterlily by Meghan Fernandez, a summery knit tee pattern from the cover of the spring issue of Pom Pom Quarterly.

I couldn't resist the simple shape and the pretty lace yoke. The pattern called for a silk/wool fingering weight yarn. I've been hankering to try Quince & Co's Tern, and I knew it was perfect for this pattern. A blend of US raised wool and silk, Tern comes in Quince's classic, garment friendly palette. I chose the muted olive Seaweed colorway for my Waterlily.

I made a few tiny tweaks to the pattern--I knit the body a few inches longer than the suggested length.

I also switched to a much smaller needle when knitting the collar across the back. The first time I worked the back collar edging it was really loose and wavy, so I ripped back and went down several needle sizes to make it cinch in more neatly.

I love how breathable and soft the Tern yarn is! This is my first summer sweater made from wool--I worried the wool/silk blend might be a bit warm for summer, but really it is so comfortable and cool! I love summer knit tees!

Summer is for Linen: Jaime's new Kestrel Tank

I was pretty excited when Quince and Co. announced Kestrel, their newest yarn line. Kestrel is a 100% fine Italian linen made up in a ribbon construction. The best part? It is an aran weight linen with a gauge of 14 - 16 stitches to 4 inches. In plain speak, that means it knits up real fast. This little tank took me a mere 4 days to whip up! Welcome to summer knitting, friends.

Pattern: Togue Pond by Pam Allen
Yarn: Kestrel, 6 skeins in Urchin
Size Made: 33"
Alterations: I picked up a fewer number of stitches on both the neck and arms due to my large 1x1 ribbing gauge.

I love this tank. It was a simple knit, worked bottom up in the round. Short row shaping on the bottom adds a subtle hi-lo hem. The arm shaping adds a bit of interest to the otherwise plain body. The arms and neck are picked up and ribbing added to finish them. In short, this pattern had just enough going on to keep my interest, but it was still simple enough to be the perfect beach knitting project.

The ribbon construction of the Kestrel yarn makes for a cushy fabric on size 10 needles. The weight of the linen drapes beautifully for a simple tank like this. The nice people over at Quince have several other patterns for this unique summer yarn. We can't wait to see what you make.

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!

Yoked KAL: Success!

Early this year we announced our Second Annual Knit-Along: Yoked. We invited all of you lovely knitters out there to join us for an 11 week journey of sweater making! Our photo shoot was Tuesday and the results are blowing our minds! You all sure know how to make a beautiful sweater.

Check out the results:

Alsn

Pattern: Knitbot Birdie Fair Isle Cardigan

Yarn Used and Color: Quince and Co. Owl in Acacia, Tawny, Canyon, Barred

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? Learning from other people's frustrations, and seeing the colors build into a complete piece. Also, hanging out with awesome knitters! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A llamacorn. A magiical llama with a crystal horn!

 Amber

Pattern: Kaye's Cardigan, but used chart from Tiny Owl Knits' Meow Mitts

Yarn Used and Color: Quince and Co. Owl in Bog & then I hand-dyed 42 colors for my seven cat faces.

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? I really loved dyeing the colors for my cat color work. Megan helped me & now I want to dye yarn all the time! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? Well, an adorable cat of course! 

Bob Bosscher

Pattern: Basic Round- Yoke Unisex Pullover

Yarn Used and Color: Quince and Co. Owl in Hemlock

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? It was my first KAL, so getting to meet all of the fancy friends! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? Like a hibernating black bear!

Caitlin R.

Pattern: Kaye's Cardigan

Yarn Used and Color: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter- Snowbound and Quince and Co. Owl in Cerulean and Canyon

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? How quick the sweater knit up! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A teddy bear!

Jaime

Pattern: Kaye's Cardigan

Yarn Used and Color: Quince and Co. in Acacia, Cinnamon and Huckleberry

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? Lice Stitch. Also these colors are the colors that regulars at craft night (and many fellow KALers) voted as my "least likely" to knit so I took it as a challenge to step outside my box. I love the result! I love having the community of knitters to challenge me like that. 

Reverse twinsies! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A cheetah because I knit it in 13 days! (& it has spots)

Jessica Jeanne

Pattern: Kaye's Cardigan

Yarn Used and Color: Quince and Co. in Cinnamon, Acacia and Huckleberry

What was your favorite thing about this KAL?  The week before casting on for this, I had just finished making a Breckon Cardigan, which is fingering weight. It was so gratifying to see this knit up so fast! The KALers are so motivating and fun to knit with- this project was such a breeze =)

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? Uh, a fox duh! Cause mostly that cinnamon giving me such a pretty coat.

Kiyomi

Pattern: Willard Fair Isle Pullover

Yarn Used and Color: Madeline Tosh Pashmina in Antler & Edison Bulb

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? I restarted this sweater about 5 times & at one point I pulled out six inches. Needless to say this sweater & I were not friends. My favorite part was watching everyone else's sweaters form, which kicked me into gear so I was able to finish on time! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? Obviously a Narwhal, duh.

Megan

Pattern: Basic Round- Yoke Unisex Pullover

Yarn Used and Color: Sleep Season- Night Light

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? Knitting it out of my own yarn! Thanks to the encouragement of Alsn! 

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A snow fox.

Miranda's "Almost- Sweater for Justin"

Pattern: Basic Round- Yoke Unisex Pullover

Yarn Used and Color:  Quince and Co. Owl 13 (!) skeins of Huckleberry

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? I never would have gotten even this far without friendly peer pressure.

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? This much sweater would look perfect on a centaur.

Pam

Pattern: Birdie Fair Isle Cardigan 

Yarn Used and Color: Lett Lopi in Spring Green Heather, Sun Yellow, White and Grey

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? Using the happy green Lopi.

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A panda.

Sunne Meyer

Pattern: Basic Round- Yoke Unisex Pullover

Yarn Used and Color: O Wool Legacy (from the old days)

What was your favorite thing about this KAL? Using stash yarn in a color I love.

What animal does this new sweater make you feel like? A green robin.

Also pictured is Lily who made her own sweater with us, Cabeltta in Cascade 220!

Just look at these smiles!! Way to go everyone, such a fun Knit-a-long... 2014 will bring you more opportunities to knit-a-long with us, stay tuned and happy knitting!

Osprey: Aran Alert!

We have been on the hunt to bring you another true aran weight yarn and Osprey by Quince & Co couldn't be a more perfect fit! Osprey is a luscious 3 ply aran weight yarn spun from fluffy wool fleece. Its relaxed twist makes for beautiful stitch definition especially with textured pieces, like cables.   

If you are looking for inspiration on what to knit with Osprey, Knitbot Essentials is full of charming patterns. There is talk of the Trail Jacket being made soon here at Fancy Tiger! 

We currently stock 16 colors in the shop, come by and give them a squeeze yourself! 

Caitlin's Miette Cardigan

--caitlin

When I started to work at Fancy Tiger over a year ago I was an experienced seamstress, but I knew I needed to jump on the knitting bandwagon.  I had mastered my knits and purls with many scarves and cowls, but hadn't successfully completed a written pattern until becoming a Tigress.  Feeling inspired by our lovely customers and my co-workers, I picked up some yarn and needles and haven't looked back! 

This is just my second knit sweater and I couldn't be happier with the end product.  It's the Miette Cardigan by Andi Satterlund.  This is a really easy pattern to follow and would be a great project for beginners looking to take the next step to garments.  What's more is it's free so you can save your monies for more yarn!  

I knit this up in just under a month with the Quince & Co. Owl yarn in the color Rosebay.  Owl is an over-dyed alpaca/wool blend that is really delightful to work with.  I'm so happy with how this color shows off the lace detailing!

The pattern is written as a cute cropped cardigan, but I wanted it a bit longer so I repeated the lace repeat 3 times and added a bit of waist shaping.  Now it's the perfect addition to my wardrobe!

Watch out, world!  I think I'm a knitter.

Yoked: Our Second Annual Sweater Knit-A-Long!

It's that time of year again, when we all just want to stay inside, cozy up to Fancy Tiger's warm fire and knit ourselves a new sweater. Well you're in luck! Our second Annual Sweater Knit-a-Long is here. Hannah Fettig's new book Knitbot Yoked contains a collection of four round yoke sweater patterns worked from the top down. These patterns are a great introduction to Fair Isle knitting. Hannah Fettig provides extremely knowledgeable tips and techniques especially if this is your first time trying Fair Isle knitting. The yarn recommended for these sweaters is Quince and Co. Owl. We stock all colors of Owl so make sure to get in your special orders (see details below) to make certain we have your future sweater in stock!

Here is how the KAL works:

• Pick your colors and purchase your yarn, book, and needles from us by January 7th and receive 15% off.
• Fancy Tiger will be taking special orders for Owl from Quince and Co. Place your order by December 16th to make sure we have your colors in stock and reserved for you in time for our cast on!
• Cast on! We will be casting on for our sweaters on January 7th at Craft Night for any local folks who can join.
• Knit! We'll be knitting our sweaters together every Tuesday night for the duration of the KAL.
• Finish! We hope to finish our sweaters by March 11th. Bring your sweater to craft night on the 11th (even if its not done) for a photoshoot and a high five!
• If you don't live in Denver you can still join in the fun. Use the hashtag #fancykal on all your photos so we can follow along with your progress virtually. You can order your yarn from us and receive your discount with a quick email of your order, phone number + mailing address to info@fancytigercrafts.com. 

Of Course here at Fancy Tiger we have already started dreaming up our colors!

Kayes Cardigan   |    Barred,  Cinnamon, Acacia

 Basic Round-Yoke Unisex Pullover     |     Huckleberry

Birdie Fair Isle Cardigan  (with additional colorwork options in foxes or bunnies)    |     Hemlock, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Tawny (for a cute fox version!)

Willard Fair Isle Pullover     |     Cerulean & Chamomile

We are so excited to kick off 2014 with a new Fancy Tiger Crafts Knit- a-long! We can't wait to see what you will make!