Bikini Bodies at Salty Beaches (new limited edition colorways)!

We have wanted to do something with our creativity to both make something beautiful and to financially support organizations we love. So we created two new limited edition colorways, Salty Beach and Bikini Body!

For Salty Beach we chose soothing colors and a snarky name, because we all need a little bit of both. As individuals, many of us are pouring so much of ourselves into making the world a better place. We know that Black people have been doing this work for their whole lives and want to do what we can to support their efforts. When you pre-order this limited edition colorway we will donate 25% of retail orders and 10% of wholesale orders to Black Lives Matter.

You can learn more about the work BLM does and make a direct donation here and you can pre-order Salty Beach through June 17, 2020 here.

Charlie is knitting Kira Cove by Tamy Gore using 1 skein of Salty Beach and 1 skein of Black in Dreamy, (photos coming soon)! You can see photos of Tamy’s design and find the pattern on Ravelry here.

Bikini Body was created with the idea that, as we come up on the warm summer months, no one should be allowed to police your body, judge what you wear, or make you feel badly about the way you look or what you wear. We have a saying in our household, “We don't comment on other people's bodies.” Your body is your business, whether you flaunt it or not!

At Anzula we admire and honor all bodies. Bodies of every race, age, ability, and gender expression are beautiful. This week we chose BEAM to receive donations for our limited edition colorway, 10% of wholesale pre-orders will be donated to BEAM to aid them in furthering their mission "to remove the barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing."

If you'd like to learn more or make a donation directly to BEAM you can do so here and you can pre-order Bikini Body through June 24, 2020 here.

Becca is knitting Charlize by Vanessa Smith using Bikini Body in Dreamy and it’s seriously a knock out! You can get get the pattern on Ravelry here.

anzula bikini body charlize vanessa smith

Which is your favorite? What will you make with your limited edition skeins? Tell me all about it in the comments!

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Meet the Yarn: Gerty Part 2

anzula yarn merino targhee sock knit crochet

Gerty debuted in 2017 and is a unique yarn in the Anzula lineup.

It's a 3-ply fingering weight yarn of 100% Targhee wool. Each 100g skein is 390 yards (357 meters).

It's bouncy, it's soft, it's my absolute favourite. (I know I say that about every yarn, it's true!)

Jill wrote about her experiences knitting Gerty in her Meet the Yarn post. Please go check it out!

I knit two simple quick swatches to show how it looks in stockinette and garter stitch. But I also knit more. A few years ago, I knit a pair of gloves in a simple variation on ribbing stitch. They’re gorgeous, comfortable, and still look good. More on the still looking good later. I agree with Jill’s assessment that this yarn loves defined stitches and due to the tight twist, it'll try to resist stitches that rely on open spaces.

That assessment is also true of crochet. While I loved knitting Gerty, I absolutely adored crocheting it. The nature of the crochet stitches I tried begs me to pull out a stitch dictionary and work through more variations.

What makes this yarn special? It's a combination of factors—Gerty is grown, milled, and dyed here in the US. The 3-ply structure of the wool makes it different, unique, and wonderful. Why would you want to choose it for your next project? I can confirm it wears well. I haven't yet knit a pair of socks which are my ultimate yarn stress test, but my gloves still look amazing. I gave them a quick bath before my swatch photo session but that's all I've done for them. They’d been out doing yardwork and were covered in dirt—it’s a challenge to see the wear!

There are currently 17 patterns that call for Gerty listed on Ravelry, including a crochet design!

Want some Anzula of your own? Throughout these strange new times, Kalliope has opened the online store to everyone. You can find it at anzula.myshopify.com.

All swatches in this post are shown in a colourway very similar to Mariana with 3.75mm (US 5) needles and (F/US) hook, any perceived differences in shade are due to the photographer.

Penny Shima Glanz spends her days spinning yarn and code into memorable projects. Small businesses rely on her for smart technology decisions. Designers rely on her to sample, test, and edit their hand-knit and crochet patterns. She loves muddy trail runs, fosters kittens, and lives in Westchester, NY with her husband and cat (or two). www.pennyshima.com

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Friendship of the Traveling Sweater

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you know that we had a team photo shoot a couple weeks ago. We had received an amazing sweater in the mail a few days before.

A little backstory: At the TNNA Summer Show in June we gave one of our favorite sample knitters a few skeins of Dottie in Cardamom. We had some ideas, but weren’t certain what we wanted her to knit just yet. Then a few weeks ago, we came across Glacier Tunic by Joji Locatelli. Of course, Elke knit it beautifully. Let’s just admire the evenness of her stitches for just a moment…

It seems like such a simple pattern, but there are details in the shaping and textures, that together, make it so much more. As soon as I opened the package, I had to try it on!

I loved it! It was so comfortable, and even though I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror yet, everyone else told me how cute it was, so I felt cute, because I believe my friends. (For some of us, it takes a lot of practice to believe your friends when they tell you you’re cute. I had a moment within a moment realizing how far my self-esteem has grown).

And then I said, “you’re next!” to Becca, and she tried it on. It looked so good on her, different because she has a different shape than me, and so cute!

And then Gabby, who is my favorite model. She’s so fun to take pictures with.

Up next, Carmel, our lead dyer! She wears a smaller size than the rest of us, so we styled her with a belt and leggings. It’s remarkable how accessories change a garment!