Pattern Spotlight: Afternoon Tea by Curious Handmade

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Revisiting one of her most popular patterns, designer Helen Stewart from Curious Handmade has just released a special edition of her Afternoon Tea shawlette. Originally published in Knitty in 2012, the vintage-inspired pattern has garnered almost 1000 projects on Ravelry, introduced many new knitters to the wonders of lace, and hit a special chord with brides who wanted it to be a part of their special day. When Helen decided to revisit Afternoon Tea, she added a new, full-sized shawl version to the pattern and rewrote the instructions in the special percentage checklist style that has become so popular with her knitters and fans. We’re excited that she chose Anzula Luxury Yarns Squishy for her new samples. They turned out absolutely beautiful.

“I completely fell in love with Squishy, and I’m going to be looking for every opportunity to use this yarn in the near future. It’s an absolute pleasure on the needles. The softness, sheen, and most of all the wonderful colours have really stolen my heart. I knit the new small sample myself, in Teal, which may be my favourite colour, ever (if I had to pick one!) It used one full skein pretty exactly, which was wonderful.”

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“The new larger sample, in the Candied Apple colourway, was knit by my mum. I was so grateful for her help, as she’s an absolutely beautiful knitter and I was a bit overloaded with work at the time, but I have to say it was hard to hand over those two skeins! I really wanted to just keep knitting with Squishy for as long as I could!”

“I just got the shade card in the mail the other day with all of the colors, and it absolutely made my heart sing. I just can’t say enough about it. It’s my new love affair!”

The special edition of the pattern, with the new size and checklist instructions, is available to buy now on Ravelry. For anyone who would like to try the free version of the pattern, it’s still available on Knitty and always will be!

If you’d like to learn more about Helen and her work, she’s HellsBells on Ravelry, and the host of the Curious Handmade podcast and blog.

New Yarns in Action

At TNNA in Columbus a couple of weeks ago we released five new colorways and four new yarns. Seeing a yarn in the skein can be very different from seeing it knit up, so let's take a look today at a few examples of our new yarns in action. Each of our new yarns is a 50/50 blend of Superwash Merino and Tussah Silk. Silken and Luster are fingering weight yarns, Croquet is a DK weight, and It Could Be Worsted is a worsted weight yarn. 

If you haven't checked out Knitty First Fall yet (complete with celebrity cover model!), what are you waiting for? If you have, you've seen the incredible Nelina Cardigan by Corrina Ferguson. This cardigan was designed to accentuate the hand-dyed nature of our yarns, and it was created in Croquet and shown in Iris.

If you want to try out Croquet but would rather start out with a quicker, one-skein project, try Katherine Vaughan's Captain Florence fingerless gloves. They split at the wrist and I've spent most of the time since I started planning this blog post imagining wearing them and making a mental list of who should get these for holiday gifts this year. This pair is shown in Persimmon.

Speaking of ideal holiday gifts, Katherine also created the gansey-inspired Here and There and Everywhere cowl in It Could Be Worsted. Two skeins and you are in squishy, sophisticated business. This one is shown in Blueberry. 

To try out one of the lighter-weight yarns we are offering in this blend, consider Hilary Smith Callis' Pennae Shawl. Created in Silken, you can work it in two or three colors and it starts with just one stitch. It's shown below in Peacock and Irene. (Read what she has to say about it on her blog here.) 

Now that you've seen the yarn knit up here, be sure to look for it at your LYS and get stitching! We can't wait to see what you come up with so join the Anzula group on Ravelry and let us know what you're making with these new yarns. 

Pattern Spotlight: Blithe Dress or Tank

When I think summer and knitting, I immediately think of Breeze. Our laceweight linen and silk blend is perfect for delicate and airy pieces like the new garment from Laurinda Reddig that is featured in the new issue of Interweave Crochet. 

© Harper Point Photography, courtesy Interweave Crochet.

The Blithe Dress or Tank can be modified to the length you'd like and takes just one or two balls of Breeze. Laurinda blended several different lace patterns in creating this top-down, seamless garment. It can be styled quite elegantly as shown on the left above, or in a little more fun and casual way as shown on the right. 

You can find the summer issue of Interweave Crochet at your LYS or bookseller on June 16 (in just one week!) or if you can't wait, you can download it now. You can also find Breeze at your LYS or favorite online yarn shop. If your LYS doesn't carry it, ask them - they can place a special order with us.