Pacific Northwest

I had fun in the Freia booth at TNNA. New colours will be arriving next week.

The Freia Fibers Spring 2017 collection of ombrés are unified by their namesakes found in nature's grand palette of the Pacific Northwest.

AURORA embodies some of the rich colors found in the Northern Lights. The luminous hues begin with a pale pistachio green that evolves into a brighter seafoam; from there, the yarn shifts into light sky blue and ends with the mystery of midnight.

CHINOOK opens robustly with a deep turquoise that transitions through bronze riverbank shades ending in an earthly terra cotta. The auburn is reminiscent of gorgeous autumn leaves, and the vivid cerulean brings to mind the crystal waters of Lake Tahoe.

COHO is named for the salmon that thrive along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This is a sweetly romantic tint that features warm grey/lavender, silver cloud, and ends in a dreamy pop of peach. This colorway is feminine but muted, and pairs beautifully with our bolder gradations.

The new colours are coming in Shawl Ball.

With so many reasons to love our new Merino Fingering yarn, it's hard to know where to start. First-off, the fiber: this is our first single-ply fingering yarn, and our first yarn in a luscious, lovely 100% merino. With a micron count of 21.5, it has an against-the-skin softness for neckwear. Then there's the feel-good manufacturing: this is a true cruelty-free merino, grown and spun in the United States to our particular specifications. Though exceptional stitch-definition has long been a hallmark of our single-ply yarns, the loftiness of this Merino Fingering is particularly versatile, lending itself to be stitched up in a variety of gauges without losing definition or drape. Voracious Freia fans will be perhaps most excited by the upgraded yardage. These 100 gram "Shawl Balls" measure 430 yards, perfect for single-skein projects.

The shawl patterns aren't on Ravelry yet but should be soon! Hopefully a week and a half.

The Medialuna Shawl takes just a single ball of the Freia shawl ball and 3.75mm needles.

Shifting Sands is also knit on 3.75mm needles with one ball of Shawl Ball.

I couldn't help myself. Sample balls came home from TNNA and I cast on Medialuna this afternoon. We'll be taking this yarn to the Toronto Knitters Frolic and the more samples the better.

I haven't knit with the Shawl Ball before - it's very nice. And tomorrow I get to see how well the yarn rips out. YIKES! The pattern says to roll the ball into two balls. I thought I was being smart working from each end of the ball. All of a sudden it hit me - at the end of the shawl I will be working with the same colour for the main and contrast colours. I need to be working the mauve for the main and the grey colour for the contrast. The main will go from mauve to grey. The contrast will work from grey to peach. That way the colours won't overlap.

Today's public service announcement - the designer asks you to do a step in the pattern for a reason. Don't try to outsmart them.

One good thing - before I rip this out I'm going to try it on a bit bigger needle. The pattern calls for 3.75mm but I think it will work on 4mm. This will make a larger shawl.

I have a feeling I'm going to have knitting nightmares tonight. :(