Hello!
I have a new Club Yumi kit available in the shop today: The Tagetes Shawlette!
This is the third and final installment in this year's Loving Local trio of kits. (Find out about the other 2 kits in this series HERE & HERE.) This kit makes me so ridiculously happy both because of the beautiful yarn that I was able to design with and because the design itself came out far better than I had envisioned originally.
Tagetes is named for the beautiful hand-dyed yarn from Biota Yarns that is included with this kit. Kelly dyed a local 100% Targhee wool with Marigolds that she harvested from her property and I based the shawl's patterning off of leaf and flower motifs because of this.
Lace design is not a knitting language that I am as fluent in as others, but I had a vision of where I wanted this design to go and, thankfully, it was what the yarn wanted to be as well! Because of this there was a lot of back & forth with the pattern design as things progressed, but it was all worth it in the end. (And I am pleased to tell you that the yarn is soft & squishy, but also very vigorous as I had to rip back one section in particular about 80 times during the design process.)
Biota yarns = local fauna + local flora. They feature local fleeces, pasture raised on small farms, processed by local fiber businesses dedicated to making quality yarns for fiber artists. I could think of no better name for the shawl than the true (read: scientific) name for marigolds: Tagetes.
Tagetes begins with a tutorial for an easier I-Cord Tab/Cast-On and grows through 3 ever-increasing leaf/petal patterns overlaid on a simple mesh background. The edges are stabilized through an I-Cord edging that is slightly different from the usual. This slight change creates an edge where the joins on both sides fall to the back of the work so the front remains mirrored. It's finished with a simple picot BO and an optional button closure (A Katrinkles' Stitchable Bamboo Leaf Button is included with the kit).
One of my favorite parts of this shawl is the button that is small enough to stay hidden when not in use, but is also the perfect size to hold the shawl closed just by slipping it through one of the holes in the mesh. I stitched mine with a basic cream-colored sewing thread, but you could get creative with embroidery floss in any color that suits your fancy!
Each kit includes:
1 - 400 yd skein of Biota Yarns' Rural in Naturally Dyed Marigold (100% targhee wool raised in South Dakota, fingering weight)
1 Printed Copy of the Tagetes Knitting Pattern
1 Digital Copy of the Tagetes Knitting Pattern
1 Katrinkles Stitchable Bamboo Leaf Button
I hope that you're all having a wonderful first week of the month & that you're getting everything set for your Fall crafting. If you're inspired to make your own Tagetes Shawlette, you can get your kit in the Yumi Yarns Shop for only $30 while supplies last!
Happy crafting,
Shaina ^_^
PS: If you love the pattern, but don't want to purchase a kit please sign up for my e-mails so that I can notify you when the individual pattern is released on November 1, 2017.
Pssst... The Tagetes Shawlette kits will definitely qualify you for the...
Loving Local Craft-a-Long!
In the vein of sharing the Fibershed movement with others, I'm running a Loving Local Craft-a-Long in the Yumi Yarnies Ravelry group and on Instagram. It's running from now through October 31, 2017 (11:59 PM, CST) & is very easy to participate in:
1.) Craft an item using a fiber or yarn that has been produced within 150 miles of where you live.
2.) Post a picture either to the Ravelry group or to Instagram (or both!) using the hashtags #LovingLocalYarn & #YumiYarnsCaL (please use both) so that I can find your entries. Make sure to mention where the fiber/yarn came from & that it is local to you.
3) (Optional) Get a Bonus Entry by making something from a Yumi Yarns pattern.
You don't even have to make one of my patterns to participate. Simply make something with a yarn or fiber that you've sourced locally & share it with the world. (You do get a bonus entry if you use one of my patterns, but it isn't required.) This means that spinners can spin up a locally sourced fleece or braid of fiber & crocheters, knitters & weavers can work their magic with a local yarn. Please make sure that 100% of the materials used are locally sourced (from within 150 of your home) and that you mention the producer in your entry. (Hooks, needles, looms, etc. are exempt from the local sourcing rule, but if you have them, by all means, put them to good use!)
I will randomly draw a winner & 3 runners-up from all entries on Nov 1, 2017 & will notify them by November 7th.
The Winner will receive 1 Club Yumi Kit of their choosing (either existing or future)
Runners-up will each receive 1 Yumi Yarns Pattern of their choosing