Author Archives: sylvantiger

Yarndale 2015

Sylvan Tiger Yarn stall at Yarndale 2015

Sylvan Tiger Yarn stall at Yarndale 2015

Last weekend was the third Yarndale wool festival in Skipton, and the second time I’ve had a stall.  It was a fantastic, if very busy, weekend.  I only managed to take a few quick camera phone pictures of my own stall. This year the new banner was hoisted for the first time and attracted lots of oohs and aahs from visitors.  All needle felted by hand, no fingers were harmed in the process of making the banner!

The lace weight side of the stall

The lace weight side of the stall

The beautiful Bonny by Tin Can Knits was on duty at the entrance to the stall, enticing the customers in!  Saturday was an incredibly busy day, with lots of dedicated knitters and industry people visiting.  I only got to leave the stall for quick loo breaks and a bite to eat for lunch.  It was lovely to meet so many customers in person for the first time, especially Marie.  The very lovely Karie Westermann stopped by and Amanda Collins aka OwlPrintPanda was a veritable whirlwind through the stall!

4ply, DK and aran

4ply, DK and aran

I launched two new bases at the show this year, Pip DK (100% British BFL) pictured above on the top shelf at the right hand side and Sethera Aran (100% British BFL), bottom shelf on the right. These pictures are before the yarn was ravished by the hoards of yarn fans, hungry for a squish of lovely yarns!

Fibre and the sample washing line

Fibre and the sample washing line

The washing line of samples received lots of lovely comments from customers to the stall, especially the Anisoptera shawl, on the right above, from the Dragonfly collection by Gwen Wagner-Adair.  Speaking of samples and finished items, it was lovely to stand at the entrance to the stall watching the crowds going past and spotting all the wonderful hand knitted garments being proudly worn by the visitors.

Sunday was a little quieter and I managed to get away from the stall for a little while to have a look around and make some modest purchases for myself.  Though I didn’t manage to take any photos from elsewhere around the show, have a look on Twitter for #yarndale to get a flavour of the event.

Thanks to all the organisers and volunteers for another fantastic show, looking forward to next year already!  (After a bit of rest and putting up of the feet for a while!!)  The Etsy shop is back open again now and I’ll be restocking slowly over the next few weeks.

Summer Flies Collection

I may have been quiet here on the blog, but the dye pots have been very busy!  I recently worked with Leeds-based knitwear designer and workshop tutor Gwen Wagner-Adair (Petitchoufleur Knits) on her Summer Flies – A Dragonfly Study in Lace pattern collection.  I dyed a selection of yarn which was used by Gwen in the four patterns that make up the collection.

Summer Flies yarn collection

From left to right we have Dragonfly Pink, Azure Damsel, Anisoptera, Demoiselle (all BFL 4ply), Damsel (55% BFL, 45% Silk lace) and Amethyst (BFL DK).

Here are the four patterns which Gwen has designed:

Summerflies cover

The yarn is all available as usual at Sylvan Tiger Yarn on Etsy and the pattern collection is available as either a digital download or hardcopy on Ravelry.  I’ll also have individual patterns available at Yarndale in Skipton 26-27 September.

Gwen and I are hosting a little KAL (knit-a-long) for the pattern collection, Gwen says “If you’ve not done a KAL before, in a knit-a-long you get the benefit of a wide community all knitting the same patterns (or from the same type of pattern, or collection of patterns, as in this case). You can have discussions in the forum here, post questions and progress photos and you get the benefit of community support and encouragement. Katie and I will be haunting the forum too to answer any questions, cheer you on, and generally enjoy seeing your projects unfold.

There’s nothing we like better than to see the awesome, unique creations people make from our patterns and wool! And we’re really excited about this collaborative collection.”

Here’s how it works:

  • Get yourself a copy of the Summer Flies pattern collection (ebook pre-order available now – available to order in print from 1st July)
  • Get yourself some lovely Sylvan Tiger Yarn in dragonfly (or other) colours – go wild 🙂
  • Knit, chat and share photos on the forum to your heart’s content (you can participate as much or as little as you want)…
  • And, since you’re all so lovely, we’re running a little promotion. Katie and I both have booths at Yarndale this September in Skipton. If you turn up wearing your finished item, you’ll get a discount on some of our other lovelies. (And probably a lot of ooh’s and aah’s.)

And, for a chance at a special little extra something, upload your finished item as a project on Ravelry with a link back in the KAL forum. Gwen and I will pick two random winners from the KAL to receive either a skein of Sylvan Tiger Yarn hand-dyed wool or one of Gwen’s patterns.

I’ve nearly finished my Anisoptera shawl, just the cast off to do then blocking so I’ll share that here soon.  Pop back here soon and I’ll hopefully have an interview with Gwen exploring her design inspiration and process.

Pattern images all copyright Joelle Trousdale