on finch

This week we highlighted our little fingering weight Finch, the penultimate spotlight of our Core Wool 2018 ebook. This soft, wispy bird is made for colorwork. In addition, its four plies make for a smooth yarn that does well in plain stockinette and in tiny textures, as we've showcased below.

new this week

We still can't get over Turlough in Dianna's autumn-themed colorway, featuring Honey (background) with Gingerbread and Nightshade for contrasts. The Latvian braid is such fun to work.

And here is Drumlin in all its stained-glass glory: The Egret background with bright River and tomato-red Poppy motifs create such a pleasing sight. When you make yours, turn it inside out. We did…and it looks as stunning in reverse.

Turlough's cool, dark winter theme: Deep black Crow as the canvas for shimmery Egret and Glacier motifs.

left to right: Turlough (autumn colorway), Drumlin, and Turlough (winter colorway) by Dianna Walla

cool colorwork

We made a 3-piece sock collection way back in spring of 2013, and this pair, Harbor Bar by Cookie A, is so interesting as she took a simple colorwork motif and built in repeats of the pattern with the floats on the outside, so that it shows off how cool the colorwork looks when you turn it inside out (like we said, try it on your Drumlin!). Shown here in Twig (background) with Peacock and Egret contrasts.

Leila used some sweet Latvian weaving motifs in her Nakti pullover, published in our Arctic collection in fall 2017. The colorwork is given some extra depth with the use of our heathered shades: This piece is shown in Sabine (MC) and Audouin (CC).

Melissa LaBarre's Alba hat, from our Glen collection in 2016, combines bold, simple, stranded colorwork with skinny stripes to great effect. We love the subtlety of Apricot, Egret, and Iceland together, with the Apricot balanced at either end of the hat.

left to right: Harbor Bar by Cookie A, Nakti by Leila Raabe, Alba by Melissa LaBarre

quince faves

From our second Scarves, etc collection in 2013, Iszara was the first ever design that Melanie Berg did for us, and a sweet collaboration was born. This one, shown in Kittywake and Carrie's Yellow, has a bold graphic in partial stripe form, executed with intarsia.

Published in March 2012, Hannah Fettig's Wispy cardi, from her book Knitbot Essentials, was a huge hit. Lightweight with an interesting construction—a sideways knit shrug, seamed then picked up around for the collar trim, and finally partially bound off and continued just in the back body—and worked on relatively large needles for fingering weight, it's no surprise. Shown here in Glacier.

When this cowl was published in our very first Scarves, etc collection in 2012, Rayures by Amy Miller was so popular that the 7 colors used in this piece are etched into the memories of those who did the shipping for Quince that winter: Egret, Clay, Bird's Egg, Kumlien's Gull, Petal, Chanterelle, Frost. A simple, striped tube cowl is such a comfort in knitting and wearing.

 

left to right: Iszara by Melanie Berg, Wispy by Hannah Fettig, Rayures by Amy Miller

beat the chill

Published in February 2014, Jerusha's obsession with cables was given an outlet in Morganeve's Mitts, shown here in Sedum. Finch's stitch definition makes such sculptural elements pop, and in such a lightweight yarn, all the denseness in the triple braided diamonds still looks sweet and delicate.

Bristol Ivy's Sedge mitts, shown here in Kumlien's Gull and Boreal, are so decadent, with extra long cuffs, elegant colorwork motifs that mirror each other, and dipped ends at the ribbing. These were published in our Weekend collection in fall 2016.

Olga Buraya-Kefelian's Circles + Dots collection, published in spring 2013, was all about playing around with eyelets big and small, and her Flotilla mitts, shown here in Kumlien's Gull, feature a subtle pattern of two different sized eyelets on a stockinette canvas. The effect is of a distressed, well-loved pair of hand warmers that get thrown on for all manner of creative pursuits.

left to right: Morganeve's Mitts by Jerusha Robinson, Sedge by Bristol Ivy, Flotilla by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

Finch is as versatile as its big sister, four-ply worsted weight Lark, and its tiny stitches make it an irresistible choice for crafting beautiful things. Want more? Check out all of our Finch patterns here.

Next week, our final installment of our Core Wool focus is our 100% wool, 100% American-made Puffin. This final look at the yarns that started it all is about process, and the love of craft. Purchase the ebook now, and in addition to Turlough and Drumlin (plus the six patterns from our earlier focus on Lark, Chickadee, and Osprey) you'll be the first to receive the ebook installment with the final pattern to be published next week. Sign up for our e-letter for first announcements.