Getting to know Catherine from The Small Bird Workshop
Norbouillet Project Gallery
It's that time of year again! Our 2020 batch of Norbouillet fleece is already at the mill, ready to be custom-spun into this year's batch of our locally-sourced, 100% Canadian yarns.
This year as we were setting up pre-orders we took some time to look through all the beautiful projects that our customers have made with these yarns over the past few years, and we were inspired to share a few of our favourites here. Thank you so much to everyone who gave us permission to share your photos!
Spring Collection 2020
I've been working on recipes for some new colours to add to our yarn lines over the winter months, many of them inspired by thoughts of spring. We had intended to launch these at Knit City this weekend, but since that's been postponed I decided to take a moment to introduce you to them here on our blog instead!
Please note: quantities of these colours are limited right now, as we don't currently have access to our dye studio due to the COVID-19 situation. We will be dyeing more as soon as we are able to get back to work.
Patterns for Presto!
Our bulky-weight Presto yarn is a great choice for a quick and gratifying fall project, and we're really excited to announce the publication of four new patterns using this yarn.
We sent a skein of Presto each to three different indie designers at the beginning of the summer, and they've all come up with great ways to use this soft and squishy yarn. In fact, we were so inspired by their patterns that Elizabeth decided to add a design of her own to the collection!
Travel Report: Nova Scotia
It seems a little crazy that it was almost a month ago now that my boyfriend and I set out for our summer vacation! We left by train to Halifax at the end of June and spent a very full ten days visiting friends and family, and exploring the province in our trusty little Prius borrowed from Carshare Atlantic. I'm not the best travel photographer, as my tendency is to leave the camera behind in favour of just relaxing and enjoying the moment, but I did manage to remember to snap a few photos here and there!
Developing Gradient Sets - Part 1
I've been spending some time this spring working on developing new gradient sets in our Crescendo yarn for a couple of different projects, and I thought it would be fun (and hopefully interesting!) to document the process here.
Learning to Spin
Dye Experiments: New Arietta Colours
Unity: An interactive fibre art installation
This past weekend I had the pleasure of witnessing (and participating in) a public art installation involving - you guessed it - a ton of yarn!
UNITY is an interactive art installation which creates a physical representation of that community, documenting our similarities, differences, and ultimate interconnectedness.
Setting up the Sweet Paprika studio
As some of you know, Debbie and I had to move studios rather unexpectedly last August. Although it was very stressful at the time, Debbie managed to find us another studio within a week, and the new space is wonderful!
