A dreamy collaboration
Happy New Year from all of us at Loop and welcome back! We are starting the new year off with a stunning collaboration between two of our favourite yarns, Madelinetosh Merino Light and Shibui Knits Silk Cloud. At Loop, we’ve been mad for MadelineTosh for many years now. We have over 145 colours in the Merino Light base alone!
The Shibui Silk Cloud is one of the most beautiful and luminous silk/mohair blends we’ve come across so having these two come together to create a new palette of 6 beautiful, rich shades of vibrant colour is a dream!
Inspired by shades of the desert, the colours are all hand-dyed and exclusively available on the Shibui Silk Cloud base and MadelineTosh Merino Light single ply. These are a limited edition.
To celebrate this collaboration Madeline Tosh and Shibui Knits have introduced three new patterns featuring designs by E. Elliott Knits, JoJo Tricot & TL Yarn Crafts. The Rapport wrap, the Florence Shawl and the Wildbird Shawl are all available on Ravelry.
We’ve been busy swatching to see how these colours work together and what sort of fabrics you can create. The possibilities are endless, but the Shibui Silk Cloud’s silkiness and the Merino Light’s softness make an incredibly drapey and silky garment. Perfect for a shawl or wrap.
The dye is absorbed differently on the two bases, so you end up with a slightly marled effect when used together. The Silk Cloud’s rich colour intensity complements the variegated hand-dyed colour of the Merino light so well.
Pattern Ideas
Of course, you can substitute any of your favourite patterns to make use of this beautiful colour and fibre combination. We think the Birds of a Feather shawl by Andrea Mowry would be stunning, using the Silk Cloud for the Mohair component and the Merino Light for the 4ply.
The Elton Cardigan by Joji Locatelli is another favourite for a light, beautiful cardigan with it’s relaxed and boxy fit that works with everything.
The Morning Cardigan by Neringa Ruke is another dreamy cropped cardigan with so many possibilities for using colour. The cardigan is knit with two strands of mohair lace weight yarn but could easily be adapted to use a 4ply held together with one strand of lace weight mohair. The Merino light and Shibui would create a sumptuous and soft fabric.
If you’re looking for a quick accessory, the September Hat by PetiteKnit is a stylish and straightforward warm hat inspired by Stockholm fashion. The hat is knit in one strand of 4ply wool held together with two strands of a laceweight silk mohair yarn. You’ll need just one skein of MadelineTosh Merino light and two skeins of Shibui Silk cloud to complete the hat for a soft and cosy hat using the super squishy brioche knitting technique.
MadelineTosh is celebrating the launch of their collaboration with Shibui Knits by giving away prizes throughout early 2021! To enter you can share your works-in-progress on social media by using #madelinetoshshibuiknits or #toshandshibui
New Arrivals
We have some lovely new books that have arrived recently. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we all have to tell our story. An eloquent blend of history and memoir, by community textile artist and textile curator Clare Hunter
The Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches Including Crewel is by Marion Nichols, one of the most accomplished and creative crewel and embroidery experts. Marion gives us precise explanations and clear illustrations on how to work 178 different stitches and their variations. This book is a masterpiece on embroidery stitches and we’re thrilled to have this at Loop.
From Yoko Hatta, the founder and driving force behind the Kazekobo Studio in Tokyo, we have Japanese Knitting Stitches. Yoko designed our very popular Honeyblossom Cardigan a few years ago. Yoko’s work in knitwear design spans more than thirty years, and knitters love her modern-yet-timeless, fun-yet-classy styles. This book presents her 200 favourite Kazekobo stitch patterns.
We have a great selection of more Japanese knitting and crochet books and some new ones on the way. Don’t be intimidated as they are full of inspiration and patterns are beautifully photographed and charted by using standardised symbols. Charted symbols are also clearly illustrated with step by step instructions on how to work the stitches, so you don’t need to know any Japanese to work the patterns.
A lovely new bag design for Loop! A small bag with a cross body strap makes it easy to get around town on your bike or walking. Perfect for small projects or a few essentials with an easy to open snap. Made of 100% cotton and silkscreened with the Loop signature logo. The perfect project bag and with a snap!
On Sale!
Illimani Cadena is a super bulky and exquisitely soft alpaca and merino blend yarn. You are saving over £7 per skein! Illimani Cadena yarn is used for the Alvaro Scarf, a free pattern on the Loop blog! There are lots more ideas on Ravelry as well for this yarn.
Another great deal is Brooklyn Tweed Dapple saving up to £4.50 per skein. Brooklyn Tweed’s Dapple is their first yarn using plant fibres, first tonally-dyed yarn, and their first yarn that will benefit Black American farmers in perpetuity. This dimensional yarn is a blend of 60% Merino wool and 40% organic cotton, perfect for getting ahead on spring knits. The Ginn Tee is the perfect in-between seasons sweater designed specifically for this yarn.
Next week we have a great new workshop to tell you about and a very exciting giveaway!
Leave a Reply