A new kit and yarn at Loop!
This week we are launching a new kit! The Floral KOKON Blouse designed by Teti Lutsak of Nutsknitwear is a stunning blouse designed especially for the beautiful and cosy hand-dyed chunky mohair from KOKON yarns.
We fell in love with this gorgeous sweater as soon as we caught a glimpse of it. The design is a collaboration between two talented women, Teti Lutsak and Michelle Du Plessis of KOKON Yarns. Teti and Michelle were kind enough to give us a little glimpse into what inspires and nurtures their creative passions.
About Teti
After spending nearly a decade studying biology, Teti found her creative escape in knitting. Inspired by nature, flowers,leaves and textures, her biology background is still very apparent in her designs.
“I love warm muted colours and rustic textures. I find special pleasure in designing colourwork and all my designs have to be approved by our ginger cat Katzie.”
Teti comes from a long line of creative female influences in her family. Both her grandmothers were embroiderers and seamstresses. Her mother, a doctor, found her creative outlet in knitting. In her native country of Ukraine, knitting patterns were only available in foreign magazines, which were difficult to access so every knitter had to be creative.
Having never followed patterns, Teti quickly learned to master her knitting skills and finds her academic background has helped her in writing easy to follow patterns. Teti says becoming a full time knitwear designer still sometimes feels like a dream but she absolutely loves it.
“When Michelle approached me with an offer to design something in Chunky Mohair, I was excited and terrified to work with such an unusual yarn. Little did I know how gorgeous the yarn would be and how light and luxurious it would feel in a garment. This design does justice to this gorgeous yarn, with a simple floral colourwork pattern running along the yoke and upper body and elegant balloon sleeves, both highlighting the fluffy airy fabric it creates. The name “Kokon” in many Slavic languages means “cocoon”, and so this design is a beautiful floral cocoon, in which you’d want to hide from the outside world.”
The KOKON Floral Blouse Kit in Copper with Madder colourway
There are so many beautiful colour combinations to try with this design. We have two colour choices (copper with madder and *Leaf with Avo) kitted up for you with all the yarn you’ll need to make this cosy and beautiful blouse. The kit does not include the pattern but you can easily purchase it through Teti’s ravelry page
*a quick note about the Leaf/Avo kit. This colourway has not arrived yet but will be with us very soon so don’t worry if it shows as out of stock. You can always sign up for a stock notification through email or just keep checking back.
If you’d rather pick your colours yourself, we have many more beautiful colours to play with. We’ve put together a few more ideas for you below.
Top row left to right; rust with rose gold, moon with night, smoke with star Bottom row left to right; star with copper, oxidised with clay, leaf with copper
The hand-dyed chunky mohair is a pleasure to knit with as it’s super soft and the fabric grows quite quickly with 6mm needles. As the Floral Blouse is knit seamlessly it also means you can try it on as you go and customise the length. Have fun choosing your colours or go with the kit, either way you will have a gorgeous and cosy “cocoon” to to wrap yourself in.
You can find more of Teti’s beautiful work on Ravelry and Instagram as well as her website nutsknitwear.com. She has also given us a little gift!
“Treat yourself to 15% discount on all of my patterns on Ravelry with a code Tetisnews2020 till the end of this year, take good care of yourself and your families, stay safe and healthy ♥ “
Michelle Du Plessis is the multi talented woman behind KOKON yarn. Born in South Africa, starting KOKON was a way for her to express her love of textiles and craft, find and outlet for her creativity and to celebrate her heritage and history.
“Kokon is an outlet for my creativity but also a place where I can vent my ideas about design, colour, texture and yarn. I have always been intrigued by the emotive power of colour. What it makes you feel and think when you look at it . Colour is poetry.“
A love of craft and handiwork was always present in Michelle’s home growing up. Her father loved working with wood when he wasn’t busy being a doctor and her mother handmade all of her and her sisters clothes when they were young.
After completing her studies in textile design in Cape Town, Michelle spent time travelling and living between the Netherlands and South Africa. She has worked as a pattern designer, fashion stylist , product developer and fashion designer!
Since starting her own business, Michelle has become passionate about bringing us unique, beautiful yarns that have been ethically produced with consideration and respect for people and the environment.
As part of her mission to support South African small businesses and create jobs, KOKON yarn is hand dyed in South Africa with Oeko tex approved azo free dyes and is air dried and twisted by hand.
We are so thrilled and honoured to have Michelle’s beautiful KOKON chunky mohair as well as her slubby mohair in the mini skeins at Loop. The colour palette is so gorgeous with a range of sophisticated, soft and muted colours. We love everything about it!
The cosy chunky mohair is the perfect pairing for the Floral KOKON Blouse . A beautiful collaboration and we can’t wait to start seeing some of your colour combinations!
Loop News and Recent Arrivals
We have some lovely new things in the shop we want to tell you about and also some very important news about our opening weekend on the 11th through the 13th of December at the end of this post. We have also included a link to our last holiday posting dates. Please see the website for more details on this.
Wire Birdcage Tea light Holder
For holiday decorations or any occasion, we have some beautiful new birdcage wire tea light holders in two sizes. They are absolutely charming and can hold a tea light candle as well as a battery operated light either sitting on a surface or strung up with beautiful ribbon. Evidently you loved these as much as we do and the first stock we had has sold out! Not to worry though, we will have more in stock next week.
We have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of some of the amazing limited edition box sets of Temaricious Thread. The 32 bundle box is here and it’s so pretty! They are available in a set of bright as well as more muted tones. What could be better than a beautiful box wrapped up with ribbons! We are also expecting the 100 thread set any day now.
Evolution is a new book by Susan Crawford in which Susan explores her own evolution after a double mastectomy as a result of breast cancer and also turning 50. These powerful images are modelled by Susan without prosthesis to hopefully normalise an often hidden result of surgery. There are thirteen contemporary, highly-wearable, Fair Isle or lace designs for women featuring design and pattern elements from The Vintage Shetland Project but with a modern fit and contemporary styling making them perfect for your every day wardrobe.
SHOP OPEN WEEKEND
From Friday December 11th-Sunday the 13th our London shop will be open to visitors for three days this Holiday Season. From 11am-5pm each day. We will have further updates about future shop opening dates in the new year.
Visiting Loop: There is no need to book but we ask that you kindly try and stay no longer than 15-20 minutes to allow all customers to be able to come into the shop again. To help with time when you visit, please explore our website and you are more than welcome to contact us through phone or email to gather things together for you, place a ‘click and collect’ order, or ask us for any help you may need beforehand. If you are picking up an online order there is no need to queue.
Social Distancing: When queuing outside please try and stay 2 metres apart as well as doing this inside the shop. No one will be allowed in without wearing a face mask properly. This means that it covers your nose as well as your mouth. This is for everyone’s safety. If we remind you to stand further apart or anything else please do not take it personally, we have everyone’s best interest at heart and after 8 months of the pandemic we think everyone knows the drill.
Cleaning: There is hand sanitiser when you first enter the shop which we ask you to use. We will be practicing frequent sanitising of all surfaces and card terminals, door handles, baskets and our perspex till screen throughout the day
Cashless Transactions: We are taking cashless payments only (Debit or Credit card or ApplePay).
We know some of you might be disappointed that we have not opened as normal but we feel that this is the best thing to do for now for both our staff and customers. Each person and business has to navigate things in their own way and this is what we are comfortable with.
Our online shop is always open as normal and we are gathering + wrapping up your parcels and sending them out very quickly with our great team.
Posting Dates: We now have dates listed as recommended by Royal Mail for last posting dates for Christmas. Click here for last posting dates
We have to add though that the earlier you order the better as we find, both within the UK and overseas, parcels are taking longer to reach their destinations these days.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
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