cold comfort knits
  • HOME
    • About
    • Contact
  • FAQs
  • TUTORIAL(S)
  • BLOG
  • SHOP

RAIN MUST FALL

3/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Into each life some rain must fall
But too much is fallin’ in mine
Into each heart some tears must fall
But some day the sun will shine
--Ella Fitzgerald and The Inkspots

​
Rain Must Fall was inspired the challenges of 2020, and the hope we all share for better days in 2021. Until then, if a little too much rain has been falling in your own life, I invite you to cast on this relaxing and intuitive shawl, and to remember that into each heart some tears must fall, but some day the sun WILL shine :)

cold comfort x the loving path

Today's the day! My latest pattern, Rain Must Fall, is now available in the cold comfort knits online shop, and in my Ravelry shop. Woot woot! And to make life a little less 'rainy', from March 10th to 14th, receive 20% OFF the regular price in both my shops--no coupon code needed :) 
Picture
Get Pattern from cold comfort knits

I first met Debbie, of The Loving Path Fibre Arts, at her April 6th trunk show---in 2019!!! That's Debbie on the left, and Tara (friend and Spun Fibre Arts staffer) on the right. PS: IRL they are  definitely closer in height...the camera must have been at an odd angle...oops, my bad.
Picture
The Loving Path Trunk Show at Spun Fibre Arts, April 6, 2019

I brought home several yarn babies that day in Debbie's (new at that time) Nova Fingering base. And then completely failed to make the YARN > WIP > FO conversion. FOR TWO YEARS :0

But today I am redeemed! After several failed attempts to create a yarn-worthy design, I believe I've ultimately prevailed with Rain Must Fall, a highly knittable, highly wearable two-skein shawl that is as intuitive to knit as it is easy to wrap up in. 

Picture
Get Pattern on Ravelry

DID SOMEONE SAY KITS?

To celebrate the release of Rain Must Fall, Debbie has graciously dyed up some beautiful kits to make yarn shopping a breeze. They will be available in two colour options; the original combo, "Simon + Tea Season", or the equally beautiful "Courage + Smoke Screen".

Each kit will contain 2 x 420-yard skeins of The Loving Path Fibre Arts Nova Fingering (100% non-superwash Merino wool), plus the Rain Must Fall FREE PDF PATTERN! The kits will be available in The Loving Path Etsy Shop on March 10/21 at 10am EST, at exactly the same time the pattern goes live.

​There will only be a limited number of kits and free patterns available, so do NOT pass go, do NOT stop for a cup of coffee--those yarn babies NEED you!
Get THE Kit on ETSY
Picture
The Loving Path Nova Organic Fingering in "Simon" + "Tea Season"

Picture
The Loving Path Nova Organic Fingering in "Smokescreen" + "Courage"

Lastly, I must admit that Rain Must Fall resonates with me on a personal level. If you read my last post, you know that, at the beginning of last year, Ravelry blindsided small designers like myself with changes to their algorithm, and that the fallout in terms of exposure and sales has been extraordinarily shitty.

Even without a global pandemic, the virtual collapse of my main sales platform would have been a kick in the teeth, but add in a virulent micro-organism hell-bent on destroying the human race and, yeah, I'd say it's felt a little "rainy" around here lately.

If the Rain Must Fall Shawl speaks to you, too, I'd be ever so grateful for your support @coldcomfortknits (comments, bookmarks, re-posts etc.) and/or with a purchase from one of my pattern shops, either on Ravelry, or here on cold comfort knits. Flock members unite! 

Sincerely, 
Alexis 
0 Comments

TOUGH FLUFF

2/26/2021

0 Comments

 

It's a friday Fluff-fest y'all!

Friday night. End of February. Pandemic life. Ravelry in tatters. Sounds like a good time to publish a new pattern, right? Well, it couldn't get worse.
Honestly, I love this hat. I've knit seven of them, so far. It lends itself to nearly limitless fluffy yarn and finished size combinations. AND I expect it to tank hard on Ravelry. I hope to be proved wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

Why? Because everything I designed last year tanked on Ravelry. Something fundamentally changed on the backend of their platform, resulting in a small business nightmare for not-Andrea-Mowry and not-Stephen-West indie designers, like myself. It's been rough. And Ravelry completely fails to acknowledge it. I tried to regain some creative control by upgrading this site--to the tune of several hundred dollars. To date, I've sold one pattern. Let that sink in.

In a year with no markets (no hat sales), and no job (as a non-essential contractor at a hospital I've been 'laid off' since March 2020), the virtual collapse of Ravelry was both unexpected and devastating. Why couldn't they just have left well enough alone? 
Hmmm. I'm on a rant. 

Bottom line: Sometimes you just have to be tough, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when it feels like your world is crumbling. Especially when it feels like your world is crumbling. I started to design Tough Fluff more than a year ago, before the pandemic was even a thing, back when I thought Ravelry was just being "glitchy". I kept waiting for the perfect time to release it. But now, with winter almost over, Ravelry and IG becoming increasingly useless, and COVID fatigue feeling painfully REAL, I figured What have I got to lose?

​You can't move forward if you remain anchored in the past.

And so, in the spirit of moving forward, and of staying tough (and fun and fluffy!) no matter what, I give you Tough Fluff. I hope you like it. I know I do :)
0 Comments

T E N A C I T Y

7/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm not going to lie. This pattern almost didn't get published. This "simple" lace wrap almost ended up down the garbage chute...more than once. But thanks to the friendship of fellow knitters, and a whole lot of TENACITY, I'm proud to announce that, as of today, the pattern is alive and well in my Ravlery shop. Woohoo!

I learned so much--ahem, the hard way--while designing and knitting this epic wrap. Clean lines, for instance, may look simple and professional, but achieving "simplicity" can require technical adjustments, and careful attention to detail. 
The good news? I worked out all the kinks so you don't have to. Oh hello photo tutorial!
TENACITY features clean and tidy slipped stitch edges with neat, almost "raw" looking, cast-on and bind-off ends. The pattern contains specific instructions for a modified WS method of alternating hand-dyed skeins, to preserve the pretty edges, and step by step directions for binding off  so that the "raw" ends match.
Picture
You'll need 4 skeins of light fingering weight yarn. I used the utterly sublime FINO by Manos del Uruguay, a blend of 70% wool & 30% silk. 

​If substituting a different colour—or a different yarn—it’s best to use solids or semi-solids with very little variation in colour. Why? TENACITY is based on a vertical pattern. Yarns with colour variation tend to pool horizontally, which will compete with, or even obscure, the overall pattern.

Running a little low in the tenacity department? That’s okay! I’ve included info on how to adjust the stitch count for a smaller project. However, dimensions and yardage for these changes are not included because I, too, have a tenacity limit ;) 
Picture

so go, be tenacious!

get the pattern in my Ravlery shop before 11:59pm July 8th and save 40%!
GET PATTERN
0 Comments

stash busting, stress busting

6/18/2020

0 Comments

 
The last few months have been challenging, to say the least.  I moved six weeks ago--in the middle of the pandemic--and have been living amongst boxes and masked contractors ever since. My stash is in complete disarray; every time I think I'm getting it organized I have to pack it up and shift it to another room.

Normally I spend the summer months creating designs for Fall & Winter, but the move and the lockdown have made this process a challenge at best, and an anxiety-provoking, creativity-sapping, mind-melting chore at worst.
Picture
But yesterday, while elbow deep in fingering weight stash, I was reminded of a cheery little pattern called The Aldershot Hat. Last September, it was the #1 pattern on Ravelry. Today, I'll be casting one on. This hat is fun, fast, easy to modify, and a terrific stash-buster; exactly the kind of knit I need right now!
Picture
If it's exactly the kind of knit YOU need right now, you're in luck! The Aldershot Hat is available in my Ravelry shop at 30% off from now until Sunday, June 21st at 11:59 p.m. EST. Happy stash diving my knitty friends! 
GET IT NOW
0 Comments

the halton spa cloth trio

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
"It never ceases to amaze me how a few basic stitches and a humble pair of knitting needles can transform a ball of "string" into hours and hours of solace, and a handmade item to use, give, or gift, when your'e done. It's practical magic, of that I am sure." --Alexis 

this free pattern is inside 20 care packages heading to OTMH hospital staff
it's also on Ravelry and IG for every other knitter in need of a wee break
Picture
"Normally" I teach the hospital staff at OTMH to knit twice a week as part of a wellness initiative to encourage stress management and work/life balance. For obvious reasons (ahem, pandemic), the program is currently on hold. But we knitters know one thing for sure: Knitting for therapy is never on hold! So when the wellness director asked if I could develop some knitting "care packages" to be distributed to stressed out staff, my answer was HELL YES! 

Crunch time. The request came just 24 hours before retail shops were mandated to close. But the knitting gods smiled on us and I was able to snag 20 pairs of needles from my wholesaler, while the gals at my LYS hooked me up with 20 cheerful skeins of Cascade Ultra Pima. Thanks Spun! ​
Picture

I thought "spa cloths" would be an ideal self-care project. Nice to knit now. Nice to use later. So I set out to design a few patterns that could be made from just one ball of Ultra Pima, and appeal to different skill levels. 

wash your worries away

Picture
Nailed it! The Halton Spa Cloth Trio. Three simple cotton cloths to wash your worries away. If you can cast on, knit, and bind off, you can make the garter stitch spa cloth. If you can purl, you can knit all three!

1 ball of luxurious Ultra Pima + 1 pair of 4mm (US 6) knitting needles will yield three spa cloths ~ 6.75" (17 cm) square. I allowed extra yarn for anyone knitting wildly off gauge but, personally, I had enough yarn to knit a fourth spa cloth, and still had yarn to spare! 

stay home. protect our healthcare workers.

​The Halton Spa Cloth Trio is a free pattern on Ravlery, and on Instagram @coldcomfortknits. And if you don't have cotton yarn in your stash, local yarn shops are still shipping. So de-stash or order online, get the free pattern online, and lockdown like a BOSS. Protect our healthcare workers. Stay home and knit!
Knit Kit Care Packages on their way to OTMH. 
Picture
0 Comments

still knitting...always knitting

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
A four-month digital absence is a loooong time by modern standards, but just a blink of the eye when you're in the midst of a global pandemic. As I write this, we are a planet on lockdown, sheltering-in-place to slow the spread of a virus that didn't even exist when I stopped blogging last November. Today, the world looks dramatically different than it did four and half months ago. But, for better or worse, I'm still knitting. Always knitting. 

When I posted on November 14th I had just published my final pattern of the Fall/Winter 2019 season, The Harbour Hat. Normally, I would have immediately turned to mad market prep, but since I'd already sold my entire inventory of cold comfort hats in September at Burlington MADE, it seems I got the gift of time for the holidays. I had planned to use that time to make decisions about cold comfort knits, and the direction it would take in 2020.

To be honest, I'd been toying with the idea of throwing myself head-long (head-long!) into hat making, and decreasing my focus on other types of design work. My goal had been to create a hat *empire*, albeit a very tiny one. A tricked out online hat shop. A book of cold comfort hat patterns. I really *really* like knitting hats.

But then Shibui Knits invited me to participate in a design collaboration I would have been a fool to pass up, the holidays happened, I resumed teaching at the hospital twice a week, our condo went on the market and, if that weren't enough, I had to have some scary cardiac issues evaluated. Suffice it to say web & blog updates went on the back burner, along with my hat empire.

Days passed. Months passed. And Time sorted things out, like it always does. I completed my collaboration with Shibui Knits, we signed on the townhouse dotted line and got an official moving date, and I began to receive follow-up care with a cardiologist. As March arrived it finally seemed like it was time to start that empire. It was not. 

Two weeks later the world went on lockdown, and our collective physical and financial security became a very sudden, very BIG question mark. Naturally, I now find myself questioning the future of cold comfort knits.

Will the financial impact of the pandemic cause families to turn away from the type of high quality (higher-priced) hand-knits I had hoped to stock in my online shop? Will there be a resurgence of illness when the cold weather arrives and, if so, will that result in the cancellation of Holiday Markets--in other words, if I invest the next 6 months of time & money in knitting sufficient market inventory, as I normally would, will I end up "out in the cold" this coming winter?

And patterns? What about patterns? I've given away thousands of free patterns over the last few years...several hundred as a goodwill gesture when the lockdown started. But Ravelry has tons of free patterns. Many are good. Many are the classic you-get-what-you-pay-for knitting nightmare. Will financial uncertainty cause knitters to take their chances with free patterns, or will they still value the clarity and ease of a $4 pattern from an experienced designer?

In spite of all the uncertainty, it's times like these that remind me how incredibly grateful I am to be a Knitter. I've said before and I'll say it again: Knitting saved my life. Knitting saves my life. Every single day, and now more than ever.

So instead of feeling "stuck" at home, I'm feeling SAFE at home, with a comprehensive set of knitting needles, an inspiring set of stitch dictionaries, and a stash that will outlast the apocalypse.

And that's enough for now. ​
0 Comments

recap

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
At the end of each year I usually enjoy sitting down to do a recap of the year's knitty highlights. Unfortunately, 2019 got away from me and, now that it's April, I'm afraid this little gallery represents that recap in it's entirety. My bad. 

I published 
eight original designs/patterns in 2020, comprised of six hats, one cowl, and one hat + fingerless gloves set, in collaboration with Queen City Yarns. Many of the patterns reached Ravelry's Hot Right Now Top 20 and, most importantly, your knitting needles!

​Thank you SO much to anyone and everyone who purchased a pattern from the cold comfort knits 2019 collection. Your support means the world to me! 

click on any image to be taken to the main pattern page

left to right, top to bottom
The Harbour Hat, The Holloway Hat, The Berryhill Set, The Appleby Hat, The Waterdown Hat, The Aldershot Hat, The Dark Arts Hat, The Dark Arts Cowl

0 Comments

cold comfort knits x shibui knits

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
I can't believe we are already three months into 2020 and I've only published one pattern. One! Thankfully that one was one for the books; a tap from the renowned Shibui Knits is nothing to sneeze at. Although in light of world events I wouldn't recommend sneezing at *anything* right now.
After a disappointing design collaboration with a U.S. yarn shop last October--big on promises, small on follow through--I'd sworn off collaborations entirely. Go ahead, ask anyone who knits with me--or within ten feet of me. I was pretty vocal in my commitment NOT to make more commitments.

But before I could utter my last protestation, my inbox interrupted me (ping!) with an invitation to collaborate with Shibui Knits. On a design of my choosing. On a schedule of my choosing. With a yarn of my choosing. Oh yeah, and they would send me a dozen unique skeins for my swatching pleasure.

After I picked myself up off the floor, I was ALL IN. Backpedaling be damned. 

the gairloch shawl

The Gairloch Shawl combines two of my favourite yarns from Shibui Knits,  Lunar and Silk Cloud. Two lace-weight yarns, held together throughout, for a super-silky, super-fluffy knitting experience. 

Yarns this sublime beg for non-competing simplicity in the design, which is why I chose easy-to-memorize stitch patterns throughout, so the the knitter can relax into every decadent stitch. The finished shape? A winged triangle. Highly wrappable, and highly wearable, because this shawl's destiny is to be worn!

A delicate picot bind off adds the final, feminine touch to this oversize shawl. Dress it down with jeans and a tee shirt, or go all out with a pretty dress and heels. The Gairloch Shawl (literally) has you covered ;)
​From the bottom of my heart, a great big THANK YOU to Shibui Knits for the yarn-spiration to create such a treasured design. Trust me, I'll wear it well! ​
Knit Your Own Gairloch Shawl
0 Comments

the harbour hat

11/14/2019

0 Comments

 
Introducing The Harbour Hat by cold comfort knits (it me, lol).

I knit a lot of hats. A LOT. And I gotta tell ya', this is one of my all-time favourites. The yarn is a treat for the fingers. The ribbed pattern is almost hypnotic. And the finished hat? Well it's just the coziest, suggliest, most wearable hat you ever did knit. You won't want to leave home without it! 
Picture

Fold the brim up ONCE:
​Instant, effortless style.
Picture
Fold the brim up TWICE:
Like wearing a kitten on your head ;)
Picture

NEW PATTERN PROMO
The Harbour Hat is now live on Raverly. Enjoy 25% until 9 pm EST 11/17/19.
Get It Now
0 Comments

the holloway hat

11/7/2019

0 Comments

 
I haven't blogged for a while now, but I swear I have a good excuse.
​The dog ate my computer. 
Picture
Obviously that's a lie; I don't have a dog. Truth is, it's my fault. A little bit Apple's fault. But mostly mine. ​

A couple of months ago, my beloved MacBook gave up the ghost. In an effort to save a bit of yarn money (all money saved is yarn money), I decided to replace it with an iPad. I figured a tablet would be lighter, brighter, and better suited to my nomadic, coffee-house lifestyle.

Wrong.

The tablet was indeed lighter and brighter, but pattern-writing and blogging became incredibly frustrating and circuitous. Many features I use here on the web-based blog platform were absent via the app. Not having a normal keyboard felt like having my fingers removed and sewn on backwards. And, strangely, I just really missed my old friend, Mac.

​I gave it two months--and three patterns!--but, finally, I had to surrender. I'm not calling it a mistake, but a "learning experience". A learning experience that robbed me of a tragic amount of yarn money (loud sobbing here).

Silver lining? I can now write patterns and blog posts with ease. So...without further ado...I give you my latest pattern, The Holloway Hat. And this blog post. BAM. 
Picture
The Holloway Hat is named after two of my favourite far-away Insta-friends. Julie and Jamie are a spirited sister-brother pair who I just know I would pee my pants laughing with if we ever met IRL.

The Holloway Hat is a super-soft, super-light, super-fluffy wonder hat. Two balls of Garnstudio DROPS Air (retails for about $10 CAD) is enough for two hats. Choose a main colour and a contrast colour for the first hat, then reverse them for the second--fraternal hat twins! For the math-challenged among us, that's two hats for $20. You're welcome :)

DROPS Air is what they call a "blow yarn". Instead of spinning the fibres the usual way, baby alpaca and Merino wool are blown in a tube, which makes the yarn itself lighter and airier, and the finished objects made with this type of yarn 30-35% lighter than those made with conventionally spun yarns of the same thickness. BTW, Garnstudio has no clue who I am--I'm not a spokesperson, just a yarn nerd.
Picture
CHART OPTION A
Picture
CHART OPTION B

The Holloway Hat comes in three sizes, with a modified chart option for a less delicate / more solid motif. Plus, when you knit The Holloway Hat, the only thing blown is the yarn--not your budget! #sorrynotsorry
The Holloway Hat  is now available in my Ravelry shop. Enjoy 25% off the regular price until Sunday, November 10th (no promo code needed). Offer expires at 10:00 pm EST. Happy Knitting!
GET PATTERN ON RAVELRY

Once again, I owe a debt of knitty gratitude to my friend Christina of @oneloopcrochet, who is, in my books at least, the second coming of Claudia Schiffer. Thanks for standing in Starbucks and letting me take your picture. Thanks for  ignoring the staring strangers. You da best! ​
0 Comments
<<Previous
    Picture
    I'm Alexis, the knitter/designer behind cold comfort knits. My favourite animal is a sheep (obvi). My primary knitting fuel is coffee. And my inner child is actually more of an inner senior-citizen.
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    December 2016

© COPYRIGHT 2021 cold comfort knits. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • HOME
    • About
    • Contact
  • FAQs
  • TUTORIAL(S)
  • BLOG
  • SHOP