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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 shawlThe 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!
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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! 
NEW PATTERN PROMO
The Harbour Hat is now live on Raverly. Enjoy 25% until 9 pm EST 11/17/19. I haven't blogged for a while now, but I swear I have a good excuse. The dog ate my computer.  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.  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.
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! 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!
I'm so happy to finally be introducing some of Summer 2019’s work into the world...just in time for Fall 2019. It’s the unofficial start of Cozy Season y’all ! These hat patterns were under wraps for too long. Now, it’s time to set them free! Get your needles ready. It’s going to be hat-tastic. the aldershot hatThe Aldershot Hat was the first pattern to be sent into the knitty-sphere this season, and I’m both surprised and delighted to report that it hit #1 on Ravelry’s Hot Right Now Top 20 in under 24 hours. Um, YAY! This stashbusting wonder-hat is fantastic for beginners, and also for seasoned knitters with, ahem, “stash issues”. I’ll just leave it at that.  The Aldershot Hat is super-easy, super-versatile, and super-stylish. Wear it cool and slouchy, or roll up the brim for a cozy fitted beanie—hello warm ears! Directions are included for adjusting the finished size for almost any recipient, which also makes The Aldershot Hat super-giftable. Today is September 25th. In three months you’re going to thank me for this, lol. 
the waterdown hatFuelled by the success of The Aldershot Hat, I thought, “Hey, that was fun......why not do it again?!” So, on Saturday morning I released The Waterdown Hat into the world. And by Sunday morning it had landed—at #1 on the HRN Top 20–where it stayed perched for the better part of the day. 
The Waterdown Hat combines earthy organic wool—just one ball of BC Garn Semilla—with a delicate bird motif. The fit is meant to be relaxed, so it doesn’t squash your hair—hey, I got your back! This hat is sure to please any nature lover. Optional—but totally worth the extra time IMHO—72 size 8/0 seed beads, one for each bird. Because even earthy girls like a little sparkle from time to time. the appleby hatSo, yeah. It was a crazy weekend. And I’ve got my fingers crossed for another full-on hat frenzy this weekend. Tomorrow, I’m launching The Appleby Hat. Man, there sure has been a lot of BUZZ about this one. Get it? Honeycomb pattern? Buzz? (If you don’t like puns you can go ahead and leave now).  Oh good! You’re still here! I knew you’d stay. All the best people like puns; it’s a widely accepted fact. But I digress. The Appleby Hat completes the hat trick, with texture for DAYSSSSSSS. Two styles—fitted beanie or slouchy hat. Two sizes—S/M or M/L. And one ga-ga-ga-gorgeous skein of hand-dyed Merino. I used Cosy Posy Yarn Co. ‘Squish’ and I’m not ashamed to say I’d do it again...and again and again and again! So keep your eyes on IG and/or Ravelry tomorrow morning for all the details, and promo info! The pattern will be live as soon as I am. In other words, after I’m adequately caffeinated.  As always, thanks from the bottom of my little knitty heart for all your love and support. Fibre friends really are the best friends. Happy knitting everyone! Knitting isn't just an art form, it's practical magic! Take the Dark Arts Hat & Cowl, for example. With just a few waves of my pointy knitting wands, an unlikely pair of hand-dyed yarns were transformed into an eye-catching, feather-light set of Spring accessories.  The Dark Arts Set began with two unlikely yarn companions: a charcoal Merino single with neon speckles, and a rainbow-bright skein of mohair/silk. Two yarns that had been hanging out in my stash for over a year because, honestly, I had no idea what I was thinking when I bought them, and no idea what to do with them. I'd only rarely designed with variegated yarn, and I'd never designed with speckled yarn. The colours? About as far away from my usual neutrals as you could get. But I was determined to make them work. So...I took my knitting needles, practiced a little swatch alchemy, and magically transformed two very "not me" yarns into a "totally and completely me" set that I am so very proud to share as an original COLD COMFORT design.  I can't wait to see all the magical yarn combinations YOU will choose for your very own Dark Arts Hat & Cowl. Don't forget to share your FO's on social media with the hashtags #darkartshat and #darkartscowl. Now, go, my friends, and make your own knitty magic! The patterns are available on Ravelry now.
When the going gets tough, the tough neglect blogging. It's been a full three months since my last post--insert embarrassed emoji here--but I want you all to know that I've said three hail Betsy's and promised to do better this year. Time will tell, lol. My last post celebrated the launch of my Celtic Charmers pattern. But a month later, when it came time to publish The Weston Tweed Wrap, I'd run out of steam. After launching The BFF Collection at the end of September [TEN patterns!] and Celtic Charmers just a few weeks later, when November 19th rolled around, I was knackered. So much knitting, pattern-writing, photography, editing, and marketing went into that pattern...and I still had a holiday market to prep for! So, yeah, come publication day, the most I could manage was to update the cold comfort landing page. Blogging about The Weston Tweed Wrap--or anything else I knit in the three months after that--simply got put on the back burner. You know what they say, "out of sight, out of mind". Well I guess 'they' read my blog. I meant to hit pause, but it seems I hit stop. Well, good news! Finally, it's time to hit "play". Here we go... the weston tweed wrapPATTERN LAUNCHED 11-19-18  Pattern launch day for The Weston Tweed Wrap was November 19th, 2018. The pattern did quite well on Ravelry, but stopped just shy of making it into the Hot Right Now Top 20. Unfortunately, a scheduling error at The Fibre Co. caused a delay in social media sharing, but it was an honest mistake, and I was still very happy with the very warm reception that this very warm wrap received! The second of two designs created in collaboration with The Fibre Co.,The Weston Tweed Wrap is an epic, oversized, giant-bear-hug of a wrap. From a knitting perspective, it's a pretty impressive piece that only requires basic knitting skills--surprise! The tweed pattern doesn't require colour work. Heck, it doesn't even require purling! What does it require? Patience. Stamina. And, of course, love :) st. george's night marketDECEMBER 14TH, 2018 They say there's "no rest for the wicked". I must be very, very wicked! The moment The Weston Tweed Wrap was off my plate, market prep was very, very ON!  Friday night, December 14th, cold comfort knits participated as a vendor at St. George's Night Market, a curated pop-up holiday market for last-minute shoppers. It was my second time as a vendor at a Burlington Made event (@burlingtonmade on Instagram) and I really can't say enough good things about how well-organized, well-curated, and well-attended Stephanie's shows are (follow the links to learn more and/or connect on Instagram). It seems that after last year's show, my hats and other knits had gained a bit of a reputation, and I'm happy to report that just a few hours into the show, I was almost sold out. And by closing time, I was left with the 'extremely onerous' task of packing up three hats. Three hats! I've already started knitting for next year's show! gift knitting / gift gettingDECEMBER 15th - 24th, 2018 December 15th. Wicked child that I am, there wasn't a moment to rest after the Night Market. With only 9 days left until Christmas, it was time for gift knitting to commence...and FAST! Thankfully, I only had a few gifts to knit. Luckily, I'd been smart enough not to sell all my stock. With what I held back, and what I managed to knit, I'm happy to say that a few special friends will be enjoying warm heads and hands this winter! Two of those friends, my "brother from another mother" and "sister from another mister" (collectively known as BJ) one-upped me in grand fashion with the best hat EVER, hand-knits notwithstanding. Yes, that's me wearing a sheep hat. Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds/looks/feels. LOL.
2018: what a year!DECEMBER 29th, 2018 2018 17 Patterns Published 137 Pictures Posted 17, 565 Total Likes 65 Hand-Knits Knitted ...and a partridge in a pear tree ;) Once the holidays were over and everyone had finally stopped to chill out for a while, along came one of my favourite Instagram 'traditions'; the end-of-year "best nine", or "top nine". It's always fun--and surprising--to see which nine posts were your most liked in any given year. Wow. 2018 was a very yellow year! If you already follow me on IG, THANKS! Thanks for all the love. Thanks for a great year! If you're on 'the gram' and want to start following me there, my handle is @coldcomfortknits :)  new year, new knitsJANUARY 3rd, 2019 New year. Still wicked!  January 3rd provided proof that there really is no rest in my little knitty world. Just a few days into the year a spring shawl was already forming on my needles. My first ever crescent shawl! Having never knit a crescent before, naturally I figured I could design one (whaaaat?). Spoiler alert: I finished it in less than a week. It turned out beautifully--I'm really pleased with the result. And, it was so much fun to knit that I've already cast on another one--a completely different design--and I'm already up to 200+ stitches!!! The pattern(s) will be available in time for Spring knitting. I hope you'll stay tuned! Happy New Year! Happy Knitting! Sincerely, Alexis :) Six months. That's how long it's been since I first saw the submission call from The Fibre Co. for their Yarn Support Program for Indie Designers. Now, after months of behind the scenes wooly work, here we are. Publication day. Woohoo!!! Celtic Charmers is now available in my Ravelry shop! Click HERE to link to my shop.  Celtic Charmers is a pair of rustic fingerless mittens/gloves inspired by my British Heritage, and my love for all things wooly. Knit from Lore, the newest yarn from The Fibre Co., and featuring an impressive-looking--yet easy to knit--cable, they are a wooly classic I hope knitters will reach for again and again. In fact, if you use the recommended yarn, you'll get to knit two pairs right away! One for you. One for a lucky friend or loved one. It's true!!! One skein of Lore is enough for two pairs of Celtic Charmers. Does it get any better?
YES IT DOES! To celebrate the release of the Celtic Charmers pattern, and the spirit of collaboration that inspired it, I'm offering 20% off the regular price from now until 10 p.m. EST on October 24th, 2018. Use coupon code ILOVELORE during checkout. Why are you still reading? LOL. If you've been following me on Instagram (@coldcomfortknits) you know that earlier this year two of my designs (two!) were selected by The Fibre Co. to be part of their Yarn Support Program for Indie Designers [insert happy dance here].  1 skein of Lore in "Happiness", ready to be knit into a pair (or two) of Celtic Charmers And so, a few months ago, my mail box was graced with eight deliciously wooly skeins of pure Romney wool, all the way from Cumbria! In exchange for this delightful gift, I got an early chance to experience the magic of Lore; an honest woollen spun DK-weight wool courtesy of the Romney sheep breed. Lore is the newest addition to The Fibre Co.'s dreamy natural fibre lineup. One of those skeins was destined to become a pair of warm and rustic pair of fingerless gloves: Celtic Charmers. And, now, I'm so happy to announce that the time has finally come to release this design into the world. Well, almost. The pattern will be live on Ravelry this coming Monday, October 22, 2018. But I couldn't just release such a special pattern without a bit of fanfare, could I?  No, I could not! So...if a free skein of Lore and a free pdf pattern for Celtic Charmers seems like your particular cup of tea, head on over to my Instagram feed and enter to win! You have until 8pm EST on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018 to enter.* *Unfortunately, because to the outrageous cost to ship from Canada, the giveaway is open only to residents of Canada and the USA. Sorry rest of the world! I promise, it's not personal!  Hand knit hats. Hot coffee. Good friends. What more could a knitter ask for? Oh, a sale??? Okay! How's this...? buy 1 get 1 free on all patterns in the bff collection |
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 an inner senior-citizen.
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