Helsinki Polaroids

I recently returned home from spending two and a half weeks in Helsinki, Finland. I brought my Polaroid camera with me and snapped a few photos throughout my stay. I love the unexpected quality of the photos and the moody colours they captured. 

Sibelius Monument, Töölö.

Grey Day in Porvoo.

Christmas Eve in Lauttausaari. 

Kotiharjun Sauna, Kallio. 

Pink Building, Kallio.

Sauna Session, Lauttasaari. 

Sunsent in Lauttasaari. 

HIFK Lads. 

Rooftops, Ullanlinna.  

Cake at Rupla, Kallio.

Martinique Mittens

In continuing the celebration of the one year anniversary of Take Heart, I am releasing a free pattern as a small thank-you to my followers. It was this time last year when Take Heart was finally able to grace the hands of readers and knitters at Pom Pom's annual Christmas Party in London. Even though I had spent several months knitting each piece in the book, there were a few I was eager to cast on again and knit specifically for myself. I started with Martinique Beach. I was off to Sicily for the holidays and needed a project to knit along the way. So as a Christmas present to myself, I picked out four skeins of The Uncommon Thread's Lush Worsted. I went with a much more subtle colour combination that would fit with my own personal wardrobe. I settled on Tea Smoked and of course, three different shades of grey, Grit, Olive Leaf and Toast. You may recognize this project from last year,  as it has been featured in a few previous posts. 

It was shortly after finishing the cowl when I decided to make a pair of mittens inspired by the original pattern and I had plenty of leftover yarn to use. I was able to finish the mittens last January, just before my trip to Iceland. I posted one photo of the mittens on Instagram while I was away and had intended to write the pattern up when I returned. Of course, life and other priorites got in the way. However, nearly one year later, I have it for you now! In case you needed to purchase 100g of each colour to knit Martinique Beach, these mittens would be a great idea as to what to do with the left over yarn. 

You'll be able to find my Martinique Mittens as a free download through my Ravelry shop. Thank-you for the overwhelming love and support this year. Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoy the pattern! 

Take Heart Anniversary

This autumn was overwhelmingly busy with the various knitting festivals I got to attend. After a quick break, I moved into knitting and making a few plans for this winter.  Many new projects have been on and off the needles which hopefully I can share in the new year. I still plan to recap my trips to Vancouver's Knit City and Rhinebeck's Wool and Sheep Festival with a few photos soon. One of my goals lately has been to stay active and social on Instagram. Two weeks ago I had a lot of fun doing an Instagram Take Over for Pom Pom Quarterly to kick off some special celebrations. I can't believe a full year has gone by since releasing Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey. We're celebrating the first anniversary by hosting a Take Heart KAL which is happening now on Ravelry. Head over there to see the details on how to join. It's running till January 2nd, 2017 so there's still plenty of time to participate! 

I thought I'd share my photos from the Take Over on here as well. You can always find Pom Pom on Instagram at @pompommag and my personal account at @fiona_alice_. I am so pleased I could share a little bit of my home, Nova Scotia, with Pom Pom's followers. Thanks for lovely comments! 

Hello Pomcats! I'm Fiona Alice and welcome to Nova Scotia! I'll be taking over the Pom Pom Instagram feed this weekend as Pom Pom and I are getting ready to celebrate the first anniversary of my book Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey, which was inspired by both the Canadian and British landscapes. Nova Scotia is known for its varying coastlines so here's one of my favourite places, Duncan's Cove. Make sure you join in with our Take Heart knit along and tag your posts #takeheartkal and stay tuned for more pics from me @fiona_alice_. 

Hi it's @fiona_alice_  again with my #takehearttakeover of the Pom Pom account this weekend. Be prepared to see a lot of grey over Pom Pom's Instagram feed this weekend; it's my favourite colour whether natural or dyed. Luckily there's a never ending supply of beautiful greys along this rugged coastline, and Nova Scotia's overcast and rainy grey days make the perfect excuse for staying indoors to knit.

If you have a copy of #PPQ18you might recognise this design. Here's Kaali from this year's autumn issue. I couldn't resist using more of Elisabeth Beverley's Plant Dyed Cashmere, grey of course. Plus a few golden threads by Temaricious to match Nova Scotia's late autumn palette. The temperature is starting to drop here so the cozy cashmere is inviting to slip on cold hands. Stay tuned this weekend for posts from me @fiona_alice_ as I share more of my photos.

This is Fergus, my cat, knitting companion and biggest distraction. He constantly competes to be the softest grey item in my hands. To give him a run for his money I dug out some of @toft_uk Aran Alpaca which has been sitting in my stash for the past three years. Fergus loves alpaca and approves this yarn choice so I'll be casting on, just in time for the #takeheartkal. I feel like there is only one project this yarn is destined to become. 

Putting my @toft_uk Aran Alpaca to use and slowly working on #takehearthat. This pattern was originally launched 3 years ago in Issue 7, Pom Pom's Winter 2013 Issue. It's still one of my favourite patterns, and I love to see it knit up by others. I'm selfishly knitting this one for myself.

You can often find me knitting or with my laptop, here at Seven Bays Cafe in Halifax's North End. Thanks for letting me share a little piece of my knitting world with you this weekend. It's wild to think one whole year has gone by since releasing Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey. I would not have been able to do this without your support. I can't wait to see where my next knitting journey will take me! Please keep sharing your projects with me, #takeheartkal - I love to see them. Signing off with much love, Fiona Alice.

Since Christmas is around the corner, Pom Pom put some very exciting knitting kits together. The Border Mill has graciously released a special yardage of their Alpaca Tweed for this. There's enough to make the Chester Basin hat and mitten set. Head over to the Pom Pom Shop to see the gorgeous colour combinations! I definitely wish I had more of this yarn in my stash. 

Photography: Pom Pom Quarterly 

I was also lucky to be invited back as a guest on the Pomcast last week. You can listen to Sophie and I catch up and discuss what has happened since releasing Take Heart. It has been an amazing year that just flew by but I'm getting excited about new plans to come in 2017. Here's my newly finished Take Heart hat, the project that started this all and just in time for the snow! I love seeing the project photos that knitters choose to share, please continue! I'll have a little treat for my followers here on the blog this week, a little thank-you for your love and support. 

Phōs

September is always an exciting month for me because it feels like the beginning of a new year. First, it's my birthday month. Turning one year older naturally makes me reflect on the previous year and gets me thinking about what I'd like to accomplish next. Also it feels like the knitting season really kicks into high gear with anticipation to make the most out of the upcoming winter months. 

Last week I turned twenty-seven and a few days later was thrilled to announce my first pattern published with amirisu! So far I've published designs through Pom Pom and also self-published through my own Ravelry shop. I'm really excited to be reaching a new audience and new knitters with amirisu. This also marks my first pattern to be translated into another language. Each issue of amirisu is published in English and Japanese. 

With each new submission, I take my time looking over their moodboard and requirements. Then I tend to pull the photos I fixate on. It could be because of the colour, pattern or something in the image that draws my attention. With amirisu's moodboard, I narrowed it down to these three photos and then started to sketch and swatch. I was particularly drawn to the bold geometric pattern on the left. However, I wanted a more complicated design rather than just copying the diamond shapes with colour. Working with green was this issue's theme but I knew I wanted to do colourwork when I started to get inspired by the geometric shapes. I fell in love with the neutrals paired with the dark natural greens in the photo above. From the top left photo, I especially loved how the light changed as it filtered in through the leaves. I knew I wanted to create layers of colour by mixing the two yarns together to create light, medium and dark sections.

Sometimes I have a vision of what I want to create before playing around with a sample on my needles. Other times, it's just the opposite. As I knit and unravel, the idea of what I want as an accessory starts to form. For this design I really had to spend lots of time sampling to get the right effect of blending the two colours together. Below you'll see my finished swatch and sketches I sent off to amirisu to be considered for their issue. 

For yarn, we decided on Audouin and Boreal in Chickadee by Quince & Co. This was the second time I was able to work with Chickadee. It is one of my favourites to use for colourwork projects. I had the pleasure to use it for my scarf, Selsey, published in Pom Pom's Autumn Issue 10. A massive thank-you goes out to Loop, for yarn support and supplying the Chickadee. I was lucky enough to pull the skeins off the shelf and get started right away when the final colour decision was made. I've been fortune to have the support of the shop behind me as I work on my designs. I'm a little sad I can't be on the shop floor when this new issue of amirisu arrives at Loop! 

So let me finally introduce you to Phōs! Phōs is an ancient Greek word for light. I thought it would be appropriate since part of my inspiration came from the images of light filtering through the plant leaves. Phōs is a lightweight hat which plays with combining knits and purls to create the colourwork pattern. I can't wait to get my hands on this issue. I feel the amirisu team has done a beautiful job and I can't be more pleased. I'm also excited to be featured alongside other contributors I admire and a few new ones I'm glad to discover. Phōs is also available as a single pattern through amirisu's Ravelry shop. 

Photo credit: amirisu

Photo credit: amirisu

Photo credit: amirisu

Photo credit: amirisu

Photo credit: amirisu