Kattikloo

Spring Cleaning Sale

fiona — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:24:02 +0000

It feels like Spring here today (yes-we’re feeling a little optimistic!)- inspiring us to do a little spring cleaning in the studio and shop….

We’d like to offer you an amazing 40% off all stock in our Shop, to make way for our new yarns…..
Use coupon code: SpringCleaning2012
only until February 6th!

Felt Toys now available for custom order

fiona — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:07:29 +0000

An Evergreen Home for Gnomes and other small creatures...

Just for the month of November we’ve added some custom felt toys to our Esy Shop.

These are toys our children and many others have grown up with and loved.

In our felt studio we’ll be making Gnome Houses, Felt Playmats, and small dolls…creating a world of enchantment within our small space…

Lily Pond Playmat, as seen in Living Crafts Magazine-Summer 2010

And, of course, Our Love Gnomes...hand created for you!

Just the right kind of projects to enhance our holiday crafting spirit! And just the right kind of projects to engage your child in hours of imaginative play! The Evergreen Houses and Love Gnomes also make wonderful home decorations…soft and seasonal…warm and welcoming…

We’ll be taking orders for these items through the month of November. If you’d like more information, send us a message or visit our SHOP.

Kattikloo Sock Yarns now in…

fiona — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:24:49 +0000

….in stock at Wabi-Sabi in Ottawa. Wabi-Sabi is a gorgeous fiber arts store, with just the right amount of the most beautiful yarns and fibers to find the perfect fiber for the project you have in mind, and inspire you to create 10 more! And our Fall line of sock yarns have now arrived in shop! Yay!

We love taking photos of fibers!

We’re taking on a select niumber of wholesale clients this year. If you’d like to see our yarns in your LYS, we’d love your recommendation!

Now off to dye some brand new fingering weight organic merino…Yum!

New Spinning and Felting Fibers

fiona — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:03:32 +0000

We just received a shipment containing the most luscious fibers for felting, spinning, and just savouring!

Shown here are our new Blue Faced Leicester rovings…we also have lovely organic merino rovings plus extra fine merino rovings, bundled into 4 ounce rolls. These will all be handpainted, bright and jewel coloured, with just a hint of earth to ground us in this Fall season…Mmmmmm…. Available in our shop soon! We’ll let you know when they are ready!

Plant Dyed Rainbows!

fiona — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:22:42 +0000

We had fun over the long weekend, making rainbows!

Dyeing with plant dyes is a slow process…each step requires time…time to gather the plants, time to steep them to extract the pigments, time for the fibres to soak in the colour. It is time consuming, but meditative and peaceful, and pure dyeing pleasure. It does not require your whole attention all the time, but does give you time to breath into the process and enjoy each step.

It’s amazing to watch the colours develop- the depth of tone they have, and the way they blend together so beautifully! It’s been a while since we dyed rainbows around here…and what a cheery, refreshing wonderful, end-of-summer kind of dyeing day it was!

We re-skeined some of these yarns…always so interesting to see the differentce between the as-dyed skeins, and then the reskiened ones. In this case, we liked them better as is…the colours shine more…although both are lovely, and, of course, knit and crochet up the same, regardless!

This worsted weight yarn is great for projects for and with children. Hats, mittens, soakers…and for finger knitting, corking, weaving, and first knitting projects….each skein goes a long way….and brings yards and yarfds of rainbow pleasures!

Rainbow Plant Dyed Worsted Weight Yarn, available here.

4 ounces/112g per skein, approx. 247 yards/226m per skein,
4mm-5mm needles.

Flying Felties Tutorial at Living Crafts

fiona — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:51:00 +0000

We enjoyed chatting, playing and creating with some young visitors this summer. It was such a pleasure to have some little people around, and their parents!

One day we made these Flying Felties together, an easy to make felt toy that my sons all loved to use years ago (and still did this summer!).

The tutorial is now available on the Living Crafts blog. Enjoy!
Warm wishes,
Fiona

Living Crafts Magazine/Kattikloo Giveaway

fiona — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Last year I designed a wedding shawl for the spring issue of Living Crafts magazine.

It is such a special project. The shawl is knit in two halves, with the families of the bride and groom each knitting a side, which is then joined with an entwined lace centre panel.

A Living Crafts reader, Marcia Kimpton, wrote to me, sharing her heartwarming story in making this project for her son’s wedding this summer, and you can read it here.

To celebrate these shared craft projects, Living Crafts and Kattikloo Fibre Studio are sharing in a giveaway! A fabulous package including three 100gram (3.5 ounce) skeins of Kattikloo Baby Alpaca yarn as used for the Living Crafts wedding shawl, a copy of Living Crafts Spring 2011 issue that features the wedding shawl story, plus a one year subscription to Living Crafts Magazine (Total value $100.00). Yarn color will be the winner’s choice.

So please visit the Living Crafts blog, enjoy the story and enter the draw by leaving a comment by midnight pacific time on Sunday, August 14th. Winner will be announced on Monday, August 15th.

Good Luck!
Fiona

Summertime Roadside Attractions

fiona — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:06:00 +0000

I love taking some time to as I drive from place to place, errand to errand, to observe a prevalent feeling or observation during the journey.

This weeks meanderings ventures into pinks…the predominent roadside color these days here on the island.

I parked and walked and snapped photos and observed…just taking a few minutes, in between things….a little breath of beauty on this summer day, in this place.

Such a splendour of pinks! I returned home, with a few checks on my to-do list, and dyed some yarns….holding the space of the roadside beauties…

Baby Alpaca in a laceweight that is luscious for shawls and scarves…

And some great worsted weight yarns, perfect for hats and mittens and children’s sweaters and pants….

A little breath of color and making, in amongst the summertime socials and lists! And available in the Shop now, for some later Summer into Fall knitting and crochet!

Warm wishes,

Fiona

Colour!

fiona — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:45:00 +0000

Oh! What a gorgeous and sunny and lovely day. A great day for dyeing lots of local merino wool rovings….I’m just going to post the pictures today…soak up the sunshine and colour! Yum! I feel some sweet and soft children’s projects coming on!

Mmmmmmm…I feel fibre nourished already today! These are all available in my etsy store, Kattikloo, waiting to be made into wonderful things by all you fiberistas!
Happy happy….What fibre goodness might the rest of the day hold?

Warm wishes.

Fiona

FibresWest!

fiona — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:50:00 +0000

We’re back! And Ohhhh! We had so much fibre fun! Well, I should only speak for myself really, but Graham did have a good time talking wool with the ladies while I was teaching my classes, and the boys were so helpful, setting up and taking down displays, making hangtags, doing emergency woodwork, and being my helpers during the classes- with no fights or complaints- so I take that as a major success for all!
It was so lovely to spend several days surrounded by fibre people. So many wonderful conversations, and beautiful woolworks….
My classes went very well- lots of fun, lots of felting, lots of inspiring and talented people, and we almost finished on time!

These are just a few of the works in progress and finished scarves. As always, such a range of colours and styles- and all so beautiful!

On Saturday, we were working so intently on our surface design experiments that I didn’t get a single picture! But one of my students did, so I hope to be able to share those with you soon. This class was fantastic…zingy with ideas and inspiration….we managed to fit in lots of techniques, while making beautiful felted art cloths.

I had the immense pleasure of meeting and spending some time with Lesley and Tina, of Pollika yarns. Two wonderful women, with lots of ideas and energy and smiles! They came to both of my classes, and we chatted off and on during the show. They carry a beautiful line of undyed yarns, shawl pins, kits, and buttons.

I made two small and carefully considered purchases at the show. I have so many WIPs here at home- articles and patterns in the works, that I had to be selective.

When I saw the cashmere roving in Knitopia‘s booth though, I knew I could not go home without it. And Barbara Walker’s books have been on my wish list for years- I’m so happy to see them back in print. This cashmere is destined to become a felted cowl….maybe tomorrow! It is so divine, it has be used in a project I can snuggle into and touch as much as possible!

I also really wanted to take some pictures of my booth to show you- the great unveiling! But I was so revved up from teaching and talking wool, I completely forgot! Next time….and there will be a next time. It was such a great environment to be in for two days, thanks to the organizing of Brenda at Penelope Fibre Arts. Congratulations, and heartfelt thanks, Brenda, on hosting such a fabulous event!

Warm wishes,

Fiona