Category: news

By Sara Joyce

Like many of us, my New Year’s resolution was to knit down my yarn stash, which seriously exceeds my life expectancy. In particular, I sought ways to use the many partial balls left over from other projects to make something beautiful from nothing. If there was a chance to incorporate learning a new technique, all the better. I was interested in projects that would inspire knitters to mix and match leftover yarns to knit something unique and beautiful.

Where to look for inspiration and advice? Books, YouTube, online knitting sites and Ravelry are all possible sources. As a lifelong bookworm, I started at home, in Canada, with knitwear designer Sally Melville. Sally was way ahead of the eco- and wallet-friendly curve when it came to using up stashed and leftover yarns. Her brilliant book, Sally Melville Styles: A Unique and Elegant Approach for Your Yarn Collection, is available on loan from the Toronto Public Library, for sale through the For Sale or Trade tab on Sally’s Ravelry patterns page, or through online independent booksellers ABE.ca and Thriftbooks.com. It includes useful advice on organizing your stash visually to facilitate mixing yarns and colours. If you prefer to learn by video, Sally has an online class on Craftsy.com, Stashbusting Secrets for Sweaters and More, which is packed with useful design tips for mixing yarn weights and colours. See https://www.craftsy.com/class/stashbusting-secrets-for-sweater-knitting-more. Sally’s pattern “Necessary Neutral” is a great example – colourful mitred squares in leftover sock/fingering weight yarns are set off against a pale or dark neutral background in a beautiful wrap in two sizes – no need to worry about fit: https://ravel.me/necessary-neutral.

Another wonderful source of inspiration is 52 Weeks of Scrap Yarn, Laine Publishing’s 2025 entry in their very successful “52 Weeks” series. It is a visually beautiful book, offering a wide array of stunning knit and crochet projects using scrap yarns, ranging from sweaters, to shawls, socks, hats and other accessories, to home decor. A hardcover copy sells for C$70 and is not yet available from the Toronto Public Library, although TPL has many of the previous 52 Weeks series. Before making the investment, I recommend checking out the reviews on YouTube by A Lovely Yarn and Rosemary and Pines Fibre Arts.

Barbara Albright’s Oddball Knitting: Creative Ideas for Leftover Yarn, published in 2004, is a comprehensive resource, offering useful advice and a well-organized index to over 30 new patterns for using leftover yarns of various weights, with a section dedicated to reversible scarves. It’s available on loan from TPL, for sale or trade on Ravelry, and second-hand on ABE.ca and Thriftbooks.com.

The Ravelry.com website offers an absolute treasure trove of scrap yarn project ideas, and I’ll focus on these in Something from Nothing, Part 2, in the June TKG newsletter, along with other sources of online knitting inspiration available to you. Our friends at the amazing member-supported Knitty.com, for example, have been huge supporters of new designs for scrap yarn projects, and I’ll also highlight some of their new patterns next month.

On Saturday, April 11, with the generous support of The Knitting Loft and Estelle Yarns, we were thrilled to welcome Arne & Carlos to Toronto—and what a night it was. Calling it a success hardly does it justice.

We arrived early to set up for the 7 p.m. start, only to find eager attendees already in their seats – needles in hand – knitting, chatting, and buzzing with anticipation. Nearly 30 people had arrived before Arne & Carlos themselves, happily settling in for an impromptu “pre-show” as they watched the setup unfold. The energy in the room was unmistakable from the very beginning and only grew stronger as the evening went on.

An ABBA playlist set the tone as the room filled with knitters and crocheters sharing stories and excitement. Cheers erupted as guests called out where they’d travelled from—Detroit, California, Bermuda, across the U.S., and even Paris, France! Some came with friends, some solo, some to celebrate special occasions—but all came for their love of Arne & Carlos.

And that love was clearly felt. Arne & Carlos took us on a heartfelt and often humorous journey through their careers—from their individual beginnings to their work together, from high-fashion runway designs to the knitwear creations and patterns we know them for today. Their stories were inspiring, personal, and delivered with their signature warmth and humility. They generously stayed on for a lively 30-minute Q&A, fielding questions that ranged from design insights to creative inspiration—and even a bit of gardening wisdom.

One of the most touching moments of the night came at the end of the presentation, when attendees proudly held up their finished Arne & Carlos pieces. The room lit up with creativity and admiration, and we later learned how meaningful it was for Arne & Carlos to see their work brought to life in so many unique ways. Thank you to everyone who shared—it truly made an impact.

We wrapped up the formal portion of the evening by celebrating 36 door prize winners, thanks to the incredible generosity of our sponsors. The Knitting Loft contributed ten $50 gift cards, while Estelle Yarns donated an array of prizes, including 24 balls of the new Arne & Carlos Socks and More yarn and 2 copies of their latest book, 65 New Christmas Balls to Knit. The excitement in the room was contagious.

From there, the evening flowed into relaxed socializing—book signings, photos, laughter, and heartfelt conversations. The sense of community was undeniable, with new friendships forming, hugs exchanged, and joy radiating throughout the space.

It was truly an unforgettable evening, made possible by an amazing team. Heartfelt thanks to Sara Joyce, Guild President, for her constant support; Joanna Fromstein, Communications Director, for creating and managing the ticketing system; and Kristen Pytlowana, Treasurer, for her solid support behind the scenes and on-site. Thank you as well to Danielle Taylor, Registrar, for coordinating check-ins with Kristen, and to Ali Moenck and Vanessa Mo for warmly welcoming guests and assisting with door prizes.

A special thank you to The Knitting Loft for months of collaboration and idea-sharing, and to both The Knitting Loft and Estelle Yarns for their generous contributions that elevated the entire experience.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who attended and brought such warmth, enthusiasm, and creativity to the night. It was a joy from beginning to end.

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl De Ville

By Deborah Roed

I just got back from the Knit Social Irish Crafting Tour of Ireland, which was the best knitting tour I’ve been on so far.  We started in Dublin, went on to Inis Mor, one of the Aran islands, Cork, and Blarney Castle to name a few of the stops and ended back in Dublin. Along the way, we had three knitting workshops, one for cables, one for how to use Doodle cards for colour knitting fun, and one that was colour knitting and steeking with Carol Feller.  We crafted silver rings in Dublin and baked bread and scones in a castle kitchen. We got tours of a whiskey distillery, a pottery business, a wool mill and sheep farm, and a few of our group even kissed the Blarney Stone.

By Genevieve Chornenki

Louise Moerup’s yarn-bombed Venus statue in Copenhagen, Denmark

Until recently, yarn bombing—also known as guerilla knitting—wasn’t my thing. It had the aesthetic appeal of a sink of dirty dishes or a pile of soiled laundry, and military terminology is inconsistent with our gentle needle art. Yet the chaos of yarn-based graffiti is what makes it effective as a public statement or a social critique. One doesn’t ordinarily find a pride flag on a tree, for instance.

Yarn bombing was put to good use recently in Denmark where public monuments of historically-significant males appear ten times more frequently than monuments of females. Avid knitter Louise Moerup wanted to point out that discrepancy, so she knit and dressed one of Copenhagen’s Venus statues in a striped halter dress and thereby started a national conversation. Moerup said that she wanted to highlight the absence of women remembered for their achievements.

Moerup wasn’t concerned with public nudity, apparently accepting the chauvinism built into Western art. But is nudity separable from the numbers? I suggest that they converge in the same prejudice.Female nudes overwhelmingly outnumber male nudes in Western art, but that discrepancy seems to be an acceptable one, and outside gallery walls, the display of female pits and parts goes mostly unremarked. That said, painter John Berger’s observation in Ways of Seeing (1972) may still be relevant:

Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed is female. Thus she turns herself into an object of vision: a sight.

Which brings me to my pending yarn bombing.

On Plot O, Lot 18 in Toronto’s Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the merchant Lionel Cutten erected a monument with two unclothed figures that, according to The Mount Pleasant Group’s website, are believed to represent Cutten’s wife, Annie Rowena, and her sister, Helen Gertrude Moncur, who died within months of each other. The website describes the monument as one of the cemetery’s “most captivating memorials,” but every time my friend Donna and I pass by we cringe and shake our heads. How, we wonder, is this a dignified memorial to the deceased women? Is there the remotest chance that they authorized these representations?

The Cutten monument, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

Annie and Gertrude are seated at either end of a long bench, partially draped in bedsheets, bare arms above their heads revealing hairless arm pits, and smooth, lithe bodies exposed from the navel up. Rain or shine, winter blizzard or summer heatwave, the bare-breasted ladies recline. Berger again:

To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself.

Oh, how Donna and I want to offer Annie and Gertrude the dignity of clothing!

Donna doesn’t knit, however, so I’m elected to produce yards and yards of fabric. But here’s the real concern: will the Mount Pleasant Group consider our cover-ups an act of kindness or an act of vandalism?

By Genevieve Chornenki

“Visible Mending” by Arounna Khounnoraj (the topic of our November 19, 2025 meeting) was an eye-opener. I’d often struggled to repair woolen goods or avoided repairs altogether because I just couldn’t make things look right. My attempts were always obvious, my stitches helter-skelter. But Arouna Khounnoraj removed my self-imposed constraints. She showed that a repair can be a deliberate patch, even an embellishment.

Visible Mending was good news. I love my slip-on felt Glerups but seem to go through a pair a year. The felt thins and open holes appear on the outside of the slippers at the front. The backs also break down from the motion of my feet going in and out. So, prompted by Arounna’s presentation, I wondered what would happen if I fixed my slippers with unapologetic patches. Take a look.

First I drew the sides of the holes and the split backs together with a needle and waxed sewing thread. Then I knit my first patch, a rectangle in woven stitch using sport-weight yarn on 2.25 mm needles. I applied that patch with needle and thread, fanning it out into a trapezoid to better cover the hole. Why not a circle next? I worked one from the centre out, increasing until it could lie flat. Hey, what about reinforcing the heels with tabs next? Oh, and why not add buttons? I saw no reason to stop there. I retrieved two pompoms unused from a child’s dress and added them as finishing touches.

What fun. I’ve now extended the use of my Glerups for at least another year.

If you  missed Arounna Khounnoraj’s presentation on visible mending, it’s available on demand in our Members’ Hub (along with any other past meetings you may have missed): https://torontoknittersguild.ca/membership-hub/meeting-videos/

Maria wearing her latest project, a capelet knit using Spincycle yarn, and holding her Siamese cat

This month’s member spotlight features Maria Thomas, a relatively new member of the TKG. Her attitude towards diving in head-first from her very first knitting project is sure to inspire. Read on to learn more.

How long have you been a member of the Toronto Knitters Guild? What prompted you to join? What is it that the Guild satisfies for you?

• My friend Kathy Kawasaki took me to The Knitting Loft one day and talked about the Guild, I commented that I’d love to join once I improve my knitting skills as I didn’t think a beginner would be able to join. Me thinking it’s for advanced knitters. She said by all means, beginners can join!
• I joined in 2023, I also purchased a membership for my friend Debra (number 501) as a gift.

Tell us about when and how you came to be a knitter.  Do you have ancestors or relatives who introduced you to knitting?

• My grandmother was a knitter and my mother tried to teach me as a child. Do you remember those huge red pencils that way back when were used to teach children how to write?  Well, she had these huge needles, supposedly to help children knit.
• During COVID, while cleaning out my mother’s place, I found some knitting needles. Then while searching for something on the internet, I happened to come across a picture of a knit wrap that was so pretty and off I went searching for details. I found Ravelry in September 2020.  I joined Ravelry, bought this pattern, and ordered the exact yarn that the pattern used.  I am still relieved to have found Very Pink Knits slow motion videos to learn the knit and purl stitches.
• The pattern is lace, but it doesn’t have any purl stitches, so I thought I can do this, how hard can it be? And off I went!  Umm, lace as a first knitting project was tear inducing, but I did it!

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Mcashmere/summer-sangria

Do you accept the proposition that knitting is about “mindfulness”?

• Very much so.  At least it helps me focus through the repetitive use of your hands, the counting, and seeing progress.  When one is stressed or worried, pick up knitting, it is a big help mentally.  Of course sometimes a pattern has issues, realizing you made a mistake rows earlier and have to TINK back can itself be a stress.  Or panic knitting trying to finish for a gift deadline – then knitting becomes work.

What is the biggest improvement you have seen in your knitting over the last 5 years? How did that improvement come about?

• When I started to knit, I wanted to learn something new with each project. New stitches to learn, expand my skills by challenging myself.  My second project was a multi-coloured lace shawl.  CDD is my favourite stitch.  Also I so enjoy knitting lace!

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Mcashmere/refracted-twilight

• I’m grateful that Lisa Ross’ patterns are so well written.  (I later learned that not every pattern is clear, professionally tested…). I ended up knitting FIVE more of this pattern straight away to give to my sisters and sister-in-law for Christmas, plus THREE more later for friends and my sister’s mother-in-law.

Tell us how you go about establishing gauge when you knit? Or is gauge something you even care about?

• I started with shawls, so the size doesn’t matter; gauge what is gauge? I’ve knit two cardigans, the first one was a “group” project with a Ravelry advanced knitter in Michigan. Turns out the small size I knit wasn’t good for a designer that knits larger sizes as her main test.  I knit a gauge swatch, sent pictures to my friend in Michigan – it worked!  I ended up having to modify the design while I was knitting it to make sure it fit.  Yes I knit the correct size and the measurements in the pattern worked. But I still had to alter the underarms to fit over my arms and added width to the front.  Learning experience – make sure the smaller sizes have been tested by smaller sized knitters!

(Have you ever purchased a manufactured sweater and they just “shrunk” the size – which meant the button holes were smaller – but they sewed on the same button size they used for all of the sizes?  That’s how I felt with this smaller sized cardigan.)

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Mcashmere/ochre-cardigan

• Also I then learned that a bulk knit yarn can stretch sideways once wet blocked.   A swatch may be perfect once blocked, but the weight of a garment in bulky yarn weighs so much more than even a large swatch.   Now I have it steamed…and that bulky cardigan went to my sister as it fits her now.

Which weights and fibres do you most like to knit with? What kinds of things do you knit, i.e. hats, scarves, garments, toys…?

• I like a heavy lace weight such as Miss Babs Yearning. Perhaps it’s sentimental that was the first yarn I ever knit with, my first project.  I also like a snuggly DK weight.
• Well my Ravelry page looks like it’s mostly shawls.
• When I ended up knitting 18 stranded stockings of the same pattern, I fell for stranded work. I want to make a Nordic sweater next…once I finish all the projects lined up for others right now.
• But after those stockings, I never want to knit a sock, another heel nor toe again!

What knitted item are you most proud of? What did you learn while working on it?

• Perhaps my fist knitted shawl, as I realized lace was not easy to start with as a brand new knitter, but it’s a sentimental favourite. Also, the 18 stockings, that was indeed a labour of love.  I had to learn to knit socks – so toes and heels, plus stranded knitting.  I found a beautiful pattern, ordered the yarn, and dove right in!

What is your day job? How, if at all, does knitting fit with that?

• I work for a non-profit, which means I don’t have a guaranteed income and the hours are all over the place.  Difficult to budget funds and then knitting time.  But I enjoy the work and feel I am really helping, even if in a small way.

Have you ever injured yourself knitting?

• Perhaps this is too much information? But I lost the feeling in my fingers and toes after chemotherapy.  With the first cancer, my oncologist told me I’d have to stop embroidery, cross stitch, and especially hand sewing (and stuffing) teddy bears as without the feeling in my fingers, I could injure myself.  He suggested knitting instead.  Nope, couldn’t be bothered with knitting.  Would LOVE to knit, but I didn’t think I’d ever be able to learn it.  But I was a knitter when the second cancer hit, and I knit a shoulder wrap capelet to wear doing chemo.
•  I’ve gotten repetitive knitting stress injuries such as callouses that cracked when I was in a mad panic trying to get all the stockings finished. Getting up 1 1/2 hours early each day and staying up late. Indeed a labour of love, every spare moment was spent on those stockings.

Do you consider yourself to be a process knitter or a product knitter?

• Well I enjoy starting a new project but it stresses me when I cannot knit it fast enough, when on a gift deadline.  Think those five lace shawls I was determined to finish for Christmas for my sisters, then the stranded stockings. So my goal is – finish it!  I believe I’m a product knitter, if I understand the question’s meaning.

Do you have a favourite stitch pattern? If so, what do you like about it?

• Perhaps the first shawl I knit in multiples from Lisa K. Ross, linked above.  I fell for the CDD stitch, as the engineering of working a decrease that lines up looks so pretty, plus I enjoy working with multiple colours.

What didn’t I ask you that you wish I’d asked? Is there something else that you’d like to add?

• When I started to knit, I wanted to only buy yarn that I was going to use for a specific pattern. Kathy Kawasaki said always make sure you buy enough (more) yarn for a project just in case.  Then via Ravelry, I realized that many pretty yarns are limited edition shades, and off I went buying what I fell for and stocking up.  But now it is a stress.  Still beautiful, but too much to do right now.  Afraid of giving it all away and then regretting it…
• One of my favourite Advent sets I bought from Sunshine Yarns, based on a finished pattern I saw on Ravelry. I was able to get the re-dye of this set, but it wasn’t quite the same.  You can buy stash on Ravelry and I found a lady that was selling the original issue set. But the US$200 price was a little steep for me at the time.  The generosity of knitters, the lady sent me the entire set for the price of a skein so she could put a value on it. She said she wanted to send it as a gift to a Canadian from an American as an apology for all that is going on politically and to let me know that there are still nice people in the US.  Ya, I cried.  So I’m saving this special Advent set for something really special, even if I reknit that same wrap to match the one I fell in love with at first sight. Here is the project I made with the second dye lot that I used to make that favourite piece:

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Mcashmere/lamina-cowl–wrap

• People started giving me yarn (that I didn’t necessarily want). Yes I have projects in mind when I purchased this yarn in my stash, but now I want to cull most of it.
• Now I find it a stress to have stash in the closet, to me that means work that has to be completed that I haven’t even started yet. Like a to-do list that you have to keep moving to the next day as you didn’t complete it yet.
• Selfish of me perhaps despite my so enjoying knitting for family and friends, but I’d really like to make something for myself. I found this now free pattern over the weekend, I’ve admired those Dale of Norway sweaters.   But I find that wool to be scratchy (thinking of the Nordic yarn I used to knit all those stranded stockings).  Here is what I’d like to knit for myself, dare I say – in cashmere?  Now I have to research if cashmere (perhaps held double) can work for this pattern.  Or I’ll make it work!

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/184—lillehammer-1994

• I’ve met such wonderful people through knitting.  Friends I met via Ravelry, connections I’ve made via the Guild, helpful yarn shops.  Grateful!
• Knitting has been a real blessing in my life.  Alas, I still wish I could knit faster!

By Genevieve Chornenki

When I sat down in the salon chair at a recent appointment, my stylist was all smiles.

“I’ve got a compliment for you,” he said.

“A compliment? “

“Yes. From a recent house guest.”

“Huh?”

“Remember your mermaid?”

“Of course I do,” I said.

“Well, last weekend, we had a friend over—he’s into drag—and when he picked the mermaid up off the back of the sofa, he couldn’t stop laughing and saying what fun it was.

“Seriously? You’ve still got the mermaid?”

“Peter won’t part with it,” he said.

We were talking about an item that I’d concocted with needle and yarn at least ten years ago. My hair stylist commissioned a man-sized mermaid for his husband, Peter, who does costuming in the film industry. Peter was raised in northern England by the sea, and when he was little, he and his friends played on the shore and pretended they were mermaids. So, of course he needed one now in wintery Canada, and why not a hand knit one? Did I mention that Peter is very fussy about fibre and only ever wears cashmere sweaters of the highest quality and choicest colours. That meant I couldn’t rely on remaindered chunky acrylic yarn to knit the creature. No problem; unlike others who’ve asked me to knit for them, my hairstylist understands that quality materials cost money and that there’s value to human labour.

I’m no designer, and the only math that I perform is applied arithmetic needed for knitting. I don’t remember the details of making the mermaid, but I must have computed the dimensions and (perhaps) did a gauge swatch. What I do remember is that it took me at least ten minutes to knit from one side of the garment to the other, and that I had to figure out how to taper the bottom and invent a tail. This was not to be a wall hanging—the mermaid was intended for use as a blanket, so she also had to open part way up.

Just before heading out of country on business the other day, Peter posed for a quick photo. Take a look, and see what you think.

Yun-Suk Kang wearing her favourite hat

This month’s member spotlight features Yun-Suk Kang, a long-standing member of the TKG. Read on to get to know her better.

How long have you been a member of the Toronto Knitters Guild? What prompted you to join? What is it that the Guild satisfies for you?

I’ve been a member of the TKG for over 15 years. I participated in TTC Knitalongs and wanted to continue to spend time with other knitters. I met Kim and Holly at my first TTC Knitalong and decided to join the TKG with them.

The Guild has helped me develop my knitting skills through skill exchange meetings, lessons at Knitter’s Frolic and through help from my knitting friends. I have been inspired by seeing what other knitters have created or designed.

Beyond knitting itself, I value the friendships that I’ve developed with members of the Guild.

Tell us about when and how you came to be a knitter.  Do you have ancestors or relatives who introduced you to knitting?

My mother was a talented knitter, crocheter and embroiderer. She used to make sweaters, mittens and hats for me and my sisters.

I learned to knit while attending university. Knitting was something I did during lectures to prevent me from fidgeting.

Do you accept the proposition that knitting is about “mindfulness”?

There are times when I am engrossed in a project that I feel like I am in a Zen state. I enjoy the feel of the yarn, the rhythm of the needles as each stitch is formed, and the look and feel of the fabric that is produced.

Knitting also helps me tolerate long waits at airports, travelling, etc.

What is the biggest improvement you have seen in your knitting over the last 5 years? How did that improvement come about?

I used to find mistakes in my knitting and carry on thinking that I would try to live with the mistake. I’d ultimately frog the whole project after it was off the needles and start again. I’ve learned to fix the mistake and/or redo the project sooner. I’ve started to accept that since I enjoy knitting, reknitting is just spending more time doing a hobby that I enjoy.

Tell us how you go about establishing gauge when you knit? Or is gauge something you even care about?

I knit swatches, wash and dry them to ensure that I like the knitted fabric and that I am getting gauge.

In addition to gauge swatches, I measure during the project by trying the garment on when possible (i.e. partially knit hats, top-down sweaters, mittens, socks). I’ll adjust where needed.

When I first started knitting, I limited my projects to shawls and scarves so that the gauge would not be crucial to the outcome of the project and because I didn’t want to make a swatch. But when I started knitting sweaters, getting the right gauge became essential.

Which weights and fibres do you most like to knit with? What kinds of things do you knit, i.e. hats, scarves, garments, toys…?

I knit with various weights of yarn. I enjoy working with natural fibres, mostly wool, cashmere, alpaca, mohair, silk or a combination. I like making hats, scarves, sweaters, socks because I like to wear the resulting garments.

I’ve collected some special yarn over the years that I saved for when my knitting abilities improved and would be worthy of the yarn. Since my stash has grown into a SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy), I’ve decided that there is no time like the present to work with the special yarn collection. I’m currently knitting a pure cashmere Musselburgh hat. I’m enjoying working with cashmere and this project is great for social knitting.

What knitted item are you most proud of? What did you learn while working on it?

I knit a hat years ago that I use almost daily during the winter. I’ve learned that sometimes a simple knit hat is all you need to keep you warm and comfortable.

My favourite hat

Do you have a favourite stitch pattern? If so, what do you like about it?

I like the long-tail tubular cast on for 1×1 rib. I use this cast on for sweaters, hats, mittens and particularly for top-down socks. I love how elastic the resulting ribbing is, making it easy to get socks on and off. This cast on method elevates my finished pieces.

Debbie and Elizabeth, co-owners of Sweet Paprika

This month’s sponsor spotlight features Sweet Paprika Designs in Montreal, run by two sisters, Debbie and Elizabeth. Sweet Paprika Designs sells high-quality materials for knitters and crocheters, with a focus on locally-sourced and sustainable products, and hand dyes their own line of yarn. Read on to learn more about them.

Tell us about your shop’s history.

Sweet Paprika began way back in 2007 when my sister Elizabeth and I (Debbie) decided to see if we could find a way to use our crafting skills and knowledge to fund our yarn purchases. We started out in Ottawa, running classes and workshops out of our living room and releasing PDF patterns on Ravelry – quite a new concept at the time! We quickly added hand-dyed yarns to our offerings and moved to Montreal the following year. Since then, Sweet Paprika has evolved from a very part-time endeavor run out of our kitchens to a thriving business with a dedicated dye studio.

Tell us about your shop right now, what’s different and interesting?

At the moment we’re very excited because we just moved into a new, bigger studio! We’re in the same building, but the new space will give us much more room to host classes, workshops and social events. We’re working hard to get things set up and we’re planning a grand opening event for the end of March. If you’re ever in Montreal and would like to stop by and say hello, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to welcome you to our space!

What are some new and upcoming things our membership should be on the lookout for at your shop?

We’ve been running our Skill Builder yarn club for almost a year now, and we’re really looking forward to the next few boxes we’ve got coming up! We’ll be tackling Brioche in our next box, followed by Double Knitting and Beaded Knitting. For each box we partner with a designer who creates a custom pattern specifically for our members, and we provide photo and video tutorials for practicing the new technique. We make the club boxes available to non-members a couple of months after the members receive them – if you’re interested trying out steeking but intimidated to try on your own, keep an eye out for the Steeking Box (with a pattern by Jennifer Beale) which we’ll be releasing publicly in mid-March.

What’s your most popular product?

One of the items we find hardest to keep in stock is our Heart’s Delight thrummed mitten kits! We have a limited amount available right now, and we’re planning to dye up a few more of the most popular colours in the next week or two. The pattern for this kit was designed for us by Katie Tucker (formerly Noseworthy) of Newfoundland, and we use a combination of two Ontario-grown wools: a sturdy bulky weight from a dorset-based flock for the mitts, and a beautifully soft Norbouillet roving for the thrums.

What’s on your needles?

Every year we host a “Finish it February” make-along, so right now I’m trying to finish off some older projects. The main one I’ve been working on is a collaborative blanket project that will be a wedding gift. It just needs the edging finished and I’ve calculated that if I knit an average of 60 rows per day I can get it done by the end of the month. The rows are only 14 sts wide, so it is theoretically do-able, but the reality depends on whether I get distracted with other projects… The pattern is Cloudy Day Throw by Emily Kintigh, and the yarn is our Winfield worsted weight in Natural, Orchid and Strawberry Gelato.

Don’t forget to visit our membership hub to see the discount that Sweet Paprika Desgins offers TKG members!