From Stage to Stitches: The Jetty Cardigan Designer, Cheryl Toy
November 7, 2023
From the dramatic sets of theatres to the vivid backdrops of movies, Cheryl Toy‘s journey as a designer has been a colourful expedition through the
Yarn of the Month – Tundra
Inspired by the far northern latitudes, Tundra is a bulky yarn with a pleasing, rounded appearance, blending fine Merino wool, baby alpaca and silk for a plump yarn with lots of loft that creates a relatively lightweight fabric but with all the enveloping warmth you would expect from such an ample yarn.
The Beginning
In many ways, the beginning of Tundra is the beginning of The Fibre Co. itself.
But beginnings are not always straightforward. When founder Daphne had an idea for a bulky yarn made of all the most beautiful fibres back in the early days of The Fibre Co., she sat down in front of the carding machine and began mixing beautiful fibres together in a playful experiment. What came out of those first tests was a blend of Merino, baby alpaca and soy silk which had a pebbly, textured appearance. Seeing it, Daphne was immediately reminded of a favourite local beach and named her first bulky yarn ‘Pemaquid’ in honour of the beautiful location she visited so often.
Although Pemaquid was a well-loved addition to The Fibre Co. yarns, the company was growing and when Daphne was no longer able to physically make each yarn herself, Pemaquid was retired.
But good ideas always return, and as some yarn production was outsourced, there was an opportunity to add a luxurious chunky yarn back into the range. With Pemaquid as inspiration, a luxurious thicker yarn was created, and this time the mix included mulberry silk in addition to the finest Merino and a substantial portion of baby alpaca, to create a sumptuous yarn.
The Palette
The palette of Tundra is the result of this rich blend of fibres. Several of the shades are hand-dyed, and the addition of silk to the Merino and baby alpaca means that the dye is absorbed by each fibre in a slightly different way and complex shades can be coaxed out of the process.
Each base fibre is also capable of taking dye in a super-saturated single colour, and so we also have added a number of solid colours using the tried and true industrial methods of yarn dyeing.
Most recently we have added heathered shades to the range, replacing the cream-coloured baby alpaca with a naturally brown shade for a new range of deep, strong shades. See the full range of shades by clicking here.
Projects for Tundra
The beauty of a bulky weight yarn in any fibre is in the speed of knitting—satisfyingly accessible for beginners and great for more experienced knitters who are in need of some instant gratification.
For those beginner knitters, we have projects such as the Garter Stitch Cowl which is great for reinforcing the most essential skill the knit stitch.
The Flurry hat can be finished in just one weekend and is a great project to learn the fundamentals of stranded colour-work. The Flurry hat is included in our collection of Love to Learn Giftable Kits perfect for beginners.
Tundra also makes luscious garments, such as the Ullock cardigan, which can be purchased as a pattern, part of a kit or in our Legendary Knitting Gift Bundle No 1.
The Beau Pulli by Safiyyah Talley is another wonderful addition to the wardrobe of any mama-to-be, wrapping the bump in a warm hug of a sweater.
There are a bountiful array of patterns for Tundra, and we have several kits featuring the yarn which are perfect for gifting, including our newest pattern, Lady’s Mantle!
The Almanac Series
Every month we are releasing a pattern for The Almanac Series which compliments our Yarn of the Month. This month we launch Lady’s Mantle in Tundra.
Lady’s Mantle is a radial yoke cowl that is worked from the top-down like the round yoke of a roll-neck sweater. Lily France designed this cowl with short rows to dip the front and back, creating a cosy capelet shape.
This pattern is the fourth from our new collection The Almanac Series, a seasonal guide to knitting with The Fibre Co. yarns. This collection will feature a new design every month, and each in a different yarn according to the qualities of the yarn to match the season. Lady’s Mantle is our design for December’s Yarn of the Month; Tundra.
Not only is it a wonderful knitting kit that is great for gifting, but we are also running a January Knit Along to guide you through this beginner-friendly knit project. Get ready to enjoy a calming and comforting start to the New Year by casting on your Lady’s Mantle cowl with us on 6th January, 2022. Sign up for our KAL mailing list now.
If you have enjoyed knitting with Tundra, please don’t forget to share it with us! Please use the #TheFibreCoTundra when you post about it on social media and tag us with @thefibrecompany on Instagram and @TheFibreCo on Facebook when you post so we can admire your beautiful projects!
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