Support Countess Ablaze's Tits Out Collective

Image courtesy of Countess Ablaze

On July 1st Countess Ablaze will launch her Tits Out Collective together with a group of like-minded indie dyers who want to say no to commercial exploitation and support women's groups at the same time.

Says the Countess, "I will produce a Big Ass Master List of Certified Tits Out Dealers and where you can find them. Everybody is donating a portion of their proceeds to a charity that means the world to them. We have got participants worldwide! Including UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, South Africa, New Zealand, Israel, USA, Canada ..."

So what is it that has brought all these dyers together and what has it got to do with boobs?

Back in March Countess Ablaze dyed two special colours, 'Shit Tea and Tray Bake', and 'If I Want Exposure I'll Get My Tits Out' in response to a 'collaboration' proposed to her by a local cafe. It wanted her to provide her time and £800 for free and in return, says the Countess, she "would be given 'exposure'. They went on to say that the customers would be (paraphrasing) middle aged women who would bring their girlfriends, we can serve them shit tea and tray bakes which would cost the restaurant very little but the ROI would be massive."

Image courtesy of Countess Ablaze

Countess Ablaze gave £3 to the charity Women's Aid for every skein sold. These one-off colour ways were a hit ... so popular that an indie dyer, whom the Countess doesn't want to name, produced a knock-off with no contribution to charity.

At the time of writing over 200 indie dyers and makers have signed up to the Tits Out Collective to create their own version of 'If I Want Exposure I'll Get My Tits Out' and donate at least £3 (or their currency equivalent) per skein to a women's charity of their choice.

A quick search of #titsoutcollective revealed that Baa Baa Brighouse, Giddy Aunt Yarns, The Urban Purl, Old Maiden Aunt, Hand Print By Celine, Queen of Purls, Huckleberry Knits, Joma Yarn and Serenity Fibers are amongst the dyers taking part.

Set your alarm for 1st July when Countess Ablaze's list of all the Tits Out Collective will go live.

Holiday knitting

I'm going on holiday for a week and have packed Wool and The Gang's Total Eclipse sweater to knit whilst I'm away. I saw the variegated yarn whilst on my Sirdar Knit Now prizewinners day nearly a fortnight ago and bought the kit on sale.

It's a cotton yarn (sadly not made in the UK) with a vibrant mix of pink, black, white and orange colours.

Whilst the pattern knits the sweater in garter stitch I've changed it to rib and stocking stitch because I think it suits the yarn better.

The sweater is knitted on 5mm needles. The circular 5mm needle I have has metal tips. I've taken wooden circular knitting needles on board planes before but I suspect metal may be on the banned list, so I'd rather not risk it and am packing the project in my suitcase.

What are you taking to knit on holiday this year?