Universal Yarn Creative Network
Inspiration By Design
It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Rawr! It’s the Croc-a-Scarf in Classic Shades!
This crochet piece is worked lengthwise in crocodile stitches, creating a crescent that follows the shape of your shoulders. Self-shading Classic Shades, shown here in colorway 733 “Jubilant,” provides effortless color. What a vibrant and fun crochet project!
It’s Throwback Thursday!
Today, we feature the Back To School Vest. This vest was originally designed for Deluxe Worsted Concord Tweed, a member of the Deluxe Family that had flecks of color throughout. It was exactly the same weight as Deluxe Worsted and Deluxe Worsted Superwash 100% wools, making it a perfect match for those yarns.
If you’re looking for a more tweedy look, I have to mention Llamalini. I mention it because it’s a gorgeous yarn, but also because we just got in four new colors and really, I’ll take any excuse to knit something out of Llamalini’s blend of linen, royal llama, and silk bourette. So luxurious.
The Back to School Vest is knitted in the round up to the armholes, then back and forth to the shoulders. This is pictured as a top, but would also work well as a layering piece. I can see this with a pair of jeans over an untucked shirt for a look that says, “yes, I look this good without even trying.”
Happy knitting!
I’ve seen it in myself many times before, and it’s been so much fun to see it in my coworker, Katie: the New Craft Addiction Honeymoon Period. After we had a little learning session here in the office with basic warping and weaving, Katie took home the 15″ Cricket to play with. It was quite evident from the three (yes, 3!) scarves Katie finished over the course of just one week, that Katie had been bitten by the weaving bug. Today, I want to talk about two of these scarves.
Both scarves were taken and adapted from Jane Patrick and Stephanie Flynn Sokolov’s book, “Woven Scarves”, and both used an 8 dent reed.
The first was based on the “Chunky Check” pattern from the book. It’s a plain weave technique that’s all about strategic color change in both warp and weave. Katie used our Ready to Dye angora blend yarn for warp and weft. Half was undyed, and half was dyed using…get this…Crystal Light packets! I’ve heard of Kool-Aid dyeing before, but never Crystal Light. Makes sense it would work in the same way!
Here’s an in-progress pic. Katie is obviously a natural – her selvedges look perfect.
Off the loom. Katie opted for hemstitching at each end with tied fringe. This scarf took only about a third each of her two Ready to Dye hanks.
And beauty shots here in the office. Katie gets tired of hearing me harp about the importance of blocking. But look what a difference it makes! With a few exceptions, I never consider a knit, crochet, or woven project to be complete until either wet or steam blocking have happened.
Scarf number two is based on the Posh Plum scarf from “Woven Scarves”. This project is another excellent illustration of how plain weave can often look anything but plain. Two yarns, in this case Llamalini and Whisper Lace, both from our Fibra Natura collection come together in an indescribable harmony. Colors are 204 Cloudy Morning in the Whisper Lace, and 101 Birchbark in the Llamalini.
Because Whisper Lace is a laceweight yarn, working this project on an 8 dent reed made for an extremely light, airy scarf.
Here it is on the loom, and just off the loom. Katie also went with hemstitch and fringe finishing on this scarf. After handwashing, it measures 80″. Can you believe she used less than a ball/hank of each yarn?
As you can see, Heather really likes this scarf; lots of glamour shots! I must say, I covet this one myself.
Stay tuned for next time when Weaving Wednesdays breaks into fall projects!
It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Today, the Idyll Hat and Cowl in Ariana.
We just got a new yarn in, and as so often happens, we got super excited and had to make something new! Ariana (100g/91yds) is a unique yarn. It’s a kind of a mesh tube made of bamboo with a squishy polyamide filling. Based just on the pictures I’d seen, I knew it would have excellent stitch definition, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so soft to the touch. I’m always up for a bulky-weight squeezable yarn!
The pattern is both written and charted, and works up quickly on US size 10 needles (size 9 for the hat). Maybe my “to knit” list is getting too long, but I don’t care, this is getting added. There’s always room for a super-soft hat and cowl!
It’s Throwback Thursday!
Today, we share the Garter Rib Cowl. Originally designed for Cashmere Fleur de Lys, this pattern would provide plenty of style in any worsted weight yarn, particularly one with a bit of spring to it.
This would be a great two ball project in Uptown Worsted 100% anti-pilling acrylic, as well as Deluxe Worsted or Deluxe Worsted Superwash 100% wool. It would be a three ball project with a bit more drape in Llamalini, but with the heathered tones of that linen/llama/silk bourette blend, it would be a great look.
I’ve got some Deluxe Worsted left over from my 30 Day Sweater KAL project, and this looks like the perfect project for it. A simple two-row repeat on size 9 needles sounds like a great break from back-to-school insanity. Let’s all knit and relax!
Love it! Raising Cane (ha!) builds on the single twists of Block Eleven, bringing in a crossover twisted main stem. But this block adds a couple of new techniques.
First, there’s twisting stitches by working through the back loop. Amy Gunderson demonstrates with this video, showing how to work both knits and purls through the back loop to create a twisted stitch that really stands out from its background. This is a very effective technique when used with a smooth yarn like Uptown Worsted.
Next, there’s the matter of crossing over! You may recall that last time we shared a video on adding right and left traveling twists to your knits. This time, we build on that by adding right and left traveling purls. This lets those twisted stitches that pop so well move to outline the leaves.
I don’t know about you, but I learned something! And I’ll definitely keep twisted stitches and right and left twists in my knitting toolbox as a method for outlining other designs or adding more texture to my projects. Very exciting!
We’d love to see your blocks! You can share with us on Facebook, or in our Ravelry group.
Check back in two weeks for the next block in the series, and a new technique!
It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Are you ready for school? Me neither! But the Back To School Backpack is a reminder that it’s time to gear up for Fall.
I love the combination of self-shading yarn with a solid Deluxe Worsted Superwash accent and tie. The entire backpack is worked in one piece. Begin by knitting the back piece from the center out. Next, work the side and bottom sideways and attach to the back piece as you go. Stitches for the front piece are worked from the outside in. Voila! A minimum of seaming!
This design is made in our brand new Classic Shades Metallic (175yds/100g). When I say “brand new,” I mean that we literally just got our first shipment from the mill a few minutes ago. Classic Shades Metallic has the gorgeous self-shading tones and sheen of Classic Shades, plus metallic thread for extra bling.
Now that it’s arrived, there goes my productivity for the day.
Happy knitting!
It’s Throwback Thursday!
Today, Antonia!
Antonia was originally designed for Dolce Merino, a great 50/50 merino/microfiber blend. Fortunately, we have two excellent substitutes!
Merino XF Superwash is 100% extra fine merino. Very soft, very springy, and just the right weight to make this cool-weather cardi. Alternately, we’d recommend knitter-favorite Deluxe DK Superwash 100% superwash wool. If you want to perfectly duplicate the look of the original, several of the greens are a very good match.
The braid portion of the pattern consists of right twists of the type we’ve been working on in our Afghan Knitalong. The bobbles are made by knitting multiple times into the same stitch, then immediately decreasing to make a raised bump in the fabric. They really pop against the reverse stockinette column background.
We hope you enjoy this free stylish cardi-style jacket. Happy knitting!
Ever since I started the weaving blog and bringing in my finished projects, my coworker Katie has been coveting the Cricket. Katie works just one door down from me in the office and is the (very important) (and very patient!) customer service lead for our small Universal team. A couple of weeks ago I brought in the loom and got to teaching Katie how to weave.
Katie is very good at understanding the mechanics of things. She taught me how to use one of those little i-cord crank gadgets because I just couldn’t quite get it on my own! So, I knew learning how to warp and weave would be a snap for her.
Here I am, explaining how important it is to put some kind of spacer between the warp as it’s rolled onto the back beam. It turns out, the brown paper my reeds came wrapped in make an awesome spacer!
I felt a little like Tom Sawyer convincing Katie to whitewash a fence as I passed off the duty of threading the reed – not my most favorite part of warping!
After we finished warping the 5-dent reed with Uptown Worsted, we started in doing plain-weave with the super-bulky Classic Shades Big Time. I planned on making a cover to fit a 12″ pillow form. We warped the loom 13″ wide to account for draw-in and seaming. Weaving with a yarn as bulky as the Big Time made this my quickest project yet. The two sides of the pillow cover were done in under an hour total of weaving time.
I decided to sew the cover using my machine, but this could just as easily be done by hand. First I zig-zagged the ends of each of the two cover pieces, and then cut them apart.
I planned a button placket and hemmed that by hand using an invisible whipstitch.
Then I pinned both pieces right-sides together and stitched around three sides.
I decided to go a different direction with the buttons, but was still glad for the placket. After some buttons and button loops, the final pillowcase:
And as a pillow:
All in all, this project took around 2-3 hours to complete. Not bad, eh? Katie had such a blast, that I haven’t seen the loom for the last couple of weeks. She’s been weaving like a maniac and doing some super-fun projects. Next time, I can’t wait to share some of her finished scarves with you!
Today’s Sunday Swatch is in Saki Bamboo color 101 Crayon Box.
Saki Bamboo is a soft machine washable blend of superwash merino, rayon from bamboo, and a little nylon for extra durability. I love how crisply this yarn stripes up.
I picked this yarn because there’s a project I’ve been wanting to start, and Saki Bamboo seemed like the perfect fit. The Mystik Spiral socks use short rows to create a diagonal band across the foot and leg of a sock, ideal for a strong self-striping yarn. Sure enough, it’s looking pretty great.
I’m delighted with how well the stripes are turning out, and how soft the bamboo content makes these socks. This is definitely going to be the project I keep in my purse on vacation this year.
Happy knitting!