12 Days of Winter – Series 6 Edition, Part I

This is part 1 in a four-part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, Series 6 Edition.

No matter which holiday you celebrate, winter is filled with gift giving of all kinds. Each year, our design team comes together to envision what projects will embody the spirit of the season, and creates kits that are exclusively sold at Local Yarn Shops. For this 12 Days of Winter, it’s all about bright and festive cheer! From the twinkling of snow and lights, to the bold colors of candies and toys, 2022 is a year for joy.

Today, I’m going to highlight the first three days from the 12 Days of Winter – Series 6, which you can find, or order via drop shipping, at any Local Yarn Shop that carries Universal Yarn. The Partridge Cowl, Candy Cane Lane hat, and Swiss Meringue Slippers each have special and thoughtful details that will delight knitters and gift recipients alike.

The Partridge Cowl is a beautifully colorful piece, designed by Rachel Brockman. It’s knit seamlessly in the round and uses stranded colorwork throughout. Since you are working with multiple colors of yarn throughout the whole project, we have labeled the difficulty as intermediate, and we have a blog post to help you navigate this technique at this link. It begins with a provisional cast-on which is unraveled and then grafted to the opposite end with the Kitchener stitch for a true seamless look when finished. The yarn in this kit is Rico Design Baby Dream DK Uni, paired with Rico Design Baby Dream DK. Both the solid and multi versions of this yarn are made of 50% polyacrylic and 50% polyamide, making for an ultra-soft cowl that’s perfect for bundling up this winter.

My favorite part about this design is how the birds alternate their direction throughout the cowl. They were described as “dancing” in one of our newsletters, and I fell in love! Every time I see them now, I start humming the classic Christmas carol and envision the detailing near their beaks as notes of a birdsong twinkling to life.

Candy Cane Lane, by Rachel Brockman, is a jovial hat featuring a quintessential Candy Cane design, with a peppermint swirl at its crown. It’s knit in the round from the bottom up and uses stranded colorwork to create the swirls and motif. Made with just two balls of Fibra Natura Donnina (100% superwash merino wool), this sweet and smaller kit makes a wonderful stocking stuffer for a loved one, or a fun, compact WIP for holiday travels.

Hats are such a wonderful seasonal accessory – especially when you get to tell people “Thanks, I made it myself!” With the bold contrast of the red and white colors, the Candy Cane Lane hat is a head-turner, so get those compliment responses ready!

Last, but not least, we have the Swiss Meringue Slippers, by Aubrey Busek. These snuggle-worthy slipper boots are worked flat in two parts, first the foot, and next the cuff, which is sewn on later. Some of the seaming involves using the Mattress Stitch, which we have a handy blog tutorial for, found at this link! Buttons of your choice are added after seaming, for the final touch of winter cheer. Three colors of Universal Yarn Deluxe DK Superwash are used in alternating stripes with subtle detailing to create a rich texture on the feet, while swirled cables dance up the cuffs. It’s a great project for those who want a colorful piece, without doing stranded colorwork, as these slippers feature a mosaic colorwork technique where you only use one color at a time. The 100% superwash wool makes for plush, yet durable slippers for season-long wear.

Booties, as I like to call them, are an absolute must-have for cold weather comfort. The colors are fantastic, making them as dazzling and decadent as the cookie puffs they’re named for. This project is a wonderful take on the normal “Holiday Classics,” and I will shamelessly be working on this kit for myself before I even think about their gift-giving appeal!

Thank you for reading along as we explore the first three beautiful designs from the Series 6 edition of our annual 12 Days of Winter Kit Collection. Join us tomorrow for three more designs, and what makes each of them so special and unique. Do you have a favorite from what has been shared so far? Let us know in the comments below or on social media. Follow & tag us on Instagram at @Universal_Yarn and use the hashtag #UniversalYarn, or find and follow us on TikTok or Facebook at @UniversalYarn.

Remember, these exclusive kits can be purchased at local yarn store retailers near you. Not in stock at your local shop? Ask them about drop shipping – order through them, and we ship to you! Each kit comes with the pattern, the yarn required to make it, and a printed version of the pattern. Use our store locator to find your nearest Universal Yarn retailer!

Happy Stitching!
Ashley Jane McIntyre