We love this design for the way it uses Major’s self-striping qualities. Two complementary colors, 103 Capri and 105 Aloe, are swapped every other row. Crochet two rows with A, then two with B, etcetera. There’s no need to cut colors, you can just carry them up the sides as you go.
This free pattern is written and charted. It’s a six-row repeat that’s easy to memorize. Pretty timely for those of us who need a jump start on making gifts!
Tune back in tomorrow for another Major pattern! Happy crafting!
Yes! Our new Major yarn (no pun intended) is here, and we’re shipping it off to LYSes as we speak! We love this yarn. It comes in a big, beautiful, squeezable skein. How big?
Amy shows she’s behind Major 100%.
Big. 200g/328yds of bulky self-striping goodness.
We love this yarn. We’ve already had a great time designing with it, as with the Pineapple Peacock Shawl at right. Two balls of Major on aUS Size K-10½ (6.5 mm) hook makes a really dramatic and satisfying piece.
But to really celebrate, we’re sharing a new free pattern in Major every day this week! Today: the Blue Heartstrings Pullover.
Knitted in pieces and seamed, this sweater features crossed cables are repeated on the front and back (back view shown at right).
The yarn quantity given is enough to complete the project for that particular size. However, if you want to be doubly sure to match the striping on the front/back and sleeves, you may wish to purchase an extra ball in order to start at the same place in the color patterning in the yarn ball.
You’re familiar with the story of Briar Rose, right? She’s the girl who was pricked by a spindle and fell asleep for a hundred years. I’m sure many of us who have been bitten by the crafting bug and lost countless hours to projects can relate. Fortunately, this project goes more quickly than Briar Rose’s sleep.
Cute, right? I love this creative use of self-striping yarn. You start each square at the center, then work your way out to the edge. It ensures that each square will coordinate, but still be different than its neighbor. Despite being a larger piece, this is a great carry-along knit because each square is worked separately and then pieced together.
The pattern calls for two of our newest yarns, Adore and its companion Adore Colors (273yds/100g), a DK-weight blend of soft superwash merino and acrylic that’s perfect for projects like this, that you’ll probably find yourself tossing in the washing machine sometime.
Also on my list to try in Adore Colors: the Beachcomber Blanket pictured at right. It makes such clever use of individual panels stitched together, to be sure those color repeats stay nice and long, rather than thinning out of the width of a blanket.
No matter your plans for the weekend, we hope you take some time to make something beautiful, just for you.
Greetings from Stitches Texas! We’re having a blast in booth 517, talking to crafters and, okay, maybe doing a little shopping of our own.
However, we want to share something else with you. While we’re at Stitches Texas, we’re showing our knockers to the world!
We speak, of course, of knitted knockers, which we made to support knittedknockers.org. It’s a great organization dedicated to providing knitted prostheses to women who have lost a breast to cancer. For this contest, each vote is one dollar, with proceeds benefitting the organization. It’s a creative way to help people in need.
We entered two pairs in the contest.
First, Sparkle Nation! Designed by Amy Gunderson, these use our 10th anniversary yarn, Universe. There’s a “best branding” category, so we made sure to brand these knockers.
Not that kind of branding.
Amy put a little “UY” at the base. We love these fancy sparkly numbers. Frankly, we’d put our knockers up against anybody else’s any day of the week.
But those aren’t the only pair we’ve got on display!
Designer Tori Gurbisz is new to our team, but has instantly fit right in with the Universal family. She designed a pair in Bamboo Pop, complete with frilly Whisper Lace lingerie.
Tori used her pair to make the point that every woman deserves to feel beautiful. The ribboned lace is symbolic of that.
If you’re at Stitches Texas and feel like judging peoples’ knockers, go by the wall and see what’s front and center. Our knockers could always use support, but however you vote, it’s all for a good cause. There are some truly bodacious entries and more than a handful really stand out and demand attention.
Recently, we sent some stitching work to a talented local knitter and teacher, Sandy Harris. (Side note about Sandy – she’s also a creator of the knitting game Last Knitter Standing. If you haven’t tried it, you should – it’s a hoot.) When we got Sandy’s project back, we were delighted to also receive this – a new one-skein pattern in Bamboo Bloom Handpaints! She had picked up a skein of the yarn and been inspired. It’s not hard to see why – Steven Be’s custom colorways certainly fire the imagination.
Sandy has created a moebius cowl with judiciously spaced yarn overs for additional pizzazz. This cowl-with-a-twist uses a moebius cast-on, which may be a new technique for some of you. It certainly is for me! With that in mind, our newest designer, Tori Gurbisz, volunteered her hands to show us how it’s done. These photos cover Row 1 of the moebius cast-on in the pattern.
You’re going to wind up with a loop within a loop. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to be kind of “tied” to itself like that. This technique will put a half-twist in your finished cowl.
We hope you get the chance to try something new this weekend. And if you’ve got questions, let us know – we love to help!
Knitted flat and seamed, this pattern is written and charted and contains a schematic. The lace inserts are right and left twists – no cable needle required.
We hope you enjoy this lovely project, and that you get to enjoy the Autumn breeze at least once this weekend.
And DW answered, “Ah, but you’re just right for so many things! Lots of people want a littler yarn for littler people!” And DW was right! People did want DK for kid projects.
That’s Hurricane Hermine, bearing down on us like a very wet, very angry freight train. Chance of rain: 100%. Chance of us holing up with some good yarn: also 100%. It’s time to bring a little sunshine indoors until this all blows over.
The Sunbeam Tunic in Good Earth Multi features sunny motifs to brighten up a dreary day. Good Earth Multi linen/cotton blend (170yds/100g) is a great choice for this – the plant fibers let the tunic drape and fall without bunching up or grabbing onto an inner fabric layer. Thsi should keep you busy enough to forget about the weather, but on a size 9 (5.5mm) hook, it won’t take forever to finish.
If you’re in the path of the storm, we hope you stay safe, warm, and dry. We wish you all sunbeams and rainbows!
We are so, so lucky to work with so many amazing LYSes. Case in point: we can enjoy the talents of Alice Gossette and Kat Koeller of The Thankful Ewe in New Bremen, Ohio. This dynamic duo have appeared here before, with the free Summer Shawl in Bamboo Pop. They’ve graciously shared this design with us as well.
It’s called the Corner to Corner Throw because it’s crocheted… wait for it… corner to corner! We love how they coordinated Classic Shades 731 Natural Glow with solid Uptown Worsted in 328 Dijon for the fringe. It’s a great choice that takes the throw up a notch.
Working corner to corner means that the bands of color change height as the rows lengthen and shorten, an excellent use of self-striping yarn. It’s a simple way to give even more interest to an already striking pattern.
We hope you find time to work on something beautiful this weekend, either for yourself or for someone you love.
Knitted in pieces and seamed, this sweater features crossed cables are repeated on the front and back (back view shown at right).
