Category: 12 Days of Winter 2021

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Day 2 of Winter – Series 5 Edition

This is part 2 in a 12 part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, series 5 Edition.

Have you ever been on a classic sleigh ride on a cold winter night? Maybe you’ve gone on a lovely horse-drawn carriage ride on a chilly day. If not, perhaps it’s on your wintertime bucket list? Whether you have or haven’t, one thing you surely need while gliding gently through the snowy woods is a set of woolly accessories to keep you cozy and warm, and the Sleigh Ride Set is a perfect choice!

The Sleigh Ride Set is knit using my favorite stash staple, Deluxe Worsted, which is a 100% non-superwash wool yarn. I choose colors 12282 Hunter Green and 40002 Millet for the design – the green provides excellent, earthy contrast, and the lightness of the undyed yarn is the perfect choice for showing off plump cables. In this set, you’ll get to explore the following techniques:

  • Knitting Small Circumferences in the Round
  • Cable Knitting
  • Ribbing
  • Making a Pom Pom
The hat is topped with a fluffy pom pom in the contrast color.

It’s no secret that I love the outdoors, so it always serves as great inspiration. My entire life, my favorite trees have been evergreen trees. I love that they provide a bit of color during the leafless time of year, are visually stunning with their variety of needle lengths (I mean, they have needles – and I’m a knitter, what’s not to love?), feature everything from adorable and small to impressively large pine cones, provide tasty pine nuts (yum!), and…my favorite thing about them…the amazing fragrance! So I can’t help myself – I look to them often for design inspiration and the ideas keep coming. In this case, they are the inspiration for the cable motif that decorates the hat and mitts. Ribbing that features a rope of cables serves as the trunk in the contrast color ribbing and cuffs, then the boughs begin during the main portion of both accessories.

Each mitt in the set mirrors the other one.

Doesn’t this set make you immediately cross your fingers for snow (especially if you live in a place that lacks snow, like me!)? I know snow is unlikely, but the mornings here have still been chilly. And now that it’s December, I’m finally in the mood for some holiday tunes and I’d love to share my favorites with you! Now I’m daydreaming about that sleigh ride – but with the extra magic of festive tunes in the background, all while wearing my delightful knit set!

My first pick is just plain fun. It reminds me of my childhood because it’s my mom’s favorite holiday song: Winter Wonderland by Bing Crosby. It’s also the perfect song for this accessory duo, after all, it starts:

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
We’re happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland”.

I can’t help but smile when I hear this song. It literally makes me warm with joy and instantly in the mood for all things holiday – from decorating to gift-giving, to frolicking in the woods with my two pups, it truly captures the joy of the season.

Next up, another traditional choice for the season! I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of lyrical holiday music, with a few exceptions like the one listed above. Most of the time I prefer instrumental music to spark those festive feelings. And what better instrumental, classical music than the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky? I was never a ballerina, but I’ve always enjoyed ballet, and seeing The Nutcracker brings me much joy. I may not need to wear a hat and mitts during the event, but they’ll surely be a benefit while walking to the theater on a chilly night!

Looking for music to soothe your ears while knitting this gorgeous kit? My last recommendation is a go-to for me, but it’s definitely not quite traditional. Whether I am at work, relaxing at home, or even doing my everyday chores, I really enjoy listening to lo-fi music. The beats are so calming and help me focus. Lucky for us, there are some great options available on YouTube, like the perfect Lofi Christmas Radio by Lofi Geek. This is hands-down what I’ll most likely be listening to while I work on my gift-knitting this year. And, tying this all back to the Sleigh Ride Set – this would truly be a fabulous gift, as a kit or as the actual hand-knit items!

Are you a fan of seasonal music? What do you love to listen to while knitting gifts? Let me know in the comments!

Remember, these exclusive kits can be purchased at local yarn store retailers near you. Each kit comes with the pattern, the yarn required to make it, a mini Universal Yarn project bag, and stitch marker. Use our store locator to find your nearest Universal Yarn retailer!

Happy crafting!

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Day 1 of Winter – Series 5 Edition

This is part 1 in a 12 part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, series 5 Edition.

Hello all! 12 Days of Winter is upon us again, and this year marks the 5th year of our kit collection. We’ve gone above and beyond this year to deliver the best kits and patterns possible, and we’ve aimed to showcase as many of our beautiful yarns as we can in the collection. I thoroughly enjoy designing for the 12 Days of Winter because there’s so much variety in designs, all centered around the same thing: the joy of wintertime. I’m a person who loves all things winter and holidays, so I tend to have what feels like endless ideas for these particular projects.

Crystalline Cowl Kit – knit using Dona, Minou, and Universe

For Day 1 of Winter, I designed the Crystalline Cowl. I’m often inspired by nature and color for designs, but in this case, I was inspired by a place I’d love to travel to someday. My absolute ‘dream’ place to visit or even to live would be in the Alsace region of France. This idyllic European region looks like it is the center of a fairytale book series, and I think that would make it such a special place to live. The mixture of the golden lights and the white snowy rooftops in photos of Alsace during winter were my inspiration sources for the Crystalline Cowl.

Image sourced from Travel France Bucket List
Crystalline Cowl Side View

Some of the techniques you’ll explore in the Crystalline Cowl pattern are:

  • knitting in the round
  • grafting
  • slipped stitch textures
  • bobbles

No matter where you live, a hand knit cowl will keep you cozy, warm, and stylish on cold days. One of our newest yarns, Minou , was my first choice for this ‘lights and snow’ inspired design. When we first introduced Minou, we knew it would create an incredible, fuzzy lining for accessories. I decided to make the Crystalline Cowl fully lined with the Minou yarn in the color 101 Borzoi. First, the lining is knit using Minou held on its own. Once you complete that portion of the cowl, you join our Dona yarn in the color 101 Vanilla and begin the ribbed bottom of the cowl body. Dona is a soft and plush superwash extrafine merino yarn, perfect for garments and accessories. This combination of yarns feels like something ideal to wear walking along a charming street of shops on a cold winter day.

Wintertime in Strasbourg, Alsace

Finally, to compliment both of the main yarns, I added glimmering Universe in the color 10-03 Crystal. Universe is a unique, shimmering blend of linen and cotton with a metallic thread wrapped around the base. It adds an ethereal, magical glimmer to any project that reminds me of the reflection of lights on snow. Universe is held with Dona for the main jacquard and bobble pattern worked over the body of the cowl. The cowl is long enough to wear draped over your shoulders, or doubled up for maximum coziness. Once all sections are complete, the lining is flipped inside the main cowl, and the ends are grafted together. Top tip: if you’d like to skip the provisional cast-on and grafting called for in the pattern, you can simply cast on and seam the lining to the main cowl body. There you have it- you’ve made the most squishy, soft, and luxurious feeling accessory ever!

Christmas market in Strasbourg- image sourced from christmas.alsace

I can certainly see someone sporting their Crystalline Cowl while walking around a Christmas market in Strasbourg. Known as the ‘Capitale de Noel’ or Capital of Christmas, Strasbourg is certainly on my wintertime travel bucket list, and I’ll be bringing my Crystalline Cowl with me when I go! Tell us in the comments: what place inspired a knit or crochet project you’ve made?

Crystalline Cowl

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the inspiration for this design, and can’t wait for you to see all of the 12 Days of Winter projects for this year.

Remember, these exclusive kits can be purchased at local yarn store retailers near you. Each kit comes with the pattern, the yarn required to make it, a mini Universal Yarn project bag, and stitch marker. Use our store locator to find your nearest Universal Yarn retailer!

Happy crafting,

Aubrey