Textures & Treats Photo Contest

October 10, 2022October 10, 2022

Textures & Treats Photo Contest

Autumn is a wonderful season for yarn crafting. The air is cooling down, and we’re ready to work on a brand-new sweater or shawl for the season. What could be better to pair with your crafting than a tasty fall treat? From pie to Halloween candy or warm apple cider, everyone has a favorite autumn treat to enjoy while they work on a project. We wanted to combine this love of yarn and treats into a photo contest that you can participate in on social media!

Photo of Ravello in 113 Nori and 105 HoneyPot with some pumpkin cookies – Petal Shawl in Ravello (free pattern) – Wooden stitch markers made by Katrinkles Knitting Jewelry

What is a photo contest? The idea of our photo contests is to let people show their creativity by taking pictures of our yarn, a WIP, or a finished product using our yarn. In July of this year, we held a photo contest featuring our yarns and projects that used our yarns. We were very happy with the results, so we decided to bring on another one! This time with a fall theme! If you are wondering what this is all about, or you’re looking to learn more, read below to hear more about the Textures & Treats Photo Contest.

When does it start and how do I enter? Starting today (October 10th), we are giving everyone on Instagram the opportunity to participate in a fun, fall-themed photo contest. We can’t forget to mention, there is a great prize for the winner! If you don’t yet have Instagram, feel free to create an account (it’s quick, easy, and free!) and follow us @universal_yarn for more details about the contest. Now time for the details!

What are the rules? First, grab your Universal Yarn, WIP, or FO (finished object), along with your favorite autumn treat. Then snap a picture! The setting is your choice – be creative! Once you do that, post the photo to your Instagram, tag us in it @universal_yarn, and use the hashtag #UYtexturesandtreatsphotocontest. You must be following us on Instagram to be officially entered, and we ask that you also DM (Direct Message) us a jpg image of your entry. Please note, by using the hashtag, you are allowing us to repost your content. The deadline to enter is November 9th!

Rules for the Textures & Treats Photo Contest – Truva WIP is Yonca Ozbelli’s – Gold stitch markers made by Erin Fisher (https://www.instagram.com/onfishershook/)

How do I win? After the November 9th deadline, our staff will vote and select the top 5 photos of those who have entered. On November 10, we will post the Top 5 as a carousel post on our Instagram, and you will vote for the winner through comments on the post. The winner will then be announced on November 15th, and a great prize will be on its’ way! Now, let’s think of some inspiration!

Inspiration? We hope the photos within this blog provide inspiration but let’s take some time to go through what we are looking for! There are so many amazing things about the fall season, whether that be the leaves turning colors, or pumpkin spice anything. So, what would make a good photo? How about a sweater with fall leaves, a pumpkin in the background, and a warm apple cider? That sounds like a great idea. If you’re not a big fan of pumpkins or apple cider, do not worry. One more idea could be your favorite Universal Yarn with a tasty Pecan Pie on the side, perhaps throw in some leaves or acorns as well. The options are endless, and there’s no telling what great yarn photos you can come up with!

139 Masquerade in Uni Merino with candy apples

We hope you decide to join us this autumn for our Textures & Treats Photo Contest!

Questions? If you have any questions, please email rferrel@universalyarn.com and I will be happy to assist!

We can’t wait to see your photos! – Robert

May 5, 2021May 5, 2021

Flash Birthday Giveaway – Lollipop

Late in the day Tuesday, I was chatting with Universal Yarn’s Creative Lead, Rachel Brockman. We were discussing future blog posts when she dropped this little tidbit.

Oh, we’re doing something special, all right. Rachel’s a fantastic designer, and she deserves all the crafting love in the world. (Also, I did get her permission to write a blog post about her birthday, bless her camera-shy heart).

So everybody, here’s Rachel!

This is one of several times that we pressed Rachel into service as a model. This time, it was for her free design Olive (pattern link here), which combines a skein of Kingston Tweed with a skein of laceweight Penna to create a beautiful hazy, earthy effect.

Crochet? Yep, Rachel does that too, as with the free Alpine Wrap (pattern link here). Beautiful oversized lace goes quickly in Deluxe Bulky Superwash worked up on a US M/N (9mm) hook.

And we absolutely must mention one of our most popular free patterns, the stunning Jay Sweater (pattern link here) in Kingston Tweed. Rachel’s love of natural beauty shows through in this design…

…which was so pretty we couldn’t stop with just one color combination. Shown here: Kingston Tweed colors 101 Talc and 108 Amethyst.

So I’m sorry, Rachel, but we will be making a big deal out of your birthday, and we hope that everyone will join us!

We chose Lollipop for this giveaway because of its sweet birthday cake feel! Originally from e-book Sweet Treats, This boxy pullover uses twisted stitch cabling to create a three dimensional field along the body and sleeves.

This piece makes excellent use of superwash extrafine merino Donnina. Its high twist gives it great stitch definition, and the colors definitely pop!

To get the Lollipop Pullover free, use the buy it now or add to cart links on the Ravelry pattern page. Then enter coupon code BIRTHDAY where you see the “use a coupon code” links that appear during purchase.

Not a Ravelry user? Drop us a line by midnight on 5/8 and we’ll get you taken care of. Feel free to share this giveaway!

Rachel in Knitty’s Iyokan, knitted in Wool Pop.

Many happy returns of the day, Rachel! Next year, we promise we’ll keep it low key!

October 23, 2018

Mole Day

We’re big fans of science holidays here at Universal Yarn (see Pi Day). After all, next to pure creativity, math is the foundation for knitwear design. Stitch counts, gauge, garment grading, angles, shaping: all of these things and more rely on basic and advanced calculations in order to achieve desired results in knitting.

I have loved math for as long as I can remember, decades before I learned to knit. It was such a comfort with its logical wizardry. I learned that there may be more than one way to tackle any given problem. But in the end, whatever the road taken to get there, math problems have solutions and formulas and satisfying conclusions.

Enter: Mole Day. In addition to being a cute/ugly insectivore, a mole refers to a unit of measurement, Avogadro’s number which is 6.02 x 10^23. (Read more about the history of this here) While I have never applied this to a knitting pattern, this number is forever seared into my memory thanks to a very catchy jingle I learned in my high school chemistry class. It goes a little something like:

“Let’s roll out the barrels in 1993
To celebrate a very special part of chemistry
Avogadro would be proud if he had only heard
Six point oh two times ten! To the twenty third”

Yes, I have just dated myself. But anyway, back in 1993 at 6:02 am on October 23rd, those of us who were total geeks (and looking for extra credit, I’m sure) showed up for some mole day festivities in our chem lab. The song is much more fun with the jingle that goes along with it, but I’d like to spare you from my singing voice.

There are many other songs out there devoted to mole day. I should know – I just spent 15 minutes out of my work day listening to them! Here’s one of my favorites:

I’d also like to turn our attention back to the fuzzy variety of mole which has been the inspiration for a whole slew of adorable knit and crochet creatures. My favorite is Eugene Mole designed by Paola Navarro (pattern link):

Molly Mole designed by Debi Birkin is cute as can be (pattern link):

Uptown DK would be perfect for this project!

Happy mole day!

September 13, 2018

A Free Pattern – and a thank you.

Friends, we’re deeply touched by everybody who has contacted us to be sure we’re okay. Why wouldn’t we be okay, you may ask?

Right now it’s beautiful outside, but it’s going to be a long weekend. On the work front, we’re preparing early – there WILL be a Free Pattern Friday (and it’s gorgeous) – and we’re battening down all the hatches. On the home front, it’s time to get ready:

pick up anything outdoors that can turn into a missile

stock up on non-perishable food (our power company estimates 1-3 million Carolinians will be without electricity)

have a plan for pets

brush up on safety tips

DO NOT drive through standing water

All of that said, Charlotte is in as good a shape as it’s possible to be. We’ve had a bit to prepare. Our water system is very reliable, our local breweries are stocking up (on water, people!), and we’ve got plenty of emergency personnel on standby. Our office plans to stay open for regular business, but if things look dicey, we’ll put staff safety first. And a memo was sent this morning to clean out the office fridge, just in case!

And again, we are moved by everyone who has checked in. So, here’s a thank you.

Go to the pattern page on Ravelry (here’s a link), and enter coupon code NAVIGATE by using the “use a coupon code” links that appear during purchase.

This pattern is part of Beach House, a collection of five designs to knit in Cotton Supreme and Cotton Supreme Batik. Amy Gunderson cleverly used self-striping Cotton Supreme Batik to create the rays coming from the center along the garter stitch portion.

This is a good three-season project, and the name.. well, the name is just perfect, as we navigate this storm.

An important crafter’s tip for those of us who may be without electricity for a while – print anything you want to work on now, while you can!

We leave you with our current live webcam addiction – the Ocean Cam on Frying Pan Tower, located off the coast.

We hope that flag keeps flying. Stay safe and dry, everyone!

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018

TNNA Sneak Peek!

It’s that time of year again!

The team is in Cleveland at the National Needlearts Summer Show, setting up booth 1032! We’ve got a lot of brand new things to share with our LYS friends, so we thought we’d tease folks a little with a glimpse of what we’re bringing.

Of course, we don’t want to give too much away. If you’re at the show, swing by booth 1032. We’d love to see you. Everybody else… stay tuned – there’s lots of good stuff on the way!

September 24, 2016

Check out our knockers!

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.

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.

If you’re interested in helping, visit http://www.knittedknockers.org for patterns and more.

Happy knitting!

June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

Free Pattern Friday – TNNA Cardi

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the TNNA Cardi in Bamboo Pop.

Here’s how this sweater happened.

“You know what we ought to do at this year’s National Needlearts Association Summer Show? We ought to all wear matching outfits.”

“Yes! And they should all be sweaters in our yarn!”

“Yes!! And we should make them for the entire show staff!!”

Sometimes we get a little carried away. But hey, go big or go home, right? And thus was born the TNNA Cardi.

Continue reading “Free Pattern Friday – TNNA Cardi”

January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

Gorgeous Giveaway!

Have you visited Annie’s Craft Store’s new site yet? I love features like Build-A-Kit, which makes it easy to grab everything I need for a project that catches my fancy. The stitch guides are a great help too – it’s nice to have that resource at my fingertips. Annie’s is proud of the new site too, with good reason, and they’re having a sale to celebrate!

From now until Jan 23rd, use the code NEWYARN at the Annie’s site and get 20% off any yarn purchase. This is great, because we all know, even if you’re on a yarn diet, sale yarn doesn’t count!

To keep the celebration rolling, they’re also giving away a subscription to Crochet! magazine. We’re partnering with them for one of our favorite projects from the Spring 2015 issue, Amy Gunderson’s Bruges Edged Round Throw shown below (Ravelry link here). What a great burst of color for Spring!

So here’s the deal: comment on this post and tell us your favorite kind of project to crochet. We’ll select one entry to win a year’s subscription to Crochet! magazine as well as enough yarn to make the Bruges Edged Round Throw. Enter by Jan 30th to be counted!

We can’t wait to hear from you!

September 16, 2014September 18, 2014

Crochet Slippers – 1, 2, 3…Win!

Win a magazine and yarn! Keep reading!

One of the many fun parts of my job here at Universal Yarn is getting to see all the new projects about to go live in magazines. Not long ago I received an email and photo from the folks at Crochet! Magazine letting us know about an adorable pair of slippers made in our Deluxe Worsted Superwash yarn. This project is the Lucy Slippers by the talented Dora Ohrenstein.

This particular issue of Crochet! is jam-packed with tons of great projects. We’re so proud to have our yarn featured in such a cute, wearable item! I was so excited about these slippers that I wanted to do a small crochet along here in the office. Katie in customer service (you may know her for her recent weaving obsession) is also an avid crocheter. She was happy to participate!

Katie decided to do her pair in the same yarn used in original Lucy, but opted to mix things up by using several different colors. She chose 709, 710, and 731. After skimming the pattern and construction, I decided these would look great in one of our self-shading yarns. Poems was my yarn of choice, in color 584 Aurora.

We’re partnering with Crochet! magazine to bring you a great gift, either for yourself or a loved one. We’re right on the tip of the beginning of gift-crocheting season, right? All you have to do is answer this question in the comments:

Who would you make the Lucy slippers for, and why?

One lucky winner will receive a copy of the Winter Crochet Gifts in 1-2-3 issue of Crochet! Magazine, 2 balls of Poems and 2 balls of Deluxe Worsted Superwash in colors of her or his choosing. The cut-off for the contest is midnight, September 30. We can’t wait to hear your answers!

February 19, 2014

On The Road to Stitches West!

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton and Amy Gunderson at Stitches East 2013

We’re packed and ready to fly out to Stitches West 2014, happening this weekend Feb 23-24!

This is a fun show that we always look forward to. It’s a great opportunity to connect with our customers and fellow knitters – and to pick up some delicious new yarn.

We’ll be offering kits for some of our popular patterns, like Suzy the Cuddlebunny in Wicked Fur. Suzy will be at the show, supervising us in booth 609. Stop by and give her a hug!

On Sunday at noon, Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton will be in the booth signing copies of her latest book Poems: Windfall and answering questions about texture and color. Cornelia’s a fantastic resource and very generous with her time and talent. It’s a great opportunity to meet a legendary designer.

Bring along this coupon for discounted admission. We hope to see you there!