Category: Pattern

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Free Pattern – Behemoth Scarf

Sometimes we have a free pattern that slips under the radar, since we’re so eager to share it that we can’t wait for a Free Pattern Friday.  That’s the case with the crocheted Behemoth Scarf in Revolutions.

(Pattern link here).

Published at the end of the year, the holiday rush meant that this generously-sized scarf didn’t get its due.  That’s a shame, because it’s a beauty.

Two cakes of self-shading Revolutions are worked lengthwise on a J-10 (6mm) hook.  This is a scarf with a length that invites wrapping and folding, but it’s easy to shorten it if you wish – just subtract chains from the beginning count in multiples of 10.  It will still be a showstopper.

Have a great week, and happy crafting!

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Free Pattern Friday – Hanasaku Cowl (Crochet)

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, it’s the crochet version of the Hanasaku Cowl, in Classic Shades Frenzy and Bamboo Bloom Handpaints (pattern link here).

We had a lot of requests for this!  The original knitted Hanasaku Cowl (free from your  LYS or for sale via Ravelry) was a very popular design, so it’s only fair that the crocheters get to take a crack at it too.

The long version of the cowl is shown, calling for two skeins of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints and two of Classic Shades Frenzy.  The pattern also includes instructions for the short version, which takes just one skein of each.

Classic Shades Frenzy is slightly bulkier than the Poems called for in the knit version, but you could easily substitute it or regular Classic Shades for the Frenzy – it’s all about whatever colors speak to you.

We used our very newest Bamboo Bloom Handpaints color, 328 Sango, with Frenzy color 915 Madras.  We were happy to see how the reds, blues, and blacks played off each other so dramatically.

For myself, one of my resolutions is to get better at crochet (so far, so good!) so I’m looking at giving this one-piece cowl a whirl.  The advantage of working at Universal is having a ton of beautiful yarn to look at – what do you think of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints 313 Kanji and Classic Shades Frenzy 909 Attic Light?  Although that 914 Botanica just peeking out behind it is also awfully nice.  Decisions, decisions.

Your LYS would have some great ideas on color combos for you to put together.

We hope you enjoy this colorful crochet cowl.  Have a fantastic weekend.

Happy crafting!

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Free Pattern Friday – Kenan’s Hoodie

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, Kenan’s Hoodie in Deluxe Worsted Tweed superwash (pattern link).

Everybody say hi to Yonca!

Yonca is our Sales Manager, and an excellent knitter and crocheter.  That’s her, sporting the Lace Leaf Pullover that she modified from the free Lace Leaf Cardigan in Garden 10.

Yonca’s kids are off at college, and like many crafting parents, she’s sending them a couple of things to help keep them warm while they’re away.  She gave her daughter a beautiful cardigan – the one we shared last week – and now her son gets his turn.

Kenan’s Hoodie is worked in pieces from the bottom up in Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash. It’s made in one of our newer colors, 915 Cloud Blue, which just straddles the line between blue and gray.

The design features a dropped shoulder and roomy hood for a casual look.  Although we’re calling this a men’s sweater, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work for a woman as well.

We love hearing stories of all the knitted and crocheted “hugs” that people send to loved ones far away.  They’re so satisfying to give and to receive.

We hope you stay warm and cozy this weekend, and that you’re able to reach out to someone you care about.

Happy crafting!

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Free Pattern Friday – Sunset Slouch

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Sunset Slouch in Poems and Deluxe Worsted Superwash (pattern link).

This adorable Fair Isle hat has already proven to be popular around the office, even before its official release.  It’s sized from newborn to adult large, so it’s a nice topper that can fit everyone.  Self-shading Poems wool gives a nice graduated color shift that keeps things interesting!

The adult size shown was the first one we knit.  Designer Rachel Brockman used a 1×1 rib long tail tubular cast-on for a nice, stretchy edge.  Rachel did a photo tutorial of this method of casting on not long ago, in a blog post about the Nutmeg Hat and Mitts kit from our 12 Days of Winter kit series.  You can find that blog post here.

Before we could publish the pattern, it caught the eye of Krista on our customer service team.  She whipped up the cute teal version shown up top for her cherub-cheeked son.  We just have to share his picture.

Awwwww!!  Great job on both the cap and its model, Krista!

We hope you have a fantastic weekend, and that you spread a little joy in your corner of the world.

Happy crafting!

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This Blanket’s So Bright I’ve Got to Wear Shades

Self-shading yarn never gets old for me. It’s so pretty and fun to watch the colors that emerge from a ball of colorful yarn. One of my favorite patterns in our Poems yarn is the Southwest Sky Afghan.

Three gorgeous colorways of Poems come together in this modular garter stitch piece. In each colorway of Poems, there are around 6 different shades, meaning in this blanket where there are 3 colorways, there are 18 different colors in the project! I believe that most any color combination could look really great in this throw. But it can be tough to just visualize what this might look like, so we thought it would be fun to see some other color combinations actually knit up.

Here are some small samples of three alternate colorways:

Colors 606 Time Travel + 604 Port of Spain + 591 Vesuvius
Colors 616 Chevron + 609 Enchanted Forest + 615 Cruise
Colors 613 Shoreline + 612 Romance + 614 Piquant

 

The examples above either fall into the same color family (generally), or value-wise are similar. It could be fun to pick out only brights, or purples, or go for highly contrasting – sky’s the limit!

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Free Pattern Friday – Candy Stripe Set

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Candy Stripe Set (pattern link here).

How’s everyone today?  Here in the Piedmont of North Carolina, we expect to get our first snowfall of the year!

Mind you, it will probably only be a dusting, but hey – it’s snow!  Those of us who are big kids at heart are ready to run outside and catch snowflakes.  Of course, because we’re adults, we’re also ready to then go back inside and knit something warm.

Perfect timing for the Candy Stripe Set!

Knit in machine washable Adore, the entire set is knit in the round.  That includes the scarf, which shows stockinette on both sides.  It’s a bright set to stand out on a gray day.

We hope you have a merry and bright weekend.

Happy knitting!

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Day 11 of Winter

What are some things that come to mind when you think of winter? Seeing your breath in the cool air? Staying warm at home as snow falls softly to the ground? Building snowmen and coming inside to a cup of warm cocoa? Whatever you envision on a cold winter’s day, Tundra is sure to keep you warm.

Tundra is cabled hat that captures the look of icy winter days, yet keeps you snug and warm. It features all-over cables that begin at the cuff and are carried into the crown shaping.

If ever there was a yarn meant to be coupled with cables, Dona would be that yarn. It has impeccable stitch definition, which is perfect for the interlocking twists and turns of cabled fabric. The Tundra hat combines simple, but beautiful cables with the plump and incredibly soft Dona.

Like each kit in the 12 Days of Winter Collection, the Tundra Kit comes in a giftable package. Perhaps you’re the knitter doing the gifting (isn’t the act of knitting a gift to yourself anyway?)–great news–this pattern is sized baby through adult, so it’s perfect for anyone special in your life.

By the way, I’d be remiss not to mention that today is also Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you. I hope your day is full of delicious food, laughter among loved ones, and some comfort knitting while you recover from all of that feasting!

You can find the kit for Tundra on our website here.

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Day 10 of Winter

On Day 10 of Winter, we bring to you the Templetop Revisited Hat and Cowl set.

Oh, how I adore stranded knitting in our Deluxe DK Tweed! Crisp, defined colorwork has its place. But when the yarn has more character like our tweed, it softens the lines of the patterning and gives more interest.

This title of this design has the caveat of “revisited” because the original Templetop Cowl indeed exists. The first incarnation of this design was knit in Amphora, another yarn with one of my favorite characteristics: halo.

With smooth, plied yarns, knitting is crisp, even, and predictable. But when a yarn has a special characteristic such as tweedy bits or loft, stitches are less cut and dry and more organic. They have a mind of their own, so to speak. And they become more like real life, too, where we can’t always control things down to every last detail. There is a level of relief that comes with that acceptance, where we just let things be how they’re going to be, and this is ultimately why I love yarns with character. They mirror our own lives in ways that we might not realize at first.

Golly, you never knew yarn and knitting could get so philosophical, right? You can find the Templetop Revisited kit on our website here.

 

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Day 9 of Winter

It’s hardly winter without stockings, amiright? Three balls of yarn make three stockings in the Stripe Stockings kit. Knit in Deluxe Bulky Superwash, these will virtually fly off your needles.

The knitting in these is relatively simple – mostly stockinette with a bit of garter and an i-cord bind-off. There are enough details to keep a seasoned knitter entertained, but are simple enough that they would also make a good first sock project.

One feature that I’d like to explain more in detail is the afterthought heel. Unlike the common short-row heel which is knit as the rest of your sock is knit, an afterthought heel is added later after the rest of the sock is complete. There are various reasons for choosing this type of heel. My reasoning for doing so in this project was both to keep my stripe sequence uninterrupted and also to make the most of my yarn.

Grab your needles and yarn and let’s get to learning!

First, knit a stockinette swatch. I am knitting my swatch in the round just like the stockings, but this technique can just as easily be done worked flat in rows.
Next, get ready with your waste yarn. This waste yarn is temporarily going to hold the place of where your heel will eventually be.
Leaving your working (green) yarn where it is, knit across the heel stitches with the waste yarn. Your pattern will specify how many stitches this is. Typically, it is half of the total sock stitches.

Continue to knit the rest of the sock/swatch. Knit across the waste yarn stitches and on around.

Bind off your swatch.
Next, we’re going to place the stitches from the row above and also the row below onto separate needles. I like to use a smaller needle for this step. Pick up stitches with the tip of your needle, going through the front leg of each stitch. By doing this, the stitches will be oriented correctly when you go to knit the first round.
My 10 stitches from the row above the waste yarn are now on a needle.
Insert a second needle through the front leg of each stitch below the waste yarn.
Now we’re ready to remove the waste yarn.
With a spare needle, carefully pick out the waste yarn.
Waste yarn be gone!
Now it’s time to knit the heel, and return to your larger dpns. This first round is usually a plain/knit round.
This photo shows what happens in that gap where the waste yarn was if you simply knit across and ignore it.
Pick up a stitch from the side of the row where the waste yarn was. It’s best not to pick up the very outermost part of this loop, but to pick up the half of the stitch just inside the opening.
Place this picked up stitch on the needle and knit it together with the next stitch, closing the gap. Depending on the pattern and yarn, I might do this twice at each side of the gap. It’s best to experiment and see what looks best with your particular yarn and stitch pattern.
And here’s what that gap will look like now. No holes!
Knit the rest of the heel as instructed. It’s like a heel magically grew out of your knitting.

I also like this technique for set-in pockets on a top-down sweater. It’s not as hard as you thought it was going to be, right?

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Day 8 of Winter

Day 8 of Winter brings us Snowflake Mitts.

These warm and wooly mitts are knit from the bottom up, beginning with a cable rib and ending with an i-cord bind-off. The patterning is Fair Isle, meaning two colors are used on each round. If this is a technique you’ve never tried before, these mitts could be a good place to start.  It’s always less daunting trying out new skills on a small project. Deluxe DK Superwash is the featured yarn in this project, making this pair a great gift since they are machine washable.

To celebrate the 12 Days of Winter and my love of snowflakes, I’ve written a poem.

The Snowflake Sonnet

Each year the wind turns cold and gray.                                                        For some this is a hindrance.                                                                                But for those who knit and crochet                                                                  This weather is far from nuisance.

In May through the fall when it’s warm,                                                        I turn to linen, cotton, and bamboo.                                                                  But plant fibers aren’t fit for snowstorm                                                      As I trudge to work on showshoe.

It is springy wool that I long for                                                                          Throughout most months of the year.                                                            Its fabric warms me to the core;                                                                          The feel of its stitches brings me such cheer.

For this year’s winter I believe I will make                                                    Knitted mitts adorned with a snowflake.