Universal Yarn Creative Network – Page 57

November 7, 2018November 19, 2019

Day 1 of Winter – Series 2 Edition

This is part 1 in a 12 part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, Series 2 Edition.

We can hardly believe it’s already November. Knitting season is in full swing. Our needles and hooks are full of warm and woolly goodness. We’re preparing for the holidays – working tirelessly on special projects for friends and family. Here at Universal Yarn, we’ve also been working hard to create the second annual installment of a beautiful collection of wintry kits to welcome the season. So, at long last, we’re able to reveal the first of twelve special kits. Say hello to the 12 Days of Winter 2018 Collection!

Last year we kicked off the collection with a pair of socks. This year we’re thrilled to do the same. For Day 1 of the collection, we have Mistletoes.

I’m a big fan of stranded colorwork. It may take a backseat to knitting cables, but for some reason, I simply cannot resist a good pair of colorwork socks. The Mistletoes socks combine self-striping Adore Colors and Adore for a visually striking effect.

Universal Yarn Adore Colors — Notice the changes in color for the colorwork portions. That effect is created by Adore Colors.

Despite the beauty of stranded colorwork, many knitters find themselves intimidated. Like everything else in knitting, once you’ve done it you realize how simple it really is. If you haven’t done colorwork before I want to empower you to get your feet wet – if you have, I want to encourage you to learn a bit more! Let’s get down to it! I’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you along the way.

Get comfortable with charts.
This is something else that can intimidate knitters, but it’s essential for colorwork. I’d actually argue that colorwork is an excellent introduction to reading charts since you’re usually only looking at colors. Last year I included some tips and tricks for understanding charts. You can find the full post here (link).

Manage your yarn.
Managing your yarn well when knitting colorwork can make the process so much more enjoyable. I recommend keeping each ball of yarn on a separate side to prevent unnecessary, annoying twists and tangles.

Taking care of tension.
This is probably the most important aspect of stranded knitting. To achieve the results you want, your tension should be even. Why? Floats. Since you’re carrying two strands of yarn across the back of your work, one of the yarns will always be “on hold” while you work stitches with the other color.

Universal Yarn Adore — The right and wrong sides of the work. Notice the floats of yarn on the wrong side. They’re quite pretty!

If your floats are too tight, the fabric will pucker. Puckered fabric is considerably less elastic and will appear a bit bumpy – taking away from the beautiful patterning you worked so hard on. Not to worry, though! There are ways to ensure that your floats are even and not too tight. I’m personally a pretty tight knitter, so I use these techniques, too.

Use larger needles. First things first: swatch, swatch, swatch! Once you do, you’ll realize that your gauge in stockinette stitch is different than your gauge in stranded knitting. To combat the difference, changing needles helps a lot. Expect to use needles that are one to two sizes larger for stranded portions of your knitting. Most patterns, including the Mistletoes, will direct you to do this. However; that’s not always the case. Keep this in mind whenever you’re knitting colorwork.

Turn your work inside-out. This is exactly what it sounds like. By turning your work inside-out, your floats will be facing you while you’re knitting. It doesn’t change the actual knitting at all, but it’s a simple way to manage your floats. By carrying your floats on the outside, you’re allowing them a bit more room. This trick is simple, easy, and effective.

Notice that the wrong side of the fabric is facing outward.

Gently stretch your work. Chances are that you’ll sometimes have a stitch that’s a bit odd – perhaps a bit too tight or a bit too loose. You can rectify the issue by occasionally stopping to give the fabric a gentle stretch. Don’t be overzealous as that can cause stitches to get more uneven. A little goes a long way.

Manually even out oddball stitches. Like I’ve mentioned above, there are instances where a stitch looks a bit wonky. If a gentle stretch doesn’t help you can manually pick the stitches around it to try and even things out.

Insert your needle behind the right leg and then the left leg of the naughty stitch.

Block it out! Blocking is magic. The process evens out stitches, so when you finish your work be sure to block it! Once the yarn blooms it will fill up any negative space in your fabric allowing your colorwork to shine! Just be sure to follow the care instructions on your yarn label so that you don’t unintentionally damage the fabric. Side note: we have a post to help you understand yarn labels, too. Find it here (link).

Look how pretty and even the colorwork is after blocking.

That’s it! I hope these tips and tricks will help you as you knit the Mistletoes or any stranded colorwork. Remember, you can find Series 2 of the 12 Days of Winter Kit patterns on Ravelry.

November 2, 2018June 23, 2023

Free Pattern Friday – Duck Huntin’ Sue

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, Duck Huntin’ Sue in Uptown Worsted and Uptown Worsted Tapestry (pattern link here).

This here’s the story of a girl named Sue. No, the lady in the glasses isn’t Sue…

Sue is the fuzzy yeller dawg. (I’m a native Southerner. I can – and do – talk this way sometimes). The Southern belle in the vest is Krista. She’s a talented crafter, and was kind enough to model this camo crochet vest in Uptown Worsted Tapestry, with a knit border in solid Uptown Worsted.

This vest was first worn by Lily Chin as a presenter at Stitches, and now we’re releasing it as a free pattern to you!

But wait, there’s more!

A crocheted quacker to match!

Sue says the duck should be hers, but we think that’s just a mallard of opinion.

Well, if she wants it that bad, it won’t ruffle our feathers. Better to play with the duck than our stash.

Have a great weekend, and happy crafting!

November 1, 2018

Bella Cash Worsted Giveaway Winners

Yesterday the opportunity to enter the giveaway for two skeins of our latest yarn, Bella Cash Worsted, came to a close. As promised, we have two winners: Cass and Kim T! A heartfelt congratulations to both of you!

Curious what these lucky winners plan to make?

Cass commented: “I would make a shawl and matching fingerless gloves for my sister!”

We love that you’re planning to treat yourself and a loved one. That’s what crafting is all about, right?

Kim said she “would love to make some fingerless gloves” and that she’s “been trying to find the right yarn for this project.” Problem solved!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway. It has been so fun to read about the things you’d like to make. Here’s a breakdown of some of your project plans:

With 21 comments about cowls, they seem to be the top choice! Like we mentioned before, the Cayuga Cowl was designed just for this yarn, so it’s the optimal choice!

Fifteen of you plan to make a scarf.

Might we suggest the Broken Garter Scarf by Amy Gunderson? This simple scarf has some really gorgeous results! The yarn is a bit thicker than the recommended Deluxe Worsted Superwash, so you might want to grab a third ball of each color, but how cozy would it be to wrap that scarf around your neck this winter?

Thirteen of you plan to make some mittens or fingerless gloves. We have a pair of mittens using this yarn coming your way, but we also think the Nutmeg Mittens would look great!

Deluxe Worsted Naturals — Nutmeg Mittens

Eight of you plan to make a hat. We’re busy working on pattern support for this yarn, and I can tell you we have a lovely hat design by Heather Hill coming your way very soon.

Can’t wait to cast on? We have some other options, too! Maybe you’re a cable fanatic? How about the Cold Mountain Hat or the Hazy Hat? Both of these would look beautiful in Bella Cash Worsted.

What an excellent variety of accessories! We hope you’ll share your projects with us. Thanks again for entering our giveaway!

October 31, 2018December 30, 2019

Indigo Dyeing, Part 1

I knit, crochet, sew, weave, and do a lot of other random crafty things. Dyeing, however, has been unexplored territory for me. When my good friend Sandi asked if I’d like to join her for an indigo dyeing class at LYS Cheers to Ewe, I said yes immediately. I love trying new things! So please keep in mind, this post is absolutely not written by an expert yarn dyer.

We happen to sell a nice variety of yarn especially for hand dyeing. Appropriately enough, we call it our “Ready to Dye” collection of yarns. I chose two skeins of our 02 Wool/Nylon blend to dye.

This class was taught by local fiber artist, Sue Helmken. When Sandi and I showed up for class with our yarn, Sue was already preparing indigo dye baths. This is a process that involves carefully mixing water, soda ash, salt, sodium hydroxide, and indigo. Though I’m fascinated by the science of it all, I was just as happy to be able to show up, dye my yarn, and skip the prep. But this is something I would love to explore more in the future. If only there were more hours in the day!

Since all of our hanks of undyed yarn looked the same, we had to tag skeins with our initials to tell them apart.

I plan to do a weaving project with my beautiful blue yarn, so I thought it would be fun to dye the hanks a bit differently.

Squeezing out the dye from my yarn. Even with gloves, I still managed to leave with blue arms!

To achieve different effects in the two hanks, I processed one of them in the dyebath twice for a deeper color. And for the other, I tied off a few spots tightly so that the dye wouldn’t reach them, and only processed it once.

The results were just what I expected. That’s always nice!

I’m planning to use one skein for warp and one for weft in a weaving project. Stay tuned!

October 26, 2018March 8, 2021

Free Pattern Friday – Cichlid Hats

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, Cichlid Hats in Deluxe Worsted Superwash and Bamboo Bloom Handpaints (pattern link here).

Want a little color on a drab day?

Like the super-popular Hanasaku Cowl, this hat uses just one skein of variegated Bamboo Bloom Handpaints. Here it’s paired with a coordinating color of Deluxe Worsted Superwash for the base and pompom that tie it all together.

A long, twisted rib upturned brim gives way to a basic stockinette body. The difference in gauge between the two stitches means that the rib fits snugly, but the variegated Bamboo Bloom section is slouchy. A neat solution to achieving the perfect fit.

We’ve shown it in two color options here, but I’m about to cast on for one for a friend, using an orange Deluxe Worsted Superwash for the base and Bamboo Bloom Handpaints 317 Sensei for the body.

It should be very autumnal.

We hope you have a colorful and fun weekend.

Happy crafting!

October 25, 2018January 22, 2020

Masten Cardigan

It seems like autumn weather came overnight in Charlotte. One moment we were experiencing hot, humid temperatures, and today I’m sitting in my office wearing the Northbound Sweater from the Light and Shadow ebook. It’s officially sweater weather!

What better way to celebrate sweater weather than with a new design? I’m pretty excited to share that I contributed the Surprise to the Deep Fall issue of Knitty (link). I’d love to share a little more about this design and its inspiration.

Originally this idea was born from the idea of water, based on a submission call. I was really happy with the idea, so when Amy and Jillian of Knitty gave me the opportunity to explore that idea further, I was thrilled. And so, the Masten Cardigan was born. I chose Deluxe DK Superwash for this project because I wanted it to be light yet warm, hard-wearing yet comfortable against my skin. It’s a great yarn for it, and I know this design will be a favorite for years to come.

Masten Cardian — Amy Gunderson captured the face of a thrilled Rachel Brockman.

The leaning cables that adorn this cardigan are the most prominent feature. I love them! The more I worked on them, the more they reminded me of archival images of timber booms. Time for a fun fact: I used to volunteer at the Pennsylvania State Archives. I loved it – it was quiet, careful work that simply captivated me (not far off from the same thing knitting offers!). Most of my volunteer work involved land records. It included rehousing and preserving old maps, cleaning and organizing photos, and, finally, creating descriptions for those artifacts. Maybe not for everyone, but I certainly loved it. Some of the images I was most fascinated by were negatives I digitized from the lumber industry in northern Pennsylvania; specifically in the Endless Mountains Region. These photos captured the history of the lumber industry there.

Hopefully, you can see why the cables reminded me of log booms. Pictured above is the Susquehanna Boom. You can find more historic photos of the timber industry in Pennsylvania here (link). The cables push into and away from one another, completely covering the sweater.

For color, I went with our gorgeous Deluxe DK Superwash in 856 Teal Rustic. It seems fitting for a water and lumber inspired sweater, right? With that said, as a lover of orange, I couldn’t resist some fun afterthought pockets using 803 Terra Cotta.

Finally – what would a sweater like this be if it didn’t have some wooden buttons? The Masten Cardigan features Summit Buttons by Katrinkle’s Knitting Jewelry, who very kindly provided me with the buttons for this design. With plenty of colors of Deluxe DK Superwash to choose from and plenty of button options to compliment those colors – you’ll be good to go. What are you waiting for? This pattern is free, so get your yarn and cast on today!

October 24, 2018October 24, 2018

Bella Cash Worsted Spotlight Plus Giveaway

I’m delighted to officially introduce one of our newest yarns, Bella Cash Worsted!

Bella Cash Worsted is the big sister to sport weight Bella Cash which was introduced last year.

Both yarns are a blend of fine merino superwash, cashmere, and nylon for strength. Bella Cash & Bella Cash Worsted are machine washable, so they’re perfect for gift and baby items. They’re soft with excellent stitch definition and are so pleasant to knit and crochet with. I am in love with both of these yarns and want all the sweaters knit out of them!

Bella Cash (sport weight) already has two great pattern collections out.

We blogged about kids collection Writing on the Wall here. It’s a collection of whimsical knits for little people.

Small Pleasures is an ebook with small accessory projects perfect for such a soft yarn that begs to be worn against the skin.

I sent crochet maven Ellen Gormley some Bella Cash Worsted to play with and she made this wonderful video. She has some really nice insights about the yarn and lots of interesting things to say. Check it out!

We are busy working on patterns for Bella Cash Worsted which will be released in the coming weeks. Right now, we have the Cayuga Cowl, made with just two skeins. And it’s a free pattern on our website!

Knit from the top down, this cowl can be worn and styled in a variety of ways. It’s a quick knit for yourself or as a gift. Cue giveaway time!

Here are the details:

This is a contest for two lucky winners that will each receive 2 skeins of Bella Cash Worsted
To enter, leave a comment on this blog post letting us know what you think you’d make with your winnings
Entries will close in one week, Wednesday, October 31 at 12 pm (noon) EST, so you must leave your comment by that time
Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 1
This contest is only open to US residents

Good luck!

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!

October 19, 2018March 5, 2021

Free Pattern Friday – Mod Tiles Cardi

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Mod Tiles Cardi in Deluxe DK Tweed Superwash (pattern link here).

This one’s a bit of an ugly duckling story, although of course the duckling was never ugly at all.

We had this garment in our studio for a long time, and kept looking askance at it. Squares on a jacket? We just weren’t sure about it, so it stayed on the shelf.

Then one day we were discussing upcoming Free Pattern Fridays, and someone picked up this cardi and put it on. Wow! It looked great! The ugly duckling had been a swan all along – we just couldn’t see it until it spread its wings!

We love how the tweedy gray grounds the piece, but the colorful flowery motifs work with most anything. This was a lucky discovery, with sweater weather finally here!

The Deluxe DK Tweed Superwash motifs are made separately, then seamed together. The pattern is written and charted, and contains a schematic for piecing it together.

There’s a lesson here about looking past first impressions. We’re certainly glad we gave this beauty a second chance.

Happy crafting!

October 15, 2018October 3, 2019

Halloween Projects

It’s that time of year! Little ghouls and ghosties run amok in the neighborhood, and we love crafting fun things for them – and for us! Let’s take a look at a few free patterns.

We want candy. More candy. And not the cheap stuff.

First, Clarice, Chunk, and Clyde in Uptown Worsted (pattern link here).

There is so much personality in these three crocheted monsters! Sized for children through adults, these friends are free patterns in machine washable Uptown Worsted. We decided to make ours in the adult size, so we could have some fun here in the office!

selfie of three women wearing colorful crocheted hats with monster faces on them — (L-R: Amy, Rachel, and Heather, always up for some wholesome fun)

Photo of two knitted Halloween bowls filled with candy — I *guess* you can have some.

Next, Neon pumpkin and Skull Baskets in Uptown Worsted (pattern link here).

These Fair Isle knits have a piece plastic needlepoint canvas inside to help them hold their shape. It’s optional, but we go through a lot of candy here, so we thought it was a good idea to help them stand up to the frequent “walk-by grabbing.”

Image of woman in knitted black cape looking over her shoulder — I don’t sparkle, but I’m still fierce!

Also, Batcape! in Uptown DK (pattern link here).

We released the Batcape last week and blogged about it. Maybe you saw it, but if you didn’t, we don’t want you to miss it. 🙂

Moving to printed patterns, there are some real gems in the book 50 Knitted Gifts for Year-Round Giving, from Sixth and Spring. The book features great projects suitable for any occasion. The Halloween selections do not disappoint!