Universal Yarn Creative Network

Yonca never ceases to amaze me with her take on patterns. She almost never follows a pattern, and instead likes to put her own spin on things. Something else Yonca almost never does is to knit a gauge swatch. (Sorry, Yonca – you’ve been outed!)

But in this instance, Yonca’s excitement to dig in and start her project right away really paid off! Here she is in her version of the Boho Tank, one of the projects in our Bamboo Pop Adult ebook.

I can’t tell you how much I love the way this turned out. For her version of the Boho Tank, Yonca used one of our new yarns, Lumen, in color 108 Regatta. This deep blue color has been all over the place this season and I adore it.

Here is the Bamboo Pop Boho Tank, the pattern for which Yonca used as a starting place:

Yonca made a number of changes. Instead of a curved hem, she went with a straight one. Instead of the textured pattern on the body of the tank, she did the body in stockinette and used the texture on just the hem (so it wouldn’t curl) and the yoke panel. She decided to let the yarn shine and opted not to do any embroidery on the yoke panel.

The other big change she made as a result of not swatching was to add side panels. Yonca’s gauge ended up denser than she thought it would, and her top ended up being on the small side. She knitted a triangular shaped “gusset” for each side, and seamed it to the front and back pieces. It’s hard to see from the photo above, but these gussets transform the tank into a trapeze shape and give it structure.

Great work, Yonca!

Every day I feel lucky to have a job that I truly enjoy. If someone would have told me a few years ago that I would be working with yarn every day and earning a living doing it, I wouldn’t have believed them! Although I have a variety of duties here at Universal Yarn, when it comes down to it I’m really just a chick who likes knitting and wearing fun stuff.

For this week’s IRL, Heather photographed me in my version of the VeVe Tee from the Summer 2013 issue of Knitscene.  I don’t often knit second versions of any of my sweaters, but made an exception with this one. The sample I made for the magazine was in Cotton Supreme 503 Ecru, but I decided I needed one in gray. I am a total sucker for gray.

This piece has a fun construction. First, the saddle shoulders are knit sideways. Then stitches are picked up from the sides of the saddles and the body is knit down. Twisted ribbing and a sewn bind-off finish things off at the hem for a virtually seamless project.

Cotton Supreme is such a great yarn for summer! What are you knitting in Cotton Supreme?

This week I’d like to share an IRL I spotted recently from Jen in our accounting department:

Jen’s sweater was worked in the decadent Fibra Natura Llamalini, a blend of Royal Llama, silk bourette, and linen. Can you say YUM? Here is Jen describing this project in her own words:

“I had an idea in my head of the kind of sweater I wanted.  Top down, deep v-neck and some sort of simple lace.  So I basically cobbled two patterns together to get what I wanted. I really wanted to work with the Llamalini, because its sooooo soft and nice to knit with.  For this project I was actually a good girl and did a swatch in the round, and then soaked and blocked it so that I could determine my gauge.

The only thing I don’t like about the sweater is the way the neckline came out. I used a smaller needle for the ribbing with the idea that it would cinch it up a bit, but it didn’t work out like I thought it would.  If I do something like this again, I’ll definitely do ribbing instead of garter stitch at the bottom because the garter stitch keeps flipping up and its annoying; and instead of ribbing at the neckline I might do an applied i-cord to really tighten it up.  All in all though, it’s a nice, comfy sweater to wear, works good for layering over a tank top or a long sleeve shirt depending on the weather that day.”

Sounds like this project was a good learning experience for Jen. It looks so nice on her, and I love the pop of color from the shirt she has layered underneath. Well done!

Our sales director and my boss, Yonca, is a very enthusiastic knitter. She always has at least a couple of projects on the needles, usually garments. Here is her latest creation, this lovely summery top made in Little Bird:

Yonca always has to put her own spin on projects, and this one is no different. She loved the lace patterning on this free pattern in Garden 10, but didn’t want a cardigan. Yonca wanted something she could dress up or down, and just throw on over a tank top or dress. So instead, she simply knit up 2 rectangles using the lace pattern and came up with this easy to wear piece.

It’s hard to believe, but this shirt really is just 2 rectangles with a few seams, and a little bit of garter stitch at the neck. Yonca knit this with a few inches of positive ease for a nice open and flowy top. I love everything about it!