Yashi is our brand new 100% raffia yarn, great for accessories and home decor projects. I love it in this crochet bag. The handles are from JUL Designs, which has a good variety of high quality leather and metal bits and bobs for customizing your designs.
I love this bag, so I worked a little rough Photoshop magic on it to see what it would look like in other colors. Answer: nice! I particularly like it with the pink.
You could keep the neutral base, or go for an even more Spring-like look by substituting white for the natural.
In the pattern, the base and sides are crocheted separately and sewn together. Plastic canvas stiffens the sides, and the entire purse is lined with fabric. It’s a kicky summer bag in a great yarn.
Confession time! When it’s cold outside, sometimes we break into the trunk show garments.
But come on! How could we resist? We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many beautiful yarns and garments, and as knitters and crocheters we truly appreciate them. The happy knitter above is me, Heather. I’m wearing my own hat in Poems (1 ball of color 590 Sakura, US size 8/5mm needles, 84 stitch caston).
The cowl and mittens are part of Sandi Rosner’s Rose Quartz Set in Deluxe Worsted 100% wool. There’s a hat, too, but mine matches so well I stuck with it.
Sandi’s Rose Quartz set is available as a single pattern or part of the Walk in the Woods e-book, full of gorgeous colorwork and felted designs in Deluxe Worsted and Deluxe Chunky. It’s perfect for this time of year.
Also in Deluxe, I spotted our Design Lead in this stunning sweater the other day. Valentina is one of my favorites. It uses Deluxe Chunky 100% wool. The pattern is written and charted with design features like lovely saddle shoulders to show off the cables. It comes in sizes from 34″ to 54″ bust, and – believe it or not – is a free pattern. Home run!
Our Sales Manager can frequently be found in designs by Yumiko Alexander like Braided Fog, recently made available online as a download or as part of Yumiko Warm Earth Book 3. It also uses Deluxe Worsted. Are we wearing a lot of Deluxe? That’s not surprising – it’s great for cold weather. I suspect, however, that our sales manager wears this not because it’s warm but because it looks fabulous.
The best thing about being surrounded by these designs is that it’s inspirational. We find that seeing beautiful things awakens a desire to create something beautiful ourselves. We hope you find inspiration and happiness in your crafts throughout this new year.
Looking for a new project? How about a little knitspiration?
The Knitting Lesson by Eugene de BlaasDeluxe WorstedSouthwest Suns in Good EarthBackstage Sweater in Mohair MountainFlowering Herb Scarf in LlamaliniRosette Messenger Bag in Deluxe Worsted
Originally designed for Classic Worsted Holiday, this would look great in any worsted weight yarn. Naturally you’re not limited to red and white – be a psychedelic Santa if you want! – but we do have recommendations in our solid color worsted weight yarns.
This pattern is designed to be knit flat, handy for those who aren’t comfortable with circular needles.
I love Michael’s use of bobbles in this pattern to give texture. Make a provisional cast-on and knit the bobbled brim, then attach the red to the cast-on edge and knit the rest of the hat. A festive pom-pom finishes it off. I’m still backed up on my holiday knitting, so I might just use a Luxury Fur Pom-Pom to save time rather than making my own.
Wishing you a festive holiday season – and happy knitting!
I love to look at old craft magazines for inspiration. This week, I turned to a special Christmas edition of the December 1909 Woman’s Home Companion and decided to try one of their gift suggestions.
Hey, $1.75 for a pair of shoes is a really good deal.
The photos aren’t that great, what with it being near the dawn of the 20th century, so it’s hard to see exactly what’s the finished objects look like. But smack in the middle of the page is a picture of “A Knitted Motor Scarf for the Man With an Automobile.” Well, I know a man with an automobile, so that sounds like a winner to me.
First obstacle in the pattern: “made of motor silk in a medium shade of gray.” I have no idea what motor silk is, and for once Google has failed me. If any of you know what motor silk is, please write in. I’m dying to find out.
However, what I do have is Saki Bamboo (230yds/50g). This is a blend of superwash wool, nylon, and rayon from bamboo. The bamboo should provide a good silky sheen and the nylon will give the durability that my giftee will need when he’s out on the open road in his Model T. I’m always happy to have a chance to knit with Saki Bamboo – it’s very smooth and even, and has a medium gray (Color 211 Steel Grey) that should fit the bill nicely.
Second obstacle: “worked loosely with a pair of No. 12 steel knitting- needles, or for a tight knitter, a pair of fine bone knitting-needles.” Here, the internet does not fail me. Fibergypsy’s site says that No. 12 needles back then would translate to 2.25mm/US Size 1 needles today. Great, perfect for my Saki Bamboo! There’s no gauge given, but I decided to cast on and hope for the best.
So I started to knit. And knit. And knit. Actually, I’m quite enjoying this pattern, but… it’s 60 stitches wide on tiny needles. How the heck was someone receiving this magazine in winter supposed to obtain motor silk (?) and find time to knit this before Christmas? Don’t get me wrong, this is a good pattern, but given all the other knitting I have to do, I probably will not be polishing this off in the next 21 days.
Nonetheless, it’s rather elegant and quite easy! The dice pattern is fully reversible, an excellent choice for a scarf. So we’ve written it up in modern terms and shared it, along with the original version. Please enjoy the Knitted Motor Scarf by Helen Marvin from the December 1909 Woman’s Home Companion. The magazine was originally 15 cents, but the pattern is free to you.
How’s the holiday knitting going? I’m doing better than expected – I found this glittering little gem on our shelves here yesterday and am happily knitting a quick one-ball scarf. The yarn is Classic Shades Metallic (175yds/100g) and the color is 607 Zenith. When I saw the red and green accented by silver, I knew it would make the perfect holiday project. This scarf couldn’t be any more Christmasy unless Santa Claus himself knitted it using two candy canes.
The pattern is a scaled-down version of this free three-ball Classic Shades Shawl pattern by Olga Tonjes. She also provides instructions for working just one section (as I’m doing in the picture above), making this a great project to adapt if you’re really backed up on your holiday knitting.
Classic Shades Metallic is interchangeable with customer favorite Classic Shades, but with an extra strand of glitter running through it, making it perfect for gifts that you really want to stand out.
I’ve got another couple of balls of Classic Shades Metallic sitting beside me right now – this scarf is going quickly, and I’ll definitely have time to knock out another gift. This time, I think I’ll work up the Longways Linen Scarf. On size 9 needles with a basic two row pattern repeat, it ought to go quickly. I’ll make it through the holidays yet!
Here’s hoping your days are merry and bright. Happy knitting!
This yarn is a favorite around the office for its lovely heathering and soft feel. The blend of luxury fibers gives it a rich depth. And it’s well suited to this design, which I love for many reasons – not the least because it’s reversible.
What look like cables are really faux-cables. No cable needle required. Wear it long or wrap it for warmth – Llamalini is quite toasty!
We hope you craft something luxurious and wonderful this holiday. Whether it’s for you or someone else, the process itself is such a joy.
Two hats that can be completed with one ball of each color of Uptown Bulky 100% anti-pilling acrylic (100g/87yds). Cute! Knit on size 11 needles, these go quickly and are a good way to practice your Fair Isle.
I’m loving the color, too. That Uptown Bulky 416 Iron coordinates well with 421, Coral. The coral is at the forefront of style at the moment – Sherwin Williams just picked Coral Reef as their color of the year. Pretty!
We hope you enjoy this satisfying quick project. Happy knitting!
So cute for Fall! The Four Stripes Pullover includes matching legwarmers, perfect for staying warm on a crisp day.
The set is designed for Merino XF (137yds/50g), an extrafine merino that’s machine washable and very soft. The pullover is worked flat and seamed, with short rows shaping the curved rear hem. Seed stitch borders the cuffs, hem, and neckline.
I love these cool tones. This is one design where I wouldn’t change a thing.
Everybody calm? Good. Let’s stay relaxed, because there’s still plenty of time to knit some lovely gifts for the holidays. This week, let’s focus on quick and chunky knits. Fortunately, we have an entire free e-book devoted to exactly this kind of pattern.
Quick Cowls collects five patterns in bulky weight yarns that look good and work up quickly.
The Get To the Point Cowl in Classic Shades Frenzy is always popular when we send it out for trunk shows. In fact, it’s on the road again this month for a showing at Bourgee Boutique in Claremont, CA. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and see it. Variegated Classic Shades Frenzy does the heavy lifting in making a striking design. Just one ball on US Size 11 (8mm) needles does the trick.
The Ethereal Lace Cowl is a lovely soft lace pattern that gets you a lot of bang for your buck. One ball of Mohair Mountain (660yds per ball) will make five cowls on US Size 11 (8mm) needles. That’s a lot of gifts from just one ball. The pattern is both written and charted, so pick whatever you’re comfortable with.
The Everyone Likes Stripes cowl is another that knits up quickly on size 11 (8mm) needles. With more than 120 colors of the called-for Deluxe Chunky 100% wool, this is a very easy piece to customize for your giftee. This is also one that I would have to put away after knitting because otherwise I’d keep it for myself.
Hairpin! This technique isn’t used as often as it should be! The Hairpin Lace Cowl uses one skein of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints for the vibrant variegated stripes and one skein of Deluxe Chunky for the solid center and edge. Unusual and beautiful.
Finally, the Lava Flow Cowl uses just one skein of Superwool on size 17 needles. We call it Superwool because it’s super stretchy. This is a warm and soft cowl with a lot of “sproing” to it. I’ve made this one myself – it’s a very fast and satisfying knit.
Breathe in… breathe out… we’re calm, right? Let’s all keep knitting and we’ll all get to the holidays together in great shape.
Today, the Loop Bag in Yashi.
he cowl and mittens are part of Sandi Rosner’s Rose Quartz Set in 
I love Michael’s use of bobbles in this pattern to give texture. Make a provisional cast-on and knit the bobbled brim, then attach the red to the cast-on edge and knit the rest of the hat. A festive pom-pom finishes it off. I’m still backed up on my holiday knitting, so I might just use a 
