cowl – Page 5 – Universal Yarn Creative Network

January 12, 2018April 8, 2020

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!

November 24, 2017November 22, 2017

Day 12 of Winter

For the last installment of our blog series on our 12 Days of Winter Kit Collection, we’re unveiling the Twining Vines Cowl. Twining Vines features Amphora. It is a perfect yarn for colorwork because its gorgeous halo blends the fibers together seamlessly. The effect is almost like an impressionist painting.

In addition to carrying two colors throughout this pattern, you’ll also need to trap your floats. It’s simpler than you might think. This tutorial is useful for any stranded project. If you’d like a closer look at the images, simply click on them.

Notice the large number of white stitches between the blue stitches. This is an area you’ll want to “trap” or “catch” your float to prevent any snagging.

Begin by knitting across your row as usual. Continue until you reach the section that requires trapping a float. Usually, an area that requires trapping floats will have more than five stitches.

As a rule of thumb, I trap my floats every five stitches. I’ve knit across four stitches, and I will trap my float on the fifth stitch.

Simply place your non-working yarn over the right-hand needle, but do not knit with it.

Wrap your working yarn around the right-hand needle to knit. Make sure your non-working yarn (the blue yarn) is over the needle and the working yarn (the white yarn).

Begin to knit the stitch. Notice how I’m holding the blue yarn. It is still above the white yarn, but it is not wrapped around the right-hand needle. Take care not to pull the non-working (blue) yarn through the stitch.

Knit the stitch. As you can see, the blue yarn is still at the back of the work. You can continue knitting as usual after this. That’s really how simple it is!

When you peek at the wrong side of your work, you’ll be able to see where you trapped the float. Notice the blue bump in the middle of the white stitches? That is where I’ve trapped the blue yarn underneath the white yarn.

Just like that, we’ve released all 12 of the patterns featured in our 12 Days of Winter Collection. We sincerely hope you’ve been enjoying our blog series highlighting each pattern. You can find the Twining Vines kit on our website here.

Now that you’ve seen them all, I’d also like to emphasize that tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. What better way to show your support for your local yarn shop than by stopping by to pick up one of our kits on Small Business Saturday?

November 22, 2017November 22, 2017

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.

November 3, 2017

Free Pattern Friday – Tiltawhirl Cowl

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Tiltawhirl Cowl in Classic Shades Frenzy (link here).

I have to say, as its creator, I’m feeling pretty good about today’s Free Pattern Friday. It was incredibly easy – just knits and purls – but you’d never know it to look at it. For that, credit goes to the yarn, Classic Shades Frenzy.

a ball of multi-colored yarn with a label reading CLASSIC SHADES FRENZY.

a closeup of a diagonally ribbed purple knitted fabric

It’s a thick yarn with enough variation in color to give a simple design additional interest.

This cowl uses a diagonal rib pattern. The beauty of doing this in the round is that if you wish, you can simply cast on the required number and k2p2 all the way around every row until you’ve reached the desired width of your cowl. This took just one ball, and it made a cowl long enough to wear loose or to wrap once for extra warmth.

For mindless knitting, I tend to favor simple designs on big needles that I can work on while chatting or watching TV, and this fits the bill. Now that the weather’s turned, this would be a great knit-night project!

Have a wonderful weekend, and be sure to make time for yourself.

Happy crafting!

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017

Free Pattern Friday – Collar Cowl in Major

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Collar Cowl in Major (pattern link).

Don’t you love it when a yarn does half the work for you? Self-striping Major makes this knitting project super colorful.

This collar cowl is perfect as an extra layer just beneath your coat during blustery winter days. The cowl is worked in the round from the bottom-up with shaping intended to perfectly hug the neck and shoulders. The result is an especially warm accessory.

Worked in bulky-weight Major, this cowl is also a quick knit. Since one skein is enough for two cowls, why not make one for yourself and another as a gift for someone special?

We hope you have a fantastic weekend. Happy knitting!

August 24, 2017June 3, 2022

Bamboo Bloom Handpaints – Limited Edition 329 Fugu

New and beautiful this season…

We had such a great time with our last limited edition Bamboo Bloom Handpaints that we decided to do it again. This time, it’s 329 Fugu.

Fugu is the Japanese word for pufferfish. One minute it’s sleek and streamlined…

The next minute it’s quite a bit bulkier!

So it is with Bamboo Bloom Handpaints, transitioning from smooth and silky to fluffy puffs and back again. And given the cool blue ocean tones of this color, we thought it was appropriate.

When I got my hands on this, my immediate thought was, “this would make a beautiful Hanasaku Cowl.” It led to a lot of joy, sorting through our stock of Poems to see what would pair well. In the end it came down to two choices.

Poems 616 Chevron looks great with it, and I was curious to see how that yellow would interplay with the greens. In fact, Yarn Bazaar in NJ has kitted up this combo!

In the end I went a different way.

I liked the darkness and overall violet-blue of Poems in Arles 601, and am pleased with how this turned out.

I still may go back and make one in the other combo. Honestly, these slip-stitch cowls are fun and quick to make. It’s a great go-to project for something colorful and impressive-looking.

The Hanasaku Cowl is available for sale on Ravelry – but if you hit your local yarn shop, they can download it for free for you. You might want to grab a skein of Fugu while you can, too.

Happy knitting!

June 23, 2017

Free Pattern Friday – Skylark Capelet

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Skylark Capelet in Radiant Cotton.

A few days ago we had someone on Facebook point out (correctly) that we’ve been offering more knit than crochet patterns, and that we need to be sure to show our crocheting friends some love. It’s a point well-taken, and I was delighted that we had something coming up so quickly that fit the bill!

The Skylark Capelet calls for three hanks of Radiant Cotton, a smooth 100% Egyptian cotton with a light sheen somewhere between mercerized and matte. It’s a pleasure to work with.

What I love about this capelet is that just by varying the number of buttons and where you choose to fasten them, you could easily turn this from a capelet into a buttoned cowl, or really into any shape you wish. The edging lends itself particularly well to buttoning.

There’s no limit to what you can do with this versatile crochet piece.

We hope you have a great weekend, and take time to make something just for you!

Happy crafting!

June 16, 2017January 14, 2020

Free Pattern Friday – Mingle Cowl

Today, we have a small piece of heaven for you in the Mingle Cowl.

This cowl soothes my psyche with its shades of blue and gray. Two strands are held together throughout the cowl making this a pretty quick project, too. Knit up in our new fall yarn, Bella Cash, this piece is soft as a newborn kitten making it perfect for a piece that will be worn against bare skin.

Bella Cash is a 2/sport weight, comes in 20 solid colors, and is machine washable. Oh wait, and did I mention – there is cashmere, too! Mmmmm.

Blue not your thing? How about 102 Blush + 109 Snow?

Or 107 Coffee + 106 Oat?

I also like classic 108 Ebony + 109 Snow.

Happy knitting and happy weekend!

January 27, 2017

Free Pattern Friday – EKG Set

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the EKG Set in Deluxe Worsted.

Why EKG? The little zigs and zags reminded us of a heartbeat. Plus, the love we have for this sweet pattern makes our hearts race just a little bit.

This may look like Fair Isle, but the color changes are actually slipped stitches. The pattern is both written and charted for your convenience.

The entire four-color set takes two skeins of the gray, plus one skein of each other color in Deluxe Worsted 100% wool (220yds/100g).

The cowl looks great doubled over and scrunched – or if you’re in a silly mood like designer Tori Gurbisz, wear it however you please. Very “Cat in the Hat,” Tori. You’ll definitely turn heads.

We hope you enjoy this stylish set.

Happy knitting!

January 23, 2017

LYS Exclusive – Hanasaku Cowl (large)

So you saw the Hanasaku Cowl in its short version, right? If not, you should go read about it now.

Go ahead. We’ll wait.

Luscious, right? Well, we also did a long version, for those who like to loop their cowls around.

This version uses one skein of Deluxe Worsted wool as a backdrop for the variegated Bamboo Bloom. We chose a more subdued color palette for this combo. The large version is the same height as the small, but twice as long. Here are the stats!
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Height: 15¼”
Circumference: 61”

MATERIALS
Large
Deluxe Worsted (100% wool; 100g/220 yds)
• 12235 Sidewalk Grey (MC) – 1 skein
Bamboo Bloom Handpaints (48% rayon from bamboo, 44% wool, 8% acrylic; 100g/154 yds)
• 303 Precious Jade (CC) – 2 hanks

Needles: US Size 11 (8 mm) 32” circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge
Notions: Stitch marker, tapestry needle

We’re loving this pattern and are having a great time with other color combinations as well. Here’s one that features two hanks of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints in 311 Bonsai and two skeins of Wisdom Yarns Poems in 602 Bruges.

The pattern is a simple linen stitch that you can easily master. In the coming days, we’ll be sharing other color combinations in this rewarding pattern.

The Hanasaku Cowl is a LYS Exclusive pattern – your local yarn shop can download it for you and help you put together a truly stunning color combo.

We hope you enjoy this vibrant and dramatic project.

Happy knitting!