Free Pattern Friday – Bruges Noel Shawl

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

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Today, the Bruges Noel Shawl in Classic Shades Metallic.

cshades-metallic-607-zenith-hi-resThis is the perfect time of year to highlight one of our most holly jolly colorways, 607 Zenith in Classic Shades Metallic.  We’ve previously shown off this color, in this 2014 blog post with a knitted project, shown below.

CS Metallic Holiday Swatch blog

Red, dark ash, green, and some silver sparkle.  Love this yarn!
brugesnoelshawl_hh_alt-blogThe Bruges Noel Shawl is a triangular shawl that is worked sideways from one tip to the other. The stitches used are traditional crochet Bruges lace, constructed with strips of double crochet and connected with chain spaces. This shawl is worked in one piece.  At 84″ (7 feet) long, this is a great shawl to wrap around yourself and show off.  It’s a fun crochet project with the right amount of sparkle.

If bling isn’t your thing, this would work up at exactly the same gauge in self-shading Classic Shades, which has the same fiber content without the metallic strand.  But if ever there were a time of year to sparkle a little, this is it.

We hope your weekend is merry and bright.

Happy crafting!

brugesnoelshawl_hh_back-blog

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Free Pattern Friday – Summer Shawl

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

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Today, the crocheted Summer Shawl in Bamboo Pop.

This pattern comes to us courtesy of Alice Gossette and Kat Koeller of LYS The Thankful Ewe in New Bremen, Ohio.  It’s another example of why you should stop in at your local yarn shop – there are some really great ideas waiting for you there!

This is a five ball project in Bamboo Pop (292yds/100g) – 2 balls of 109 Clover for the large triangle, then 1 each of 108 Lime Green, 118 Marmalade, and 107 Ocean for the stripes nearer the top.  The designers note that the top stripe took almost all of the blue, so you might want to snag an extra ball, just in case.

I love the inclusion of the vibrant band of gold.  This would be an easy one to customize with your own personal palette, or to add a variegated color to.  Color 203 Golden Seas strikes a nice balance between all of the colors included here.

We hope you have a fantastic weekend, and find time to kick back with a project and take care of yourself.

Happy crafting!

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Free Pattern Friday – Poppy Stole

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Red Stole long blog

Today, the Poppy Stole in Cotton True Sport.

Red Stole wrapped blogLast week we featured the simplest possible pattern, so we thought it was time to share something more complex.  Gorgeous, right?  And in Cotton True Sport (100% Pima cotton; 50g/197 yds) it’s seasonally appropriate.

This scarf is a 20 row repeat, charted across all 93 stitches.  Increase over the first half of the repeat and decrease for the second to create the diamond border.  The panels in between are simple yarn overs combined with k2tog to create an airy eyelet.

We hope you enjoy this lovely free pattern from Amy Gunderson.

Happy knitting!

Free Pattern Friday – I Heart You Shawl

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

I Heart You Shawl in Naked Sock_blog

Today, the I Heart You Shawl in Naked Sock.

Me? Oh I have big plans for Valentine’s Day.  A horse drawn carriage, a bottle of champagne, and a candlelit dinner on top of the Empire State Building.

I kid.  I’m staying home and knitting, spending a quiet evening with my significant other.   If you’re keeping it low-key too, here’s a gift from us to you, a great pattern for crafting on what it seems will be a very chilly night.

Continue reading “Free Pattern Friday – I Heart You Shawl”

Free Pattern Friday – Warmth Wrap

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Warmth Wrap 1 hi-res

Today, the Warmth Wrap in Rozetti Yarns Allore.

Folks, I don’t think we could have planned this week’s free pattern better if we’d tried! As I write this, the weather here in North Carolina is doing some sort of sleeting-icing-freezing rain kind of thing. And baby, for the south, it’s cold! This is a perfect day for wrapping handknitting around ourselves, no?

Warmth Wrap with yarn blog

The Warmth Wrap is a relatively simple knit and goes pretty darn quick in bulky weight Allore and size 10 1/2 needles. The Eyelets lace pattern is just a 4 row repeat and is easy to memorize and keep track of.

Allore is a yarn that is right on trend. It’s also brushed, which we’ve been seeing a lot of in the yarn world this past year. Plus, it incorporates a metallic strand for an understated sophistication. It’s a complex light and lofty yarn and very easy to work with.

As shown, the Warmth Wrap requires 6 balls of Allore for a large, snuggly, almost blanket-like wrap. If you prefer a narrower scarf, just cast on 35 stitches instead of 65, and you’ll only need 3 balls.

Warmth Wrap closeup blog

And look – if you can’t find a shawl pin to close your wrap, just skewer in your needles and call it done. Stay safe and warm this wintery weekend!

 

Free Pattern Friday – Lightning Strikes

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Lightning Strikes Shawl spread blog

Today, the Lightning Strikes shawl in Bamboo Bloom Handpaints and Deluxe Worsted.

Lightning Strikes Shawl wrapped front blogIs it corny to say that Lightning Strikes hit me like a bolt out of the blue?  Too bad, because it did.  Amy Gunderson created this luxurious shawl using variegated Bamboo Bloom Handpaints (154yds/100g) and Deluxe Worsted 100% wool (220yds/100g) It’s such a great combo.  The Deluxe Worsted comes in a multitude of shades.  It’s easy to find a color to bring out whatever tone in the Bamboo Bloom you wish.

Lightning Strikes Shawl 1 blogShort rows are worked back and forth in the contrasting color to create widening and narrowing rows of solid color, bending to a V-shaped lightning fork across the shawl’s spine.  The natural thick/thin quality of the Bamboo Bloom helps soften the edges of the short rows into more organic curves.  I love the fringe – it reminds me of rain in a storm.

Calling for one hank of Deluxe Worsted and two of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints, worked on size US Size 10½ (6.5 mm) needles, this is not a particularly time or money-intensive project, although it is one with electrifying results (pardon the pun).  It’s also available as a kit from your LYS in the blue above, or with Bamboo Bloom Handpaints color 302 Koi Pond.

I’m considering making in Bamboo Bloom Handpaints 319 Forest Light for a friend with a Spring birthday.

Like a new meadow.  I’ll just sit here and sigh contentedly for a few minutes.

We hope you have a strikingly good weekend.

Happy knitting!

Lightning Strikes Shawl detail blog

 

Free Pattern Friday – Whimsical Wrap

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Whimsical Shawl 1 blog

Today, the Whimsical Wrap in Universe (pattern link here).

Can you tell we love Universe (50g/246yds)? It’s our tenth anniversary offering, and we’ve been having great fun with it.  In addition to today’s offering, we’ve recently released a collection of ornaments.  If you haven’t seen our Universe of Snowflakes e-book yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out – the collection is available as an e-book or as individual patterns.

Whimsical Shawl detail blogUniverse excels at lace, and the Whimsical Wrap is proof.  This center of this rectangular wrap is knit sideways from one end to the other. Then stitches are picked up from the perimeter of the center. The edging is worked as a knit-on edging. The last edging stitch is knit together with a stitch from the shawl body to attach.

The pattern is both written and charted.

We hope you’re able to bring something delicate and sparkling in your life this weekend, whether it’s glittering lace or a sky full of stars.

Happy knitting!

Free Pattern Friday – Refracted Lace Shawl

It’s Free Pattern Friday… again!

RefractedLaceShawl_Back_WhisperLace_blog

This afternoon, the Refracted Lace Shawl in Whisper Lace.

We once had a popular pattern called the Refracted Light Shawl in a discontinued yarn called Swiss Mohair.  Alas, when Swiss Mohair went away, so did the pattern.  But it was one of those patterns that kept being passed around from crocheter to crocheter, in a “have you seen this?  It sounds like just what you’re looking for” kind of way.

RefractedLaceShawl_Front_WhisperLace_blogWell, you can’t keep a good pattern down, so here it is, back again.  This time, it’s in Whisper Lace (440yds/50g), our wool/silk blend from the Fibra Natura line.

Front and back post crochet create an open, airy fabric that can fan out across your back or twist artfully at the shoulder or front.

We hope you enjoy this classic, available once more for you to enjoy.

Happy crafting!

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Free Pattern Friday – Planetary Shawl

Let’s have a double Free Pattern Friday today!

PlanetaryShawl_Back_Universe_blogThis morning, we just have to highlight the Planetary Shawl in Universe.

We were going to wait just a little longer to share this heart-shaped top-down shawl, but it got such a great reception at the TNNA Fashion Show last weekend that we couldn’t help ourselves.

Universe samples for social mediaUniverse is the very special yarn we designed to celebrate Universal Yarn’s 10th anniversary.  It features combed cotton, linen, glitter, and a classic black thread holding the whole glorious package together.   We haven’t seen anything else quite like it.

Expect Universe to hit shelves later this summer,  We love this yarn and we think you will too.

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We’ll be back later today with another another yarn and another free pattern – this time for crocheters.  Happy crafting!