It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Today, the Wakame Placemats in Yashi and Yashi Iro (pattern link here).
The Wakame placemats take their name from a kind of edible seaweed, a nod to both the blue green color Ocean Dreams, and to the 100% raffia plant fiber of solid Yashi and multi Yashi Iro.
We love Yashi and Yashi Iro for home decor projects, both knitted like the free Garter Baskets, and crocheted like Rick Mondragon’s clever Japanese Knot Bag.
These are a very simple stitch. They’re worked flat, with just knits, purls, and slips to create a tweedy effect. You’re only using one color at a time.
When you’re done, give it a light spritz with water and pin it flat to block. Then, add the fringe for the perfect summery touch. Such a fun and simple pattern!
We hope you have a safe, fun, and festive weekend. Happy crafting!
Perfect Summer Tote!
Happy Free Pattern Friday everyone! Today, we have a fun accessory for you: the Midsummer Tote. You can find the pattern here.
Tote bags are a summer essential, and why not make your own? The Midsummer Tote is crocheted using Yashi, our 100% raffia yarn. We recently released new colors in Yashi, so you can pick your new favorites for this project. We think the color combination in this bag would look fantastic with any summer outfit.
The Midsummer Tote is crocheted seamlessly in the round, with a mesh pattern nestled between sections of single crochet. We love how these textures work together in the finished bag!
Now where’d I put my keys?
Whether you decide to use this as a handbag, beach bag, or grocery bag, you really can’t go wrong with the Midsummer Tote.
Hot enough for ya? It is here, so we’re looking with delight at some of the great designs in Yashi and Yashi Iro 100% raffia that are out there. We saw Gwen Buttke McGannon’s First Light Rug in the Summer 18 issue of Interweave Crochet and thought, “yes. that’s what we need.”
Something cool and light. And as always, designer Rachel Brockman does not disappoint.
These fun summer accessories don’t take much work, but they look great.
All the notions you need are some jewelry findings, and a crochet hook to pull your favorite colors of Yashi into a loop.
If you can make fringe, you can make this jewelry.
A few beads to finish them off, and you’re set.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend, and that you stay cool.
It’s been a while since we’ve shared something for the home. These baskets are a quick and easy knitting project.
Worked from the center to edge, judicious placement of “wrap and turn” every few rows forms a curved edge. 100% raffia Yashi (solid) or Yashi Iro (multi) give a nice texture to the finished bowl.
We hope you enjoy this tasteful and decorative project.
With Spring coming, we want to highlight a great yarn for warm weather.
Yashi is 100% raffia. It has a papery but soft feel and works great for accessories and home decor. Yashi Iro is its multi-colored companion, dyed in shades that coordinate with the solids. Our Sales Director Yonca has made a video to tell us all about it.
In the video, she mentions Rick Mondragon’s Japanese Knot bag, which is now available as a free pattern on our website.
This was originally available for STITCHESWest attendees, and we’re very grateful to Knitting Universe for sharing it with us. By the way, if you haven’t been to a STITCHES show yet, put it on your to-do list. They’re a blast.
You can find the Japanese Knot Bag pattern at this link.
We hope you enjoy this fun free crochet pattern. Happy crafting!
Cute, right? This summery cap is crocheted in 100% raffia Yashi Iro (124yds/50g), the multi-colored sibling to solid Yashi (99yds/40g). We love this yarn. It’s great for home dec and accessories, and it’s really caught on with crocheters.
I got a call today from Ginger at In Sheep’s Clothing, a friendly LYS in Torrington, CT. She told me about a customer of hers who is working on the Basketry Handbag in Yashi and is having trouble with the Basketry stitch pattern.
The main stitch pattern on the bag body is really cool looking. In Yashi (100% raffia), it creates a rustic woven look. The stitch pattern is easy enough once you get the hang of it, but can be tricky to wrap your head around it by reading the text instructions only. I decided the best way to help Ginger’s customer was to take a short video demonstrating the technique.
One key piece of advice I have on knitting this handbag in Yashi, is to keep the work very loose on the needles. Yashi is not elastic, so if you’re not conscious of the tautness of the work, things go downhill very fast.
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.
We are looking forward to summer, partly because it gives us more excuses to use this great raffia yarn. Yashi (40g/99yds) has a papery texture, but is much softer and more pliable than others we’ve seen. It’s easy to work with and is proving a fast favorite around the office for crochet.
Because it’s so soft, with a project like this very wide hat, we’d suggest you crochet it tightly and maybe give it a little starching to stiffen the brim. You’ll start at the top and work your way out.
I can see myself lounging in a chair by the pool in this hat, reading a good book and sipping… uh… tea.
Today, the 
