KNITmuch | Issue 9 by A Needle Pulling Thread

KNITmuch mittens · scarves·hats·shawls·blankets·ornaments

…to K, is to

Issue 9

KNITTING WITH CABLES WITHOUT CROSSING CABLES WORKING WITH LUSH & ANTI - PILLING YARN EASY PATTERNS TO KNIT WITH UPTOWN WORSTED, MIST & TAPESTRY SEAFARER'S SCARF KNIT WITH BULKY YARN - MAJOR YARNY HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS EFFORTLESS FAIR ISLE KNITTING?

KNITmuch

…to K, is to

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ART DIRECTOR Carla A. Canonico Carla@KNITmuch.com ADVERTISING SALES John De Fusco John@KNITmuch.com PUBLISHER A Needle Pulling Thread PHOTOGRAPHERS John De Fusco, Carla A. Canonico, Contributors BLOGGERS/CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia MacDougall cgknitters.blogspot.com Michelle Nguyen www.stitchesbeslippin.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Carla A. Canonico Carla@KNITmuch.com Sondra Armas Sondra@KNITmuch.com SOCIAL MEDIA and WEB Sondra Armas Alejandro Araujo WEBSITE / BLOG : KNITmuch.com Follow us on Pinterest : @KNITmuch Like us on Facebook : KNITmuch Follow us on Twitter : @KNITmuchmag WHERE TO GET YOUR COPY KNITmuch is a quarterly eMagazine published by A Needle Pulling Thread. It is available free for personal use online at KNITmuch.com. A limited number of printed copies of KNITmuch are available for purchase at select yarn shops and specialty stores. Ask for it at your local shop. KNITmuch is not available by subscription. YARN SHOPS If you are interested in carrying KNITmuch in your store, please email John@KNITmuch.com.

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Uptown Worsted Mist an anti-pilling acrylic yarn

Knitting a hat with cables without crossing cables, what? Uptown Worsted Tapestry: plush and no pilling A soothing yarn makes a soothing shawl Knitting on the edge, the lace edge Oh, Major, how shall I describe thee? Major - washability, wearability, and affordability Major tips for working with a variegated yarn Seafarerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scarf construction tips and Major yarn Knitting pattern for Major seafarer's scarf Super Saver Chunky and Flecks! The one mitten pattern youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ever need Effortless Fair Isle knitting? Fair Isle, Flecks and Stripes yarns make the gift making season easy! Upgrade your seaming with Kitchener stitch Using leftover yarn for crafting and decorating ideas The easiest knitted mitten pattern ever Leftover yarn makes easy holiday ornaments Knitting the Basket of Yarn Ornament Cherishing your favorite leftover yarn in a keepsake ornament

c o n t e n t s KNITmuch | issue 9

editor's

I've knit up many projects with cables and color work, all were absolutely a joy to work up. I'll even say, thrilling! I was ready for the challenge, and patient enough to see it through. In this issue, our expert knitters find themselves knitting projects using yarn and techniques that facilitate the task of making cables and knitting Fair Isle color work. When making such projects like baby pullovers, cowls, scarves and hats for children and teens, it's good to have quick and fuss-free options. Several yarns in this issue do the work for you, giving the finished project a Fair Isle look. Uptown Worsted Tapestry and Super Saver Fair Isle yarns will help you along.

Check out the mock cables technique used in the Overcast Cap. It's super easy to do and so very attractive, and yes, without crossing stitches. Imagine the time you'll save in preparation for the holidays and gift-giving season! Then, if you wanted to engage in yarny crafts, this being a great time to ask your kids and grandkids to help, see the ornaments made using leftover yarns. Enjoy!

Cheerfully,

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Uptown Worsted Mist an anti-pilling acrylic yarn Michelle Nguyen Uptown Worsted Mist in the color Lavender

In this feature I’m looking at two yarns, the first is Uptown Worsted Mist. A variegated yarn that will add color without overwhelming your stitches. It’s a part of the Uptown Worsted group, which sounds a little bit like a band name, so you know it’s going to be cool. The colors you find in Uptown Worsted Mist can be echoed in the Uptown Worsted collection. If you’re looking for a complementary or contrasting color, you’ll be able to find one. Uptown Worsted Mist is 100% anti-pill acrylic. This was the first time I had ever heard of anti-pill acrylic, but it makes sense. Preventing pilling will give your garment a longer life and will look new and fresh much longer. You invest a lot of time in your projects and using anti-pilling acrylic you won’t need to shave or remove pills from your garments anymore. Pilling is a problem in high-wear areas. One of the most popular places to find them is underarms in sweaters. Knitted fabric rubbing The colors Sage (left) and Sapphire (right) against knitted fabric creates friction, which drags fibers the tiniest bit out of place. This compounded over the course of a garment’s life will cause pilling in the short term and garment thinness in the long term. If those fibers are getting out of place and pilling, then you’re shaving them off, you’re working away at the fiber of your sweater.

Staying in line with the theme of low-maintenance garments, Uptown Worsted Mist is also machine washable. The technical instructions are machine wash in cold water and tumble dry low. If you’re looking to keep your garments neat and nice for a long period of time, low heat is the way to go! Heat denatures fiber proteins causing them to stretch and warp in ways they don’t naturally, which is how you can straighten or curl your hair. If you’re looking for a fantastic low maintenance yarn Uptown Worsted Mist is a great choice. The colors are beautiful and the yarn is soft, you really cannot go wrong.

The color Steel Gray with a swatch so you can see how it knits up.

Photos by Michelle Nguyen

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Knitting a hat with cables without crossing cables, what ? I was curious to see how it would knit up. One of the easy and quick items to knit when sampling a new yarn is a hat, but the one I’ll be talking about here, jumped out at me. It appealed to me mostly because it looks like it has cables without actually going through the trouble of crossing any cables. See the various selection of colorways for the Uptown Worsted Mist and the very many fun patterns to knit up. The pattern for Overcast Cap is very sleek and well written. If you read through the whole pattern first, you’ll see what I mean. The actual stitch repeat is laid out in a separate section, for easy reference. Not that you’ll need it; the pattern is very easy to memorize. The actual pattern doesn’t repeat the stitch pattern, it just refers you to the above pattern and tells you how many repeats to do before starting the crown shaping. One aspect about the Overcast Cap that I absolutely love is the fact that there is no ribbed edge. I think it really gives the garment a couture look. If you’re worried about the hat slipping off, don’t concern yourself. The whole hat is knit in a K2P1 rib, so you get the ribbed effect without the plain ribbed look.

The product photo of the Overcast Cap in a solid gray color. Uptown Worsted Mist is going to be a variegated gray with white. It should look interesting!

Ribbing has been around forever, it’s been done over and over again the same way. I always love to see new ways to incorporate it into patterns. Knitting the Overcast Cap with Uptown Worsted Mist works well. The original pattern was specified for a DK weight yarn and Uptown Worsted, is worsted. DK is slightly smaller than a worsted weight, but another great aspect to this hat is the amount of stretch it has. Since the whole thing is knit in a rib, if your gauge is a little off, it isn’t the end of the world. See the cast on edge? It’s plain and knit upwards from there.

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A close up shot so you can see all the little purl ditches. This makes the whole hat ribbed and easy to fit different sized noggins.

The stitch that makes the cabled look is a Right Twist (RT), also called the Mock Cable Stitch. This was the first time I had encountered that stitch in a pattern. Just looking at the title of the stitch I would have thought it was a stitch twisted to the right, which is a fairly common occurrence. This stitch is really nothing like that. The official instructions say “K2tog but do not slip st from ndl, knit the first st again, slip both sts from ndl.” When I read it without my knitting in front of me, I wasn’t sure what the heck they were talking about. If you just came across this pattern, it could be confusing; I’m a very visual learner, so I have to see it. However, once I sat down with my knitting and cast on, it made total sense when I looked at it. The Overcast Cap is a beautiful piece to add to your fall wardrobe. The icing on the cake is the fact that it isn’t difficult to knit. Yeah! The pattern is relaxing to knit and cozy to wear, and in the end someone gets to wear a warm hat.

It’s an incredibly comfy hat. Uptown Worsted Mist really makes a soft and warm hat.

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Uptown Worsted Tapestry: plush and no pilling

All of the points covered in this feature about Uptown Worsted Mist, are also true of Uptown Worsted Tapestry. It’s the same 100% acrylic anti-pilling base with the same washing instructions.

Uptown Worsted Tapestry in the color Emerald

The difference is in the colors. Where Mist is a single color and white, Tapestry is multiple colors. The variegation within the yarn makes it stripe a bit when you knit with it. I wasn’t expecting the colors to stripe, but to just be a variegation of color everywhere. There’s a definite pattern of striping happening within Uptown Worsted Tapestry.

Uptown Worsted Tapestry in the color Taupe Tones, which I think goes with my table really well.

Uptown Worsted Tapestry in the color Prairie Fields with a swatch so you can see how the colors knit up. It gives the impression of a faux Fair Isle or a self striping motif.

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Something else Uptown Worsted Mist and Tapestry share is a low price point. At $8 per ball it’s an extremely affordable yarn. If you’re looking for a yarn that would make a great afghan or throw, Uptown Worsted Tapestry is an excellent candidate. The color within the yarn will make for engaging knitting. That’s always my issue with knitting something as large as a blanket. I lose interest and don’t have the heart to keep going. If you combine a simple stitch with this yarn it will keep you engaged without making it a ‘hard to memorize’ pattern.

Uptown Worsted Tapestry in the color Midnight Blues, a personal favorite. This one looks like it straight-up self stripes!

I believe either Uptown Worsted Mist or Tapestry would make an exemplary blanket. When I was knitting stockinette stitch, the fabric felt extremely soft AND plush. There’s a fullness to the yarn, as if it has already bloomed and doesn’t need to be blocked at all. Once you block it, the yarn relaxes and your stitches even out, but that fullness remains.

The left edge is the garter stitch boarder. It’s different from the seed stitch body, but it’s subtle.

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Knitting the Soothing Shawl pattern is a great follow up to what I talked about Uptown Worsted. This pattern has a lot going on in the way of textured stitches. It's an easy knit with a unique garment construction.

A soothing yarn makes a soothing shawl

The common way to knit shawls is to start at the top in the middle (essentially the back of the neck). This one is knit tip to tip. This is useful if you’re not sure how much yarn you’ll have left. With the garter tab (back of neck construction), it’s hard to tell how much yarn you’ll have left because each row is longer than the previous one. However, when you hit the halfway point of this shawl you’ll know exactly how much yarn you’ll need for the second half. I’m guilty of wanting to make a shawl much bigger than it’s supposed to be, so I take off knitting without any consideration to how much yarn will be needed. Then I start sweating playing yarn chicken.

The best part about the Soothing Shawl pattern? The body is completely reversible, this sample is actually the wrong side. KNITmuch | issue 9

The left edge is the garter stitch boarder. It’s different from the seed stitch body, but it’s subtle.

If you’ve ever started a shawl with a garter stitch tab, you know it feels a little wonky the first time you do it. You have to cast on three stitches, then knit 6 rows, then pick up stitches along three edges of your little square. It’s a cirque de soleil performance that works wonderfully once you have it memorized. When you’re just getting into shawl knitting, it isn’t really the best place to start. You cast on one stitch to begin this shawl and it’s all yarn overs and knitting until you have established the six stitch garter stitch boarder around the top and bottom edge. It’s all seed stitch in between.

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I have never really been overly fond of garter stitch, and don’t mind the garter stitch shawls, but the seed stitch really makes a beautiful texture in the yarn. Knitting it with Uptown Worsted Tapestry gives the shawl a very interesting effect. The swaths of textured stitch have the color of the yarn but running vertically rather than horizontally. This changes the way the yarn pools and makes it a bit more visually stimulating to the eye. Not all variegated yarns are created equal either. Uptown Worsted Tapestry has multiple colors running through it, while Uptown Worsted Mist is two tone. If you’re knitting something like the seed stitch pattern, you can use more color than if you’re knitting the lace edging. If you take too much color into the lace edging it will look messy and the stitch will not be clearly defined.

Knitting on the edge, the lace edge The finished product should look like this!

The Soothing Shawl is a roller coaster from beginning to end. I talked about the seed stitch body, but here’s a word about the lace edging.

When you see a shawl with a plain body and a busy lace edging, you probably think the last few rows of that shawl must have taken forever! This is not the case. When you’re done with the body of the shawl, you bind off. Completely bind off, but don’t break the yarn. From there, you cast on using the knitted cast on method. I’m attaching a video so you’re able to see just what that means. This was the first way I learned how to cast on, before I discovered how much quicker the long-tailed method was. If you’ve never done a technique like this it might not look like it makes much sense. As you knit the edge, you will pick up stitches from the edge of the shawl and knit them into the lace edging. This creates the effect of a seamless lace edge along the shawl body.

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I’m not sure if it’s because this is an interesting technique that piqued my interest, or if knitting it actually goes faster, but I thought the lace edging flew and I was done before I knew it. It was a really fun knit and the lace pattern was easy to follow. Did you download the free pattern yet? Now for colors! Personally, if I were knitting this pattern, I would do the body in Uptown Worsted Tapestry and the lace in a complementary solid color of plain Uptown Worsted. This will put the emphasis on the stitch pattern of the lace. If you have too many colors in a lace pattern the stitches tend to get lost in the various colors and go unnoticed. When you first start it, it will not look right. Trust me.

Since I’m testing out Tapestry and Mist, I decided to do the body in Tapestry and the lace in Mist. Mist only has one color and white, so there’s much less going on than in the Tapestry yarn itself. The sample of this shawl that I knit turned out so well, the yarn was very well suited to this pattern. If you like the pattern and Uptown Worsted Tapestry but aren’t totally sold on the stripe pattern you can always use two balls of yarn and alternate them every other row. This will break up the stripes, provided you start the balls in two different color sections. There are many different color combinations you could use to give this shawl a different look. All you have to do is decide what way is right for you.

Michelle Nguyen

The lace edge in Uptown Worsted Mist and Uptown Worsted Tapestry

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KNITmuch | issue 9

Oh, Major, how shall I describe thee? Cynthia MacDougall

We’re playing – yes, I said playing – with Major, a bulky, 100% acrylic yarn. Major is a “poofy,” softly spun yarn that’s twisted (plied) in a marled fashion. As I dissected it, I discovered more and more ways to describe it!

Five of Major’s 35 colorways. From top to bottom, Crimson, Stonewall, Firecracker, Verdant and Honeydew.

A variegated colorway can have the colors repeat, as in the example on the left, or they can be “mirrored,” as in the example on the right.

Major has a whopping 35 colorways, all with some type of variegation. Some are monochromatic (various shades of the same hue like Crimson in the photo), some contain neutrals, like Stonewall (in the photo) and Graphite, and others are bold combinations of bright, brilliant, and unrelated colors. I chose to review 5 colors: Honeydew, Crimson, Firecracker, Verdant, and Stonewall. I’ll explain some of the color descriptors. There are several ways to describe yarns that have multiple colors in them. Major employs 2 of them.

Different shades, and hues of redshift through this skein of Major

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A variegated yarn is one that changes from one color to another every few inches to every few feet, perhaps even every few yards. The colors will, ultimately, repeat along the strand of yarn. Sometimes they’re dyed to make a repeat that mirrors itself. An example of a repeating variegated colorway is gray, cream, beige, pink, and then repeat. A mirrored example of the same colorway would be gray, cream, beige, pink, beige, cream, then repeat from the beginning. and so on. When we look at the skein of Major, we see the different colored sections on the outside. Even the Crimson colorway has different shades of red. This tells us that Major is a variegated yarn. But wait – there’s more! Major is also a marled yarn. A marled yarn is made of two or more plies of yarn with each ply a different color. When I think of a marled yarn, I go straight to the work socks my Dad wore when I was young. If work socks don’t ring a bell with you, think of a sock monkey – they were originally made from the same type of work socks.

Photos by Cynthia MacDougall

The third color descriptor for a yarn – which doesn’t apply to Major – is gradient. A gradient yarn starts with one color at the beginning of a skein, and it ends with a completely different color. The color changes in between can be monochromatic (all in the same color family like the center ball in the bottom left photo) or they may be dramatic, changing from one bold color to another. High contrast between the two plies throughout this skein of the Verdant colorway, offers an excellent example of a marled yarn.

Marled yarn gets its name from when the plies are twisted. Each ply is a different color, and, as they twist, they become “marled” together, creating peek-a-boo shots of color in the finished yarn. Marled yarn can be made with one ply of one color and two or more plies of a second color. Depending on how this is done, different effects can be achieved. The color can be strengthened by using two plies of it and one of a neutral, or it can be diluted by making the multiple plies something like gray or black, that will “bring down” the strongly colored strand. A marled yarn can also be variegated or gradient, depending on how each ply was spun. When we look at our skeins of Major, we can see that in addition to twisting around each other, the colors also change, making Major a variegated, marled yarn.

Our skein of Major in this stunning ruby red has dark flecks of fiber in each of the strands. It’s easy to see how the yarn in the skein shows shifts from ruby red to deep ruby to almost a burgundy and that different shades of red twist around each other. When I separated a strand of the yarn to better illustrate that each ply is a different color, I made a rather startling discovery: Major is a core-spun, variegated, marled yarn! That’s where the black flecks come from! What’s a core-spun yarn? A core spun yarn usually is made from a strand or two of strongly spun fibers around which a softer, loftier fiber preparation is spun. In the case of our red skein of Major, the core is two strands of highly twisted black ‘threads’ around which the different colors of red fibers are spun. These black strands peek through the softly spun red fibers and add another dimension to the yarn.

Left to right, I’ve wound a full strand of Major, then I’ve wound a length of each of the two plies to show the different shades of red, and then a wrap showing the pair of black core strands.

So there you have it. Major is a bulky weight, corespun, variegated, marled, acrylic yarn. These 8 ‘cakes’ are a graduated yarn called Revolutions. A graduated yarn changes from one color to another across the entire length of the strand, unlike variegated yarn, that has repeats of colors.

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Major - washability, wearability, and affordability volunteering at an elementary school – the schools that have knitting as an extracurricular program might just need your help. But I digress, so what could you make with Major? Well, the soft yellow and green in our Honeydew colorway would make a sumptuous baby blanket, that’s for sure! Major comes in 35 colorways. This one is called Firecracker.

I’m not a yarn snob. I believe that every yarn has its place within the realms of knitters and knitted garments. Yes, even acrylic yarns. I firmly believe that acrylic yarn has its place, and bulky acrylic yarns offer instant gratification, as you’ll see throughout this feature. Knitters cringe when they hear the story of the pure wool baby jacket that got tossed in the washer by accident and came out of the ordeal not much bigger than a fashion doll’s coat. Acrylic yarn will not do that to you! Acrylic yarn holds its shape, so it isn’t ideal for lace work that needs to be blocked, but it’s perfect for hats and mitts and scarves that will get lots of wear and tugging.

Crimson would make a stunning office cardigan and it would snap a black winter coat to a full-on attention-getter! The deep greens in Verdant would make a cozy man’s scarf – I have an idea for that. I have similar plans for the neutral colorway of Stonewall. I want to make a hat and scarf to match my winter coat (like I need another scarf…) The Firecracker colorway would make a dramatic shawl or afghan, especially if a solid black yarn was used to frame it up with a border. There are only 30 more colors of Major – I invite you to have a look and think of what you’d choose to knit. I’ll be doing one of my favorite things: doodling with yarn. In the process, we’ll talk about stripe management.

You can rest assured that a moth larva will never try to eat into your hand knitted acrylic sweaters, either! Acrylic yarns are great for teaching children to knit. I like to put a slightly thinner yarn into the little ones’ hands (double knitting or knitting worsted), so that the needles are a more manageable size for them, but I choose a bulky yarn for my hands to show the techniques of wrapping yarn and drawing through loops. I have a friend who is a retired kindergarten teacher. She and I often speak about the importance of having “each one teach one.” On her behalf, I encourage you to teach a young person in your life to knit, and if you don’t have a young person, perhaps you’d consider

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Five different colorways, five different ideas. Just think – Major comes in 30 more colorways! Oh the possibilities!

Major tips for working with a variegated yarn and a bonus pattern While I was writing, a pattern for a baby blanket popped into my head. Before jumping into that, I want to talk a bit about working with variegated yarns. Along the way, I’ll provide some cool tips to make seaming go smoothly.

I fell in love with the Honeydew colorway for a baby blanket. Using our different width idea, I created this pattern for a baby blanket made with wide and narrow stripes, that are then sewn together using one of my favorite seam treatments – mattress stitch. Let’s go!

gauge 15 sts to 4″ [10cm] (row gauge is not important) Right side panel Cast on 26 sts. K 10 rows. Row 1: K across. Row 2: P to last 8 sts, k8. Rep these 2 rows until the panel measures 28” [70cm] ending with a WS row. K 10 rows. Cast off all sts.

Our work will focus on the Honeydew colorway of Major

You can have a LOT of fun with variegated yarn. The number of stitches you have on the needle will change the depth of the stripes as you knit. I’ve seen sweaters worked so that ⅓ of the front and back are made from ⅓ of the stitches, and a separate, wider panel is made with the remaining stitches. My baby blanket is based on this theory. In my experience, yarns that have variegation in them, like Major, work well when the pattern pieces don’t have a lot of shaping – sweaters with drop shoulders, blankets, scarves, and hats all fit this category nicely. When adding sleeves to a sweater, or when making mittens, you might want to try and start the two pieces at the same point in the color repeat – or not – it’s completely up to you.

Fun with stripes! The right panel of this baby blanket has 20 stitches, and the center panel has 60 stitches.

A Major baby blanket A good size for an all-purpose baby blanket is 30” x 40” [90 x 100cm] I’ve sized our blanket to be smaller – about 28″ x 30″ [70 x 90cm] which is a good size for a car seat or stroller. Add a third ball to make a full-length blanket. materials • 2 balls of Major • pair of UNIQUE knitting needles, size US 10 [6mm] • tapestry needle, stitch markers

Time for a couple of bonus tips – when working this panel, it can be difficult to differentiate the side border. To make it easier to see these stitches, you can use a stitch marker on the wrong side to remind you that you’ve come to the last 8 stitches. Another use for the stitch markers is to place one a couple stitches in from the edge that will be seamed every 10 or 20 rows. This will help to ensure that the seams sew up evenly, without stretching or bunching one side or the other. Another way to keep track of the 8 border stitches, is to weave a strand of contrasting color yarn between the 8th and 9th stitch.

Note: The blanket is made in 3 panels, which are stitched together to show off the striping of the yarn.

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Left side panel Cast on 20 sts and k 10 rows. Row 1: K across. Row 2: K8, p to end. Rep these 2 rows until the panel measures 28” [70cm] ending with a WS row. K 10 rows. Cast off all sts.

Use a stitch marker or a strand of contrasting yarn to indicate the division between the body stitches and the border stitches.

Another issue that may arise is a simple fact of physics – the garter stitch border will be shorter than the stockinette stitch. That’s why we choose garter stitch – to create borders that will hold their shape, but garter stitch compresses vertically in comparison to stockinette stitch, so they can pull in too much. That’s when I like to “build them up” by placing a short row every 2″ – 3″ [5 – 7.5cm]. There are lots of ways to do short rows, but when it comes to a baby blanket, I just knit 8 stitches, turn, knit back to the edge, then work the next row. No fancy wraps required – the baby isn’t ever going to notice! Center panel Cast on 60 stitches and k 10 rows. Row 1: K across. Row 2: P across. Rep these 2 rows until the panel measures 28” [70cm] ending with a WS row. K 10 rows. Cast off all sts. If you want to continue with my stitch marker tip, remember to place markers a few stitches inside the side edges, at the same intervals as on the Right side panel. 20

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Again, use the stitch markers, and remember on this panel to do short rows, if you did them on the Right side panel. Sew the panels together. Let’s do mattress stitch! It’s one of my favorite things! I like to use yarn ends to sew up my seams, so I leave long tails at my cast ons and bind offs. I thread a tapestry needle, then bring the needle into the opposite piece, from the back (wrong side) to the front. Then, I do the same thing on the original piece.

The yarn is coming out of the knitted piece on the right and the needle has been placed through the edge bump on the left piece, and also through the next bump on the right piece.

In the stockinette stitch, you continue working on the right sides of the knitting, though there are no bumps to pick up. Instead, you’ll pick up the “bars” between the edge and second stitch in from the edge. You want to run your needle between the V of the two stitches. So, to diagram, the vertical stripe represents the needle, the Es represent the edge stitch, and the Vs represent the second-tothe-edge stitch on each piece: E|V V|E E|V

The needle has already gone through the opposite side, and is “stop framed” with the needle coming from the back of the work on the piece where the tail originates.

When you’ve worked back and

To do mattress stitch on garter stitch, lay the pieces right sides up, with the edges abutting one another (see photo above). Work the tapestry needle through the bumps on the edges of each piece, alternating from side to side. Stitching through the right hand piece, the needle goes through on the left of the “V” of the stitch, between it and the edge stitch.

forth for several inches, you will end up with something that looks like shoelaces. In the photo below, I’ve left lots of thread in the seam so you can see how the work progresses.

use the stitch markers to pin the pieces together at those points and know that’s where the seams have to match. This prevents me from sewing one seam “short” of the other and it ensures that I ease the seam evenly along the entire length.

Try these adjustments 1. Sew the center panel in upside down so the middle of the blanket shows as reverse stockinette stitch. 2. Make the center panel 40 stitches, and make two reverse stockinette stitch stripes with 10 stitches in each. Sew them in between the center and side panels. 3. Do 2, above, and make the reverse stockinette stitch stripes with a different color of Major! With 35 colors, you can mix and match.

After several inches, the mattress stitch looks like lacing.

Now for the magic: all I have to do is hold the base of the seam, and pull on the end of my sewing yarn to bring those two edges of fabric together.

If it weren’t for the difference in the colors of the yarn between the pieces, this seam would be nearly undetectable.

Pinning the pieces together at intervals using stitch markers makes it possible to sew the seam evenly along its entire length.

And that’s it! An almost instant blanket! Or is it? There is more fun to be had!

The finished size of this prototype blanket is 26'' [66cm] wide x 16'' [40cm] long. If I’d had another ball of Major, I could have made it long enough to work for a baby stroller or car seat blanket.

Just like that, you’ve created your very own, custom baby blanket that will get no one in trouble for tossing it in the washer! I only had one ball of Major in the Honeydew colorway, and I was pleased that there was 40g of yarn left over. So, where my side panels each have 20 stitches, I adapted the pattern to make it a little wider, confident that there’s enough yarn to yield 16″ [40cm] length from a single ball. My half blanket won’t go to waste, though. I foster cats and kittens in my spare time, and my blanket will make a cozy, washable bed for one of my fur babies.

Often, when working stockinette stitch, one edge will be looser than the other. Earlier in this feature, I suggested placing stitch markers at intervals (in this case I did every 20 rows.) Now that I’m doing the seams, I can

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Seafarer’s scarf construction tips and Major yarn The style of the Seafarer’s scarf has been around since 1898, when a volunteer for the Seamen’s Church Institute began to knit gifts for mariners who were at sea over the holidays. The basic pattern has garter stitch panels divided by a length of k4 p4 ribbing that goes around the back of the neck.

The verdant colorway of Major sets the scene for a handsome scarf.

This design has two ingenious features: the garter stitch ends can by layered one over the other, making a double layer in the open “V” of a navy pea coat. In addition, the ribbed section tends to “buckle” around the collar, preventing drafts from sneaking down the back of the neck. Construction details The type of ribbing can vary, but a wider rib (k3 p3, k4 p4 or even k4 p3) makes a soft, rolling fabric that draws in enough, but not too much. The ribbing can be adapted to flow from the knit and purl stitches of the panels, if they’re being worked in a pattern.

This schematic shows the basic shaping of a seafarer’s scarf, two end panels with a strip of ribbing in between.

The end panels were originally done in garter stitch, so the knitting usually began at one end, and was knit continuously to the other end. Instead of using garter stitch, double seed stitch or even a 4 x 4 “seed stitch” could be employed, such as the one in the free Anything Blanket pattern from Canadian Guild of Knitters’ website.

The Seafarer’s Scarf

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The ribbing needs to go about ⅔ of the way around the neck, 15-20″ [38-51cm]. Each side panel should be between 15-24″ [38-60cm] long.

Alternate construction methods

Top down construction

Any stitch pattern that is attractive on both sides can be used for the end panels. Some patterns have a clear direction, in which cases it may be desirable to work them in a different fashion. Depending on the pattern selected, there are other options for the construction.

When I have a pattern that looks better when viewed from the top down (or if I just want symmetry without grafting), I use a “top down” construction. I put “top down” in quotations marks because I knit the ribbing first, then work the front panels from both ends of the ribbed panel. As these panels will go down the front of the body, I’m essentially knitting them top down.

I like to weigh either my pieces or my remaining yarn at intervals to maximize the length of my scarf with the yarn available. I’ll describe that as we go along. Bottom-up construction For a pattern that looks better when viewed from the bottom up, I begin at one end, cast on and knit the first panel. When it’s as long as I like or when I’ve used just less than ⅓ of the yarn (by weight), I jot down this number to be sure I save enough yarn to complete the second end. I proceed to work the ribbing section, weighing the yarn periodically to be sure I leave enough yarn for the other end panel. At the end of the ribbing section, I put the stitches on a holder, and break the yarn, leaving a long tail (I might just grab another needle the same size, and leave the ribbing section stitches on their needle). Then, I cast on for the other front panel. At the top of it, I leave a long tail again, and use the tails to graft the top of the newly knitted piece onto the live stitches from the ribbing.

Knit

For this method, cast on the stitches using a provisional cast on and purl one row (this is a WS row). Knit the ribbing section. If I’m concerned about the amount of yarn on hand, I will weigh this section and knit it as long as ¼ to ⅓ of the total weight of the yarn will go. At the end of the ribbing, end with a RS row, then match the previous end by working a purl row with the WS facing. Next, knit across that piece, go back to the provisional cast on, join in a second strand of yarn, and pick the stitches up from the cast on. If I’m making a wide scarf I might switch to a circular needle at this point.

Pick up from

Atprov. the topcast of the on ribbing, work back across the panel, then pick up the provisional cast on stitches in the direction shown.

From this point, work both ends of the scarf at the same time until the panels are the desired length or until there is just enough yarn left to cast off the two panels.

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Knitting pattern for Major seafarer's scarf I’ll also sample scarf patterns using the other colorways I’ve been enjoying. I considered two chevron patterns – the Chevron and Pinnacle Chevron from Barbara G. Walker’s first book, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, but I’ve been on a bit of a chevron kick lately and I don’t want my kick to become a full-on rut.

The Firecracker colorway worked in a garter stitch zigzag. This pattern would make an attractive panel on a seafarer’s scarf.

Then, I considered using Imitation Lattice or widening the Garter Stitch Zigzag, also from the first Treasury. However, when perusing Ms. Walker’s second Treasury, I came across an old favorite, Seaweed. This pattern has a different, yet attractive look on either side, and, given the color we’re working with (Verdant), I couldn’t resist revisiting my old friend. I had originally planned to do a scarf using Stonewall, as it’s a good match for my winter coat, and, having created the swatch pictured here, I plan to use the Imitation Lattice pattern for it.

Imitation Lattice in the Stonewall colorway. This knit-purl pattern looks attractive on the reverse side as well. This will become a scarf to complement my winter coat.

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Seaweed Seafarer’s Scarf

materials • 1 skein Major, 100% acrylic, bulky yarn • US size 9 [5.5mm] needles • US size 10 [6mm] needles • tapestry needle gauge 36 sts over 4″ [10cm] over 3 x 3 ribbing

Neckband Using a provisional cast on and size 9 [5.5mm] needles, cast on 36 sts. Row 1: *K3, p3; rep from * to end. Repeat Row 1 until work measures 15″ [38cm] or desired length. Panels (work both at the same time) Knit across stitches, then join in another strand of yarn and knit across the stitches from the provisional cast on. (See diagram for direction of knitting.) Work both panels at the same time.

The verdant colorway in a verdant setting. The neckband of the scarf has been twisted to show both sides of the Seaweed pattern. The panel on the left looks like seaweed flowing under water!

Row 1: *P4, k2; rep from * across. Row 2 and all even numbered rows: K all k sts and p all p sts. Row 3: *P3, k3; rep from * across. Row 5: *P2, k4; rep from * across. Row 7: P1, *k4, p2; rep from * to last 5 sts, k4, p1. Row 9: P1, *k3, p3; rep from * to last 5 sts, k3, p2. Row 11: P1, *k2, p4; rep from * to last 5 sts, k2, p3. Row 12: As Row 2.

Knit This diagram shows how to proceed at the end of the neck ribbing to work the front panels of the scarf from the top down.

Repeat these 12 rows until each panel measures 24″ [60cm] or desired length. End with a Row 3. Repeat Rows 2 and 3 three more times. Cast off all sts, and weave in all ends.

Pick up from prov. cast on

This has been a very fun for me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well. Major has a lot of attributes – it’s quick-to-knit, it washes easily, it’s comfortable to wear next to the skin, it has many colorways, and it looks great! Ask for it at your local yarn shop, and enjoy some of the patterns I’ve provided for you.

One of our samples was made in the Firecracker colorway of Major.

Cynthia MacDougall cgknitters.ca

A closer look at the front panels of the Seafoam Seafarer’s Scarf

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Super Saver Chunky and Flecks! Michelle Nguyen

Super Saver in the color Denim

A new Super Saver yarn! This one is called Buff Fleck.

Super Saver Chunky in the color Claret

Red Heart Super Saver yarn has been a customer favorite for over 30 years. A record like that doesn’t just happen, it’s earned. Not only is the original one of the most versatile yarns I’ve ever seen, Red Heart keeps doing new and exciting things with this yarn base. Starting with the basics, Super Saver is 100% acrylic, and machine wash and dry. It comes in over 100 colors, so there’s no way you won’t find the complementary (or contrasting) color you’re looking for. It’s a medium weight, perfect for everything from blankets to sweaters to hats. We’ve already talked about Super Saver Stripes when they were being released. Now we’re looking at Super Saver Chunky, and Super Saver Flecks and Heathers. Super Saver Chunky is the same great yarn, just more! The yarn is a little heavier, which is perfect for projects you want to knit up faster. The thicker yarn is great for the cooler weather we now have coming our way. If you have your eye on a chunky knit cable, this is the yarn you’ve been waiting for. The solid colors really make any kind of stitch work pop.

Flecks and Heathers is a new style of Super Saver and I love it! The look of a heathered yarn always struck me as very authentic. I think because when yarn is spun by a human person, it would have flecks of different colors and little parts that were a bit different from the rest. I’ve also got a mild case of OCD and like everything to look perfectly spaced and intentional. Super Saver Flecks and Heathers really fits the bill because it has the perfect tension, smoothness, and weight of a machine spun yarn, with the flecks and heathers making it look rustic and authentic. It’s the same weight and washing instructions as regular Super Saver, so nothing has fundamentally changed about it. Just a new look!

Super Saver in the color Dusty Gray with the washing instructions.

Photos by Michelle Nguyen

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The one mitten pattern you’ll ever need What really grabbed me about this mitten pattern is the fact that it’s written in three different sizes. Writing a pattern that is a fit for the whole family is something I love to see. Adjusting patterns for different sizes isn’t difficult if you’re adjusting for one or two sizes up, but when you have to go from little kid sizes, to something that would fit daddy’s hands, it’s a whole other ball game. Mittens for All also has a couple different color patterns you can play with; a stripe as well as two tone. It’s perfect if you’re knitting for more than one little person; color-coding is key. The mittens are knit from the cuff up, started on small needles in a K2 P2 ribbing. This is a fairly standard start and wouldn’t be the reason the pattern is marked as an intermediate level. Again, I would never want anyone to be discouraged by the difficulty level of a pattern, you just have to try it out. Read the pattern over in advance and go slowly. If you’re likely to get stuck on something it would be the most complex part. If you look at the picture of the mittens while you’re doing the thumb gusset you’ll see what you’re creating. The thumb sticks out at the side of your hand, you need to create room within the mitten to accommodate this extra appendage. You create increases to the side and put those stitches on a stitch holder to continue with the thumb later.

Double pointed needles are also required for this technique, but if you’re not into double pointed needles you can also do the magic loop method or two circulars. Aside from the thumb gusset and the thumb itself, knitting a mitten isn’t any more or less difficult than knitting a hat.

Three pairs of mittens in all sizes!

With Super Saver yarn you’ll have plenty of color combinations to keep you in mittens for years to come. If you’re looking for some extra excitement in your mitten knitting, look at the different weights of Red Heart Super Saver.

Another product photo from the free Red Heart pattern

Playing with the size of the yarn and your needle size will create a different fabric. If you’re looking for a mitten a little bit more dense in order to win a snowball fight, you might want to try Super Saver Chunky on a smaller needle.

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Effortless

Fair Isle knitting? Red Hearts Super Saver yarn now comes in Fair Isle. I know that sentence doesn’t look like it makes sense after all Fair Isle is a technique, not a yarn. Red Heart has made it into a yarn, so you can knit Fair Isle without the effort. The color Parrott Fair Isle is bright and beautiful when knit up.

Three balls of Super Saver in the color Calm Fair Isle

Before we get into the yarn itself, let’s talk about what Fair Isle knitting actually is. When you’re thinking about Fair Isle, usually the Lopi Icelandic sweaters. This is a good representation of the Fair Isle technique: two-color stranded knitting to form a pattern. The pattern can be anything you like, but generally, it’s a colorful design that repeats. Seen commonly around the yoke of sweaters, but incorporated into many different garments from shawls, mittens, blankets, hats, leg warmers, and just about anything you’re able to knit.

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Now you may ask, how has Red Heart made a yarn that does this for you? Surely it’s too complicated! Fear not my good friends because they’ve found a way. Super Saver Fair Isle has been dyed so your gauge will make the pattern for you. That’s right, you just knit and the yarn makes the pattern. We’ve seen this before with the self-striping yarns, but it’s much more difficult to produce a yarn that will make a pattern with your gauge since everyone’s gauge is a bit different. I really enjoy the way Red Heart put this yarn together because you don’t have to swatch really intensely to find the perfect gauge.

I was a little concerned because let’s be honest, no one actually likes to swatch, and if you have to swatch to get this yarn to work, it might have been hard to get your average knitter on board. Red Heart sidestepped that problem with something I’ll call ‘artfulpooling’. When you knit with Super Saver A swatch of what the color Winter looks like Fair Isle, the a full pattern pattern emerges when repeat is knit. no matter what your gauge is because the pattern isn’t something like perfectly concentric swirling circles. It’s a randomized pattern that still forms a cohesive image. I love that they put up photos of how the finished pattern would turn out. It isn’t something you would expect from just looking at the yarn when it’s all balled up. The pattern would just happen as you knit it. If you want to see the yarn in action, check out this YouTube video of Marly Bird’s tutorial on how to knit a faux Fair Isle scarf!

Fair Isle, Flecks and Stripes yarns make the gift making season easy! The Faux Fair Isle Knit Cowl is the best way to explore this yarn. It’s a simple stitch pattern that will show off the color of your yarn. You can really get to know the Fair Isle pattern and how the yarn does all the work for you with this cowl.

The pattern photo from the Faux Fair Isle Scarf

If you can knit and purl you can make this cowl. It consists of a seed stitch edge and stockinette stitch body. This is a very easy pattern, you go back and forth without too much fancy stitch work. When you get to the length you like, bind off and seam up the end. The Fair Isle yarn is the yarn specified for this pattern, but you can knit it with any number of other styles of yarn. I chose to knit it with Super Saver Flecks and Heathers. As I mentioned earlier, I love the look of this yarn and wanted to display the stitches of the pattern rather than the colorwork in Super Saver Fair Isle. The product photo shows off the yarn, so I thought we should be able to look at the pattern itself.

There's also a very similar pattern for Super Saver Stripes. The pattern would show off Super Saver Stripes very well. If you’ve got a busy yarn you can use a nice easy pattern. The Stipe and Fair Isle yarns work well because the color ‘artfully pools’, in order to get the patterning or stripes a smaller width of knitting works best. If you knit a throw, the pattern stretches out over too many stitches and you lose the natural patterning of the yarn. Scarves, cowls, slippers, fingerless mittens, actual mittens, etc. These are all good examples of projects that will show Super Saver Fair Isle or Super Saver Stripes to the greatest advantage.

The Faux Fair Isle Cowl knit in Super Saver Flecks and Heathers

The product photo from the Easy Stripes Knit Cowl

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Upgrade your seaming with Kitchener stitch When I went over the Faux Fair Isle Cowl, I was thinking about the pattern and how it was set up. It’s knit back and forth until the end and then the two ends are bound off and seamed up. For me, this is an opportunity to practice your Kitchener stitch.

Now the most important thing is to end off on the right side. The stitches are only secured by the ones next to them so if you set it down before you start knitting your first row, the whole thing will unravel. When you wrap your yarn around the needle for your last cast on stitch, that is the side you start knitting from. Otherwise, your cast on will slide right off the needles. After this, I slide the live stitches onto a stitch holder and clip it shut. This prevents any loss of stitches.

The Faux Fair Isle Knit Cowl with a provisional cast on

In order to Kitchener stitch two ends together live stitches on both ends are required. At the end of the garment, that’s no problem, but the process begins the moment you cast on. A provisional cast on, is one you can take apart and put back on needles when ready to finish your garment. In this feature, I’ll review one way, but there are many ways to create a provisional cast on and if this one doesn’t work for you, I strongly encourage you to get on YouTube and find one that works best for you. I like it when I can do a technique without a bunch of extra steps or fuss. I don’t use a crochet hook, or any tools at all. All that’s needed for this technique is yarn and circular needles. This is technically called the Judy’s Magic cast on and it’s usually used for sock toes. See the video for full visual instructions.

Michelle Nguyen

stitchesbeslippin.com KNITmuch | issue 9

Finished! You can just see where the seam is, but once you block it, the seam will be completely invisible.

Now that you’ve got a super easy provisional cast on in your pocket, let’s talk Kitchener stitch. I know it’s really intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it’s very easy. I find it’s easiest to go through a video and watch someone do it. You can rewind and pause all you like in that case. It might take a few tries, but you’ll get it. The most important thing is to remember your rhythm; purl wise, knit wise, then, knit wise, purl wise. Say it out loud if necessary! Remember the quote repetitio mater studiorum est, repetition is the mother of learning. With these two techniques, it makes the seam completely invisible. If you’re looking to spice up a pattern a little bit, check and see if there are any techniques you can substitute like this one! The Faux Fair Isle Cowl is a great pattern, but even with something so simple, you could learn a new skill.

100% merino wool

Available in 24 happy colors Feather Chic Sweater & Removable Cowl LW5907

Discover more free patterns available at redheart.com/chicsheep

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Using leftover yarn for

crafting and decorating ideas Michelle Nguyen Leftover yarn? You can count on it, especially after the holiday season. There are little bits here and there that I know are very useful for decorating and making quick ornaments for the next holiday season. You say there’s a lot of time, but as we’ve all experienced, Christmas has this way of sneaking up on us. Here are some ideas to make good use of bits left over. When I originally saw the pattern, Y-A-R-N Wrapped Letters, I really liked the idea especially since you could customize it anyway you liked. The pattern is for the letters Y-A-R-N, but if you wanted to change it up for the holidays you can write anything you like. I chose the letters N-O-E-L. In the pattern there are guides to help you wrap the letters, but you’re basically using glue to secure the yarn to the letters. These letters are wrapped with a variety of yarns, The letters can be picked up at including Grande, With Love, and Unforgettable. your local craft store and they’re relatively inexpensive. The ones I procured were from Michaels and they were $2 – $3 per letter. The letters you use can really be dependent on the amount of yarn you have left over. If you have years and years worth of leftover yarn you can always chose to do very long word strings like Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Holidays.

You can choose smaller words, like I have done with Noel. If you don’t have a whole lot of scraps left and you want to do this project, then just pick up a letter or shape now and then and as the year KNITmuch | issue 9

unfolds, add the leftover yarn to a shape. By December you’ll have completed letters. There are plenty of shape cut outs Here is the back of the letters. that would be perfect to wrap. Especially around the holidays, you can grab things like stars, trees, or baubles of any manner. Here's the back of the letters. You can see where I glued the yarn onto the letters and wrapped from there. I found a great technique for getting the yarn to stick was to put a dab of glue, then put the strand of yarn in it and twist the yarn. This way the glue gets all the way around the strand and it isn’t just floating on the top of your glue dab. With the amount of different letter styles you can get from the craft store, the possibilities are endless. The ones I picked up are fairly flat, which is perfect for hanging on a wall, or securing inside a shadow box to hang like a photo. There are letters that are more stylized than the block ones I bought. Since I’m using a variety of different yarns I thought it would be a good idea to have plain letters, but if your yarn is all very similar, then feel free to choose interesting curly letters. There were also block letters that stand on their own, like the ones in the Red Heart pattern photo. As knitters, it’s sometimes difficult to share our love of fiber with others, but this is the perfect group activity. It uses your leftover yarn, but doesn’t include a great amount of skill. This is an excellent activity to do with children or crafty non-knitter friends. Photos by Michelle Nguyen

The easiest knitted mitten pattern ever I love the idea of hanging tiny little mittens on a Christmas tree or for general holiday decoration, which reminds me, a couple years ago I wrote the 6 essentials when knitting a holiday stocking with fur trim, another ideal project for leftover yarn. Make these two projects, and have mittens and matching stockings from the same yarn! I’m usually not a fan of knitting tiny little things like mittens or little stuffies. I like the idea of them, but actually knitting them daunts me. No idea why because once I start I’m reminded of how nice it is to have a nice quick project. The Mitten Ornament pattern is really nice to knit, quick and not overly complicated. The mitten is knit flat and folded in half and seamed up the side once complete. The thumb side is the side you will fold. There are 8 stitches placed on a stitch holder there and you complete the thumb on dpn’s after the rest of the mitten is complete. This construction wouldn’t be as nice for a mitten you would be wearing on your hands because there is a seam up one side. It’s perfect for this application though! It makes it very easy to knit this tiny little mitten with less use of dpns.

There are a variety of colors to choose from, you’re not limited to the color I chose!

The instructions for this pattern are very clear and easy, if you’ve never knit a mitten before and would like to, this would be a great way to get a sneak peek at how thumb gussets work. It’s a low stakes version of a bigger mitten. After knitting a couple of these ornaments, you’ll be good to go and knit the larger version for yourself. After you’ve knit these up, perhaps you’ll be giving them out as gifts for those on your list next year. It’s the very definition of potato chip knitting, you can’t knit just one. Partly because mittens are always knit in pairs, but also because they’re so fun!

This is the side seam for these mittens, it’s hardly noticeable unless you’re specifically looking for it.

The pattern photo from the Red Heart website.

The Red Heart Mitten Ornament pattern knit with Soft Yarn in the color Really Red.

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Leftover yarn makes easy holiday ornaments The product photo from the Red Heart website. This pattern is originally made with a very light material for wrapping, like lace or thread.

Another great ornament pattern from Red Heart is the Easy Wrap Holiday Ornaments. When I was looking through the pages of holiday ornament knitting, there were hundreds of patterns there, and all of them looked fantastic. What drew me to this one, was the ability to involve others in the process. Much like the wrapped letters, this technique includes wrapping yarn around an ornament, hence, the Easy Wrap Holiday Ornament. This is a great way to recycle old ornaments that have lost their luster, or perhaps you’ve changed your color theme in the past couple years and the ornaments you already have are no longer matching. Since knitters are such great judges of color you can customize your own ornaments with yarn and a little bit of ribbon.

higher heights to see what would happen. I got up to a 6’ drop with no breakage. That is where my courage expired though, I didn’t actually intend to break this ornament and clean up glass. I know the pattern says Styrofoam balls, but when I went to the craft store, the glass ornaments were actually cheaper than the Styrofoam balls. I don’t know about you, but I will always pick the less expensive option. Also, you can do a lot more with the clear ornaments than with opaque balls. The Easy Wrap Holiday Ornament pattern calls for thread to wrap the ornaments, but yarn is the perfect medium, You can wrap it with a lot of coverage, or you can leave some space to see through. Just for the record, the one I dropped was the full coverage kind. You’re able to leave some space in order to see the light shine through with a thinner yarn. If you wanted to get really crafty you could coat the inside with glitter glue and wrap the thinner yarn around the outside.

When I went looking for ornaments to cover, I was looking for clear plastic ones. Specifically because I had some other plans for them and I have three cats. If you have any fur babies, or real babies for that matter, you know how precarious it can be to put glass ornaments on your tree. Unfortunately, the only ones I could find were glass, I mentally shrugged and picked them up. When I got home and started working on these ornaments I was shocked at how insulated the yarn makes the ornaments. I suppose it should’ve dawned on me earlier that yarn would insulate the glass from any breakage. I dropped the ornament two or three times while I was working on it and it never broke. After this happened, I got a little bit curious and started dropping it from progressively 34

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The possibilities are endless with these clear ornaments.

There are so many different combinations you could do with this pattern, it can truly be unique. Your Easy Wrap Holiday Ornaments will be the talk of the next holiday party and everyone will be begging to know where you got them.

The ornament is wrapped in Soft yarn in the color Off White.

Knitting the Basket of Yarn Ornament

The basket is comprised of a square of seed stitch, and an elongated piece of garter stitch for the handle. Everything is seamed afterwards to create the basket, then you wind up 1” balls of yarn to go in the basket. I really love the idea of the tiny little balls of yarn because they don’t have to match, or be really special in anyway. They just have to be fiber. I think it would be a really interesting gift, if you’re the kind of person who knits for people for Christmas, to knit their gifts, then make an ornament with the leftover yarn from your project. Brilliant! I’m really in love with the two little knitting needles that go in the basket. The pattern calls for tooth picks, but I didn’t have any. I did have some skewer sticks, which are quite large, so I cut them down to size. You’re really able to get creative with the beads on the ends as well.

The knitted yarn basket product photo from the Red Heart website.

Looking for more ideas, I couldn’t scroll past the opportunity to knit a yarn basket ornament. There’s no way I’d miss out on that. Any knitter who travels with their knitting, is usually known for having fiber and two needles on hand at any time. There are some of my friends who find great amusement in this. The pattern for this adorable Knit Basket of Yarn Ornament, has a very easy construction.

Winding up the little balls of yarn to go into the knitted basket

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I have a whole whack of beading supplies so it was not hard to find beads, but to choose them was the difficult part! In the pattern it just says to glue the ends of the tiny wound balls into place and put them in the basket. I full-on glued them into the basket. I’m not sure if everyone carefully wraps and lovingly places their ornaments away for the season, but the ones that aren’t breakable usually get thrown into a shoe box. I wanted it to stay together and look good for next year.

Cutting down the skewers to size and gluing the beads on the ends.

Cherishing your favorite leftover yarn in a keepsake ornament Knitters make so many projects in a year, and some of it we keep, other things we give away, but it’s all there in a year’s worth of knitting. Using leftover yarn to makes easy wrap ornaments, and taking a little snip of your favorite yarn, now a leftover, and putting it inside.

You can use any yarn, fiber, or fabric to fill these baubles

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I really like making things to commemorate all the knitting I’ve done and this is so much easier than knitting a sock yarn blanket or physically making another garment from the scraps you’ve accumulated. You only need to take one small length and put it inside the bulb and you can go on and knit your sock blanket or commemorate it in another way as well. It doesn’t matter what

the yarn weight is, or what colors are beside one another. It’s a very easy way to be reminded of your knitting for the year. Again, with this ornament, you can go a multitude of different ways. As I mentioned, you can place one single strand of yarn from your knitting for the whole year inside, or you can make tiny skeins of all the Christmas knitting you did for your grandchildren, or only the projects which were important to you. If you do a lot of knitting and have a touch of OCD, you can always color coordinate your ornaments into different color families.

If you want to add more interest, you can pop in some of the small buttons you used throughout the year, or beads (if you’re into beaded knitting). You’re also able to cross this over into other crafts as well. If you’re a quilter, put tiny scraps of fabric; if you’re a cross stitcher, different threads you’ve used. All of these suggestions add interest to your tree and are lovely keep sakes that can be enjoyed year after year. I’d also suggest getting some paint markers and writing the year on them. This is the perfect project if you’re looking for a way to honor your knitting (and/or other crafts if you’re a multi-crafter).

This ball is filled with tiny little skeins as opposed to a large number of individual strands.

Michelle Nguyen

stitchesbeslippin.com

Whatever you choose to put in these balls you’re going to have a lovely keepsake for years to come.

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Brenda Franklin Designs 7570 Mapleton SR 18 RR 1, Alma, ON N0B 1A0  519.638.9958  bfdesigns.on.ca  help@bfdesigns.on.ca More than 500 charts available for counted needlework, latch hook rugs, beadwork, beaded knits and knitting patterns. Mail/fax order or ask for our products at your local shop. Contact us for custom designs or needle felted sculpture.

Impressions Embroidery & Engraving #8-449 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 3L8  403.942.3934  impressionslethbridge.ca  impressions22@shaw.ca Our shop does embroidery and laser engraving. Laser engraving is a beautiful process for fabric, as nothing cuts cleaner and more precisely than a laser. We now carry a nice array of fabric as well to compliment the abilities of the laser.

That Sewing Place 16610 Bayview Ave #10, Newmarket, ON L3X 1X3  905.715.7725  thatsewingplace.ca  jaret&liana@thatsewingplace.ca Introducing That Sewing Place as your sewing source and Authorized Dealers for Bernina and Brother machines. Jaret & Liana focus on placing your sewing needs first, providing outstanding support, service, and training.

Brampton Sew & Serge 289 Rutherford Rd S, Unit 7, Brampton, ON L6W 3R9  905.874.1564  sewnserge.com  monique@bramptonsewnserge.com Welcome to Your One Stop Sewing Centre! We are authorized dealers of Baby Lock, Husqvarna Viking, and Singer sewing machines and sergers. We also offer a full schedule of sewing classes for everyone.

Kelly's Creative Sewing 804 Main St, Dartmouth, NS B2W 3V1  902.435.7380  kellyscreativesewing.ca  kellyscreativesewing@gmail.com We offer sales and on-site service of high-end domestic embroidery, sewing machines and sergers, as well as a variety of educational programs.

The Quilt Store / Evelyn's Sewing Centre 17817 Leslie St, Unit 40, Newmarket, ON L3Y 8C6  905.853.7001 or toll-free 1.888.853.7001 The Quilt Store West 695 Plains Rd E, Unit 6, Burlington, ON L7T 2E8  905.631.0894 or toll-free 1.877.367.7070  thequiltstore.ca Now with 2 locations to serve you, we are your Quilt Store Destination! The staff here at The Quilt Store is always on hand to provide Quilt Wisdom, Quilt Inspiration and most of all we pride ourselves as the place to make... All Your Quilt Dreams Come True!

Bytowne Threads - Ottawa, ON  1.888.831.4095  bytownethreads.com  mlj@bytownethreads.com Featuring Aurifil thread from Italy. Long staple Egyptian cotton threads - 270 colours in 12, 28, 40 and 50 wt; 88 colours in 80 wt. Polyester Aurilux 240 high sheen colours. Wool threads - 192 colours. Many kits available. Check our website!

Needles & Knits 15040 Yonge St, Aurora, ON L4G 1M4  905.713.2066  needlesandknits.com Fabulous selection of yarns. Extremely knowledgable and expert help. Cozy and friendly atmosphere. Classes. Guild night every first Tuesday of the month. Tea with Tove, the owner, every Thursday from 6-8pm.

Canadian National Fabric - Brampton, ON  https://canadiannationalfabric.com/  info@canadiannationalfabric.com We are an online fabric shoppe offering a wide variety of fabrics, patterns, books and notions for all your sewing needs. Flat rate Canada wide shipping of $5. Shop in person available by appointment!

Needleworker's Delight / Silkweaver Fabrics Plaza K 181 Route 1 South, Metuchen, NJ 08840  732-388-4545  needleworkersdelight.com  info@needleworkersdelight.com Standard & specialty Zweigart Fabrics & canvas, hand-dyed fabrics, floss, fibers, towels, tableware, leaflets/designs, painted canvases, notions, tools, baby items, home decor, and so much more!

Country Concessions 1 Dufferin St, Cookstown, ON L0L 1L0  705.458.4546 or toll-free 1.888.834.4407  countryconcessions.com  info@countryconcessions.com Visit our lovely and unique quilt shop in the quaint village of Cookstown. We have over 7000 bolts of cotton fabrics plus a wide selection of patterns, books & notions. You will be so glad you came for a visit.

Pine Ridge Knit & Sew 17477 Hwy 2 PO Box 68, Trenton, ON K8V 5R1  613.392.1422  pineridgeknitsew.com  yvette@pineridgeknitsew.com We have knitting machines by Artisan and Silver Reed, embroidery machines by Husqvarna/Viking & White. Sewing notions and supplies, books and software. Hands-on lessons and classes. Wide variety of yarns, threads, dress and pant zippers.

Gitta's 271 Lakeshore Rd E, Mississauga, ON L5G 1G8  905.274.7198  gittas.com  questions@gittas.com Gitta's, named after owner Gitta Al-Basi, nestled in the east village of Port Credit, is the place where stitchers meet with their stitching friends, shop for stitching supplies and see the new stitching designs from Europe and the United States.

Serenity Knits 525 Brooker Ridge #102, Newmarket, ON L3X 2M2  905.710.3283  serenityknits.ca  info@serenityknits.ca We offer a wide selection of high quality yarns as well as needles, hooks, patterns and notions. We also offer a large variety of classes from beginner to the more advanced.

Hardanger House, designs by Betty Stokoe PO Box 1223, Stettler, AB T0C 2L0  403.742.2749  bettystokoe@gmail.com  tnplisting.com/hardanger-house.html Hardanger embroidery charts and kits. Designs feature contemporary adaptations of this traditional cutwork embroidery from Norway. Shop online at etsy.com/shop/HardangerHouse. Some digital downloads available.

Sew Fancy Inc. Guelph, ON  519.824.4127  sewfancy.com  sales@sewfancy.com Your Premier Canadian Source for Specialty Sewing Supplies including Smocking, Heirloom Sewing, Goldwork, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Needle Tatting, Swarovski Crystals, Sashiko, Quilting and more. Visit the website for the latest in sewing supplies.

Haus of Stitches 626 Main Street, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0  306.682.0772 or toll-free 1.800.344.6024  hausofstitches.ca Our one of a kind store offers everything you need for sewing, quilting, knitting, rug hooking and needlework. Authorized dealers for Janome, Elna, and Bernina.

Sew Inspired 375 Daniel St S, Arnprior, ON K7S 3K6  613.623.0500  sewinspired.ca  info@sewinspired.ca Your Ottawa Valley PFAFF® Authorized Dealer. We have a large supply of quilting & sewing supplies, knitting supplies, as well as in stock PFAFF® sewing machines. We also have a listing of sewing and quilting classes.

Heartfelt Fibre Arts 42 Industrial St, Toronto, ON M4G 1Y9  647.920.3616  heartfeltfibrearts.com  info@hearftfeltfibrearts.com Canadian Fibre Arts supply store specializing in high-quality, unique fibre and tools for all of your knitting, felting, rug hooking and stitching needs.

Sew With Vision 480 Parkland Dr, Halifax, NS B3S 1P9  902.479.2227  sewwithvision.net Authorized PFAFF, HUSQVARNA VIKING, and SINGER dealer and service provider offering an extensive line of sewing, embroidery and serger machines, as well as long-arm quilting systems.

KNITmuch | issue 9

The Stitcher's Muse 99 Commercial Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5G3  250.591.6873  thestitchersmuse.com  info@thestitchersmuse.com A divine little shop with supplies for all your hand stitching needs! Friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Cross stitch, canvaswork, needlepoint, embroidery, counted thread, lace making and more. Books, patterns, fabric, threads, tools. The Yarn Guy 15 Gower St, Toronto, ON M4B 1E3  416.752.1828 or toll-free 1.800.836.6536  theyarnguy.com  info@sewknit.ca See us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter! Knitting machines, sewing machines, repairs, parts for Passap, Studio, Singer, Silver Reed, Superba, White. Sewing notions and supplies, books, ball yarns, coned yarns, TAMM yarns, Paton's yarns, Bernat yarns, Phentex yarns, Bernat kits & crafts. Ultimate Sewing Centre 191 Bloor St East, Oshawa, ON L1H 3M3  905.436.9193  ultimatesewing.com  ultimatesewing@bellnet.ca For all your sewing needs be sure to call Durham’s largest one stop shop: Janome and Elna Sewing Machines, Sergers, & Embroidery machines, over 3000 bolts of first quality cottons, Floriani Embroidery supplies, the latest notions, books, & patterns, year round classes, and so much more! Upper Canada Quiltworks PO Box 64, Brockville, ON K6V 5T7  613.345.3956 Fax: 613.342.3327  uppercanadaquiltworks.com Visit us online for a wide selection quilt patterns and books. Techniques include felted wool, fusible appliqué, punchneedle, rag quilting and printing photos on fabric.

don't miss these projects & tutorials online!

KNITmuch

…to K, is to

Why working the cables on the Syrah Cowl in Angora Lace is so yummy!

1 cake of Red Heart it’s a wrap Rainbow knits up the Gothic Diffusion shawl READ NOW

READ NOW

Knitting a top-down baby sweater in Wacki Saki – 1 ball!

READ NOW

Express yourself: change a knitting pattern and make it your own!

and there's so much more! KNITmuch | issue 9

Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com

KNITmuch

Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com

Standard Yarn Weight System Standard Yarn Weight System

…to K, is to

Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes

Yarn Weight Yarn Weight& Symbol Symbol & Category Category Names Names Type of Type of in Yarns Yarns in Category Category Knit Gauge Knit Gaugein Range* Range* in Stockinette Stockinette Stitch to Stitch to 4 inches 4 inches

Fingering, Sock, Fingering, Sock, 10 count Fingering, 10 countthread Fingering, crochet Baby crochet thread Baby

Sport, Sport,Baby Baby

DK, DK, Light Light Worsted Worsted

Worsted, Worsted, Afghan, Afghan,Aran Aran

Chunky, Chunky,Craft, Craft, Rug Rug

Bulky, Bulky,Roving Roving

Jumbo, Jumbo,Roving Roving

27–32 27–32 sts sts

23–26 23–26 sts sts

21–24 21–24 sts sts

16–20 16–20 sts sts

12–15 12–15 sts sts

7–11 7–11 sts sts

6 sts 6 sts and and fewer fewer

Recommended Recommended Needlein in 1.5–2.25 Needle 1.5–2.25 MetricSize Size Metric mmmm Range Range

2.25–3.25 2.25–3.25 mmmm

3.25–3.75 3.25–3.75 mmmm

3.75–4.5 3.75–4.5 mm mm

4.5–5.5 4.5–5.5 mm mm

5.5–85.5–8 mm mm

12.75 mm 8–12.75 12.75 mm 8–12.75 and and mm mm larger larger

Recommended Recommended NeedleU.S.U.S. Needle 000000 to 1to 1 SizeRange Range Size

1 to13to 3

3 to35to 5

5 to 57 to 7

7 to 97 to 9

9 to 119 to 11

11 to 17 11 to 17

17 17 and and larger larger

Crochet Crochet Gauge*Ranges 32–42 32–42 Gauge*Ranges Single double ininSingle double Crochettoto crochets** Crochet crochets** inch 4 4inch

21–32 21–32 sts sts

16–20 16–20 sts sts

12–17 12–17 sts sts

11–14 11–14 sts sts

8–118–11 sts sts

7–9 7–9 sts sts

6 sts 6 sts and and fewer fewer

Steel*** Steel*** Recommended Recommended 1.6–1.4 mm 1.6–1.4 mm 2.25–3.25 2.25–3.25 Hook Hookin inMetric Metric Regular hook mmmm Regular hook Size Range Size Range 2.25 mmmm 2.25

3.5–4.5 3.5–4.5 mmmm

6.5–96.5–9 4.5–5.5 4.5–5.5 5.5–6.5mm 5.5–6.5mm mm mm mm mm

9–15 9–15 mm mm

15 mm15 mm and and larger larger

Steel*** Steel*** 6, 7,6, 87, 8 Regular Regular hook hook B–1 B–1

E–4E–4 to 7to 7

7 to 7I–9 to I–9

I–9 I–9 to to 1 ⁄2 1⁄2 K–10K–10

M-13 M-13 to Q to Q

Q Q and and larger larger

33–40** 33–40** sts sts

Recommended Recommended Hook HookU.S.U.S.SizeSize Range Range

B–1B–1 to E–4 to E–4

1 K–10K–10 ⁄2 1⁄2 to M-13 to M-13

* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories. * GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories. ** Lace weight yarns are usually knitted or crocheted on larger needles and hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a ** Lace weight yarns to aredetermine. usually knitted orfollow crocheted on larger needles hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a gauge range is difficult Always the gauge stated in yourand pattern. gauge range is difficult to determine. Always follow the gauge stated in your pattern. *** Steel crochet hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse Steelhook crochet hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse of*** regular sizing. of regular hook sizing. This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com

KNITmuch | issue 9

Standard abbreviations & terms alt = alternate approx = approximately beg = begin(ning) BO= bind off CC = contrast color ch = chain cm = centimetre(s) cn = cable needle CO = cast on cont = continue, continuing dc = double crochet dec = decrease(s), decreasing dpn = double-pointed needle(s) foll = following g = gram(s) inc = increase(s), increasing in(s) = inch(es) k = knit kf&b or kfb = knit into front and back of st (increase) ktbl = Knit through the back loop. k2tog = knit 2 sts tog (right-leaning decrease) k3tog = knit 3 sts together (double right-leaning decrease) M = marker m = metre(s) M1 = Make 1 stitch: pick up the horizontal strand between 2 stitches from front to back and knit it tbl (lifted increase) MC = main color mm = millimetre(s) oz = ounce(s) p = purl p2tog = purl 2 sts tog (decrease) patt = pattern pfb = purl into front and back of stitch (increase) ptbl = knit through the back loop. pm = place marker psso = slip 1 stitch together knitwise, knit 1, then pass slipped stitches over p2sso = slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1, then pass slipped stitches over RS = right side rem = remain(ing) rep = repeat rev = reverse rnd = round sc = single crochet sl = slip skp = slip one st, knit next st, pass slipped st over knit st (dec) ssk = slip, slip, knit: slip 2 sts knitwise, 1 at a time, insert left-hand needle into front of both sts and knit them tog (left-leaning decrease) sssk = Slip next three stitches individually, knitwise. Insert tip of left needle from front to back into the fronts of these three stitches and knit them together (double left-leaning decrease) st(s) = stitch(es) St st = stocking stitch tbl = through back loop tog = together tr = treble crochet WS = wrong side yfwd = bringing yarn forward to create a yarn over when working into next st(s) yo = yarn over