Knit a shawlette with non-allergenic yarn

This week, we're knitting with Naked Sock and Allegro by Wisdom Yarns. These are non-allergenic yarns and excellent for those with a vegan outlook or who are allergic to wool. For the last two days we looked at using I-cords as a design feature. Today we move to an easier project that you can knit in about 6 to 10 hours.

Knit this easy scarf with scalloped edges with 1 ball of Allegro or Naked Sock

I knit the above shawlette. Well, actually, I designed it and my wife knit it, with one skein of Allegro, in the Grape Sonata colorway.

The skills that you need to knit this shawlette include garter stitch, familiarity with picking up and knitting in the sides of knit fabric, and really easy short rows. The combination of these techniques end up with this oblique triangular shape that form scalloped edges. Across the straight edge the shawlette is 46'' long and the depth of the triangle to the point is 13''.

Detail of the scalloped edges knit with short rows, showing how the colors concentrate

Pattern Notes
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise with yarn in front.

Abbreviations

St(s): stitch(es)

K: knit

Yfwd: yarn forward

Sl: slip stitch

 Instructions begin here

Cast on 6 sts.

Row 1: Sl 1, K5.

Row 2: Sl 1, K4, yfwd, k1—7 sts

Row 3: Sl 1, K6.

Row 4: Sl 1, knit to last st, yfwd, k1.

Row 5: Sl 1, knit across.

Rows 6-13: Rep Rows 4 & 5.

Row 14: Sl 1, knit to last st, yfwd, k1, pick up and knit 1 st in each of 6 eyelets across edge of shawl.

Row 15: Sl 1, knit 6, (yfwd, k1) 3 times in next st, knit to last st, yfwd, k1.

Row 16: Sl 1, knit across.

Row 17: Sl 1, k11, turn, leaving rem sts unworked.

Row 18: Sl 1, knit across.

Row 19: Sl 1, k10, turn, leaving rem sts unworked.

Row 20: Sl 1, knit across.

Odd Rows 21-29: Sl 1, knit 1 less than previous row as established above, turn, leaving rem sts unworked.

Even rows 22-30: Sl 1, knit across.

Row 31: Sl 1, k5, k7 tbl, knit to last st, yfwd, k1.

Row 32: Sl 1, knit.

Repeat rows 6-32 until there are approximately 2 yards of yarn left. Bind off purlwise.

Eyelets are formed beside the scallops where there are multiple increases in one stitch

Give this lovely shawlette as a holiday gift to that vegan loved one and they'll enjoy its squishy softness for years!

Every scallop looks different, drawing attention to the different colors of the variegated yarn.

Using a knit I-cord as a cast-on technique

This week we're using Allegro and Naked Sock, two non-allergenic yarns, in our exploration of I-cord, in this case, how to use it for casting on.

When I-cord is used as a cast-on edge the result is a neat finish.

In yesterday’s post, I showed you how knit on an i-cord edging to existing stitches. But looking at the above photo, you really wouldn’t be able to tell for sure whether I knit this blue-and-green i-cord onto the red garter stitch, but I'll tell you that I didn’t.

Instead, I made the i-cord first, and then with the Cardinal Rule colorway of Naked Sock, I added the stitches of the main part of the swatch.

To do this, you need to look carefully at the stitches in the I-cord and decide whether you want to use the upper strand of a horizontal stockinette V-stitch or the lower, and then you need to be consistent as you work along the I-cord, always lifting the same strand of the "V".

How long should you make your i-cord cast on?  Well, you'll need to do a bit of math. First, divide the number of stitches required for your knit item. Let’s say it’s a scarf with 55 stitches. Divide this number by 3 and “keep” the remainder aside.

55 divided by 3 = 18 with a remainder of 1.

Take the answer, in this case 18, and multiply by 4.

18 x 4 = 72, and then add the remainder.  72 + 1 = 73. 

You can use an I-cord cast-on to create curved edges.

So you need to work 73 rounds of i-cord for this scarf. When I do this, I could use my cast-on round as one of the needed rounds. At the end of the 73 rounds, I simply run the end of the yarn through the 4 stitches on the needle and cinch them closed. If you were going to make the scarf with the same yarn as the i-cord, do the following instead: k2tog, k2tog, pass the first st over the 2^nd. Then you can start to pick up stitches along the i-cord right off the bat.

Pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rounds in the i-cord and you’ll avoid buckling or flaring edges.

I went a little crazy with my experimenting with the i-cord cast-on and ended up with this. Please guess what you think what this will end up being when I’m done knitting it.

A mystery project! What do you think this is going to be?

Using both the technique from yesterday and today’s cast-on in combination yields some amazing results. This motif is from a pattern I fell in love with while browsing through Ravelry.com. It’s a gorgeous pattern and would really suit the bright colorways of Naked Feet yarn.

Tomorrow I’ll share another design I’ve knit with only 1 skein of Allegro.

This piece uses I-cord both as a cast-on and as an edging technique to create an amazing textile.

Using both the technique from yesterday and today’s cast-on in combination yields some amazing results. This motif is from a pattern I fell in love with while browsing through Ravelry called Jewel Dragon. It’s a gorgeous pattern and would really suit the bright colorways of Naked Feet yarn.

Tomorrow I’ll share another design I’ve knit with only 1 skein of Allegro.

One "scale" motif of the Jewel Dragon pattern.

How to knit on an I-cord edging

A couple pairs of socks and a shawl later (see yesterday's post), I thought how fun it would be to have a different sort of edging along the top of a sock or the length of a shawl. This week we're exploring non-allergenic yarns Allegro and Naked Sock by Wisdom Yarns and I’ll demonstrate how to make an i-cord edging with 2 of these yarns.

Naked Sock Oceanic colorway in a small garter stitch swatch

I’ve knit a little garter stitch swatch in the Oceanic colorway of Naked Sock, and I’d like to show you how I add on an I-cord edging.

I-cord is the termed coined by knitter extraordinaire, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and it means idiot-cord, named as such because she used these to attach pairs of mittens to each other. Thus, any idiot would be prevented from losing one of their hand-made mittens.

If you have ever knit with a French knitting loom, or done spool knitting, with 4 or 5 nails inserted around the hole of a wooden thread spool, you’ve made an I-cord. At least, the wooden spools was my first exposure to the i-cord. My dad made me one when I was 5. Nowadays, you can find i-cord looms with little cranks that make it possible to churn out yards of i-cord painlessly. Perfect if you want to wrap the i-cord into a coil and stitch it together to make a flat round or oval item.

But if you made an i-cord on its own, it would certainly be quite tedious to try to sew it on as an edging to knitting, so I propose this knitted-on version. You'll need 2 double-pointed needles to achieve this edging.

First stitch of cable cast on

Placing the cable cast on stitch back onto the left needle

The first step is to use the cable cast on to add 4 stitches to the current swatch. To do this, insert the needle between the first and second stitches on the left-hand needle and knit up a loop, twist the right needle so that you can return the new loop to the left needle. Then repeat this 3 more times.

These four stitches will make the i-cord edging.

Knitting the 4th stitch together with the first stitch from the main work.

The next stage is to knit the first 3 stitches of the i-cord, and then knit the next 2 together through the back loops, joining the cable cast on to the body of the swatch. Some people prefer to slip the third stitch, knit the fourth and pass the slipped stitch over. Then slide the 4 stitches to the opposite end of the needle, converting it to a left-hand needle. Knit the first 3 stitches and work the 4^th and 5^th together in your preferred manner.

If you knit 1 round of i-cord for each stitch that is on the needle, you may end up with a buckle in the fabric. When picking up stitches along a stockinette stitch edge, we usually don’t pick up a stitch for every row either, because stitch gauge and row gauge aren’t symmetrical. Many knitting books and designers recommend picking up 3 sts for every 4 rows of stockinette. In the case of the i-cord, it is essentially a little tube of stockinette stitch, so this would also mean that the number of rounds on the i-cord would not correspond exactly to the number of stitches along the edge we are knitting on to. To solve this, we knit 3 rounds of i-cord, and join to 3 stitches, and then we work one round on the i-cord where we knit the 4 stitches and slide them back to the other end of the double-pointed needle without a join. This is how to avoid a curved or buckling i-cord edging.

Knit 1 plain round every 4th row to avoid buckling or flaring.

Finished I-cord edging from the right side

Finished I-cord edging on the wrong side of the fabric

I went exploring a little further with this i-cord edging and tried to go around a corner. I’m not thrilled with how it turned out, so I need to experiment a bit more before I give you any tips on how to achieve a nice corner. Tomorrow we’ll look at a different way to use i-cord as an edging.

My first messy attempt at working the I-cord edging around a corner

KNITmuch Giveaway 084: Naked Sock and Saki Bamboo Yarn

Enter now for your chance to win this new giveaway!

Two of the best choices for knitting socks: Naked Sock is sleek and shiny, great for socks - and for sweaters, shawls, and much more. Saki Bamboo is a soft but durable blend of superwash merino, nylon, and bamboo in rich colors and also with a lovely sheen.  Add to that a beautiful set of Rainbow Wood knitting needles, and you're bound to have a wonderful knitting experience!

 

Follow Charles Voth on KNITmuch.com this week as he gives you all the details about Naked Sock yarn and gives out FREE PATTERNS!

 

Contest ends at 11PM on Christmas Day! It'll be that much merrier for our lucky winner...get your entries in NOW!

 

Congratulations to Linda C, winner of KNITmuch Giveaway 082: Cool Chunky Knits by Tabetha Hedrick.

Naked Sock and Saki Bamboo yarn, plus Rainbow Wood knitting needles!

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Non-allergenic shawls and socks with Allegro and Naked Sock yarn

This week, we're looking at 2 non-wool Wisdom yarns by Universal Yarn. Yesterday, I described the fiber content (what is PBT anyway?) and other attributes which make these excellent non-allergenic yarn options to wool and wool blend sock yarns.

Garter stitch evenly distributes the colors of this Allegro colorway called Grape Sonata

Sock knitters often complain about color pooling in variegated and dip-dyed yarns. Color pooling is the unintentional appearance of areas with one color concentration. It may look blotchy or spotty, and not everyone likes it. Some people try many tricks like knitting socks with 2 balls of yarn at the same time, changing the yarn every round or so to interrupt the pooling. Other people use textured patterns to “disrupt” the patchiness.

Allegro in Grape Sonata creates a melody of stripes and speckles

The Allegro yarn we're looking at this week has been dyed to be a self-striping yarn, but there are not only stripes. There are variegated segments that break up the stripes with a more mottled look. There's a free basic sock pattern which is ideal for the yarn and highlights its colorways and dye patterns.

A basic Sock knit with the Bright Spot colorway of Naked Sock

The Naked Sock yarn from this week’s focus doesn't have clearly defined stripes. Four of the yarns are variegated with 4 or 5 different yet coordinating colors. The other 4 yarns are ombre colorways, with differing shades or intensities of the same hue. Looking at the picture below, you can see how evenly the color speckles are distributed. What I find intriguing is how, on the foot section, the dark gray seems to be the predominant stripe color, where as in the leg and cuff, the light grey is what stands out. How cool is that?

The basic sock pattern for Naked sock is available here.

"I heart you" shawl is a free pattern on the Universal Yarns website

There is also a free pattern for a shawl called “I heart you”.

This lovely shawl has a pattern repeat of only 6 stitches and 8 rows, which will be easy to memorize. The border is added on later by knitting it together with stitches held in waiting on a provisional cast-on edge. Some people may be leary of knitting lace with acrylic because in general, acrylic isn’t blockable. With the PBT content, that makes the yarn springy, even I’d be worried that the lace wouldn’t block well. But, the pattern instructions say to pin and steam the yarn firmly. While you won’t want to touch your iron to the actual shawl, lots of shots of steam will make the acrylic learn a new “memory” will make it so that you don’t have to reblock the shawl aggressively after subsequent washings in cold water.

These yarns can be used for more than just socks and shawls. Tomorrow we’ll explore another application for Allegro and Naked Sock.

Knitting with Wisdom Yarns Naked Sock and Allegro, the non-allergenic yarns

This week we'll look at 2 sister yarns by Wisdom Yarns that are truly the answer to the question, “can I make non-allergenic, non-wool socks that stay up on my legs?” Naked Sock, aptly named because it feels like you’re wearing nothing at all, and Allegro, Italian for merry and cheerful, are two sock yarns that will have your toes singing!

Stretchy and colorful non-allergenic Naked Sock and Allegro sock yarns make snug and non-itchy socks.

Let’s look at Allegro first. Each ball of this yarn has 470yds and 100g. That's a generous amount of yardage, and enough to make men’s socks of decent length, and women’s socks that reach mid-calf. It comes in 6 colorways. Each is named with a type of musical composition from classical music, like the yarn itself.

3 of the 6 colorways of Allegro: Night Waltz, Apricot Air, and Sea Rhythm

The way the colorists dyed this yarn is musical on its own. There are segments that are semi-solid and create stripes in socks, which are divided by other sections of speckled yarn that looks like notes on a music score. For those who are musically inclined, imagine the semi-solid sections like a full sound with many instruments each adding to the richness of the music, but in this case it’s the saturation of color. The speckled parts are like the soloists highlighting the themes of the melody.

3 vibrant colorways -- Sweetly, Lilac Rose, and Trapeze -- of the 8 colorways available in Naked Sock non-allergenic sock yarn

The sister yarn to Allegro, Naked Sock, comes in 8 colorways. 4 of them are monochromatic, with lighter and darker shades of the same hue. The other 4 have 4 or 5 colors that coordinate well, and play with light and shadow at the same time. The way the colors are dyed is more organic, and the finished knitting looks more like animal stripes or light or sound waves.

If you've ever knit with man-made or plant-based fibers to avoid wool or animal fibers because of allergies or vegan values, you know that cotton and bamboo and other types of rayon, and acrylic all leave something to be desired in sock yarn because there is little stretch or memory in most other yarns out there on the market. Allegro and Naked Feet contain both acrylic and PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate), a substance something like Lycra that's used in thread to manufacture aquatic garments and sportswear. The PBT gives an amazing amount of both stretch and memory to the yarn. After tugging on it to get it past your heels, you’ll find that it bounces right back into place and stays up on your calves. The label says it can be washed in warm water and tumble dried.

Tomorrow we'll look at some free patterns to knit with Allegro and Naked Sock.

FREE! KNITmuch Magazine Issue 3 Now Available!

Here it is!...the eagerly anticipated Issue 3 of KNITmuch Magazine! You don't want to miss this extraordinary issue! Some of the highlights include 7 yarn reviews, how to pattern your own simple knitted tank top, how to prepare a pattern to knit any flag, and how to add pizzazz to your knits with specialty stitches.

Browse through this issue FREE online at any time. However if you plan to download the PDF version, do it now! It’ll be FREE only for a limited time…until the end of December 2016.

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KNITmuch Giveaway 082: Cool Chunky Knits by Tabetha Hedrick

Enter now for your chance to win this new giveaway!

Cool Chunky Knits by Tabetha Hedrick
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 978-0-8117-1648-2

 

Chunky yarn can be used to make items that are trendy, fun, casual, and beautiful—and they don't have to be for winter! Tabetha Hedrick has designed this collection to include not only warm hats, scarves, and cowls, but also short-sleeve pullovers, vests, and shawls that are versatile enough to wear year-round. You get all of the joy of fast knitting with bulky and super bulky yarn, plus beautiful texture, stunning color, and delightfully fun projects.

Projects range from easy to intermediate in skill level, and because of the large gauge they knit up quickly and are perfect projects to try out a new stitch or technique.

Contest ends on December 11th at 11:00pm. Get your entries in now!

Cool Chunky Knits by Tabetha Hedrick

How to Enter the KNITmuch Giveaway Contest

To enter this contest, log in below through Facebook or with your email, then follow the instructions. You’ll have the opportunity to get multiple entries and multiply your chances of winning! We also encourage you to explore the awesome FREE tutorials, patterns, and magazines on our blog.

Creating knitted accents with Rozetti Cotton Gold yarn

In our last chapter of our work with Universal Yarn's Rozetti Cotton Gold yarn, we're going to look at using it as a complement to another yarn. Knitters who like to work with fine yarns are going to want to keep reading.

Rozetti Cotton Gold is a laceweight, sequinned yarn with 65% cotton, 27% paillettes and 8% twist of glitter yarn.

Today we continue to branch out with our "yarn doodling". For this sample, I chose a soft, medium gray ball of laceweight yarn to complement the soft, light gray of the Cotton Gold.

As I knitted yesterday's sample, I thought that a touch of Cotton Gold would look great near the face and it would also look nice with a fine knit fabric, so I picked up my size US 4 [3.5mm] needles, and started knitting a fine, stockinette stitch fabric. Once I had a few inches, I added the Cotton Gold to make a v-neck insert. Didn't even pull a stitch dictionary for this one; I just went "organic" with a diamond pattern that would naturally fill the "V".

A gray laceweight yarn combined with a "V" of Cotton Gold makes one daydream of a lightweight shell with a dash of sparkle

Analysis: If working this into a sweater or shell, I think I would choose a slightly paler shade of gray for the main yarn. Apart from that, there are SO many possibilities for this concept.

The "V" insert here could be done in a boatneck style, as shown, or a second "V" could be made in the Cotton Gold, to make a "v within a v" neck. The diamond could be made wider, with wide shoulders that would be draped in at the front to create a cowl front (or back!)

Speaking of the back, this concept could be applied to form a large diamond to make a dramatic fashion statement. On a smaller scale, this could be done on one (or both) sleeves, or even to make a gusset on a skirt for evening.

Now, I'm off to find a pattern for an asymmetrical triangle shawl to make with this yarn!

I found JUST the thing! it's called Pfeilraupe!

I found JUST the thing! This pattern is called Pheilraupe. The original design is worked in a heavier yarn -- a double knitting weight -- but done in Cotton Gold it makes a sparkly accent to wear to a holiday party or other glamorous event!

Knitting Rozetti Cotton Gold with another yarn

In this series of posts, we're testing Universal Yarn's Rozetti Cotton Gold, a fine yarn with sequins (or payettes) spaced evenly apart.

Monday's post addressed step 1 - the yarn attributes, and yesterday's post described step 2 -- what I call a "benchmark sample", where you take the manufacturer's recommended gauge and needles, and make a sample. Each day we're going to analyze the day's sample to complete step 4, the analysis.

 

Yesterday's benchmark sample

Today and tomorrow we're going to be branching out, which is step 3. Branching out is where the fun really begins. It's a process of experimentation that can lead to creating your own design.

Branching out is a bit like doodling with yarn. I like to call it "play time for the right brain." It's a great time to pull out a knitting stitch dictionary and test out some new stitch patterns. Today, though, we're doing another simple pattern, with the addition of a second yarn.

One of the free patterns on the Universal Yarn website is the Halo and Sparkle sweater. I drew inspiration from this piece to create today's sample.

The Halo and Sparkle sweater is a free pattern on the Universal Yarn website that uses Rozetti Cotton Gold and Amphora, worked with a strand of each yarn throughout

Having seen what the fabric made with yarns of similar color looks like, I opted to take the sapphire blue ball and knit it with cream colored lace weight yarn.

I made this sample a little larger and also used larger needles -- size US 7 [4.5mm].

The distribution of sequins on this sample of Cotton Gold with a cream colored laceweight yarn is quite attractive. Larger needles and a lace pattern would make a nice warm shawl.

Analysis: The sequins are well distributed, and combining a bold color with a neutral results in a blended shade that from a distance takes the bold out of the Cotton Gold color. This might be desirable, or a bolder blue similar to the Cotton Gold blue might be preferred.

A shawl made of Cotton Gold alone would be a striking piece to wear to a holiday event or black tie affair. Combining Cotton Gold with a rich wool or even a blend of acrylic, mohair, and alpaca, such as Universal Yarn's Amphora, grounds the sparkle and makes a more subtle piece that could be worn on other occasions such as weddings, and perhaps even under a business jacket to the office.

What would you want to make from this sample?

 

 

Knit a benchmark sample using Rozetti Cotton Gold yarn

This week we're making discoveries with Universal Yarn's Rozetti Cotton Gold yarn.

Rozetti Cotton Gold showing the structure of the yarn

Now that we have examined the structure of the yarn, it's time to start sampling. The next three days (including today) will each have a sample that will hopefully jumpstart your creativity.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the first step I take is to cast on the number of stitches prescribed on the ball band with the manufacturer's recommended needles.

The upper left corner of the yarn details section from the ball band

In this case, I should get 26 sts to 4" [10cm] if I use size US 4 [3.5mm] needles.

The primary purpose for this sample -- to me -- is to check for the distribution of the payettes. Sometimes, when a yarn has something bumpy in it such as a sequin or a bead, the item wants to gravitate to one side of the work. Because of this, I want to see if the payettes will be inclined to float to the back of the fabric, or whether they'll behave themselves regardless of which stitch I use.

As is my habit, I begin with garter stitch at the base. This keeps the swatch from rolling. Then, I switch to stockinette stitch, as this is the stitch used for almost all gauge swatches. In this case, I reversed my stockinette stitch for the next section, again to test my theory and be able to show you how the payettes distribute themselves on the reverse side of stockinette stitch. Ordinarily, I would knit a few rows of garter stitch at the top of the sample, again to keep it from rolling. However, I wanted to be able to tell the top of the swatch from the bottom, and if I had added another garter stitch section, it would have made it more difficult to tell.

The ruler shows that my gauge is just about right on -- 26 sts to 4" [10cm]

Analysis: As you can see from the photo, the yarn is very fine, so many of the payettes on the back side of the work show through to the right side. This makes it hard to see a difference in the distribution of the payettes in the top two sections.

The Phantom shawl pattern uses size US 6 [4mm] needles, so the fabric made with them would be even more lacy, and the payettes would show through perhaps a bit more.

The payettes also tend to appear in little clusters. While this is attractive, if I were to re-knit the swatch with 27 or 28 stitches, I'm certain we would see a difference in their distribution.

My last observation is that my ruler confirms that my horizontal tension is just about exact.

Tomorrow, we're going to combine Cotton Gold with a laceweight yarn and study that effect.

4 steps to the art of swatching and sampling yarn

This week, I was supplied with a healthy quantity of Rozetti Cotton Gold, a sparkly novelty yarn with evenly spaced sequins. In today's post, I want to show you the steps I often use when I'm approaching a new yarn.

This is the yarn I get to play with this week!

So many knitters don’t like to sample or swatch a new yarn, but there are so many good reasons to do it. Since starting Canadian Guild of Knitters in 2002, I’ve sampled dozens of different yarns, and I’ve quite enjoyed the whole process. I’ve learned some new ways of approaching a new yarn, and I’ve learned a LOT about the yarns themselves. I’ve learned that every yarn has a purpose, and that sometimes you can knit a silk purse from a sow’s ear, so to speak.

I like to use my “Vulcan logic” for analyzing and sampling a new yarn, but you don’t need to be Spock to have fun with this! (Did Spock ever have any fun?) If you want to skip one or more steps, I’m not going to drop by your house and write you a ticket!

Here are the 4 steps I take to analyzing and sampling a new-to-me yarn:

1. Examine the yarn: Look at the yarn. Which way does the twist go? Does it look like the middle stroke of an S, or of a Z? Is it a single ply or are there many plies? Are all the plies the same? Do they have slubs or loops? What’s the fiber content?

While they will also work in a knitting project, many yarns that appear with a Z twist are well suited to crochet projects. Rozetti Cotton Gold has an S twist in the finished yarn.

The silver strand of yarn echoes the diagonal stroke of the letter "S", which means that Cotton Gold was spun "Z" and plied "S"

The other features will help you understand the construction of the yarn you’re working with. Knowing the fiber type helps you decide what project is best suited to the yarn. A cotton sweater isn’t going to keep a skier as warm as a wool one will!

2. Knit a sample according to the ball band. I call this my benchmark sample, and almost always make it using the recommended needles, and the number of stitches recommended for 4" [10cm]. If my tension is “way out” on a test swatch, I might rethink my pattern choice, especially if it’s something like a sweater, that needs to fit. When you’re reading the label, it’s also a good time to check out the laundering info.

Cotton Gold has a recommended tension of 26 sts and 39 rows to 4" [10cm]. It can be washed by hand, but an iron would surely melt the glittery strand, and probably the payettes, too. (When I was growing up, I used to see "payettes" spelled with the original French spelling, "paillettes".)

This small area of the ball band contains a lot of helpful information!

3. Branch out – Do you think this yarn would be good for lace? Pull a stitch dictionary and try a lace pattern that tweaks your interest. What about cables? This is a REALLY great part of the exercise, because you can build a “library” of stitch patterns you might like to incorporate into a future project.

Branching out can be as organized as you want. Some people keep detailed records of their swatches, recording yarn and needle size info for future reference. Oddly I don’t do this (which is strange, because I journal almost everything!)

My idea to knit Rozetti Cotton Gold with a strand of laceweight yarn is part of my branching out – you never know when you’ll hit upon a discovery that could be your very own knitting design! I even sample new stitch patterns with leftover yarns from old projects. I’ve come up with interesting colorways right from my scrap yarn boxes!

The original colorway for the pattern was in orange, brown, and oatmeal, but changing the contrasting colors to purple and gold really changed the look!

4. Analyze – What do you think? Would this yarn make a good something-else-than-what-you’ve-planned? It's really going to be everything you want for this project?

Analysis can completely change the direction of your knit, or it can underscore that this yarn is perfect for the job. Again, it can be as organized as you want – if you use a knitting journal, you might want to mount your swatch into a book, to refer back to in the future.

I have most of the yarn swatches I’ve made over the last 35 years of knitting! Most of them are in boxes, but I’ve sewn some together into what ultimately will be a bed jacket. Some samples were mounted onto display boards over the years, and some have been placed with my workshop materials.

I heartily recommend that you discover the joy of knitting samples! Come back tomorrow, when I'll begin with my first swatch.

Knitting with Rozetti Cotton Gold yarn

When I was a young girl, I followed in my mother’s footsteps and had several penpals. It was an exciting day when the mail arrived and there was something for me! When I grew up, the mail became much less exciting, because most of the mail for me was bills! These days, on-line shopping and blogging means that I occasionally get that “penpal feeling” again.

That’s what happened when I was asked to blog this week for KNITmuch. All I knew was that the yarn was going to be one of Universal Yarn’s products.

I wonder what's inside this box!

My last two blogging experiences were with acrylic yarn, so I was a little excited to see the slip in my mailbox that indicated there was a parcel waiting for me. What would it be? Soft, scooshy wool? Crisp cotton or linen? Something cool and novel?

I’ll be honest, I was not expecting Rozetti Cotton Gold! I cracked open that box and found this:

Ooh, shiny! Cotton Gold is twinkly!

WOW! Now what?

One of my knitting passions is lace knitting, so that was the first thing to cross my mind. I went to the Universal Yarn website and found the lacy shawl I expected to find, as well as a sweater that was made with Cotton Gold and another Universal Yarn, Amphora. I didn’t have Amphora, but I did have some fine, soft laceweight wool yarn.

The Phantom Shawl (left) and Amphora sweater (right). The shawl takes only 3 balls of yarn! Both patterns are offered free on the Universal Yarn website.

Cotton Gold comes in 10 colors, perfect for bringing bling to your project. I received colors 1100 (blue with sapphire payettes) and 1096 (pale gray with holographic payettes) to sample. The three balls of the gray is enough to make either of the two free shawl patterns on the Universal Yarn website.

Sequins are placed very evenly at 3" [7.5cm] intervals. They are “trapped” in one of the 3 cotton strands, before a strand of glitter is wrapped around the cottony core.

Dramatic lighting highlights the sparkle of Rozetti Cotton Gold.

By combining the Cotton Gold with the laceweight yarn, I could make a heavier-weight lace. Pop back tomorrow and see what “trouble” I get into.

Knit an easy lace mega-scarf with gradient and glittery yarn

Some of the mega-scarfs that I've seen posted all over online are quite bulky and while beautiful, they add maybe more volume around the neck than some women may want. To address this, I thought I would design a lighter-weight scarf using Classic Shades Sequins Lite, which offers not only bright gradient colorways but also an element of bling from its sequins. Yesterday I was knitting with Classic Shades Sequins Lite and reviewed the yarn in much more detail. Today, I want to show the stitch pattern from a lot of different angles. This mustard yellow coat of my wife's was my inspiration for the design, and well, the yarn itself.

The Volcano colorway of Classic Shades Sequins Lite is a perfect match for this dijon yellow pea-coat.

Okay...so it doesn't look like a mega-scarf. Well, that's because I didn't have enough time to knit this before I wanted to post about it. The finished dimensions of the scarf will be 60" x 18" [150 x 45cm]. The scarf begins in one corner and is worked on an angle to create the diagonal stripes with the gradient yarn.

The colors of the volcano colorway include rich tones of red, plum, grey and brown

Even though this is a DK-weight yarn, I wanted the mega-scarf to stay lofty and have lots of drape, so I'm knitting it with size 10 US [6mm] needles. The lace stitch is very straight forward and other than a little shaping at the edges, you do the same 2 rows over and over.

This easy lace consists of one kind of double decrease and some well-placed yarn-overs to produce a texture that moves diagonally in different directions.

This scarf starts in one corner. The way I knit it, the beginning corner is a bit lopped off, but in the instructions below, you'll have a fully developed corner. I love how the different angles give the lace a different appearance. Here are several different pictures.

The horizontal (or vertical, depending on the angle) ridges that are formed by the double decreases

The adjacent eyelets form a little hexagon grid with stitches forming lines in 3 directions, giving a lot of depth to this mega-scarf design.

To shape the first end of the scarf, increase by 4 stitches every other row (2 on each end of right-side rows) until you get the width you want (I recommend 18" [46cm], or 68 stitches), to make a nice triangle. Once the width is established, continue to increase on the left edge, but decrease on the right edge to create the long sides of the mega-scarf. Finally, when the longest side of the scarf (left side) measures 60" [150cm], start decreasing on both sides until you finish off the opposite far corner.

Knit this easy lace mega scarf in a gradient and sequined yarn by Universal Yarn: Classic Shades Sequin Lite

Scarf Instructions

Abbreviations

K = knit
inc = increase: knit in front and back leg of stitch
yfwd = yarn forward: by bringing yarn forward you create a yarn over when working into next st(s)
k2tog = knit 2 together
ddec = double decrease: slip each of next 2 sts as if to knit, k1, pass both slipped sts over st just knit.
Rep = Repeat

With 10 US [6mm] needles and Classic Shades Sequin Lite (for which you'll need 2 balls), cast on 4 sts.

Row 1 (WS): Purl.

Row 2 (RS): Inc, yfwd, k1, yfwd, k1, yfwd, k1. (8 sts)

Row 3 and all odd rows: Purl.

Row 4: Inc, yfwd, k1, yfwd, ddec, yfwd, k1, yrwd, k1, inc. (12 sts).

Row 6: Inc, yfwd, [k1, yfwd, ddec, yfwd] across to last 3 sts, k1, yfwd, k1, inc. (16 sts).

Rows 8-32: Rep Row 6. (68 sts after Row 32).

Row 34: Ssk, ddec, [yfwd, k1, yfwd, ddec] across to last 3 sts, yfwd, k1, inc. (68 sts).

Row 35: Purl.

Rep Rows 34 and 35 until left edge of scarf is 60" [150cm] or desired length (being aware that you may have to purchase more yarn to make a longer scarf).

Next even row: Ssk, ddec, [yfwd, k1, yfwd, ddec] across to last 3 sts, k1, k2tog. (64 sts).

Next odd row: Purl.

Rep last 2 rows until 12 sts remain.

Next Row: Ssk, ddec, yfwd, k1, yfwd, ddec, k1, k2tog. (8 sts).

Next Row: Purl

Next Row: Ssk, ddec, k1, k2tog. (4 sts).

Bind off purlwise.

TIP At the end of Row 33, weigh the ball of yarn on a kitchen scale. Round down to the nearest ¼ oz [5g].  The difference between the weight of all the yarn and this weight is the amount of yarn you'll need for the triangle at the top of the scarf. Once you know how much yarn you need for that triangle, as  much yarn as possible can be knit into the length of the scarf.

I just LOVE how you can see the glint of the sequins in the blurred parts of this photo. This scarf will be a great addition to your inventory of gifts and to your own wardrobe.

I truly hope you do try this mega-scarf pattern. Please come back and share your photos and comments and let us know how your version turned out.