Cascade Yarns Blog

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the DFW Fiber Fest at the Irving Convention Center. It was truly a wonderful show with amazing hospitality and a great variety of fiber arts. Going to another part of the country with a different climate provided great inspiration for my knitting. Fortunately I had brought 2 skeins of Tangier with me. The shawl worked up fairly quickly over the weekend.  Tangier is a silk blend with 8 colors per colorway.  It plays well on the needles and blocks out beautifully.  A slightly modified Roman Stripe created a lovely, open pattern. Materials 2 skeins Tangier (Silk - Cotton - Rayon - Acrylic - 220 yds/100 g) - shown in color 6 - Galaxy US 9 (recommend at least 36" long cord) 2 stitch markers Yarn Needle Abbreviations K - Knit YO - Yarn Over K2tog - Knit 2 Together pm - place marker sm - slip marker Cast on 6 1 - K2, YO, K2, YO, K2 2 - K 3 - K1, YO, K2, YO, pm, K2, pm, YO, K2,...

Before I introduce you to my new Craftsy class, I’d like to thank Cascade Yarns for not only allowing me to share with you my class, but for also supporting it by providing me with their wonderful yarns to create two of the 3 projects in this class!  I love Cascade Yarns not only because they are local to me, but also because they are fantastic yarns to design with, and I know that you will love the projects I have for you in this class using Cascade 220 ®  and 2 20 Superwash ®  Sport ! In my new Craftsy class, Fair Isle Crochet:Demystifying Colorwork , you will expertly navigate beautiful colorwork as you crochet classic Fair Isle patterns throughout three captivating projects. Join me, published author and professional designer, Karen Whooley, for my online Craftsy class and discover fun new techniques to crochet complex stranded projects with confidence. In this class you will learn to translate traditional knitted Fair Isle Techniques to crochet ...

Avalon was one of my favorite yarns for this spring.  The Cotton blend plays well on the needles and has great stitch definition.  It took a while to tell me what it wanted to be.  Sometimes I touch and see a yarn and it is screaming at me.  Avalon needed some time to decide, but I think I am quite pleased with the results. Top-down shawls are fun and great travel projects.  I discovered a new bind-off in the process - Icelandic bind off.  It is a great edge for a shawl - it has some give to it.  I used 2 colors for this shawl - you could easily use more or less. Materials: Avalon (50% Cotton/50% Acrylic - 175 yds/100g) - 2 sks color A (18 - Turkish Sea) & 1 sk color B (25 - Georgia Peach) US 8 Needles (I would suggest at least a 32-40" cord on the circular needles) 2 Stitch Markers Yarn Needle Finished Measurements (after blocking): 58" across top edge 24" from point to top edge Gauge unimportant Abbreviations: K - ...

Tangier is one of our newest yarns - a worsted weight silk blend.  Available in 14 vibrant colorways, the silk blend is soft and drapey, yet has this wonderful spongy, squishiness to it. I knew that I wanted to make a short row scarf worked from end to end, creating a bit of a ruffle.  I also knew I wanted to limit it to 1 skein.  Unfortunately the first time around, I realized I went too wide and was running out of yarn before it was long enough, so I ripped it back.  The second time was going much better on length and width, but I was not thrilled with the shaping on the decreases, so I ripped it back again.  Fortunately, the third time, I got the shape I wanted in a fun scarf. Materials - 1 skein Tangier ( 50% Silk/ 16% Cotton/  17% Rayon/17% Acrylic - 220 yds/100 g) - shown in color 01 - Fantasy - US 8 Needles - 1 stitch marker Abbreviations - K - Knit - YO - Yarn Over - K2tog - Knit 2 Together - w&t - Wrap and Turn - Brin...

In December, my Pilates instructor Rebecca came into the studio wearing a hat - it was both cute and simple.  She was kind enough to let me take a picture of it.  Meanwhile,  I had been wanting to make a hat in our new yarn Elysian - a superwash Merino - acrylic blend with a springy twist and it was a good pairing.  I had figured it would be reverse stockinette and double mock rib in bands. Gauge & Measurements: - 6 sts = 1" in 1x1 rib on smaller needles - Band approximately 17" unstretched - Hat approximately 9" long (from edge of band) Materials: - 1 skein Elysian - (60% Superwash Merino Wool/ 40% Acrylic - 219 yds/100 g) - shown in 12 - Twilight Purple - US 6 - 16" Circular Needle - US 8 - 16" Circular Needle - US 8 DPNs - Stitch Marker - Yarn Needle Abbreviations: - K - Knit - P - Purl - sl1 wyib - Slip 1 with yarn in back - Kfb - Knit into the front and back of a stitch (Increase 1) - P2tog - Purl 2 together C...

Slip-stitch patterns work up beautifully in hand-dyed yarns.  It helps the colorway show itself off a bit differently and adds some texture. Pure Alpaca Paints is soft and warm - begging to be a cowl.  There was some very interesting pooling and texture with this stitch.  If you do not want a rolled edge, I would suggest several rows of moss stitch on each edge. Materials: -1 hank Pure Alpaca Paints (100% Baby Alpaca - 220 yds/100 g) - shown in 9377 - Rose Garden - US 6 circular needles (at least 24" circumference) - Stitch Marker - Yarn Needle Abbreviations: - K - Knit - sl2 - Slip 2 stitches - wyif - with yarn in front Gauge: 22 stitches = 3.75" Finished Circumference approximately 31" before blocking Pattern: Cast on 180 stitches Join in the round (careful not to twist) Place marker 1 - K 2 - sl2 wyif, K2 3 - K 4 - K2, sl2 wyif Continue until desired width. Bind off loosely.   Weave in ends. Block.

Tis the season for quick knits.  Decided it was time to play with Magnum again - our extra bulky wool that is the epitome of instant gratification.  So I grabbed one of my favorite colorways of Magnum Paints and decided on a reversible cabled scarf.  The result has been a quick and warm scarf with interesting color pooling. Materials - 1 skein Magnum Paints (100% Peruvian Highland Wool - 123 yards/250 g) - shown in 9735 - Gems - US 17 needles (use US 19 if you tend to knit on the tight side) - Cable Needle - Yarn Needle Abbreviations - K - Knit - P - Purl - C4FRib – Slip 4 stitches to CN, Hold in front; [K1, P1] x 2; [K1, P1] x 2 from CN - C4BRib – Slip 4 stitches to CN, Hold in back; [K1, P1] x 2; [K1, P1] x 2 from CN Pattern: Cast on 16 stitches K1, P1 for 2 rows Start Pattern: 1 - K1, P1, C4FRib, [K1, P1] x 3 2 - 4 - K1, P1 5 - [K1, P1] x 3, C4BRib, K1, P1 6-10 - K1, P1 Continue until almost desired length. End: 1 - K1, P...