Cascade Yarns Blog

  I love red.  Or at least reds with blue undertones.  We finally got a red that I really liked in Kid Seta  (Ruby) and I couldn't resist playing with it.  Fortunately one ball of Kid Seta goes quite a ways (300 yards of Lace weight mohair) and it can be worked on big needles. Anyone that has spent any time with me knows that when I travel I always have at least 1 or 2 projects (OK, sometimes more like 4-8, plus yarn to swatch) with me to work on.  Kid Seta has been in my knitting bag twice this year and I really appreciate how light the project is (and that I can easily carry it in my purse).  So, I was knitting while on a flight (and getting hopeful that I would be able to finish the project) when somehow the yarn got wrapped around some guy's foot as he passed my seat. As quickly as I could, I extricated myself from my seat (with my needles and project still in my hand) and chased after him, yelling, "Excuse me sir, please stop..." and ...

I love new yarns.  They have endless possibilities and lots of suggestions as to what they would like to become.   Pluscious is a fun machine washable yarn and 148 yards per 100 grams.  It is great for baby toys, blankets, pillows, and more.  I wanted to try something different and throw together a scarf out of one skein.  It is amazingly soft and would be a wonderful scarf or shawl for someone that is sensitive to wool. Pluscious is similar is feel to Chenille, but it doesn't worm.  I found it easy on my hands and got a long scarf out of 1 skein. Materials 1 skein Pluscious (100% Polyester - 148 yd/100g ) - shown in color 02 (Open Seas) US 10.5 Needles Yarn Needle Abbreviations K - Knit YO - Yarn Over K2Tog - Knit 2 Together Cast on 16 stitches Row 1-4 K Row 5-8 K1 [YO, K2tog]* K1 (repeat from * to last stitch) Continue until reach desired length. Bind of loosely. Weave in ends with yarn...

  So, at the office we do Secret Santa.  Which means we have a drop dead date to have projects done by (aka deadline).  I'm actually doing pretty well this year - probably mostly because I decided to be realistic as to what I could actually accomplish before Christmas (we are not going to discuss the 4 other projects I am working on).  Last year I took on a rather large project (Feather and Fan wrap in Venezia Worsted) that ended up being taken from me on the flight from Peru back home. Fortunately I did get it back, but lost more than 8 hours of valuable knitting time (the flight attendant was obviously not a knitter - no knitter would actually risk ruining a project to use needles for anything besides knitting while they are occupied with yarn). Anyway, I digress.  Sadly, Secret Santa is not so secret this year - at least for the person that I have (whom also has me).  I thought it would be fun to try a Popcorn Scarf in Baby Alpaca Chunky Paints. ...

Magnum is a fabulous yarn for instant gratification knitting.  It is a glorious 250 gram hank with 123 yards of Peruvian Highland Wool that knits up very quickly on larger needles (US 15 - 19).  Now it even comes in Hand Paints! I have been waiting (rather impatiently) for the Paints to come in so I could actually see them knit up - and I am not disappointed.  It probably helps that I love reds and burgundy and that was the colorway (Red Mix) I got to play with.  I've knit a hat and a scarf in Magnum but had yet to make a cowl and thought it would be a great way to show off the colors! This works up long enough so you could wear it 3 ways - like a long cowl, double around your neck, or down on your shoulders.  I also came up with some variations where you could do 2 smaller cowls out of 1 skein or a narrower but longer cowl.  This ends up a pproximately 40" circumference (about 1.75 sts = 1" in pattern) x 10" long Materials: 1 skei...

While at Stitches Midwest, I took one of their market sessions with Deanna Van Assche for bead knitting and that it was one of those techniques that looked much harder than it was.  So I bough some beads (she sells the kind that are pre-strung) with the intention of designing something using beads.  I really do like the pre-strung beads as you tie the string that the beads are on to the yarn and slide them over.  This way, I did not have to worry about chasing beads on airplanes.    Last December, I had written a scarf pattern for Kim in our office to make with Venezia Worsted and never got around to making myself.  It had a ruffle on each end and a simple lacy rib pattern for the body of the scarf.  I thought the beads would be beautiful at the end of the scarf and I absolutely love an excuse to play with Venezia Worsted . So I picked a lovely shade of purple that matched one of the colors of beads that I had purchased.  Then I...

So, I was in upstate New York last week and was getting some serious knitting time riding in planes and cars (after 4 days of Stitches East) and stopped by a cute shop (no it wasn't a yarn store) that was selling a hat.  I looked at the hat and realized I could probably come up with something pretty similar and that Fixation would be better than the cotton it was knit in since it was stretchy and machine washable and dryable.  I probably noticed this hat in the first place, because a friend is expecting her first child (a little boy to be named Bentley - although I may have butchered the spelling) and I was trying to figure out something to make that would be somewhat special.     So, I whipped out my handy black sheep measuring tape, measured the brim and drew a quick sketch when I got back to the car.  Then, I realized that the one color I had of Fixation would simply not do for what I had in mind.  Fortunately, I was visiting yarn stores a...

I have been wanting to create a pair of quick mitts for Casablanca and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get 2 pairs out of 1 skein - 1 woman's and 1 man's (or large woman's - as it fits me).  They knit up very quickly and are super cozy.  I had them end farther up on the fingers - where you could still use your fingers, but also stay warm. I divided the skein approximately in half to try to get the mitts to match.  Also, I placed the marker before I got to the thumbs - one 3 stitches before the marker for the beginning of the round, the other 3 stitches after the beginning of the round. Materials  1 skein Casablanca - shown in 07 US 8  - DPNS Cable needle (or smaller DPN) 3 stitch markers (2 in one color and 1 in another) Abbreviations K - Knit P - Purl SM - Slip Marker PM - Place Marker C8F - Slip 4 stitches onto a Cable Needle, Hold in Front, Knit Next 4 Stitches, Knit 4 Stitches from Cable Needle C8B -  Slip 4 stit...

So, it's fall, which means football in a lot of households.  Last spring, I figured out some colors in both Cascade 220 Sport and Cascade 220 Fingering that would work for all of the NFL teams.  I had the idea for a hat that could be adapted for any team colors. Cascade 220 Sport is one of my favorite yarns to work with - it plays well on the needles, comes in more than 70 colors, and there are 164 yards per 50 grams. Materials: 2 skeins - Cascade 220 Sport - shown in MC (9573) and CC (8903) US 4 - 16" Circular Needles US 6 - 16" Circular Needles US 6 double points Stitch Marker Yarn Needle Abbreviations: k - knit p - purl kfb - knit in front and back of same stitch Using US 4 Cast on 120 (108) stitches with CC (8903) Join in round - careful not to twist, place marker P1, [K2, P2], to last 3 - K2, P1 After 2 rounds change to MC (9573) Cont in...