Cascade Yarns Blog

Kid Seta Noir is a lovely lightweight (yet warm) mohair blend with just a hint of sparkle.  It also has the lovely ability to play nicely on big needles and still hold its shape.  In December I had made a scarf for Ann which I called Popcorn Scarf rather than Potato Chip Scarf (something about mixing up snack foods late at night).  I thought is would be lovely in the Kid Seta Noir , but knew that I wanted to modify it a bit.  Even better, I knew the perfect color to use for a gift. Materials  - US 8 Needles  - 1 Ball Kid Seta Noir ( 60% Super Kid Mohair/ 22% Silk / 11% Nylon/ 7% Metallic Yarn (Lurex) - 232 yds/25 g) - shown in 13 - Lavender Abbreviations K - Knit W&T - Wrap and Turn Cast on 23 Knit 9, W&T Knit 9, Turn Knit 7,  W&T Knit 7,  Turn Knit 5,  W&T Knit 5,  Turn Knit 23 Continue until reach desired length. Bind off loosely and weave in ends.

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...

  While at a yarn tasting, I decided to play with Jewel and found a stitch that worked great with the texture of the yarn.  I took the usual YO, K2Tog, followed by a knit row and added one more knit row.  This accomplished getting rid of the usual bias.  It also made the yarn almost stripe in the 3 color dip dyed shades of Jewel.   Jewel is 100% Peruvian Highland wool available in tonal hand dyes as well as multi dip dyed colors.  There are 142 yards per skein and it is a single-plied thick thin yarn. There is enough texture to be interesting, but not so much that you loose stitch definition. One skein will make a 6" x 38" scarf.  It is shown in color 9825 and knit on a US 10 needle. Abbreviations: K - Knit YO - Yarn Over K2Tog - Knit 2 Together Cast on 20 stitches Row 1 - K Row 2 - K1, [YO, K2Tog] - repeat to last stitch, end K1 Row 3...

  I've always loved Merino and Silk - such a lovely combination of fibers.  You get the memory of wool with the shine and drape of silk.  Not to mention, it's super soft and something I can actually wear near my skin.   Venezia Sport is a luscious blend of 70% Merino Wool and 30% Mulberry Silk.  It is a great weight to wear in the Pacific Northwest all but the warmest few weeks.  There are over 300 yards per 100 gram skein - so a one skein project was definitely a possibility.  As an added bonus, this stitch pattern creates a reversible pattern! Gauge = 4 s = 1" US 6 Venezia Sport - color 187 Finished size - 8" x 50" CO - Cast on  K - Knit P - Purl YO - Yarn Over K2Tog - Knit 2 Together CO 32 sts Row 1 - K1, *[YO, K1] - repeat from * to last stitch, K1 Row 2 - K1, *[P] - repeat from * to last stitch, K1 Row 3 - K1, *[K2Tog] - rep from * to last stitch K1 Row 4 - K1, *[YO, K2Tog] - rep from *...

Short rows can be a lot of fun in a scarf while creating an interesting effect at the same time.  Casablanca works up wonderfully in short rows - it really shows off the colors in the skein.  For this project, I chose a more subtle colorway and was quite pleased with the result. One skein and a pair of US 8 needles is all that you need for this scarf.  I'd done the triangles within a short row rectangular scarf before, so it was interesting to see the turns that appeared.  Essentially you cast on 20 stitches, start by knitting 2 stitches, do a wrap and turn, and going back, then adding 2 more stitches each time until you reach 18.  You work backwards back to 2 stitches and then go to 20 stitches and change direction.  After a few sections, it gets fairly easy to ready your knitting to know where you are. So here is the pattern: Abbreviations K - knit W&T - Wrap & turn - Bring yarn forward, slip next stitch pu...

Ultra Pima Fine is a light sport-weight cotton - the little sibling of Ultra Pima.  It is already available in 53 colors and is a joy to work - it is equally good for knitting and crocheting.  As usual, I was curious what I could create out of 1 skein.  In the ZigZag lace pattern, I was able to get an 8" x 30" scarf out of one skein and now I have 3 options -1, 2, or 4 skein - short scarf, long scarf, wrap.  Also, this is a great learning/teaching pattern - as you can see the bias created by both SSK and K2Tog. Materials -         1 – 4 skeins Ultra Pima Fine (100% Pima Cotton – 136.7 yds/50 g) – shown in 3706 -         Size US 5 needle -         Yarn needle Finished Measuments & Gauge -         Gauge = 15 stitches = 4” in pattern stitch -   ...