A Brilliant Wrap for Minis or Yarn Leftovers

I love a good stash busting project, and that’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the Brilliant Brickwork Wrap by Amy Crumpton.

It’s actually designed to use mini skeins of fingering weight yarn, but I feel like you could use scrap yarns in harmonious colors to get the same kind of effect.

The pattern was written to use 24 colors of 10 gram skeins, as well as a 100 gram/400 yard skein of yarn. But there’s a design modifications section in the pattern that talks you through using 12 colors in 20 gram increments, 10 gram scrap balls or even three full skeins of yarn if you’ve got bigger amounts of pretties you want to use.

The wrap is worked in garter stitch and it’s sort of a log cabin style, where stitches are picked up from the edges of previous sections to build the next piece. It is worked in two sections that are joined in the middle with no seaming required. The pattern includes row by row written instructions and end of row stitch counts so you can keep your place easily.

The designer rates the skill level as for adventurous beginners and beyond. You’ll need to know how to knit, slip stitches and pick up stitches from a slipped stitch edge.

I do love the look that minis give you in this project because they are designed to work well together. (Check out more patterns great for mini skeins and advent calendar yarn.) But being me I’m always thinking about ways to use your yarn stash, and I think with proper planning this would be a great project for getting rid of some of those odd balls. You could also work the wrap in a different weight of yarn for a different look depending on what yarn you have that you need to use.

As written is measures about 14 by 60 inches, or 35.5 by 152.5 cm, but you can adjust the length without too much trouble.

Check it out and grab your copy from Ravelry.

[Photo: Amy Crumpton]

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Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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