A Yarny Flash Mob in San Francisco

To celebrate I Love Yarn Day, which is this Friday, October 11, the good folk at Crochet Today are organizing a knit and crochet “flash mob” (by which I think they just mean knitting and crocheting in public, not the dancing sort of flash mob) at Union Square Park in San Francisco.

They’re asking that participants be there at noon sharp, and the first 100 to arrive will get a free ball of Red Heart Sashay, which is enough to make a cool ruffled scarf.

If you don’t know about I Love Yarn Day, it’s a fun made up holiday sponsored by the Craft Yarn Council that gives us all an opportunity to share the fibery love. Whether you knit, crochet, spin or craft with yarn in any other way, it’s a day to show it off, share with others, maybe make something for charity, certainly work your craft in public if you can.

Do you have any plans for the day? I’d love to hear about them!

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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