Create an Ugly Christmas Sweater for Pentatonix

Ever since the Stevie Nicks shawl callout (did you see the winning design, by the way? Amazing.) I’ve been getting e-mails from TalentHouse, and I saw another fun one that I thought knitters might be interested in.

This one is to design an ” Ugly Christmas Sweaters” for a member of the acclaimed acappella group Pentatonix. (The only problem with knitting a sweater is that the guidelines don’t indicate sizes, but it looks like the group covers a range of sizes.)

They’re releasing a Christmas album and the winning sweater will be worn by a member of the group in a music video that will be shared right before Christmas with their e-mail subscribers and on YouTube. The winning designer will also get a $1,500 prize and a shoutout on the video and in social media.

Entries must be in by December 1, and the person who gets the most votes during the selection period (the first week of December) will also receive $250 an a mention in the e-mail from Pentatonix.

This sounds like such great fun! If any of you go for it, I’d love to know about it!

[Photo via TalentHouse.]

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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