Drool-Worthy Color Cards from Halcyon Yarn

I guess I’ve got Maine on the brain today (wouldn’t it be lovely to be sitting on a deck chair somewhere in Maine, knitting and looking out at the ocean, right about now?) because I’ve been meaning to share this with you for a while and I’m just now getting to it. I’m a big fan of the Maine-based yarn company Halcyon Yarn, and for all the years I’ve been getting their catalogs (which are beautiful and will make you wish you were in Maine even more), I’ve always been intrigued by what they call a Yarn Store in a Box.

This cool sampler includes 45 color cards with more than 115 different yarn styles on them. They include Halycon-label yarns like their Classic Rug Wool, Satin Bamboo (which I am going to have to get some of!) and their Casco Bay line, as well as sames from big-name companies like Noro, Debbie Bliss, Cascade and Reynolds, to name a few.

The people at Halcyon were nice enough to send me a sample box, and it is so much fun to look at all the possibilities and imagine what you’d make form each kind of yarn. For a designer, that’s really inspirational.

I think this box would make a great gift for a knitting friend. In addition to all the sample cards the box includes the company’s yarn and equipment catalogs and a coupon for $10 off your first purchase of $60 or more. Which, when you see all this gorgeous stuff, will take you no time at all to spend!

It’s a common complaint among women and femme dressing folk that our clothes do not include enough (and enough useful) pockets. And even if your clothes do have good pockets, there’s always a chance that you’d rather have another pocket to put some essentials in rather than having to carry a whole bag.

But because we are knitters, we can take this problem into our own needles and knit ourselves some auxiliary pockets.

Beatrice Mase did just that, with a kind of fancy toolbelt pocket accessory that they call VELVET Pockets.

The stitch pattern has a plush, sort of velvet effect, thus the name, but it’s worked with regular fingering/sock weight yarn. (The sample uses wool, but you could experiment with other fibers, too.) It calls for 776 yards of 710 meters, which you might just have in your sock yarn stash.

The pattern includes several pockets of different sizes, with the main body of the pocket worked flat in one piece and the exterior pockets sewn on at the end. You also have the option of adding screw rivets and a coordinating clasp that make it look even more toolbelt chic.

The design is worked with a loop of knit fabric at the top so it can slide onto a belt. The pattern includes explanatory diagrams, photo and video tutorials and is adjustable to fit different sizes of belts.

It’s almost enough to make me want to start wearing belts again, even though I haven’t for years. Because who wouldn’t want a few extra little pockets to hold things when you don’t have enough to really justify carrying a bag around?

The pattern is available in English and French on Ravelry and you can also buy a kit complete with the yarn, rivets and clasp (the pattern is not included in the kit) direct on Etsy.

[Photo: Beatrice Mase]

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