Help a Really Cool Yarn Company Make More Yarn

It always amazes me the innovation that is still happening in knitting. From different ways to cast on and bind off to new techniques and new materials to knit with, this is definitely a good time to be a knitter.

One really cool yarn that’s come out very recently is LanaMudi Yarns’ SilverSpun, distributed by Feel Good Yarn Company. As the name implies, this is a yarn that’s spun with a silver filament (along with cotton and Lycra).

Why would you want to knit with such a thing? Well, silver is very conductive, so it makes cotton yarn feel warmer than it normally would. It also makes it possible for you to work electronic devices with touch screens while still keeping your gloves on.

Silver is also touted for anti-microbial and pain-relief properties, so your socks may end up less stinky and your wrists may feel less pain from marathon knitting sessions if they’re wrapped in silvery mitts.

I don’t know about all that, but it’s still a soft, pretty yarn that’s fun to work with and certainly a conversation starter.

The yarn came out in April and is sold out, but the company is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a new batch. Silver, as you can imagine, is pretty expensive, and they have to buy a large quantity to make it more cost effective. Anyone who pledges $75 or more will get a skein of the good stuff to play with, and there are lots of other great incentives, too.

Would you knit with silver yarn? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo via Feel Good Yarn Co.]

100 % cotton yarn

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

Have you read?