Help Pacifica Yarn Company Launch its Made in America Yarn

Over the holiday weekend, the people behind New Stitch a Day and the 30 Day Sweater launched a new project, called Pacifica Yarn. This will be the first “house yarn” for their new online yarn shop, Argyle Sheep.

They took to crowdfunding to raise money for the project and blew past their first goal in 12 hours. As of this writing they were closing in on their fourth goal, with 24 days left to go on the campaign. (The campaign ends July 31.)

The money will allow them to produce their first yarn, called Zephyr, which will be a blend of cotton and wool yarn. The idea is to make a yarn that’s suitable for knitting and wearing year round, with the durability of cotton and the memory of wool. The yarn will be produced in the United States with American fiber, and the next goal they were going for was to be able to produce the yarn in 16 colors.

It’s going to be a DK weight yarn, but if $40,000 is raised they will also make a worsted weight yarn in the same colors; at $50,000, another yarn line will be introduced.

The way things are going right now, we could see a lot more out of Pacifica Yarn very soon. Rewards that include yarn begin at $30, and delivery should take place early next year.

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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