Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Knit List: Lion Brand Bonbons

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lion brand bonbonsThis is one of those things that I started a long time ago and then I started freaking out about my book and decided I couldn’t knit anything else for a while so I abandoned the project and didn’t manage to tell you that I got to try out some of Lion Brand’s new Bonbons yarn and it was a lot of fun.

These teeny, tiny balls of yarn (the fine cotton yarn I sampled has just 28 yards per ball) are great for knitting up little toys, using as trim or just playing with. I was working on a doll dress from the Arne & Carlos book Knitted Dolls, and you can see how far a single ball carried me (I was just about to run out of the lavender, too).

All of the Bonbons yarns come in packs with eight little balls of different colors. In addition to the fine cotton there are also a fine acrylic/metallic and a lightweight acrylic. Each option is available in two color collections.

These little balls are a lot of fun and have inspired me to try to figure out what to do with them. I really want to take the second pack of cotton and make a striped dishcloth, but I”m not sure about the rest.

What would you do with a bunch of tiny balls of yarn? Spill it!

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Comments

  1. any word on if its going to be sold in stores, or online only? Love to have an assortment of colors without buying whole skeins. This is just the right ticket for making knit and crochet toys.

  2. I knit to keep my family warm, and to keep my mind and hands busy. I love that there is such beufaiutl, quality yarn out there so that all my hard work looks great year after year. The photos are just stunning- Great Job!

Have you read?

Textured Hat Knitting Patterns

There are all sorts of knitting techniques you can use on hats, but some of my favorites are textured stitch patterns or cabled hats worked in a single color. Check out these great textured hat knitting patterns and find your next fall favorite. 

The K?pekapeka hat from The Practice of Fibre was the one that got me started thinking about textured hat knitting patterns. This one has a simple zig-zag pattern worked with purls. This hat uses centered double decreases for shaping to help keep the pattern going as you finish the top of the hat. It uses worked weight yarn. 

Little Totz Designs has this simple knit hat that uses worsted weight yarn and an allover knit-purl stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize. This one would be a great first hat in the round pattern if that’s something you haven’t tried before. 

The Fia Beanie from Honey and Grace Fiber Co is another simple stitch pattern that’s full of texture. It calls for bulky yarn so it should stitch up in no time in this great textured diamond design. 

Kalurah Hudson’s Cindersmoke hat is an interesting stitch design that uses double moss stitch and bands of slipped stitches throughout the pattern, which is where the decreases are worked, keeping the rest of the pattern as established. It uses bulky yarn and is sized for adults, and you can find it on Ravelry.

Benjamin Matthews has such pretty designs that often turn out to be simpler to knit than they look. The Snow Carved Beanie (find it on Ravelry) for example only uses knits, purls and slipped stitches, but it has a design that looks almost like cables. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and has a foldover brim for extra warmth. 

While I wanted to keep the focus in this roundup on simple stitch patterns, basic cables are not that much more difficult than regular knitting, and the lattice pattern on this CrissCross Hat form the Purling Princess is so charming I couldn’t resist sharing. This hat comes in three sizes (baby, child and adult) and uses worsted weight yarn. It would be a great gift to knit if you’re thinking about that.