Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Knit Picks “Swish” and “Wool of the Andes” In New Tonal Colors!

by

So I tried out one of Knit Picks newest yarns, Swish Tonals in the Deep Water’s colorway. It’s a Superwash Merino, worsted weight so I invented myself a project. See, I had a problem. Had a water bottle that I loved, with no sweat cover. Too small to fit in the cup holder of my bike (why yes, my motorcycle has a cup holder, doesn’t yours?) and it would fall out occasionally, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and knit myself a water bottle cozy. Not too hard, eh? Well, let’s just say it’s not so much a cozy as it is a scrunchie, and it may turn into a leg warmer if I get a chance to knit another one to match.

Anyway, on to the Swish. This yarn knitted up beautifully, no splits, unbelievably soft and luscious, and the colors are gorgeous. Now I haven’t washed it yet, and it would be awesome if it shrank a whole bunch, but like I said it’s Superwash, so that’s not likely.

15 different colors with 7 different tones in each skein, it’s lovely. And being a worsted weight, knits up quick. The ribbing I did really stood out, and the stockinette was soft and even, unlike a lot of the nicer high end yarns I’ve tried. This one’s a keeper!

I also scored a skein of Wool of the Andes in the Nevermore Tonal colorway.  Again, 15 different colors with 7 different tones in each of the hand painted colors, worsted weight and felts beautifully. For this yarn I chose a pair of Croc Socks from Tahki Stacy Charles. The pattern is over at Knitting Warehouse. I haven’t gotten very far on these yet, except to say that I’m using a bit bigger needle, and making them a bit bigger so I can felt them down a bit.

More on this later….

Next Pattern:

Comments

  2. Would you have 1 skein of this yarn that I could purchase from you to finish a project??? The place I bought them from says it is discontinued…..
    thanks
    Paula

Have you read?

Yarn Cozy Knitting Patterns

I’ve been toying with the idea of making a yarn cozy or yarn ball holder on the circular knitting machine, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. In the meantime, here are some yarn cozy knitting patterns you can make with knitting needles. Use yarn to hold you yarn!

In its simplest form, a yarn cozy is just a sleeve or a little basket that holds your yarn when you’re working with a center-pull ball so it doesn’t fall apart when you knit. The easiest ones I could find are from Love in Stitches KN, which has a regular size and a mini size. They’re worked with sock yarn and there are options for making them with ribbing, faux cables and with self-striping yarn.

For bigger cakes there’s a project called We call it the “bail holder” from Nicole LeBlanc. This pattern is available on Ravelry and you can use any yarn and make it any size you like. It features an I-cord edging that has a loop in it so you can thread they yarn through the loop to keep it extra contained as you knit.

Another large one that has a slightly fancier pattern is this one by Mareike Meye. You can use any yarn and any gauge, and slip stitch pattern worked in different colors on the sides makes it a little more fun and uses a bit more stash. A strap buttons across the top to hold the ball in place and you can add a buttonhole to the middle of the strap to thread the yarn through. Check this one out on Ravelry.

Adding lace to a yarn cozy makes it fit a wider variety of balls and expand or shrink a bit as needed. Jennifer Sugarman’s Ball Sack uses sock yarn and is made to hold sock yarn. It has the option of making I-cord or using ribbon or cord you already have to make a drawstring at the top. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Another lacy option is the yarn ball holder from Frugal Knitting Haus. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has an easy mesh lace pattern and an I-cord drawstring that’s sewn together at the ends so you could loop it over your wrist while you knit if you like. This pattern is also on Ravelry.

Speaking of wrist yarn holders, I also found this one form Knituition. This one uses sport weight yarn and has a spiral rib pattern on the body. The strap is attached to the bag with D-rings, or you could make it a little longer and just sew it into the bag.