Play with Cables and Lace in this Wrap Knitting Pattern

You already know I have cables on the brain from my post the other day about making cables without a cable needle. It’s funny that when you start thinking about a particular genre of knitting you start to see it everywhere, so it makes sense that the little braided cables on the edge of the Twisting Vines wrap caught my eye.

You can tell by the name of the pattern, which was designed by A. Palmatier, that the lace is really the star of the show, but I do love the combination of a sort of intricate lace with a simple cable as a frame. And honestly the lace isn’t difficult, either, but it might take you a couple of repeats to get the logic of it.

The pattern includes written instructions and a chart if you’d rather (which is a great way to practice reading a chart if you’re new to it because you can always check your work if you aren’t sure what a symbol means or your project isn’t looking quite right).

This wrap uses DK weight yarn and is a big rectangle, so it’s easy to adjust the size if you want yours to be bigger or smaller, or if you’re using yarn from your stash and don’t have the same yardage as the pattern calls for.

The Twisting Vines wrap is available as a free download from Ravelry, or if you don’t do Ravelry you can get it on the designer’s website.

Looking for more shawl patterns? I recently collected a bunch of sock yarn shawl knitting patterns, which are great because they each only use about a skein of yarn, so you can pull that special skein out of your collection and actually use it for a lightweight shawl you can wear throughout the year.

[Photo: A. Palmatier]

Next Pattern:

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.

Next Pattern:

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