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Red Heart Joins the Yarnspirations Family

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Consolidation seems to be a part of most businesses these days, and it’s true of yarn companies, too. Two giants in the field have joined forces and Red Heart yarns has become a part of the Yarnspirations family.

Visitors to Red Heart’s website will be forwarded to Yarnspirations, where they will find the full catalog of Red Heart yarns to purchase. Red Heart patterns are being migrated to the site as well, so the site will have thousands of free patterns from all the various yarn lines, including Red Heart, Caron, Patons and more.

In a Facebook Live about the merger, knit and crochet designer and spokesperson for Red Heart Marly Bird said the reason for the combination of the two websites was because the Red Heart website wasn’t great and this allowed the parent company to combine all of its brands into one website rather than continuing to keep a separate website for that brand.

The major change aside from the different website is that many of the Red Heart designers will no longer be a part of the team, though Marly said she is continuing in her role and will now use the full range of Yarnspirations yarns instead of just Red Heart.

I love the Yarnspiration website so I think this is a great change and it makes it clear that Red Heart is part of the family, which I’m not sure everyone knew (the company was purchased in January). What do you think about the change?

[Photo: Yarnspirations.]

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.