Review: Self-Striping Yarn Studio

I love working with self-striping yarns, and actually have a whole chapter in my colorwork book on the subject (and my favorite sweater ever, which is in that book, is made with self-striping yarn). But I’ll admit it’s not always easy to work with self-striping yarn, or to know what to make with it.

Carol J. Sulcoski’s Self-Striping Yarn Studio is packed with information about how self-striping, self-patterning and gradient yarns work, how to use them in projects and how to deal with them when your project don’t turn out exactly the way you wanted. It also has 24 patterns from a variety of designers for sweaters, scarves, hats, shawls, mitts and more using self-striping yarn and lots of fun techniques that show off the colors in interesting ways. Check out a few of the projects on Ravelry.

The projects are arranged by yarn weight, which makes it easier if you have some self-striping yarns in your stash you’d like to use for a particular project.

Some of my favorites include the colorful, lacy Celebrate shawl by Barb Brown; Sulcoski’s Wyldhaven Yoke Sweater, a simple top-down, circular yoke sweater worked in sock yarn that makes the colorwork look more complex than it is (her Belrose Striped Tam is pretty great, too, and could be a stash-busting project); the Fairfax Baby Jacket, also by Sulcoski, which uses a great, bright colorway and pieces worked in different directions for a stripy coat with lots of swing; Erika Flory’s easy Tracks Scarf, which combines a solid and a self-striping yarn for high contrast; and Sulcoski’s Sugartown Sweater, which uses odd balls and a tweedy background for a super casual garment.

This book is a lot of fun whether you’ve worked with self-striping yarns before or are new to their wonders, and you’re sure to find a few colorful projects to try out.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 24 patterns (11 rated easy, 11 intermediate, 2 advanced). Published by Lark Crafts, August 2016, suggested retail $19.95.

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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