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.

Next Pattern:

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough.

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern.

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed.

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do.

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces.

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls.

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry.

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

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