Yarnit Creator Competes on FUNDERDOME

I had never even heard of the Steve Harvey show FUNDERDOME until I saw that Kate from Yarnit was going to be on it.

It’s an entrepreneur competition show where two different ideas are pitted against each other for funding. The studio audience votes on the best idea, but at some point in each round one of the entrepreneurs is given the opportunity to cash out so they get some money whereas if they go to the end and don’t win the vote they would get no funding.

The Yarnit was pitted against the Dreamcade Replay, a console gaming device to play retro video games. That business won the big prize (though the vote was really close) and the Yarnit cashed out at $25,000, which is still pretty great.

If you don’t know about the Yarnit, it’s a plastic ball (yeah, there were lots of ball jokes on the show) that sits on a base that you put your yarn inside while you’re knitting. The yarn feeds out of a hole at the top and stays clean and protected from animals and children while you work. They’re lightweight, durable, have a clip-on strap for on-the-go knitting, and the ball itself fits in many standard car cup holders.

They come in lots of different colors and styles for personalization and you can even store stitch markers and other little tools in the base. So cool! (And if you happen to want to get your hands on one, they’re running a special for a limited time on the clear Yarnit; use the code Funderdome.)

Congratulations, Kate, and I can’t wait to see the new product in action!

[Photo: ABC]

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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