It’s always a great day in the neighborhood when the KnitPicks seasonal catalogue arrives in the mail box! I go running after it like an overactive puppy after a slobbery frisbee!
Spring is always a joy when it arrives with its surprising blooms in your backyard and bright colors that contrast with the gray skies of April rains. KnitPicks is helping bring out those beautiful colors with their Spring line-up! Their star players include the ultra soft “Comfy” yarns, “Shimmer” lace, and the “Essential Kettle Dyed”
Comfy (Sport and Bulky)
Honey Dew
Sea Foam
You’ll find the new Comfy line in both Sport and Bulky. Sport will get you about 6 st/inch with 3 – 5 size needles, and the bulky 3.5 – 4 st/inch with 9 – 10 size needles. Both are a cotton blend, making it ultra soft and machine washable! The 25% acrylic will give you a little stretch while thd 75% cotton will lend you years of wear-ability! With all the great spring colors I’m torn between the Honey Dew and Sea Foam! These colors will be great for multi colored projects!
Shimmer Hand Dyed Lace
Spice
Shallows
Made of Silk and Alpaca, how could you go wrong with this blend? Twisted with great coordinating colors, projects will be like a different garment at every angle! I love the Shallows and Morning Mist (Better hurry on that one, they’re almost sold out) colors! I must be partial to blues this season! Spice will definitely be nice once Autumn comes rolling back around. I don’t knit much with laces, but these picks almost make me want to give it a shot! It may be light weight, but it’s surely warm with that alpaca blend! Remember, you’re going to want to hand wash your delicate projects with this choice!
Essential Kettle Dyed Sock Yarn
Jay
Eggplant
I can’t wait to try this new one! The Kettle-Dyeing creates a dark/light variation of colors for a unique look with only one skein! $8.99 will get you a 100g skein, perfect for one pair of socks. Although colors are limited, and not too spring themed, there is still a good selection! For more of a color selection you’ll have to check out their “Imagination” line! It’s a Merino/Alpaca/Nylon with a 5 color/skein blend! You’ll want to hand wash this one, though!
Grass
Terracotta
Marmalade
The ”Shine” collection wins for best color choice, and also comes in a sport and worsted weights. Check out just a few of them shown above!
I orginally knit this one for my younger sister for Xmas. I absolutely loved both t he pattern and yarn that I’d used, so I knit up another one quickly to use for myself. Shortly afterwards my step-mom fell in love with it, so I offered it to her! I don’t have one now, but come next winter I’ll have probably pumped out a few of them to match my winter jacket!
That’s a mobile picture sent to me Christmas day when she opened up her headband! If you like the pattern, here’s the link to make your own!
If you’re anything like me then you’ve missed out for years on one of the greatest knitting gadgets I’ve ever seen: the Knitting Yarn Ball Winder. Spent hours on the floor with
Knitting Yarn Ball Winder from KnitPicks.com
a tangled wad of yarn, making your SO or buddy help you wind it into a little ball? Never again! This nifty product costs just under $20! It uses a circular side-to-side motion that winds your unorganized yarn into a nice center pull ball! It can either be attached to a table, or handheld during the winding process. This little thing will save you LOADS of time diminishing your ambitious stash into a manageable stash! Imagine grabbing one ball of yarn, and not having 3 others attached to it! This is also great for people who purchase a lot of yarn online or even use recycled yarn. Note, however, that this does not twist yarn, it only winds it into a ball. If you’re balling up recycled yarn, it will still be stranded, not twisted. Don’t let your SO or friend go home quite yet, though! Unless you have a yarn swift, you’ll most likely need to keep another person around with you to hold on to the yarn while you do the cranking!
After your ball is complete, some people have often noted that there is a very lose hole in the center of their yarn ball. Never to worry! As you begin to use the center pull ball the yarn will begin to fill up that little hole. The hole is created around the large shaft so that your ball is not wound too tightly, causing it to lose it’s natural form, elasticity, or even adjusting the gauge! The ball winder may also be useful if you are knitting with two strands. Just create a ball from those two strands, and instead of carrying around two balls, you can carry around one easy to manage ball of combined yarn!
These things have been around for ages so if you’re newer to knitting/crocheting and you don’t have one yet, keep your eye on garage sales and ebay to get yourself a good deal on one! Many craft outlets/retailers also carry them, both in store and online! If you think that you are unable to use the manual crank, some companies even make an electric ball winder as well!
