2018 Holiday Gift Set Reveal: Knit & Purr

For the 2018 holiday season, we drew our inspiration from a warm and cozy home: the place that we call our own which provides us with solace and joy! A cozy home may conjure up images of curling up beside the fireplace as you knit warmth for your loved ones, enjoy a good book or perhaps a warm cup of tea. We couldn't resist putting a new spin on "Knit & Purl" with "Knit & Purr" to capture that wonderful warm feeling when your cat snuggles beside you, purring with a sense of contentment.

The Knit & Purr 2018 Holiday Gift Set is a result of the love and warmth of all of us at Knitter’s Pride - a warmth that passes onto our products and into what you create with them.

Knit & Purr carries a collection of millennium interchangeable knitting needles which are unique in every sense of the word: the needles are made from a combination of black & red laminated wood which has been interspersed together through a special process that creates a special random pattern.

Through this very special process, each pattern emerges in the needle when the wood pieces are painstakingly brought together by hand. Each needle is a unique work of art, made with the utmost care and craftsmanship, just as every knitter leaves their unique mark on their creation!

Packaged beautifully in a specially-designed box resembling a cozy abode, Knit & Purr includes:

• Nine pairs of the Millennium Interchangeable Needle Tips with black connectors in sizes US Size: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11 
•  Four black cords in lengths of 24", 32" (two) & 40" and a set of cord connectors packed in a fabric pouch 
• Free bonus gift: reusable "Knit & Purr" tote bag made in an eco-friendly fabric 

This limited edition gift set is available exclusively at your nearest Knitter's Pride Retailer this holiday season.

Want to leave a not-so-subtle holiday hint for someone? Save this post to Pinterest using the graphic below! 

How to Wind Yarn on a Nostepinne

We’re delighted to add some exciting new tools to our lineup, including our portable wooden Nostepinnes, available in your choice of two beautiful finishes. Nostepinne is a Scandanvian word that translates to “nest-stick,” and the nostepinne is one of the original ways to wind a ball of yarn. Today we’ll share a few tips and tricks on how to wind yarn using this handheld tool - and keep reading to find out how you can win one of your own!

The nostepinne is most useful for winding yarn that comes in hanks or skeins into beautiful yarn cakes that are easy to work with. You can also re-wind yarn that comes in balls if you wish.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Yarn
The first step is to gather your nostepinne and your yarn. Open the skein or hank and place it on a yarn swift to prevent it from becoming tangled. In a pinch, you can also place your yarn around the back of a chair or settle yourself somewhere comfortable and place the yarn around your knees. (There’s also the ages old image of having a helpful husband, friend or child hold the yarn for you!) Whatever you choose, you just want to choose a method that will keep the skein from getting tangled and becoming hard to work with.

Step 2: Starting to Wind
You can start winding the yarn onto the nostepinne in a few different ways. If you’re concerned about the beginning yarn slipping off, you can make a slipknot in the end of the yarn and attach that to the nostepinne. We just like to hold the end of the yarn parallel to the nostepinne. Then slowly wind the yarn around the nostepinne a few times, securing the slipknot or the end of the yarn under your yarn wraps.

Step 3: Winding Yarn Onto the Nostepinne
Next, you’ll continue to wind your yarn around the nostepinne, but now you will wind your yarn in a diagonal manner. That is, wind the yarn from the bottom left corner to the top right corner (or reverse if it is more comfortable for you). As you’re winding, slowly rotate the nostepinne at the same time so that your wraps build up evenly around the nostepinne (click here to watch a video tutorial showing how to do this).

Then keep going in the same manner until you reach the end of the skein!

Step 4: Securing the End of Your Yarn
As you near the end of your skein, wind the last few yards of yarn horizontally around the cake of yarn to secure the yarn from unwinding. You’re done!

The nostepinne can also be useful for winding center pull balls. If you want to work with your yarn cake from the center, follow the instructions using the slipknot method, and place the slipknot around one of the subtle indentations in the handle of the nostepinne. When you are done winding your skein, you can pull the yarn cake off the nostepinne and wind the last few yards of yarn around the outside of the cake. Loosen the slipknot to pull it off the nostepinne, undo it, and you’re ready to work from the center of your cake.

GIVEAWAY
Ready to give winding a try? Two lucky winners will win one of two nostepinnes - just click here to sign up for our newsletter to be entered in the drawing! Already a subscriber? Don’t worry, you’re automatically entered as long as you are an active subscriber on our list.

Also Read: How to Wind up Yarn

We hope this tutorial has inspired you to wind some of your beautiful yarns by hand using the nostepinne - and if you liked this post, pin it!

 

Lots of LYS Love: Winners Announced (plus a NEW contest!)

Last month, we asked you to share why you love your LYS, and we received some fabulous entries for our contest! There are so many fabulous stories here in our contest thread - we wish we could share them all! Below are a few of our favorite posts, be sure to keep reading until end to find out who won our prize drawings!

MelodyJoy86 shared this:

I love The Yarn Shop in Lincoln, Nebraska! It is an amazing place to hang out; we have potlucks and casual days where people come in to knit together and laugh. It is the place to be in Lincoln! The owner, Mittra, is very helpful and really makes the place welcoming and her employees are the best! This is a flashback to last year's Christmas party!

Rosie1111 has found a home away from home at her LYS:

I don’t know what I would have done without the owner and all the ladies at my LYS Black Sheep Yarn Shop in Maryland. When I was diagnosed 4 years ago with a rare muscle disease, it became my refuge and Happy place. I was either at the hospital, home or at my LYS. It also was wonderful that many of my friends there are nurses or worked in the medical field. I remember we were doing a KAL for the Hitofude Cardigan and working on this lace project kept my mind from worrying. Donna has made her shop a place to celebrate life’s joyous times as well as a place to comfort and encourage each other when times are tough. The laughter outweighs the tears. I also purchased my favorite toy, my Knitter's Pride ball winder and swift there and really enjoy how beautiful all the pretty colors of the wood is when it is spinning around. With all the gorgeous yarn there, one feels like a kid in a yarn candy store! One of the best things about Donna and her staff is that they are always ready to help any knitter who is struggling with a project or need to understand which yarn is perfect for their project.

Sondrakb has also found a supportive community at her LYS:

Apple Knits and Purls, located in the lovely landshore city of Muskegon, Michigan. Encountering this knit shop has been the best thing I’ve done in my adult life. I’ve never enjoyed group gatherings as much as I do here. We get together for “fix it” days, we knit, crochet, and exchange stories… of our lives, our projects, the world. Chantella, the owner, gives us strength and confidence during our gatherings. I come away feeling rejuvenated and inspired. Her store carries a multitude of different yarns…all excellent quality…nothing but the best. The Shop is small, but packs a large punch in every arena of quality yarns and assortment. Just love my LYS!

Contest Winners
Chosen by the Random Number Generator, the following entries have been selected to a prize from our NEW collection (a Ginger Deluxe Interchangeable Set, a Zing Crochet Set, or a Magnetic Knitters' Necklace Kit are all up for grabs)! Winners will be contacted and given their choice of prize on a first come, first serve basis.

Winner #1: Post #57 by NataliaWP

My LYS is Tangles Knitting on Main in Waxhaw, NC.  It’s little over 3 months since I moved to NC and found this nice, cozy, well organized store with lovely owner. I joined the knitting/crochet group over there and over the summer, we did a great project together for our town - a beautiful yarnbomb mural, Waxhaw flowers. So glad that I’m part of this special community.

Winner #2: Post #9 by hjordisperkins

My favorite LYS is actually on the other side of the country. I live in a very rural area…so I haven’t got a LYS. HOWEVER, we travel, and my most frequently visited yarn store for over twenty years, is thousands of kilometers from my home. I visit every time I am in Nova Scotia, and I’ve had her mail yarn to me as well. PatriciaLynn of Baadeck Yarns in Baddeck, Nova Scotia provides excellent customer service…and got me into Knitter's Pride needles!

Winner #3: Post #46 by MaureenHD

My favorite LYS is Silk Road Textiles in Cincinnati. A beautiful shop with fabulous staff. The knitting classes are wonderful as are the open knitting sessions. I have made plenty of new knitting friends. It is always a joy to go to the store. Here we are helping make sure a sweater vest is going to fit!

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest; we hope you'll continue to show your LYS some love this fall!

Giveaway
Make sure that you are signed up for our newsletter, where we'll be awarding prizes from our new product line each month to active subscribers. Click here for details on our current drawing!

Let’s Learn Brioche Knitting

We can’t get enough of the brioche knitting trend - although it’s an older technique, brioche is seeing a resurgence in tons of new designs for hats, cowls, shawls and sweaters. In today’s post we’re going to show you the basics so that you can give this technique a try.

First, let’s talk about what brioche actually is: this technique creates a lofty, reversible, ribbed fabric created by accomplished by slipping stitches and creating yarnovers in one row that are then knit together with stitches in the following rows. Many patterns use two colors of yarn, which can be easier especially when you’re first starting out, but you can also knit 1-color brioche as well.

Knitting a Brioche swatch with needles from our new Ginger Special Interchangeable set.

For the purpose of today's discussion, we’ll focus on 2-color brioche so that you can clearly see the technique. Brioche has its own language so we’re going to first define a few abbreviations and terms:

Sl1yo stands for slip 1, yarnover, and it is a stitch you’ll be using on every row. You’ll need to slip the next stitch from your left needle to your right needle, while simultaneously wrapping the yarn around your needle from front to back. This slipped stitch and its corresponding yarnover will be treated as 1 stitch in the subsequent row.

Brk stands for brioche knit, and you’ll sometimes hear it referred to as the “bark stitch.” When you see a brk stitch, you will be knitting the next stitch together with its corresponding yarnover that was created on the previous row.

Brp stands for brioche purl, and you’ll sometimes hear it referred to as the “burp stitch.” When you see a brp stitch, you will be purling the next stitch together with its corresponding yarnover that was created on the previous row.

The second slightly tricky thing to understand about 2-color brioche is that to create a reversible fabric, each row is actually knit twice: once with Color 1, and once with the Color 2 - so for each 2 rows of knitting, you are actually knitting 4 rows.

Essentially, each side of your piece will have a color that is dominant on it. If we’re talking about Color 1, a light color, and Color 2, a dark color, let’s say that the Right Side of your work will have Color 1 as the dominant color and the Wrong Side of your work will have Color 2 as the dominant color.

On each Right Side row, you will first knit and slip stitches across in Color 1. Then, without turning your work, you will slide the stitches back to the beginning of the row you just worked and you will purl and slip stitches across in Color 2. You have now completed the first, Color 1 dominant side of your brioche.

Right Side of brioche swatch - Color 1 dominant

On each Wrong Side row, you will first purl and slip stitches across the row with your Color 1. Then, without turning your work, you will slide the stitches back to the beginning of the row you just worked and you will knit and slip stitches across with your Color 2. You have now completed the second, Color 2 dominant side of your brioche.

Wrong Side of brioche swatch - Color 2 dominant

Now that we have defined the terms, and talked about the order in which the rows are knit, we hope you’ll begin to understand what the following rows signify:

Row 1 (RS/Color 1): *Sl1yo, brk; repeat from * to end.
Row 2 (RS/Color 2): *Brp, sl1yo; repeat from * to end.


Row 3 (WS/Color 1): *Brp, sl1yo; repeat from * to end.
Row 4 (WS/Color 2): *Slyo, brk; repeat from * to end.

You may see patterns written slightly differently, or using slightly different abbreviations, but these are the basic stitches that make up all brioche patterns.

Brioche Knitting Pattern Inspiration
As we mentioned at the beginning, there are hundreds of brioche knitting patterns to choose from these days! Here, we’ll spotlight a few favorites to try, starting with Lisa Hannes’ All About that Brioche. This triangular shawl combines garter stitch blocks with sections of brioche knitting to create a wearable accessory that is also a great introduction to the technique!

If you’re looking for a free pattern on Ravelry to practice your brioche, we recommend Emma Galati’s Brioche for Beginners cowl. Emma uses slightly different abbreviations than we have here, but her pattern is a simple 2-color brioche cowl designed for beginners, and because it’s knit in the round, you may have an easier time mastering the technique without becoming confused about which side is the right or wrong side of your fabric.

Once you’ve conquered the basics, there are even more fun patterns to try, such as Andrea Mowry’s Ramble (below left) or Leslie Ann Robinson’s Sizzle Pop (below right).

You can find more information about brioche knitting on Nancy Marchant’s wonderful site Brioche Stitch. For a few tips and tricks about brioche, check out this post from Ann Shayne of Mason Dixon Knitting.

We look forward to seeing your brioche knitting projects on social media - don’t forget to tag us in your post!

Also Read: Knitting Short Rows in the Round   

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Second Annual LYS Love Contest Is Here!

When you drop a stitch or need to find the perfect skein of hand-dyed yarn for your next project, is your local yarn shop (LYS) the first place you visit? Yarn shops aren't just a place to buy yarn or Knitter's Pride needles and hooks - they're the nucleus of the fiber arts community where you can learn, share and make new friends.

We would love to hear about what makes your LYS so special! Tell us about your favorite yarn shop for your chance to win your choice of prizes from our NEW collection: a Ginger Deluxe Interchangeable Set,  a Zing Crochet Set, or a Magnetic Knitters' Necklace Kit!

 Here's how to enter: 

 1. Make sure you are a member of the Knitter's Pride Ravelry group! 

2. Post a comment in this thread telling us the name of your LYS, where it's located, and what you love about it. Feel free to include photos in your post and earburn the shop if they have a Ravelry account! 

3. For a special bonus entry, post a photo of your LYS on social media using #kpLYSlove - and be sure to tag your LYS, too! 

 We'll randomly select three lucky winners to announce on Friday, September 28. Good luck!

The Secrets of Colorwork Knitting

Have you ever wanted to knit an amazing colorwork yoked sweater? Or mittens with fun geometric patterns? Or some of those fun multi-colored shawl projects? Even if you’re a new knitter you can make ALL of those things - it just takes time and practice. Today’s post will discuss the different kinds of colorwork knitting you can do and some tips and tricks to help you get started or improve your technique.

Intarsia Knitting
Intarsia is a technique used to create anything from simple shapes to intricate pictures in your knitting. With Intarsia, different sections of each row are worked in different colors. Intarsia is different than stranded knitting in that the knitter doesn’t carry the unused yarn behind the work, but instead drops the old color, brings the yarn for the new color up under the yarn of the old color, and then continues on knitting in the new color until the next color change or the end of the row. This method twists the yarns to close any gaps between the old and new colors.

There are a few different methods for twisting your yarns, depending on if the gaps are vertical or diagonal. A good photo tutorial for these methods can be found at Vogue Knitting. One of the most difficult things to conque in knitting intarsia is the issue of yarn management; that is, how to keep your yarns tangle free as you twist them while knitting. There is a great article on Mason Dixon knitting - Intarsia: 7 Decent Tips that you might find helpful as you tackle your first intarsia project.

Fair Isle and Stranded Knitting
Stranded knitting is created when you carry two or more yarns with you as you work to create patterns in your knitting. The unused colors are simply carried behind your work when not in use, creating floating strands which can be seen on the wrong side of the work. Stranded knitting is how those gorgeous yoked sweaters and colorwork mittens are created. Stranded knitting tends to produce a very warm fabric, because each stitch is essentially two layers of yarn thick.

Fair Isle knitting is a specific kind of stranded knitting where only 2 colors are worked per row, and the yarn is only carried behind the work for a limited number of stitches. Fair Isle knitting originated in the Shetland Islands. Today most knitters use the terms Fair Isle and Stranded Knitting interchangeably, although they are distinctly different. Kelbourne Woolens features a great article describing the differences between the two.

One of the most difficult things to conquer in stranded knitting is to keep your floats (or strands) at the right tension. Too loose and your stitches look messy. Too tight and your knitting puckers. They key to this is practice, but we have also found learning to knit with a two-handed Fair Isle technique (that is, knitting with one yarn held in each hand) makes this easier. Check out this video from Very Pink Knits to learn the technique.

Photo credit: Knitty, Design: Three Tams, Angela Wu (Designer, model, photographer)

Mosaic and Slip Stitch Knitting
Mosaic knitting is probably the easiest of the colorwork techniques to learn. In mosaic knitting, you work with two colors to create intricate designs - but you only knit with one color at a time! This technique is a lot like knitting stripes, only you'll just slip certain stitches on a row as you work.

For example, if you are knitting with a light and dark color, when you work a row or round in the light color, you will be slipping the dark stitches. And when you work a row or round in the dark color, you will be slipping the light stitches. Easy, right?

Because you are slipping the stitches, there is a limit to how many slipped stitches can be worked consecutively (usually only two or three maximum). This means that mosaic knitting often ends up looking very geometric, like mosaic tiles. If you’re looking for more information about this technique, check out this article about mosaic knitting from Knitty.

We hope that this post has helped define the different types of colorwork knitting and give you a few tips and resources on how to conquer each technique.

We can’t wait to see what colorwork projects you create. Please share them with us on Instagram - be sure to use #knitterspride in your posts!

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Free Knitting Pattern: Do or Do Knot Baby Hat

Small projects and summery yarns are great choices for those of us who can't bear to pack the needles and yarn away til fall. This month, we share a fun-to-make baby hat pattern that is knit in the round with a cotton/bamboo yarn blend yarn and topped with an adorable knotted i-cord. Choose your favorite Knitter's Pride interchangeable, fixed circular or double pointed needles to whip up this sweet baby hat in your choice of two sizes!

Do or Do Knot Baby Hat
Designed for Knitter's Pride by Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter

Gauge
20 stitches and 30 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch, washed

Sizes
0-6 (6-18) months

Finished head circumference
16.5 (18.5) inches / 42 (47) cm

Supplies

• US 7 (4.5mm) circular needles - 16" circumference, or 40" circumference, if magic looping
• US 7 (4.5mm) DPNs
• 2 balls Vinnis Colours "Bambi" yarn, shown in #832 Duck Egg, or 192 yards (176m) DK/light worsted yarn
• Knitter's Pride Blocking Mat
• 1 Stitch Marker

Abbreviations 
k - knit 
kf&b knit into the front and back of 1 stitch 
k1tbl - knit one stitch through the back loop
k2tog - knit two stitches together
p - purl 

To Make Hat

Cast on 80 (88) stitches. Place marker and join to begin working in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Work *k2, p2 rib for 1 (1.5) inches / 2.5 (3.8) cm.

Begin Working in Stitch Pattern:

Round 1: *k1tbl, repeat from * to end of round.

Round 2: K all stitches.

Round 3: *k1tbl twice, p2, repeat from * to end of round.

Round 4: *k2, p2, repeat from * to end of round.

Round 5: *k1tbl, repeat from * to end of round.

Round 6: K all stitches.

Round 7: *p2, k1tbl twice, repeat from * to end of round.

Round 8: *p2, k2, repeat from * to end of round.

Work Rounds 1-8 a total of 3 (4) times.

For 6-18 month size only, work Rounds 1-4 one more time.

Both Sizes - Begin Crown Decreases:

Decrease Round 1: *k2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 60 (66) stitches.

Knit 1 round even.

Decrease Round 2: *k1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 40 (44) stitches.

Knit 1 round even.

Decrease Round 3: *k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 20 (22) stitches.

Decrease Round 4: *k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 10 (11) stitches.

Decrease Round 5: *k2tog, repeat from * to to last 0 (1) stitch of round, k 0 (1). 5 (6) stitches.

Decrease Round 6: *k2tog, repeat from * to last 1 (0) stitch of round, k 1 (0). 3 (3) stitches.

With remaining stitches, work 3.5 inches of i-cord. Break yarn and pull tail through stitches to secure. Weave in ends. Knot cord as shown in photo (or do not...it's up to you!). Machine wash in gentle detergent, lay flat to dry.

Also Read: German Short Row Neck Shaping

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