Posts Tagged ‘Bulky’

Advent

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

There is a tradition in my family of the Advent Calendar. Opening a little gift or candy each day of December leading up to Christmas Eve. There is something wonderful about creating a sense of anticipation, it’s like an easy scavenger hunt with a fantastic ending. Here at the Urban Yarns blog we will be posting something new every day leading up to Christmas so I hope you enjoy!

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First up is a pattern that is so very popular on Ravelry at the moment, the ‘Gaptastic’ cowl. It’s knit in Bulky yarn and takes only 280 meters. It’s the perfect quick knit gift! It would look great in any of our bulky yarns, Spud and Chloe Outer, Classic Elite Twinkle, Cascade Eco Plus or Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky (among others). The weather is turning chilly so you can head out to a local mountain in your own cozy wrapping cowl.

Rain Knitwear Designs

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

One of the most popular designers of the moment has to be Veera Valimaki of Rain Knitwear Designs. Her shawls and sweaters are simple but always with an element of interest that keeps knitters coming back for more.

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Stripe Study Shawl

I recently finished a Study Stripe Shawl and it was a lot of fun to knit. Short row shaping seems to be the element of choice these days and it made my shawl asymmetrical, which it definitely the element of interest in an otherwise garter stitch garment. A similar look is the Different Lines shawl. Both are done with 2 colours of sock or sport weight yarn, a little conversational knitting.

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Different LInes

I quite enjoy her sweater patterns with their fabulous details. Veera’s photographs and sample colours are so inspirational you can really just picture yourself in such a striking sweater! Tumeric has to be the best named of her sweaters. I could just eat this one!

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If you are looking for some instant funky gratification the Happy Solitude Cowl is the one for you. It’s done in Garnstudio’s Eskimo (a super bulky yarn) so it will knit up in a flash as the weather is taking a rather crisp turn around here!

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Monday, December 13th, 2010

There is a big new yarn in town (and I mean that rather literally) and it is Twinkle. ‘Tis’ the season for warm, chunky, chic knits and a super soft new yarn to knit them in! Last year (and who are we kidding, this year too) it’s been a rush to decide what to knit in our bulkier yarns. Fashionable and fast is an excellent last minute gift combination.

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Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky (which is used in the two cute patterns above) is a fave, along with the washable Spud and Chloe Outer. The new kid on the block is Twinkle. Twinkle is a Classic Elite Yarn, one of the newer lines at UY, and it is like butter to touch. Mmmmm, just thinking about Twinkle yarn, big bamboo needles, and some coco with marshmallows makes me smile.

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Twinkle is one of those charming single ply yarns that knits up to about an 8 stitch gauge on 15mm needles. What is a single ply yarn, you may ask? Why it’s a yarn that looks kind of like it came straight from the sheep, no spin to it at all. Twinkle is 100% wool but it’s hard to believe that when you feel it, it’s more like 100% cloud. There is also a great new book for Twinkle, full of chic knits, you can check out the contents here.

Of course, what would big yarn be without a one skein project? Here’s a link to a free Ravelry pattern for a lovely one skein cowl called Marian. Sarah has knit one up in the shop in the Malabrigo Rasta, but I’m knitting mine up in some plummy purple Twinkle.

As you might know, we have a lot of samples hanging around the shop. Some samples come to us from the various yarn companies we carry but the vast majority of them are knit by the lovely ladies in the shop. A little while ago UY was approached by a movie company wanting some hand knits for their movie. We were happy to oblige, who wouldn’t want their knitting on TV? Well, the show airs this Thursday, December 16th at 9 o’clock and it’s called “On Strike for Xmas”. I’ll be tuning in to see my knits in action!