Yarn 100% merino extrafine 2/28 col. green melange cones 500 gr

Rating:

Have recently placed my first order and am extremely impressed with the customer service. I have been given details of the shipping arrangements, which I am able to track (which for an overseas customer gives peace of mind that the consignement is on its way. I will definitely recommend this company to others and look forward to placing more orders with this company.

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Yarn 100% merino extrafine 2/28 col. green melange cones 500 gr

Christmas Ball FAQs

Here’s a compendium of info and links for all of the Christmas balls I’ve designed over the years:

These are my five, free Christmas Ball knitting patterns, below…

…and here is my Christmas Eve Collection, which is available for purchase through Ravelry:

All of the yarns used for these balls are available through my Kidsknits.com online yarn shop.

I definitely want to be helpful and answer your questions about any of my patterns.  But, as you know, it’s a very busy time of the year, especially for those of us who celebrate Christmas.  Double that, for those of us in the knitting business.  So, before emailing or calling with questions about these patterns, please read through the following information.  I think it addresses the vast majority of questions that might pop up.  After you’ve read it, if you still have questions, as always, feel free to post your questions here, email me at: mas AT kidsknits DOT com, or call my Kidsknits online yarn shop’s US toll-free number at 1-877-631-3031.

Today, I received this customer email, below, which included the two most frequent questions I get about the Christmas Balls’ construction:

I am confused about how to read your pattern- please can you help me since I absolutely love your Christmas ball patterns and want to make some!

I am unclear about why I need to “cast on 12 stitches” first (among my double pointed needles) when the first row in the chart has only two stitches which, when repeated four times, makes eight stitches- not twelve!  

Also, why do your directions say to “work rows 1 through 34” when there are 39 rows given on the chart?

 

Later this morning, after I sent her my reply, I’m happy to report that this is what she wrote back to me:

Thank you so much for your reply and for your clear explanation! Yes, it all makes sense now. The needles will fly today.

So I thought you might like to read that reply of mine:

Nice to hear from you!  I’m glad you like my Christmas Balls.

I can answer your second question quickly:  If you knit the entire chart, rows 1 through 39, all in one stretch, you won’t have access to the inside of the ball – it will be closed on both ends.  If you pause at row 34 (or thereabouts) you’ll be able to turn your ball inside out and neatly weave any loose ends in on the inside, where they won’t show.  If you read just a couple of lines further in the pattern, I think you’ll see it takes you through those steps.

Now, for your first question:  Take another look at the chart…the whole chart.  Don’t miss that shy, little column of stitches on the far right!  That counts as #1, and then you have the two stitches that are right next to each other, making stitches #2 & #3.  With four repeats of those three stitches, you’ll get your 12 starting stitches.

It is possible to build the chart so that all three starting stitches are contiguous; but, that’s not the best idea.  Once you get over not noticing that shy column on the right, in the end, there are several benefits to doing it my way: The motifs are centered between the increases and decreases; all increases and decreases occur on either side of shy Column #1, so Column #1 becomes a helpful guideline as you knit along – if your shaping is done correctly, it will be one straight line from the bottom of the ball, up to the top, just as it is on the chart; in the end, having the increases and decreases centered around Column #1 and having Column #1 as a straight line makes for a more balanced, aesthetic result.

Here’s an old blog post of mine in which I further explain the Christmas ball shaping: http://ift.tt/2g4oMw1

I hope that helps and that you have a wonderful Christmas.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If you’re still not 100% certain about the shaping, you should definitely click through on the flat-charts-for-round-shapes link, above.  That old article of mine is quite helpful for some folks!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here are links for each of my Christmas ball patterns and the yarns they use:

Christmas Balls (free):

The Christmas Balls patterns use Heilo, Falk and Gullfasan yarns.

Star of Bethlehem (free):

The Star of Bethlehem pattern uses Heilo (or Falk ) and Gullfasan yarns.

Two Strands Christmas Ball (free):

 The Two Strands Christmas Ball uses Freestyle yarn.

The Christmas Eve Collection:

Everything in the Christmas Eve Collection uses Falk yarn.

My online yarn shop, Kidsknits.com

My knitting kits

My PDFs on Ravelry

Christmas Ball FAQs

Episode 266 February Retreat Information

2017 Knitting Pipeline Retreat Information

Feb 17-18, 2017 (Fri 2 PM to Sat 4 PM)

 

with optional Yarn Crawl/Workshop Fun Day on Thursday Feb 16 and Fri Feb 17, 2017

Crossroads United Methodist Church

1420 N Main St, Washington IL, 61571 (corner of N Main and Rt 24)

 

• Friday, Feb 17th Doors open at 2 PM. Dinner at 6 PM
• Saturday, Feb 18th Doors open at 8 AM. Retreat hours: 9 AM to 4 PM

 

Thursday Feb 16th    Yarn Crawl and Workshop Fun Day

Thursday Workshops require separate registration. See Workshop Registration

Click here for PDF Registration Information, Registration form, and Workshop Information.

Vendor Application is here.

Kindly sponsored by Quince & Co and KnitCircus Yarns. I am also a Craftsy Affiliate. Please consider visiting my web site before purchasing a Craftsy class or materials as I receive credit for it. Thank you!

Show notes are found at http://ift.tt/1uIXctN.

 

 

Episode 266 February Retreat Information

Episode 265 Within and Wonderful Wallaby

Review of Within: Knitting Patterns to Warm the Soul by Jane Richmond and Shannon Cook. Wonderful Wallaby by Carol Anderson/Cottage Creations.

Knitting Pipeline Retreat information will be in Episode 266. Registration begins Dec 1, 2016.

Kindly sponsored by Quince & Co and KnitCircus Yarns. I am also a Craftsy Affiliate. Please consider visiting my web site before purchasing a Craftsy class or materials as I receive credit for it. Thank you!

Show notes are found at http://ift.tt/1uIXctN

Haste ye back!

Episode 265 Within and Wonderful Wallaby

How to Change Colors for Stripes in Knitting

When you're ready to start working the second color, simply drop the first color and pick up the yarn for the second color. Knit the first stitch.

This stitch will look really loopy, loose and awful when you first knit it, but persist. When you're further along in the row you can tighten up the last stitch of the previous row and the first stitch on this row by pulling gently on the yarn tails.

Speaking of yarn tails, make sure you leave a tail of at least six inches at each end of each stripe.

This will make it easy to weave your ends in securely later. Alternatively, if your stripes are short and you're going to use the same color again, you can carry the unused yarn up the side so it's where you need it when you need it again.

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How to Change Colors for Stripes in Knitting

On Swatching for Gauge

A knitter wrote to me this morning, wondering if she had misinterpreted something or done something wrong because she could not get the 32 x 38 stitches per 4″ gauge for a Dale Baby Ull pattern (Peace Sweater).  Her stitches, and resulting swatch, were too small.  She was surprised because she had even tried needles one size larger, but that didn’t change things appreciably. As she had said, “Usually my gauge is only off 1-2 stitches regardless of yarn/needles I use.”

I was happy to respond to her because it gave me the chance to write up something to share with all of you regarding one of the most important steps in all of Knitting.  Here’s my response:

I don’t think you’re doing anything “wrong”, per se and it’s great that you’re checking your gauge. You just need to keep testing and adjusting accordingly. And that’s perfectly normal and good.  In fact, it’s so good that I’m going to share your question (anonymously) and my answer on my blog, for this really gets at the most important question knitters can ask about getting a satisfactory fit from their projects.

If you could take any given yarn on the planet and ask all knitters on the planet what size needles they ended up having to use to achieve one pattern’s gauge (or one ball band gauge), you’d end up with a very wide range of needle sizes.  The majority of knitters would typically fall within a range of four or five needle sizes; but, as with any large, statistically significant population, there could be some real outliers, too. When you look at the big picture, you see that there are myriad variations, not only in any yarn’s characteristics and any available needle sizes, but also in knitting methodologies and personal knitting tensions, and it’s helpful to remember that those disparities arise both on the pattern publisher’s and the pattern user’s sides. Even for an individual knitter, one’s own knitting tension can vary over time.  Not only is it possible that two different needles marked as the very same size can have slight variations, it’s also possible – indeed, common – that knitters can get considerably different gauges when using the very same needle size, but in different materials.  For instance, the drag on wooden needles frequently produces a noticeably looser gauge than the slickness of metal needles of the very same size.

Sadly, it’s not uncommon to hear some knitters say, “Oh, I’m an ‘average’ knitter – I never have to check gauge!”, but that’s simply a senseless notion. When you think of all of the possible permutations of the many variables involved, no matter how experienced any knitter might be, it’s impossible to predict exactly where any of us might fall in the perfect needle size selection game.  If we have predetermined dimensions in mind for our projects, unless we’ve used the same, specific pattern/yarn/needle size/needle type combination within the recent past, not only should we do a gauge swatch before diving in, as you’re doing; we should keep testing different needle sizes until we find the best match for us, whether we’re using the finest wires or giant tree trunks.  The “right” needle size is nothing other than the size that works for you.

I can share a couple of time-saving observations from my own experience:

#1, take good notes!  Keep a file showing the date, project, yarn, needle size, needle make, needle material, stitch type and your resulting gauge for every swatch you make.  While I eternally advise swatching before diving in, at least by checking where your gauge fell the last time you used the same variables, you can usually narrow the swatching experience down to one or two tries. (Or not.)

#2, consider the other person’s / project’s viewpoint!  Maybe your dear friend A is the world’s greatest sock knitter.  If so, he probably uses an extra small needle size, since he probably wants his socks extra warm and durable. Maybe he’d tell you to use a needle size smaller than you want. On the other hand, maybe your dear friend B is the world’s greatest lace knitter.  She probably uses an extra large needle size, to make her lace airy and fluid. Maybe she’d suggest a needle size larger than you want. Similarly, the yarn labeler &/or pattern writer at yarn manufacturer X might use the Continental / “picking” method of knitting; maybe at manufacturer Y, the American/British “throwing” method dominates.  By just turning the wrist an extra degree or two, folks at manufacturer X (let’s call them “Dale” ) can significantly loosen up their gauge versus what the very same yarn/needle combination might get for the designers (and yarn labelers) at Y.

I hope you’ve found this helpful.  *Happy swatching…and note taking!  (Repeat from *! )

Mary Ann

 

On Swatching for Gauge

The Flourishing Scarf

The Flourishing Scarf, designed and knit by Mary Ann Stephens using Dale ECO Baby Wool (espresso / background) and Dale Alpakka (mist blue / motif).

“The Flourishing Scarf”, just released this week.  I’m immensely pleased with the result of stranding with one color in Dale Alpakka, the other in magnificent, new, organic, ethical and pure Dale Eco Baby Wool.  As I explain in the pattern:

There’s a certain synergy in using these two different fibers together.  The lofty, sport weight alpaca compresses nicely when stranded with the fingering weight wool to produce sharp motifs in extra-warm fabric. The body and bounce of the wool helps to keep the alpaca from drooping. The soft luster of the alpaca adds to the contrast against the matte wool.  When choosing your colors, remember: the more your two colors contrast, the more clearly your details will show through.

Here’s the link to the kits, available in your choice of colors.  I love being able to give a little treat back to my beloved yarn customers when I issue one of my own designs as a kit.  So, the scarf kits are priced $5 less than the sum of the parts.  They use five 50g balls of Alpakka + five 50g balls of ECO Baby Wool.  If you’re a regular reader here, you know how I’ve loved using Dale Alpakka since it came out a few years ago.  If you’re a wool lover and, like me, you’re always on the lookout for the highest quality wool possible, I think you’ll be thrilled with Dale’s brand new ECO Baby Wool.  Not cheap, but thoroughly exquisite – the best 100% wool I’ve ever used!

Here’s the PDF on Ravelry.  After getting the PDF, if you decide you’d like to use my Dale yarn combination, just put a note on your a la carte yarn order and I’ll  refund the $5 off that way, too.

The Flourishing Scarf

11 Essential Skills Every Knitter Should Master

Episode 264 Abide Shawl, Brioche, Eagle Crest

Kindly sponsored by Quince & Co and KnitCircus Yarns. I am also a Craftsy Affiliate. Please consider visiting my web site before purchasing a Craftsy class or materials as I receive credit for it. Thank you!

Show notes are found at http://ift.tt/1uIXctN.

Swift by Shannon Cook

Toddler Swift in my projects

Journey: A Collaboration by Jane Richmond and Shannon Cook

Quince & Co Chickadee

Abide Shawl by Kirsten Kapur

Blacker Yarns Swan Falkland Islands

Drop Dead Easy Knits by Gale Zucker, Mary Lou Egan, and Kirsten Kapur

Chromatic Cowl by Amy Detjen (free)

PrairiePiper’s Chromatic Cowl

Visit the Knitting Pipeline Group on Ravelry to enter the drawing for a Sock-tacular Prize from PrairieBagWorks, Hue Loco, SlapYourLlama on etsy, and Sockruler.com.

Haste ye back.

 

Episode 264 Abide Shawl, Brioche, Eagle Crest