Koigu design inspiration and giveaway!

As many of you know, we recently started carrying Koigu Painter's Pallet Premium Merino (KPPPM)! There are over 121 different colors here at the shop and we just don’t know what to do with it all.


We’ve got some great patterns for this gorgeous fingering weight fiber, but we want to know what you would do with a few hanks of this magnificent yarn!!

This is a two part contest, folks! And two parts means two sets of prizes!! Here’s how it’s going to work: We will be giving away sets of KPPPM skeinlettes (a totally random combination of different colors and lengths totaling approximately 50-75 grams) to our 3 favorite design concepts left as comments on this blog post. After the final 3 concepts are chosen we will send those designers the skeinlettes with which they will make their concept a reality!


In January we will post the pictures of the final designs and all of our readers (you!) will get the chance to vote on who should win the grand prize of 3 full hanks of Koigu KPPPM!!!

Show us what your creative brains are made of!! Design concepts don’t need to be super detailed, just let us know the basic idea (100 words or less). We will announce the winners of the skeinlettes on December 20th, so be sure to check back to see if you are a winner!

Good luck and may the Koigu be with you!

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51 comments:

  1. If I am understanding correctly, there will only be about 175 to 260 yards to work with. I think this might be enough for a pair of fair isle wristlets. That would be my design, something that incorporates a combination of lacey texture over the hand transitioning into glorious colorwork around the wrist.

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  2. A cute, hip, urban lacy neckerchief :)

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  3. A really hip baby hat with gradiated zig-zag stripes.

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  4. A short sleeve open in the front, held together with a single tie at the neck or possibly a shawl pin. It would consist a repeating lace pattern. A camisole would be worn underneath.

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  5. Pillows!!! I've had this idea for a while and this is perfect. I would make a pair of pillows for my living room. The colors would pop against my white couch, plus I would use different lace patterns on each, and back them with comfy wool felt. 2, 3 pillows, oh I can see them now!

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  6. I see a simple pair of socks that lets yarn do all the design work because this is beautiful yarn and it doesn't need any fancy stitches.

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  7. lace or texture? the issue is its so lovely you want to do both.

    but an updated baby bonnet would use the amount of yardage well

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  8. I think this yarn would make a lovely cowl. I could see it in a nice multi-color that would match any of my coats.

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  9. socks socks and more socks.... absolutely love the colors!!
    matching wristlets and hat....
    the sky's the limit

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  10. I'd make a jacket for my 18 month old great niece. Her mother is a fashionista and started little Ella at birth. She'd look smashing in something made from this yarn.

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  11. I would do a lacy cowl, with the colors in bands of varying width, something that would keep softness and color up around the neck and face.

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  12. I have finished plotting out a wall hanging based on Barbara Walker's mosaic patterns. It's based on her Crazy-Quilt Mosaic Afghan from the original hardback,Charted Knitting Designs. However, I'm doing it in fingering yarns of many colors on #2 needles and shades with black edging so will take more than the 63 squares she has pictured. I'm collecting the most delicious fingering yarns I can find and have enough to start. This would be perfect for this project.

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  13. A plush fat bottomed purse with antique brass clasp knit in zig zag (Chevron) stitch.

    To combine random colors of yarn I can't go past a zig zag pattern. When complete I can squish the luxurious fabric in my fingers and admire each yarns' color and texture.

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  14. I'm thinking a simple sweater with a roll neck for my 9 pound shihtsu, Lola ... letting the yarn speak to her inner diva!

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  15. A baby poncho. My little girl is so discriminating though ;-) She'd probably like it in a feather-and-fan or chevron pattern. Random colors, bring it on.

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  16. It is a lot of time that I would like to reproduce a very tight delicate cardigan of my granma, I always thought that it should be great in the "dotted" Koigu, just to give some kind of old fashion scient.

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  17. Striped socks! A classic stripe with whimsical colors is just magnificent. Great for mixtures of skeinlettes, and if we have three colors, a two stripe sock with contrasting toes and an afterthought heel would be great! Bonus extra yarn might even make it into an ankle stripe...

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  18. I'm a brand new sock knitter, still working on my first pair. The yarn I'm working in now was for practice and the texture is not as fun as it might be. With the Koigu, I would make a pair of simple socks and enjoy the beautiful knitfeel. I know this would not necessarily be the hardest or coolest design suggestion you receive, but I would love and appreciate the Koigu yarn quality.

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  19. I would make a pair of fingerless gloves with a Celtic knot design.

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  20. I'd make a skinny zig-zag pattern scarf with some fringe on the end.

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  21. A thin (in width) scarf, either a drop stitch lace or maybe ruffled/curly, so the colors could blend against each other when wound around the neck. It would be easy and quick. The one skein should be enough to make the scarf long enough.

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  22. I'd love to make a multi-color drop stitch scarf that is crazy-long.

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  23. I have been meaning to have a go at making a circle scarf - yes a scarf that joins at the ends to make a large circle that can then be wrapped around the neck in a number of lovely ways...this yarn would be ideal!

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  24. I live in Canada, and I am in love with mittens made with fingering weight wool held double.

    I would use the KPPPM to make mittens that used the yarn held double to make mittens with color transitions.

    Start the cuff with color A held double, then switch out one of the strands for color B, then two strands of color B, then one of each B and C and then finish off the finger tip with two of color B. The thumb would be tricky, but could be knit doing its own small transition.

    I would use a plain mitten pattern so that the fantastic color of the KPPM would be highlighted.

    I think the mini-skeins would be enough to make a single mitt.

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  25. With this small amount of yarn, it could be fun to do a stranded colorwork beret using a simple block or diamond pattern to create a kaleidoscope effect. The color changes in the yarn would do most of the work.

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  26. I've had this idea about knitting a tam on a bias with lace panels. Im not sure about the lace panels yet but i think it would be interesting if they sort of swirled up. The ribbing would be added as an afterthought and could be custom fit so no sliding off the wearer's head.

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  27. Mini-skeins would work for a mini-möbius, or an awesome Knit collar-neck warmer! #menknit

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  28. A fun, cute, warm & newsworthy headband!!! Seamless and can be knitted pretty quickly!

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  29. Ooh this sounds perfect for prototypes in my Hawaiian coral reef project! I'm launching the collaborative creation of a Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project (like the current exhibit at the Smithsonian based on the Wertheim sisters' work w/ theIFF.org) or similar project here in Hawai'i and just got word that I can have space in a local gallery for my initial mini-reef to display and drum up support for the larger project. KPPPM would be perfect for simulating if not replicating the dazzling colors and patterns of our local marine life! Mahalo

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  30. I find that when I'm wearing scarves or shawls they often find their way temporarily to my head, whether because of rain or wind or sun. A semi-dense lace shawlette/veil would be gorgeous. Rounded V shape, gently extended 'tie' ends. Multiple colors? They'd need to echo the soft V... Maybe an edging of note to really frame the face, but fold over when worn 'normally' (hmmm... that means a reversible pattern, at least for the edging)

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  31. A nice simple cowl, to show off the yarn

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  32. I'm thinking of non-patterned colorwork fingerless mitts. I'd be switching skeins each time the yarn changed so that the colors would unpredictably shift in and out of each other.

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  33. I would love to learn to make a great pair of socks for myself or maybe even a pair of fingerless gloves would be great I don't think I would use a crazy pattern, the yarn is beautiful on it's own!!

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  34. Color and texture highlight these simple fingerless mitts. A combination of twisted stitches which start out small at the wrist and get increasingly larger repeat around and around and around.

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  35. An entrelac cowl, to make use of the multiple colors! Ooh, or perhaps a cowl using Iris Schreier's multidirectional technique!

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  36. Hmmm, how about a beaded sweet, lacy little scarf? With anything leftover, I'd make a knitted, beaded bracelet to match!

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  37. I'd make some sleeve extensions so I can wear my favorite t-shirts even during the winter. And it won't matter if they're a random mix of crazy colors if I'm wearing them with my Dr Seuss t-shirt :D

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  38. A tiny hoodie for my Blythe doll!

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  39. I would make wrist warmers, because I hate it when my sleeves are too short and my wrists get cold. Elbow-length with a little flare at the cuff to keep them from disappearing up your sleeve, but not so much that it gets in your way or falls in your food! And then some sort of interesting stitch pattern up the arm -- maybe fair isle or slipped sts or a 2-color rib, it all depends on what colors are in the kit.

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  40. I would totally make matching socks for me and my two boys (age 1 and 3.5 years old). We would look so cute togethe with our matchy matchy feet.

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  41. I'd make a cute, lace-based hat for those in-between seasons or places other than the frozen north (where I live!).

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  42. Gaming gloves/wrist/fingerless gloves. Gotta look in style when swinging the Wii. Could also be worn while at work to keep those computer-typing fingers warm. probably a simple lace pattern (or cables) that would provide some interest to the knitter during construction, but not too much to detract from the variation already inherent in the gorgeous yarn. Bonus yarn could be used for small cuffs/bracelet. Something for you, something for a friend. :)

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  43. If closer to 175 yards, a scarf that incorporates a variety of textures: lace; cables; seed stitch; bobbles; travelling rib, etc. These would be interspersed and change depending on the feel of each colourway. It comes down to using texture to emphasize each colour.

    If closer to the 260-yard mark, a shawlette that's constructed in a similar manner, but taking into account the change in shape as well an colour.

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  44. I am seeing a lace scarf or headwrap- with a springy flower/branchy leaf pattern. Something to pull us out of the end of winter- light and open.

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  45. V-shaped shoulder shawl in domino blocks. Modular knitting rocks for small amounts of yarn and ends knit in on the way. V shawls are cozy and stay put - also double as head covering

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  46. Ooh - entrelac/garterlac always seems like a surefire way to show off a variegated or self-striping, and it would make combining skeinlettes only as hard as deciding what order to put them in. Not a lot of yardage to work with, so I'm thinking a small shawlette/neckwarmer with a lace pattern incorporated into the entrelac blocks to stretch the yardage a bit.

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  47. I just got a stitchionary so I'd make a thin circular scarf with one of the patterns. Depending on the colors I got I'd either do a textured pattern with stripes, or some easy cable color work.

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  48. I would make a lace edging to add to the shelves in my glass doored linen closet. I live in an old victorian (built in 1903) and it has wonderful woodwork which includes the built in linen closet with glass doors on the top. I think the lace edging in great colors would be great.

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  49. I would make entrelac mittens if there was enough yarn, or fingerless mitts with as much yarn as I had. I might even do that with my yarn scraps if I don't win. :-)

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  50. I'm late to the game, but thought I'd mention what I'd design anyway.

    I'm picturing a pair of fingerless gloves with cables forming a big large diamond shape from the knuckles to the elbows.

    Eliana B

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