The 30 Day Sweater Challenge- Are you in?

Some of you may have heard about the 30 Day Sweater Challenge that kicked off October 1st. When we were asked to participate in the challenge, of course, we accepted and even worked with Koigu to develop a special colorway of KPPPM in honor of the challenge. We love working with hand-painted yarns, which is why we offered to be a stop on the blog tour for the 30 Day Sweater Challenge. Here is what the fine folks running the challenge had to say about working with Hand-painted yarns:

3 Things to Try When Knitting Your Sweater With Hand-painted Yarn

Since the early 1990’s the demand for hand-painted yarn has been exploding! There is nothing so satisfying as creating an entirely unique sweater out of hand-painted yarn! But sometimes knitting with a hand-dyed yarn can be frustrating especially when each skein varies slightly in color. Here are 3 tips for knitting with hand-painted yarn to make your next sweater a show stopper! 1. Double-strand Try holding one strand of each skein together and knit as normal. When you are checking your gauge, make sure to hold two strands together so you get an accurate measurement. 2.Alternate Rows Work two rows of one skein and then switch to the other skein to work two more rows. Keep alternating between skeins every two rows, to blend the colors. Simply carry the strands up the side as you go to avoid the need to weave in extra ends. If you are knitting In the round you can work one round of each skein. Begin by working your cast on and first round with your first skein and then join the second skein and work a round. Continue alternating skeins every round. 3. Show Off Your Yarn Complicated stitch patterns tend to get lost when you use hand-painted yarn. Try to stick with simple stitch patterns for a fabric that really shows off the beauty of your yarn! And there you have it, with these tips you’ll be prepared to knit great looking sweaters with hand-painted yarns! Now that you know how to blend colors easily you can also use these techniques when you have mixed dye lots. Speaking of hand-painted yarn, Jimmy Bean’s Wool worked with Koigu to create an exclusive hand-painted colorway of their KPPPM Yarn just for the 30 Day Sweater Challenge!  Since KPPPM is a fingering weight yarn we recommend holding two strands together to make a sweater, conveniently this will also help blend your colors. If you’d like to learn more about planning your next sweater project, download our free Sweater Planning Guide. In this guide we talk about design basics, color choice, how much yarn to buy and everything else that goes into preparing to knit a sweater that you’ll love! Also, if you want to find out more about the Challenge or the Design competition associated with it (yep, there is a design contest too!), be sure to check out the 30 Day Sweater Challenge website. This guest post is a part of the 30 Day Sweater Challenge promo tour. If you’d like to try out some of these techniques and try out the exclusive Limited Edition Koigu Colorway (#478) we have a great opportunity for you to challenge yourself! Join us this October as we help 5,000 knitters around the world knit a sweater they’ll love, in 30 days. To sign up just visit 30daysweater.com/jimmybeanswool and download your free Sweater Planning Guide. It will help you get started on the right foot! See you in October!

Laura is participating in the challenge but she is getting a bit of a late start. She will be using the special Limited Edition Koigu KPPPM color held double to create a DK weight gauge. However, she is debating between The Knitbot Effortless Cardigan and the Knitting Pure and Simple Drape Front Cardi. She loves the easy fit of both of these cardigans and they will look great knit in this variegated yarn. Which one would you choose?

We hope you'll challenge yourself this month!

Happy knitting,
Kristen