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:
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
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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!
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We hope you'll challenge yourself this month!
Happy knitting,
Kristen
