We’ve finished up a bunch of samples made with Berroco Wizard, which I’ll be sharing in the next few days …. they’re turning out soooooo beautifully, it’s definitely my favourite new yarn of the year! Wizard is super soft, light, airy, colourful, and slightly textured – perfect for the process and the product knitter in us all! Plus it;s machine washable, so it’s open season for kids & baby knits, sockies & etc. I just finished Malou in it, and I’m already planning to cast on for a second in a different colour. Nuff said?
Bente is a super soft & squishy mosaic stitch blanket made using one color of Wizard. It also works up relatively quickly on 8mm/US11 needles. The painterly colour effects come from working from two balls simultaneously (don’t worry, it’s easy). Our kits are available in both a throw size and a baby blanket size (see modifications below), since the yarn is machine washable.
Skill Level: Intermediate-Beginner (after scarves). (Mosaic stitch is an extremely easy form of colour knitting and only involves slipping stitches from the left needle to the right.
Skills: Knit, slipping stitches, following a pattern, alternating balls of yarn (carrying yarn up the side/stripes)
Berroco Wizard is a super soft, light & happy bulky weight yarn. It stripes by itself, with bold colors flowing. It has a chainette construction which makes it feel deliciously airy and weightless. The consruction is also respinsible for it’s very generous 240m yardage – the same amount of a typical bulky weight yarn would normally be about 100m to 125m. Wizard is also machine washable, so it’s great for all kinds of projects including blankets, sweaters, hats, scarves, mitts – even a cozy pair of -slipper-socks!
Last Week I offered the sweater patterns, and as promised here are some accessories knit with Kelbourne Scout ….
Portage
Portage is a classic-styled cabled toque, made with a classic wool, worked in the round from the bottom up. Simple and elegant, this never goes out of style – plus cables create density in the fabric which helps to keep you warm! It’s also kind of an easy project to choose when you don’t know what to knit, it makes a gorgeous gift or you can keep it for yourself.
Le Massif Scarf is worked in the round, featuring simple but striking geometric patterns. It is bold, stylish, and deliciously warm. This is a great exercise if you want to practice your stranded colourwork.
Size
14″/35cm in circumference
76″/193cm long
Materials
Kelbourne Scout: 3 skeins in main colour, 1 skein in each of 2 contrast colours (shown in 26 Charcoal, 709 Sunflower and 105 Natural)
Compass is a gorgeous cabled cowl designed in the style of traditional aran sweaters (my heart skipped a beat when i found it). The cowl is written for two sizes, depending on how you like to wear your winter neckwear. If you prefer not to work the tubular cast on and bind off, a long tail cast on and binding off in pattern may be used in their place.
Custom Hats, by Kate Atherly, an awesome knitting instructor and designer, is an ebook that has something for every knitter. It’s not a standard pattern book, this is a complete recipe for making your own custom-fit hats, for any head, with any yarn. Just grab a skein and start knitting. With instructions for slouchy and beanie-style hats, and tutorials added for decorative flourishes like different cuff finishes and pom-poms and tassels, this book has everything you’ll ever need to keep everyone in your family warm.
The recipe includes all the instructions and numbers for three styles of hat with three choices of cuff, in 13 gauges and 17 sizes, covering preemies to XL adult heads. And if those don’t cover your needs, the formulas are included so you can calculate your own.
The book steps you through the whole process: from choosing yarn and determining size right through to finishing, with tutorials for all the key knitting techniques – casting on, working in the round, stretchy and decorative bind-offs, even weaving in the ends. There’s a whole chapter with ideas and instructions for customizing the hat with colour, changing up the hem pattern and style, and adding decorative flourishes like pom-poms and tassels.
Don’t worry, a yardage table will help you make sure you’ve got enough yarn: and there’s lots of tips and tricks for what to do if you think you’re going to run out, and how to use up small quantities of yarn leftovers. There’s even information on making hats for the most delicate of heads: premature babies, cancer patients and others losing their hair because of medical treatments. Photo tutorials and guidance on fit and yarn help you make your first hat perfect. For experienced hat knitters, the advice on customization and straightforward but powerful formulas empower you to get designing.
Kelbourne Scout is a classic yarn for the sake of yarn. It’s an unfussy, strong, versatile, heathered wool. Scout is a Dk weight, woolen-spun yarn, so it’s light, airy and springy – perfect for fair isle, cables, or any other technique that requires a bit of definition. Made with 100% Peruvian wool, it’s comfortable to work with and wear (it passes my yarn-o-meter, meaning it’s not as buttery soft as a merino wool, but it isn’t remotely in the itchy or uncomfortable range of fibres).
If you love the projects we’re sharing today but you aren’t a fan of traditional style woolen-spun yarns like Kelbourne Scout (it isn’t itchy, but it also isn’t baby-bum soft), you can substitute the following yarns:
2. If you like knitting with a more traditional yarn, but you find it too itchy for a hat, try lining your hats with a headband sized strip of fleece fabric – it’s also beneficial as it makes the hat warmer!
Because of COVID we had to wait a little extra time for Kelbourne Scout (it was supposed to arrive in August but the Peruvians have been kit hard by the pandemic), but we’re grateful we waited! There were so many inspiring project ideas designed with Scout that we’re breaking them up into two segments – we’ll start with the sweater projects and then move on to the accessories after (hopefully this will give the sweater knitters a chance to scoop up the yarn they need for a larger project).
Kelbourne Woolens Scout
Kelbourne Scout is a classic yarn for the sake of yarn. It’s an unfussy, strong, versatile, heathered wool. Scout is a Dk weight, woolen-spun yarn, so it’s light, airy and springy – perfect for fair isle, cables, or any other technique that requires a bit of definition. Made with 100% Peruvian wool, it’s comfortable to work with and wear (it passes my yarn-o-meter, meaning it’s not as buttery soft as a merino wool, but it isn’t remotely in the itchy or uncomfortable range of fibres).
Sawyer is a great pattern for wearing and knitting. It’s simple, elegant and easy to wear. Sawyer is a great pattern for advanced beginners and intermediate knitters who want to expand their skills and build their confidence – Kelbourne has created little tutorials to help you through (see below).
Sawyer is worked flat in pieces from the bottom up. The lace pattern is provided in both charted and written form. After completing the front and back, stitches are joined at the shoulder using a 3 Needle Bind Off. Stitches are then picked up to work a deep ribbed turtleneck. After completing the shoulder and neck, stitches are picked up at the armholes and sleeves are worked flat in Stockinette stitch to the ribbed cuffs. Two options for sleeves are given in the pattern – pay attention to the schematic and choose the sleeve circumference that best suits your desired finished result. Once completed, the body and sleeves are seamed. Body length can be added easily by adding repeats of the lace pattern. The gauge is given in the lace pattern after blocking. Be sure to knit a blocked gauge swatch prior to beginning.
Size
Bust: 56.75” (144 cm) finished bust, one size.
Sleeves: 13 (17)” 33.5 (43) cm circumference at armhole.
The sleeves are designed to fit with 1–0” (2.5 cm–0 cm) of positive ease. Please see schematic for more detailed finished measurements.
working from charts, visit our Charts Series here.
working the 3 Needle Bind Off, visit our tips and tricks here.
evenly picking up stitches, visit our tips and trickshere.
seaming using mattress stitch, visit our tips and tricks here.
Clawthorpe
Clawthorpe is a simple, pretty fair isle pullover, a great colourwork project for anyone. Clawthorpe is worked in the round from the bottom up. Both the body and sleeves begin with a provisional tubular cast-on, and the neck is finished with a tubular bind-off. After the body and sleeves are joined, raglan decreases are worked to shape the underarms, and short rows are worked to raise the back yoke. When working the yoke, you may find it helpful to change to the longer circular to accommodate the large number of stitches, and then change to the shorter circular when there are too few stitches to fit comfortably on the longer circumference.
Size
34.5 (38.5, 43.25, 47.25, 51.25, 56)” 87.75 (97.75, 110, 120, 130.25, 142.25) cm finished bust. Please see schematic for detailed measurements.
Materials
Kelbourne Scout: Main Colour 4(4, 5, 5, 5, 5), Contrast Colour: 1 skein in each of 4 colours
Rippling Sands was inspired by the lines left behind in the sand at low-tide. The stunning twisted stitch pattern creates an overall wavy stitch pattern (achieved by using Bavarian twisted stitches). The design is a simple boxy, drop shoulder sweater worked in the round from the bottom up. The top portion is worked separately flat with the shoulders seamed together with a three-needle bind off. Afterward the 3/4 sleeves are picked up and worked outward from the body in stockinette stitch.
Size
Size 1 (2, 3) (4, 5, 6)
Bust: 37 (41, 45) (49, 53, 57)” or 94 (104, 114) (124.5, 134.5, 145) cm
Soundtrack is a cool pullover knit with two colours to create a mod graphic design. This sweater is great for anyone who likes mixing tradition & innovation.
Size
Finished Bust/Chest Circumference: 32 (36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64) in or 80 (90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160) cm
Stoneham Poncho is worked in the round from the top down using traditional yoke shaping, in simple but bold geometric patterns. It’s a great fair-isle without all the work of sweatering. It’ll also be a very useful garment come the spring when life starts stretching its limbs and restaurant patios reopen.
Size
S/M (M/L)
collar circumference: 51(60) cm or 20.05(24)”
circumference at bottom: 125.5(152.5) cm or 50(61)”
length: 58.5cm or 23″
show in size S/M
Materials
Kelbourne Scout: Main Colour: 3 skeins, Contrast Colours: 1 skein in each of 2 colours.
I love the elegant lines of this tunic length sweater. The lines are simple, but so attractive – the kind of sweater that motivated me to learn how to knit.
The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques – $36.95
by Margaret Radcliffe
Wawa-wee-wa! This is a serious technical tome and backs up it’s title with quality content. It’s almost purely technical, and for the most part isn’t about patterns (although there are a few). There something for everyone in the book, even the artsy will be happy with the chapters on playing around with stripes and multi-coloured yarns, which is pretty good for helping you visualize how they might knit up in different ways. The bulk of the book is focused on instructing you how to do the fussier techniques like intarsia, stranded knitting, illusion knitting, twined knitting, double knitting, modular knitting, entrelac, tips & tricks to achieve a beautiful finish, and designing. It also provides a series of pattern stitches that are accompanied by instructions that walk you through their accompanying techniques. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, as are the pictures. In conclusion, this is an excellent reference book to keep on your shelf – you’ll use it over and over for years to come.
P.S.
Radcliffe’s other book, The Knitting Answer Book, is also an excellent resource, which is available in store ($18.95).
