Follow along and discover your next inspiration as we cast on for projects we love, explore new techniques, and dish about the latest and greatest from Knit Picks.
Meet the team »
It’s the Red and Pink Yarn Sale, arriving just in time for you to be our Valentine. We have over 200 rosy, blushing yarns at up to 30% off!
With these gorgeous yarns at such low prices, this is the perfect opportunity to show someone special (or yourself!) just how much you care. To that end, I’ve curated a few of my favorite knitting and crochet patterns to share with you that highlight these cheerful colors. Keep an eye out for pieces that come together quickly. They’re a great choice for crafting a gift before the 14th!
As the month comes to a close so does our monthly yarn sale on Capra and Capretta. You still have one more day to add these warm delicious yarns to your stash at 20% off. And with winter rolling over the Northern hemisphere what better way to spend the dark cool days than working up a cozy project in a blends of merino and cashmere. Here are some more ideas to consider if you have already stocked up.
Another perfect gift that is lovely and works up quickly. Also using only two balls of Capra you show your friends and family you care by keeping their noggins warm!
For our lace knitters this project would make a great gift as it is deceptively simple-but absolutely stunning. Also a great project to try for those learning to read charts. This is an extra special project in Capretta.
Why not start that shawl for spring with this lovely lace project? Featured in a the stunning hunter green it would look lovely in any color you choose from the Capretta family.
If you have been holding off on making this poncho because it takes 10 balls of Capra now is the time to go for it. It’s an elegant statement piece that you will want to show off.
This month’s yarn sale is all about Chroma. Chroma Fingering. Chroma Worsted. Chroma Twist Fingering. Chroma Twist Bulky… Shall we make more? Enjoy 20% off our color-transitioning superstar and while you are at it download one of our amazing free patterns designed just for Chroma’s unique color blends.
The varied thickness of the single ply in Chroma Worsted and Fingering gives it a hand spun look to your finished projects. The Mellifluous Scarf is a great way to show off Chroma’s expressive color palettes. While the Dreamy Waves Scarf is a great way to experiment with different skeins to create your own work of art.
Chroma Twist takes two single strands of from opposite ends and twists them together for a fun new take on the colors you love. Each hank yields a slightly different result. I personally adore Chroma Twist. It’s playful color palette and bouncy feel make blankets, hats, and scarves a joy to work up.
By now many of you have filled your carts with enough balls, hanks, and notions to inspire amazing creations for months to come, but for you late risers and curious shoppers here is a brief overview of what we have in store for the week ahead.
More on sale than ever before, over 1000 different offerings, just on sale. We also introduced two new Chroma lines with a twist, literally. It’s your favorite Chroma colorways just twisted, in both fingering and bulky. Just check out this free sock pattern.
Luxury yarn more your style? Than make sure to toss a ball or two of our new Cashmere into your cart. It’s special reserve in extremely limited quantities. Don’t miss out!
And of course the return of your favorite stripping sock yarn Felici! We created nine new colors and brought back four favorites for those of you that missed out the first round.
Need some great gifts that you don’t have to make? We have you covered with a huge tool sale including Knit Picks Exclusives, our totes and needle cases are sure to please. The perfect gift for that someone special (you included) might be our rosewood needles in a limited edition embossed needle case designed by our talented Knit Picks design staff.
Oversized knit and crochet projects are showing up everywhere lately – huge arm-knitted blankets, chunky ottomans, garter stitch pillows, you name it. I absolutely love the dramatic impact of these home décor accessories, but I absolutely do not love the usual price tag associated with extra-heavy supersized projects. I have also tried to make some of the jumbo-gauge projects I’ve seen on Ravelry using multiple strands of worsted weight or bulky weight yarn, but the look isn’t quite the same as those gorgeous pictures I see on Pinterest.
Our Tuff Puff super bulky 100% wool yarn came out last year and was a huge success, so we decided to try introducing it in an even heavier, chunkier version. Super Tuff Puff is twice the size of the original with 44 yards per 200g (as opposed to Tuff Puff’s 44 yards per 100g). You can see the difference between the two yarns in the image above, with the original laying on the Super Tuff Puff! It’s a softly spun single ply yarn that knits up at about 1.5 stitches per inch, making it perfect for patterns like the Puff Daddy Pouf. (which I’m making in Canary yellow for my daughter’s bedroom).
We also carry Super Tuff Puff kits in two colorways, Rainbow and Deep Plaid. They include everything you need to get started with jumbo yarn (including knitting needles, jumbo yarn needles and jumbo stitch markers) and are a great way to try out a few colors of Super Tuff Puff together at a 20% discount.
If you’re looking for some inspiration for great jumbo-gauge projects, here’s a roundup of patterns that could work!
Coming up with new yarn colors is one of my favorite parts of my job. Today, we take a peek behind the scenes on how we choose colors for one of our popular yarns, Hawthorne Speckle.
First step: make use of all my millions of Pinterest pins! (See, I knew I’d find a way to justify hours of Pinterest surfing.) Just look at all those delectable color combos. Thanks, Internet!
Another great source of inspiration is our very own Yarn Value Pack page! There are so many lovely color-curated sets that make for fabulous multi-colored yarn ideas. Here are a few of my favorites. Aren’t they lovely?
Once I have a good collection of photos, I open them in Illustrator and mock up the colorways. After printing them, the Knit Picks team votes for their favorites with very fancy, high-tech sticky notes.
One of the winners was Italian Ice Speckle. Below is an example of how it was conceptualized and the end result, with a photo of our Comfy yarn serving as inspiration.
Blueberry Speckle was another fun one to make, with a beautiful wash of blues from our Alpaca Cloud yarn serving as inspiration:
After that, the files are sent to our yarn factory and the speckle magic happens! We love Speckles so much it makes us want to dance. What’s your favorite of our speckle colors?
My favorite people in the world are my nieces and nephews. As such, it only made sense to teach them one of my favorite activities in the world: crocheting!
Caden was the first to pick up a hook. This boy knows how to craft right: in pajamas, by the fire. Only thing missing is a glass of wine (or juice, in his 7-yr old case). He worked on generic swatches for a while, eventually graduating to a very fetching Brava scarf for his bear.
Natalie is the quintessential first born, driven by a fierce need for organization and symmetry in all things. I think she derived as much pleasure from organizing these Brava blankets as she did crocheting them.
If you were to peek out the back window of her house, you are more likely than not to catch a glimpse of her doing her favorite thing: multi tasking. Getting her daily dose of Vitamin D and listening to an audio book, all whilst crocheting a Mighty Stitch Super Bulky scarf for her cousin. Watch out, folks. This girl is going places.
One delightfully cozy, rainy afternoon, we had a crochet party on the couch.
Natalie worked on a lovely Brava blanket for my cousin’s new baby,
and Caden made two very adorable dishcloths out of Dishie. They just make my heart swoon.
Bonus points for Caden: not only did he crochet a dishcloth, but he also made sure the baby didn’t roll off the couch. What a guy!
Charlotte, fourth in line and not quite so task-oriented as her older sister, is less motivated to develop her fiber talents. I tried tempting her with the baby-soft Preciosa yarn, but she was content with just sunning her bald head.
And conquering her soccer ball. Oh well. I’ll get her someday!
Teaching the kids to crochet not only allows gives them a chance to exercise patience, creativity and pride of workmanship, but also offers a valuable, tangible moment carved out in an increasingly digital and overly cerebral world. It’s beautiful to see them plan the project (I get many yarn requests), earnestly crochet it and then gift it with much pride to the lucky recipient. I hope to continue to foster their joy in the creative experience, and someday teach my own littles to do the same!
Fall is here, and I’m ready for a really delicious knitting project that I can dig into. For the month of October, all weights of Gloss yarn (lace, fingering, and DK) are on sale for 20% off! Gloss is one of my favorite yarn families, it’s a beautifully balanced combination of fine Merino wool and shimmering silk. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re in for a treat – Gloss has great stitch definition and shine, making it perfect for elaborate lace patterns and detailed cables. The silk also helps provide strength, and socks knit with Gloss Fingering hold up far better than 100% wool socks.
Gloss is such a versatile yarn, and we have so many pattern options if you’re looking for some inspiration. The Diamond and Feather Cowl has a bold geometric pattern on the outside and a textured pattern knit into the lining. These two layers of fabric are sure to keep out the chill this winter.
The Hot Cider Pullover is one of my favorite garment patterns in Gloss Fingering with gentle shaping and subtle lace mesh on the yoke and sleeves. My wardrobe is mostly neutrals, and I love the idea of adding a sweater in a bright pop color like Honey or Sweetheart.
Finally, the Lighten Up! Wrap is a showstopper accessory. The thick-and-thin chevron pattern looks modern and fresh, and it’s so fun imagining new color combinations to try.
I’m embracing the long winter months ahead with a delicious wintery blue Brava project. Like most everyone, I have a major crush on any rainbow palette – be it a full-on Crayola extravaganza or a subtle monochromatic transition. I was delighted when we expanded our Brava acrylic worsted palette to include just the perfect hues for my dream crochet blanket.
Aren’t they gorgeous? In case you’re wondering, they are as follows:
Left to right: Marina, Cornflower,Peacock, Tidepool, Silver, Dove Heather, Clarity, White
I’m planning on doing a chevron pattern, like this one. Should create a lovely, wave-like effect!
What is your favorite set of colors? Any particular rainbow combinations you favor?
I think that by now, we’re all pretty familiar with the gorgeousshot of the Palette family that’s been in the catalog and on web since September of last year. I know it particularly well because Kerin and I are the ones who sat down and sorted each ball into the lovely color order that you see here and I’m the one who sat down AGAIN and resorted it after the photography department was done with it in order to label each ball correctly in catalog. I can’t tell you how long this took, only that I’m getting pretty good at spotting the differences between Thicket and Briar Heather!
There are now so many colors (150!) in Palette that we’ve started storing the balls on ten, four foot rods to make it easy to keep them together and move them around as a group. Essentially, we’ve created a system of giant yarn skewers just for this family!
I’m always stumbling upon partial or unmarked balls of Palette around the office and I’ve developed quite a large collection at home which wound up being featured in our last minute shoot for April Fool’s with Linus!
I’m constantly dipping into my bin to make a few of Anna Hrachovec‘s Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi, or a pair of spontaneous fingerless mittens. A few weekends ago, I took a peak inside my bin and found just the right colors for Lucinda Guy’s Oluffa Doorstop from Northern Knits Gifts. I whipped it out in a weekend and decided just to stuff it as a pillow. Now it’s sitting rather pertly on the back of my couch, surveying the living room.
This latest project is just the most recent in a long line of projects knit in Palette. I’ve done cardigans, mittens, hats and toys and it’s definitely been my go-to yarn for any colorwork project. I still have trouble keeping my tension consistent, charts are still a little hard for me to read, but choosing Palette has always been the easy part when I start a new project. There are just so many colors that I can pick the exact right color orange, the perfect blue and the crispest white for projects like this one.
