Delightful Yarn
January 10, 2018 7:25 AM Subscribe
Fiber designer Abi takes self-striping and self-patterning yarns to unexpected, wonderful places: carrot cake, sock monkey, cheeseburger, eggplant, and Wonder Woman.
I am a knitter. I am NOT a sock knitter. However, that chips ahoy yarn is super tempting.
I'm totally going to mail it to my mom and have her do it for me.
posted by librarianamy at 7:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm totally going to mail it to my mom and have her do it for me.
posted by librarianamy at 7:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
OMG. I don't knit socks, but I kind of want to send multiple skeins to my MIL so she can make me and little purr all the colorful socks! Clown fish! Rainbow Trout! WATERMELON! even the frosty evergreen is pretty an evocative of the season.
I usually buy Lion Brand yarn from Michaels for projects because I don't do a lot of yarn buying, but this site is sorely tempting me. Thanks for the links!
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 7:36 AM on January 10, 2018
I usually buy Lion Brand yarn from Michaels for projects because I don't do a lot of yarn buying, but this site is sorely tempting me. Thanks for the links!
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 7:36 AM on January 10, 2018
I'm curious how this kind of thing is coming across to the non-knitters on this site.
For this knitter - my thoughts are "I'm trying to cut down on stash collecting and actually trying to use what is in my stash what are you doing to me."
....I don't knit socks is the thing, too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:42 AM on January 10, 2018 [5 favorites]
For this knitter - my thoughts are "I'm trying to cut down on stash collecting and actually trying to use what is in my stash what are you doing to me."
....I don't knit socks is the thing, too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:42 AM on January 10, 2018 [5 favorites]
I'm curious how this kind of thing is coming across to the non-knitters on this site.
For me it's indistinguishable from magic. I had no idea self-patterning yarn was a thing.
posted by Harpocrates at 7:46 AM on January 10, 2018 [12 favorites]
For me it's indistinguishable from magic. I had no idea self-patterning yarn was a thing.
posted by Harpocrates at 7:46 AM on January 10, 2018 [12 favorites]
You can knit non-sock things with sock yarn! I'm currently knitting a hat with sock yarn. This is a good thing for those of us who don't like knitting socks but do like all the pretty, pretty sock yarn.
I don't know how self-striping would work with wider circumference garments, though.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't know how self-striping would work with wider circumference garments, though.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Speaking of magic, the Picture Yarn Kits are pretty darn magical.
Also I'm so getting the yarn of the month club as a gift for an upcoming birthday, for an impossible person to shop for. So that is one hell of a good deed for the day, Overeducated_alligator!
posted by librarianamy at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also I'm so getting the yarn of the month club as a gift for an upcoming birthday, for an impossible person to shop for. So that is one hell of a good deed for the day, Overeducated_alligator!
posted by librarianamy at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I knit. I have never knit socks. This is making me want to knit socks.
posted by greermahoney at 7:54 AM on January 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 7:54 AM on January 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
They also have worsted weight self patterning yarn! I may have to get the trout and frosty evergreen and make narrow accessory scarves.
Heavens help me, I may start developing a yarn stash.
Edit: they do suggest making hats with the heavier weight self-striping yarn, so maybe start there.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 7:58 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Heavens help me, I may start developing a yarn stash.
Edit: they do suggest making hats with the heavier weight self-striping yarn, so maybe start there.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 7:58 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'll bite -- what's a self-striping yarn? All the Google gives me are links that assume I already know how they work and want to buy some or admire the results. I'll hazard a guess that it's yarn dyed in a way to cause patterns when you knit something of a particular size?
posted by Quindar Beep at 8:07 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by Quindar Beep at 8:07 AM on January 10, 2018
I don't know shit about fiber craft except that these are incredible.
posted by phunniemee at 8:09 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by phunniemee at 8:09 AM on January 10, 2018
Quindar Beep : exactly. It's a nice way to get patterned sock without a lot of ends.
Very cool yarns.
Like many people upthread, I knit but I don't knit socks. I'm also trying to get rid of yarn I'll never use, and be realistic about buying more yarn, but I really like these yarns. I really didn't need to see this today.
posted by jlkr at 8:12 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Very cool yarns.
Like many people upthread, I knit but I don't knit socks. I'm also trying to get rid of yarn I'll never use, and be realistic about buying more yarn, but I really like these yarns. I really didn't need to see this today.
posted by jlkr at 8:12 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
That is correct, Quindar Beep. Otherwise, we'd use two separate skeins of yarn, which is not too hard (except when the skeins tangle up) and the finished product is not always as smooth-looking.
KNITTING SOCKS IS NOT HARD, PEOPLE. If you can increase and decrease and follow directions, you can make socks.
Also, what EC said about stashes.
posted by Melismata at 8:13 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
KNITTING SOCKS IS NOT HARD, PEOPLE. If you can increase and decrease and follow directions, you can make socks.
Also, what EC said about stashes.
posted by Melismata at 8:13 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh I can make socks. If someone really really wants socks, I'll do it. There is magic about turning a heel. I just don't enjoy it. And what's a hobby if I don't enjoy it?
That said: Ravelry to the rescue: What to make with self striping yarn that isn't socks. BOOM I AM IN.
posted by librarianamy at 8:16 AM on January 10, 2018 [12 favorites]
That said: Ravelry to the rescue: What to make with self striping yarn that isn't socks. BOOM I AM IN.
posted by librarianamy at 8:16 AM on January 10, 2018 [12 favorites]
Speaking of magic, the Picture Yarn Kits are pretty darn magical.
I have only done the most basic knitting. I am not a knitter. Looking at that picture yarn starts to make me hyperventilate because all I can imagine is how it would get off by a single stitch and then madness! This is cool stuff, though, sending to my mom in case she has a hankering to make socks!
posted by amanda at 8:19 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have only done the most basic knitting. I am not a knitter. Looking at that picture yarn starts to make me hyperventilate because all I can imagine is how it would get off by a single stitch and then madness! This is cool stuff, though, sending to my mom in case she has a hankering to make socks!
posted by amanda at 8:19 AM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm curious how this kind of thing is coming across to the non-knitters on this site.
Like free promotion for this person's yarn selling website.
posted by 41swans at 8:33 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Like free promotion for this person's yarn selling website.
posted by 41swans at 8:33 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'll bite -- what's a self-striping yarn? [...]I'll hazard a guess that it's yarn dyed in a way to cause patterns when you knit something of a particular size?
Others have confirmed that yes, that's correct. I'll give a bit more detail:
Usually if you want to change colors when you're knitting - say you want something that's red and blue striped - you need the red yarn and the blue yarn, and then when you get to the end of a red stripe, you have to cut that yarn, add the blue one, knit with that, get to the end of the blue stripe, cut that, add the red one again, knit with that, get to the end of the red stripe, cut the red yarn, add the blue again, knit with that...etc., etc., etc. And when you cut one ball of yarn and add a second one, you need to leave a few extra inches of loose ends to make sure that things don't unravel. And if you have a few inches of waste yarn every time you make a stripe, then over the size of the thing you're knitting....that's a lot of wasted yarn. Also - when you finish, you have to go back with a darning needle and weave in all those little loose ends, and if you are making something big that is a serious pain in the ass.
By contrast - self-striping yarn is dyed in a precise way such that you just knit and knit and knit and knit and don't have to do anything but knit, and the stripes appear all nice and orderly. The only thing you have to worry about is sticking to a guideline in terms of how many stitches per inch per row you're doing, and how many rows per inch in length you're doing. But that set of measurements (called "gauge") is something that knitters tend to check anyway before beginning a project. And it's not necessarily something that you would consciously try to stick to either - it's more a check you do before trying to knit with some yarn to see "okay, here is the way I usually knit. I'm going to knit a few rows with this yarn on my usual needles - what's the gauge measurement I get for this yarn?.....Oh, goodie, I pretty much match what they recommend, away I go."
It's impressive not only for the "whee, I'm a knitter and I can now make cool socks" angle. It's also impressive when you consider what the person dying the yarn has to do - they don't dye things in sock shape and then unravel it. They have to somehow figure out precisely where to place the dye (or if they're spinning the yarn, precisely when to add what color fiber) so that it does make those pictures. The yarn they're dying is probably in big loose loops, and they have to figure out how to do those loose loops in exactly the right place. That's the part that blows my mind.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
Others have confirmed that yes, that's correct. I'll give a bit more detail:
Usually if you want to change colors when you're knitting - say you want something that's red and blue striped - you need the red yarn and the blue yarn, and then when you get to the end of a red stripe, you have to cut that yarn, add the blue one, knit with that, get to the end of the blue stripe, cut that, add the red one again, knit with that, get to the end of the red stripe, cut the red yarn, add the blue again, knit with that...etc., etc., etc. And when you cut one ball of yarn and add a second one, you need to leave a few extra inches of loose ends to make sure that things don't unravel. And if you have a few inches of waste yarn every time you make a stripe, then over the size of the thing you're knitting....that's a lot of wasted yarn. Also - when you finish, you have to go back with a darning needle and weave in all those little loose ends, and if you are making something big that is a serious pain in the ass.
By contrast - self-striping yarn is dyed in a precise way such that you just knit and knit and knit and knit and don't have to do anything but knit, and the stripes appear all nice and orderly. The only thing you have to worry about is sticking to a guideline in terms of how many stitches per inch per row you're doing, and how many rows per inch in length you're doing. But that set of measurements (called "gauge") is something that knitters tend to check anyway before beginning a project. And it's not necessarily something that you would consciously try to stick to either - it's more a check you do before trying to knit with some yarn to see "okay, here is the way I usually knit. I'm going to knit a few rows with this yarn on my usual needles - what's the gauge measurement I get for this yarn?.....Oh, goodie, I pretty much match what they recommend, away I go."
It's impressive not only for the "whee, I'm a knitter and I can now make cool socks" angle. It's also impressive when you consider what the person dying the yarn has to do - they don't dye things in sock shape and then unravel it. They have to somehow figure out precisely where to place the dye (or if they're spinning the yarn, precisely when to add what color fiber) so that it does make those pictures. The yarn they're dying is probably in big loose loops, and they have to figure out how to do those loose loops in exactly the right place. That's the part that blows my mind.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
I'm curious how this kind of thing is coming across to the non-knitters on this site.
I almost want to learn to knit for this is what I think.
posted by jeather at 8:40 AM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
I almost want to learn to knit for this is what I think.
posted by jeather at 8:40 AM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Back to the knitters:
You can knit non-sock things with sock yarn! I'm currently knitting a hat with sock yarn. This is a good thing for those of us who don't like knitting socks but do like all the pretty, pretty sock yarn.
let me get through all my worsted and bulky first I already have two skeins of Knitpicks' "Time Traveler" color that I'm trying to figure out what to do with so i can justify owning it
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:42 AM on January 10, 2018
You can knit non-sock things with sock yarn! I'm currently knitting a hat with sock yarn. This is a good thing for those of us who don't like knitting socks but do like all the pretty, pretty sock yarn.
let me get through all my worsted and bulky first I already have two skeins of Knitpicks' "Time Traveler" color that I'm trying to figure out what to do with so i can justify owning it
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:42 AM on January 10, 2018
If there were socks in Minecraft this is what they would look like.
posted by carter at 8:51 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by carter at 8:51 AM on January 10, 2018
My ability to work with picture yarn is...doubtful. But self-striping, I can manage. The stripes aren't necessarily perfect, but you can see obvious delineation, which is what counts.
I loved it when Opal did a range of Harry Potter self-striping sock yarn. That was a thing of glory. My Remus Lupin socks are still my stalwart sock companions. I sadly lost one of my Harry and Ron fingerless gloves, though.
(And I still have my Tonks yarn to use.)
posted by Katemonkey at 9:00 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I loved it when Opal did a range of Harry Potter self-striping sock yarn. That was a thing of glory. My Remus Lupin socks are still my stalwart sock companions. I sadly lost one of my Harry and Ron fingerless gloves, though.
(And I still have my Tonks yarn to use.)
posted by Katemonkey at 9:00 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
By the way, this? This is madness.
I want it.
posted by Katemonkey at 9:01 AM on January 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
I want it.
posted by Katemonkey at 9:01 AM on January 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
OMG Katemonkey.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:07 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:07 AM on January 10, 2018
KNITTING SOCKS IS NOT HARD, PEOPLE. If you can increase and decrease and follow directions, you can make socks.I know they're not hard. I just think they're kind of boring. It's partly that I like doing stranded colorwork, and that's more suited to mittens and hats than to socks.
Speaking of stranded colorwork, a fun thing to do with self-striping yarn is Fake Isle knitting, where you knit a stranded pattern with two balls of yarn, one of which is self-striping. It simulates the look of Fair Isle, but without having to weave in ends every time you have a color change.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:09 AM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
On the topic of striping and weaving in ends, my year-long project is to make an adult-sized chevron temperature blanket. (I'm mixing the Heartland yarn with Vanna's Choice), and omg there are going to be so many ends to weave in. I'm experimenting with ways to carry the yarn up, but it's hard when the temps waffle between multiple colors! This week we're going from variegated purple, to dark purple, blue, light green, and maybe even dark green, a span of 40 degrees over 5 days.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 9:20 AM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 9:20 AM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
I admire the craft of knitting and I will never understand how it works. How someone can start with two needles and a ball of yarn and end up with a beautiful article of clothing, seemingly spun from thin air? To my mind, it's like a painter creating a painting without a canvas—only a brush and paint.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:25 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:25 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Planning to do a temperature scarf (blanket is too expensive) and I am similarly cringing over all the ends to weave. Joys of New England climate.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:35 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I never got the hang of knitting or sewing but looking at these makes me think about how for me the appeal of those activities was the allure of being able to make and enjoy fun color stories.
posted by bleep at 9:41 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by bleep at 9:41 AM on January 10, 2018
I have a friend who made a whole assortment of foods, and components for her granddaughter. There were ingredients for sandwiches, tomato slices, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, bread, buns, whole other vegetables, bananas, etc. I was bemused and amazed by this effort. She recently sewed 25 pin cushion chickens for an advent calendar group project, shared by 25 people. Quite a concept.
posted by Oyéah at 9:44 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 9:44 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
i want those carrot cake socks right the fuck now
posted by poffin boffin at 9:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:53 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
This inspired me to look up how to actually knit designs and such. As I only know one (1) stitch with one (1) needle type in one (1) shape and zero (0) technical terms (rounded down), the sojourn of inspiration was very brief indeed.
But hey, now I've looked up the difference between "knit" and "purl"!
posted by inconstant at 10:16 AM on January 10, 2018
But hey, now I've looked up the difference between "knit" and "purl"!
posted by inconstant at 10:16 AM on January 10, 2018
So if you crochet, will they still self-stripe, or does the massive amount more yarn it takes per stitch to crochet something make this knitting-only?
posted by Mchelly at 10:20 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by Mchelly at 10:20 AM on January 10, 2018
It will stripe, but it will come out not as intended. You are more likely to get pools of color than stripes. Crochet at the same gauge may or may not take more yarn; it depends on the stitch, but it usually uses like a third more than knitting.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:41 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:41 AM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
self striping yarn
Hey that's cool, must be difficult to get it precise and wow that burger one is really quite effecti—
picture yarn
WHAT.
posted by lucidium at 5:05 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hey that's cool, must be difficult to get it precise and wow that burger one is really quite effecti—
picture yarn
WHAT.
posted by lucidium at 5:05 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Knitting socks isn't hard but if you have perpetually cold toes and are always wearing slippers or shoes and thus your socks are never visible, and if your partner never wears the cute socks you keep buying them because they need to be saved for a "special occasion" because they're afraid of wearing them out, then honestly what's the point
posted by brook horse at 9:15 PM on January 10, 2018
posted by brook horse at 9:15 PM on January 10, 2018
You said weaving in ends? This is one of the two Blue Skies blankets I made for my nieces last year -- I really hate weaving in tag ends, but the end results are worth it.
Yes, self-striping and variegated yarns are interesting (boxes of yarn -- I have them), but I prefer solid colors and more control. Also, "no dye lot" is a thing. Running out of a specialty yarn is a thing.
I'll stick with Red Heart and I Love This Yarn for the consistency and convenience.
But I am drooling over the variegated oranges and yellows! I've got a southwestern mixed stitch blanket that I've had my eye on, once I get this next project finished (another sampler blanket in pinks). I'd love-love-love to find a variegated beige and tan for the background that subs for the Red Heart Super Saver.
Or maybe make another black background project, now that I have my light sabers! Whoo hoo! Bring on the cold weather!
posted by TrishaU at 9:30 PM on January 10, 2018
Yes, self-striping and variegated yarns are interesting (boxes of yarn -- I have them), but I prefer solid colors and more control. Also, "no dye lot" is a thing. Running out of a specialty yarn is a thing.
I'll stick with Red Heart and I Love This Yarn for the consistency and convenience.
But I am drooling over the variegated oranges and yellows! I've got a southwestern mixed stitch blanket that I've had my eye on, once I get this next project finished (another sampler blanket in pinks). I'd love-love-love to find a variegated beige and tan for the background that subs for the Red Heart Super Saver.
Or maybe make another black background project, now that I have my light sabers! Whoo hoo! Bring on the cold weather!
posted by TrishaU at 9:30 PM on January 10, 2018
I've been knitting for a while now so self-striping is not that new to me but Picture Yarn just blew my socks off. What the heckin heck that is amazing! (And Wonder Woman because that is a very cool colorway)
posted by like_neon at 2:48 AM on January 11, 2018
posted by like_neon at 2:48 AM on January 11, 2018
TrishaU - your photos seem to be friends-locked.
And my expression of dislike of weaving in ends was simply opinion, and not meant to be taken as Official Stich and Bitch Edict, of course.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:29 AM on January 11, 2018
And my expression of dislike of weaving in ends was simply opinion, and not meant to be taken as Official Stich and Bitch Edict, of course.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:29 AM on January 11, 2018
Update: I have now experimented with simple instarsia-esque patterning, learned how to switch between knit and purl in the same row, and done a practice swatch of seed stitch. Help.
(I might have fallen deeper had I not looked up "blackberry stitch" and gone cross-eyed in befuddlement. So I guess there's a blessing!)
posted by inconstant at 7:32 PM on January 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
(I might have fallen deeper had I not looked up "blackberry stitch" and gone cross-eyed in befuddlement. So I guess there's a blessing!)
posted by inconstant at 7:32 PM on January 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Intarsia is one of the few knitting techniques that I actively hate. I will do pretty much anything other than intarsia.
I checked Ravelry, and I have to say that the picture kits turned out pretty much uniformly great. I’m pretty tempted by some of the picture yarn fingerless mitt kits.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:43 PM on January 11, 2018
I checked Ravelry, and I have to say that the picture kits turned out pretty much uniformly great. I’m pretty tempted by some of the picture yarn fingerless mitt kits.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:43 PM on January 11, 2018
So I did it! Put in a big purchase order for clown fish, rainbow trout, holiday pine tree, koi pond and the new rainbow birthday cake colors. The clown fish and birthday cakes will be sent to MIL so she can make purr socks, I'm going to make a scarf with the holiday yarn, and try to do a pair of socks for me with the koi pond yarn. Wish me luck!
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 9:48 AM on January 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 9:48 AM on January 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by Melismata at 7:34 AM on January 10, 2018