It really shouldn’t be such a confusing question for me. Compared to the amount of hemming and hawing that comes when I choose a yarn, this should be the easy part! But nonetheless, it seemingly always requires extra thought. If you struggle with this decision, too, here are a couple of considerations to keep in mind before you wind yarn:

Does the shop have a return policy for unused skeins? 

In a pattern, the recommended number of skeins is a suggested estimate. It’s a tricky business, because it needs to account for potential variations in each knitter’s gauge.  At Berroco, we make a point of being quite generous with the amount of yarn recommended, in an effort to help the knitter avoid running out of yarn. For that reason, it’s entirely possible that a knitter may end up with an extra hank of yarn at the end of his or her project. I always ask about the shop’s return policy on yarn when I’m preparing to purchase materials for a sweater, since I often end up needing less yarn than what’s called for in the pattern. Many shops will happily accept unwound hanks (as long as you don’t take years to finish your project). If that’s the case, I’ll only wind up three or four hanks to get me started.

What type of yarn is it?

Winding yarn into a ball can have an effect on it. If it’s a springy yarn with a lot of elasticity, being wound into a tight ball for a long time can stretch it out and it will lose some of that spring. If you know that you won’t be finishing this project quickly, it might be wise to resist winding everything right away. When you do wind it, it’s a good idea to keep the tension of the ball nice and loose, to minimize stretching the yarn too tightly.

Alternatively, if the yarn is very smooth and slippery, leaving all the balls together in a bag might end up creating some crazy tangles. Hanks don’t unravel and won’t get snarled, so it might be wise to store them as hanks and wind each ball as it becomes necessary.

If you know you’ll need every hank and you’ll be finishing the project quickly, go ahead and get everything wound. However, if this project could take a while, or you may not need every hank, it might be smart to hold off on the winding for a bit.

For a quick refresher on how to wind a hank of yarn into a ball, check out our video demonstration:

– I learned that the larger size of Pause (size 42” bust) magically looks good on everyone. (The moral of the story is – It doesn’t matter what size something is – try it on).

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– I learned that I should have named Gewgaw something much more pronounceable or at least less embarrassing to say. It  has turned out to be quite popular and even I struggle to utter it’s name.  Some say Goo gaw and I say Gee gaw, but neither is all that pretty. My apologies.

– I learned from one inventive shopper that Kaver from my vol 10 can look great backwards.  Mimi suspected, from experience, that a deep V in front wasn’t for her, so she tried the piece on backwards.  The low V in back suited her really well, but if it’s not your style, you can make both the front and back with a high neck.

– I learned, begrudgingly, that Andra is right. I should put on my lipstick before photo ops like these. The proof is here, see how lovely…

Nidden and Snowflake Blanket

I learned that there are an awful lot of  nice knitters out there, and I feel at home with them – they are my tribe.

Niche, Enter , Pause  & a modified Cassia on me

Of course, her always on-the-go lifestyle makes it harder for her to keep organized. In particular, Kim says she spends a lot of time digging through her bag looking for lipstick or a compact. Her solution? A knitted clutch to keep them all together!

Kim designed the Zip-N-Zag Bag using our Vintage yarn. She says she’s always loved the striking look of black and white colorwork and has lately been obsessed with all things zigzag. She added a black tassel for the zipper pull and bright yellow lining to make it extra fun.

How long have you been knitting/crocheting? 
 

I have been knitting for 8 years and crocheting for about 5. My Nana has always been a knitter and crocheter and one day I was mesmerized by watching her hands while she was knitting. I asked her to teach me on a whim and I haven’t put the needles down since! I went home and immediately ordered the Stitch ‘N Bitch book so I could learn more.

Kim’s favorite project is her Ripple Afghan.

What’s your favorite project you’ve ever made? 
 

That’s a tough one. I’m really impressed with my Ripple Afghan. I taught myself to crochet purely because I wanted that afghan, so it was a really great accomplishment.

Any interesting knitting stories? 
 

One time I was knitting in my car while waiting to pick up my husband at the airport. A tough looking man was parked alongside me and rolled his window down and asked me what I was knitting. He told me how his grandmother always knitted things for him when he was little and that he loved seeing younger people knitting. It was such an unexpected moment and I could tell that he had fond memories of knitting.

If you could knit something for anyone in the world it would be?

It would have to be something really special for my Nana as a thank you for introducing me to knitting. Plus, I know beyond a doubt that she would appreciate it.

Zip-N-Zag Bag by Kim McClellan

Do you have a cool design you want to share?  Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn?  You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.

Knitting was a way of life in my day—more of a necessity than a pastime.  My first knitting memory is from when I was very young, watching my older sisters knitting wool socks for my cousins who were serving in the war.  Sometime later, in the 3rd grade, I had my opportunity to knit for the soldiers overseas, too.

Pauline Bristowe

Each class had their own chapter of the Red Cross.  We elected our own chapter president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer.  We conducted business meetings and made decisions on how our class could participate in the Red Cross. A decision was made to have the girls knit face cloths for the soldiers.  The Red Cross provided us with soft cotton yarn and we went to work.

Well, those face cloths were the funniest looking things you ever saw. They had extra stitches where they were not needed and holes where several stitches had been dropped.  Nevertheless, they were sent off to help those boys “over there” and more than likely to be used to care for the wounded soldiers in the hospitals.  If nothing else, I hope they brought them a smile.

How about you? What is your earliest memory of knitting?

One day, I was ready to start a new knitting project but Mom wasn’t home. It was the moment of truth. I faced my fears and grabbed a knitting book from Mom’s bookshelf and looked up “knitting cast on methods.” I was shocked when I realized how many different techniques there were! How would a beginner know which one to use? I picked the one that looked easiest at the time and began my education there.

I know I wasn’t the only one to ponder this question – every once in a while, someone using one of our patterns will write in with the same quandary.

In our patterns, we rarely specify what type of cast on to use because our general belief is that you should use whatever cast on YOU like best. Try out a few different kinds and see which ones look best to you. If you could use a refresher on some common cast on techniques, check out our how-to videos:

Classic Cast Ons – This video demonstrates the e-wrap or thumb method, and also the long tail cast on:

Knit & Cable Cast On - This video shows you how to work the knit on method and the cable method:

K1 P1 Cast On - This is a fun version of the cable method that looks nice with K1 P1 rib:

I-Cord Cast On & Bind Off - This cool cast on results in an attached i-cord running along the bottom edge:

After trying out a few different cast ons, you’ll start to get a good idea of which ones you naturally prefer – then you can stop worrying about casting on and start really knitting!

 Five of these nature photos were taken on the same day and one was taken 2 weeks prior. The first person to comment below correctly naming the nature photo taken 2 weeks before the other 5 and how you knew,  will win a free kit. The winner can choose from among the knitted accessories pictured in this post.

Recently, she combined two of her passions – yarn bombing and recycling – to create the beautiful Yarn

Yarn Bombed Upcycled Chair by Lorna Watt

Bombed Upcycled Chair. Lorna chose Berroco Remix for the project because it’s made from 100% recycled fibers. It took her 40 hours to crochet the 15 separate pieces used to give the reclaimed chair a new look. Lorna doesn’t use patterns for her crochet décor, instead she improvises as she goes along. She says, “Because you work one stitch at a time and can work the next stitch anywhere you want, I feel more like I’m sculpting or painting.”

How did you come up with this design? 


My local Etsy street team was preparing a show for a San Francisco art gallery. Yarn bombing indoors makes a surprising design element and it lets you appreciate your art every day. You really can call it upcycling, because it “ups” a sad, old chair into a new, handcrafted one.

How did you decide on the yarn?

To make a fully upcycled piece, I needed an entirely recycled yarn. Berroco Remix is my go-to eco yarn because it comes in modern colors and has a fantastic story: European garment industry remnants are sorted by color, shredded, and spun into new yarn on French mills–ooh la la, it’s eco and chic!

Any funny knitting/crochet stories? 


Pay Phone Yarn Bomb by Lorna Watt

My last yarn bomb was a broken pay phone I covered to look like an iPhone. After about a month, it disappeared. The same day the editor of my local paper emailed me a photo someone took of a guy wearing it in a bar! I decided it had a good James Dean death.

If you could knit something for anyone in the world what would it be?

I’d take a tea cozy course with Loani Prior, then knit one for the worm in the movie The Labyrinth.

What’s your favorite thing about knitting/crochet?

It’s silly, but when knitting I love to hyperfocus on speed. After I learned to knit, I invested a few days knitting along to YouTube videos of Miriam Tegel, the world’s fastest knitter. Play, pause, rewind… play, pause, rewind. I considered it an investment to train my muscle memory well from the start. Now, I always see knitting as a game of perfecting my movements and increasing my speed.

Crochet is totally opposite. Crochet is my creative place, where I love to discover new textures and ideas.

Yarn Bombed Upcycled Chair by Lorna Watt

Do you have a cool design you want to share?  Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn?  You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.

My first explorations of hexagons as texture and garment structure were stylized imitations of rock formations, honeycombs and snow flakes.

Photos from Knitting Nature by Thayer Alison Gowdy.

More recently, I use the polygons as building blocks.  Hexagons or partial hexagons become fronts, peplums, inserts or entire sweaters.

Knitting for nerds is definitely trending, and I couldn’t be happier! Here are a few of my favorite knitted geometric patterns from Ravelry and beyond:

Brent Annable designed this amazing Knitted Kaleidoscope (on left), and here are Wooly Thoughts’ brilliant crocheted hexaflexagons (right).

To understand more about just how cool a hexaflexagon is, watch this amazing math video by Vihart. If you aren’t familiar with her videos already, you are in for a treat.

Thanks to Brent Annable and Pat Ashcroft of Woolly Thoughts for permission to use their photographs.  Snowflake and honeycomb photos are from Wiki commons.

The toe of a sock is the place you’re most likely to run into Kitchener stitch. Nobody wants a big bulky seam running across the toe of their sock, so instead of binding off and seaming, you can use Kitchener stitch to join the two ends together seamlessly, forming a smooth, comfortable toe. You’ll see this technique used in patterns like Whidbey and Footie.

Kitchener stitch can also pop up in other situations, though it’s less frequent. We sometimes use it for scarves when we want both ends to be worked from the same direction, like in Goelet. With this scarf, we wanted the ruffles to cascade down from both ends. This couldn’t be achieved without working both ends separately, so we joined them with Kitchener stitch at the back of the neck to avoid a seam.

To master the basics of Kitchener stitch, watch my how-to video below:

With a little practice, you’ll be able to confidently work the Kitchener stitch any time it’s necessary.

I can’t even tell you my favorite color palette without a qualifier. For instance, I love shots of bright color around the house – especially orange and yellow.

But, when it comes to dressing myself, as hard as I try to brighten things up, I really, truly love muddy colors best.

For years I struggled to figure out what colors look best on me. I learned the hard way that the colors I may be most magnetically attracted to aren’t necessarily the ones I look good in and will actually WEAR.

To find colors that will flatter, I like to use this trick when I’m in a yarn shop: put skeins of yarn next to your cheek and look in the mirror. What fades away and makes you look kinda “blah?” Which colors make your skin glow? Which colors make you look happy?

Remember the color choosing system that was so popular in the eighties? Back then, everyone knew if they were a spring, summer, fall or winter. As embarrassing as it is, I have to admit that I think there is something to it. I seem to gravitate to fall. I just don’t feel like myself if I put on floral brights or gem-like colors.  Spring folks can wear colors that are similar, but lighter.

According to the seasonal color theory, about half of us should be thrilled about the color palettes in Maya and Karma this season. I know I am.