Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City*, write about their projects. Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern. If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

*If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.

BY PATTEN S. LAUREL

I made the Sunshine Baby Throw a year ago for a friend’s baby and had lots of yarn leftover, so for his first birthday, I made the Garter Ridge Baby Cardigan for him. I modified the pattern, changing colors at each ridge and shortening the number of rows between each ridge on the sleeves so that I used all the colors. It was so easy to make and turned out so cute. He just loves wearing his bright colorful sweater!

I purchased my yarns at the Lion Brand Studio store in New York.

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City*, write about their projects. Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern. If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

*If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.

BY: Karen Durante

On January 3rd, 2010, I attended the kickoff of the Nicky Epstein Knitting on Top of the World knit-a-long at Lion Brand Studio. Mary Taylor, a knitter from Minnesota, was inspired by the movie, “Julie and Julia” to knit all 48 projects in Nicky’s book in 48 months. Lion Brand Studio was generous enough to offer their space to a wonderful group of knitters and a 10% discount to anyone who knitted along with Mary for any project in the book for the next four years. I have long been an admirer of Nicky’s work, and just say the words “discount” and “yarn” in the same sentence and I’m in!

My first project was the Northern Lights Cardigan. I made the sweater with Lion Brand Wool-Ease. Such an easy yarn to work with, I knitted most of the solid section at my company’s annual meeting without hardly having to look at my needles. I kept faithful to the pattern but did change the colors. All I did was swap colors in the chart for ones that suited me a little better. I am not much of a “blue” person and I like the contrast of a darker yoke with the lighter cream color in the lower section.

In February, my thoughts turn to pink for Valentine’s Day. I made the Copenhagen Shawl in the LB Collection Superwash Merino in the Peony color. Such beautiful yarn, gorgeous colors and so soft to the touch. Easy to work with, too. I kept faithful to the design, just added rhinestones when it was finished with a Brisk Set. The same principal as a beadazzler, but similarly used like a stapler.

March’s project was the Princess Bride Mittens. I used the LB Collection Superwash Merino again. You can fall in love with this yarn. I plan to make my son-in-law, Adam, a ribbed sweater out of the Denim color. Again, I stayed faithful to Nicky’s design, but swapped the colors in the chart for a different look. I used the Leaf color for my background color.

The St. Petersburg Camisole, while being beautifully designed, was not suited to my grandmother-style body. When I first saw it, loved the feather and fan double border and the pleated ribbon trimming. I immediately thought of a jacket with the same double border and long sleeves. This was not too difficult to do, but it did take some planning. I made the double border closer together by eliminating some length in the under layer, widened the shoulders, narrowed the sleeves and made them full length. I used Lion Brand Microspun in purple. I also changed the ribbon from the velvet pleated ribbon in Nicky’s design to a satin box pleated trim. It was lighter in weight than the original trim and better suited for the yarn that I used for the jacket.

(modeled by our own Claire)

Next, the Baltic Cuffs and Cap. When my daughter, Elaina saw the cuffs, she fell in love with them, but asked if I could make her a beret instead of the cap in the book. I again used the LB Collection Superwash Merino, and again I swapped colors in the chart for colors I wanted to use. I kept faithful to the design for the cuffs, but the beret needed to be designed from scratch. I searched the Internet until I found a beret that had a color chart and once I studied the basic design, I substituted the border for the same one I had used for the cuffs, just worked it in fewer rows. I used a pie-shaped outline on graph paper to draw in Nicky’s design for the top of the beret and added the sewn-on bobbles, just like the cap in the original design. The knitting went pretty swiftly after that. Elaina is very pleased with the results.

(modeled by our own Kendra)

I just finished the Bohus Swing Coat. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease for this project. I have substituted a more pastel palette for the original.

Thus far, this has been an interesting journey for me. Even though I am a long-time knitter, some of the techniques, like knitting from the center of each square outwards to the borders of the squares for the Copenhagen Royal Shawl, I had never tried before. This has been quite a learning experience for me. I have greatly expanded my skills with this project. I plan to complete all 48 projects in the allotted four years. My advice to knitters is to not be afraid to try something different with a pattern that is beautiful, but doesn’t quite fit the intended recipient. You can always do something to make it your own.

To view the original patterns, come by the Studio and pick up your own copy of Nicky’s amazing book: Knitting on Top of the World.  If you are a fan of Nicky’s keep your eyes open for the announcement on this blog of her next master class & book signing special event!

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City*, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

*If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link (you will need a free LionBrand.com account to submit). Please click here if you would like to view the LionBrand.com Customer Gallery.

BY GRACE

I dyed the LB Collection Superwash Merino. One of the great things about dyeing with superwash merino is that there really isn’t any danger of felting the yarn. That makes it a really safe yarn to start with, plus the yardage is fantastic. It’s also has great colors that would work well as a base for over-dyeing. The color this skein started out as was Antique white.

I unwound the skein onto my yarn swift with the umbrella as large as it would go to make a long hank which I pre-soaked the hank in cool water and white vinegar.  I used Jacquard Acid dyes in Spruce (green) and Periwinkle (blue) and Grape flavored KoolAid (purple).

I use my enamel pot exclusively for dyeing, so no food stuff in it ever! The KoolAid would be ok, but Acid Dye should not be ingested or inhaled. Basically, I arranged the hanks in the bottom of the pot and covered it with a fresh water and vinegar. Brought the heat up to a simmer. Then I made up 3 concentrated dye pastes which I applied to the yarn in rows across yarn. Spruce across the top, periwinkle across the middle, and grape across the bottom.

Once the dye has finished “striking” (all color gone form the water and into the yarn) I removed the heat and let the yarn cool. When cool, I rinsed, squeezed, and hung the hank to dry over a plastic hanger.

Some white still showed in places where the dye didn’t fully “strike” but I liked how that made the yarn look more variegated. I knit a basic hat with this yarn and then I knit a lace swatch with the remainder.

To check out more of Grace’s handiwork, read about how she overdyed Sock-Ease.  Click here to read more.

UPDATE:  Petrina Hicks has identified herself as the talented dyer responsible for the beautiful dyed Fisherman’s Wool.  Thanks Petrina!!

Here’s a beautiful skein of LB Collection Pure Wool.

Here’s a customer’s LB Collection Pure Wool & (I wouldn’t have thought of this) Fishermen’s Wool Tweed!  Look at the close up of that Tweed all wound up.  Isn’t it brilliant!

Our own Celia made this shawl from 4 balls of LB Collection Cashmere – color Natural – is called the “Eyelet Shawl” by Vikki Harding.

BY CELIA

I had been itching to try hand-painting my own yarn after seeing some amazing results from friends’ and colleagues’ experiments, and decided to finally put a languishing Easter Egg dye kit to good use. I dissolved the food coloring tablets according to package directions, dipped and dabbled the yarn hank, and gently heated the yarn to set the dye.  It was so much fun to watch the colors gradually shift while knitting each stitch, remembering how the yarn had looked at each stage of the process!

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City *, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

* If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.

BY Margie Laury

Using the lovely silk mohair that Mr. Blumenthal showed us when he came to the Westchester Knitting Guild, I made this short shawl based on the pattern called “Civil War shawl” by Suzanne Pufpaff, in the 2001 winter Cast On mag. I used a edging design from The Knitters Stash book, page 22, by Donna Kay. It took 2 skeins of the LB Silk Mohair in sunset color.

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City *, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

* If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.  

BY: JADE SCARLETT

I love painting, but crochet is my new found addiction, so I just had to find a way to combine the two. I painted a bouquet of rosebuds and wisteria on this canvas tote bag and used Vanna’s Choice and Vanna’s Glamour to crochet a matching flower to go with the design. I liked the result so much, I’m currently working on a big canvas to go with the three flowers I just finished using the amazing Homespun and Hometowns USA yarns.

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City *, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

* If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.

Microspun Baby Blanket by Michael Ross

This was my first baby project and my friends didn’t know ahead of time if they were having a boy or girl (it was a girl), so I wanted to find a balance between typical “boy” and “girl” colors and I wanted to use something other than pastels. I’ve also been knitting so many projects in dark colors, I was thrilled to get back to some color work. Once I saw all the yarns at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio and the samples of how each yarn knits up, it was easy to pick out the yarn I wanted to use.

The blanket was knit with Lion Brand Microspun. I felt that the blend of acrylic and microfiber gave it a nice softness with the added benefit of being machine washable and dryable. I found the stitch in “The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques” by Margaret Radcliffe (Waffle Check, p. 46) and used Silver as the main color, alternating other colors every few rows, using Fibonacci numbers as a guideline. Finished size was approx. 40 inches by 40 inches (with border) and being a slip stitch pattern it required more yarn than a blanket of that size would normally require: 7 skeins of Silver, 3 skeins of Lilac (due to the I-cord border), 2 Mango, and 1 each of Purple, Fuchsia, and Buttercup. I’ve probably got enough left over to make a nice scarf.

The blanket was knit on #6 (4.25mm) needles, and although you can’t see it, I carried the yarn up the sides as much as possible to minimize the ends that would have to be woven in once it was finished. I wasn’t sure if I would add a border or not while I was knitting it, so I slipped the first stitch of each row to create a nice selvage.

Once it was finished, I felt that the Silver yarn had muted the brightness of the colors and I wanted to add a little bit more of a color, so decided to add the I-cord border in Lilac. I followed the directions in “Handknitting with Meg Swansen” by Meg Swansen (p. 81, Applied I-cord) and I used #5 (3.75mm) needles for the border. I kind of dreaded the idea of doing all of that I-cord, but to be honest it went quickly and was really easy to do once I got it started. The ends were joined by weaving the last row of stitches from the needle to the first row.

I’m pleased with how it came out and the parents and their newborn love it!

Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City *, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

* If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link.

BY DIANA GEE

I decided to take a class at the Studio with Will to try double-knitting. I had read about the technique and thought that I can do it without the class, but never really had the time to try on my own. The time that I spent in the class was totally worth it. I have always been intrigued with being able to flip a fabric to see the mirror-opposite in opposing colors and then also with the idea that one side of the fabric could be one pattern and the other side could be another. You can see the imperfection of the stripes at one end because I didn’t remember to switch to knitting with the correct yarn color. Yes this was the at the beginning of the class before I realized that I needed to concentrate a LOT when working with the two colors of yarn. No movie watching whilst I double-knit! It’s a little difficult to see in the photos, but if you look for the checker board pattern in one photo and then look at the second photo in the same area, you’ll notice a “seed” pattern as the reverse. Also, there is a heart on one side and a solid block of color on the other. I’ve also incorporated my initials D and G at one end of the scarf, one letter on either side. I’m calling this my “Ugly Swatch Scarf or My Dolce and Gabbana Scarf!”

Welcome to our new Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature "Look What I Made", where customers write about their Lion Brand Yarn Studio projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project?  Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to:

lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

BY GAIL BAUM

About a year ago, I stopped by the Studio and had a discussion about how to make a particular sweater for my granddaughter in a worsted weight #4 yarn and a matching sweater for her 18" doll in #2 weight yarn. The pattern came from Creative Knitting Magazine , Sept. 2009.

The hardest part was finding the same color yarn in both weights. The young man (note from Patty: that was our Studio manager, Will) I was working with suggested that I use only #2 weight yarn, but double it to make a #4 weight. And this is what I did. From a different pattern, I also made shoulder bags for each. I loved making these sweaters and I even took the project on the road with me–or rather on-board a ship that cruised the Black Sea from Kiev to Odessa in the Ukraine. I was so pleased with the finished results I wanted to share it with you.

Enclosed is a picture of the finished objects & a picture of my granddaughter and her doll wearing their sweaters.