Wooli Wellies

Starring Yarn from WARRICK the Sheep from Homestead Wool & Gift Farm.

MATERIALS

• Yarn A: 1 skein (25 yards) of Lashspun Yarn from Homestead Wool & Gift Farm
• Size 15 DPN Knitting Needles (this pattern is knit top-down in the round)
• Yarn B: I used Bernat Maker Home Decor yarn (Bulky, 72% cotton /28% nylon, 317 yds). It has plenty of stretch and stays cool.

Note: From my experience, making boot toppers with a long wool / handspun inner cuff not only makes my boots feel too tight - but it makes my legs too warm.  I prefer a cotton inner cuff of only 1-2 inches that I can put over my knee-high cotton socks when I wear my boots. I love the stretch in the Bernat Maker yarn for this purpose, but use what you have/love. 

PATTERN (Make 2)

Outer Cuff: Cast on 17 stitches on size 15 DPN with Yarn A and knit in the round for 10-12 rows, or until the outer cuff measures 5 inches long. Push all the texture to the inside of the cuff as you knit (we will be turning this inside-out for wearing)

Inner Cuff: Switch to Yarn B and knit the following pattern in the round: K2YO (Yarn Over; this is an increase). This will result in 25 stitches on your needles. Purl in the round for 1.5 to 2 inches. Bind off loosely.

Finishing: Turn the Wooli Wellie inside-out. Fluff up the locks that are now on the outside of the cuff. 

Carpal Cuffs

MATERIALS

• Size 8 double pointed knitting needles, at least 6 inches long

• 30-50 yards of worsted/chunky weight handspun yarn

PATTERN (make 2)

Cast 20 stitches loosely onto your double pointed needles (we recommend 6, 6, and 8)

K2, P2 (rib stitch) in the round until the mitt reaches the length you prefer (make them as long as you want - we like between 8-12 inches)

Bind off using a stretchy bind off stitch (or bind off with a size or two larger needle).

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

---

Meet the Designer

“I have been crocheting hats since 2002. My ideas are like butterflies, transforming through a metamorphosis of thought and creativity before becoming wearable art. I use cruelty free, squishy, curly, silky, wools and fibers in my freeform crochet. My favorite wool breeds are Corriedale, Merino, Rambouillet, Cormo, Teeswater, Mohair, Gotland, BFL, Finn, and Icelandic. Many of the fibers I use I buy locally to support my local farms. I am also a dyer and weaver and live at home with a menagerie of cats and backyard chickens. In 2015 I became a SpinOlution Dealer for the Salem, Portland, and Eugene areas of Oregon. I teach freeform crochet and spinning classes around the world.”

— - Heather Lightbody / Girl with a Hook

Greylee

Greylee is a super warm cowl and shoulder warmer, that uses very little yarn!  Stripe it with multiple yarns, or make it simple and solid. 

MATERIALS:

1. 25 yards of 2 WPI yarn - I used two skeins, Yarn A and B (one had 15 yards and the other had 10 yards)

2. Size 35 circular needles, 32 inches long

3. Gauge: 1.5-2.0 stitches/inch

PATTERN

Cast on 20 stitches (about 40 inches)

Join for working in the round (be careful not to twist!); place marker for beginning of the round if needed

*K2, P2* around

If using Multiple Yarns, you can get the most out of your yardage by switching to Yarn B when you have used up Yarn A. 

To create Stripes:  knit two rows with Yarn A, two rows with Yarn B, and repeat.

Bind Off Loosely after 10 rows (approximately 10 inches) , or when your cowl is the length you prefer.

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

CREATIVE IDEAS

• Use this pattern as a "stashbuster" project to knit up the scraps of textured yarns in your stash.

• Use this pattern with a short yardage of art yarn striped with a commercial yarn.

Elodie

MATERIALS

• Size 35 circular knitting needles, 32 inches long (we will be knitting flat using circular needles)
• 80-100 yards of textured art yarn (I used about 12 different mini skeins of yarn for this project)
• Crochet Hook
• Yarn for Seaming (this can be art yarn or a commercial yarn that blends in with your art yarn)

We will be knitting this bolero from the top down. This means by adding more stitches you will make the sleeves longer, and by knitting more rows you will make the back wider. Feel free to have a friend measure your arms from elbow-to-elbow for a more accurate cast on number, and knit more rows if you want more back coverage. The bolero in this pattern is a small/medium size. 

PATTERN:

Cast on 42 stitches 

Knit 30 rows of garter stitch

Knit 17 stitches, drop 1 stitch, knit 6 stitches, drop 1 stitch, knit 17 stitches. This will created the "dropped stitch" rows across the back of the shoulders. 

Bind off loosely using a stretchy bind off stitch

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. I stretched my bolero to open the stitches when blocking.

Note: after blocking my piece measured 12 inches wide and 45 inches long. 

Seam the sleeves together by folding in half long-ways and crochet a chain of coordinating yarn up the sleeve.  I seamed 13 inches up each sleeve - leaving 17 inches unseamed to be worn across my back.

Flourish

MATERIALS

• Size 17 straight knitting needles
• 25 yards of bulky commercial yarn. I used Wool and the Gang "Crazy Sexy Wool" in Grey Heather.
• 10-30 yards of handspun art yarn in a similar gauge to the bulky commercial yarn you are using. It doesn't need to be exact, but similar.

PATTERN

Cast on 12 stitches of your handspun art yarn

K2 P2 rib stitch with the entire yardage of art yarn (waste not!)

Note: If you use 10 yards of art yarn your "flourish" section will be shorter, more yardage = more flourish. There is no wrong amount of flourish - it's all about what you find pretty. For my cowl I used about the same yardage of flourish yarn and commercial yarn.

Continue knitting with commercial yarn when you are out of art yarn until the length of your piece is 16 inches long. Give or take an inch is fine. 

Bind off. 

Seam the ends together into a cowl.

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

Zephyr

Another great convertible piece!  Wear it as a cowl or a shawlette.  Style with shawl pins or other interesting jewelry or yarn. 

MATERIALS

• Size 35 Circular Needles, 32 inches long
• 80-100 Yards of Bulky Handspun Yarn (feel free to combine multiple smaller skeins of yarn for this project)

PATTERN

Cast on 60 stitches; join for knitting in the round (being careful not to twist stitches)

Knit in the round using a simple elongated stitch (see video below)

Knit 22 rows. Feel free to add more rows if you want a longer cape or wider cowl.

Bind off and weave in the ends.

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

Granny Pillow

For this tutorial I took a 20x20 pillow and simply crocheted a classic Granny Square from various textures of handspun art yarn to hand stitch to the pillow cover. This pattern will work for any square shaped pillow (18x18, 20x20, 24x24, etc.) - simply crochet until your square is the right length & width.  You can also use a pillow form and make a complete cover. 

MATERIALS

• Square Pillow (mine is 20x20), or Pillow Insert (if you are making two squares or using fabric for the back)
• Square Pillowcase (these are cheap at Ikea, Amazon, and Hobby Lobby) that matches your yarn
• Sewing needle & thread for hand-sewing your pillow cover onto the pillowcase
• Handspun Art Yarn - I used about 80 yards. You may use more or less depending on how bulky your yarn is and how big your pillow is. 
• Crochet Hook appropriate for the bulkyness of your art yarn.

PATTERN

Following the video below, crochet a granny square until it's the size of the pillow you are covering.

You could also crochet two granny squares and cover the entire pillow (instead of just the front). But I just did the front.

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

Seam the granny square to the pillowcase , or to fabric to make a true pillow cover, and enjoy! 

Floor Urchin

There are many free tutorials for different styles of this floor pillow / ottoman on various websites - but none of them use handspun. Here is the one I came up with that's a little different than all the others - but still has the same principle.

MATERIALS

• Size 19 circular needles , 32 -40 inches (we will be knitting this floor urchin in the round)
• 200-250 yards of handspun bulky art yarn
• Two bags of polyfill stuffing
• One pillowcase (make sure it matches your yarn in case you see it)
• 1 Yard of strong Cotton Yarn
• Large eye Yarn Needle

PATTERN

Cast on 47 stitches. For a larger pouf cast on 60-80 stitches.

Knit in the Round until your tube is 18 inches long (if you're knitting a larger pouf -knit until your tube is 30 inches long)

Do not bind off. Rather, take your yard of cotton yarn and cut it in half so you have 1.5 feet of cotton yarn. Then loop this cotton yarn through all the loops on your needle using a yarn needle to thread the cotton yarn through. Take a loop off the needle, and put the cotton yarn through it. When all your stitches are on the cotton yarn - pull the cotton yarn tight and tie it into a knot to create the bottom of your urchin. 

Turn the urchin inside-out so all the purl stitches are on the outside. If you prefer a knit side, that's fine too. I just thought the purls looked more urchin-like. 

Take the two bags of polyfill and stuff them into a standard sized pillowcase. Try to stuff the pillowcase so it's the shape of the urchin you want (rounded without too many bulges of stuffing). 

Twist the top of the pillowcase tightly into a flat bun-style knot. Now stuff the urchin with the pillowcase with the bun-style knot as the very bottom part of the urchin. 

Take the other 1.5 feet of cotton yarn with your yarn needle and loop it through every other stitch along the cast on edge of your tube. Pull it tight and knot tightly to secure. Cut the ends and tuck them into the inside of the urchin.

Reversible Texture Hat

Sometimes you feel like wearing a super textured hat. Sometimes you don't. I knit this hat using the video method below (Knitting with Texture) to push all my art yarn texture to the "inside" of the hat - leaving the "outside" plain - resulting in a reversible hat. Inside-Out is super textured, and Outside-In is less textured.

MATERIALS

• 80-100 yards of Bulky Art Yarn (I used 4 different remnant yarns from my stash)
• Size 15 16-inch circular knitting needles, or set of Size 15 8 inch DP needles (this piece is knit in the round)

PATTERN

Cast on 20 inches of stitches (for my bulky yarn this was about 27 stitches - your number of stitches may vary)

Knit in the round and switch from one texture of yarn to another (if you're using multiple skeins like I did)

Use the "Knitting With Texture" technique video below to push all the yarn texture to the "inside" of the hat.

Continue knitting in the round until the piece measures 8 inches tall

DECREASE Rounds: K3, K2tog*  continue decreasing until you have 7 stitches left on your needle. Switch to DPN if necessary.

Pull the yarn tail through all remaining 7 loops on your needle and pull tightly. Tie in a tight knot on the textured side of the hat.

Weave in the ends.

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

Emmagene

I love the way circular shawls drape, and I wanted something that was easy to shape and showcased my handspun yarn beautifully. So I used a crochet puff stitch in the round for the back piece (accented with two art yarns) and I knit the flounce on circular needles in the round. Then I seamed the flounce to the back - leaving two holes for arms - and it was done in about 4 hours.

This is a very intuitive pattern. Being able to crochet circular shapes with yarn of varying gauges is the hardest part. If you aren't very savvy with crochet, I recommend using a commercial yarn for the back so it's easier to follow a gauge pattern and keep your circle flat. If you feel confident, try using different yarns for the back (adjusting the stitching for the bulkiness of the yarn) in a freeform type of style, maintaining a flat circle, until your back piece is as large as mine.

MATERIALS

• 80-100 yards of Commercial Chunky Yarn for Backpiece and Flounce (YARN A and YARN B)
• Large Crochet Hook for Backpiece (Size P or above)
• 150-200 yards of yarn for the flounce (I used Handspun Art Yarn, of many different lengths; YARNS C-F )
• Size 19 circular knitting needles, at least 32 inches long

PATTERN

CROCHET BACKPIECE: I followed the video below on how to crochet a puff in a circle (I did not shape it into a square, but continued the circular shape) using YARN A and accented with two skeins of handspun art yarn at random points of the circle. I continued crocheting the circle until it had a diameter of 20 inches. 

KNIT FLOUNCE: Cast on 100 stitches (this will be the outside / widest point of your flounce).  Join for knitting in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.  Knit in the round using a Simple Elongated Stitch.

I used commercial YARN B to cast on so that I didn't run out of yarn during my cast on (many of my handspun skeins are under 30 yards - not enough for a good few rows of 100 stitches.  A good way to conserve yarn is a knitted cast on).  I also wanted to have a boucle' accent around the outside edge of my flounce.  To do this, I knit in the round until I was competely out of yarn. Then I knit with handspun art yarns C, D, E, F until I was out of those yarns. I continued knitting in the round until the piece was 20 inches long. Then I bound off tightly - this tight bind off will be the part that we seam to the crochet circle. If you need extra allowance for your arms, don't bind off too tightly.. You can always cinch your bind off edge with the crochet circle when you're seaming.

SEAMING - Seam across the back of neck and lower back as pictured below - leaving two holes open for the arms. Use mattress stitch or visible seaming method for more drama.   

View fullsize

FINISHING - Weave in loose ends. Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

Convertible TuniCowl

This tunic top can be worn frontwards or backwards, or as a cowl. I love creating art yarn pieces that are multi functional. For the front of my tunic I used 30 yards of recycled sari silk ribbon. This ribbon was sewn together from black to a small strip of blush pink and then ivory. Then for the back of the tunic I used 30 yards of handspun boucle textured yarn in a double elongated stitch. I knit the sari silk into a rectangle, and the boucle into a rectangle, and then I seamed the shoulders and sides - leaving plenty of room for the armholes. To wear this tunic as a cowl, just drape it around your neck and use one of the armholes as the second wrap to shorten. 

MATERIALS

• 30 yards recycled sari ribbon yarn or handspun yarn
• 30 yards handspun yarn
• Size 35 knitting needles
• Crochet Hook for seaming
• Extra matching yarn (I used black) for seaming

PATTERN

Front

Cast on 12 stitches with your recycled sari ribbon yarn (or handspun)

Knit in a double elongated stitch until the piece reaches 20 inches long.

Bind off tightly (this is the neckline)

Back

Cast on 14 stitches with your handspun yarn

Knit in a double elongated stitch until the piece reaches 30 inches long

Bind off tightly (this is the back neckline)

SEAMING

• Seam the shoulders together with a crochet hook and yarn, matching the necklines of the front and back. You can adjust the width of the shoulders by seaming more or less yarn from the sides.
• Seam the sides together with a crochet hook and yarn - leaving large holes for the arms. For a ruched effect, pull the extra ten inches of the back up and seam to the corner of the front side. 

Honeyberry

MATERIALS

• One ball of Loops & Threads Chunky Braid Yarn (Michael's brand; Yarn has been discontinued, use a comparable bulky yarn)
• 10 yards of bulky art yarn (I used a yarn with "twists" spun into it to make fringe - you could also use "tailspun" style art yarn with long locks for your fringe).
• Size 19 needles (I am a loose knitter, so this size worked for me, but if you find it too tight, you can use size 35 needles)
• Large Crochet Hook

PATTERN

Cast on 8 stitches with your bulky yarn.

Knit the entire bulky yarn skein using the Raspberry Stitch in the video below. 

Bind off and weave in the ends of bulky yarn.

Using a crochet hook, crochet the art yarn as a chain along the end of the scarf, up one side of the scarf, and along the other end to create the fringe. You can also choose to only fringe the ends, like a traditional scarf, or to fringe all the way around the scarf. But I only added fringe to 3 sides (leaving 1 long side fringe-free)

Block with Unicorn Fibre Rinse.  Gently pat dry, reshape and dry flat. 

This video shows you how to work the Raspberry Stitch, also known as the Trinity Stitch. Pattern instructions: Rows 1 and 3: Purl all stitches Row 2: K1 *(K1, P1, K1) into next stitch, P3tog* K1 Row 4: K1 *P3tog, (K1, P1, K1) into next stitch* K1 Repeat these four rows for the pattern.