Store Project: Soft Spring Ombre Cowl

Some people are skinny yarn knitters and some are not. I don't know about you, but I am not - working with gossamer yarns hurts my arms. It also takes a long time to knit, and I'm not a particularly speedy knitter. Enter my friend who has a big, beautiful stash of yarn (seriously, I spend every day surrounded by yarn and I find her collection moving).  I've been thinking a lot about how she can put some of her gorgeous but neglected fine filaments to use. 

My solution is plies. Lace weight yarns, like Malabrigo Silkpaca Lace, knit extremely well with two or 3 strands held together. It also offers an opportunity to play around with colour without requiring and any technical skill - Yay! 

Silkaca Ombre Cowl

FREE Pattern via Ravelry
3 skeins Malabrigo Silkpaca Lace (1 in each of 3 colours, we used: 27 bobby blue, 98 tuareg, 150 azul profundo)
3.5mm/US4-16" circular needles 

Our Silkaca Ombre Cowl turned out FABULOUS! It's soft, light, and just warm enough for spring. There was also lots of yarn left over, enough to make your cowl larger, a second cowl (in a different colour order), or a matching hat (you can see the yardage amounts in our Ravelry Notes).

The yarn is super-duper lovely (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk). It has all the softness of baby alpaca and a little bit of sheen from the silk content. 

Colour Combination Suggestions

Below are some ideas for colour combinations. Because Malabrigo's dye lots tend to vary all of our suggestions are based on the actual yarn in the store (yup, I spent an afternoon playing Malabrigo mix-n'match. 

New Shades of Freia Ombre Lace

We've received a shipment of Freia Ombre Lace new colours! 

'Miserable' Wrap

I love, love, love this wrap!  It is knit up on very reasonably sized needles (5.5mm) and then felted by hand. Gorgeous! And it's a freebie!

Les Miserables

• 3 skeins Malabrigo Lace
• 5.5mm needles
• 8mm needles (for the edges)

As always, you can find us at knitomatic.com!

NEW Malabrigo Lace

Many of the links posted here are from Ravelry.com, a free website for knitters and crocheters. If you don't have your own account you can use ours: login: knitomatic2, password: knitomatic. But you should get your own account fast, 'cause you're going to LOVE it!

Malabrigo Lace ~ $8.50

Malabrigo's Lace is a soft, sumptuous feeling singly ply yarn - a very skinny version of their worsted weight yarn. It comes in 50g skeins, with an abundant 428m. Because of it's unique single ply texture, this skinny yarn is also great for making garments. The yardage also goes a long way, requiring between 2 and 4 skeins, making for very cost effective knitting. 

Ishabel (1 to 2 skeins)

Geodesic Cardigan (2 to 4 skeins)

Adrift Cardie (2 to 5 skeins)

FREE Crazy Lace Top (1 to 2 skeins)

FREE Citron (1 skein)

Featherweight Cardigan (2to 4 skeins)

Whisper Cardigan (2 to 3 skeins)

As always, you can find us at knitomatic.com!

NEW - Dream in Color Baby!

Dream in Color Baby - $28.50
All of the yarns from Dream in Color have been so yummy that I thought, despite the early onset of Summer in our nook of the world, I really must forge forward and order their skinniest yarn, Baby. As always, the colours are stunning in their depth and subtlety, and the way the yarn is dyed gives you a rare opportunity to use a variegated yarn that won't fight with or upstage detailed lace work (or cables, etc).

• Between Laceweight and Light Fingering (like a really thin sock yarn)
• 2ply, 100% Machine Washable Merino Wool
• 4 oz (approx 125g)
• 700 yards/638m
• 9 to 10 sts/inch
• 2.25mm to 2.75mm needles (US 1 to 2) or larger 
• See Baby on Ravelry

Now, if you are already a lace knitter, you know what to do with it, or at least what you can do with it, and what you'd like to do with it (and if you are of a certain mind about your yarns you know what you'd like to do to it.)  But a lot of people find skinny yarns daunting, so here is a list of things you may not have known about skinny yarns:

1. Skinny yarns can not make you skinnier (unless you find a way to knit while on a recumbent bike) but they are extremely flattering. The thinner a textile is, the less bulk it will put on you. People who are all angles may prefer something thicker to fill them out, but for those with curves or all types skinny yarn can be beneficial.
2. Thin yarns are great for crochet, which can work up much faster that knitting!
3. Hold a stand of thin yarn along with another yarn to bulk it up just a bit and add more dimension to the colour (choose a colour that is close or complementary with your main yarn). Mohairs and fuzzy yarns work especially well with a carrier yarn. 
4. Thin yarns go a looooong way!  The skinnier a yarn, the more distance  you'll get out of it, which means that a project will cost you less than if you used a thicker yarn.

Our Favourite Project Ideas for Baby

• Freebie Citron Shawlette.... 1 skein
• Featherweight Cardigan..... 2 to 3 skeins
• Whisper Cardigan.............. 2 to 3 skeins
• Freebie Shetland Shorty..... 1 skein
• Lightweight Pullover ......... 2 to 3 skeins
• Geodesic Cardigan............. 2 to 3 skeins
• Freebie Grotto Wrap.......... 2 to 3 skeins
• Cecilia Shrugg................... 1 to 2 skeins