KNITmuch | Issue 06

KNIT much.com
much KNIT
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Issue 6
* substituting yarns
* knitting the
stitch below
* Knitting gradients
with self-striping
yarn
* Brioche knitting
* i-cord edging
and cast on
technique
* Shadow knitting
Knitting with
non-allergenic
yarns

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ART DIRECTOR
Carla A. Canonico
Carla@KNITmuch.com
ADVERTISING SALES
John De Fusco
John@KNITmuch.com
PUBLISHER
A Needle Pulling Thread
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Carla A. Canonico, John De Fusco
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Cynthia MacDougall
cgknitters.blogspot.com
Michelle Nguyen
www.stitchesbeslippin.com
Charles Voth
www.charlesvothdesigns.ca
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Carla A. Canonico
Carla@KNITmuch.com
Sondra Armas
Sondra@KNITmuch.com
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EDITORIAL
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©2018 A Needle Pulling Thread. All rights reserved. Issue 6.
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Premier Toy Box
Out of the Toy Box! Knitting with marled, self-striping chunky yarn
Bella Cash
3 things to consider when substituting yarns
What I learned about Brioche knitting
What happens when you knit in the stitch below?
Bella Cash yarn makes knit textures sing!
With Love Stripes
The NEW With Love Stripes yarn takes the ‘work’ out of ‘color work’
The qualities and benefits of knitting with Red Heart Soft yarn
Knitting the Two-Point Hat pattern with Soft yarn
Non-allergenic shawls and socks with Allegro
Knit a shawlette with non-allergenic yarn
How to knit on an i-cord edging
Using a knit i-cord as a cast-on technique
Premier Sweet Rolls
3 patterns to knit with self-striping worsted weight yarn
Shadow knitting with Sweet Roll Yarn
Knitting gradients with self-striping yarn
2 things I learned from my knitted swatch other than gauge
Evermore yarn
Knitting Snowy Arm Warmers pattern using Red Heart Evermore yarn
1 tip to add interest to a simple reversible knitted scarf
contents
KNITmuch | issue 6
3

Download the NEW
KNITmuch App!
Includes the Premier issue and the latest
issue FREE for a limited time only!
4 KNITmuch | issue 6

editor's letter
The art of knitting never ceases to
amaze me. It seems to me there are
more techniques, stitches, finishings
tips, than there are days left to live. I'd
like to think I'll be able to give all of
them a whirl just to be able to say, 'Yes!
I tried that!' This issue has its wealth
of techniques that add dimension and
interest to your knitting. For example,
a Japanese technique called Shadow
Knitting adds dimension not to mention
an optical illusion that will have people
looking at your knitted item and wonder
how you did that.
We also look at Brioche Knitting,
seriously, I need to have a calmer
headspace before I ever tackle that
one. Don't get me wrong, I never say
anything is difficult, because it isn't, but
I do believe a new technique has to call
my attention and tug at my heart for
me to give it a whirl! And the headspace
must be there, and not filled with so
many deadlines and commitments;
someone give me a break!
Check it out, see how to use the i-cord
as a cast-on technique and finishing a
project with an i-cord edge.
Then there's the yarn. The luxuriously
soft like Bella Cash, and versatility of
Soft yarn. How about With Love Stripes?
I will take all the help I can get and take
the guess work out of knitting stripes
and just focus on the stitches! Yes
please!!!
For those of you who are allergic to
wool, you'll love Charles Voth's articles
on the non-allergenic yarns. He talks
about how Allegro yarn is made to act
like it was wool, and he talks about how
the yarn was dyed.
Enjoy the issue, decide on a technique
and give it a whirl.
Cheerfully,
Share the love of knitting. Own the obsession.
follow me
5

Out of the Toy Box! Knitting with
marled, self-striping chunky yarn Charles Voth
This soft yarn comes in colorways reminiscent of favorite toys.
This is the Lincoln Logs colorway.
Do you remember that pale peachy color of the original Silly Putty?
You can see it in this colorway of Toy Box surrounded by other complementary
colors for some fun knits.
This is Toy Box in Hula Hoop! A playful blend of cool colors.
6 KNITmuch | issue 6
What have you knit with a self-striping bulky yarn
that has a barber pole twist to it? Anything for the
little ones in your life? This week we’ll be looking
at Toy Box, a new kid on the block. This soft yarn is
perfect for baby and toddler knits as it’s very soft,
and easy to take care of.
Toy Box has 9 self-striping colorways and 3 solid
colors. The palette is best suited to children’s wear,
but there are a few muted versions of familiar
colorways like a pink and green watermelon or a
sedate series of fall colors which would work for an
adult wardrobe as well.
The names of the colorways tickled my funny bone.
All the yarns are named after items you would find
in a toy box. Lincoln Logs and Silly Putty would
be my two favorite names and probably even my
preferred color combinations, but all the colorways
are beautiful.
Having the options of three solid colors is also
a great idea. Jump Rope (white), Kite (pink) and
Frisbee (blue) each coordinate with more than one
of the multi-colored skeins, and, depending on the
design, can frame or highlight the marled colors.
Each colorway contains at least six colors. As the
yarn has 2 plies of contrasting colors that are
spun together, the transitions between stripes is
gradual and creates a subtle tweedy effect. One
ply transitions between three or four of the colors
and the other ply transitions between the remaining
three or two colors respectively.
The yarn is 100% machine washable and dryerfriendly
acrylic.
I unspun the end of one skein to figure out the
yarn’s anatomy. There are two thicker plies that are
twisted around each other creating the barber pole
effect, but within each ply there is more going on.
There are long airy fibers with lots of built-in crimps.
Photos by Charles Voth

These curly fibers are quite long (mostly longer
than 2”) which means that the likelihood of pilling is
greatly reduced. There’s a lot of bounce and “air” left
in each of these two plies because the fluffy fibers
are spun around a core of two fine white threads.
The threads give the yarn the structure it needs
to behave well, and to keep the integrity of the
knit stitches, but they are surrounded by the softer
crimped fibers, which are what bring the colors and
color transitions into the yarn.
Let's look at how the yarn looks in a swatch or two to
get a better idea of how gradual the self-striping color
changes are, and the type of drape we can achieve.
The blues and grays in Toy Box Wiffle Ball, will have you knitting many
fun, airy and soft projects.
Crimped soft fibers give Toy Box loft, softness, and warmth and the 2
fine binder threads give the yarn integrity and sturdiness.
Using a swatch to practice weaving
in ends with a crochet hook
I know that those of us who do
swatch do so because we want
our finished items to knit to the
size and proportion that we’re
trying to achieve, and we don’t
want to frog back a huge number
of stitches. Some of us also
swatch to practice new-to-us
stitch patterns.
I also think that swatches are a
good tool for practicing finishing
techniques, which brings me to
the topic of weaving in ends with
a crochet hook because we’re
knitting with a chunky yarn called
Toy Box. We looked at the colors
and yarn structure of Toy Box.
You can see what it looks like
knit up.
This swatch of Toy Box Hula Hoop was knit on size US 11 [8mm].needles.
KNITmuch | issue 6
7

11 stitches per 4” is my gauge. I must have been relaxed when I made
this swatch on 11 US [8mm] needles
My row gauge is different than the one on the ball band, by a lot, but
that doesn’t phase me. The look of this self-striping barber pole yarn knit
up is stunning.
With just a few balls of Toy Box, each at 109yds per
100g ball, you can knit up quick projects. When
you swatch, you may find there’s a large range of
possible gauges because the yarn is squishy and
has a lot of loft.
The ball band recommends size 11 US [8mm] needles
to achieve a gauge of 12 stitches and 15 rows per 4”,
but when I knit my swatch I had different results.
So I’m off the recommended stitch gauge by one
less, so I knit the swatch loosely apparently. But…
For the row gauge, on US 11 [8mm] needles, I’m
getting 17 rows, instead of the 15 recommended on
the ball band. So, if I were doing a garment, I would
be knitting my rows too tightly and my stitches too
loosely. It goes to show why ball band gauge is just
a recommendation, not a rule carved in stone.
Duplicate stitch or Swiss darning is a way of adding
strands of yarn, usually to the knit side of a stretch
of stockinette knitting, but by using the same
principles and a crochet hook, you can weave in
ends. It’s hard to thread chunky yarn onto a tapestry
needle sometimes, so I prefer to crochet them in.
This video will show you how I accomplish this:
https://youtu.be/KxV9b9dY6Oc
Keep reading because we’ll look at some free
patterns that would look great in Toy Box.
Don’t use a marker on your knitting unless it’s a water soluble kind.
These marks are to help me demonstrate weaving in ends.
8 KNITmuch | issue 6

6 patterns are very soft knit up in Toy Box yarn
When a new yarn comes along,
like Premier Yarns Toy Box, there
hasn’t necessarily been enough
time for the yarn producers to
make a whole lot of patterns. In
addition, with sites like Ravelry.
com and YarnSub.com now
widely known, yarn producers
distribute the yarn with the
understanding that there are
many patterns that would work
equally well for the new yarn.
Here are some free patterns
which I found would look
smashing knit up in Toy Box
yarn. Some are listed as worsted
weight, however, it could mean
that either these were worked
on larger needles and get the
same gauge as you would with
a bulky yarn, or because Toy Box
is so squishy, it could be knit on
smaller needles to achieve a
tighter gauge.
The first is Lucy’s Owl, a cute
amigurumi figure that is knit in a
different self-striping chunky, but
would look great in any of the
Toy Box colors.
The second stuffed toy is Ruby
Bear, obviously christened
with the name of the color she
is knit in. But any of the Toy
Box colorways would make a
charming bear that you could
name as you wish.
Judging by the swatch in the first
photo, Toy Box yarn would offer
a soft and colorful striping on
these toys.
These 2 fun toys lend themselves to being
worked up in a self-striping chunky weight
yarn like Toy Box.
The classic feather and fan blanket looks great
in a marled self-striping yarn. Using Toy Box
colors, you’ll have a sweet and soft baby blanket
perfect for the next newborn in your circle of
family and friends.
2 fast-to-knit children’s tops in a bulky self-striping
yarn.
Tin Can Knits’ famous any gauge any yarn
mittens would be a perfect application for
Toy Box.
Baby blankets are a great project
to work up in Toy Box. They’ll
be fast and you can change the
width and length to your taste
by simply changing the number
of pattern repeats you cast on
and the number of pattern row
repeats you add or remove.
This Baby Fan Blanket is a fast knit
in bulky self-striping and marled
yarn.
It was a lot of fun to look for
little one’s garments knit in a
bulky yarn that would look super
in Toy Box. This little vest by
Marianna Mel would look great
in any colorway.
This other top-down, sleeveless,
vest would probably use only 2
balls of Toy Box, and would be
great wardrobe classic that would
last through several growth
spurts. You could lengthen it as
necessary with a few more rows
every few months.
The last pattern is for these
mittens. This is my go-to mitten
pattern because the designer, Tin
Can Knits, has made an ingenious
pattern that works up in any
thickness of yarn and any gauge.
I’ll share my pattern for slippers
next when I’ll how you a little
top-down pullover sweater for
wee ones using Premier Yarns
Toy Box.
KNITmuch | issue 6
9

Knit easy child slippers with Toy Box colors
These cozy slippers are a really quick knit, perfect for last minute gifts.
While looking for free patterns for children’s items
that could be knit with Toy Box yarn, I discovered
an absence of patterns for one project category,
namely slippers. So I decided to knit some with
this bulky, but light and airy self-striping yarn.
These quick-to-knit slippers start at the heel
with a provisional cast-on. When the knitting is
finished, the provisional cast-on is removed and
the sides are grafted together.
The body of the foot has a garter stitch edging
on it and is worked flat in rows, with some heel
shaping.
To make these slippers, you’ll need 1 ball of Toy
Box, and size 7mm needles (choose circular for
magic loop or dpns, as the toes are worked in
the round.
Gauge is not essential for this pattern.
Instructions are given for a child’s small.
Instructions for (child’s large, adult small, and
adult large are in parentheses).
The neatly grafted heel seam is invisible and give the heel a
comfortable, sleek finish.
Each row begins with a purlwise slipped stitch, which gives the edge a
braided look. The garter stitch edging gives it some structure.
These comfortable, warm and soft slippers can be made in less than a
day. You can see the halo around the stitches.
10 KNITmuch | issue 6
Photos by Charles Voth

The heel and the edging give these slippers a nice fit and their unique
style.
To make the toe, start knitting in the round and once the ideal length is
reached, you start decreasing until a small number of stitches remain to
be grafted.
The pattern
Cast on 15 (19, 19, 21) sts with scrap
yarn for a provisional cast-on.
Row 1: With Toy Box, sl first st
pwise, k5 (7, 7, 9), k1tbl, m1,
k1, m1, k1tbl, knit rem sts–17
(21, 21, 23) sts.
Row 2: Sl first st pwise, k2, p3 (5,
5, 6), p1tbl, p3, p1tbl, p3 (5,
5, 6), k3.
Row 3: Sl first st pwise, k5 (7, 7, 9),
k1tbl, m1, k3, m1, k1tbl, knit
rem sts–19 (23, 23, 25) sts.
Row 4: Sl first st pwise, k2, p3 (5,
5, 6), p1tbl, p5, p1tbl, p3 (5,
5, 6), k3.
Row 5: Sl first st pwise, k5, (7, 7,
9), k1tbl, m1, k5, m1, k1tbl,
knit rem sts–21 (25, 25,
27) sts.
Row 6: Sl first st pwise, k2, p3 (5,
5, 6), p1tbl, p7, p1tbl, p3, (5,
5, 6), k3.
With a simple twist of a stitch and a column
of purl stitches, the sole of the slipper takes
shape.
Small Size only
Row 7: Sl first st pwise, k2, k1tbl,
k7, k1tbl, knit rem sts
3 larger sizes only
Row 7: Sl first st pwise, k (7, 7, 9),
k1tbl, m1, k7, m1, k1tbl, knit
rem sts–(27, 27, 29) sts.
All sizes
Row 8: Sl first st pwise, k2, p3 (5,
5, 6), p1tbl, k1, p5 (7, 7, 7),
k1, p1tbl, p3 (5, 5, 6), k3.
Row 9: Sl first st pwise, k5 (7, 7,
9), k1tbl, p1, k5 (7, 7, 7), p1,
k1tbl, knit rem sts.
Rows 10-15 (17, 17, 19): Rep
rows 8 & 9. If your foot is
longer, you can add more
repeats here.
Next Row: Rep row 8.
Next Row: Sl first st pwise, k3
(5, 5, 7), ssk, k1tbl, p1, k1,
k2tog, k2 (4, 4, 4), p1, k1tbl,
k2tog, knit rem sts–18 (24,
24, 26) sts.
Next Row: Sl first st pwise, k2, p
(2, 4, 4, 5), p1tbl, k1, p4
(6, 6, 6), k1, p1tbl, p2 (4, 4,
5), k3.
Last Row: K4 (6, 6, 8), k1tbl, p1,
k4 (6, 6, 6), p1, k1tbl, knit
rem sts.
There’s a little bit of shaping just
after the join to knit in the round
so that the front part of the foot
isn’t saggy and the slipper hugs
the ball of the foot and the toes.
Join to continue working in rounds.
Rnd 1: K3, ssk, knit to last 5 sts,
k2tog, k3–16 (22, 22, 24) sts.
Rnd 2: K4 (6, 6, 8), k1tbl, p1, k4 (6,
6, 6), p1, k1tbl, knit rem sts.
Rep Rnd 2 until work measures 5
(6.5, 7, 7.5)”.
Toe
Rnd 3: *K3 (3, 3, 4), k2tog; rep
from * 2 (3, 3, 3, 3) more
times, knit rem st(s)–13 (18,
18, 20) sts.
Rnd 4: Knit.
Rnd 5: *K2 (4, 4, 3), k2tog; rep
from * 2 (2, 2, 3) more
times, knit any rem sts–10,
(15, 15, 16) sts.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Smallest Size only: Go to
Finishing section
3 larger sizes
Rnd 7: *K (3, 3, 2), k2tog; rep
from * (2, 2, 3) more times,
knit any rem sts–(12) sts.
Rnd 8: Knit.
Finishing
Knit 3, then divide Toe sts in
half on two needles and graft
together with Kitchener stitch.
Weave in end.
Heel
Unravel provisional cast on and
divide sts in half on two needles.
Graft together with Kitchener
stitch. Weave in all ends.
KNITmuch | issue 6
11

Bobbles on
the yoke:
knitting a
child’s
top-down
sweater
using Toy
Box
yarn
Premiere Toy Box (#5 Chunky/
Bulky; 109yds [100g]; 100%
Acrylic–more specifically, 2 plies
of fluffy acrylic spun around a 2
ply binding thread): 1 (1, 1, 2, 2,
3) balls.
Sizes US 10¾″ [7mm] and US 11
[8mm] circular needles for magic
loop or dbns to knit in the round.
gauge
On size US 11 [8mm] needles,
12 sts / 18 rows = 4″; row
gauge isn’t essential for this
pattern.
These easy to make 3-chain bobbles add a
cute texture to this cuddly knit.
Check out this video of how to
make a 3-chain Bobble Stitch:
https://youtu.be/DVfsgZ9zPkE
12 KNITmuch | issue 6
Premier Yarns Toy
Box in Wiffle Ball
knits up into a cute
soft pull over for a
little 6 month old.
Special Stitches
3-chain Bobble (3chB): K1, [wrap
yarn over RH needle from back
to front, pass st over wrap] 3
times, left leg of st just knit into
with LH needle and place on RH
needle, pass st over this lifted
strand ensuring bobble lies to
front of work.
Check out this video of how to
make the old Norwegian cast-on:
https://youtu.be/4FvGB849NuM
Pattern Begins
With larger needles, using old
Norwegian cast-on, cast on 28
(32, 36, 38, 38, 40) sts. Being
careful not to twist, join to knit in
the round.
Rnd 1: With smaller needles, [k1,
p1] around.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rep these 2 rows once more.
Rnd 5: With larger needles, [k3
(4, 3, 3, 3, 5) m1] 8 (8, 12, 12,
12, 7) times, knit rem sts–36
(40, 48, 50, 50, 47) sts.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Size 2 only
Rnd 7: [K4, 3chB, k1, m1, k3, 3chB,
k2, m1, k2], 3chB, k3, m1,
k1, 3chB, k4, m1, 3chB, k4,
3chB, m1, rep between [ ]
once, k1, 3chB, k1–54 sts.
Other sizes
Rnd 7: [K5 (4, 5, 4, 4, –), 3chB] 6
(8, 8, 10, 10, –] times.
All Sizes
Rnds 8–9 (10, 11, 12, 12, 13): Knit.
Rnd 10 (11, 12, 13, 13, 14): [K8
(6, 6, 6, 5, 5), m1] 4 (6, 8, 8,
10, 10) times, knit rem sts–40
(46, 56, 58, 60, 64) sts.
Rnd 11 (12, 13, 14, 14, 15): [K5
(4, 6, 4, 5, 6), 3chB] 6 (8, 8,
10, 10, 9) times, knit rem sts.
Rnd(s) 12 (13-14, 14-16, 15-16,
15-18, 16-18): Knit.
Rnd 13 (15, 17, 17, 19, 19): [K10
(7, 9, 7, 7, 6), m1] 4 (6, 6, 8,
8, 10) times, knit rem sts–44
(52, 62, 66, 70, 74) sts.
Rnd 14 (16, 18, 18, 20, 20): Knit.
Divide Body and Sleeves
Set-up Row: *K15 (17, 20, 21, 23,
24), with scrap yarn cast on 4 (4,
4, 5, 5, 5) sts on LH needle, knit
across these sts, slide next 7 (9, 11,
12, 12, 14) sts onto a stitch holder
(or thread onto a length of scrap
yarn that you can tie closed; rep
from * once.
Photos by Charles Voth

This pattern has only 2 rounds with bobbles and they are staggered to
create some visual interest. The intense blues and grays of this colorway
are so attractive.
When joining colors for the sleeves, you may need to look further into
the skein for the right color to make a less jarring transition.
Body
Rnd 1: *Knit to sts on scrap yarn cast-on, pick up
and knit a st in the gap between the sts on
the scrap yarn cast-on and the RH needle, pm,
knit across next 4 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5) sts, pm, pick
up and knit a st in the gap between the sts on
the scrap yarn cast-on and the LH needle; rep
from * once–42 (46, 52, 56, 58, 60) sts.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rnd 3: *Knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, rm, knit to
next marker, rm, k2tog; rep from * once–38
(42, 48, 52, 54, 56) sts.
Knit even until work measures approximately 5¾
(7, 8½, 10¼, 11, 12)” from cast-on at center front or
back.
Ribbing
Rnd 1: With smaller needles, [k1, p1] around.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rep last 2 rows 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3) times more. Cast off with
larger needle.
Sleeves (work in both arm openings)
Set-up round: Return 7 (9, 11, 12, 12, 14) sts on
holder to needle. Take scrap yarn off provisional
cast-on at underarm and place sts on larger needle.
Join yarn and knit across underarm stitches, pick up
and knit a st between underarm and sleeve sts, knit
around to next gap, pick up and knit a st between
sleeve sts and underarm sts–12 (14, 16, 18, 18, 20) sts.
Rnds 1–2: Knit.
Rnd 3: K2, k2tog, knit around–11 (13, 15, 17, 17, 19) sts.
Knit plain until sleeve measures 5¾ (7¼, 9½, 11, 12,
13¾)” from cast-on edge at collar.
Next Rnd: Knit 1 round, decreasing 1 (1, 1, 3, 3, 3) sts
evenly around–10 (12, 14, 14, 14, 16) sts.
Work Ribbing as for Body. Cast off with larger
needle.
Weave in all ends and lightly steam block.
TIP For less prominent bobble, work 2 chains
instead of 3.
I hope you give this adorable sweater a try, or at
least try this cast-on or these bobbles if they are
new to you. What kind of projects do you like to
knit with Premier Yarns Toy Box?
This yarn is so soft that it can be worn next to the skin. For this
reason, these sweaters are not super loose and bulky.
Charles Voth
twitter.com/stitchstud
charlesvothdesigns.ca
KNITmuch | issue 6
13

Bella CashCharles Voth
Bella Cash, an affordable yet extremely lavish
yarn knits up into soft and warm fabric.
I have the pleasure, and believe
me, it’s definitely a pleasure, to knit
with Bella Cash.
This sport weight yarn is very
sturdy, yet extremely soft. It’s
a blend of 60% merino wool,
30% nylon, and 10% luxurious
cashmere. It has a beautiful
drape, and yet, it’s not at all
flimsy. I have been knitting it on
size 5 [3.75mm] needles, but I
would use smaller needles for a
slightly denser fabric that would
still be soft and drapey. With
slightly larger needles, like size 6
[4mm] Bella Cash would make a
stunning knit lace.
Bella Cash comes in 17 classic
shades that remind me of
the hand-knit sweaters of the
decades between the two world
wars. Muted, but not understated,
these colors don’t shout gaudy
luxury. Instead, they calmly and
succinctly state that this yarn
is luxurious without pomp or
ceremony.
As per usual, these color cards
are an approximate rendering of
the color of the yarn and will look
different on each screen or digital
device. Visit your local yarn store
for a true idea of the beauty of
these classic colors.
14 KNITmuch | issue 6
I'm swatching with Bella Cash yarn in (l-r)
Ice, Blush, and Graphite.
If you can take a white and mute
it, that’s what the color designers
have done with snow and cream,
the two whites in Bella Cash’s
palette. And the black is called
ebony, another nod to a precious
and rare commodity. However,
this yarn doesn’t come with the
same price tag as one would
expect. I have rarely purchased
cashmere yarn, because the
versions that I’ve seen in the past
were beyond my budget, but
this yarn, with a yardage of 230
yards per 50g, is entirely within my
definition of an affordable special
yarn. I’ve seen inferior merino/
nylon blends that cost the same,
and I’ve even seen 100% acrylic
sold for a similar price.
Bella Cash is spun from fine
merino wool, nylon, and
cashmere. Cashmere is one
of those fibers which, even in
as small an amount as 10%
cashmere, creates a yarn that
is soft and cushiony, while still
maintaining its integrity.
This photo doesn’t fully capture the soft
drape of Bella Cash yarn when it’s knit up.
In other words, Bella Cash
doesn’t pill or fall apart. The
nylon is there to strengthen the
merino’s more delicate nature
and to lower the overall cost of
the yarn.
My background in linguistics
had me curious about the name
Bella Cash. Bella is Italian or
Spanish and it comes from its
Latin root “bellus”, which means
fair, beautiful, or fine, which
this yarn definitely is. Now, I
realize that “Cash” is a short
form of cashmere, but it’s also
a play on words with regard
to the high value of this luxury
fiber. The word “cash” comes
from the Latin “capsa” which
means box. The association
with money comes from the
use of the money box, as in the
French “caisse” or the Italian
“cassa” which means “money in
hand” or “coin”. Bella Cash is the
perfect name for this yarn as it
captures its value and beauty.
16 of the 20 colors of Bella Cash, it’s up to you to imagine the ebony black, the white, and the 2
new colors that were recently added.

3 things to consider
when substituting yarns
Yarn label information from the Universal Yarn website shows fiber
composition, recommended needle sizes, and suggested gauge.
Yarn substitution is a bit of a fine art. We’ll look at
how best to substitute yarn so that you can use
Bella Cash in your favorite sport weight yarn pattern
or find a really good pattern to match.
I covered the pros and cons of knitting with Bella
Cash, well, pros mostly. I did some clicking around
looking for patterns to knit up with this luxurious yet
affordable yarn. Bella Cash is a new yarn in the market
and there really aren’t a lot of patterns for it yet.
It’s a remarkable pattern because it’s reversible. The
zigzag lace stitch pattern looks great on both sides
and you can even add buttons to both sides of the
brim. It takes only 1 ball, making it a great way to try
out Bella Cash.
But let’s say that you want more than a hat. You
do a search for a #2 sport-weight yarn on Ravelry
for an item that you want to knit and you find
hundreds, if not thousands, of designs to choose
from. Ravelry is great because most pattern
listings give yardage and weight. You can also
use the advanced search option to narrow your
search down to fiber type, and needle size, and
gauge, too.
These are all important factors when choosing
which yarn you want to substitute with another. It’s
so nice to have this information at our fingertips!
This zigzag lace hat out of Bella Cash is completely reversible, and the
pattern is free!
Fiber content and twist are important factors when substituting. yarns
Photos by Charles Voth
KNITmuch | issue 6
15

When I worked in a yarn store 30 years ago, all
we had was the weight of the yarn in balls and the
gauge in the pattern. We could find fiber content
on the labels, but at that time only half of the
companies listed yards or meters on the ball bands,
and, if you didn’t have the distributor’s catalogue,
there was no way of knowing what yardage was. If a
pattern called for 500g of worsted weight yarn, we
would sell 500g of worsted weight yarn. We tried to
convince the customers that an extra skein or ball
was a good idea, because we knew yardage varied,
but we had little to go by.
I’ve learned so much more since those days!
First, yards per ounce or meters per gram is a very
important number in yarn substitution. Check that
first! Always.
The next consideration is the fiber content. Different
fibers have different mass. Man-made fibers are
generally lighter than wool and cotton, but not
necessarily all natural fibers. This will affect the
weight and ultimately the yardage. Fiber content
also affects drape and elasticity and memory. Will
gravity pull on a nylon-wool blend as much as on
a cotton-acrylic blend? Probably not. Try to get a
similar ratio of the different kinds of fiber content.
The next thing to consider is twist. Does the original
yarn have a single-ply, 2-ply, or 4-ply construction? Is
the yarn tightly or loosely twisted? Is it dense or lofty?
Each of these factors will affect how the stitches look–
crisp and pronounced or fuzzy and blended–and
how it drapes. Where possible, try to find a substitute
that has similar twist and number of plies.
Color is, of course, somewhat important, but more
in the case of ombre, variegated, or gradient yarns.
Because Bella Cash all comes in solid colors, this
consideration doesn’t apply here. I usually leave
color out of the mix because it’s nearly impossible
to find a decent match, even with solids.
Yarn thickness is another issue. Bella Cash has a
range of suggested needle sizes and stitch gauges,
so it’s apparent that the final look of the knit fabric
will be very dependent on your knitting tension and
needle choice.
As with any other project, it’s crucial to swatch
to make sure you like the look of the fabric – if
it’s close “enough” or really a good match. I
recommend a 8″ x 8” or larger swatch however, as
drape really is hard to render in a little 4″ x 4” block.
This single ply wool yarn is also a fingering weight, but it’s lack of twist
and fuzz halo will naturally knit up quite differently than Bella Cash,
even if the gauge is the same.
If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a great (new-tome)
website called Yarnsub.com. It has a remarkable
collection of yarn substitution options. It not only
compares yarns similarly to the way I mention
above, it also provides a ball-park price comparison.
The folks at Yarnsub.com also compare the put-ups
of the different yarns, so you can avoid buying ten
50g skeins when you needed ten 100g skeins.
The merino silk (top-left) has a looser twist, but knits more densely
because of the fiber content. Bella Cash has nylon which, with the
merino content, makes Bella Cash a loftier, and therefore lighter, yarn.
16 KNITmuch | issue 6

So until designers publish some yarn-specific
patterns for Bella Cash, you can look it up on
Yarnsub and find a close substitute. You can also
look up Bella Cash on Ravelry and see what
patterns people have made with it, or find designs
that are specific to that yarn. Then you can check
the gauge instructions, knit a test swatch, and
you’re off to make a lovely knit out of a cashmere
merino and nylon blend yarn, at a fraction of the
cost of 100% cashmere.
What I learned about
Brioche knitting
I’m learning so much about different techniques,
one of them being Brioche knitting. Before I jump
into that, I prepared a plain stockinette swatch so
you can see the lovely Bella Cash in her simple
beauty. (I normally don’t personify yarn, but with a
name like Bella, who can fault me?)
The lavender yarn on the left is a hemp, cotton, and cashmere blend.
The sheer number of plies will make the knit fabric look different. In
addition, the hemp yarn has no elasticity and every slight change in
tension will be visible.
shape. Perhaps if I had blocked this swatch more
aggressively (wet blocking rather than a bit of
steam), I might have been able to hide this better.
Still, Bella Cash isn’t a wilting flower…even after
being re-knit so many times, much of the swatch
looks fine.
I also switched from wood needles to metal needles
half-way through the swatch. You can definitely see
the shift in tension where that happens…note to
self…get rid of those 20-year old bamboo needles.
The patina on them is sticky now.
A stockinette stitch swatch in “blush” Bella Cash
I knit this swatch after I had knit some of the other
ones in this feature. To make this swatch, I frogged
the other swatches – I re-knit this yarn 4 times! I
think, in part, this is the cause for the unevenness
in my stitches…at least, to some degree. In the top
left of the photo about ⅓ of the way down from
the top, you may notice that some of my stitches
seem to be made out of thinner yarn than the
rest. I can’t blame this on the yarn: I think after
knitting and frogging so many times I actually
may have stretched segments of the yarn out of
My rough attempt at Brioche stitch taught me much. I began (at the
bottom) with two-color rib, then went into corrugated rib, and upward
to Brioche.
KNITmuch | issue 6
17

Now, to the Brioche swatch. It’s only 1 swatch… and
at least the Bella Cash is pretty!
As I describe the different sections of this swatch, I’ll
share some wisdom I gleaned from this swatch, and
what I would do differently next time.
The cast on was fine. I tied the 2 colors together
into a slip knot and placed it on my 2 needles
held together. I used the Old Norwegian cast on,
alternating the colors used for the loop and the
securing strands underneath the needle. Then, I
did several rows of 2-color ribbing where I bought
both yarns forward for the purl stitches even
though I only used the one color to purl. I knew
this wasn’t Brioche, but I wanted to see if it would
work as a good edging. I really like how it looks
and it does complement the Brioche, but it doesn’t
have the fullness of Brioche, so it definitely cinched
in the fabric.
At this point, I had frogged my swatch 3 times
because I hadn’t gotten the right cast-on and I
didn’t like the effect when I jumped right into the
Brioche. On top of this, I had used needles that
were too big, and I wasn’t going to frog again.
However, I did want to try a different 2-color ribbing,
so in the middle of the swatch I tried corrugated
ribbing. In these rows, I only brought the purl stitch
color forward to purl and then returned it to the
back as a float when I worked the knit stitches. On
the reverse side, you can see the floats. Corrugated
ribbing has definite right and wrong sides. This
defeats the reversible feature of Brioche, so using
corrugated ribbing was out.
Next, I went into the Brioche section. What I’ve
noticed with Brioche is that, in some cases, the light
color pops out more when it’s the knit stitch side
than the dark, and in other cases the dark color
pops more. I really have no idea why this is the case,
as I’d think that the light color would always pop.
Perhaps it’s the saturation of the hue that matters.
At any rate, in my swatch the pink yarn is shouting
the loudest.
The charcoal gray Bella Cash stands out on the the wrong side of a
brioche swatch with the corrugated ribbing showing.
I was a bit overambitious with this swatch. First, I still
think the needle size I used was too large and that
it made the stitches uneven. Second, I tried onepass
2-color Brioche. Normally with Brioche, you
knit on double-pointed needles or a circular needle
so that you can knit the first pass in one color, then
the second pass with the other. I learned the 2-pass
approach from Very Pink, a helpful video. Thanks to
podcaster Nathan Taylor (Sockmatician), I was able
to jump past the 2-pass system and try one pass.
I do love the 1-pass approach even more, but for
my first attempt (well, officially my 3rd, as I frogged
the first 2), my tension is very uneven. I did a lot of
experimenting with various knitting styles. I tried
combination knitting purl, the Norwegian purl, and
the continental purl, which I think contributed to the
lack of consistency in my swatch. Again, I can’t fault
Bella Cash for this!
The charcoal gray Bella Cash stands out on the the wrong side of a
brioche swatch with the corrugated ribbing showing.
The softness and fineness of Bella Cash really does look great in
stockinette stitch.
Lastly, perhaps, a sport weight yarn, wasn’t the best
yarn to use to learn Brioche, either. I should have
tried something less delicate. I was just so taken
with the gray and pink combination of these Bella
Cash yarns and pushed on. Maybe when I’m a bit
more experienced at Brioche, this will work better.
18 KNITmuch | issue 6

What happens when you knit in the stitch below?
So as I say “Don’t call me, I’ll call
you” to my Brioche knitting effort,
but I gladly say “Hello” to knitting
in the stitch that follows! This
technique involves either purling
or knitting into the stitch one row
below the row you’re working on.
When a new stitch is formed via
knitting through the stitch in the
row below, it basically “unravels”
the stitch that was on the left
needle. Both the lower stitch and
the loop of the stitch on the left
needle come up and around the
new stitch.
These 2 grays are a perfect contrast for
knitting in the stitch below.
If you were to knit 1 below across
a whole row, you would basically
unravel it and have a complete
mess, but by deliberately
selecting certain stitches to knit
below, you can develop a lovely
sequence of texture. I think that
this technique looks nicest in
more than one color, so, since I
have these 2 lovely grays and the
pale rose of Bella Cash blush, I
can tuck in.
You only have to use 1 color per row, but
by knitting in the stitch below with multiple
colors, you get this lovely effect.
You can see I tried several
different approaches in this
swatch, using the 3 colors and
different sequences of knit 1
below stitches. In the part that
curled up, I knit 1 below every
other stitch and knit the others,
then purled across with a third
color, carrying the first one. It
really didn’t look right, even
though the section that it is
curled up is kind of nice. You’re
not missing anything.
In the middle section – the one I
like the most – I did the following
over an even number of stitches.
Row 1: [With color 1, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 2: [With color 2, p1 below;
p1] across.
Row 3: [With color 3, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 4: [With color 1, p1 below;
p1] across.
Row 5: [With color 2, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 6: [With color 3, p1 below;
p1] across.
Repeat these 6 rows for the
pattern.
A close-up of the middle section of my
swatch shows how altering the “worked in
the row below” stitches creates this diagonal
shift in the colors.
Next, I tried the following, but it
really wasn’t all that appealing
to me.
Row 1: [With color 1, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 2: [With color 2, p1 below;
p1] across.
Row 3: With color 3, knit across.
Row 4: [With color 1, p1 below;
p1] across.
Row 5: [With color 2, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 6: With color 3, purl across.
So I quickly changed it to this.
Row 1: [With color 1, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 2: With color 2, purl across.
Row 3: [With color 3, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 4: With color 1, purl across.
Row 5: [With color 2, k1 below;
k1] across.
Row 6: With color 3, purl across.
KNITmuch | issue 6
19

Two variations of the knit 1 below stitch make
different colors stand out.
Bella Cash yarn
makes knit textures sing!
The contrast between the light and dark
colors creates a stacked bead motif or a
honeycomb look on the “wrong” side of the
work. There’s no reason you couldn’t make it
the “right” side!
And now we’ll stick with one color, with a focus on knitting textured
patterns with this lovely wool-nylon-cashmere blend.
The reverse side of this swatch
is also very appealing to me. It’s
a neat and tidy display of what I
call yarn hugs. The contrasting
strands of one color reach up
and hold on to the loops of the
next color used. It reminds me
of a circle of cut-out paper dolls
holding hands.
If you’d like to learn a whole
lot more about Knit One Below,
there is a book by that title
written by Elise Duvekot which
has loads of information about
technique and many lovely
patterns on which to practice.
This shawl is still a design in
progress. I haven’t got it looking
quite the way I’d like, but I can
use this piece to show how Bella
Cash does so well with texture.
The flame-like motifs or the ones
that remind me of the peaks of
meringue on a lemon pie, or a
swirl of soft-serve ice cream are
made with a ribbing that has
twisted knit stitches on one side
and twisted purl stitches on the
return rows. Some yarns that are
worked in a twisted rib become
taut and stiff. Not Bella Cash: it’s
still as soft as ever, yet structurally,
it holds up quite well.
Twisted stitches, lace eyelets and garter stitch all look amazing in Bella Cash.
In this swatch, you can see that I’ve used some garter stitch, some
ribbing, some lace stitches and some picots to test Bella Cash’s ability
to make texture pop. It doesn’t disappoint.
Bella Cash stays soft and pliable even in
twisted ribbing
20 KNITmuch | issue 6

The garter stitch sections of this swatch are super
cushiony, very squooshy. It’s so hard not to make up
adjectives that describe how soft these garter stitch
triangles are. The stitches are even, and the amount
of twist in this yarn really makes it easy to get even
tension.
The yarn-over eyelets and the open stitches that
aren’t twisted also hold their own in this yarn. They
frame the columns of twisted stitches nicely and,
when necessary, close up to bring the flame motifs
to a point.
As a crocheter, I find knitting picot tips so much
more work than crocheting them, but I try not to
shy away from a challenge, so here, too, I dug in all
the way. I worked some purl-stitch picots along the
edge of this swatch and feel a little ho-hum about
them. I think I need to find a Pinterest board that
just has picot edgings!
Thanks for joining me as we looked at Bella Cash
yarn, and how to substitute it for either an inferior
or too pricey yarn, how not to knit Brioche, how to
knit 1 below, and how Bella Cash beautifully shows
off textured stitches.
Charles Voth
twitter.com/stitchstud
charlesvothdesigns.ca
Garter stitch wedges are used to create the increases for this shawl pattern.
The picots on the edge of this sample are made with a multiple
increase and then a purl bind off.
KNITmuch | issue 6
21

With Love Stripes
Michelle Nguyen
With Love Stripes, the very NEW yarn from Red Heart – so much to
explore with this self-striping yarn!
This little baby looks like she’s enjoying her blanket. It’s made
from the colorway Candy Stripe.
I’m very impressed with the VERY
NEW Red Heart’s striped pattern
repertoire. On With Love Stripes
page, there are already several
striped patterns linked directly
to the yarn, but when you’re first
working with self-striping yarns, it
can be confusing and you’re really
not sure where to start. Score one
for Red Heart because they’ve
already got so many patterns
ready to go for you. The first one
I’ll go over with you is the Self-
Striping Baby Blanket.
When I first unboxed this yarn, I
was thinking to myself that the
color repeats couldn’t be that
long, that they’d be best for
socks. Really thick socks at that,
but what else could I make with
them?
Here's a
closeup of
the pattern
and boarder.
It’s easy to
memorize.
I’m no longer skeptical about
these striped skeins because
when I actually did measure the
length of the yarn in the repeat
it was 27”. This blanket calls for
118 stitches to be cast on and the
final measurements are 36” x 38”.
That’s a crib blanket, there’s no
way around it. I can’t believe the
stripe pattern is still happening
at that length, but it makes
complete sense to have the
pattern repeats that long.
There will be many happy baby
blanket knitters out there!
22 KNITmuch | issue 6
Photos by Michelle Nguyen

The pattern itself is a simple one, easy to memorize.
There are really only two rows of pattern and the
other ten are variations on stockinette and garter
stitch. It adds texture around the pattern rows and
a garter stitch boarder. With this pattern you’ll
be zipping away in no time. If you’re not one for
patterns, you can simply use the shell of this pattern
for your own baby blanket. Cast on 118 stitches and
do five rows of a garter stitch boarder (to prevent
curling) and head off into stockinette oblivion. You’ll
get the same nice slim stripes as you see in the
pattern, but with a stockinette finish. Don’t forget to
do your garter stitch boarder as you go and at the
very end of your blanket.
This is an excellent pattern to start sharpening your
appetite for stripes. If you don’t currently have any
babies to knit for, or any on the way, you can always
knit this up and put it in the future gift pile. There’s
no harm being prepared and you never know when
you’ll need an unexpected baby shower gift.
This baby is accessorizing her stripes and wardrobe. She takes a color
from the blanket and uses that to accentuate the look the stripes already
initiate.
The NEW With Love Stripes yarn
takes the ‘work’ out of ‘color work’
I noticed the Color Block Hat
when scrolling through the other
With Love patterns on the Red
Heart website. I was looking
for something that would lend
itself well to being knit with self
striping yarn and thought this
was the perfect opportunity to
show how the colors look when
you’re decreasing.
The NEW With Love Stripes yarn takes the
guess work out of knitting stripes.
As I you decrease and change
the circumference of your
garment, you’re going to change
the nature of your stripes. Since
you’re decreasing, the amount
of stitches, your stripes will get
thicker. Until you just have a solid
circle of color at the crown.
If this look really bothers you,
put a pompom on the top! I
really like the neat look of the
decreases on the crown of a hat,
but not everyone likes the same
thing. Usually if my finishing is
messy, I’ll pop a pompom on the
top of a hat, but that just stays
between us right?
The way the colors worked out looks as
though it was meant to be. The decreasing
was very quick so there was not a long
stretch of knitting at a different gauge.
The top of my hat. Here's another angle on
the stripes at the top of the hat, and the
reason there are so many pompom’s on the
hats I make.
KNITmuch | issue 6
23

The colors starting to form their stripes along the brim of the hat. The
ribbing makes the stripe work look subtly different.
Another thing you want to be mindful of, when
you’re casting on, is the amount of yarn you’re
using (if you’re using a long tailed cast on). I know
I pulled out a lot of extra yarn to ensure I didn’t
run out, as a result, I have a half stripe around the
ribbing of the hat. It’s difficult to tell with the ribbing,
but I felt like I wasted a lot of yarn and that stripe
was not as full as it should have been.
This hat is the perfect pattern to go with self-striping
yarn. It’s plain and easy, you just knit in stockinette
stitch and the yarn does the work for you. Can
you imagine trying to knit this with color work? It
would have taken some time to weave in all the
ends, switch up yarn, not get it tangled, try to find
the color you were just using because it happens to
have run off somewhere. Overall it’s just a cleaner
and much simpler process.
Take all the ‘work’ out of ‘color work’ with With Love
Stripes. There will be no more fighting multiple balls
of yarn or getting everything hopelessly tangled.
You can add interest to your knitting without the
extra fuss.
The finished product! The stripes look great in this hat pattern!
Michelle Nguyen
stitchesbeslippin.com
24 KNITmuch | issue 6
The Color Block Hat

The qualities and benefits of knitting
with Red Heart Soft yarn
Michelle Nguyen
Soft yarn in the colors Chocolate, Biscuit, and
Sea Foam.
The lovely colors Biscuit, Leaf and Sea Foam.
The range of high quality
yarn produced by Red Heart
is impressive and Soft is no
exception. Made from 100%
acrylic, it has 256yd [234m]
in one ball. My favorite care
instructions: machine wash and
dry. Now, let’s really get into the
meat of this yarn.
Soft yarn by Red Heart has a
little bit of a sheen to it. Nothing
overly sparkly or anything, but a
soft glow. I really love this effect;
if you’re knitting a garment in
a solid color, it adds a lot of
depth to it. Even in the ball, the
light highlights off the skein and
makes it seem lighter in some
places and darker in others.
Soft yarn is perfect for making
a simple pattern in a plain color
look more sophisticated. The
way the light bounces off the
yarn makes it look a little bit
fancier with no additional work
needed. I have mentioned
before about using the right
yarn for the right project. If
your yarn is 'busy', use a plain
pattern, if your yarn is plain
use a textured pattern. I really
think this yarn is an exception to
that rule because in all senses
of the word, this is a plain yarn,
but it does well in either a
plain pattern or a busy one. It
accentuates any stitches very
well, even the stockinette stitch.
From bottom to top, stockinette, seed stitch,
and eyelettes. All these stitches look fabulous
in this yarn.
The yarn really lives up to its
name and is very soft. As I sit
here fondling Red Heart’s Soft
yarn, there are no bumps or
imperfections on the surface. Since
this yarn has so much depth, I
expected it to be a little stiffer, but
it’s very relaxed and fluid.
A close up on the eyelets without the doubled
up fabric
KNITmuch | issue 6
25

Soft yarn in the colors Cinnabar, Chocolate, Biscuit, and Sea Foam.
This is a perfect yarn for working on a garment
where you don’t want a lot of stretch. I’ve tripped
over that pitfall when working on market bags.
You knit something up perfectly, but once you put
anything into it, the bag stretches down to the
floor. I’d say if you were knitting any garments you
wanted a bit of stretch in (a hat brim, fingerless
mittens, etc.) I’d use a German Twisted Cast On, to
add more stretch where you need it.
In summary, I don’t think there’s a project you
couldn’t knit with Soft yarn. It lends itself very well
to most things. Unless you’re looking for something
to make an intentionally itchy sweater or some kind
of hair shirt, you’re going to be pleased with your
finished object knit up with Soft yarn!
Knitting the Two-Point Hat pattern with Soft yarn
The pattern I chose to go over with you using Soft
yarn by Red Heart is the Two-Pointed Hat pattern. I
think this pattern has an interesting shape and there’s
space to play with the techniques if you wanted to
color outside the lines a little bit. It’s also a quick hat
to make for kids, and because of that, can be knit up
in several colors for their several outfits.
I’m going over the Two-Pointed Hat pattern
instructions first, because I had to read it a couple
times in order to understand what was happening.
The instructions are clear, but I was starting from a
point where I thought I knew how it was going to
be knit. I was completely wrong and couldn’t get
out of that head-space to understand what the
instructions were actually telling me! This hat is
knit flat and folded in half. You’re knitting the brim,
then stockinette up and over the head and knit the
second half of the brim on the other end or side.
Then simply seam up the sides. The fold line is at
the top of the hat.
Red Heart’s Two-Pointed Hat. Click through for the free pattern.
26 KNITmuch | issue 6

The completed version of the Two-Pointed
Hat laying flat.
If you’re like me and want to
avoid seaming at all costs, you
can knit it in the round. The
amount of stitches called for is
half the circumference of the
head, so ensure to double the
amount of stitches you’re casting
on. After casting on, immediately
join into the round and follow
the instructions from there. The
hat says to knit until it’s 13½”
(15½”, 17½”) from the cast on,
then work the 1½” brim. In total
the hat, when knit flat, would be
16” (18”, 20”) long. You don’t want
to knit it that long because we’re
not folding it in half anymore.
You’re going to knit up until the
half point, so knit until your hat in
the round reaches 8” (9”, 10”).
The Two-Pointed Hat in the color Deep Sea
I know the pattern says to seam
the sides and if you’re following
along at home, you’re likely
going to realize there’s an open
top that needs to be closed.
I’m not going back to seaming
though! I have a passionate
love of the Kitchener stitch, so
don’t bind off the top when
you get there. Simply split your
stitches onto two needles or two
halves of a circular needle. Then
Kitchener stitch that bad boy up!
The top of the hat is going to be
closed and you’re two points will
be in place!
If Deep Sea is too dark for your tastes, check
out Sea Foam (top). The other two colors
Biscuit and Chocolate.
This is the perfect opportunity to
bring up ‘reading your knitting’.
When I cast this project on, I
didn’t realize I was supposed to
be folding it from the top down,
I thought I was folding it side to
side. Looking at the amount of
stitches I cast on, I knew it was
going to be way too small. Even
the adult size looked like it might
be a newborn size, if I were lucky.
I doubled the stitches because
I 'guesstimated' that would be
around the right size. Only after
I was almost done the hat did
I realize I did need to double
the stitches. I was wrong about
doubling the stitches.
By looking at my knitting
(or reading it) I was able to
determine that I had a problem
early on in this project.
While you’re knitting, don’t just
blindly follow the instructions,
read instructions all the way
through before starting the
cast on. Use your judgement
and avoid continuing to knit a
garment that you may have to
rip out later!
I’m a big fan of trusting your
intuition while knitting. If you’re
looking at a garment and
thinking it looks much too large
or small, then it very well may be.
Take another look at your pattern,
your gauge, your yarn. Make
sure nothing has changed and
your math is correct.
In this case, try one hat in the
round and one knit flat, let me
know which one you like more!
Soft yarn is an excellent yarn for
knitting just about everything
for its softness and sheen, but
particularly for hats, which
are worn on our heads. Stitch
definition is excellent, so using
even the most complex stitch
patterns is recommended.
Michelle Nguyen
stitchesbeslippin.com
KNITmuch | issue 6
27

Non-allergenic shawls and socks with Allegro
Charles Voth
We’re looking at a yarn by Wisdom
Yarns that is truly the answer to the
question, “can I make non-allergenic,
non-wool socks that stay up on my
legs?” Allegro, Italian for merry
and cheerful, it will have your toes
singing!
3 of the 6 colorways of Allegro: Sea Rhythm,
Apricot Air, and Night Waltz
Each ball of this yarn has 470yds
and 100g. That’s a generous amount
of yardage, and enough to make
men’s socks of decent length, and
women’s socks that reach midcalf.
It comes in 6 colorways. Each
is named with a type of musical
composition from classical music,
like the yarn itself.
The way the colorists dyed this
yarn is musical on its own. There
are segments that are semi-solid
and create stripes in socks, which
are divided by other sections of
speckled yarn that looks like notes
on a music score. For those who
are musically inclined, imagine the
semi-solid sections like a full sound
with many instruments each adding
to the richness of the music, but in
this case it’s the saturation of color.
The speckled parts are like the
soloists highlighting the themes of
the melody.
If you’ve ever knit with man-made
or plant-based fibers to avoid
wool or animal fibers because
of allergies or vegan values, you
know that cotton and bamboo and
other types of rayon, and acrylic
all leave something to be desired
in sock yarn because there is little
stretch or memory in most other
yarns out there on the market.
Allegro contains both acrylic and
PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate),
a substance something like Lycra
that’s used in thread to manufacture
aquatic garments and sportswear.
The PBT gives an amazing amount
of both stretch and memory to the
yarn. After tugging on it to get it
past your heels, you’ll find that it
bounces right back into place and
stays up on your calves. The label
says it can be washed in warm water
and tumble dried.
Garter stitch evenly distributes the colors of
this Allegro colorway called Grape Sonata.
Sock knitters often complain
about color pooling in variegated
and dip-dyed yarns. Color
pooling is the unintentional
appearance of areas with one
color concentration. It may
look blotchy or spotty, and not
everyone likes it. Some people try
many tricks like knitting socks with
2 balls of yarn at the same time,
changing the yarn every round or
so to interrupt the pooling. Other
people use textured patterns to
“disrupt” the patchiness.
Allegro in Grape Sonata creates a melody of
stripes and speckles.
The Allegro yarn I'm talking about
here has been dyed to be a selfstriping
yarn, but there are not
only stripes. There are variegated
segments that break up the
stripes with a more mottled look.
There’s a free basic sock pattern
which is ideal for the yarn and
highlights its colorways and dye
patterns.
28
KNITmuch | issue 6
Photos courtesy of Wisdom Yarns

29

Knit a shawlette with
non-allergenic yarn
Knit this easy scarf with scalloped edges with 1
ball of Allegro.
Detail of the scalloped edges knit with short
rows, showing how the colors concentrate
Eyelets are formed beside the scallops where
there are multiple increases in one stitch
Every scallop looks different, drawing attention
to the different colors of the variegated yarn.
Charles Voth
twitter.com/stitchstud
charlesvothdesigns.ca
30 KNITmuch | issue 6
Non-allergenic yarns are excellent
for those with a vegan outlook or
who are allergic to wool. So far we
looked at using i-cords as a design
feature. Let's move to an easier
project that you can knit in about 6
to 10 hours.
I knit the shawlette on the left.
Well, actually, I designed it and
my wife knit it, with one skein
of Allegro, in the Grape Sonata
colorway.
The skills that you need to knit
this shawlette include garter
stitch, familiarity with picking
up and knitting in the sides of
knit fabric, and really easy short
rows. The combination of these
techniques end up with this
oblique triangular shape that
form scalloped edges. Across
the straight edge the shawlette
is 46” long and the depth of the
triangle to the point is 13”.
Pattern Notes
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise
with yarn in front.
Abbreviations
St(s): stitch(es)
K: knit
Yfwd: yarn forward
Sl: slip stitch
Instructions
Cast on 6 sts.
Row 1: Sl 1, K5.
Row 2: Sl 1, K4, yfwd, k1–7 sts
Row 3: Sl 1, K6.
Row 4: Sl 1, knit to last st, yfwd, k1.
Row 5: Sl 1, knit across.
Rows 6-13: Rep Rows 4 & 5.
Row 14: Sl 1, knit to last st, yfwd,
k1, pick up and knit 1 st in
each of 6 eyelets across
edge of shawl.
Row 15: Sl 1, knit 6, (yfwd, k1) 3
times in next st, knit to last
st, yfwd, k1.
Row 16: Sl 1, knit across.
Row 17: Sl 1, k11, turn, leaving
rem sts unworked.
Row 18: Sl 1, knit across.
Row 19: Sl 1, k10, turn, leaving
rem sts unworked.
Row 20: Sl 1, knit across.
Odd Rows 21-29: Sl 1, knit 1
less than previous row as
established a, turn, leaving
rem sts unworked.
Even rows 22-30: Sl 1, knit across.
Row 31: Sl 1, k5, k7 tbl, knit to
last st, yfwd, k1.
Row 32: Sl 1, knit.
Repeat rows 6-32 until there are
approximately 2 yards of yarn left.
Bind off purlwise.
Give this lovely shawlette as a
holiday gift to that vegan loved
one and they’ll enjoy its squishy
softness for years!
Photos by Charles Voth

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31

A small garter stitch swatch
First stitch of cable cast on
How to knit on
an I-cord edging
A couple pairs of socks and a shawl later, I thought
how fun it would be to have a different sort of
edging along the top of a sock or the length of
a shawl. I’ll demonstrate how to make an i-cord
edging with 2 of these yarns.
I’ve knit a little garter stitch swatch in the and
added on an I-cord edging.
I-cord is the termed coined by knitter
extraordinaire, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and it means
idiot-cord, named as such because she used these
to attach pairs of mittens to each other. Thus, any
idiot would be prevented from losing one of their
hand-made mittens.
Placing the cable cast on stitch back onto the left needle
These four stitches will make the i-cord edging
32 KNITmuch | issue 6
If you have ever knit with a French knitting loom,
or done spool knitting, with 4 or 5 nails inserted
around the hole of a wooden thread spool, you’ve
made an I-cord. At least, the wooden spool was my
first exposure to the i-cord. My dad made me one
when I was 5. Nowadays, you can find i-cord looms
with little cranks that make it possible to churn out
yards of i-cord painlessly. Perfect if you want to
wrap the i-cord into a coil and stitch it together to
make a flat round or oval item.
But if you made an i-cord on its own, it would
certainly be quite tedious to try to sew it on as an
edging to knitting, so I propose this knitted-on
version. You’ll need 2 double-pointed needles to
achieve this edging.
The first step is to use the cable cast on to add 4
stitches to the current swatch. To do this, insert the
needle between the first and second stitches on the
left-hand needle and knit up a loop, twist the right
needle so that you can return the new loop to the
left needle. Then repeat this 3 more times.
Photos by Charles Voth

The next stage is to knit the first 3
stitches of the i-cord, and then knit
the next 2 together through the
back loops, joining the cable cast
on to the body of the swatch. Some
people prefer to slip the third stitch,
knit the fourth and pass the slipped
stitch over. Then slide the 4 stitches
to the opposite end of the needle,
converting it to a left-hand needle.
Knit the first 3 stitches and work
the 4th and 5th together in your
preferred manner.
If you knit 1 round of i-cord for each
stitch that is on the needle, you may
end up with a buckle in the fabric.
When picking up stitches along a
stockinette stitch edge, we usually
don’t pick up a stitch for every
row either, because stitch gauge
and row gauge aren’t symmetrical.
Many knitting books and designers
recommend picking up 3 sts for
every 4 rows of stockinette. In the
case of the i-cord, it is essentially a
little tube of stockinette stitch, so this
would also mean that the number
of rounds on the i-cord would not
correspond exactly to the number
of stitches along the edge we are
knitting on to. To solve this, we knit
3 rounds of i-cord, and join to 3
stitches, and then work one round
on the i-cord where 4 stitches were
knit and slide them back to the other
end of the double-pointed needle
without a join. This is how to avoid a
curved or buckling i-cord edging.
I went exploring a little further with
this i-cord edging and tried to go
around a corner. I’m not thrilled
with how it turned out, so I need to
experiment a bit more before I give
you any tips on how to achieve a
nice corner.
Knitting the 4th stitch together with the first stitch from the main work.
Knit 1 plain round every 4th row to avoid buckling or flaring.
Finished i-cord edging from the right side
My first messy attempt at working the i-cord edging around a corner
Finished i-cord edging on the wrong side of the fabric
KNITmuch | issue 6
33

Using a knit i-cord as a
cast-on technique
Allegro a non-allergenic yarn, in our exploration of
I-cord, in this case, how to use it for casting on.
When i-cord is used as a cast-on edge the result is a neat finish.
I showed you how to knit on an i-cord edging to
existing stitches. But looking at the above photo,
you really wouldn’t be able to tell for sure whether I
knit this blue-and-green i-cord onto the red garter
stitch, but I’ll tell you that I didn’t.
Instead, I made the i-cord first, and then with the
bright red, I added the stitches of the main part of
the swatch.
To do this, you need to look carefully at the stitches
in the I-cord and decide whether you want to use
the upper strand of a horizontal stockinette V-stitch
or the lower, and then you need to be consistent as
you work along the I-cord, always lifting the same
strand of the “V”.
How long should you make your i-cord cast on?
Well, you’ll need to do a bit of math. First, divide the
number of stitches required for your knit item. Let’s
say it’s a scarf with 55 stitches. Divide this number
by 3 and “keep” the remainder aside.
55 ÷ 3 = 18 with a remainder of 1.
Take the answer, in this case 18, and multiply by 4.
18 x 4 = 72, and then add the remainder.
72 + 1 = 73.
An i-cord cast-on can be used to create curved edges.
34
KNITmuch | issue 6

So you need to work 73 rounds of
i-cord for this scarf. When I do this, I
could use my cast-on round as one
of the needed rounds. At the end of
the 73 rounds, I simply run the end of
the yarn through the 4 stitches on the
needle and cinch them closed. If you
were making the scarf with the same
yarn as the i-cord, do the following
instead: k2tog, k2tog, pass the first st
over the 2nd. Then you can pick up
stitches along the i-cord right off the
bat.
Pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rounds in
the i-cord and you’ll avoid buckling or
flaring edges.
I went a little crazy with my
experimenting with the i-cord cast-on
and ended up with this. Please guess
what you think this will end up being
when I’m done knitting it.
Using both the technique from the
previous page and this cast-on in
combination yields some amazing
results. This motif is from a pattern I
fell in love with while browsing through
Ravelry called Jewel Dragon. It’s a
gorgeous pattern and would really suit
the bright colorways of his yarn.
A mystery project! What do you think this is going to be?
This piece uses i-cord both as a cast-on and as an edging technique to
create an amazing textile.
Charles Voth
twitter.com/stitchstud
charlesvothdesigns.ca
One “scale” motif of the Jewel Dragon pattern.
KNITmuch | issue 6
35

Premier
Sweet Rolls
These 2 rolls called Capuccino Pop (top left) and Caramel Swirl (right)
make me thirsty to knit!
This blend of cornflower blue and lavender fibers make up a heather
color section in the Punch Pop colorway.
This cream section from the Pop Cappuccino colorway has speckles of
an oatmeal beige distributed randomly across this stretch of yarn.
4 plies are spun together to give this yarn a squishy texture and clean
stitch definition.
36 KNITmuch | issue 6
Charles Voth
Sweet Roll is a worsted weight yarn and it’s 100%
acrylic that is packaged in a yarn cake or “roll”
format. It comes in 26 colorways (scroll to the
bottom). Each colorway consists of long repeats
of 3 colors, and each in each roll, the colors repeat
at least twice per roll. The length of each color
segment is fairly consistent. At the transition points
the change from one color to another takes place
over a 1″ or 2″ segment.
In some of the colorways, each color is dyed with a
more heathered look, where several small strands of
fiber are dyed different colors and then blended to
create a mottled look.
In other colorways, each color is more solid with
the occasional speckle or dollop of one of the other
colors from the scheme.
The ball band says that Sweet Roll knits up at 17
stitches per 4″, which makes it a tad bit thicker than
a worsted weight, more like an Aran weight, but it’s
a soft, ‘cushiony’ (for lack of a better word) yarn that
has a lot of spring to it, so knitting at an 18-stitch
gauge will work great as well. Each roll weighs 5oz
[140g] and has 245yds [224m].
The architecture of Sweet Roll is really interesting. It
consists of 4 individual plies that are twisted together
to give the yarn nice definition. Each of these 4 plies
is crimped or something like that. I don’t know what
the process is called, but it gives the end result a
crepe finish, and it also reduces pilling a lot. There’s
no halo around this yarn, even after knitting and with
the usual friction of rubbing against the sides of a
project bag, my hands, and the needles. I didn’t have
a chance to throw it in the washing machine, but I
predict very little if any pilling.
Next, let's take a look at different patterns and
stitches that really complement Sweet Roll yarn.

3 patterns to knit with self-striping worsted weight yarn
Self-striping sock yarn has been
around for quite a few years,
but I haven’t run across worsted
weight self-striping yarn. One of
the bonuses of self-striping yarn
is that color choices and color
changes are all done for you.
There are no knots to tie and
there’s no headache to be had
from trying to get the right colors
to coordinate. Sweet Roll yarn
solves these 2 issues very well.
Sweet Roll isn’t a gradient yarn,
though. The color transitions
are brief rather than happening
gradually over long stretches
of yarn. I have heard reports
of a knot appearing in a roll
in one spot every rare once
in a while, but this does
happen occasionally during
the manufacturing process of
all yarns and can’t be helped.
The mills that spin Sweet Roll
obviously take pains to reattach
the yarn in the same color stripe
where the break happens rather
than creating an even more
abrupt color change at the knot!
It never happened to me though,
and I’ve knit through 8 of these
self-striping skeins from different
colorways.
Premier Yarns has these 3
patterns for free and you can
see how the color change
happens randomly. I like the
natural transitions and the color
schemes that they’ve chosen
are great.
Medium gray is an elegant
neutral and the classic cable
stitch pattern make the easyto-knit
Tassel Hat shown below
a great style for cooler weather
outfit.
Knit this lovely Simply Stripey
Shawl that boasts color changes
and offers warmth on a lazy
afternoon around the home.
If you have a sweet baby in
your family, or another young
lady who wants to be warm
with a bit of pizzazz as well,
this easy little Color Block Baby
Blanket is a great introduction
to knitting in the round.
I’ll introduce you to one of my
patterns that takes advantage of
the color transitions in a new way
that’s quite unique looking, even
though I only knitted and purled.
2 rolls of the multicolored, self-striping,
worsted weight Sweet Roll in the Punch Pop
colorway. I love this fun color combination.
Take the chill off with this Ice Pop colorway of
Sweet Roll!
Purl rows and knit rows with this Punch Pop colorway of Sweet Roll make the mystery project
that will be revealed in the follow pages.
Photos by Charles Voth
Don’t worry about color changes, let Sweet Roll do it for you.
KNITmuch | issue 6
37

Shadow knitting with Sweet Roll Yarn
Sweet Roll by Premier Yarns is a repeat self-striping
yarn and is ideal for sprucing up shadow knitting
with worry-free color changes.
Shadow knitting is a great way for beginners to do
colorwork without knitting with two colors at the
same time on the same row. It involves knitting 2
rows in one color and then 2 rows in the next color
and then alternating back and forth. The strands of
the unused color are loosely carried up the side of
the project where each color row begins and ends.
When you do this, you basically get stripes. If you
only knit you get garter stitch ridges, and if you
knit one row and purl one row you get stockinette
stripes, like these.
Sweet Roll yarn stacks up to your most imaginative ideas. The Punch
Pop colorway features lavender, bright turquoise, and a rich teal.
Shadow knitting was initially developed in Japan
and roughly translated, it’s known as ‘fine knitting’,
which doesn’t really hint at the optical illusion that it
creates. If you’d like to learn more about this history
of shadow knitting and see more patterns, I’d
recommend this Interweave book Shadow Knitting.
Stripes of 2 rows of each color
If you look a little closer at the pattern, you’ll notice
that on a few of the stripes things look a little wonky.
Perhaps to the untrained eye, it would look like a
mistake. But these irregularities my friend, are what
make shadow knitting what it is. If you look at the
knit fabric surface from any angle that’s shallower
than a perpendicular bird’s eye view, you’ll start to
see some changes in the color and the texture of
the fabric, and what you’re seeing are the shadows
that the alignment of certain stitches creates.
On this scarf, you’ll notice a series of L-shaped
blocks arranged in a motif that’s called a Greek
Key. I made up a simplified version of a Greek Key
because some of them can get quite complex and
have a variety of corners and parallel lines.
38 KNITmuch | issue 6
History of Shadow
Knitting and many
patterns can
be found in this
volume by Vivian
Høxbro.

Looking at the scarf at a 30° angle makes the Greek Key pattern jump.
out at you.
To make the shadows, the knitter uses strategically
placed purl stitches that create raised garter stitch
ridges that run one half row off-set of the other
garter stitch ridges. It’s a thing of beauty.
Sweet Roll yarn added a cool element to shadow
knitting in that the color changes add a whole
different dimension to the shadows. I used almost
all of 2 rolls of the same colorway, Punch Pop in
this case. To ensure that you don’t end up with the
same color overlapping, it’s necessary to unwind
all of one color from the center of the roll so that
when you use the yarn from one ball to be on color
of stripe, it always contrasts the yarn from the other
ball. If you use two different colorways together
you won’t have to do this step. In the picture below,
you can see how the colorways “chase” each other
across the length of the scarf, making it look like
there are more than 3 colors in the colorway.
Bird’s eye few of alternating stripes of Sweet Roll Punch Pop makes it
look like you have more than 3 colors.
My wife knit this for me and she really enjoyed
the pattern. It was one that she could take with
her to knit-night because it doesn’t take too much
concentration. She loved the feel of Sweet Roll as
she knit with it, and the end result is a soft scarf with
beautiful drape and a squishy feel to it.
If you’d like to try to knit this scarf and see how
you like shadow knitting, I’ll include the pattern for
this scarf.
finished measurements 8½” x 76¾”
materials
• 2 balls of Sweet Rolls
• US 8 [5mm] needles
Gauge isn’t essential for this project.
Cast on 34 stitches with yarn A (your first ball of
yarn). Place a locking stitch marker around the yarn
going to ball A.
Rows 1-2: K34 in A.
Rows 3-4: K34 in B.
Rows 5-8: Repeat Rows 1-4.
Row 9: K34 in A.
Row 10: P6 in A, k22 in A, p6 in A.
Row 11: K34 in B.
Row 12: K6 in B, p22 in B, k6 in B.
Rows 13-20: Repeat Rows 9-12.
Row 21: K34 in A.
Row 22: P21 in A, k7 in A, p6 in A.
Row 23: K34 in B.
Row 24: K21 in B, p7 in B, k6 in B.
Rows 25-32: Repeat Rows 21-24.
Row 33: K34 in A.
Row 34: P6 in A, k8 in A, p7 in A, k7 in A, p6 in A.
Row 35: K34 in B.
Row 36: K6 in B, p8 in B, k7 in B, p7 in B, k6 in B.
Rows 37-44: Repeat Rows 33-36.
Row 45: K34 in A.
Row 46: P6 in A, k8 in A, p7 in A, k7 in A, p6 in A.
Row 47: K34 in B.
Row 48: K6 in B, p8 in B, k20 in B.
Row 49: K34 in A.
Row 50: P6 in A, k8 in A, p20 in A.
Rows 51-54: Repeat Rows 47-50.
Row 55: K34 in B.
Row 56: K6 in B, p8 in B, k20 in B.
Row 57: K34 in A.
Row 58: P6 in A, k22 in A, p6 in A.
Row 59: K34 in B.
Row 60: K6 in B, p22 in B, k6 in B.
Rows 61-68: Repeat Rows 57-60.
Repeat Rows 5 to 68 until you’ve reached desired
length minus ½”.
Knit 4 rows. Bind off purlwise.
Photos by Charles Voth
KNITmuch | issue 6
39

Keep people wondering how you
made this optical illusion with
only 2 stitches and 2 balls of yarn.
Chart for shadow knitting Greek Key scarf
40 KNITmuch | issue 6

Knitting gradients with self-striping yarn
Self-striping yarn became popular with the quick
growth, almost a movement, in sock knitting.
Gradient yarns have become popular with the
development of shawls and stoles and their visibility
in the knitting community.
Holding two strands of Sweet Roll together with staggered placement
of the stripes opens up a whole realm of possible gradients.
I chose two colorways of Sweet Roll, Caramel Swirl
and Cappuccino Pop to blend together to create
a gradient. The warm cream and camel tones of
Cappuccino Pop coordinate well with the mocha,
beige, and cocoa browns of Caramel Swirl. The
warm gray in the Cappuccino also creates a nice
contrast and complements the brown family
without making all the colors muddy when they
come together. This way of holding strands together
rids the knitting of stark stripes and makes the color
transitions more gradual.
You can see in my knit swatch above, that a
gradient is created when the different colors
combine. This provides depth and a tweedy or
marled look to the fabric, which I achieved by
holding the two yarns together, but starting one of
the colors partway through its self-striping pattern.
Other yarns are spun this way deliberately but with
Sweet Roll, you have control of the colors you want
to blend.
Some of you may be wondering what this knit
item is? Well, it was supposed to be a blanket,
but it ended up being a swatch! As I designer, I
don’t like to think that I failed (although, there
are days…), but this was a learning experience! I
learned that mitered squares work better when knit
in garter stitch because the row to stitch gauge is
almost equal. In stockinette stitch, stitches are little
rectangles. Increases quickly throw off the symmetry
of a square, so I couldn’t get my math right here.
This square will be frogged and I’ll go back to the
sketching board with calculator and graph paper!
Make your own marled gradients by blending two different colorways
of Sweet Rolls together.
Photos by Charles Voth
My not-so-hot attempt at a mitered square blanket blending my own
gradients. The gradients are fine, the “square”? Not so much.
In the meantime, if you’d like to use 2 different
colorways of Sweet Rolls to knit a mitered square,
I’ll refer you to an excellent resource for mitered
squares. While Nicolette makes lots of small squares
and sews them together, I would start with my
two balls of Sweet Rolls held together and make
4 big squares to show the gradients changing as
the squares grew, then I would sew the 4 squares
together to make a diamond out of the gradient
color changes.
KNITmuch | issue 6
41

2
things I learned from my knitted
swatch other than gauge
I embarked on a project to knit
a mitered square blanket out of
Sweet Roll yarn, but I wanted to
do it in stockinette stitch instead
of the traditional garter stitch.
Well, there’s a reason why most
mitered squares are done in
garter stitch. It has to do with
the number of rows versus the
number of stitches you get.
In garter stitch each ridge is
comprised of two rows of knitting
and the ratio is almost exactly
1 garter stitch ridge to 1 stitch,
which makes squares possible.
In stockinette stitch, the ratio
is closer to 4 rows to every 3
stitches, so mitered squares that
are decreased or increased at the
same rate as garter stitch squares
end up looking like diamonds.
I did some math and thought it
was right, but I ended up with
a shape that reminds me of an
awning on a Who-ville house
(from Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch
Stole Christmas). Needless to say,
this swatch is going to the “frog
pond” to be unraveled.
But not all is lost. I learned
two other things from my
attempt.
1) I learned that with chunky
yarn, or at least with 2 strands
of yarn held double, I don’t like
lifted increases. Lifted increases
are where you lift a leg of a stitch
from one or more rows below
the current row and knit into
it to create a new stitch. For a
right-leaning increase you work
into the first leg of the stitch one
row below the loop on the lefthand
needle. For a left-leaning
increase, you work into the
second leg of the stitch two rows
below the loop just knit onto the
right-hand needle.
I decided to do twisted yarn
over increases.
Twisted yarn over increases are
made by adding yarn overs on
the right-side rows and purling
into the yarn-overs on the
wrong-side and twisting the
yarn over stitch. To do this, knit
to where you want the first of a
paired increase to be, yarn-over,
knit to where the next increase
is to be, yarn-over, and continue.
On the return row, at the first
yarn-over, change the orientation
of the loop on the left-hand
needle (if necessary) so that the
first leg is at the front and the
second leg is at the back, then
purl into the back leg. Purl to the
next yarn-over and change the
orientation of the loop on the
left-hand needle (if necessary)
so that the first leg is at the back
of the needle and the second
leg is at the front, then purl into
the front leg. These two different
maneuvers twist the stitch in
opposite directions, which
mirrors the increases to give a
balanced look.
I shine a light on the twisted yarn-over paired increases.
42 KNITmuch | issue 6

2) I learned I like the look of twisted stitches where
the garter stitch edging butts up against the
stockinette section. To make the twist, I used the
last garter stitch and the first stockinette stitch to
make the twist, which makes the stockinette st cross
over the garter stitch bump. To do this on a practice
swatch of your own, try the following.
Swatch instructions
Cast on 20 sts.
Rows 1- 6: Knit.
Row 7: Knit.
Row 8: K4, P12, K4.
Row 9: K3, with RH needle lift the left front leg of
2nd st on LH needle and tug open, remove
RH and reinsert as if to knit and K1, then slip
first st on LH needle purlwise, removing both
stitches from LH needle, k10, remove first st
off LH needle and pinch with fingers from left
hand, slip next st on LH needle purlwise, return
pinched loop to LH needle and knit it, K3.
Row 10: K4, P12, K4.
Repeat Rows 9 and 10 for the pattern to desired length.
Knit 6 rows, bind off purlwise.
Let me know if you try the scarf, or either of my
discoveries. I do hope you try Sweet Roll yarn and
that you’ll share with us what you knit with it.
Right-leaning mix twisted stitches lay the knit stitch over top of the
garter stitch ridge.
These left-leaning twisted stitches create a unique transition between
stockinette and garter stitch panels.
Charles Voth
twitter.com/stitchstud
charlesvothdesigns.ca
KNITmuch | issue 6
43

Evermore yarn
Michelle Nguyen
The care label from Evermore yarn with the recommended hook and
needle sizes.
Evermore yarn from Red Heart!
Evermore is a really interesting yarn to work with. It’s
a single strand of roving-like yarn with a gentle twist.
It’s lovely and soft with a beautiful blooming halo of
fuzziness around each strand and knitted garment.
Evermore is the perfect yarn to work with heading
into the cold weather.
The fiber content of Evermore really adds to the
beauty of the yarn itself. This is one of the yarns
from Red Heart that has 20% wool content. The
rest of the yarn is acrylic, but that wool content
means you must take a little more care when
washing your garment.
The care instructions on the label suggest hand
washing in cold water and dry flat. No ironing
or bleaching, and only have it professionally dry
cleaned. The professionally dry cleaned part gave
me a little laugh because it begs the question, are
there unprofessional dry cleaners? A black market
of rogue dry cleaners who have rebelled against the
system?
Come to think of it, I’ve never had any of my knits
professionally (or unprofessionally) dry cleaned. Has
anyone else? I would be very interested to know
your experience if you’re willing to share in the
comments.
Getting back to the yarn construction, I mentioned
that Evermore is a roving-like yarn. What does this
mean? The yarn is very natural feeling and has an
unspun look. There are many great benefits to this
style of yarn, but a couple of important points to
know before you start.
The stitch definition is going to be subtle. If you’re
doing a very intricate stitch pattern, all your that
work may not stand out as much as you would
like. This is also great news for beginner knitters
who haven’t quite managed to get their tension
absolutely perfect. While this yarn may not make
your stitch pattern stand out, it will make any issues
with tension or imperfect stitches less noticeable.
In an article, I talked about loft and how it holds in
heat. Evermore has lots of lofts to keep in warm air.
Two skeins of Evermore in the colors Cabana (left) and Cotton Candy (right)
44 KNITmuch | issue 6
Photos by Michelle Nguyen

One thing you’ll have to make sure you’re paying
attention to is your tension. The yarn spreads out
on the stitches, so if your tension is very tight,
you’re going to split your stitch when you go to
knit it. The needle will pass right through the center
of your yarn. Evermore has very little twist to stop
it from happening, so you need to be mindful. It’s
much easier to avoid splitting your stitch when your
tension is generous.
Carefully choosing your needle type will also aid
in this endeavor. Blunt needles are less likely to go
through your working yarn than sharp ones. At the
very least, you’re more likely to notice the needle
going through the yarn.
These are just a few general tips and my initial
thoughts on Evermore yarn from Red Heart. It’s
always useful to know a little bit about how the
yarn feels before planning your project. If you need
special needles, or know you have to have a loose
tension, you can make sure you’re doing those
things right from the start of the project rather than
halfway through.
See how the first stitch is split on the needle? Also, the rest of the
stitches are wider than you would think. Be mindful when knitting with
any roving or roving-like yarn.
Knitting Snowy Arm
Warmers pattern
using Red Heart
Evermore yarn
Is there such a thing as too many arm warmers? I
think not! They’re the perfect accessory for keeping
warm, especially if you’re having issues with…
ahem… personal trips to the Bahamas. They’re easy
to roll down or strip off at a moment’s notice.
If you’re the type that’s always cold, you can easily
throw these on over a long sleeve shirt and not
worry about the fashion repercussions of wearing
two sweaters.
The Snowy Arm Warmers pattern was originally
written for Shimmer yarn, which is a medium weight.
Evermore is a super bulky weight so the pattern
needed to be adjusted a little bit.
The finished object photo from the Red Heart pattern itself!
KNITmuch | issue 6
45

Given the amount of loft in this yarn, I didn’t have to
adjust the weight quite as much as I needed to. The
recommended needle size for Evermore is a US 11
[8mm], but I like my fabric knit a little more densely
than that. I chose a US 8 [5mm] to adjust this
pattern and when I cast on the number of stitches
for the smallest size, the top measured 8″.
I continued to knit this pattern as per the
instructions. A change I would make is to not do all
the increases. When I followed the instructions and
made increases every 8th row, the arm warmers
were longer than the pattern called for. The size I
was knitting should have ended at 13″ and mine
ended up being 18″. My suggestion would be to
either do the increases closer together or not to
make as many. The top ended up measuring 12½“,
which is quite wide.
The unseamed arm warmer, after being blocked flat.
The Snowy Arm Warmers pattern has a seam up
the side, so ensure you read the pattern thoroughly
before you start it (unlike a certain writer we all
know). I was so very close to just casting these on in
the round because that is how I assumed they would
be knit. They’re knit flat and it makes perfect sense
why if you read the pattern. When seaming up the
edge, you have the option to leave a thumb hole.
You just don’t seam an inch of the edge and voila!
You can pop your thumb through there! I highly
suggest doing this, because the wrist warmers will
creep away from your hands if you have nothing to
anchor them in place.
The thumb hole is created by leaving an inch of the seam open and
completing the seam above and below it. I chose to do it an inch
below the ribbing.
Seaming is usually something everyone tries to
avoid, mostly because it’s seen as difficult. If you
have the right tools and good instructions, seaming
is not something of which to be afraid.
I find seaming a cathartic ritual at the end of a project.
It’s like making all my hard work a reality, especially
when it’s something like a sweater knit in pieces.
My all-time favorite stitch for seaming is the
mattress stitch. It creates a seam that’s invisible
(when done properly). I think the best seams are
the ones that provide structure for garments, but
cannot be seen. This instructional video will guide
you if this isn’t a stitch you’re familiar with.
Even with the adjustments, I really found the Snowy
Arm Warmers pattern to be an enjoyable knit. The
flat pattern is easy to navigate and the finished
product is so lovely and luxurious. These arm
warmers are lengthy, and slouchy, which is perfect
for a snowy day inside reading a good book with
some hot cocoa.
46 KNITmuch | issue 6

1 tip to add interest to a simple reversible knitted scarf
In order to further test Evermore
yarn out, I knit one of my favorite
patterns; a 1×1 ribbed scarf. I
started knitting this pattern when
I was a beginner knitter because
I love reversible knits. With
something like a sweater, no one
is going to see the wrong side,
but scarves are very reversible.
I’m the kind of person who would
walk around trying not to disturb
my scarf so the wrong side flips
out. Needless to say, reversible
garments feed my OCD.
This is the simplest pattern to
do, and it really helps you get
a handle on what the yarn
feels like. When I first picked
up Evermore and my needles, I
misread the suggested needle
size. I thought it was US 8
instead of 8mm. Right out of the
gate I wasn’t knitting with the
recommended needle size.
This turned out to be rather
serendipitous because I preferred
to knit Evermore with a smaller
gauge needle. The larger gauge
felt a little too airy for my liking,
but that could very well be a
design aspect you’re looking for!
Don’t take my word as law, if
you’re looking to knit a garment
with more ventilation, a larger
needle size will be more useful
to you. I did knit swatches with
the recommended size and
the smaller size I was using. It’s
always interesting to see how the
yarn looks using different gauges.
When placed side by side as in
the middle photo, you can pick
and choose the one you prefer.
The reversible scarf in all its glory!
My two gauge swatches, the one on the
left is made with the recommended needle
size US 11 and the one on the right is made
with US 8. Both swatches are made with 20
stitches cast on.
My swatch made with two different colors,
Cabana and Cotton Candy
Another aspect of Evermore that
was portrayed beautifully in this
scarf pattern was the striping I
tried to achieve. I knit two rows
of ribbing, then switched the
color and carried the yarn up
the side of the scarf. I used two
different colors of Evermore that
had similar tones in them. The
color patterns within each skein
of yarn were so busy it made this
scarf very colorful.
It’s rather difficult to see where
the stripes are. Keep this in mind
if you’re thinking about knitting
a specific pattern. I usually knit
this pattern with a solid and a
variegated yarn that complement
each other, but I have seen it
done with two variegated yarns
before and it turned out okay.
The color repeats were shorter
than I anticipated so it made the
overall color effect a little more
like a Jackson Pollock painting.
This scarf is an excellent display
piece though. I know there are
quite a few visual learners out
there who need to see things in
order for the concept to really
click in their minds. When I talk
about choosing the right pattern
and the right yarn this is what I
am taking about. This scarf and
the difference between it and the
swatches pictured are excellent
visual examples of the different
ways you can pair yarns and
what an impact it makes on your
finished product!
Michelle Nguyen
stitchesbeslippin.com
KNITmuch | issue 6
47

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48 KNITmuch | issue 6

don't miss these
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Knitting a modern
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What
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and there's so much more!
KNITmuch | issue 6
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Available in
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LW5907
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51

Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com
Standard Yarn Weight System
Standard Yarn Weight System
Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes
Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes
Yarn Weight
Yarn Symbol Weight &
Symbol Category &
Category Names
Names
Type of
Fingering,
Type Yarns of in Fingering, 10 count
Yarns Category in
crochet 10 count thread
Category crochet thread
Knit Gauge
Knit
Range*
Gauge
in
Range* in
33–40**
Stockinette 33–40**
Stockinette
sts
Stitch to
sts
Stitch to
4 inches
4 inches
Recommended
Recommended
Needle
Needle
in
in
1.5–2.25
1.5–2.25
Metric
Metric
Size
Size
mm
mm
Range Range
Recommended
Recommended
Needle Needle U.S. U.S.
Size Size Range Range
Crochet
Gauge*Ranges
in Single
Crochet to to
4 4 inch inch
Sock,
Sock, Fingering,
Fingering, Baby
Baby
27–32
27–32
sts
sts
2.25–3.25
2.25–3.25
mm
mm
Sport,
Sport, Baby
Baby
23–26
23–26
sts
sts
3.25–3.75
3.25–3.75
mm
mm
DK,
DK, Light
Light Worsted
Worsted
21–24
21–24
sts
sts
3.75–4.5
3.75–4.5
mm
mm
11
11
Worsted,
Worsted, Afghan,
Afghan, Aran
Aran
16–20
16–20
sts
sts
4.5–5.5
4.5–5.5
mm
mm
Chunky,
Chunky, Craft,
Craft, Rug
Rug
12–15
12–15
sts
sts
5.5–8
5.5–8
mm
mm
Bulky,
Bulky, Roving
Roving
000 000 to 1to 1 1 to 13to 3 3 to 35 to 5 5 to 57 to 7 7 to 97 to 9 9 to 11 9 to 11 11 to 17 11 to 17
32–42 32–42
double double
crochets**
Steel***
Recommended
1.6–1.4 mm
Hook
mm
Hook in in Metric
Regular hook
Size
hook
Size Range
2.25 2.25 mm mm
Recommended
Hook Hook U.S. U.S. Size Size
Range Range
Steel*** Steel***
6, 7, 6, 87, 8
Regular Regular
hook hook
B–1
B–1
Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com
21–32 21–32
sts sts
2.25–3.25
mm mm
16–20 16–20
sts sts
3.5–4.5 3.5–4.5
mm mm
12–17 12–17
sts sts
4.5–5.5 4.5–5.5
mm mm
B–1 B–1 to E–4 to E–4 E–4 E–4 to 7to 7 7 to 7 I–9 to I–9
11–14 11–14
sts sts
5.5–6.5mm 5.5–6.5mm
I–9 I–9
to to
K–10 K–10 1 ⁄2 1 ⁄2
8–11 8–11
sts sts
6.5–9 6.5–9
mm mm
K–10 K–10 1 ⁄2 1 ⁄2
to M-13 to M-13
7–11
sts
Jumbo,
Jumbo, Roving
Roving
6 sts
6 sts
and
and
fewer
fewer
12.75 mm
8–12.75 12.75 mm
8–12.75
and
mm
mm and
larger
larger
7–9
sts
9–15
mm
M-13
to Q
17
and
larger
6 sts 6 sts
and and
fewer fewer
15 mm 15 mm
and and
larger larger
* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories.
* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories.
** Lace weight yarns are usually knitted or crocheted on larger needles and hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a
gauge ** Lace range weight is difficult yarns to are determine. usually knitted Always or follow crocheted the gauge on larger stated needles in your and pattern. hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a
gauge range is difficult to determine. Always follow the gauge stated in your pattern.
*** Steel crochet hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse
of *** regular Steel hook crochet sizing. hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse
of regular hook sizing.
This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com
This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com
7–11
sts
7–9
sts
9–15
mm
M-13
to Q
17
and
larger
Q
and
larger
Q
and
larger
KNIT much .com
...to K, is to
Standard abbreviations & terms
alt = alternate
approx = approximately
beg = begin(ning)
BO= bind off
CC = contrast color
ch = chain
cm = centimetre(s)
cn = cable needle
CO = cast on
cont = continue, continuing
dc = double crochet
dec = decrease(s), decreasing
dpn = double-pointed needle(s)
foll = following
g = gram(s)
inc = increase(s), increasing
in(s) = inch(es)
k = knit
kf&b or kfb = knit into front and back of st (increase)
ktbl = Knit through the back loop.
k2tog = knit 2 sts tog (right-leaning decrease)
k3tog = knit 3 sts together (double right-leaning
decrease)
M = marker
m = metre(s)
M1 = Make 1 stitch: pick up the horizontal strand
between 2 stitches from front to back and knit
it tbl (lifted increase)
MC = main color
mm = millimetre(s)
oz = ounce(s)
p = purl
p2tog = purl 2 sts tog (decrease)
patt = pattern
pfb = purl into front and back of stitch (increase)
ptbl = knit through the back loop.
pm = place marker
psso = slip 1 stitch together knitwise, knit 1, then
pass slipped stitches over
p2sso = slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1,
then pass slipped stitches over
RS = right side
rem = remain(ing)
rep = repeat
rev = reverse
rnd = round
sc = single crochet
sl = slip
skp = slip one st, knit next st, pass slipped st over
knit st (dec)
ssk = slip, slip, knit: slip 2 sts knitwise, 1 at a time,
insert left-hand needle into front of both sts
and knit them tog (left-leaning decrease)
sssk = Slip next three stitches individually, knitwise.
Insert tip of left needle from front to back into
the fronts of these three stitches and knit them
together (double left-leaning decrease)
st(s) = stitch(es)
St st = stocking stitch
tbl = through back loop
tog = together
tr = treble crochet
WS = wrong side
yfwd = bringing yarn forward to create a yarn
over when working into next st(s)
yo = yarn over
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