Yarn Test Kitchen – July 2024
Keeley Richardson
Founder and Chief Fiber Officer
Welcome to our July Yarn Test Kitchen!
The temperature is rising and summer is almost within touching distance here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. It’s the perfect time for lightweight knitting projects that are portable enough for travels and staycations. We are delighted to bring you our July “one skein wonder” suggestions from The Woolpack Yarn Test Kitchen!
This month the YTK panel are showcasing the truly fabulous Octofibers Under The Sea Sport yarn, a soft and pretty superwash yarn lovingly hand dyed by Sherri from Rainy Day Yarns in Gig Harbor, WA. We were all delighted to get our hands on the yarn and begin our knits.
As always with the yarn test kitchen, let’s begin with the delicious treat we enjoyed while doing this month’s show and share.
This was a first for me – Burnt Basque Cheesecake. I’m a huge fan of cheesecake but I have never actually baked one, preferring fridge cake type recipes. Having returned from a trip to England, followed by a week’s vacation in Spain just the day before our meet up, this dessert seemed appropriate for two reasons: Basque Cheesecake originates from northern Spain, and the recipe was recommended to me by my friend Sue who I was delighted to spend time with in England.
I can’t recommend this recipe highly enough – I am a knitter not a baker, and I like my recipes to be straightforward. This recipe fits the bill – simply make a custard type batter, and bake in the oven on a high heat for 30 minutes. Even if you are tired and jet lagged, cheesecake success is sure to follow, trust me! Another plus if you are not a confident baker; Basque Cheesecake is meant to look rustic, and the burnt edges are there to add to the flavor. I shall definitely be making this one again and if you’d like to give it a go, you can find the recipe on bbcgoodfood.com.
Tester: Keeley – Pattern: Nova Scarf by Rikke Orum – Color: Mossy Shores
How I love this wonderful green yarn! It’s a beautiful semi-solid that almost glows and there are so many shades in there, just like the moss that it is named after. I am a little obsessed with these simple scarves/neckerchief accessories that are popping up all over Ravelry at the moment – such a great way to use up single skeins! This is also a great travel project as I found out on my flight to England. It grows super quickly and the six row repeat is very easy to follow, but the added lace, edge shaping and I cord edge give it enough interest to keep you engaged.
The pattern gives you two size options, short and long. I knitted the longer version so that I can wrap it around my neck a couple of times in the colder months. This yarn is so soft! The skeins are also super generous 328yds. I have enough left over to knit a bow tie for my dog!
Yarn Tester: Sandy – Pattern: Snappy Hat by Corrinna Ferguson – Color: Seafoam.
Sandy in her own words: I was taught to knit when I was in my early 30’s by Helen, a lively, witty British woman (not unlike Keeley!) at a small yarn shop in downtown Bellevue. I started with a knit/pearl color block baby sweater, followed by an attempt to make one for myself that never transpired (I ended up selling that beautiful red merino yarn). Fast forward to 2022, I found myself living across the street from Nifty Knitter, and got the bug to give it another go! Several of Keeley’s hat classes later, I’m now the “crazy” hat lady! Hats are so fun and quick and make great gifts (when I can actually part with them). One of the best side benefits of taking up knitting again has been meeting many like-minded women– some who’ve become friends.
Sandy felt that this beautiful soft yarn was perfect for knitting garments or accessories for children. The fact that it’s a super wash is also an added benefit for parents doing laundry! The color, Seafoam is totally evocative of pretty shores and makes a fun alternative to traditional kids colors. The yarn resulted in great stitch definition for the pretty cables in the hat pattern. The pattern is originally for a bulky weight adult hat but Sandy adapted it to make this child-sized knit using the sport weight yarn – super cute!
Yarn Tester: Caitlyn – Pattern: Honey Clutch by Petite Knit – Color: Razzle Dazzle
Caitlyn in her own words: “Summer knitting for me often means smaller projects and cute accessories. I can’t wait to do more summer makes!”
This is your reminder that knitting is not just for sweaters, hats and scarves, it is also there for seriously cool practical accessories! Welcome to the Honey Clutch, another classy design from Petite Knit. Caitlyn wanted to show off this beautiful Razzle Dazzle color way to full effect, and the honeycomb brioche stitch certainly does the job.
The construction of the clutch calls for a number of different techniques – double knitting for the base, tabs and placket, then an offset brioche stitch for the sides, making it an interesting knit. The Honey Clutch also requires a little sewing – Caitlyn hand sewed the zipper in place and also recommends lining the clutch with fabric for structure.
It’s a wonderful project if you are looking for something intermediate to advanced that won’t take too much time to complete, and as you can see from the photos, the results are stunning!
Yarn Tester: Madelyn – Pattern: A combination of free scrunchie patterns found on Ravelry – Color: Razzle Dazzle Specks.
Madelyn in her own words: “I learned how to knit from my Grandmother when I was 12, focusing mostly on dishcloths, hats and scarves. It wan’t until she passed at the end of 2019 that I found myself in need of not only a new teacher, but also a way to grow in the craft, so that I could keep my Grandmother close. I connected with my LYS in January 2020 and dove right in! I’ve loved being part of the fiber community and look forward to more memories.”
We were all delighted to get a gift when it was Madelyn’s turn to show and share. It’s that time of year when those of us with longer hair are often in search of a hairband, so it was super exciting to receive a knitted scrunchie! How lovely is that?
Madelyn turned to Ravelry to do some research on techniques for creating a knitted hairband and cherry picked techniques to create her ultimate scrunchie. She found that 80 stitches gave her the circumference she was looking for, and rather than finishing with a mattress stitch she used a three needle bind off for a neat edge.
Octofibers sport weight is a yarn that keeps on giving and Madelyn estimates that you could make 6-8 scrunchies from just one skein – perfect presents to show you care!
It has been another fun month in The Woolpack Yarn Test Kitchen, and we hope you have found some project inspiration from our creations. We all want to say a huge thank you to Sherri for letting us test her fabulous Octofibers yarn. If you would like to give it a try, you can head to Rainy Day Yarns in Gig Harbor (always worth a visit), or buy online.
Do join us again next month in the YTK – we are excited to bring your our knitting and crochet ideas for the rather gorgeous Sunsoaked Sister fingering weight yarns.
Yarn Test Kitchen
Your Monthly Yarn Review
One of my all time favorite knitting activities is a “show and share”, with friends – it’s a perfect way to seek ideas, gain inspiration and get helpful advice. This is the idea behind the yarn test kitchen – I hope our projects will have you reaching for your needles as we bring you our ideas on how to turn those neglected single skeins of yarn in to “One Skein Wonders”, and inspire you to try new yarns that are produced and sold across the Puget Sound Region.
Oh, and I’ll also be sharing monthly baking recommendations as we go. After all, who doesn’t love a slice of cake or baked good? Yum!
Happy reading!
Keeley