Yarn Test Kitchen – Skellie Chic
Keeley Richardson
Founder and Chief Fiber Officer
Welcome to The Woolpack Yarn Test Kitchen on Tour!
This is not your usual Yarn Test Kitchen, more of a Halloween Special. If you have visited one of our local fiber festivals over the past few months, you may have encountered Serial Knitters Skellies. Designed by Debie Frable, these bony fellas and gals have brought smiles to many faces across the region and in the spirit of the season we are all spookily delighted to bring you a mini yarn test kitchen – a celebration of Skellie Chic!
Firstly, a word about Skellie’s: If you haven’t come across them yet, they are a fun little craft kit consisting of two mini-skeins of Serial Knitters DK yarn, a free pattern and of course, a plastic skellie. There are a range of knitting patterns to choose from – every day sweater, game day jersey and a sun dress designed by Debie Frable. If you prefer your Skellie’s dressed in crochet couture, Kristen Kittel has designed a crocheted sweater and a sun dress pattern for the range. All of the patterns are available on Ravelry if you decide your Skellie needs additional fashion options.
We went on tour for this YTK special and met at Paisley’s Tea Rooms in Gilman Village for our show and share. Tea and scones were the order of the morning, and we are happy to report that as always, they were delicious. If you haven’t been to Paisley’s yet, it is highly recommended. The Halloween/fall decor is exemplary and made the perfect venue for our Skellie Danse Macabre fashion shoot. Here is what we created:
Skellie: Frankenskein – Pattern: Every Day Sweater by Debie Frable – Knitted by: Keeley
Meet Frankenskein. He’s just a regular kind of Skellie who likes nothing more than putting on his “Every Day Sweater” and sitting on the front porch to greet neighbors and friends during spooky season. Although he’s a homely guy, he occasionally heads down to the graveyard to practice creating jump scares. If you see him, give him a wave!
“As well as being huge fun, Skellie kits are a quick and accessible way of learning new knitting skills. The Every Day Sweater pattern includes techniques such as neck shaping and picking up stitches around armholes – just like a real sweater, but in miniature! They would make for a fun knitting class.” Keeley.
Skellie: Angelina – Pattern: Skellie’s Sun Dress by Kristen Kittel – Crocheted by Caitlyn
Introducing Angelina! She adores being out in the sun, but she has to protect her perfectly pale bones. Her sun hat and sun dress are just perfect!
“This is such a quick and fun crochet project – you can dress your Skellie in an afternoon. The amount of yarn in the kit is very generous. I had plenty of yarn left over so I created a cute bonnet for Angelina. I found scraps of contrast yarn in my stash that worked perfectly with this pretty hand dye!” Caitlyn.
Skellie: Yarnald – Pattern: Game Day Jersey by Debie Frable – Knitted by Cindy
Say Hello to Yarnold. He likes baseball and is a loyal Mariners fan! He is cheering for his team on a strong season currently playing in the ACLS. Of course, he is wearing his Game Day blue/green jersey!
“Such a fun project! Everyone who saw me working on it got excited, including all the non-knitters in my life! I enjoyed this project so much, Skellie reminds me of making clothes for my doll when I was a kid. The yarn is beautiful, and I love how soft it feels after blocking.” Cindy.
Skellie: Prada Patella – Pattern: A Very Skellie Sun Dress by Debie Frable – Knitted by Heather
Always envied for her pronounced bone structure and sharp angles, Patella revels in bespoke knitwear jumpers from designers whose names you can’t pronounce (or afford). Currently, she haunts runway fashion shows, photo shoots, and Vogue Knitting Live headquarters, unveiling knitwear style trends and up-and-coming designers to her 8 million followers on her still active accounts.
This fun mini yarn test kitchen brought us all so much happiness and really got us in the mood for Halloween celebrations. You still have time to make your own Skellie before the big day – kits are available from the Serial Knitters website. Wishing you all a frightfully fun Spooky Season from the Yarn Test Kitchen and the style influencing Skellies!
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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