Tempting Textiles

Carol Duvall Show : Episode CDS-1859 -- More Projects »
It’s always a good time when I have a large table full of craft products in front of me. I may or may not need them, and I doubt any of us even have the time to use them all, but it's nice to know they're there "just in case."

A good portion of today’s table was covered with colorful yarns--soft and wonderful yarns that made my fingers itch. The good thing about many of the yarns out there now is that many of them are available in craft stores instead of just the finer knit and yarn stores. Even the companies that deal only with craft stores have broken the mold of just 2-ply, 3-ply and 4-ply plain yarn and have gotten into the more exotic mixes that we used to find only in the finer knit shops. And the really good news is that most all of them are machine washable!

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Figure A, Molash by SR Kertzer
Combining different yarns in one skein has become very popular with all the companies the past few years, and our first selection is just that: mohair combined with a type of eyelash yarn. This is from SR Kertzer and is called, appropriately enough, Molash (Figure A). The next yarn, named Sublime (Figure B), was indeed sublime, and their yarn called Baton Rouge (Figure C) was so soft that even though it was a little tricky to knit with, a knitted piece felt like air.
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Figure B, Sublime
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Figure C, Baton Rouge
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Figure D, Bernat's Brilliant yarns
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Figure E
Next up, some examples of Bernat’s Brililant (Figure D)--beautiful colors with just a touch of sparkle scattered throughout. The knit pieces (Figure E) had a much smoother finish than some of the fuzzy, furry yarns, although their line called Frenzy (Figure F) is certainly fuzzy--multicolored as well (Figure G). Their yarn called Galaxy (Figure H) just might make you think of the universe with all the planets floating around. I might describe it
much less picturesquely by saying it has lumps of differently colored yarn scattered throughout. In either case it is interesting in all its different color combinations.
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Figure F, Frenzy
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Figure G
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Figure H, Galaxy
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Figure I, Moonlight Mohair by Lion Brand
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Figure J, Fun Fetti
Lion Brand Yarn has even more of their wonderfully colored yarns out there with skeins that have just enough yarn to knit the scarf pictured on the label. And the directions for the pictured scarf are printed on the back of the label. Of course using the yarn to knit a scarf is only a suggestion. Some would make wonderful sweaters or caps as well, particularly their Moonlight Mohair (Figure I). So soft! And Fun Fetti (Figure J) looks just like what it's called with small dashes of assorted colors scattered throughout.
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Figure K, size 35 needles by Lion Brand
Because a lot of the new scarves are being knit on large needles--size 15 and 17 and even 35--Lion Brand has also come out with some of the larger needles. Especially happy news to those who like to knit really big because now Lion Brand even has those elusive size 35 needles available (Figure K).
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Figure L, Butterfly Looms by Monarch Industries
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Figure M
If you love the new yarns but aren't into knitting, perhaps the new Butterfly Looms (Figure L) from Monarch Industries might be of interest. Made of Masonite they come in small looms, medium-sized and large. They have looms in the shape of rectangles and those shaped like triangles (Figure M). In any size or shape the main idea is to wrap the yarn around the looms three or four times, fold the loom in half, slip the yarn off and it will hold the shape you wove (Figure N). Sew two or three or more together and make a scarf (Figure O), a poncho, an afghan, a jacket, a pillow top (Figure P), etc. Very easy to do and I would think that because of the size and the simplicity of the method they would be great for folks who might have difficulty seeing little stitches.
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Figure N
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Figure O
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Figure P
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Figure Q, Fast 2 Fuse by C&T Publications
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Figure R
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Figure S, iron-on ribbons by Junko
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Figure T
But if it's fabric you prefer you might be very interested in C & T Publications' new Fast 2 Fuse (Figure Q). Fast 2 Fuse is a stiff double-sided fusible interfacing that comes on large rolls in the fabric store and can be purchased by the yard. Cut a piece, iron fabric to both sides and you have a very stiff piece of fabric able to stand on its own. There is a book with directions for making fabric boxes (Figure R) and bowls and a variety of items that before needed to have a structure under them. No more.

And speaking of ironing on, Junko has a new line of iron-on ribbons (Figure S). The line includes everything from very narrow black ribbon to wider ribbons of many colors. Iron it on instead of stitching. How easy is that?

But there’s more. Queen and Co. has a line of self-adhesive ribbons that they call Frills. Beautiful ribbons and little bows (Figure T) in many colors make it possible to not only embellish a finished item but to cover an entire book or box or picture frame with ribbon with not a needle and thread or glue stick in sight.

Resources
yarn
S. R. Kertzer
Website: www.kertzer.com

yarn
Bernat/Lily/Spinrite
Website: www.spinriteyarns.com
Website: www.bernat.com

yarn and needles
Lion Brand Yarn Co.
Website: www.lionbrand.com

Butterfly Loom
Monarch Creative Group
Website: www.thebutterflyloom.com

Fast2Fuse
C & T Publishing Inc.
Website: www.ctpub.com

Hot Ribbon iron-on ribbon
Website: www.hotribbon.com

Frills self-adhesive ribbons and bows
Queen & Co.
Website: www.QueenandCo.com
Also in this Episode