November 2022

Newly-published books

Instead of teaching you brand new techniques, Patty Lyons' Knitting Bag of Tricks gives you tips for improving your everyday knitting techniques. So is it a book worth adding to your knitting library? To answer that, you'd probably want to know whether you'll learn any tips from the book that you didn't know already. And if so, would you actually use them?

While I can't know what you already know, I can say that there was plenty in the book that I didn't know about. Some of her tips left me marveling at their simplicity and effectiveness (and kicking myself for not thinking of them myself!).

An example of a tip that impressed me concerns the final stitch of a cable cast-on. With the cable cast-on, the base of each stitch is formed from the stitch that follows it. That means that the final stitch doesn't have a base, since it doesn't have a following stitch. This baseless final stitch leaves a rounded corner to the knitting, which I don't like and I've tried to fix myself. Patty's solution is easier to do than to describe, but it involves making a yarn-over between the penultimate and final stitch and then passing the final stitch over the yarn-over to act as the yarn-over's base. I liked my solution—but I like Patty's better and I've already ditched my method in favor of hers.

Other tips in the book offer improvements in everything from the long tail cast-on to binding off and many techniques in-between, such as increasing, decreasing, short rows, ribbing, picking up stitches, button bands, yarn-overs, gauge calculations and more.

I learned a lot from the book. I'd be surprised if you didn't pick up a bunch of new ideas too. But the question is will you want to use them in your knitting? Again, I can't know the answer for you, but I'll be using many of them. For some tips, nobody will see the difference but me, but when taken all together I think they'll make a noticeable improvement to the look of a finished garment.

As much as I'm sure Patty Lyons will be happy to see knitters make use of her tips, I think what she really wants is for knitters to gain a deeper understanding of how knitting works after reading the book. As she points out, "Once we understand the why, we can figure the how to do it better".

If you're happy with how you knit and would prefer (perfectly reasonably) to spend time knitting rather than reading about it, then this book probably isn't for you. On the other hand, if you've ever looked at your knitting and thought, "Why is it doing that?!", then my guess is that Patty Lyons has an answer in her Knitting Bag of Tricks.

New and discontinued yarns

New

Athena
Array – Aran – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping (fair-isle effect)

Borgo de'Pazzi
Asor – Heavy Worsted – 50% Cotton, 50% Merino Superwash Wool – 2 ply – Solid colors

Cygnet
Colour Rush DK – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping
Seriously Chunky Majestic Metallics – Super Bulky – 99% Acrylic, 1% Metallic – Plied – Tweed colors with metallic thread
Sprinkles Pop Chunky – Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping (gradient marl)

Durable
Mohair – Fingering – 55% Acrylic, 25% Mohair, 20% Wool – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors

Elements
Duo – Aran – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Two color blocks

Ella Rae
Eco Tweed Chunky – Bulky – 75% Merino Wool, 25% Nylon – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Hobbii
Friends Cotton 8/4 Mercerized – Sport – 100% Mercerized Cotton – Plied – Solid colors
Sweet Tweed – Lace – 40% Acrylic, 25% Nylon, 13% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Cotton – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors, Tweed colors
Wheel of Alpaca – DK – 80% Acrylic, 20% Alpaca – Plied with a soft haze – Gradient marl
Woody Tweed – DK – 70% Superwash Wool, 30% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Isager Strik
Trio 2 – Sport – 50% Linen, 30% Cotton, 20% Tencel / Lyocell – Plied – Semi-solid colors

Jody Long
Rovesoft – Heavy Worsted – 50% Alpaca, 45% Acrylic, 5% Highland Wool – Single ply – Solid colors

Juniper Moon Farm
Mallow – Bulky – 74% Wool, 24% Baby Alpaca, 2% Elastic – Single ply – Solid colors, Heathered colors
Saxony – Aran – 75% Cashmere, 25% Merino Wool – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Knit Picks / We Crochet
Upcycle Alpaca Blend Sport – Sport – 34% Wool, 33% Acrylic, 33% Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors
Upcycle Alpaca Blend Worsted – Worsted – 34% Wool, 33% Acrylic, 33% Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors
Upcycle Suri Alpaca – Heavy Worsted – 100% Suri Alpaca – Fuzzy – Solid colors

La Bien Aimée
Wensley Worsted – Worsted – 50% Corriedale Wool, 25% Falklands Wool, 25% Wensleydale Wool – Plied – Tonal colors

Lana Gatto
Wall Street – Lace – 37% Superfine Alpaca, 37% Superkid Mohair, 26% Nylon – Brushed bouclé – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Lion Brand
Chunky Chill – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Single wrapped with thread – Solid colors
Scarfie Lite – Heavy Worsted – 43% Acrylic, 41% Polyester, 9% Nylon, 7% Superwash Wool – Fuzzy chain – Self-striping, Tonal colors
Sesame Street Fuzzy Friends – Jumbo – 100% Polyester – Faux fur – Solid colors

Loops & Threads
Color Craft Christmas – Aran – 97% Acrylic, 3% Metallic – Plied – Solid colors with metallic
Cozy Blanket – Jumbo – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors
Cozy Fur – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Faux fur – Semi-solid colors
Cozy Sherpa – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Fleece style – Solid colors
Natural Marl – Heavy Worsted – 69% Polyester, 22% Acrylic, 9% Wool – Fiber-filled net – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Malabrigo Yarn
Mohair – Lace – 72% Kid Mohair, 28% Silk – Brushed bouclé – Tonal colors, Multicolored

Mary Maxim
Home – Bulky – 68% Cotton, 32% Nylon – Tape – Solid colors, Dappled colors
Lullaby – DK – 100% Microfiber – S on S plied – Self-striping
Purely Soft – Bulky – 70% Acrylic, 30% Nylon – Plied and eyelash fibers – Solid colors
Sunrise – DK – 100% Microfiber – S on S plied – Solid colors

Mirasol Yarn
Reque – DK – 60% Merino Wool, 25% Mohair, 15% Tencel / Lyocell – Plied – Solid colors
Tapiche – Super Bulky – 36% Alpaca, 24% Merino Wool, 23% Baby Alpaca, 11% Viscose, 6% Acrylic – Fuzzy chain – Solid colors

Moda Vera
Harris – Heavy Worsted – 100% Polyester – Chained – Semi-solid colors

Noro
Malvinas – Heavy Worsted – 100% Merino Wool – Single ply – Semi-solid colors

Novita
Huopaisa – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single ply – Solid colors
Pehmoinen – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single ply – Multicolored

Panda
Miracle 4-ply – Fingering – 100% Acrylic – S on S plied – Solid colors, Multicolored
Renew Max – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Plied – Solid colors

Premier Yarns
Bloom Chenille – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Self-striping (floral effect)
Parfait XL Shimmer – Jumbo – 94% Polyester, 6% Metallic – Chenille – Solid colors with metallic

Queensland Collection
Tenderfoot – Fingering – 75% Merino Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon – Plied – Solid colors, Heathers

Schachenmayr Original
Alva Silk – Sport – 50% Wool, 25% Cotton, 25% Silk – Tweedy – Solid colors
Bellicia – Worsted – 64% Viscose, 36% Baby Alpaca – Fuzzy chain – Semi-solid colors
Elegant Mohair – Aran – 50% Mohair, 50% Nylon – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Tuscany Tweed – DK – 55% Wool, 30% Viscose, 15% Alpaca – 2 ply – Tweed colors
freundin - my big wool – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single ply – Solid colors
freundin - my color style – Heavy Worsted – 45% Nylon, 29% Superwash Wool, 19% Acrylic, 7% Alpaca – Fiber-filled net – Semi-solid colors, Self-striping (gradient transition)
freundin - my touch of cashmere – DK – 57% Superwash Wool, 33% Acrylic, 10% Cashmere – S on S plied – Solid colors

Valley Yarns
Hardwick – Aran – 50% Alpaca, 35% Wool, 15% Silk – Slubby tweed – Solid colors

Wendy
Giggles DK – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping, Self-striping (gradient transition)

Discontinued

Araucania
Lujoso – Heavy Worsted – 50% Baby Alpaca, 35% Merino Wool, 15% Mulberry Silk – 2 ply – Tonal colors

Big Twist Yarns
Glam – Worsted – 61% Acrylic, 39% Polyester – Sequinned – Marled colors with sequins

Ella Rae
Heathered Merino Superfine – Fingering – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Nylon – Plied – Heathered colors

GGH
Cashmana – Heavy Worsted – 70% Merino Wool, 30% Cashmere – Plied – Solid colors
Lowana – Super Bulky – 87% Kid Mohair, 8% Wool, 5% Acrylic – Fuzzy – Solid colors

Jody Long
Glam Haze – Bulky – 53% Superfine Alpaca, 22% Mohair, 14% Polyester, 11% Metallic – Fuzzy – Solid colors with metallic

Lion Brand
Mandala Roving – DK – 100% Acrylic – Single ply – Self-striping (long transition)

Loops & Threads
Barcelona Roving – Super Bulky – 93% Acrylic, 7% Polyester – Single wrapped with thread – Solid colors

MillaMia
Naturally Soft Sock – Fingering – 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon – Plied – Solid colors

Mirasol Yarn
Nuna – Sport – 40% Merino Wool, 40% Silk, 20% Bamboo Viscose – Plied – Solid colors

Premier Yarns
Bamboo Joy – DK – 50% Acrylic, 50% Bamboo Viscose – S on S plied – Solid colors

Queensland Collection
Savanna – DK – 66% Silk, 34% Linen – Tweedy – Solid colors

The Fibre Co.
Canopy Fingering – Fingering – 50% Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool, 20% Bamboo Viscose – Plied with a soft haze – Solids, Heathers

Trendsetter Yarns
Pure Love – Heavy Worsted – 80% Merino Wool, 20% Silk – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Universal Yarn
Adore – DK – 55% Merino Superwash Wool, 45% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors, Self-striping, Multicolored

If you'd like to get in touch, please send a mail to hello@yarnsub.com (you can simply reply to this mail) or find me on Instagram.

See you in December!

Wendy

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