August 2018 Membership Knitting Tips & Tricks

I was very excited about this month’s KnitCrate for two reasons. First… there was a pattern booklet! I loved this because I could immediately flip through and see what the patterns were like. (In fact, I was so inspired I cast-on immediately.)
Second… SPECKLES! Speckle-dyed yarns are so on-trend this year that I was
secretly wondering if we’d see some in a KnitCrate. Waiting did not disappoint.
Shown above are two of four colorways (left, Silence; right, Undertow) of Uru.Yarn Speckled Singles, a beautiful 100% merino fingering yarn.
The included knitting pattern is Gullywasher by Carissa Browning, and I really do
think it’s the prettiest pattern I’ve seen in a KnitCrate. With 834 generous yards of yarn, this shawl reaches a body hugging 92” wide and 20” deep! (Don’t worry – if you want a smaller or larger shawl, there are clear instructions on where to make those changes.)

Since this is an Intermediate pattern, I thought I’d give you some tips on the trickier elements of the design.

Reading a chart with “wrong side” stitches
There are people who prefer charts and people who prefer written instructions, both ways being perfectly acceptable! However, this pattern does require you to read a chart, mostly because the stitch pattern is patterned on both the right and wrong side rows. Many shawls will give you a “rest” row on the wrong side of just knit or purl, but this one will have you working the whole way through. It’s so beautiful that it’s totally worth it. Let me help you get started!

Four Different Ways to Yarn Over
Lace loves yarnovers – indeed, can you have lace without them? However, when you have a stitch pattern that uses yarn overs on both the right and wrong sides, you’re going to run into some yarn over acrobatics. In this video, I show you how to do the 4 different types of yarn overs, which change depending on what type of stitches are adjacent to each side of the yarn over:
K, YO, K
K, YO, P
P, YO, K
P, YO, P

Blocking a Lace Edge
This shawl has such a gorgeous edge that you definitely want to block so you can properly show it off! Did you know that YOU decide how you want a lace edge to look depending on how you pin it? Let me show you.
XO,
- Dayana Knits
If you want to try a KnitCrate on me, visit the KnitCrate website
(http://mbsy.co/gLfBV) and use coupon code “DK20” for 20% off!
For more tips, tricks and “knitspiration” follow Dayana Knits any way you like:
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/DayanaKnits
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/DayanaKnits
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dayanaknits
Blog: www.dayanaknits.com
