Do you ever seen an amazing pattern and think, “Wow, I love that, but I wish it were made in a different yarn”? Substituting a different yarn is an easy way to make a pattern truly unique. There are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a different yarn. Let’s use the Inishturk…
Last week, we asked our Facebook fans to finish the following sentence: “I wish Lion Brand would…” We received an amazing amount of feedback. While we cannot give everyone a free lifetime supply of yarn, we wanted to address some of your requests. Q: Why can’t I find your yarn in my local store? A:…
Superwash wool is a wool yarn that is machine washable and, therefore, will not felt. Each hair of wool is made up of scales. Felting occurs when these scales bind together. The superwash process prevents the scales from binding in one of two ways. Some superwash wools are given an acid bath that removes its…
Duplicate stitch is a fantastic way to add color to your project after you’ve finished stitching. With this technique, you simply embroider your design onto the completed fabric, mimicking the look of intarsia or other color work techniques. Duplicate stitch is ideal for embroidering small motifs. You can also use it to cover up small…
Intarsia is a color work technique that is used to create individual fields of color in one piece. Yarn is not stranded horizontally (like in Fair Isle knitting); rather, each section of color has its own working yarn that moves vertically. You can usually identify intarsia because the color work does not continue over the…
Fair Isle knitting, also known as stranded knitting, refers to color work that is a repeating pattern worked over a group of stitches and rows. What separates Fair Isle from intarsia and other color work techniques is the stranding on the back. Here’s a quick example that I worked up using the houndstooth chart from…
We get a lot of questions from curious travelers about whether they can craft on airplanes. According to the TSA, knitting and crocheting is allowed on domestic US flights. Keep in mind that blunt scissors under 4 inches are permitted, but circular thread cutters are not allowed. As an alternative to scissors, you can bring…
I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to write this particular post. You see, I really, really like talking to you all and helping you with your knitting and crochet questions. I like hearing about the project you’re making for your son on the East Coast, or your daughter in the Coast Guard….
Over the last decade, we’ve collected many of the common questions we’ve gotten from yarncrafters like you and created a useful database. Our Frequently Asked Questions section (LionBrand.com > Learning Center > FAQ) is a great resource for most of the basic questions that crocheters and knitters have about yarn, projects, techniques, and even our…
Q: I ran out of yarn and the store where I purchased it no longer has the same dye lot. If I have to purchase more in a different dye lot, how do I make the color change less noticeable? A: If you have run out of yarn, try taking a small sample (such as…
Q – I found a pattern that I love but it is designed with Wool-Ease and I’m giving it as a gift to someone who is highly allergic to wool. Can you please suggest an alternate yarn that will work with this pattern? A – You can find a list of yarns that can be…
