Yarns to Love
Freia Yarn Bombs: The Bomb Diggities
Sometimes a yarn and a pattern are a perfect match. Case in point: Freia Shawl Balls, paired with Cecelia Campochiaro’s Parallelogram Scarf from MDK Field Guide No. 5: Sequences.
We can’t stop knitting this pattern. The knitting experience is pure zen, with colors slowly changing in your hands as you repeat a simple sequence.
At the end of the knitting, you have a soft, light merino scarf of generous length and wrappability, with painterly shifts of color that are breathtaking.
And you long to cast on another one. It’s fantastic take-along knitting, perfect for chatting. Knit 2, purl 2 (but not ribbing), with some fascinating tweaks at the ends of the rows to keep your interest.
I would have been happy to keep knitting Parallelogram Scarves, exactly as written, until the end of my days. Then Cristina Shiffman went and blew the doors off with her double-width version. She used four Shawl Balls: two in each of two colorways.
All of a sudden, the scarf became a parallelogram-shaped shawl, or a super-jumbo scarf. And how could I not love a project called “The Double Wide?” With four Shawl Balls at the ready, I cast on nearly twice the number of stitches called for in the pattern, and my Double Wide went with me to Tennessee and back last June for our Knitting Getaway at Shakerag Workshops. We had a wonderful time together.
Improving on Perfection
Later in June came the coup de grace: at the TNNA yarn industry show, Tina Whitmore’s Freia Fibers booth had her amazing new invention: Yarn Bombs.
Yarn Bombs are the same light-as-air merino singles yarn that Tina dyes up for Shawl Balls, but with double the yardage. These are big wheels of color.
And here is the key to the magic: the color shifts are even longer and slower. It’s as if Tina dyed a special yarn just for the Double Wide.
Ann and I sat on the floor of Tina’s booth, picking colors for our Holiday Shop order, blissed out of our minds.
These stunning examples of the Double Wide were the result.
the double-wide recipe: Cast on 201 stitches. Then simply follow the Parallelogram scarf Pattern as written.
Here’s a truth: any two Yarn Bomb colorways can be combined to stunning effect. (The same goes for Shawl Balls.) The slow transition of the colors makes it all work out, effortlessly. Our only recommendation is to start out with a distinct contrast between the alternating stripes, even if it means you knit from with the inside end of one Yarn Bomb and the outside end of the other.
To see them is to want them, and to want them is to knit them, and to knit them is to love them, and . . . oh I’ll shut up now. I like them a lot is what I’m saying.
Freia Yarn Bombs are flying off the MDK Shop shelves, but we have stock on quite a few colors. Tina doesn’t make many Yarn Bombs because the process of producing them is even more labor-intensive than her other yarns. So if they are calling to you, listen!
My double-wide is two Shawl Balls each of Canyon and Sulphur Springs–one each of the Bombs would be amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. Just saying (and longing to knit this all over again…but maybe starting with 221 stitches…super-double-wide).
Just wondering how wide is your Double Wide after casting on 201 stitches?
2 Yarn Bombs are on their way to me…I want to cast on 221 stitches but do you think it will be long enough for lotsa wrapping if I cast it on that wide? Maybe I should just go with the 201.
Why are you up at 4AM? Knitting?
I knit an original Parallelogram Scarf which I finished and showed off in June at Shakerag….and I cast on another, wider version almost immediately. It is my go everywhere knitting, and I don’t think it is out of my system yet! I love wearing the original (so cozy and pretty), knitting the larger one, and I can see an even bigger one …or maybe just longer…lurking. Oh, dear….
I’m working on the 181 CO version right now! It can be surprising, to be K2, P2ing away and to suddenly look at the fabric piled in your lap, and to see how the colors are shifting. when you work row by row, you don’t realize how great the effect is. It’s truly mesmerizing.
I’ve been eyeballing those bombs for one of Elizabeth Elliot‘s Fissure wraps. I knit one of those in dear departed Rifton from Jill Draper and adore it, I’m thinking the Freia will have the same look? But I’m wondering about the loft and texture of the yarn – how does it compare to Rifton? Any opinions welcome…..
It’s quite similar to Rifton in weight. Being merino it’s a bit softer. They’re both singles. Such a great idea to sub it for Rifton.
Ok, ok, you talked me into it. Just ordered a couple of balls (I’m going for looong), and a new Loome tool, since my dog ate the last one I ordered. Only non shoe item she’s ever chewed…..
Dogs are weird! Olive likes certain yarn labels but not all yarn labels.
OMG!!! All of those color combos are so gorgeous! I want them ALL!
I’m the one who knitted the sample in the middle. I cannot overstate how addicted I was to this project–it’s more than nine feet long, using all of two Yarn Bombs. I’m going to make another, and I may just go with two random colors. Cecelia’s pattern breaks up crazy colors so that it all hangs together. It’s just the darndest thing.
Can I ask which ends you started with on each ball? It looks like the green end of Lichen? Which end for Amaranth? I want mine to look just like your sample. 🙂 My ball of Lichen is wound with the green on the outside, and Amaranth with the dark purple on the outside.
What are the dimensions of the 201-stitch version?
It’s about 16 inches wide and 9 feet long if you use all of both skeins.
Ummm, can I just use one ball of Freia and still get the color shifting? I am just getting back into knitting and have a pattern for Fusion Boomerang that looks like something I can tackle at this point!
Definitely! The color shifts are every bit as subtle and beautiful with one ball.
I tried to order Freia Shawl Balls or Yarn Bombs or kits and it says you are out of stock. will you be getting more?
Which colorways were used in the middle sample, please?