We love a good mystery knit-along! This year, Olive Knits is encouraging everyone to gather together and knit socks! We curated a few colorway options using two yarns that will work wonderfully for your project. Sign up for the Spring String MKAL at Olive Knits, gather your supplies, and get ready for the adventure! (It begins on April 1, 2024!)
This is the ideal yarn for those who prefer to knit wool-free, and for those who love wearing handknit socks in warmer weather. We put together three cheerful options for your project. Use one of our suggestions or select from the myriad of colors to create a combo as unique as you!
You will need 2 (two) hanks of each color for the Fritillary Socks.
Purchase 2 (two) hanks of each color for this MKAL
Admiral by Schoppel
This snuggly wool yarn from Germany features biodegradable nylon and makes the perfect socks! Choose your favorite color combination and be ready for the adventure! Our team assembled 6 suggested colorways in this yarn, but you will need to decide which yarn is the MC and which is the CC. Want to create your own combo? That’s easy! Simply click on the link to see the color options and pick your favorite two colors.
You will need one skein of each color for the Fritillary Socks.
The 7th Annual 4 Day Knitalong hosted by Marie Greene of Olive Knits begins on July 1, 2023, and we couldn't be more excited! This year's pattern, Lemon Spritz, is a celebration of sunshine and summer days.
This raglan tee is knit from the top down in the round, in one seamless piece. At the underarm, the sleeves are placed on hold (to be finished afterward), and the lower body features bold lace details that are easy to memorize. The neckline features a quick and easy “rolled” edge, and the short sleeves are framed with a perpendicular garter edge and lemon leaf ties.
For even more fun, consider working the garter edge and/or your lemon leaf ties in a contrasting color!
Purchase 3 (or more) hanks of Rylie byHiKoo® and receive our exclusive bonus pack!
What's in the Bonus Pack?
Exclusive Lemon Spritz project bag Citrus Delight candy Lemon stitch marker set in bag 2 fun citrus stickers Lemon Spritz pattern
Bonus offer ends June 18, 2023, or while supplies last.
Limit one Bonus Kit per person, please.
When do I get the pattern?
Official pattern lands in your library June 30th. Before then, you’ll have access to the preorder file with all the details for yarn, size, swatching and MORE for this year’s 4 Day KAL.
Questions? Send us an email: hello@makersmercantile.com
or give us a call: (206) 717-7121
How Much Yarn do I need?
Use this chart to determine which size you'll make, and also to discover how many hanks of each color yarn you'll need.
Updated 5/19/23
Click for a larger view
Which colors should I choose?
Need some inspiration? Rylie is such a wonderfully soft yarn and its linen fibers create such interesting texture.
To offer some options, we made swatches with a few of our favorite colors to help you envision your Lemon Spritz tee all knit up!
Check out the available colors of Rylie on our website.
We can't wait to see your finished project! Join the discussion on Facebook. Be sure to share photos of your progress on social media with the tags: #Oliveknits #LemonSpritz #Makersmercantile #4dayKAL
We asked our creative customers to color a page featuring a ball of yarn, crochet hook, and knitting needles to be incorporated into a fabric for this inspiring project bag. Every envelope that you sent in was a little gift - each one including a unique work of art.
To create the fabric, we carefully scanned and adjusted each image to be the same size, then rotated and assembled them into a repeating pattern. The fabric was printed, cut, and sewn in our print & sew lab, and we couldn't be more delighted with the result. Isn't it amazing what we can do together?
Five of the entries below were randomly selected as our prize winners to receive their own Stitched Together bag as a thank you. Want a bag of your very own? Click the image below.
The apricate kal begins Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
The Project
Rays of angled lines encircle this kerchief cowl. This fun knit combines stranded knitting with knit/purl stitches to create an intriguing, textured motif. After the initial section is completed, we transition from working in the round to working flat and begin decreasing each row to reach the final point of the cowl.
We are so excited to invite you to join us for this KAL adventure! Choose your favorite colorway and get the exclusive kit, and be ready to cast on February 1, 2023. Kyle will join us in our Ravelry group to answer any questions you and the others might have all month long!
February 7, 2023 Makers' Night Meet the designer / Q&A
February 28, 2023 KAL officially ends
Remember to connect with other knitters on the Makers' Mercantile Ravelry Group Page. The forums let knitters of all skill levels participate ... it's like having a knitting tutor 24/7!
The pattern includes both charted and written instructions, so you can choose your favorite method. If you are new to reading charts, check out this free online class!
Video demonstrations are available for this project. Clickable links to the videos are included in the .pdf pattern as well as a QR code for easy reference.
Join Ellen Thomas of The Chilly Dog for the September Makers’ Mercantile Knit-Along! Featuring Schoppel-Wolle's Lace Flower, the Chasing Butterflies shawl is a lightweight, simple lace pattern that takes full advantage of the 150 gram cake of yarn.
Want the pattern for free? Purchase our exclusive kit and receive a download code for the pattern for free!
The Chasing Butterflies KAL sarted Thursday, September 1, 2022.
Project
Chasing Butterflies by Ellen Thomas shown in color #2403
Designed by Ellen Thomas of the Chilly Dog, Chasing Butterflies is a gorgeous one-cake shawl that celebrates the joy of lace. With its easy-to-remember repeats, enjoy the adventure as this lightweight project flutters across your needles.
We are so excited to invite you to join us for this KAL adventure! Choose your favorite colorway and get the exclusive kit, and be ready to cast on September 1, 2022. Ellen will join us in our Ravelry group to answer any questions you and the others might have all month long!
The Kit
The kits have sold out, but you can still get the yarn HERE
Download code for Chasing Butterflies pattern (released 9/1/22)
Schedule
July 29, 2022 Kits available for purchase
September 1, 2022 Pattern released
September 6, 2022 Makers' Night | Meet the designer
September 30, 2022 KAL officially ends
Remember to connect with other knitters on Makers' Mercantile Ravelry Group Page. The forums let knitters of all skill levels participate ... it's like having a knitting tutor 24/7!
Do I start from the inside or the outside of the cake?
The cast on point for the Chasing Butterflies pattern is located at the center top of the shawl. If you work from the outside of the cake in, you'll have no problems at all with the yarn tangling as you work.
If you would like to begin with the color of yarn at the center of the cake, we encourage you to hand wind the yarn into a ball, beginning with the tail at the outside. Once wound (it's a project in itself but
easily done while watching tv, listening to music, or chatting with friends) you will have a sturdy ball of yarn ready to join you on the fluttery adventure.
The 6th Annual 4 Day Knitalong hosted by Marie Greene of Olive Knits begins on July 1, 2022, and we couldn't be more excited! This year's pattern is named "Sailaway" and features a series of slipped stitches paired with fun 1-over-1 cables.
Super easy to knit, this seamless cardigan is worked top-down with suggested yarns in either DK or worsted weights and is offered in 9 different sizes.
To focus our efforts a bit, we selected Simpliworsted by HiKoo® as our featured yarn for this KAL.
At this point the colorwork is complete and we are "just swimming along" working our way through the body of the cardigan.
We hope you will join us! Read on to discover our limited-time special offer!
Save 20% off Simpliworsted
Enjoy 20% off Simpliworsted by HiKoo®, PLUS be among the first 150 customers to purchase 9 or more hanks and we will include the Sailaway cardigan pattern by Marie Greene, PLUS our exclusive Sailaway drawstring project bag as FREE gifts!
Offer good through June 19, 2022
When do I get the pattern?
You will receive a printed copy of the pre-order packet with your shipment. The pattern will automatically update in your Ravelry library, so just check your account first thing in the morning on July 1 to see the pattern update.
Also, join Marie Greene and folks from all over for the Cast-On Party live stream (details will be provided in the pre-order packet).
How Much Yarn do I need?
Use this chart to determine which size you'll make, and also to discover how many hanks of each color yarn you'll need.
Which colors should I choose?
Not sure which to put together? Simpliworsted has many options, including solids, multis, tonals and marled colors. Our team put together a few combos that might be inspiring to you.
We can't wait to see your color choices! Be sure to share photos of your progress on social media with the tags: #Oliveknits #Sailaway #Makersmercantile #4dayKAL
This final project began with a black warp of doubled 8/2 cotton. Width on the loom was 15” with a length of 90”. Then came the sitting and looking at this completely blank canvas. Inspiration struck, I remembered seeing mini scratchboards that my Grandchildren were working with. Wow, this warp looks like a giant 15x90” scratchboard. How cool is that? Thinking of all those colors that could be lurking beneath the surface, sparked the idea of squares and rectangles, some connected and some becoming fringe on the sides of the warp. Why should the ends of the wrap have all the fringe fun?
For the planning on this project, after sketching and re-sketching, I used a string pattern marked at every 10” (see blog post number 3 for an explanation of a pattern string). Because I was down to small amounts of each color it was important to know each color would have its own space on the warp. The first supplementary color is color #1 and the design was planned to use each color in its own approximate 10” space. This was continued until color #10 was used. As you can see in the pictures some of the colors had fewer shapes in the design.
This wrap is woven with 8/2 cotton doubled with the Hippie Galaxie (HG) yarn as supplementary weft. Every weft pick is done with the 8/2 cotton, with an additional partial pick of the HG color. The partial pick will come up out of the warp and lay on top of the warp as you beat the pick. Change sheds and after a pick of 8/2 you will send the shuttle back into the warp and come out again on the other side of the supplementary design.
When you decide you want to add a fringe at the edge of the warp, you will need to leave a tail of about 6” each time you come to the edge. I used a narrow rectangle for each fringe with approximately 4 weft picks to give me 4 ends to twist into fringe.
Wrap Specifications
Off the loom: 14 ¼” x 75 ½” plus fringe
After Wet Finish: 13 ¼” x 70” plus fringe
Finishing
The ends are hemstitched and then trimmed to 2” for straight fringe after wet finishing.
I hope that this idea inspires you to try working with a supplementary weft. Enjoy and weave on, and on, and on…….
We are excited about the upcoming knitalong with skacel and Hannah Mann of Dear Ingénue! Running the entire month of November, join your fiber friends in knitting the Winter Roses pullover!
For a laid-back sweatshirt feel with a fun tri-color motif, this ultra-cozy sweater is knit in the round—from the top-down—so you can try it on as you go! The circular yoke and body are embellished with bands of bold colorwork and textural garter stitch ridges.
Knit in HiKoo®Simplinatural—a smooth, fluffy, aran-weight yarn, featuring a sumptuous blend of baby alpaca, fine merino wool, and mulberry silk.
The free pattern offers two neck variations, as well as a full-length or cropped-length body. Charted and written instructions are available for the colorwork.
Winter Roses is available in 5 different sizes with two neck and two length options (cowl neck or crew neck & full length or crop length).
Want help choosing colors? Keep scrolling to see some great options selected by the designer!
Hello and here we are again. Another wrap? Although it really does make a beautiful wrap, this time I thought we needed another option. How about some stripes for your table?
Once again, this fabric was made using the Hippie Galaxie magic box of yarn. This is the fifth piece from the box. When I started warping my loom there was a loose plan on the size of the stripes. This will vary depending on how much yarn you have left in each color. Planning out the stripes on graph paper will help, you know how many ends your heddle will hold and how many colors you can use. This piece was woven on my Ashford RH 16” loom. The total number of ends are 159 using a 10 dent heddle on this loom. I highly recommend that you note how many ends each of your heddles will hold. This will help you in your design process.
Remember to add the color Black (8/2 cotton doubled) to the number of ends you are calculating.
Warping the Loom:
Warp Length 90”
Width on Loom: approximately 15 1/4” in a 10 dent heddle with a total of 156 ends
This photo shows the final stripe sequence.
The width of the color stripes is controlled by the amount of yarn I had left. There was a lot of scribbling and warping and unwarping before I was happy with the stripe sequence. At times when I am trying to design a pattern, the loom is my design board. Maybe that sounds like more work than designing on paper, but it helps my process to use the materials that will create the final fabric.
There are several ways to go about putting the stripes on the loom. You can start at the center and design out from there or begin on the right or left edge. Remember this is your project and my ideas are just that, ideas and there is no right or wrong. Your thoughts and ideas may lead you in a completely different direction. Just remember to keep your notes, as these will help inspire you on future adventures.
Tying on your Warp:
For this piece I wanted fringe at each end. When I had the heddle threaded and ready to tie on, I used the simple tying on to the apron bar method. That gave me the option of using the fringe or not. I did hemstitch after spreading the warp. This would give me the option of twisted fringe or just trimming the ends, leaving 1 ½” length of straight fringe on each end.
You may not want long fringe on a table runner, since that can lead to messy accidents if the fringe catches on something or someone or possibly a curious and fun-loving cat or dog.
Another optional finishing technique would be turning under the end twice and hemming either by hand or machine. You could also use a contrast fabric to finish the end and turn under one time and stitch.
Hemstitching:
Hemstitching the ends can be done while the piece is on the loom or after you have removed the piece from the loom.
The picture above shows hemstitching done with a single thread of 8/2 cotton. The next picture shows the hemstitching done with 8/2 cotton doubled.
Weaving the Stripes:
The entire piece is woven with black 8/2 cotton doubled.
Measuring and Finishing:
On the loom this piece is 90” x 15 1/4”
Off the loom and after wet finish the piece measures 70 ½” x 14 ½” with an additional fringe length of 5”
The table in the photo, when opened completely measures 60”.
Enjoy using your beautiful stripes! And……weave on and on…….
Coming soon…….Galaxie Scratch Board Wrap, project number six.
When this journey began, the plan was for three wraps. You can read the first post HERE, and the second post HERE, and the third one HERE. When these wraps were complete, the box was not empty, so the journey continues.
When you sit down to your loom, you are the artist the dressed loom is the canvas and the weft yarn you choose is your paint. There are so many different types of materials and with so many design weav-abilities and combinations, it can be overwhelming. This project let me focus on creating many different patterns with the same materials.
You can get the Hippie Galazie Weaving Works Kit HERE.
Weft: 8/2 doubled Lola Bobble Box in Hippie Galazie all colors
Additional texture using black mohair (Zitron Extra Klasse) wound with one strand of 8/2 cotton on an additional shuttle.
This photo shows the beginning textural section. Using a measuring string pattern with every 10” marked helped me keep track of my spacing.
This project is using the colors in the Bobbel Box that are left from the first three projects. This example is to give you an idea for using the remaining yarn. The amount of yarn that you will have left greatly depends on the way that you weave and the width and length of the warps that you have already put on your loom.
This is just off the loom before wet finished to give you an idea of the color placement and texture sections. As you can see I was a little more generous with my colors at the beginning of the warp (the first colors are the yellow/orange group).
When I started weaving there was really no color pattern, also, I had more yarn in some colors. As I was winding shuttles I separated them into groups, I saw a fire section, rainbow section, an ocean and ocean sun section. One color group leads into another divided by textural shadows. This idea is only a place to start!
This project uses a technique called hatching. There are a number of different ways to create hatching. This technique is created with at least two colors and are overlapped or butted up against each other in the shed. If they are to butt up against each other both colors are used in the same shed. If they are to overlap only one color is used in the shed at a time. In this warp the colors are overlapped, I wanted a constant contrast of color and shadow, so the black weft always begins on the right and the color weft on the left in the warp.
When you are using this technique the shuttle will come up out of the shed in the spot you want the color to end. Beat the pick in place and change sheds, then send the shuttle back to the same side of the warp it came from.
For Example: the shuttle with the color will come from the left side of the warp and come up out of the warp at the spot you have decided upon. Beat the interrupted pick into place and change sheds. Send the shuttle back through the new shed to the same side (the left) of the warp, making sure to catch the warp thread closest to the thread where your shuttle came out of the warp. Beat the pick into place and change sheds. Now send the shuttle with the black thread from the right side of the warp and overlap the color, bring the shuttle up out of the warp. Beat into place and change sheds. Insert the shuttle into the new shed, again making sure to catch the warp thread, and out to the same side of the warp (right).
This project was inspired by the Sunset Shawl by Judith Shanagold
References for Hatching:
Handwoven Loom Theory rigid-heddle scarf collection (ebook) Sunset Shawl by Judith Shanagold
When weaving the black intermingled with color I used the 8/2 cotton and mohair wound together. In the black sections there are wide stripes alternating with 8/2 cotton wound double on a shuttle and the shuttle with the 8/2 cotton and mohair.
This wrap was designed as I sat down to weave, but next time I may do a little planning with colored pencils on graph paper to see other ways to apply the techniques of interrupted weaving.
Finishing the Wrap:
My vision for the wrap was a loose fitting somewhat poncho style wrap. Since the warp was lashed onto the front with no extra warp for fringe, I left enough warp at the end to use for twisted fringe. To add another pop of color I cut pieces of the Bobble Box yarn to add to the fringe. To make this easier, I will secure the warp with knots all the way across and then add the color to each section. You will need to cut the yarn double the length of the existing fringe, thread it onto a tapestry needle and thread it up and then down through the knot before twisting the fringe.
Next, I finished the end without fringe by zigzagging with my machine and then finishing the edge with silk ribbon.
Next step is to place the ribbon end overlapping the edge of the wrap at the fringe end as seen in the above photo. This will become the wrong side.
The photo above shows the right side of the wrap.
And that is the story, but is it the end of the journey……?
Exclusive Lemon Spritz project bag 
