Hey all!
It’s getting very close to our next pattern release! Scrappy Checkers Pullover, our second collab pattern with Pickyfemme, is out next Monday, 18th May.
The pattern is on pre-order at the moment at a discount, but Substack subscribers will get it as part of their subscription! So if you’ve been thinking about signing up, and you like the look of this pattern, go ahead and become a paid subscriber before the 18th and you’ll get a download code for it when it’s released!
Last week we wrote about working with scraps, and unsurprisingly Scrappy Checkers is a great pattern to use up what you have, and in the process create something colourful, wearable, and unique. Designed for worsted-weight scraps, the pattern is based on a simple 4-stitch, 4-round repeat which allows for play and variety in a nice memorisable rhythm. You can see from the samples Erin created for the shoot how varied the design can be depending on colour choice and placement. So many many possibilities!!
The pattern includes charts to show you how to make the variations shown in the samples, and gives advice on calculating yarn quantities depending on the colour quantities and placement you decide on, so you can customise it to use up what you have. Of course if you don’t have scraps you can plan your perfect jumper and buy what you need, or you might just want to buy a main colour and use scrappy contrast colours. Whatever you choose to do, the pattern will accommodate and support you.
While we’ve been waiting to share this pattern, we have been playing with swatch ideas, and looking through our scraps for potential colour combinations.
Lydia made a very jazzy gingham (top swatch) in some yarn which she thinks might be Malabrigo Rios, and has also been looking at the leftovers from the blanket she designed for Crochet How in Manos Ideal, which happens to be the same yarn Erin used for her samples (middle and bottom swatches).
After making the first gingham swatch (top) Lydia realised she wasn’t happy with the edges; they were quite loose and messy. After a little bit of research she found out that a lot of people recommend knitting two stitches at the beginning and end of your rows using both of the colours that you use in that same row, this helps secure the edges. After trying it on the other two swatches Lydia can confirm it works really well! You can see the edge stitches in the middle and bottom swatches used this technique and are much neater.
Here are a few of the swatches Meghan has made so far, the first in Malabrigo Rios and Merry Merino;
And the second is Peace Fleece scraps and variegated mystery yarn from her stash:
Some other yarns we think would work really well for this pattern are:
West Yorkshire Spinners Croft - It feels like the tweed shades of Croft were made for mixing into the checks in this pattern.
Harrisville Highland - Harrisville does some delicious yellows - may we interest you in an all-yellow version?!
Purl Soho Till in these lovely warm shades:
Rosa Pomar Matiz is a gorgeous Portuguese yarn, we love these colours paired together on their website -
John Arbon Harvest Hues Worsted - These luminous shades would make an increble ombré version!
Julie Asselin Nurtured, perhaps in some gorgous blues and the very unusual colour Dew (left).
De Rerum Natura Gilliat - De Rerum actually already have some extremely gorgeous earthy colour palette ideas on their site. Def recommend a browse!
Kelbourne Woolens Germantown - Germantown is a great workhorse yarn that comes in fun colours, especially great for a kids version.
Biches et Buches Le Gros Lambswool - a super neutral or understated version?
Berroco Ultra Wool - Loving the idea of a dramatic Scrappy Checkers!
Loop Fiber Studio Ying Yang Worsted, Loop Fiber Studio do amazing marled colours, which would be great checkered with solids or with other marls! We love the idea of these three colours together, maybe for a fun gingham:
And that’s all our yarn recs for now! We had a looot of fun looking at colour options and we hope you found some inspo! Let us know if you have any yarns in mind or if you’ve started swatching, or even if you’ve found something to take Scrappy Checkers palette inspiration from!
Before we sign off a final note on the pattern; for the first time we are splitting the kids only and adults only pattern, you can buy them separately or together. The kids patterns starts at 0-3 months, up to 8-10 years, and the adult sizes start at 88 cm / 35¼” chest circumference, up to 172 cm / 68¾”, designed to be worn with 3½ - 5” positive ease. We hope this means that you can get exactly the patterns you are looking for.
Don’t forget that Scrappy Checkers is discounted while it’s on pre-order… that is right now!! And if you want to sign up to be a paid Substack subscriber before the 18th May, you will get the pattern when it’s released as part of your subscription.
Thanks so much for being here! We love this pattern and we can’t wait to see all the new Scrappy Checkers sweaters appearing in the world once the pattern is properly out and about. It’s an absolute dream for us to work with Erin of Picky Femme, and a dream for us to be able to share that work with you.
Happy swatching
xxx Lydia and Meghan