She will exhibiting next Friday and Saturday (August 6 and 7) at Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair in Burnsville, NC. If you have questions you can contact her at margaret@mizcrochet.com

Or you can check out her wonderful website:www.mizcrochet.com

Check out some of her items made with Darn Good Yarn’s yarn!

Belly Dance Hip Belt Made from Landscapes Banana Fiber Yarn

Belly Dance Hip Belt Made from Landscapes Banana Fiber Yarn

Fantastic Hobo Bag made from our Premium Recycled Silk Sari Yarn

But what you need to know, is that what I’m about to show you will knock your socks off and you must check our Lashell’s Etsy store to fall in love some more: http://www.etsy.com/shop/designtalentedone

Check out this hat that was made with our very own Desert Caravan Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon Click to check it out

I came up with a super quick no knit, no crochet Cowl/Scarf. This quick craft project is also easy and fun to do with a child as it requires just the skill of braiding and having fun with the textures.  I find there is such beauty in yarns that it’s sometimes nice to just display that fact on it’s own and that’s where the inspiration came from for this scarf. All you need are three lengths of about 5 feet of Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon . I used my arms length to measure this. You may want more or less depending on how many loops you’d like around your neck or how long you’d like it to drape.

I first knotted the three ends together. I then loosely braided the Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon together for about 7 inches, then knotted it off. I then jumped about 4 inches and put another knot in the ribbon, braided the remainder and tied to the end to make a loop. You don’t have to loop it. You can just knot both ends and where it as a long slinky scarf that’s perfect for summer. And that’s it! This yarn is so darn rustic and funky and artsy, I wanted to make a simple items that shows it off and I think this does a lovely job doing it.

A variation I did with the ribbon was cut my favorite sections from the Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon and then tie them back together so that way I could make sure I got all of my favorite colors in the piece. I can’t wait to wear it out! you Buy the Sari Ribbon By Clicking HERE!

What do you think?

You can pick any hue or color you’d like (as long as it’s in stock) within that yarn group. Normally, if you order say 5 Mixed Berry, that 6th ball will be Mixed Berry unless you tell me otherwise. If you get 2 of, say, Brushstrokes of Teal and 2 Classic I’ll make a judgment call. Sorry, you can’t mix the offer between yarn types (like sari ribbon and recycled sari silk yarn).

What to pick the color of that extra ball or skein of yarn? When you check out, there is an are where you can leave a notes/instructions. Go ahead and click on that and just write in the hue that you desire! Or you can always email me (Nicole, the owner) at info@darngoodyarn.com

Recycled Silk Sari Yarn

Look at what she’s been doing with our Recycled Silk Sari Yarn

OK give it a second… there is a video you should watch that will load right here.

Click here to get the Premium Recycled Silk Sari Yarn

This cool headband is super easy to make and it only takes a 1/2 a ball of Darn Good Yarn’s Premium Recycled Silk Yarn.

So, you can use size 5 needles and it will make a nice tight stitch.

On DPNs or circulars, CO 3 and make an i-cord for about 4 inches (or however long you want the tie tails to be and how you’re going to tie it in the back). Remember, as you break the silk in and wash it, it will stretch a little so if you’re not sure, go shorter.
After you have the first side of the tie done, you’ll start some very simple increases by making one at the first stitch and last stitch of the row for every row until you have the desired width. I brought mine out to 11 stitches. You can increase in your favorite fashion. Your hair will cover it up probably so don’t worry too much. I like KFB (knit front and back).
Now, here is where you get to be creative and you should think about how many stitches you should have on your needles now. You can go straight garter (all knit stitches) or you can really play around with the stitch pattern. Remember to account for the number of stitches you have on your needle. For example, double moss stitch (which is fun and easy and doesn’t allow for too much stretching) is created in multiples of 4’s so you would only want 12 stitches on your needles.

If you started on DPN’s and you haven’t moved your work onto straight needles you can do that now. If you’re on circulars, you can keep the work on there. You’re not joining the work in any way but working back and forth as you would on straight needles.

Put your work down for a second and measure your head. Where are you going to wear your headband toward the front of your hairline, behind your bangs? Measure it from the middle of your left ear, over your head, the the middle of your right ear.  This is a great approximation of how long the body of your work should be. Again, remember, there will be some breaking in over time so while it seems short, it’s not.

About 12-13 inches will do though in case you don’t have a tape measure handy.

So after you’ve knitted the body up, start decreasing one the first and last stitch  of the row down to where you have three stitches. Straight needles users, put your work onto DPN’s and circular needle. Make up that i-cord for the same length you made the first one. Bind off and weave in any ends of course.

You’re done… that was easy yes?

Recycled Silk Sari Yarn Headband Free Knit Pattern

Recycled Silk Sari Yarn Headband Free Knit Pattern

How are you today? I hope everyone had a great holiday!

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to talk about a couple of fun things we’re doing here at Darn Good Yarn (DGY), some charity work you can help with, and of course some of our newer items! Worth the read!

Nurture. Empower. Promote A Life!

In case you haven’t noticed, my goal with Darn Good Yarn is to help others while bringing you some fun and funky yarns from around the globe. Well, one day I reached out to this AMAZING group in Nepal, EWN. You can read about them here:  http://www.3sistersadventure.com/EWN/

Darn Good Yarn and the American Red Cross:

The earthquake in Haiti is horrendous. In an effort to help, 5% of every sale of our premium recycled silk yarn will go to the the American Red Cross until the end of February. It’s as simple as that!

Other BIG news that you can help with:

I often get emails from individuals and groups for donations. They all do very special charity work for their

communities.  So, starting this weekend, we will have a special section of our website dedicated to a person or group once a quarter. In this section of the site you can donate to Darn Good Yarn wherein 100% of that money goes to these organizations by means of yarns that we carry at our cost. If you would like to read more about this great program, please CLICK HERE

This quarter, we will be accepting donations for Jake S. He crochets hats and hangs them around his town for those in need. You should read about his story HERE.

Want to win $25 to spend at Darn Good Yarn?

Have you come up with a simple, easy pattern for our yarn? If so, you could enter it to us here at info@darngoodyarn.com. If we use it as one of our free patterns on the site you’ll get a $25 gift certificate for the site! It can be knitted, crocheted or something else!!! (Hmmmm…) What are you going to submit?

Have you seen Chris’s Crochet Corner?

You’ve seen her awesome patterns, now she has a little home here on Darn Good Yarn too! Click on any photo to go to her crochet corner to get inspired! And if you have time visit her Etsy store by clicking on this address: www.chrisssmith22.etsy.com

What’s New at Darn Good Yarn?

Guess what we have back in stock…finally… Our Sari Ribbon! Click on the items below to check ‘em out!

If you have questions about anything you saw in this newsletter, feel free to contact Darn Good Yarn at info@darngoodyarn.com

Have a great day!

Namaste,

Nicole, Mike & Squeakers

Click Me For the Pattern!

Designed and Crocheted by Chriss Smith (in cahoots with Nicole, of course!)

This fun and colorful project is worked all in the round. The bag is designed to fit yoga mats up to 26″ high and 5 1/2″across when rolled up. This pattern is rated at advanced beginner.

Materials Needed:

3 Balls of Darn Good Yarn Premium Sari Silk
size 5.5 crochet hook or size to obtain gauge
Darning needle
1 coconut button
6 yards of sari ribbon (you can substitute this with a solid colored recycled silk. We tried black and it looked stunning!)

Click Here For the Pattern!