Hello everybody!
Yes, it’s that magical time of year when we give you some information about our Advent Calendar for this year. You will find below all of the details of the yarn, needles and gauge for this year's designs - yes that’s plural, because for the first time ever there will be TWO designs!!
The designs will co-ordinate beautifully, but if you wish, you can knit just one of them. We know that time is limited during the festive period, so having 2 designs means that you can choose to do them both, or just one if time is an issue for you. This takes the pressure off and means that everyone can enjoy the season, at their own pace.
YARN
You will need 2 x 100g of fingering weight yarn. My skeins were 425m to 100g, but any standard fingering weight is fine. I know another common yardage is 400m to 100g and that is fine too. They do not need to contain nylon, but it’s fine if they do.
One skein should be a solid/semi solid and one a variegated/heavily speckled. It’s really important that the skeins have a strong contrast.
I used the following :-
Pixie Yarn in ‘O Christmas Tree’ - this was my variegated.
Birdstreet Yarn in ‘Crema’ - this was my semi-solid.
There is a photo attached of my yarn. You won’t use all of the skeins, I used approximately 60g of the Pixie Yarn and 45g of the Birdstreet Yarn. This may vary a little with gauge differences and any pattern adjustments so I would recommend you have 2 full skeins.
You can choose whatever colour scheme you wish, as long as your yarns contrast well with each other.
You will use these yarns for both of the designs.
NEEDLES AND GAUGE
Design 1 - 2.25mm and 2.5mm needles for knitting in the round. I used an 80cm for magic loop but you could use double points if you prefer. The gauge is 32 stitches and 44 rows to 4 inches, blocked measurement in stocking stitch using 2.5mm needles.
Design 2 - 2.75mm and 3mm 16 inch (40cm) circular needles. You will also need 3mm double points/80cm circular needle. The gauge is 30 stitches and 40 rows to 4 inches, blocked measurement in stocking stitch using 3mm needles.
ONE MORE THING….
Finally there is one more thing to tell you, and this is for all of the bookworms out there! It has become a tradition that as part of our Advent Calendar, I read a little story that is linked to our theme. Well, for the first time we will reveal the book that I will be reading from! The book is a collection of short stories, and whilst we won’t tell you at this stage which story I will be reading, we thought you might like to know the book details. If you would like to, you could get the book too (or maybe you might already have it).
The book is Classic Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott.
We hope that all this information gets you in the festive mood, so start gathering your supplies ready for the 1st December!!
Much love,
Kay and Dan x x