Beanie Bag Free Patterns
Dress up your wine before taking it out! These adorable wine cozies can be knit or crocheted to fit an average size wine bottle. Great for adding that extra special touch to a house warming gift, these cozies work up quickly, and they let you try all the yarns in your Beanie Bag! Heaven forbid wine should spill onto the cozy, but if such a travesty should occur, there's no need to fret, just stick it in the washer!
Patterns and their Designers:
Chevron Wine Cozy and Wine Gnome
Rachel of Unraveled Designs designed the adorable knit Chevron Wine Cozy and Wine Gnome. She's a fan of red wines, especially Zinfandels, and is currently going through a Malbec phase.
You can find more of Rachel's designs on Ravelry (she has designed for several of our Mystery Knit Alongs!)!
You can download the pattern .PDF by clicking on the image.
Picot Trellis Bottle Cozy
The crocheted Picot Trellis Bottle Cozy was designed by the amazing Monika of merryClusters! You can find her knit and crochet patterns on Ravelry.
Monika is all about the sweet and fruity wines! Asti (a sparkling champagne-like beverage) and the Italian red dessert wine, Fragolino, are her favorites, though she likes a good Malbec too... sounds like there may need to be a wine and design night soon!
You can download the pattern .PDF by clicking on the image.
Discover more small-yardage projects with which to try out your superwash samples by perusing our Small Yardage bundle on Ravelry!
Beanie Bag Education
So, what's so special about superwash? Lots of things!
- Caring for projects knit and crocheted in superwash yarns easy-peasy! Projects made with this type of yarn are machine washable which means that when a superwash item gets dirty, you can simply throw it in the wash without worrying about it felting, shrinking, or forever changing shape.
- It's great for gift giving! Handmade gifts are always treasured, but non-fiber-aholics don't always know how to care for hand knit and crochet items. Making gifts from superwash yarns lets you give a gift that is easy to care for and can be enjoyed by the lucky recipient for years to come!
- From babies to adults, some hand knit and crocheted items get more wear than other. Superwash wools are the ideal choice for blankets, sweaters, mitts, and cowls...anything that gets lots of wear and washing. While superwash still has the warmth and softness of wool, the easy care factor lets you enjoy the perks of wool without extra time spent caring for it!
What makes a superwash a superwash?
Au naturel and un-superwash-ified wool felts when it is thrown in washer (as some of us have learned this the hard way). Felting is caused when the tiny scales that cover wool fibers rub and bind together. To prevent felting from occurring, wool can be submerged in an acid bath that removes the scales from the shafts. Or, the fibers can be coated with a polymer or resin which acts as a protective coating that prevents the scales from locking together.
Superwash care:
While it is machine washable, treating hand knit and crochet items like your average t-shirt doesn't typically end well. Heat is superwash wool's #1 enemy, so avoid the hot settings on your washer and don't forget to take it out of the load before you stick the rest of your laundry in the dryer! To keep your superwash projects in tip-top shape, wash them on cold and lay them flat to air dry.
Skills for making your wine cozy!
Superwash Projects to Knit & Crochet
Hand dyed by our friends at Lorna's Laces, Shepherd Worsted was one of the first yarns ever to grace our shelves. The relaxed twist of this superwash yarn gives it lots of drape without sacrificing stitch definition.
The process used to make this wool machine washable give it a subtle sheen that makes the hand dyed colorways glow!
Tosh Vintage is a bouncy superwash merino with a high-energy twist that reduces the chance of pilling and creates a squishy soft fabric.
Its matte finish is the perfect blank canvas for Madelinetosh's gorgeous hand dyed colorways.
Silky soft with a good measure of squishiness, Worsted Merino Superwash (WMSW for short) has a tighter twist that lends itself to making textured stitch patterns and cables really stand out.
Available in a spectrum of solid colors that gain extra depth from WMSW's soft shine, is a great choice for projects large and small!
With its rustic texture, Rowan Pure Wool Worsted Superwash has the classic look and feel of wool, with the added benefit of machine washability!
The crisp feel and matte sheen is ideal for traditional knit and crochet sweaters, hats, socks and mitts.
Smooth, squishy and soft, Deluxe Worsted Superwash is one that softens up nicely once blocked, and continues to soften the more you wear it!
We just plain love Soak Wash. Soak is a rinse-free wool wash, meaning you can wet block or hand wash your hand knit and crochet items by simply soaking them in a water and Soak solution, then lay them out to dry! There's no extra rinsing required and no soapy residue once your handmades are dry!
Not only does Soak make blocking and hand washing easy, we love the light scents it comes in (in addition to scentless), the way it relaxes fibers to really let lace and stitch work shine, and helps to clean out debris in more rustic yarns.
|
|
|