18 months ago Victoria wrote a blog post with some ideas of how to use mini skeins. If you haven't seen it, take a look HERE.
Six months ago we introduced our third variety of mini skein giving you the choice between Carlisle Fingering, our superwash merino singles yarn, Nateby 4ply, sparkly lurex blended with superwash merino and nylon, and the most recently added Brimham 4ply, superwash merino and nylon.
Updates over summer are going to heavily feature mini skeins and so we thought it was the ideal time to give you some more ideas of ways to use them.
First up is Victoria's Laverton Shawl which uses a Nateby 4ply mini skein to complement Carlisle Fingering and Eldwick Lace. You can read more about this design in this BLOG POST.
We sometimes struggle to keep up with new pattern releases but we love this one so much and unbelievably it was only released this week! The PPS (Pattern Please Shawl) by Louise Tilbrook is a lovely kite shaped shawl using beautiful colour pops. Check it out on Payhip HERE.
Speaking of Louise, she designed the pattern that was included in the Seasonal Stash Box released last Christmas. Mickelby is a cleverly designed cowl giving the effect of fairisle while only using one colour per row. This pattern is only available on Ravelry and as a printed copy on our website HERE while stock is available. and recreate it using Hayton 4ply plus two Carlisle Fingering mini skeins. Any combination of our 4ply/Fingering weight yarns would work just as well.
Here at ECY Shedquarters we love Grainline by Tamy Gore! It would be a great way to experiment with different colour combinations.
Simmer Blink by Robynn Weldon was designed to show off a set of mini skeins with a full size skein. There will be fade sets in our next update which would be perfect for this!
Buccanneer by Justyna Lorkowska has stripes that are perfect for mini skeins. Here is Victoria's version which is a firm favourite at shows.
We pride ourselves on catering for crocheters as well, seeing as we crochet too. Here is our pick of the patterns if you prefer a hook to needles!
Rainbow Smiles by Dora Does was designed using our Nateby 4ply rainbow mini skein set but any combination of colours would look fab!
Skimming Stones by Joanne Scrace of The Crochet Project was released as an MCAL last summer and I (Laura) still love my version in shades of blue and grey. This is the Joanne's original version.
While we are talking about Joanne, you could check out Tunny which was released as part of the Bletchley Collection. I used the same colours from my Skimming Stones to make this version and used approximately 7g of each contrast colour and made quite a large size.
Also, The Shawl Project Book 3 is full of designs using sets of mini skeins and we have a blog post about it which you can read HERE.
With it being Mental Health Awareness week here in the UK we couldn't leave out the Love Yourself Mandala by Louisa Sheward of The Fibre Lounge. This pattern is only available on Ravelry.
Tulip Fingerless Mittens by Nomad Stitches are beautiful mittens with little pops of colour.
Although to be honest mini skeins were made for crochet as Granny Squares are ideal for smaller quantities of yarn. A perfect example of this is the Battenberg Blanket by Sandra Paul.
Amigurumi projects, jewellery and dolls clothes would also make great use of the smaller skeins.
Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments! 🥰