About yarn and knitting from Biscotte hand-dyed yarns

How to Knit Faster: 6 Tips to Knit More Efficiently

Louise Posted on October 02 2024

For those who love to knit, it's common to have an ever-growing list of new patterns to tackle. Eventually, you might think about ways to hasten your knitting process. If you're eager to learn how to knit faster without compromising on quality, here are a few helpful tips. 1. Choose the right...

Why Knitting is Good for your Brain

Louise Posted on June 22 2023

Not only is knitting a fun and enriching activity, but it also offers many other benefits! It can help reduce stress, improve cognitive function, and even lower blood pressure. 1️⃣ Sitting still to knit reduces your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure after a few minutes. 2️⃣...

Knitting books and inspiring literature

Louise Posted on May 03 2023

Like yarn, books are hard for most knitters to resist. I find the tactile and visual qualities of printed books to be comforting and inspiring and have a large library of home decorating and gardening titles, beautiful vintage volumes and, of course, an absurd number of knitting, crochet, craft, and...

Spring Ahead

Karin Posted on April 04 2023

Spring is officially here, at last! While it was a fairly mild winter in some places, it was relentless in others – in the Northeastern US the daffodils are blooming a full month early, while on the other coast, California had one of its highest snowfall totals in recorded history....

Why is my yarn untwisting?

Louise Posted on March 29 2023

You may have already noticed that sometimes your yarn gets untwisted or overly twisted while knitting it. If you have ever practiced the "long tail cast-on" technique, you have observed this phenomenon! There are several reasons why yarn splits or gets over-spun. The most common problem is the nature of...

Knitting needles : wooden or metal ?

Louise Posted on March 24 2023

METAL NEEDLES ⚙️ THE PROS AND CONS The advantage of metal knitting needles is their strength and durability. Also, since the stitches slide nicely on their surface, tight-knitters will often prefer them! The downside of metal needles is that they can be heavier and produce a rattling sound, especially with...

What is yarn pilling?

Louise Posted on March 20 2023

What is yarn pilling? Pilling is the formation of fuzzy balls on the surface of knitwear, which is caused by how the yarn is made. To create yarn, numerous fibers are spun in a long thread. Wearing and washing a garment can cause loose fibers to push out from the...

How did Louise Robert go from hobby knitter to yarn company owner with 5 local yarn shops?

Karin Posted on March 08 2023

How did Louise Robert go from hobby knitter to yarn company owner with 5 local yarn shops?

Biscotte & Cie has grown from a small home hand-dyeing business to a thriving enterprise with 3 hand-dyed yarn lines which creates an average of 55 knitting patterns and crochet designs per year.

Types of yarn winding

Louise Posted on February 22 2023

When you start knitting or crocheting, you discover a new vocabulary around yarn. Here is a visual summary of the different types of yarn windings. HANK: Loop of yarn, fastened into a continuous circle with ties. FOLDED HANK: Hank folded in two with a label around it. TWISTED HANK: Hank twisted into a braid...

Best yarns for summer

Louise Posted on February 15 2023

We don't wear knitwear in the summer 🤥 🤔 🤭 Well, think again: you must choose yarns made of suitable fibers! Look for these fibers to enjoy your knits in the warm season: 1️⃣ COTTON - Cotton is soft, lightweight, breathable, and absorbs body moisture, allowing heat to escape the...

Woolen vs Worsted yarn : what is the difference?

Louise Posted on February 08 2023

Have you ever wondered what the difference between worsted and carded yarn is (not to be confused with worsted weight yarn) ⁉️ The way the fiber is prepared before spinning makes all the difference! 👉 For example, to spin worsted yarn (bottom illustration), the fiber is combed to align all...

What should I knit in the New Year?

Karin Posted on January 19 2023

According to the New York Times, it’s time to get crafty! In a January 7 article, NYT editors predicted cultural trends for the upcoming year. Along with welcoming the end of the shoelace era (It looks as if “slipper style” shoes, like Uggs, Birkenstocks and clogs, are here to stay),...

KNITTING TIP - How do you do a mattress stitch

Louise Posted on November 14 2022

Is it normal to see flowers when doing the mattress stitch ?? For some strange and unknown reason, I was able to memorize the mattress stitch technique by visualizing flowers. HORIZONTAL MATTRESS SEAM: The two leaves of the flower represent a stitch. When I have to join two rows together (horizontal seam),...

How to knit a scarf without a pattern

Louise Posted on October 17 2022

In our yarn store, we often meet beginner knitters who ask us if we have a pattern to knit a scarf or an infinity cowl. There is no need to use a pattern to show you how to knit a scarf. Just follow these following tips: 1- Pick a stitch pattern...

Mystery KAL 2022

Louise Posted on September 13 2022

Biscotte Yarns is thrilled to invite you to a MYSTERY KAL! ... First of all, what is a KAL?? Knit Alongs (KALs) are fun, social activities in which a group of knitters all make the same project in the same period of time. ... So what is the MYSTERY part?...

Sweater Construction: different common ways to knit a sweater

Louise Posted on January 26 2022

There are many ways to knit a sweater. In addition to the many technical aspects of knitting (flat, round, bottom-up, top-down or sleeve to sleeve), there are also different types of construction to form the shoulders and sleeves. You will find here some explanations and diagrams to understand and recognize the...

Knitting tutorial : How to Steek

Louise Posted on January 18 2022

When knitting stranded colorwork (fairisle), it is often easier to knit in the round, always on the right side of the work. It is also easier to read the pattern if you always working in the same direction, knitting on the right side from right to left. This is why the...

How to knit Short Rows

Louise Posted on September 30 2021

Short Rows - What is it exactly? This is a way of knitting the stitches back and forth without knitting to the end of the row, which means that there are stitches remaining at the end of the row when you turn the knit. The short rows are used to...

Fluo Flow by Joji Locatelli

Louise Posted on September 09 2021

Here is the beautiful Fluo Flow shawl, a design by Joji Locatelli published in Vogue Knitting. The pattern shown above was knitted with several varieties of fingering yarns from our hand-dyed collection! To make this pattern, here are the yarns and colors used 2 skeins of Bis-Sock Nature 1 skein of Bis-Sock...

HOW TO SUBSTITUTE YARN IN A KNITTING PATTERN

Louise Posted on July 15 2021

HOW TO SUBSTITUTE YARN IN A KNITTING PATTERN To substitute the suggested yarn in a knitting pattern, here's what you need to consider: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORIGINAL YARN FIBERS: Merino wool, alpaca, cotton, hemp… STYLE: Hairy, woolen, silky, number of ply COLOR TYPE : Solid, striped, gradient, speckled? YARN WEIGHT: Lace,...

About Yarn and Knitting

How did Louise Robert go from hobby knitter to yarn company owner with 5 local yarn shops?

Biscotte & Cie has grown from a small home hand-dyeing business to a thriving enterprise with 3 hand-dyed yarn lines which creates an average of 55 knitting patterns and crochet designs per year.

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