This past weekend, AllFreeKnitting, AllFreeCrochet, and AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns were fortunate enough to attend The National NeedleArts Association’s summer show in Indianapolis, Indiana. Walking the trade floor for two full days, we were able to get a glimpse of just what would be popular in the coming months by peeking at everything on display. Keep reading for our summer trend report!
Chunky Yarn
Chunky yarn is IN! I’m talking bulkier-than-bulky, needing-a-bigger-crochet-hook chunky yarn. The most popular worked-up pieces were none other than chunky shawls, wraps, scarves and blankets. Most of the booths showcased their own super bulky yarn, but my favorite display was Loopy Mango’s. Based in New York, they sell skeins of their mega-chunky yarn as well as oversized crochet hooks and knitting needles, but they also sell ready-to-DIY kits. You can choose from multiple sizes of DIY knit throws, as well as cowls, scarves, rugs and more! Each kit comes with the pattern, the yarn needed, and the knitting needles.
Shiny Metallic Yarn
Just about every yarn booth that I visited over TNNA weekend was showcasing some of their metallic-threaded yarns. This yarn is typically an average-weight and has a few strands of shiny metallic thread woven in with the rest of the fibers in order to create a nice, subtle shine. The best example of this was Anzula’s Nebula yarn. Just about every color and shade imaginable was on display, and walking by this yarn, you can’t help but be drawn in by its sparkle and glimmer. This yarn is subtle enough to use as the sole for an entire piece, but it’s also different enough to be used as an accenting color amid other non-shiny yarn. What fun crochet patterns could you work up with Nebula?
Embellishments
Knitting and crocheting with beads isn’t exactly a new trend, but adding little embellishments into your knitwear is definitely the way to go this season. Crystaletts, the world’s smallest crystal buttons, are easy to work with and incorporate into your crochet and knitting. This is a quick and easy way to add a hint of shine into your knitwear designs – and because it’s worked in with the rest of your work (as opposed to sewing it onto your finished piece later), it’s set into the yarn and is less likely to get snagged or pulled off. This trend was also visible in multiple booths, even those not promoting any beads of their own; many sample knitwear pieces on display were shown with worked-in embellishments.
Mix and Match!
One booth in particular, Knit Collage, had great examples of all the featured trends. They had their own variation of regular chunky yarn prominently displayed that varied in thickness from thin to thick throughout the same skein. Also featured was a bulky-weight yarn that kept the same thickness throughout the skein but had some metallic threads woven in, so you could make some great chunky accessories with a bit of sparkle. Finally, they had they own variation of yarn with embellishments, ones that resembled little washers that were already threaded through the yarn and all ready to be worked up into something great.
Don’t forget! Enter to win our swag bag full of goodies from the show. Click on the picture below to find out how to enter.
Which of the above trends is your favorite?
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Love bamboo needles. A nice prize pack.
I’ve been creating in a mixed media kind of theme…mixing chunky yarn with sock yarn two at a time…so I guess I was on trend and didn’t know it 🙂