OH….The Yarn Discovery this time is a gem, and you’ll love it! I’m also so proud to say that Craftsy sponsored this edition. Craftsy is a wonderful online learning community with classes and FREE resources like patterns, as well as supplies for kits and crafting projects. If you follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, you’ll remember me showing you a picture of the yarn goodies I received from them last week. Today I’ll be talking to you about Cascade Pinwheel Yarn and how much I loved it!

I wanted this blog post to be as informative as it could be, so I asked my ELK Studio Crocheter’s Group some of the questions they would love to know about a yarn they had never used. Let me start with the specifications of the yarn first:

100% Acrylic
200 grams/440 yards
#4 Worsted Weight Yarn (We all know that Worsted Weight yarn can actually have a difference in thickness, and I would say the thinner end of worsted weight).
Care Instructions: Machine wash gentle and dry low.

Now let’s talk about some of the other things you really want to know:

Can you tell me about the texture of the yarn?
- The texture is soft and almost has a “spongy” type of feel. I had a feeling it would work perfectly for my Pumpkin Spice Shawl.
How far will one skein take you in a project?
- I used 2 full skeins of yarn for the shawl because I chose too but one skein took me through almost two-thirds through the shawl. (Look at the picture above. I added the second skein on the third row of gold/green color). If you are looking for a small shawl, one skein would do the trick.
What do you think is the best type of projects for the yarn?
- I’m going to say a scarf and shawl would be great using this yarn.
What did you like best about the yarn?
- I love the long self-striping of the yarn. It gives the appearance that you are changing colors on certain rows when you really aren’t and the contrasting of colors really make the project “pop” with color.

You can find the free pattern to my Pumpkin Spice Shawl that you see in the picture above HERE.

Here’s a picture of the different colors of yarn if you are like me and want to see a variety!

I used the colorway Autumn Leaves for my projects which you can see in this picture. (It’s the one with the gold/green type of color).

Now….you need to purchase the Cascade Pinwheel yarn to make the Pumpkin Spice Shawl from one of my already published patterns but don’t forget to buy another skein for the brand new free pattern that I’m giving to you below!

Read This Before You Start The Pattern!

Okay…..so are you ready to make this beautiful scarf you see below? Do you know the bpdc/fpdc stitches? If so, this will be a piece of cake (well sort of…) One thing you may not know about me is that I’m left-handed and crochet backwards. What the backwards part means is that instead of inserting my hook from front to back like most people, I insert the hook from back to front. For the most part no one can tell and it doesn’t cause an issue when I’m writing a pattern until now. When I work the fpdc stitch followed by the bpdc stitch working in the round it turns out fine but when I do these two stitches working in rows, it gives the project a totally different look. See the picture below to see what I’m talking about as a reference.

Pattern Instructions

Please Favorite or Queue in Ravelry!

Materials:
1. Cascade Pinwheel – (See specs. for the yarn above). Colorway: Oak Tree. I used approximately 380 yards.
2. Hook – I/5.5
3. Tapestry Needle for weaving in the ends.

Gauge: Is not required for this project.

Abbreviations:
bpdc – back post double crochet (see photo tutorial below for the technique used)
ch – chain
fpdc – front post double crochet
hdc – half double crochet
sc – single crochet

Ch in even numbers +1

Ch 172 + 1

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and across, turn

Row 2: ch 1 and hdc in first st, hdc in next st and across, turn.

Row 3: ch 1 and hdc in first st, *fpdc around next st, bpdc around next st*, repeat from *to* until last st, hdc in last st, turn.

Row 4: Repeat Row 3

Row 5: ch 1 and sc in first st, sc in next st and across, turn.

Row 6: Repeat Row 2

Rows 7-10: Repeat row 3

Rows 11-12: Repeat Row 5-6

Rows 13-16: Repeat row 3

Rows 17-18: Repeat Row 5-6

Rows 19-20: Repeat Row 3

Row 21: Repeat Row 5, fasten off and weave in the ends.

Whip stitch the ends of the scarf together if you are wanting an infinity scarf.

If you would like to learn how to do the unique bpdc stitches, I’ve created a video tutorial for you! Click HERE to see the video!

I hope you’ll fall in love with the Cascade Pinwheel yarn like I have and get busy making your projects. You still have enough time to order the yarn and make those Christmas presents!