Did you ever look at a yarn and wonder, “What should I do with it?”

We do too! That’s why we decided to host a yarn-off.

The premise was simple: We picked one yarn and sent it to two seasoned knitwear designers. Their task was to study the yarn, create something suitable from it, and explain why they designed what they did. As you’ll see, no two designers think alike!

Teva Durham

"I was thinking pirate chic, mixed with retro bed jacket, mixed with some exotic island Tiki musical film in which Dorothy Lamour shakes it (the ribbon has a grasslike feel).

I also wanted to show off the yarn’s beauty in its unknitted state, so I used a drop-stitch pattern. This also used up fewer yards than a more compact pattern would, which was important. There were only 33 yards per spool, so I needed to make the bag of 10 spools last.

I decided not to do the entire garment in drop stitch, as it would look too much like a grass skirt. Instead, I kept the volume and interest in the calypso sleeves. But the purl stitch rows that border the drop stitches also echo the ruffly texture and help give an overall calypso feel.

For the stockinette-stitch areas of the garment, I alternated rows on larger and smaller needles (called condo knitting) to get a ruffled effect.

The instructions for the yarn band suggest a U.S. 19 needle for stockinette stitch. But the fabric was slack and lacking body with the larger needle, while the smaller needles used up too much yarn and hid the yarn's beauty. The texture obtained by combining loose and tight rows gives depth and richness echoing the yarn's own texture.

I knitted the sample myself so I could work some "mojo." On projects like this, I’m afraid to write it out and hand it over to a sample knitter. As I knit, I can tweak the concept and alter it if it's looking too costumey, pulling it back into wearable and contemporary territory.

Ultimately I try to make things I would love to wear."

Loretta Warner

"Day One: Three balls of color arrive, olive, navy, and burgundy, waiting to be discovered.

Day Three: I begin knitting tests. The colors are jewel-like.

I review the contents: 67% nylon, 23% cotton, and 10% glass beads. I decide on light steam.

There are 33 yards per ball. Time to think about facts: the look, fiber content, and yards per ball. Time to sketch and dream. I play with gold pearls. I find perfect buttons. Will the piece be a jacket? A top? A dress? I go to bed at night and think of Diva. I have great clarity in the morning.

I decide on the burgundy Old-World Red, dark, mysterious, and French looking. The piece will become a rich Victorian-influenced cardigan jacket.

Day Six: Bags of Old-World Red arrive in the studio. I knit swatches. The sun peeks out, then disappears. The cars rush by below. I hear tires splash in the rain, a sound so familiar in these end-of-winter days. I make a big gauge swatch using the June Hemmons Hiatt weighted gauge method. I am careful not to weight my swatch too much, since I don’t imagine a terribly large cardigan. I decide on the simple cast-on.