• About
  • Start Here!
  • Knitting for Charity Mosaic Bookshop
  • Nav Social Menu

Knitting for Charity

Knitting for Charity

Everything you need to knit patterns you love for people you care about

  • Charity Knitting Solutions
    • Knitting Charities by Donation Item
    • Knitting Charities by Recipient
    • Knitting Charities by Location
    • General Charity Knitting
  • Free Knitting Patterns
  • Knitting Solutions
    • Knitting Instructions, Techniques & Tips
    • Knitting Supplies
    • Frugal Knitting
    • Answers to Your Knitting Struggles
You are here: Home / Knitting Solutions / Knitting Supplies / What Happened When I Tried Colorful Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

What Happened When I Tried Colorful Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

Knitting Supplies

Darn Good Yarn Confetti CakeHere are the lessons I learned and insights I gained when I tried Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

At the end of September, I let you all know my thoughts on Darn Good Yarn of the Month, a yarn subscription service. I told you about the yarns I received in my first three months of membership, as well as the patterns and bonus gifts.

Today I’d like to follow up with my most recent Darn Good Yarn of the Month, and my experience knitting the pattern included in my box. Let’s get to it!

The Darn Good Yarn I Received

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen the Confetti Cake Bulky Silk Wool yarn I received a few weeks ago. (And if you don’t follow me on Instagram, whyever not?? Ha!)

Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

I bet you can’t tell how excited I was to receive my Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake.

This yarn is 45 yards worth of wool and silk blend, as the name suggests. In the hank it has a pleasantly woolly texture, kind of like when you’re stroking a sheep.

The yarn came with a pattern for a herringbone headband and brightly colored stitch markers.

What I love most about the yarn is its beautiful colors. The DGY spinners did an amazing job making a lovely yarn that just pops with bursts of color. The “confetti cake” in the name is well-earned!

The Pattern and the Knit

The designer of this headband pattern clearly intended to take advantage of the woolly warmth of this yarn to create a headband that would keep your ears nice and toasty in the winter.

One thing I will say, right off the bat, is that I don’t know if a herringbone stitch is the best way to showcase this particular yarn. I felt like the herringbone texture got a little lost in the many colors of Confetti Cake.

The next point is that I think I did myself a disservice by insisting on sticking with the US 10.5 needles I used to knit the headband. I’m a tight knitter, and I think using size 10.5 made the process of knitting this pattern more difficult than it needed to be. I really should have moved up to size 11, and maybe even size 13.

As more proof that I should’ve moved up a size or two: the headband was a little short when I finished. If I wear it ties side down, it doesn’t reach my ears. So I wear it ties side up instead. I think it’s probably meant to be worn ties side down, and if I had used a larger needle, it probably would’ve been longer.

Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

The colors burst even more than my hair!

I still have half a ball left (again, more yarn that needed — I continue to love that about Darn Good Yarn!), so I may well just try again with a larger needle.

Knitting with Darn Good Yarn Confetti Cake

One thing I haven’t addressed yet is the actual feeling of knitting with Confetti Cake.

It is a bit scratchier than most yarns I knit with. It isn’t as scratchy as knitting with Lopi Yarn (a very sturdy and durable Icelandic wool yarn that is probably as strong as iron), but it was definitely on the scratchy side.

Complicating this scratchiness is the many bits of plant matter I found poking through the yarn as I knitted with it. And when I say “poking through,” I mean it. Those bits of plant matter frequently “poked” me so sharply that it hurt!

I admit that at first I found this annoying. But then I remembered the note I received in my shipment, mentioning that Confetti Cake is spun by women in India (one of the many women that Darn Good Yarn employs in its yarn sourcing).

That changed my attitude completely! The plant matter still poked me insistently, of course. But I used those little “pokes” to remind me of the women whose lives were changed and improved because they were able to spin these beautiful materials together to make yarn — and a living for themselves and their families.

I decided that a little vegetation poking was a small price to pay for the pleasure of working with fair trade yarn.

(In the meantime, if you should find plant matter in your yarn, just grab it with your fingernails and pull it out. If you have trouble getting a hold of it, use a pair of tweezers.)

Warm Woolly Headband

I mentioned already that I did try wearing my knitted headband. I wore it to my daughter’s final band contest last weekend, when the wind was biting and the air had chilled to the mid-40s (Fahrenheit).

It definitely kept my ears warm!

While the yarn is scratchy, here’s a helpful tip. Give the knitted object a hair conditioner-infused bath. That makes the finished product feel much nicer.

Final Verdict

While I do prefer the softer Darn Good Yarns, I’m glad I got the experience of knitting with Confetti Cake. I learned some important lessons about gauge and using the right needle for your yarn (haha). I also learned that sometimes, enjoying a knitting experience is all about perspective.

And I learned that wool and silk sure make a warm headband for chilly days.

Are you ready to give Darn Good Yarn of the Month a try? I’d love for you to use my affiliate link to sign up for a subscription. If you make a purchase after clicking the link below, I may receive a small commission — but it’ll cost you nothing extra.

Click here to subscribe to Darn Good Yarn of the Month!

Share

Share
Pin
Tweet
Email
  • Bio
  • Get Your Free Guide

Nicole

I believe there's someone who needs what you love to knit. If you'd like to knit patterns you love for people you care about, I can help!
Get your free guide, "How to Get Your Handknits to Local People in Need: What You Need to Know" with your subscription to the Knitting Nuggets Newsletter! When you join this community, you'll receive resources & inspiration to knit patterns you love for people you care about.

Last Updated: October 23, 2018 · Leave a Comment

About Nicole

I believe there's someone who needs what you love to knit. If you'd like to knit patterns you love for people you care about, I can help!

Previous Post: « Behind the Scenes of Sweet Knittings: 5 Lessons You Can Learn
Next Post: Do You Need a Simple yet Beautiful Scarf Pattern? »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get your copy of Swaying with the Wind: a Charity Knitting Pattern Collection here!

I’m Nicole, and I believe there’s someone who needs what you love to knit!

Footer

Disclosure Policy

Privacy policy

nicoleatknittingforcharity

I believe there's someone who needs what you love to knit. I'm here to help!

Nicole Haschke
Are you missing your in-person knitting nights? If Are you missing your in-person knitting nights? If so, let me tell you about a virtual knitting event you won't want to miss! 

The great folks at Knit + Escape are holding a Galentine's Day virtual celebration from Feb. 4 to 6. A $10 ticket will give you access to vendor virtual booths and a whole lot of free content that includes fiber demos and lectures, farm tours, charity knitting, and much, MUCH more. 

And here's a bonus that I hope you'll love: your Marketplace Ticket includes access to the Friday Evening CHARITY KNIT NIGHT, an exciting event led by Kristy Glass, where I will be a special guest. We’ll have several opportunities for participants to ask questions and celebrate the spirit of giving!

I'm going to be talking about creating Bonding Hearts and how these wonderful little creations can help preemies and their families through an amazing organization called Mighty Miracles Foundation. 

I would LOVE to see you there, so I hope you'll join us! You'll find a registration link to this event in my profile.
(Please note: the following has nothing to do with (Please note: the following has nothing to do with charity knitting. But I can't be silent any longer. If I - and Knitting for Charity - am going to be for making the lives of others better, I have to speak up.) I've been wanting to say something for well over a week. But I felt like it wasn't my place to talk. This isn't my experience. I should be listening. 
But I want to make something clear. 
Systemic racism is not a theory. It's not a kooky idea. It's a fact of life. And whether white people feel like they've benefited from it or not (I'm sure most of us feel like we haven't)... we have. 
Sure, slavery is no more. Sure, Jim Crow laws are no more. But racism? It's still very much here. And it pushes down our brothers and sisters of color every. single. day. It makes them fear for their lives, no matter what they're doing. It makes their very existence a risk. 
And I've finally realized that it's not enough for me to believe these things in my heart and go on with my life as if there's nothing more I can do. It's not enough to be proudly "not a racist." By my silence, by my inaction, I'm perpetuating a system that feeds off black and brown human beings. 
So: this is my first step. 
I discovered Brownicity.com. And there, I discovered this book. It's a workbook, actually - kind of like a course in book form. Here's what the page says about it: "This journey guide was designed to lead the ‘beginner’ through an enlightening and introspective first steps of race/ism analysis and healing. It can be used to support a group or individual’s study." I've dived in and I'm already getting an education. And I can't wait to learn more. 
We're not going to change the world in a day. Or even a week. But each of us can start taking steps to unlearn racism. (Yes, even a proud "non-racist" like me has racism to unlearn.) This doesn't have to be your book or your path. But do *something* to start listening. In the barest glimpses of social media, you're bound to find lists of books, movies, documentaries, podcasts, and so on. I've already seen more of those than I can count. (Cont'd in comments)
Proof that I've been in quarantine waaaaaay too lo Proof that I've been in quarantine waaaaaay too long. Check out the paragraph above the divider line. This is from the newsletter I sent out today that goes to over 7,500 people. 🤦
My first sock knitting lesson is LIVE on YouTube! My first sock knitting lesson is LIVE on YouTube! Link is in my profile. Comments are very welcome! #learningtoknitsocks
Spent some time this weekend recording the first v Spent some time this weekend recording the first video lesson of my spiral rib tube sock knitting class. It will be releasing very soon... who's excited? #charityknittersofinstagram #learningtoknitsocks
I've been so inspired by all the people releasing I've been so inspired by all the people releasing free help during this time of crisis. Zoos and aquariums and nature livecams all over... Broadway offering free videos of their shows... musicians offering free living room concerts...and so on. 
So I decided to offer my own kind of help. 
If you're a knitter, I want to teach you how to knit socks!

Visit my profile for the link to my video explaining what I'm teaching and why, and the supplies you'll need. 
You can subscribe to my YouTube channel for notifications, or you can subscribe to my newsletter to get email notifications of new videos. The link to subscribe to my newsletter is also in my profile. 
#charityknittersofinstagram #sockknittersofinstagram
How is everyone doing? I've got a set of socks goi How is everyone doing? I've got a set of socks going on my new Hiya Hiya Sharps, so I think I'll be good to go for a while. How about you? Are you staying home as much as possible? And, of course, what are you knitting? #KnittingTogether
So this happened. 😭 Thank God for Friday nights So this happened. 😭 Thank God for Friday nights in which there's nothing going on, so we can drive to the nearest yarn shop (40 minutes away). #SockNeedleCrisis
We voted! (Well, technically we shared a vote. Sad We voted! (Well, technically we shared a vote. Sadly, owls can't vote...even if they're hand knitted. 😆) #SuperTuesday
Just finished a very special project: creating the Just finished a very special project: creating these pocket prayer cloths for our community's Blue Christmas service. This is a service for folks who, for myriad reasons, don't feel merry or joyful as they think they ought to. Praying that these cloths will remind them of God's love and constant presence. #charityknittersofinstagram #prayerclothknittersofinstagram

Copyright © 2021 · Nicole Haschke, Knitting for Charity

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Find out more.