I’ve always been fascinated by Yo-yo’s (sometimes called Suffolk Puffs) used to make vintage bedcovers popular from the 1920’s - 1940’s. They were typically made from cotton print fabric, often recycled from colorful feed sacks, although I have seen gorgeous examples made from solid-colored wool fabric. Yo-yo’s have come and gone in popularity over the insuing years, and I personally made lots of them. My crowning achievement was an ill-advised long-sleeved Yo-yo jacket which I spent months constructing and wore only once. Don’t ask.

So, in my ongoing quest to find ways to utilize sock (fingering weight) yarn and make the project very portable, I decided to write a simple knitting pattern duplicating the look of the old-fashioned cotton Yo-yo’s. I then knit 224 of them and connected them together to create a narrow decorative blanket, which looks remarkably fresh in my Midcentury Modern home.

The pattern is easy and each Yo-yo requires only 19 yards of scrap sock yarn. The Yo-yo’s are knit in the round using double point needles and simple decreases. If you have been wanting to master double points, this is a good practice project.

I like the look of bright, rainbow colors, but I also threw in some solids for contrast. If you need to supplement your sock yarn scrap stash, check out Yarn Nuggets