January
22
I loved making this baby hat from the very popular Poppy pattern, designed by Justine Turner and kindly offered for free on Ravelry. The great thing about this pattern is its versatility. It is written for several weights of yarn, and several sizes. I adore sport weight, so used some of my Lorna’s Laces Sportmate yarn in the Cranberry color. As this was a gift for a baby shower, I picked the 16″ size, figuring the baby will grow into it soon. The pattern was easy, clever, and lots of fun to make!
A little sunflower button was the just-right accent:
Resources:
Justine’s blog: Just Jussi
Poppy pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/poppy-11
Lorna’s Laces Sportmate: http://www.lornaslaces.net/sportmate.html
January
10
One of the best things about participating in the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL is getting to use a new fiber from an old favorite yarn company, Lorna’s Laces. For the KAL, I’m using the suggested yarn, Sportmate. As I read the ball band, I was a little surprised by the contents: “70% superwash Merino and 30% Outlast viscose.” Never having heard of Outlast, I just had to look it up. As it turns out I’m working on a 1900′s inspired pattern using a fiber developed for NASA! Here’s what the Outlast web site has to say about it: “Outlast® technology, originally developed for NASA, utilizes phase change materials (PCM) that absorb, store and release heat for optimal thermal comfort.” What would Lady Violet have to say about that? Leave a comment with what you think she’d say about a newfangled fiber!
Sportmate is a very well-behave yarn, easy to knit with and creating nice, even stitches. There is a slight halo to it. Here’s the project KAL project so far, through Clue #1.
