January presents a tough challenge—with holiday glitter a mere memory and not nearly time to tell ourselves that “spring is just around the corner”, we need something fresh to brighten the days and our moods.
Playful—but warm—accessories in fun colors are just the thing to fill the lapels of a classic coat, show off at the end of bracelet length sleeves, or wear at your desk if it happens to be placed in a chilly spot.
Our fall clubs usually end in January and each year I aim to design a package with a surprising colorway to knit a project with a hint of spring.
I had turquoise on the brain for last January, when our 2013 Fall in Full Color club came to a close. We invited Brooke Sinnes, the dyer behind the Sincere Sheep label, to devise a custom turquoise colorway for us using her natural dye process.
The resulting colorway—Heather’s Gem—was absolutely perfect. Being hand dyed with natural materials, each skein was slightly different with the whole lot representing the entire range of turquoise shades. And on the polwarth/silk base we chose, it fairly glows.
I loved it and was completely inspired to make the best use of the large skeins we got.
Because the January package is also a sort of goodbye at the end of the club, we wanted to include a special goodie to incorporate into the project. We approached my friend Sarina at Moving Mud to come up with a custom button design.
She and Brooke got to meet and commiserate at TNNA that spring, with the result that we ended up with a spectacular package.
Now to create.
The plan was to design a pair of fingerless mitts and a slouchy hat with buttoned detailing on the cuffs and brim. I decided to go with a longer style glove, something to wear with short sleeves when it’s chilly.
There is a largish knit/purl houndstooth pattern in a few of the stitch dictionaries I have that I’ve always wanted to use on something. The yarn is so soft that I wondered if I’d achieve good stitch definition for this, but that turned out not to be the case—it worked up a treat.
I’m always happy to design something with a classic tweedy feel in a surprising color or shape and this concept drove the pairing of this yarn and pattern.
I knit the hat first and thought it looked adorable on several different people. and the mitts followed, which I realized could be worked long or short as desired (and as yarn supply demands).
But for all that, I used up just one skein of yarn and I knew we had plenty of double dippers among our club membership (clubbies who buy in for a double serving of yarn)
At the last minute, I devised a rectangular cowl piece that can be buttoned several different ways to reconfigure it for a new effect (without moving buttons around). Fun, right?
Shown here are the Natty Cap in size small, the Natty Cowl in size large, and the Tweed Set mitts in size medium. all knit in Sincere Sheep Luminous, a polwarth/silk blend DK in colorway Hathor’s Gem. One skein will make the cowl or the hat/mitts combo; two skeins will make everything. Oh, and we have those Moving Mud buttons as well; one card required for the hat/mitts and one for the cowl.
These patterns are also included in the 2013 Fall in Full Color eBook, which compiles seventeen total accessory patterns from the 2013 fall color collection—that’s a lot of patterns! Anyone looking for a knitalong around these designs need not look further than the Ravelry clubhouse where our color clubs meet—all are welcome and appreciated.
If it’s the single patterns or more information you’re after, click to view our online store pages for Tweed Set, Natty Cap, or Natty Cowl. you may also view or purchase them in my Ravelry pattern shop by clicking here for Tweed Set, Natty Cap, or Natty Cowl.
In the process of writing up this post, I got to thinking that this cap would be SO handsome on David knit up in one of our soft yarns— our Cooper Sport, Stone Soup DK, or Better Breakfast DK—due out in about a week (and we could use a sample to show it off).
I think my weekend knitting is settled then, how about you?
