sweetgeorgia

Ballard Slouch

I owe this blog a whole lot of posts. But let’s start off with a simple and slouchy hat that I designed while I was sitting in my car for over 90 minutes, waiting to cross the border into the US to attend the Earthues Natural Dye Studio workshops in Ballard, Seattle, WA. A lovely clover lace pattern is the basis for this slouchy beret-style hat. Its easy-to-memorize lace pattern makes for a very simple and elegant one-skein gift. Since that day in July, I’ve made four of these hats in different yarns and colours and tested different sizes and gauges. I like this result the best:

Knit it up in a luxurious and drapey Merino Silk Aran or a lush and cushy Superwash Worsted yarn. I love how the lace is gentle and uncomplicated. It decreases seamlessly at the crown to form a beret-type shape. The simple pattern lets you add repeats if you like to make a slouchier hat.

The 2-page PDF pattern includes both charted and written directions. And it’s available via Ravelry or the shop site. And it’s free. My gift to you this crisp fall morning. Keep your head warm.

Autumn brings new colours, yarns and a free pattern

SweetGeorgia has been a busy place this summer. Since returning from the week-long dye workshop in Seattle, I’ve been dyeing for wholesale orders and shipping to yarn stores. Make One Yarn Studio in Calgary was the first to receive their shipment of a wide selection of our yarns. And this past week, we finished orders for Unwind Yarn House in Ontario and Black Sheep Yarns in Port Moody, BC. I’ve been re-establishing old relationships I had with our retailers and on the look out for new retailers as well. Personally, I am so very excited to start seeing our yarns in stores again and am excited about the opportunity to make and design new colours and yarns.

(more…)

CashSilk Fern

Back in the fall when I travelled to Japan, I brought along one single skein of CashSilk Lace to knit something on the plane. Some kind of planes, trains and automobiles kind of knitting. Lace that was easy enough to remember and interesting enough to keep me knitting. After a few false starts and frogging fits, I ended up with this lace pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns… the diagonal fern lace… and now it’s a cashmere and silk scarf.

My scarf pooled a bit in some sections and not in other sections… but it was fascinating to keep knitting and seeing where the pooling might happen. Of course, you can bypass the drama by using a semi-solid or totally solid colour.

Since it’s super easy and super nice, I’ve done it up in a snazzy PDF plus handy lace chart for your enjoyment. Should you have a need for easy, but interesting lace…

Check out the CashSilk Fern pattern »