Friday's Queue

This weeks peak into the queue is from the current Twist Collective. I already blogged about how great this is issue is here. I included this pattern in the post. Since I am so in love with it I want to really talk about it. 

Sparrow by Pam Allan 

This is the perfect little summer top. The shape is good for everyone. Notice the panel on the side? I know it's sleveless and that there are those of us that wouldn't wear something sleevless, ever. I think there are two options that still make this a very wearable top. 

~ Add sleeves. There are several types of sleeves you could add. Pick up stitches and knit. But since this is knit from the bottom up the easiest solution might be to cast on sleeve stitches once you split the piece at the arm holes. There are a few patterns that do that very same thing that you can look at.  This Drops Pattern gives you an idea and some directions on a simple solution. 

~ Keep it simple with no sleeves and wear it under something else. Another linen shirt?

Now let's talk yarn. The pattern calls for it's name sake, Sparrow which is a 100% organice linen from Quincy & co. This is a new yarn company that is the brain child of Pam Allen (designer), Carrie Bostick Hoge (designer), and Bob Rice (mill owner).

Quince & Co. went live this year and sports american sourced and spun yarns as much as possible. When they combine the wool with other fibers that are not available in the states they do everything they can to know where they come from and how the animals are taken care of. Along with the different yarn that have wonderful soft colors their pattern support is growing quickly. 

Other choices of yarns are endless but here are a few that I might consider. 

~ Sparrow is a fingering weight yarn, ie: sock yarn. Pretty much any sock yarn will work with this. They are light weight and will drape well. 

~ For myself, I will try to keep at least some percentage of these fibers in the linen, flax family. The drape of linen is the best. 100% linen is like knitting with string and you will be thinking the whole time that there is no way this is going to work out well. The magic with linen is in the washing and drying. Machine washing and drying that is. It softens up to the most beautiful fabric. 

~ There are very few choices of these fibers in fingering weight yarns. Here are some yarns to give a look at:

Louet Euroflax Sport - This is sport weight but my guess is that you could probably get gauge with it. There are a lot of colors to choose from. Yes this is a pricy yarn. Look for it on sale. 

Blue Ridge Yarn  - this is a small hand dyer. She has varigated and simi-solids which can be made to match any of the varigated yarns she has. I have seen this knit up and it is wonderful. Her base yarn is the Louet Euroflax. You can also find her on Etsy. 

Block Island Blend from Halcyon - This is for weaving and comes on a cone of about 1400 yards for $50. It is a hemp, cotton, rayon blend. Don't be afraid to look at yarns on cones. They are usally a really good deal and you don't have ends to start and weave in. This yarn may just be the ticket and there are some really nice colors.  

Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere - Ok, I just had to add something totaly over the top. Can you imagine how wonderful this would be? The softness of the cashmere with the wonderful drape of silk. Knitting it up would be amazing. I would never want the project to end. rav link

If you make your top out of this please let me know. I want to live vigariously through you!