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Cotton=Summer. Summer=Cotton.

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Nancy, of NobleKnits.com puts out a really cute newsletter. In her latest, she outlines the Top Ten Reasons To Knit With Cotton. 

  1. Cotton is hypoallergenic.  It doesn’t irritate sensitive skin or cause allergies.
  2. Cotton is soft and never itchy.
  3. It doesn’t cause static electricity.
  4. If cared for properly, cotton is long lasting.
  5. Cotton blends well with other fibers.
  6. Cotton is highly absorbent and produces vibrantly colored yarns.
  7. It draws heat away from your body to keep your skin cool and comfortable.
  8. Cotton absorbs moisture easily and can take up to one fifth of its weight in water before it actually feels damp. Cotton absorbs body moisture and evaporates it to the surrounding air, thus allowing your body its natural tendency to breathe – keeping you cool in summer and dry and warm in winter. Not only are you more comfortable in cotton, you are healthier wearing it!
  9. Cotton does not contain any chemicals making it a natural fiber.
  10. Cotton has individuality & character. Each fiber grows a little differently–with sunshine & soil–and takes on characteristics that indicate its life & style… just like the people who wear it.

The Bolero Style sweater above is knit from Knit One, Crochet 2’s Ty Dy Yarn. I’ve knit with this before, and it’s really soft. Does split a bit, but that tends to be a cotton thing. You’ll never guess what color I used. Ok, yeah, it was green, and the item I knit was never finished. The yarn – really gorgeous flowing colors, the vest pattern? Not so much, but this Bolero is more my style. Do I smell a tinking session?

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Have you read?

Knit a Stunning Shawl That Wears Like a Collar

I’m honestly not totally sure what to say about the Sun King shawl pattern from Ursa Major Knits other than isn’t this cool? You should probably make one. 

This modular design is worked in two parts, the “waxing” and “waning” sections. Both pieces are asymmetrical and use the same yarns in different ways to mix up the colors and make it even more interesting. 

You can choose to use two contrasting solid yarns, a solid and a gradient or two complimentary gradients for your yarns. And you can use any weight of yarn and whatever gauge you like to make shawls of different sizes. There are also a bunch of different size options (seven, in fact) that take the project from a little collar like design to something more like a scarf to a large shawl that wraps around the neck to keep you warm. 

The sample projects use fingering/lace weight yarn, but you can use whatever you have on hand to make your own beautiful version of this shawl. Using lace weight, you’ll need twice as much of one color as the other.

There are lots of yarn suggestions on the pattern page on Ravelry, and I love the color choices the designer made so much I’d definitely be tempted to use the same colors they did (there are a couple of different versions on the pattern page if you want to see how it looks in different sizes and different colors). 

I love the little diamond shapes a the edges of the pieces, which add a little more drama to the project, as if it needed more. 

I’m still not sure this boils down to anything beyond this project looks really cool and you should probably knit it, but that’s pretty much how I pick all the projects I share, so I guess that’s fine. You can check it out for yourself and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Ursa Major Knits]

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