Coloring my world

Though there are an abundance of patterns out there that I wound never want to change, there are plenty around that I would--if just for the chance to make them my own.


On Ravelry, at the click of a button, I found about 400 tea cozy patterns that I had to narrow down. I eliminated the crocheted items because I can't crochet...not enough needles. I focused on worsted weight wools and eliminated everything else. I didn't want to pay for the pattern. Call me cheap, but hey, why not? I wanted to use multiples of rich, bright colors, so I selected only color work patterns. I even looked for a tea topper two ways: cozy and cosy.


When all was said and done, even when I added the more costly patterns back in, nothing spoke to me. That's when I recalled that there was such a pattern I liked in the Kristin Nicholas book, Color by Kristin.


I'm ashamed to tell you that even though I take care of all of my books, my copy of Kristin's book gives new meaning to the term dog-earred. While Stinkerbell McBookeater did not chew this book, her canine pal did. Bad dog. Still, it's only the cover that got chewed and all of the inspiring patterns are still intact.

I put the book and several worsted weight yarns I collected into a basket I picked up at a new shop in my neighborhood. Using the pattern for Kristin's cozy as a jumping off point, I then set out to think how make it my own. I selected the Mountain Colors Moguls yarn in Bitter Root as the cuff of this piece and chose a Fair Isle stitch pattern from the dictionary of stitches in Kristin's book. I'll stick with the mitered top as in the pattern.


This will be my weekend project and I'll show photos of my progress. By Sunday, I'm hoping the tea will stay hot between trips to the teapot.

A note on those yarns: with the exception of the Moguls, everything else in that basket is Michigan made from Stonehedge Farm & Fiber Mill. If you've never knit with this gorgeous merino wool, I encourage you to give it a try. You'll never look at Cascade 220 in the same way once you've felt the soft hand of Shepherd's Wool.