Blackberries and Cream Test-Knit

Thanks to Laura Dear of Black Crow Knits, I was able to check off “test-knit” from my 2017 To-Learn List. You may remember that I whipped up a version of her Manning Park Hat last month and I loved it so much that I was psyched to test-drive Laura’s newest pattern, Blackberries and Cream. [I am linking to my project page; I will link to Laura’s pattern once it goes live later this month.]

Blackberries and Cream is similar in construction to Manning Park, but it has some different color-work (less fade and more bold pops) and it’s, perhaps, a little more slouchy. She includes two different sub-patterns, so that you can make a slouchy hat OR  a toque with a pom-pom. Both are super cute! I am a novice at color-work, and I found this hat to be completely do-able. I would rate it advanced beginner because of the color-work and a couple of the techniques used in the pattern. You do need to be able to read a color chart for the color-work.

I used the recommended yarn Malabrigo Mecha (a SW merino singles yarn) in two colors, Natural and Dewberry; Laura was kind enough to provide me with a skein of the contrast color (OoOo, so saturated and beautiful!) The pattern requires some needle changes–I knit it with my Addie interchangeables.

This is easily the warmest hat I have ever knit–with so much colorwork leaving so many floats and a turned brim adding excellent ear coverage, how could it be anything but warm! The style is terrific and I can’t wait to wear this out on my walks around town.

❤ Thanks to Laura for the opportunity and the excellent hat!