I have all these wonderful ideas for yarn choices for Olga’s Vest and I thought to whom better to share these ideas than with my KAL participants… I hope these swatches inspire you as much as they did me. I had a ton of fun experimenting with different yarns, colors, and textures for this project. Here is what I have to share:
In the pictures below I swatched up the new ShiBui Linen – a wonderful 100% Linen yarn with a clean and crisp finish. This yarn will definitely hold up well to the structure and shape of Olga’s Vest.
– It’s about time someone else come up with a beautiful linen yarn!!!
Next is one of my all time favorite yarn companies, Pagewood Farm. I love everything about their hand-dyed yarns. Today I have swatched up for you the Alyeska – this is a gorgeous blend of 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon. The drape and color selection of this yarn will work well for Olga’s Vest.
I have been curious to see if this stitch pattern can hold up to a variegated yarn. Here I have swatched up another one of my favorite yarns Koigu KPPPM (KPM will work too). This is a very classic yarn with a classic fiber content, 100% merino wool, that’s it! Love this stuff!!!
Last time I made an Olga’s Vest I used Habu Cotton Gima doubled up…. it came out so beautiful. I’ll be sharing photos of the finished garment later in the KAL. Here is what the Gima looks like knitted up in pattern- its very special.
After swatching all these great yarns I wanted to to have one more swatch suggestion…. but it couldn’t be just another yarn. It had to be something special…. I wanted Oooooos and Aaaaaaas! So I searched far and wide (within my stash) and came up with SweetGeorgia Silk Crush (50% silk, 50% merino wool) and Habu Silk Mohair (60% mohair, 40% silk) in my favorite color combo- Grellow!. Wow what a combo! I think it is gorgeous, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.
Another Fun combination of yarn is the Habu Tokken Silk (100% silk) held with the Habu Kakishibu Tokkenshi (100% silk). Even though these are both 100% silk yarns their textures are very different and compliment each other well. I would love to see an Olga’s Vest knit up in this combo!
I have already chosen my yarn for the KAL, have you? If you need help choosing yarns just let me know. You can email me your questions to Me@GraceAkhrem.com or you can post it on Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry, or on the blog. Have fun choosing yarn- we start next week!