This week, I share a chat with Mary Beth Temple, author of the soon-to-be-released Curvy Girl Crochet from my co-crafter, Joyce, and a pattern for a Red Panda Baby Sweater.
Red Panda
I'm calling this baby sweater Red Panda, because the red yarn has "panda" in the name. But, Red Pandas actually exist! They are completely adorable relatives of both black-and-white pandas and raccoons, but are classified under their very own family. I saw some in a zoo a few years ago and I never got over how cute they are.
I wanted to continue with the top-down raglan concept I used for the Autumn Dreams Baby Sweater and I couldn't resist this yummy, dk-weight yarn from Crystal Palace Yarns. It's called Panda Silk DK and it's 52% bamboo, 43% superwash Merino wool, and 5% combed silk. Mine was in Lacquer Red. It took 3 skeins to make a sweater that should fit a baby from about 3 to 6 months.
Sadly, I bought my skeins on sale, because Crystal Palace has discontinued the yarn. They are still making a fingering-weight version of the same yarn, called just Panda Silk. I think you could hold that one, doubled, and get a similar result to my sweater.
I love the yarn. The color is great, it is super-soft, and it should be machine-washable. I'm anxious to see the bright red color on the baby, though. Considering the complexions of his or her parents (one of whom I very closely resemble, so I'm not throwing stones, here), this little tot is likely to look like they arrived directly from a part of Scotland that doesn't get a lot of direct sun. So, he or she will either look fantastic in an intense red, or will look like a little tomato with (most likely) blue eyes. I apologize if I made you look like a blue-eyed tomato, little one.
As a side note, his or her arrival should be in the next few weeks. So, please think happy thoughts for the little one, my sister, and her husband. They are all so precious to me, I can't even explain it.
Chat
Joyce and Mary Beth talked about her new book, her excitement about the combination of crochet, knitting, and getting over the division between the two.
Links
- Curvy Girl Crochet is available from the publisher, Taunton Press.
- Driving the National Road in Indiana
- Free Pattern from Curvy Girl Crochet
