The new line Tones, from Brooklyn Tweed, is perfect for this moment. Taking two equal skeins, one of lighter wool, one with more dark wool carded and spun round, the color gennies from BT chose a palate of 12 hues (colors) and dyed both the lighter skein and the darker base skeins in the same dyebath. The result is a dozen hues each with an 0ver- and an Undertone.
They are rainbow and not rainbow. They are colors that lean towards each other and the away. They are cheerful, playful. And they are moody and calm. BT Tones yarns are an invitation to play with color, color blocking, and creating shifting moods within the same piece.
I wanted to take both an Under- and Overtone of two gender-neutral colors and play! I chose Stonewash, which is a medium denim blue, and Goldfinch, which is an intense yellow. I played around with color blocking, stripes, and stranded Under-and Overtones.
In the process, I realized that Stonewash and Goldfinch are the colors most prominent in the University of California system. And that opened up an avenue for gift making for some of my favorite undergrads.
Maybe it’s an oversight on my part, but I’m going to save the home town UC Berkeley crafting for you all. I wanted to make a gift for a UCLA sophomore, and a UCSC junior. Both are great people, and each stitch made me happy to be knitting for them. I used the BT free hat pattern, “Turn a Square,” and just gave in to the fun of color play, and UC town vibe.
For the UCLA Bruins hat, I chose the Overtones, bright yellow Goldfinch, and clear sky Stonewash.
I started out with a stripe pattern that included two rows of blue and one of yellow. But halfway through, it occurred to me to pay homage to the SoCal sunshine as I coiled the yarn to the top. So slowly, I shifted to single row stripes, and then two yellow rows and one blue.
The finished cap is classic, cheerful, and while the LA weather might not call for wool very often, a beanie is always a good look in the southlands. Satchi, this one’s for you.
My young friend at Santa Cruz is a craftsman, a potter. He knows about making things, and he loves living in Santa Cruz. That intarsia cable looked a little like it could become Sammy the Slug, Santa Cruz’s beloved mascot. The Undertone shades seemed perfect for the moodier, woodsier, rainier world of Santa Cruz.
This hat is mostly knit in the Stonewash Undertone. Just above the brim, Sammy started slithering around and became an intarsia cable in Goldfinch. This crazy Sammy hat has been a hit on the Avenue Instagram page and in the store where it’s sentry to the whole line of Brooklyn Tweed Tones. But soon this Sammy will slither south. Daniel, this one’s for you.
I’ll post a quick blog on the crafting of each of these hats. So keep an eye out. And let us see where the Under and Overtones take you!
Knit Happy!
Carri
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