Web-Letter, Issue 122 – Fresco Snowdrop Scarf As the new creative director for Classic Elite Yarns, seeing the number of gorgeous yarns Classic Elite has to offer makes me giddy! Some yarns are familiar to me—I started working in the yarn industry almost 20 years ago right here at Classic Elite and remember well Montera and La Gran—both remarkable workhorse yarns with wide color ranges and limitless possibilities. As knitters, we can tell much about a yarn by handling the skein, counting the plies, judging what the gauge might be. But to really evaluate a yarn we must swatch. Swatching will give a glimpse of a yarn’s possibilities (or limitations). For me, casting on and knitting a few rows, trying a bit of texture or just reveling in a plain stockinette stitch fabric, can a turn an appealing skein of yarn into ideas for projects that make my hands itch to keep knitting. As I swatch my way through the Classic Elite line, everyday it seems I have a new favorite. My current favorite is Fresco—the luscious blend of fibers, with just the perfect amount of angora, is heavenly to work with and showcases fair isle and texture stitches, like this week’s Snowdrop Scarf pattern, with equal aplomb. Cast on and enjoy! Creative Director
The Story: On one of CEY's sales manager's trips to check in with yarn shops, she visited the Yarn Garden Knit Shop in Lawrenceville, GA. There Carol Sigrist displayed her beautifully designed scarf, knit in Fresco, and generously offered it as a project for one of our weekly web-letters.  The lovely “Snowdrop” lace pattern is much easier to work than it first appears, after a few repeats you may even have it memorized. When knit in Fresco, the wool component and springy twist helps to ward off dropped stitches. Thank you Carol for your wonderful design! The Yarn: Fresco 60% wool 30% baby alpaca, 10% angora Fresco is a smooth and even 3-ply sport weight yarn. The plies are twisted together tightly enough to make a firm, springy yarn, but not so tightly that the yarn loses its lofty, soft hand. The fiber blend—wool (for warmth and strength), alpaca (for loft and sheen), and a bit of angora (to provide a soft halo)—makes a yarn that’s warm, soft, and slightly fuzzy. Fresco is available in a palette of 40 colors, which makes it great for colorwork projects. However as you can see from this weeks project, the yarn is also beautiful worked up in a solid-color and a lacy pattern.  The Stitches: The Snowdrop Lace Pattern is formed by pairing yarn overs (a way of increasing a stitch) with double decreases on rows 1, 3, and 7 and left and right slanting single decrease stitches on row 5. For more information on working these stitches, click on the links below. Learn more about yarn overs. Learn about double decreases. Learn about left and right slanting decrease stitches.	more photos The Pattern: Here is the free downloadable Fresco Snowdrop Scarf pattern. If you have difficulty downloading or printing the PDF pattern above, try these: page 1, page 2
On Ravelry? Find this design. If you do not yet have access to Ravelry, add your e-mail to their list, and check back once you've received your invitation.
If you like the design above, you'll like this too:
	Fresco Basket Whip Cowl Pattern available in Web-Letter #115
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