Web-Letter, Issue 69 – Fresco Snowflake Hat How perfect is this—it’s snowing! My office is on the top (6th floor) of an old building in downtown Portland, Maine. I look out over rooftops and chimneys, rickety back porches, filigree treetops, and steeples, and I frequently see the underside of pigeons and sea gulls when they launch from the roof above me. This morning, the snow is constant, coloring the air white and blanketing roofs and window sills with downy powder. What better day to present Carrie Bostick Hoge's Snowflake Hat! Carrie is the newest member of the CEY team. Her Snowflake Hat is only one of many that she wears here—she’s also web-letter photographer, photo stylist, pattern writer, and design assistant.
The Story: Fair Isle knitting has always seemed too daunting to attempt, but on a recent trip to Norway I couldn’t help falling in love with all the amazing knitted colorwork patterns I saw there.  For the first time, I knew I had to jump in and give it a try. So I began swatching circles, then diamonds, and it was only a matter of time before I made my way to snowflakes--the elegant, timeless symbol of the complexity and uniqueness of nature. The snowflake won my heart!  After designing the motif, next up was the color palette. The colors I chose came together over a long period of time—Fresco’s color palette offers so many possibilities. Finally I came to realize that the hat should have the soft, subtle feel of pale blues and cream, with a touch of orange warmth.  To draw the colors together, I off-set the sophisticated snowflakes with playful stripes, using two similar shades of blue to create a subtle—yet interesting—combination. I topped the cap off with a crescendo of orange pom-pom. I hope you have as much fun knitting this as I did! Visit Carrie's blog. The Yarns: Fresco — 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca, 10% angora We created Fresco to be the perfect colorwork yarn. Fresco is a 3-ply yarn; plied yarns are good for colorwork because they’re smooth and even. The plies are twisted together tightly enough to make a firm, springy yarn, but not so tightly that the yarn looses its lofty, soft hand. Fresco knits up between six and seven stitches per inch so it shows off the detail in traditional and other small-scale colorwork patterns. The fiber blend—wool, alpaca, and a bit of angora—makes a yarn that’s warm, soft, and slightly fuzzed—great for helping stitches worked in separate colors to cling to each other. And, finally, Fresco comes in 35 pretty colors—lots of options for good color combinations.  The Stitches: Getting a good, fat, puffy pom-pom is a challenge. And sometimes a little purchased help makes all the difference. At CEY, we particularly love Clover’s pom-pom maker. Available in several sizes, Clover’s little machine makes especially full and even pom-poms. However, if you don’t want to leave home to search for the Clover gadget, here are instructions for a homemade cardboard pom-pom maker. With a little patience and diligence, you’ll be able to make pom-poms that are quite respectable. Here are instructions.	more photos The Pattern: Here is the free downloadable Fresco Snowflake Hat pattern. View some alternate suggested colors. If you have difficulty downloading or printing the PDF pattern above, try these: page 1, page 2
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