Good morning, my fellow fiber artist! A couple months ago, I asked all of you whether you would like me to add a sport-weight yarn or a second DK-weight yarn to my lineup of yarn bases, and most of you said you would prefer a sport weight. Your wish is my command!
Today I want to introduce my newest yarn base, Super Sport. Super Sport is a plump and squishy 3-ply yarn made of 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon. Each 100 gram skein contains 328 yards, and there’s something extra nice about this base that makes it seem like it’s made of something even more wonderful than merino. It must be the way the mill spun it, but it feels extra soft to me.
I thought I would share all the pretty colorways I have made with it along with some really neat patterns that I think would work well with Super Sport. All the patterns are free, and I split them evenly between crochet patterns and knitting patterns. Every pattern would go with any sport-weight yarn, but I paired one pattern with each colorway, creating pairs I thought would look especially lovely together.
My daughter and I also had a lot of fun with photography while we were at it. Just click on any of the photos to go directly to the Super Sport section of my shop.
The first colorway I have for you is Lizzie, inspired by the vivacious protagonist of Pride and Prejudice. I originally made Lizzie as part of my Jane Austen Silky Sparkly Lace collection in the spring. Lizzie was (naturally) the favorite, so I decided to make it on some other yarn bases, including So Silky Sock and now Super Sport.
I thought Lizzie would look really beautiful using a knitting pattern for a gorgeous pair of lacy fingerless gloves called Black Locust Mitts. Jessica Yessin created this beautiful pattern. It calls for 170 to 200 yards of sport-weight yarn, so one skein would be plenty with enough left over for another small project.
Next up is Purple Iris. I love this colorway. It was originally inspired by the beautiful purple irises our next door neighbors have. Like so many other things in nature, it’s amazing how many colors there are in something when you look closely. I’ve made this colorway as handspun yarn, art batts, and on several of my bases, and I wanted to be sure to make it available on Super Sport as well.
The pattern I chose to go with Purple Iris is really neat and unique. It’s a sturdy little crocheted bowl that would be fabulous for holding some more yarn. It’s called the Ndebele Basket. The designer, Marlene Heins Botha, drew her inspiration from the baskets made by the Ndebele tribe in southern Africa.
The third colorway is Renoir. This colorway is part of my Artist Collection and was inspired specifically by Renoir’s painting commonly known as “The Poor Little Rich Girl.” The actual name is “Mademoiselle Irene Cahen d’Andvers.”
I found a beautiful crocheted pinafore pattern for a 2-year-old that I want to share with you. It’s called Angel-Wing Pinafore, and Alyssa Boran wrote the pattern. Again, the pattern would work with any and all of my sport-weight colorways, but I think this would be a match made in Heaven.
Next up is November in My Soul. I recently made this as part of this fall’s collection inspired by Moby-Dick. I originally dyed the whole collection is on Sock Perfection, but I decided to take the two most popular and put them on Super Sport as well. I have to tell you–I really love this rich, complex colorway.
I chose the Isla Wrap pattern as the “perfect pairing” for November in My Soul. Jessica Vinson created this great large cowl/small poncho knitting pattern. Her design shows it in gray, but I think November in My Soul would look lovely as well.
The other one I re-created on Super Sport from the Moby-Dick fall collection is Call Me Ishmael. Both November in My Soul and Call Me Ishmael refer to the protagonist of that great novel, but November is a bit darker while Call Me Ishmael is brighter and more hopeful. They would go very well together.
With that in mind, in fact, I’m choosing a pattern that makes it easy to use them together. The Cord-Cutter Hat looks amazing. The designer, Nancy Hay, says it isn’t nearly as complicated as it looks.
The next one is Kristin Lavransdatter, inspired by one of my favorite books. It’s actually a trilogy written by Sigrid Undset and set in late-medieval Norway. It is a little-known masterpiece and so well worth reading if you’ve never had the chance. I have this colorway on quite a few bases and also as art batts. Super Sport is the newest. It came out a bit brighter on Super Sport than it did on So Silky Sock or Buttery Soft DK.
Kristin Lavransdatter would look so beautiful with any number of patterns, but I wanted to highlight my favorite pattern for Kristin. It is the Haydin Slouchy Beanie by Acquanetta Ferguson.
The second-to-last colorway I want to show you is Peacock. I have Peacock on my Sparkly Merino Sock yarn as well. It’s great on its own, but it would also look great with Kristin Lavransdatter.
The pattern I think would be especially lovely with Peacock is the Divine Drape Cowl by Gretchen Tracy. She makes the most stunning patterns, and this one looks especially amazing. I’ve added it to my queue, though it may be awhile.
The last colorway I want to show you is called Autumn in Michigan. I just came out with this colorway a few weeks ago based on our own experience living in that beautiful state for a couple of years, and it has sold quickly, so I decided to make a sport-weight version.
The pattern I thought would be especially beautiful with this autumn yarn is Holy Guacamole by Taylor Tengelsen. She made the original pattern in green naturally, but I think it would be gorgeous with Autumn in Michigan.
Do you have a favorite pattern for sport-weight yarn? If so, please share it by email or on my Facebook page.
Until next time, happy fiber artistry and happy yarn season!