One of the first booths we stopped in at the Shennendoah Valley Fiber Festival was Cozy Color Works. I had never heard of this dyer, but they had the softest yarn and some of the best samples. I haven’t paid too much attention to samples before, but I found them inspiring this go round.

My friend and I were both taken in by a sweet and simple t-shirt sample. In a DK weight it seemed like a great wardrobe staple. After we walked around the whole festival, I still had that t-shirt on my mind.

I cast on a week later and knit this little beauty up in a bit over two weeks. This is Hawksbill by Christina Danaee. Overall, I’m satisfied with the pattern but I made several modifications. To be honest, looking at the pattern pictures I don’t think I would have been drawn to the it without seeing that sample. I think it’s the pocket that pust me off, but patch pockets are easily omitted.

I reversed the decreases and increases as they were written in the pattern. I prefer decreases to “lean in” and increases to “lean out” so I went with that. I also made significant modifcations to the bottom. I really thougth I would like the curved hem, but once I knit the back panel I realized I was wrong. Just wasn’t the look I was going for over my rear. I ripped back and did about a quarter of the called for short rows and I’m much happier with the length and fit now.

The yarn is beautiful. This is Cozy Color Works Merino DK in the Rag Doll colorway. It’s a creamy natural color with navy speckles and a hint of a purple-y burgundy. It reminds me of blueberry muffin mix, when the blueberries break as you stir and you get subtle smudges of purple. I am excited to add this to my wardrobe, it pretty much goes with every handknit shawl I own.

I am thrilled to have a simple, go-with-everything, handknit t-shirt – just like I envisioned thanks to that sample knit!

Happy making!