There are certain yarns that come through the office, and when they do, our staff SWOONS. So we’re doing a short blog series called “For The Love Of…” where we feature one of our yarns, and projects made by the Knit Picks staff in that yarn. When I asked around the office who loved Hawthorne, there was a resounding cry of joy from the KP team. Everyone loves it, and almost everyone had projects to show off! So I collected them to show you how Hawthorne can lend itself to such a wide array of amazing projects. Hopefully their projects will inspire you as much as they have inspired me!

We loved our original Hawthorne for its striking flashes of color. When Hawthorne Kettle came on board, however, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on the more subtle colorways, too. Our fearless leader, Alison, used Kettle to make two dresses for her daughter (pattern HERE, pictured in colorway Slate, above, and Goddess, below). The kettle dye lends itself to lace beautifully, without detracting from the stitch pattern. The durability of this yarn is perfect for kid’s projects, too!

Emily, our Graphic Designer, went rogue by holding two strands of Hawthorne Kettle (colorway: Serpent) together and making up her own pattern for this truly original cowl. It’s a 2×2 ribbing, that changes about every 4 inches. Genius, huh? Hawthorne now comes in both fingering (Hawthorne and Hawthorne Kettle) and sport weight (Hawthorne), but I love the idea of creating other weights by knitting double with your favorite one.

Stacey knit some pretty adorable hats in Hawthorne. This Scalliwag Hat calls for DK weight yarn, but Stacey went down to a smaller needle size and compensated by knitting the largest hat size. Emily looks so cute in this hat (colorway “Sellwood”), don’t you think?

Hannah knit a pair of pretty impactful mitts when she cast on for her “Fightin’ Words” in Hawthorne Kettle colorways Blackbird and Wisp. Now she’s ready to take on the world!

Alison combined so many of the beautiful colorways in a granny square blanket. She’s the master of no-pattern crafting, and just made granny squares, as she knows how, using Hawthorne Kettle in colorways Rose City Fingering, Irvington Fingering, Montavilla Fingering, Alameda Fingering, Goose Hollow Fingering, Mt. Tabor Fingering, Laurelhurst Fingering, Vancouver Fingering, bordering her blanket in a granny stripe in Serpent. Could anything in a home be more inspiring?

Alison also needed no pattern to make this adorable hoody in size 3T, for one of her lucky kiddos. It took less than 3 skeins of Hawthorne Kettle in Conifer, and will be great for her son OR daughter. This yarn is so sturdy, it’ll probably be handed down and worn by both!

Stacey also knit a garter ridge hat in Hawthorne Kettle, worn here by our lovely Jenny. The colorway, Poseidon, would be flattering on almost anyone, don’t you think?

We love original Hawthorne for it’s great base colors with amazing “strikes” of a different color that really make knitting with it interesting. We love it so much that it now comes in sport weight and a variety of new colorways! Hawthorne Kettle is our new love, with just enough color change to show off more complicated stitches and make your knitting look luscious, while still being sturdy enough to handle machine washing and drying.

Let us know what you think of Hawthorne. We’re convinced you’ll make things “for the love of Hawthorne…”, too!