Oh, buttery-soft Billow, I’ve been waiting for you for ages.

I’ve had the prototype skein of Billow on my desk for months, and it’s easily the most-petted yarn sample in my office. It’s soft yet sturdy, knits up quickly, and makes you look like The Fanciest Knitter in the World when all you’re actually doing is miles of stockinette.

This line is a completely new concept for Knit Picks – the 8-ply thick-and-thin structure gives you a yarn that knits up into a slightly slubby, richly textured fabric.  We wanted to show off that texture to best effect, and consequently Billow was a challenge regarding color selection. We wanted to come up with softly saturated colors that came together unexpectedly in a fresh palette, and we also were trying to include a good range of neutrals (both browns and greys) in order to make the line more versatile.  It’s a great mix of colors, and they work together in surprising ways but can also stand on their own in solid-color projects.

I have all sorts of knitting projects hanging out in the shadows these days. I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up my Hue Shift Afghan
and knitting a few rows, then setting it down to work an inch or so on a
pair of socks and then I get some tea and pick up my second Foreign Corresponden’ts Scarf and fiddle around with that until I get bored. Wash, rinse, repeat. There’s
really no end in sight for any of these projects, and that’s ok, but I
was definitely craving a short project that I could start and finish in
one day. I found this Flamingo pattern by Susan B Anderson and decided to give it a whirl.