Named for originally casting on for the project in the middle of July’s heat wave. This project is nice and warm…a little too warm for a heat wave!

Possibly my favorite project that I’ve made to date. The pictures do not do it justice. It is absolutely gorgeous and I’ve taken to wearing it all the time. Even in bed at night when I’m reading in my pjs! I love it that much.

I was thinking about different yarn options, which Kate (the designer) was great about helping with - she confirmed that she thought the pattern could be done as I had planned. I was originally planning on using Cascade 220 held double. The color was inspired by Isel’s gorgeous wrap. I had a few false starts because I started with a circular US 10, which made a fairly stiff fabric. I ripped it out and started again with a US 10 1/2 which was much better. However, I still wasn’t totally sold on the Cascade held doubled. I started another completely different project with Berroco Vintage, in Gingham. At one point, the two projects were sitting side by side and I realized that the Gingham was the perfect color to pair with the Cascade. So, I ripped it back again and cast on with one strand Cascade, one strand Vintage. The end result is a lovely, warm wrap with subtle heather throughout. I absolutely love it.

Like many others, I decided to use misha805’s mods. I knit 4 extra inches of stockinette and picked up 10 extra stitches along the sides. I also made the ruffle longer by two inches.

I made two mistakes when making this pattern, which were both the result of my impatience. The pattern is fairly simple and very clearly written. However, I started the ruffle on the opposite side then the pattern states. My second mistake was made when reading the (VERY) simple pattern. When it came to the ruffle increase row, I did K2P2 ribbing, rather than what the pattern calls for. This was only because I misread where the repeat was in the increase row. I emailed Kate about it and she responded very quickly with the clarification (and very politely too, given that it was such a silly mistake on my part!) :) In the end, I decided that I liked the ruffle as is with the K2P2 ribbing and left it. I originally had thought about making the ruffle even longer than the two extra inches of ruffle that I had already added, but in the end, with the mistake in the increase row, I was knitting about 100 stitches more per row than the pattern calls for and it was eating up yarn like crazy. I decided to cast off after the two extra inches of ruffle were added and I’m really, really pleased with the length.