STYLO : Gretel's Knits

My STYLO looks were inspired by these two knit pieces. The Pixie Bonnet and Heartwarmer are themes I keep coming back to. I love that they look a little vintage and homespun. Not including knits would have been like not inviting my favorite kid to the party. Here are the details:

Heartwarmer Pattern : Bless Your Heartwarmer by SweetKM 

Heartwarmer Yarn : Palette Yarn in Brindle Heather by Knit Picks 

I'm a sucker for a little girl in a heartwarmer. I tend to make brightly colored ones for L, she loves to wear them, but they rarely go with the rest of her outfit leaving us looking a little bit homeless when we're tooling around town. I love this Brindle Heather from Knit Picks. It all wool, reads as a neutral but is still firmly in the yellow family. Knit Picks Palette yarn is a fingerling weight, but this was made as a worsted weight by knitting with two strands at once. Its a technique I've been using a lot to mix my own custom colors, or create my own bulky weight yarn. My Stylo heartwarmer is a slight variation on the Bless Your Heartwarmer Pattern. To get the articulated spine down the middle I slipped the middle stitch on the right side and purled it on the wrong side. I also substituted twisted strings for the fabric ones for a more traditional look. 

Bonnet Pattern : Big Kid Bonnet (Similar pattern HERE, or buy your own ready made HERE)
Bonnet Yarn : Brava Worsted in Paprika by Knit Picks

Normally, I only knit with natural fibers (with the exception of these guys). I made an exception for this bonnet for the color. The rusty red color took the look out of the christmas card photo and into the autumn woods. Its the pop of color the makes the more neutral tones of the rest of the outfit work. This is my favorite bonnet to make at the moment. The front half is folded over on itself making a double layer of cozy knit around the ears.

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First and last photos are by my husband (who has a name but would rather I not use it).