The Faded Mist Topper: Behind the Scenes

We’re thrilled to feature a post by one of our favorite bloggers, Jessica Potasz from Mama in a Stitch! She’s here to tell us all about the Faded Mist Topper she designed for our new Fall/Winter Style Guide. You can find the crochet kit here!

Over the last many months I’ve had the honor of collaborating with Lion Brand on various projects for my blog, and have even gotten to work on several of their kits.  Lion Brand yarn has always been my favorite and has continued to be my go-to because of the beauty, quality and affordability.  While I’ve had the incredible privilege of working with Lion Brand on several patterns, I was absolutely humbled and honored when they contacted me to create a project for their new Fall/Winter Style Guide.

This project was something new to me as I would be collaborating with their design team to come up with a pattern rather than going it alone like I normally do.  What a dream come true. It’s certainly something I never would have imagined just a few years ago when I began to blog about my projects!

To start, I was paired with Susan Haviland from the design team and was given a basic pattern idea, which was a short sleeved cardigan that included colorwork around the lower section.  The piece would be a versatile layer that could be worn with your work outfit or even your most casual jeans.  If you follow my blog, you may already know that I focus on very easy and doable patterns, so minimal shaping and simple stitch work was a must on my end. At the same time, the piece needed to be more tailored than many of my past projects.  Susan said that we would be sticking with neutral color tones, which was a thrill because that’s what I enjoy using most.

As we delved further into the design process, we tossed around some ideas for yarn possibilities that we could use.  We were considering several, from Woolspun to New Basic and even Scarfie.  Some of my favorites! Susan sent me various skeins of yarn to create swatches in order to determine what stitch patterns we liked and which colors worked well together.

Ultimately we decided on a simple crochet stitch pattern and Lion Brand Scarfie yarn.  I’m no stranger to using Scarfie on large projects as I’ve used it with both my Lion Brand Scarfie yarn and my Light Frost Blanket Sweater. However, we did decide that very subtle vertical striping would be best, while I had most often made pieces with horizontal striping. There would also need to be some sort of contrast on the bottom to replace the complicated colorwork that our inspiration pattern had.

Because we wanted subtle vertical striping on top, this meant we needed to design the upper portion in a way that allowed for more of an ombre effect.  After some trial and error, I was able to work out how to create this light ombre look on top with contrast striping along the bottom.  I also really love how the stitch work almost appears to be knit, yet it’s super simple!

Styling

The piece can certainly go with your button-up work blouse and tailored pants or your most relaxed jeans and t-shirt.  I really love how the colors blend in this topper, as well as the fact that it’s easy to make (yet there’s more to it than making a rectangle which you fold and seam like many of my blanket sweaters!).  I think it certainly turned out to be a cozy, versatile piece thanks to the neutral grey and cream as well as the simple style.

It was such a joy to work with Lion Brand and Susan on this piece and I truly hope you enjoy it. I’ve been so excited to see the entire collection including the pieces from Two Of Wands. Thank you to Lion Brand and to each of you who have supported my blog and designs so that I could be involved in creating something for this beautiful collection!

Check out a 360 degree view of this beautiful cardigan below!

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