I love using hand-painted yarns, and one of my favorite producers is Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Spirit Trail sock yarn is always a sellout at fiber festivals, but the merino/silk I’ve used here is my favorite of the company’s yarns….The design popped into my head at a spring sheep and wool festival, and I jotted down a sketch as soon as I got home. It uses entrelac patterning to show off the subtle colors in the yarn, but puts the shaping and sizing in the side panels rather than in the entrelac. It would also work well in cotton, because the stitch pattern and the horizontally knit sides and sleeves will minimize cotton’s tendency to “grow.”