> A few months ago I was given the pleasant task of designing a crocheted wrap with the new yarn NaturallyCaron.com Spa. I was asked to incorporate three different stitch patterns. Piece of cake. The other requirement was to use three different shades of Spa. Not so cakey.

For I do not possess an innate color sense. I’m more of a one color at a time girl, much more likely to choose a single, solid or subtly shaded yarn for garment samples and my own crocheted clothing. There’s a good reason for this. Not that I am colorblind. I can see colors perfectly normally. I really love colors in my own unsophisticated way. Ask my friends to name the person who walked around at TNNA with mismatched high-top Converse All Stars because I couldn’t decide which I liked better, the pink or the yellow, so I wore one of each. Clearly, the art and science of successfully and tastefully combining colors completely eludes me.

With trepidation and visions of horrible doom I opened the box of yarn that landed on my doorstep. To my relief I discovered that my fears this time were unfounded. All the shades of NaturallyCaron.com Spa can “go with” each other, so mixing them is pretty much foolproof (and thus Doris-proof).

What I came up with is the ultimate expression of my beloved All Shawl configuration (see previous post). Coco Bay is a lovely, lightweight wrap and perfect layer for warm seasons or climates. The Spa yarn turned out to be a dream to crochet. It’s a soft, lightweight blend of microdenier (super-fine) acrylic and bamboo with a special construction utilizing a ZSZ twist. HUH? Check out Cari Clement’s blog for the technical explanation. All I know is that this yarn offers great stitch definition and drape and I had no trouble with it splitting when crocheted with a large enough hook.

One tip: to help your gorgeous stitchwork really pop and bring out the fluid drape of your wrap, please block it.