Azilal Cardigan on Berroco.com

Berroco Yarns

 Berroco Love

Have you recently used Berroco yarn to crochet?  If not, let me re-introduce you.

Backstory: Berroco was the very first yarn company's yarn I ever crocheted with and I just have a special place for them in my heart.  After crocheting with a ton of different yarns, I realized that I had become seriously out of touch with their yarn line.  In January, I sat down in their booth and wanted to fix that problem.  Norah and Amanda were so kind to me to let me mumble to myself and takes notes on the yarns I think would speak to crochet.  (And yes, it was extremely hard not to gush constantly over Norah.  She is amazing.  I adore her designs and everything she has done for Berroco.  It was extremely hard to keep my words to a minimum and not sound like the crazy fan I really am.) Then they asked if I would like some to swatch with, who's going to say no to that?  At home, I did some more research on prices of the yarns that I wanted to crochet with first and was shocked.  They were really economical.  I mean, better then some sale prices.  Then I though, well let's see how they work up.  And no complaints there either.  My love affair was complete, I was head over heels again.

Azilal Cardigan, Free Pattern at Berroco.com

Here are just a few that I am swatching with at the moment.  There are really a ton of yarns here that work beautifully in crochet, these are just what I have on the hook right now:
Vintage DK:  Perfect weight for crochet.  Make great garments for a great price.  I think Webs has a hank at  8$.  (I know what you are thinking, how is that a deal, am I right?)  This yarn has nearly 290 yards in one hank.  Thats 2-3 time more yarn then your average hank of yarn.  Now that's a deal, let me tell you!  The blend is acrylic and wool, so you can even machine wash the yarn.  Plus, I love a bit of acrylic, since I can steam block and the acrylic in the yarn will set the project to look great forever.
Ultra Alpaca Light: Blend of wool and alpaca.  Get the warm and strength of alpaca and the wearabilty of wool.
Seduce- Looks fantastic in Tunisian Crochet.
Lustra- Beautiful sheen, makes stitches pop.

Azilal Cardigan
Since I fell in love with Vintage dk, I had a LOT of cardigan patterns immediately pop into my head.  I sent a few to Berroco and we collaborated to make this cardigan.  (Sketch from one, Swatch from another two- I love working like that! It is so awesome.)

Azilal Back- Free pattern at Berroco.com

Azilal is a texture heavy (without being heavy) cardigan.  The texture is created with chains or dropped stitches so the fabric is not thick but comfortable to wear.  The raglan lines make it easy to get into a groove with the shaping.  The pattern is completely diagrammed to help you with any shaping or stitch pattern.  I am definitely interested in hearing what you think of the cardigan.  As the design was a collaboration between Norah and I, the crocheting was as well.  Rebecca and I each crocheted parts of the sweater and then I pulled it together.  This is why I adore her, you would have no idea that more then one person crocheted this sweater.  She's the best, plus if you have questions she can really help, since she's crocheted it.  I have lots of closeup photos at flickr so you can see the edging and such.

Ok now here'e the best part, its free.  What are you still doing here? Seriously, the pattern is free at Berroco.com.

Hope you enjoy!