KnitMe

More Hats

More hats. This is the hat I made for Emily early in the month. The yarn is Lisa Souza's 'Fat Bunny', which is a heavyweight angora/merino blend with a little nylon to hold it together.

Doesn't it have a lovely halo? This is the softest thing. One hank of Fat Bunny would make a simple hat to fit anyone who didn't have a large-size head - I used size 9 needles and knitted right down to the last 5 yards of the skein or so, and I could wear this hat without too much difficulty.

This is my current hat in progress, which may be my last one for awhile as I've run out of yarn that's asking to be hats (but I haven't run out of cool hat patterns).

This is the Greenery Hat by Lilith Parker, which I found while browsing the hat patterns on Ravelry. I am using some handspindled yarn that I'd been saving for the right hat pattern to come along. The brim is green Wensleydale that I got at the Hatchtown Spindles booth at Maryland Sheep and Wool a couple of years ago, and the white is some Cotswold cross something or other that I got from Karen when she sold me a pair of viking combs a couple of years ago. It is a bit slow going because the yarn is sort of worsted weight and I'm using size 6 needles, but it is working up to be a heavy, soft hat that will be very warm.

I'm still puttering away on Tangled Yoke - I have joined up at the beginning of the yoke and started the cable pattern.

I have to start thinking about buttons - it calls for 9 half-inch buttons. I can't run to a local fabric store anymore and buy nine imitation wood buttons, as the local craft stores have closed. Any thoughts on the perfect button for this??

I finished up the purple Wensleydale. OK I am not that fond of Wensleydale. It is pretty yarn but not something I'm likely to run out and want to spin again.

That larger skein is FIVE OUNCES. I don't know how I did that. I have NEVER squeezed five ounces onto one of my Symphony bobbins before, and by the time I got done the wheel was pretty much in shock at the weight it was trying to turn. The whole batch is 6.5 ounces and about 220 yards so it is DENSE yarn. The thing about it that I like is the luster - look at that shine. Clearly this would knit on big needles. I have no idea what I will do with it. Maybe I will try to sell it.

Speaking of selling handspun: For folks that are on Ravelry, you can see the results of the first handspun yarn I ever sold. It is here. This is some wool/mohair I spun a couple of years ago and it popped to the surface during my last destash - it was about 11 ounces and 800 yards. Someone on Ravelry bought it out of my trade/swap stash and knitted this cute sweater with it - she put a contrasting ribbing on it to eke the thing out of her available yarn. It's such a thrill to see what someone invented with the inspiration of my yarn.

After getting that big fat yarn off the Symphony I played with my new fast whorl.

This teeny thing arrived unfinished and I slapped some stain on it so it wouldn't look so much like something I made in my garage. It lets my wheel spin at 25:1. I grabbed up a few grams of some combed samples and spun a skinny single which I will ply later in the week. If this turns out well, I may tackle the bombyx silk I bought at Rhinebeck...

Hats Ahoy

So I've been on a hat jag since last I posted here. I found so many pretty hats to help me use up leftovers and oddballs.

Here are the two that are finished.

The top one is 'Coronet' from the winter 03 issue of Knitty. I used just less than two balls of the Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran that was left from Tailored Scallops.

The bottom one is 'Cinnabar' designed by Angela Hahn of Knititude. It used just about 2 balls of the Valley Yarns Lenox leftover from the Marseilles pullover I knitted last winter. This was a very clever hat, and the Lenox made a lovely fabric on size 6 needles.

The side effect of making that hat is that I got a look at the other Knititude patterns and I am unfortunately going to have to go spend some money there...

I have two more hats on the needles that I should be able to post next week. Also, I made Emily a new hat but haven't remembered to take a picture yet.

There have been other things besides hats going on over the past 3 or 4 weeks. I finished a pair of socks for Emily out of leftover Lisa Souza sock yarn.

Emmy's next request is white socks, so that she can wear handknitted socks with her school uniform pants - clever idea but to find WHITE sock yarn?? not easy. I hope she can get away with cream...

I finished Tailored Scallops last month and finally managed some decent photos of it. Here are multiple choices to give a good view of it.

It was a pretty fast knit (9/29-11/4) - I used 9 balls of Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran which is wool and alpaca, in the Garnet color, and size 8 and 9 needles, and I made the second-smallest size. It is extremely light and I would have worn it a lot if we hadn't gone from summer to winter right about the time I finished it. I had a pretty Sheila Ernst button I wanted to put on it, but the fabric was too light for the button so I had to reluctantly go with something else. (I added an i-cord button loop and attached button.) It is a really good fit - my only complaint is that the sleeves are a little slim, but you can see in the photos that it is intended to fit this way. I also liked the yarn very much - it has a nice sheen.

I'm still working on Tangled Yoke - I have finished the body and both sleeves up to the armholes and am going to join up for the yoke tonight. No photos yet, but the Silky Wool is making a nice fabric and this should be pleasant to wear. I haven't decided on buttons yet....

Way back last month I also finished one mitten for Emily from the Selbuvotter book. I tweaked 'Annemor #4' just a little so it looked less like a dog and more like a cat.

It really came out pretty, but it's not going to fit her for a couple of years so I have plenty of time to knit the second one... I am using Knitpicks Telemark in two shades of blue. I am not thrilled with how this yarn is working out for this - it is much denser than I expected for something billed as sportweight, so it's somewhat painful to knit on size 2 needless. The mittens, however, will be very durable and warm. I have some to make myself a pair too and I will go up to size 3 needles when I knit those. The yarn will definitely not work for gloves - too heavy. I have two other options stashed and waiting to see if they work better at the 7spi gauge the book calls forl

I started the Loksins socks last month and have been neglecting them a little to work on hats. This is Lisa Souza's Sock yarn in the Sky Drama colorway, which I think is my favorite of her many lovely colors.

This is a lovely pattern which is easy to memorize and looks great. I'm using my Knitpicks Harmony DPNs in size 1 and I am really happy with them. The dark color of the yarn is not causing difficulty, either.

I've also been venturing into color, which is an area that I am not very skilled or comfortable with. I admired 'Autumn Rose', Eunny Jang's scoopneck fair isle pullover from the last Simply Shetland book, but with all that mustardy Old Gold color, I had to steer away. Then I saw a couple of versions on Ravelry that had been re-colored, and I got inspired. I decided that since Knitpicks Palette yarn is so inexpensive, it might be worth a try to recolor it to suit myself. First, I tried to match the original colors using my Jamieson color card and the Palette color card, but steering away from the shade of Old Gold. Then I tweaked the colors to improve what I had done the first time. Here are my swatches.

The one on the left was my attempt to match what's in the original, except that instead of a mustardy brown I used a sort of butterscotchy gold. Although that turned out brighter and more orangey than I anticipated, I decided that the gold with the two shades of red made me think of Elizabethan brocade, which was A Good Thing. However, the whole green family just didn't work in this swatch (probably the subtle differences between these colors and the originals just pushed it over the edge), so I took out the dark green and added a medium blue, and I took out the light and medium greens and added peach and a sort of tan. That's the swatch on the right. Also, on the left I used 3mm needles and on the right 3.25. I think I am happy with what I have on the right, so once I finish the Eunny I have in progress I'll start a new Eunny.

I am dreading the pattern chart and directions, though - the chart is not coded for colors once you have done one pattern repeat, the chart is TEENY, the sizes are marked on the chart in different color lines that curve in and out for the shaping, and worst of all, the 'light' colors are indicated by dark boxes and the 'dark' colors are indicated by light boxes. Boo to Unicorn for this pattern layout - did anyone there try to knit from it? But if I just take my time I will get through it eventually, lots of other people have.

Being old and stodgy I am going to raise the neckline a little, and I still anticipate wearing a t-shirt under it, but it will be fun to have something done in color that has such elegant shaping. There is plenty of guidance available on Ravelry for how people have modified the pattern.

In spinning updates, I finished another skein of my prize Cormo fleece.

You can see that the skein on the bottom is a little more uniform. I have been flicking only the locks that have some structure left to them, and saving the disorganized clouds to be combed, and I'm getting a better result. This yarn is just incredibly soft and wonderful, and as endless as the task seems, I'm glad I will have an abundance of it to play with when I'm done spinning it.

I also started spinning 8 ounces of purple Wensleydale I had in stash, because I have been spinning natural colored wool for so long I really needed just a short blast of color. I am trying to make a 2 ply worsted weight here, and not overtwist it. We'll see how it goes. I'm reconfirming that Wensleydale is just not my favorite to spin...

I'm spinning this on the Symphony, which has been relegated to plying since the arrival of Quebec in the summer - it's nice to remember what a great wheel it is, and I ordered it a present for being so reliable: a fast whorl. I also ordered a fast whorl for Quebec. Speed seems to be my thing these days...

Emily took this picture for you of the flyer flying.

A Sock Yarn Experiment

I love to knit socks. I love to spin. The minute I laid eyes on Sam's blue sock yarn I knew the time had come. Then came the question: 3-ply or 2-ply, which for me? Dunno, I said. Guess I'll try both. A few months later I completed two FOs, and a fascinating experiment in spinning.

For fiber, I chose two of the Silkworker's Romney/silk blends. I spun both on the Journey Wheel using a short draw. I knitted both pairs of socks on the same set of 3.5 mm (U.S. 4) dpns.

For the 3-ply, I spun a colorway called Twinkle Toes semi-worsted style, splitting the batt into lengthwise strips and spinning from the end of the strips. I continually smoothed the newly spun yarn as it fed into the bobbin. I Navajo (chain) plied the singles, to maximize the long runs of color in the silk. The goal was a smooth, firm yarn showcasing the color of the silk and the luster of both silk and wool.

For the 2-ply, I spun a colorway called Let's Boogie semi-woolen style. I split the batt crossways into sections, and rolled up each section like a cigar. I drafted from the end of the rolag, which draws out the fibers from anywhere along their length and traps a lot of air within the yarn. I smoothed the spun yarn only enough to keep it from catching on the flyer hooks. I plied it firmly, but not so tight as to flatten the open Romney crimp. The goal was a lofty but strong yarn, highlighted and softened with flashes of silk.

TWINKLE TOES 3-ply semi-worsted.

The batt: Quoting from the Silkworker site description, "Natural silver grey medium gauge Romney with silks in petal pink, white, and apricot."

The singles: Smooth, with long color runs.

The 3-ply: Firm, round, and smooth. The color transitions are subtle and spectacular, unlike those of most sock yarns which are dyed after the yarn is spun.

You can see the loops of the plying chain. Next time I will take care to ply firmly across the loops. Face it, I'm no Sam.

On the needles: Clouds of color come and go at random. The fit is close; the yarn is soft against my skin,

Twinkle Toes socks: Lustrous stockinette with a restrained texture, not too heavy, a perfect companion for street or walking shoes.

LET'S BOOGIE 2-ply semi-woolen.

The batt: "Lustrous, medium gauge Romney is colored a rich, dark teal and accented with silks in peach, amber, robin's egg and soft taupe."

The rolags: Fat and airy from the open Romney crimp.

Spinning the singles: The loft of the woolen-prepped fiber is amazing; the rolags, uncrushable.

The 2-ply: Shining.....

...soft, and fuzzy.

Let's Boogie socks: Soft, warm and lofty 3x1 rib. The colors make distinct lines, similar to the color patterning in handpainted yarn. Perfect to wear with sport shoes, or to pad around the house on a cold winter day.

What a lesson! Same fiber, wheel, draft, and needles. Only the predrafting changed. That change, though, made two very different yarns---each one a delight to knit and a pleasure to wear.

And the l'il socks? From here.

Frosting on the cake. Thanks, Carol, for the photo.