Tag Archives: yarn

OK. New Plan.

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I’ve finally got my act together.   I’ve sulked long enough, and I think I figured out a solution.  I think I can make this sweater work.  I’ll live to knit another day.

But first, I had to rip an entire sleeve.  It was… an unfortunate amount of ripping.   I poured myself a nice stiff drink and went to town.

God… look how different that yarn is.  (New yarn is on the right, old, scraggly yarn is on the left.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI remembered someone telling me, or maybe reading somewhere (not sure where… I just know I didn’t make this up), that if you had two different dye lots that you had to make work, you can work them in stripes to blend the two colors together.  It was worth a shot.

First I tried 2-row stripes, but that ended up looking really stripey.  (I didn’t even bother taking a picture of this one- it didn’t look good.)

But, when I tried narrow, 1-row stripes, I managed to get a pretty even color.  And, since I’m using a big circular needle, I can slide the needle back and forth after every other row.  That means I don’t have to break my yarn or juggle extra balls of yarn!  Winning!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASee?  The sleeve (the bottom portion of the picture) is pretty close to the rest of the sweater.  It’s still a smidge blue-ish in real life, but only so much that someone looking really closely would notice it.

The only problem is that the combination of new yarn and old, frogged yarn makes the fabric a bit of a mess.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut at this point, I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope that it looks OK after blocking.

Have you ever had to get creative to get around poor dye-lot matching?

Heartbreak

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I’m completely heartbroken.  My hopes have been dashed.  My best plans of a simple, fun, and easy sweater are completely falling apart.

My yarn came in the mail.  (Actually it came in the mail a few weeks ago, but I was so disappointed, I threw it into the closet and pretended it hadn’t showed up yet.)  Usually new yarn is a source of joy, but ugh…

Look:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOK, it’s kind of hard to see in a photo, but take a closer look:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe ball of yarn on the left is the new yarn- it’s significantly more blue-gray.  And the half-finished sweater is on the right- it’s a lovely pink-y lavender.

I know they look pretty similar in these photos (it’s been established my photography skills are lacking), but in real life, they’re significantly different.  Even my husband commented.  I’ve got the whole sweater finished with the old yarn, except for the left sleeve.  I can’t have a sweater with one different color arm!

This, boys and girls, is why you buy all your yarn at once.

Now I’m going to go drink a lot of coffee and come up with a plan.

Road Trip!

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I’m taking a road trip later this week with my in-laws (Hi, in-laws!).  And that means one thing:

Dramamine? Car games? Eating at McDonald’s?

No!  It means an excuse to go yarn shopping and start some new projects.  After all, my sweater project is getting too big, and I’m out of purple yarn…

I stopped at a lovely yarn shop over on the other side of Lake Washington, Serial Knitters in Kirkland.  I’ve only visited there once before, years ago, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get over there again.  It has a fantastic selection of local and national brands in some of the most gorgeous colorways I’ve ever seen.

Two skeins came home with me:  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe lovely, subtle gray-blue is Madeleinetosh Tosh DK in Cloud Dweller, and the over-the top rainbow of exuberance is Knitted Wit Victory DK in Fairy Garden.  They’re both squishy, but firm, and I can tell that they’ll knit up into great hard-wearing accessories.

(And, I can’t help but smile when I look at the Victory DK colors… so gorgeous!)

I’m thinking, since I’ve only got one skein of each, I should use them to make little accessories.  The Victory DK is slightly thinner, so I’m thinking mitts or gloves.  And, I don’t care for variegated yarn knit into simple stockinette (weird, I know), so they’ll have to have some sort of texture.  I’m thinking these gloves might be just the ticket (and they’re an excuse to use some of my buttons).

Ringwood Gloves by Rebecca Blairringwoodbiggreen_medium[1]Wouldn’t they be just the funkiest, most cheerful winter accessories?!  I’m excited already.

The cloudy blue Tosh DK is just as beautiful as the hyperactive Victory DK, but in a more grown-up, classy way.  I’m thinking the subtle color changes would work really well with cables.  Something with a lot of cables.   Maybe a hat.  Maybe this one:

Antler Hat by tincanknitsiain-5-1024x682_medium2[1]Unfortunately, my yarn is a smidge smaller than the yarn called for in the pattern, but I think if I go up a size, I should be able to knit up a lovely hat as I while away the miles.

What do you think?  How should I use my lovely new yarn?

Nooooo!!!!!!!

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I have terrible news.

Terrible, terrible, heartbreaking news.

You might want to sit down.

It’s about my lovely, purple cabled sweater, the one I’ve been working on for months.  It’s… *sob*… it’s… well…  I’ve… I’ve…

I’VE RUN OUT OF YARN!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI don’t know what I was thinking.  I’m easily 3 or 4 skeins short.  I’m not even halfway through the first sleeve, and I’m completely out of yarn.  UGH!

So much for planning.  Sigh.

I’m off to the Knit Picks website to order some more and hope the dye lots aren’t too far off.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Have you ever seriously miscalculated on one of your projects?  Ugh!

Yarn spotlight: Lindy Chain

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Aah, nothing like curling up on a cold Februrary morning with a big basket of chunky wool and a pair of needles, ready to make that oversized, insanely cozy sweater.

So, that’s why I’m currently thinking about fingering-weight linen, and light, gauzy garments.  What can I say, I’m fickle.

I want to introduce you to Lindy Chain!  (Fair warning, KnitPicks gave me a bunch of this yarn for free when I did some design work for them, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I swear I’m telling the truth!)

5420254[1]Lindy Chain is an interesting yarn, perfect for summery, drape-y things like tank tops and light sweaters.  I could even see making a sun dress or skirt out of it!

This yarn isn’t just spun, like a regular yarn, it’s actually a teeny tiny thread crocheted (or possibly knit) into  a chain, like this:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis open, loose structure give the fabric you knit with Lindy Chain a beautiful, summery drape.  It’s gorgeous!

Interestingly, though, when you wash and dry this fabric, it shrinks up like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  (And I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to hand-wash a tank top.  Sorry, but I’m not made that way.)  So, be sure to wash and dry your swatches if you plan on washing and drying your finished product.

So, there it is!  Lindy Chain!  (And later this week, I’ll have a free pattern for this pretty-cool yarn!)

Funfetti Yarn

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From time-to-time I like to stretch my fiber-arts legs and try out something other than knitting (heresy, I know!).  Sometimes, I roll out the ol’ spinning wheel and, well, take it for a spin.

This time, I impulse-purchased a big bag of bright white roving, and little tufts in a dozen bright rainbow colors.  I couldn’t tell you what kind of fiber I bought, because, well, it’s taken me more than four months to finish this skein, and any notes or labels I might have had when I purchased the wool are long gone.

I spun the roving into singles with alternating long white stripes and short-ish (about 3 feet long) sections of random color.   Then, last week, I finally plied the yarn into more than 250 yards of squishy 2-ply loveliness.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOK, it’s not perfect…  I did my best to keep the yarn an even aran-ish weight, but with the weeks-long breaks between bouts of spinning, and my less-than-stellar spinning skills, the yarn ended up with a bit of a thick-and-thin consistency.  And my first attempt at 2-ply yarn left it with less-than-perfect evenness.  Oh well!  It gives the yarn character, right? Right?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADespite it’s quirks, I’m happy with this yarn… now I just have to figure out what to make with it.  (Or maybe I should just keep it to look at.)

Have you ever tried spinning?  How did it turn out?

Yarn Spotlight: Island Fibers

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So last week, when I told you about Lopez Island, I kind of buried the lead.  Sure, there were seals, and beautiful scenery and all that.  But what about the yarn?

Lopez is home to flocks and flocks of lovely island sheep.

And where there are lovely island sheep, there is lovely island yarn.

Island Fibers, to be precise.

We stopped at a farmer’s market and I picked up a huge (I’m talking gigantic) skein of gorgeous hand-dyed single-ply wool in subtle shades of blue.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI spent a couple hours winding it into a ball this weekend (it’s that big).  So now, I’ve got a fantastic nearly-head-sized ball of yarn that’s itching to be used.

I’m thinking it might have to end up being a cropped cardigan to be worn over my favorite summer dresses.  (When you live in Seattle, you get used to wearing cute sun dresses with thick tights, rain boots and winter coats.  Otherwise, you never get to wear them.)

I made up a swatch, and it is just the prettiest!   Look at those colors!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd at 4-ish stitches to the inch, I bet the sweater will just fly off the needles!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen’s the last time you bought a skein of yarn on the spur of the moment?

Yarn Spotlight: Preciosa

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On my trip to California, I decided I needed a simple project.  One I could throw in my purse and work on in the car or at the beach.  Something that I didn’t have to worry about counting stitches, changing colors, grafting, or otherwise fiddling with.

So, Hitchhiker Scarf it is.

And, as luck would have it, a few days before we left on our trip, I received a surprise package in the mail from the lovely folks at KnitPicks (I love that this is part of my job now!).  And what was to tumble out, but a lovely, squishy skein of their newest yarn, Preciosa in Bonsai, a  glorious forest-green.

5420278Preciosa is a worsted-weight, single-ply merino yarn that is crazy soft and squishy.  It’s available in 16 semi-solid colorways.  It reminds me of Malibrigo or Manos del Uruguay, but not quite as dense.   It would be perfect for any close-to-the-skin accessories, and a cozy sweater in Preciosa would be absolutely amazing for deep winter in the Great White North.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy Hitchiker, which I knit on slightly larger needles (US 10s, although the yarn calls for US 7-9s), has fantastic drape and is delightfully soft.  It feels totally luxurious.   I just wish it were cold enough in Seattle to warrant wearing a scarf.  (First world problems, right?)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat would you use Preciosa for?

 

Yarn Spotlight: Hawthorne

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I feel a little bit like I’m turning into a shill for KnitPicks, but, well, I’m just in love with everything I’ve done with them for the last couple months.  (Sorry!  I promise this blog won’t become an annex for KnitPicks.)

A couple weeks ago, KP sent me, out of the blue, two of the most beautiful skeins of their new Hawthorne yarns:

Lovely, deep-chocolate-colored fingering weight in Fawn Kettle-dye, and gorgeous rainforest-colored sport weight in Mt. Tabor.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA(I failed at taking photos today- sometimes I’m good at getting colors right, but today was not one of those days.  The yarn is actually much more beautiful in real life than in any of these pictures-all subtle variation and intense shifting colors.  Not washed-out and kind-of blueish.)

I’ve got a friend who’s expecting a baby  in a couple months, so I thought, “Hey!  Perfect timing!  I’ll make a baby sweater.”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo I broke out my Opinionated Knitter, and whipped up my one millionth Baby Surprise Jacket on size 5 needles.  Here’s what I found out:

1.  The new sport-weight yarn is perfect for size 5 garter stitch, and makes a super cute BSJ.  It’s subtle colors and crazy-good stitch definition make a very sleek-looking BSJ.

2.  You need 2 skeins of Hawthorne Sport to actually complete the sweater.

3.  The Hawthorne Fingering, held double, is just a little thicker than the Hawthorne Sport.  The brown parts of the sweater ended up a little stiff.

4.  Babies really don’t care about stuff like gauge, so in the end, it doesn’t really matter.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe sweater, while not perfect, is super cute.   I always love how variegated/hand-painted yarn looks when used on super simple patterns, especially with garter stitch.

If I was to do this project again (which I’m sure I will, because… BSJ), I’d order two skeins of the Hawthorne Sport.

What would you make with Hawthorne?

 

(Also, don’t forget to sign up for the Spring Collection Giveaway!  My Dahlia Shawl would be really pretty in Hawthorne Fingering Weight Kettle Dye in Turkish Delight.  Just saying.)

Pattern Spotlight: Baktus

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I might have been late to the Hitchhiker party, but I’ve been a member of the Baktus fan club for years.

This super simple long, skinny, triangular shawl/scarf is one of my favorite patters for several reasons:

1.  Garter stitch.  Love.

2.  It’s crazy versatile.  I’ve made Baktuses (Bakti?) from everything from bulky yarn down to fingering weight yarn.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA3.  It looks great worked in those pretty hand-spun skeins you have in your stash that you can’t figure out what to do with (You know, the ones you couldn’t leave at the yarn store, but you have no idea what to use them for.)4357513044_2288fc815f_z[1]4.  The Baktus uses only as much yarn as you happen to have.  If you have three skeins of bulky, it’ll use that much.  If you have one skein of lace-weight, that’ll work, too.  (No weird little leftovers to fuss with!)  Actually, the pattern has you weigh your yarn at the beginning.  You begin the pattern by increasing, then when you have exactly half your yarn left, you decrease, for perfect results every time!

3592484405_e3fa9a5775_z[1]5.  The Baktus scarf is really and truly unisex, and super cool.  P1100072rav_medium2[1]6.  People have used the idea of the Baktus and came up with their own (gorgeous) versions.  Want lace?  Add cool geometric edging?  Or leaf edging?  Maybe you prefer crochet?

5717416916_2d555e0368_z[1]Baktus might be the perfect project.

Have you ever made a Baktus scarf?