Hats and mittens

The Whitman Cap that I talked about in a previous post has been finished:

I love the snowflake design and the knitted on I-cord edging was fun to do once I got the hang of it.  It's a little big for my head and the ear flaps come down below my chin, which is not where I expected them!  However, I love the fact that the back of the hat comes down so low on the back of my neck.  While mulling over the fitting issues, I wondered if another hat underneath it would be a good idea and, low and behold, it turns out that the hat I made with that wonderful Handmaiden yarn is perfect underneath it.  Made me smile.  Putting the pink-ish Handmaiden hat with the indigo blues of the Whitman Cap looks a little funky, but I think they are going to keep me very warm, which is my primary goal. 

In keeping with the spirit of being warm, I embarked on an attempt at what I call "fleece stuffed mittens".  Other people seem to commonly call them "thrummed mittens" but, as a weaver, in my mind thrums are the ends of your weaving web, not bits of fleece, so I don't like that term.  This is another "make it up as you go along" pattern.  This essentially means that I will end up with a mis-matched pair for my first attempt because I am making pattern changes now that I've knitted the first one.   Which isn't to say that the first one isn't wear-able, the pattern just needs a little tweaking to make it more comfortable for me.  Here are some shots of the first mitten in progress:

As I'm sure you can imagine from seeing the photos, they are VERY thick mittens!  The thumb gets "stuffed" or "thrummed" just like the body.  Eventually, with wear and use, the fleece inside should mat/felt and make them warm sturdy for working outdoors in winter.  I'm actually knitting these as a prototype to develop the pattern so I can knit a pair for someone who asked me for mittens a while ago.  Her hands get painfully cold in winter like mine do, and when she was talking to me about it I immediately thought of this kind of mitten for her, it's just taken me a while to finally have the time to get the prototype made.  Once I get the second mitten to my mis-matched pair done, I'll start on hers.  Unfortunately, she'll get them just in time for spring!  She will, however have them for next winter.  I guess we just do the best we can. 

oops!

I don't know what I was thinking when I read the patterns from Plimouth Plantation, but in re-reading them with the repro yarn sitting right next to me I have realized that they ARE, indeed, written for that yarn, they're just knitted with smaller needles than the yarn sleeve calls for.  Doh!  Sorry for the error, folks.  I'll try to be more careful in the future.

Projects, disappointments, and anticipation

That wonderful HandMaiden yarn that I started the last post with seems like a distant memory today.  I did get the hat finished and have discovered, much to my dismay, that it doesn't like to stay on my head!  It slips up and off every time I wear it.  I am hoping that, with time, it will stretch enough to stay on because it's such a wonderful yarn and I want to wear it.

The next project was a little shawlette that I sort of made up as I went along.  Another UFO (unfinished object) from some time ago, this is made of a wool/kid mohair blend boucle:

I don't usually knit with boucle because I always seem to get my working needle hung up in the loopies of the boucle and it drives me nuts.  However, this has turned out to be a very comfy little keep-your-neck-warm-thingy and I love it!    I knit the 3rd to last row as a knit 1, yarn over which effectively doubled the stitch count and created a ruffly effect at that edge.  I think, if I ever knit this again, I will knit it as a knit 2 together, yarn over and keep it a flat edge.  Overall, though, not a bad attempt.

I indulged myself and ordered yarn for two of the projects I mentioned in the last post:  the Whitman Cap and the Bandanna Cowl.  The Booklyn Tweed Shelter yarn arrived first so the Whitman Cap is first on the needles.  What a lovely yarn!  Soft, easy to work with, good stitch definition.  So far I only have the ear flaps done:

I'll post more pics as it progresses.  So excited to be working on this ~ can't wait till it's done.

I also ordered the Plimouth Plantation yarn spun by Harrisville in the reproduction 17th century colors.  Two skeins of each color, plus the knitting patterns I mentioned when I blogged about them: (http://contemporarytextiletraditions.blogspot.com/2011/11/nerdy-history-geek-yarn-love.html).  Much to my disappointment, I discovered that the patterns call for a yarn that is of a different weight.  Sigh.  I wish they'd said on the website what weight yarn the patterns were written for.  At least then I would have been prepared to do the math.  Not a disaster, I just have to do some converting to figure out needle sizes and whether the repro colored yarn will actually work for the repro patterns.  Too busy with the garden planning to bother with it right now, so it will probably be a while before you see that.  Sorry.

Finally, a year when I got everything done  for Christmas and didn't have to knit right down to the wire!  Final tally:  4 scarves, 1 pair of socks, 2 hats.  Doesn't seem like much to see it listed.  I don't know as I have ever knitted a scarf before this (I usually weave them), and was very surprised that they took so long.  I guess I shouldn't have been, if I'd thought about it much before deciding to make them I would have realized that all that length takes time!  We all survived, though, and everyone got their Christmas gifts, so I am chalking it up to lessons learned.  This year, I may just make everyone hats!

So, what's active on the needles now?  I am finishing a re-do of a hat that I started at least two years ago.  Got it done except for the cast off and discovered it was way too small.  Or, maybe, short is a better word.  It didn't come down far enough on my head.  So I painstakingly raveled the whole thing to start over and have just been putting it off.  The yarn is a wonderful hand dyed 4 ply cashmere from HandMaiden yarns and the pattern came with the yarn.  I got it from my friend Melissa at PeaceWeavers. It is the most wonderful, soft, yarn I have ever worked with and I am really looking forward to having this hat to keep me warm for the rest of this winter.  I opted to just knit it straightforward, instead of using two balls to mix the colors, and have ended up with what looks to be a pleasingly striped hat:

Not quite finished, but probably will be today.

I also knit two hats this month as a birthday gift:

The one on the right is from some Harrisville yarn the recipient picked out about a year ago.  The pattern is the basic hat pattern from Ann Budd's, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.  I love that book and use it often.  The one on the left is handspun pencil roving (also acquired from my friend Melissa a long time ago).  The pattern is one I came up with by combining bits of several patterns for reproduction 18th century caps found online.  I'm quite pleased with the way it came out and think I will (eventually) knit one just like it for myself.  I think I have just enough of the same roving left but it will take me a while to spin it up as I am working on spinning some lovely indigo dyed blue roving I bought at the Franklin County Fiber Fest last fall from Woolies of Shirkshire Farm in Conway, MA.  I'll post pics of that when I get it spun.  However, it might also be the perfect project for some of that lovely historic colorways yarn from Plimouth Plantation that I was drooling over a couple of posts ago...  we'll see.  I'll have to get some of the yarn first and see what it's like. 

Next up, or other projects I really want to make (in no particular order):

The Whitman Cap pattern by Kristen TenDyke in Interweave Knits Accessories 2011.  It's a guy's hat, but I love it and think it will be just perfect for me.  Here's a picture of it from the magazine:

It's knit in Brooklyn Tweed, which is a yarn I've never used.  New pattern, new yarn.  What's not to love? 

The next is the Bandana Cowl from www.purlbee.com:

 I hate it when my neck is cold in the winter, and I love this pattern.  It's made with Swan's Island Bulky yarn (https://www.swansislandblankets.com/catalog/yarn), which is another yarn I have never used.  I love the company ethic and that the colors are dyed with natural dyes.  Can't wait to make this.

I also have stumbled over a pattern for a pair of knee socks by Classic Elite called Twin Peaks:

They look like awesome socks for winter.  As much as I love to knit socks, I've never done any knee high ones and I think this would be a great first pair.  From what I can see on Ravelry, they aren't too difficult and knit up quickly, both good things in my world right now. 

Lastly, for now anyway, is a pair of basic mittens from Ann Budd's book, but with a twist.  I plan to get some pencil roving from New England Felting Supply ( http://feltingsupply.com/) and use it like you would in stranded knitting to knit every third stitch or so to make thick, warm mittens that will eventually felt on the inside.  I've got to do some more planning and research on that so that they come out right.  The prototype will be for me and, once I get them right, I'll make another pair for someone who's been wishing for mittens from me for over a year now. 

That should keep me busy for a while.  Plus, I've got to get started on this coming Christmas' knit gifts, school is starting back up, time to get the garden planning going, and I should be moving within the next couple of months.  Yeah, definitely enough to keep me busy!

Christmas countdown.....

Fourteen days and counting.  Time's running out but this year I won't be finishing things right down to the wire.  At least I don't think so.   So far I've made one pair of socks, 3 1/2 scarves (one's not finished yet), and 3/4 of a hat (not finished, either).  I may try to push the window and get another hat done before 12/25 but I'll have to see how the rest of the things go.  I still have papers and final exams to finish for school, so time will be eaten up by that.  In fact, I should be studying now for an exam tomorrow.... ooops!  Yeah, well, whatever.  Sigh.

Since the things I'm knitting are Christmas presents I won't be posting pictures.  And I won't be talking about them.  So much for this blog post, right?!  Well, it turns out I *can* talk about one of the hats because it is for someone that I am absolutely certain will not be reading this.  It's a lovely yellow hat, made with yarn from The Kangaroo Dyer ( http://www.kangaroodyer.com/) who, (lucky me!) is also local.  She calls the color Papaya, which you can find here:  http://www.kangaroodyer.com/our_products/yarns/all.html.  I think it looks like daffodils in the sunlight, which is why I bought it.  The person I am making the hat for loves daffodils and when I saw this yarn at Metaphor Yarns in Shelburne (http://metaphoryarns.com/) that's all I could think of - lots of yellow daffodils.  In fact, I actually walked out of the store without it and, before I could get in the car and actually leave, I had to go back inside and get it ~ that's how much of an impact it had on me!  That was last May and I have been anticipating working it up into this hat ever since then.  It has not disappointed me, either ~ it's a lovely yarn to work with.  Nice, defined stitches, and it knits up into a fabric that will be soft and comfortable to wear.  It does have a little sparkle in it ~ just enough but not too much ~ but the sparkly stuff doesn't make it at all scratchy (which some can).

Here's the hat in progress:

and here it is with the brim turned up:

You can see the subtle color changes in the yarn but the sparkly bits (which are also subtle) don't show up in the photo - too bad!  I can't wait until it's done - only a couple more inches to go!  Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm going to try it on myself and, if I like it, will probably be making myself one in a different color!  I don't usually go for sparkly yarns - most of the ones I've seen are just too much for me - but this one is just subtle and tasteful enough that I'd love to have one for me, too.  I'll let you know if I do.

Nerdy, history geek yarn love....

I was digging around the internet yesterday and, for a couple of different reasons, ended up on the website for Plimouth Plantation: 
http://www.plimoth.org/.

After looking around the website, being me, I had to check out the on-line shopping to see what they had available.  Imagine my surprise (not to mention my excitement!) when I found this:

"Details

Plimoth Plantation is pleased to introduce our exclusive line of 100% wool yarn. “New Plimoth Worsted” is spun in the National Historic Landmark village of Harrisville, New Hampshire by Harrisville Designs. The color palette is designed by Plimoth Plantation matching colors produced using natural dyestuffs of the 17thc. Period colors names such as gray “Rat’s Colour” and yellow “Maidenhair” describe each shade. packaged in 2 oz, 100 yd skeins."

Ok, I am a true history geek because I nearly squealed out loud over this.  Yes, I know I can get similar colors with natural dyestuffs in my own backyard, but this is from Plimouth Plantation!  In historic colors!  Spun by Harrisville!  Omgomgomgomg!!!  I have GOT to have some of this.  It may have to wait until after Christmas, but I still MUST have this yarn.  Along with the historical patterns they have for sale on the same site:
I can probably live without the sock pattern but would really love to have the cap and stocking patterns.  I hope they work with the new yarns.... maybe I'll make the stockings in Goose Turd green ~ lol!