70's Style Norwegian Ski Hat

I am excited to report that I have my first custom order for a knitted hat! A very considerate woman has commissioned a ski hat for her boyfriend, who has apparently been drooling over his friend's vintage model: For legal purposes, I removed the person from the photo, but ladies and gents, you should know... he was really cute ;)

The parameters that I am working within are such:
1. Weather-proof!
2. Red with white patterning.
3. Turn-uppable brim.
4. Red, white, and blue pom-pom.

I didn't have any red or white bartlettyarns fisherman's 2-ply in stock and that is by far the most weatherproof of the yarns I use, so I put it on order. In the meantime, I am working on a prototype in Blue Loch and Oatmeal. I'm really pleased with it and even Dave is looking at it with interest. It certainly doesn't hurt that Blue Loch is the least boring navy blue ever - it is a vibrant heather with teal and bright red strands of wool carded into it.

Here are some progress shots:

Laid flat with the "jog" showing - it's pretty unobtrusive.

Here you can see the interior lined in an identical fabric. For me, I'd prefer reverse coloring, but the red hat didn't use it as far as I can tell.

Here is the liner pulled out - I'm not making it fully reversible. There's really no point considering the pom-pom and the fact that both sides look the same.

And finally, as it fits my pin-headed mannequin (18.5" circumference). I think it may fit her a tad too well, actually. For the red hat, I will probably have to cast on more stitches. This hat has 90 stitches cast on. Considering my method of finishing these hats (washing them and throwing them in the dryer)... I think I should cast on at least 102 stitches for the real thing. Maybe even 108. That double layer color stranding is really, really thick and it's only going to get thicker after washing. I could also consider not color stranding the entire interior. The double layer does make it weatherproof, by golly! One could live outdoors in this hat and never feel cold. It's like a furnace on your head. (BTW I read recently that the wool-water combo is exothermic! So as the snow melts on your hat, it warms up! I think I got that out of In Sheep's Clothing.)

I'm a little bummed that I may not be able to complete this hat because I'm running short on the blue yarn. I need to save a little out to make the pom-pom on the real hat so I might not have enough to make the crown on this one. That wouldn't be as big a deal if it were not on backorder at bartlettyarns!

Some amazing etsy finds

Here are some things that I just LOVE:

I love this gorgeous lampwork bead, by Lutrick, listing #32053974. It's only $15 and it might just become mine! The more I think about it, the more I want it. Actually, I'm off to buy it now. You might want to check out her shop and see some of her other offerings!




This limited edition high-quality print "Twelve Women with Birds" by Emily Balivet is only $215. If I were not out of work and faced with the proposition of moving soon, I would own this already. Her paintings are just gorgeous. I like even better her painting "Screaming Banshees." I find her work very moving.

It seems to me that so much attention on Etsy is paid to kitzch and cute and not enough of the spotlight is shining on things of lasting beauty. I thought I'd share a few of my finds!

First Fleece

Here's a before picture - my first fleece from a retiring Romney ewe named Poppy. I wish i could post a smell! It's STRONGLY sheepy and my dog just can't resist taking a bite out of it and dragging it out into the yard!

I have a lot of work to do before this fleece turns into yarn. It seems (from my reading) that the fleece wasn't properly skirted; there are a lot of weathered ends and there is a ton of vegetable material matted into these ends. There are also dead flies and japanese beetles - no kidding! I probably shouldn't be surprised, because this fleece has been stored. I'm sure it's not only dogs that are attracted to that smell.

Despite the dirt, I'm very excited about this fleece. Before purchasing it, I washed a sample lock and hand-twisted it into a two-ply yarn and discovered it is absolutely lovely. The wool is a salt-and-pepper (mostly salt) that comes off as the most wonderful, lustrous silver you can imagine. It's the color I hope my hair will be once it turns gray! It is also smooth and reasonably soft, although that is hard to judge properly with just six inches of a yarn sample.

I washed several ounces of the worst of it last night. It's now lying on a table in the garage to dry. I'm going to have to cut a lot of yellowed ends off because I don't want to spoil the delicious color. Then there will be hours of carding prior to spinning. Maybe I'll invest in a drum carder yet!

edited to change "laying" to "lying." Yikes!

Fiber Dyeing & Spinning

Mohair locks dyed in a rainbow of colors. This started out as a mess of dirty fiber; the wash water was chunky and opaque! But look how pretty it is now. Very satisfying.

Cormo, immersion-dyed red and blue, to be spun into a vibrant purple yarn (possibly with flecks of mohair?)

Natural "black" blue-faced leicester (BFL) 2 ply thick and thin. It has a lovely softness and looks especially good in garter stitch. I have several skeins of this, but haven't listed them for sale yet because I don't know the yardage. Right now the only way I have to measure it is by reskeining it on my niddy noddy, counting the wraps, and doing some math! And that still leaves me with insecurity - what if I counted wrong? I'm in terror of disappointing a customer. But yarn meters are $50 and I just can't bring myself to buy one right now, ESPECIALLY considering that they have a disclaimer that says they don't always measure thick and thin yarns accurately.
Here's a lively, bulky 3 ply tweed spun from two plies of a hand-carded course, natural grey wool with bits of rainbow-dyed merino and a third ply of undyed, handcarded kid mohair. I think this yarn would knit up into a really neat hat. zeebie comes to mind as a good pattern for this. (It's free, too!)

A comment on hand-carding: I thought this would be incredibly tedious and avoided it for some time, but it's actually extremely relaxing. I do this while watching TV. It's even more brainless than garter stitch! It does add significantly to the preparation time for a yarn, but the control over color distribution is very satisfying.

Wool Soaker

Here's a new use for small amounts of handspun yarn: wool soakers! For those of you who don't know what those are, soakers are diaper covers for people who use cloth diapers. They guard against leakage while allowing baby's bottom to breathe and look cute at the same time! (Back when my sisters and I wore cloth diapers, the going method was to cover the diaper with plastic undies. You might not believe me, but I think I can actually remember the binding feeling and the crunchy, humid effect. Not nice.)

Anyway, I was cleaning out the knitting closet and came upon a prototype for these. It sold in less than a day on Etsy. Am I on to something here? Is there a demand for these that is not being met?

Edited 11/13/09 to add: This one sold fast too! Odd! Are there a lot of baby butts in need of cover out there or what?

BFF Scarf complete! Vertical Stripes

... well, all except the weaving in of ends and blocking, but that didn't stop me from taking a picture! I expect it will roll a little less after blocking. It's more than a foot wide and two yards long.

I'm enthralled with the possibilities of slip stitch color patterns and CAN'T WAIT until Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury arrives. It should be today or tomorrow! BTW here's a useful site that allows you to preview stitch patterns from the treasuries http://thewalkertreasury.wordpress.com/. That's how I knew that it was the 2nd treasury that I needed. At $30 a pop, I can't afford to buy all four at once, even if they are worth every penny. (And they are. I have dogeared the 1st treasury a lot!)

Vertical Stripes Scarf

This one is so simple it's hardly a design at all. It's a slip stitch vertical stripe pattern using Berroco Lustra in burgundy and Noro Silk Garden 211. I am using size 10 needles and stranding the yarn behind the slipped stitches very loosely. The result is a light, fluffy, warm scarf with excellent drape. I couldn't be more pleased!

I really like the effect of self striping and variegated yarns when controlled by pairing with a solid yarn of similar weight and texture. (Berroco Lustra is also a singles yarn and it's 50% wool 50% tencel looks and feels a lot like it has silk content. Using this yarn also brings the cost of the project down significantly.)
Here is another example of this effect, using Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted as the solid yarn is this mitten set. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mitered Mittens, from Knitting Around.