A girl, some wool, a plan

karrie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:57:51 +0000

You know the fiddlehead mittens I mentioned in this earlier post? I really want to make a pair. Adrian (of Hello Yarn) made quite a splash by selling mitten kits – a pattern and a set of beautifully colored hand dyed yarns in a luscious 70% merino 30% mohair blend. The first day she sold them in her shop, all of the shoppers trying to load the page crashed her website. Needless to say, I don’t have the time to stalk the site to score a set, so I gave up hope pretty quickly. Then I became really frustrated that I couldn’t find a suitable colorful sport weight mohair/wool substitute. I decided I could dye my own yarn, but didn’t even really commit to finding a appropriate white base yarn to dye. I jumped ahead and bought some Welsh wool roving to dye and spin.

I am kinda on a scratchy wool kick right now. Is this something that typically happens in your evolution as a spinner? I mean I know there is that early stage where you spin big fat thick and thin, wishing you spin a fine yarn. Then you can spin a VERY fine yarn and yearn for the thick and thin days, and then you have to actually teach yourself what you are doing…. And stuggle back to thick yarn. Seems like with the fibers for a long time I was on a quest for something ever softer and finer, and more challenging to spin. The yak and silk and camel satiated that desire, and now I just want to try all manner of scratchy crazy wools.

The Welsh roving has big fat hairs that pop up every once in a while (not unlike the California red). It is kind of a challenge to not let it all fall out when I am spinning it. It is pretty suited to worsted spinning (shoving the fiber at the wheel), but I am a long draw addict and was determined to make it work. So we are getting along. While I am spinning test yarns to decide if I can get away with a single ply yarn for the mitten project, I started on the dyeing.

I did between 2 and 3 ounces of each color (the brown is natural), and I hope it is enough…. Now I am really excited.

Mittens are the new socks

karrie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:00:07 +0000

Mark my words, mittens are going to be huge soon. As a knitting project, they have all of the versatility and satisfying features as socks. Colorwork, textures, a variety of increase and decrease methods, thumb shaping (analogous to heel of toe shaping)…. And you can use them to try to make a dent in your sock yarn stash.

Patterns I have been eyeing (Most links are Ravelry links – sorry. The waiting list is only 2 days long – hurry up and join):

– Anything from the Selbuvotter book ($24.95)

For example, NHM #9:

Or NHM #10:

Order this directly from the author like I did. It arrives quickly!

–Okka By from Randi K. Design ($7)

Her chart for a tiny little knitting village in Norway captures an amazing amount of detail. I am also impressed with the little crab that pops up on the other side…

All of her designs are amazing, so be sure to check out her etsy shop.

– Baske by Nicole Hindes ($6)
Simple enough for a beginner, but truly gorgeous! I love the yellow color that she chose.

– Hello Yarn’s amazing fiddlehead mittens. ($5.95)

I saved this for last cause I have big plans for this one. Adrian makes kits of hand-dyed yarn to go with the knitting pattern. As far as I can tell, it would be impossible for me to ever score one of those rare gems. I love her suggestion of using something for the outside that is durable and has a little mohair in it… So I am challenging myself to dye and spin all of the yarn that I will need for this project. Truly ambitious, I know, but I give myself until this winter to get it done. Wish me luck!

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A girl, some wool, a plan

Mittens are the new socks