Grace Lace Beret

I have been a negligent blogger for a long time now, and I wish I had a great explanation or a more graceful way of jumping back in. Wait, I have the Grace Lace Beret. I would link to the Ravelry page, but Blogger won't allow me to hyperlink, I can get the pop up box, but I can't highlight the text. If anyone knows how to fix that, I'd love to know~

Having an etsy shop has made me more interested in what a knitter can make for the summer months, and I thought a lacy hat out of a non-wool yarn would be just the thing. This hat is made out of Berocco Remix, which I love despite the somewhat high non-natural fiber content. 30%Nylon/27%Cotton/24%Acrylic/10%Silk/9%Linen and all recycled fiber, if you haven't tried it yet, you should.

I had to adjust the number of repeats to fit the gauge of the yarn and my head. I started with 48 stitches, which doubles to 96 on row 2. I really enjoyed this cast-on method, but I don't know what it is called. You start with a crochet chain provisional cast on, then K1 yo for the next row, then there are two rounds of double knitting I think, where you are slipping all the knits, then all the purls on the next row, then you start with regular K1P1 ribbing. Anyway, if someone knows what it is called I'd love to have the name for it.

I do love this hat, and I made two, so I may put one in the shop, so someone else with a big head (literally not figuratively) can have a properly slouchy hat.

A bit of catch-up

I have been knitting more than blogging lately, but I decided to try and catch up a bit. I started knitting socks again. I didn't for a long time because I have such weirdly shaped feet after all my surgeries that most women's sock patterns seemed unlikely to fit. Up to this point I had only knitted top-down socks. I have a Lucy Neatby book, Cool Socks Warm Feet, which helped me with directions for the short-row garter heel and I finally sat down with the youtube video, and learned Judy's Magic Cast-on, so now I think I am a convert to toe-up socks just so I have an excuse to keep using it. I had to increase right before the heel and also do the heel on more than half the stitches to accomodate my high instep on the right foot, but not the left. I did a leg pattern that is sort of a fisherman's rib adaptation. I am quite happy with these socks and went on to knit another pair soon thereafter. I took a class at our LYS about stranded knitting and made this Opus Spicatum by Kate Gagnon Osborne using Mirasol Miski, an incredibly soft yarn that is 100% llama. It is not very slouchy on my large head, but it went to my sister-in-law Carolyn for Christmas, and it looks great on her.

I learned to knit with both hands finally, and though it was awkward in the beginning, it was loads of fun once I got going and I made a second Opus that I'll talk about later.

I also made a Lotus Hat that Alexa loves out of Eco Alpaca, and she wears it often, so it has been one of my most rewarding knits this fall. I finally made something out of some Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande that used to be a hat that was too large for my head. I knit it from the top down in a broken rib pattern and liked the way it looked on the wrong side best. This one went to my nephew Christopher for Christmas.

And finally, one of the prettiest pictures of my yarn ever, taken by my friend Kate.

This is some nice stuff I got at Black Sheep from a lady whose business is New Hue Handspuns. It is an 80-20 mix of merino and angora. I got 344 yards of laceweight out of it, and I love it so much I priced it a little high in my etsy shop.

FO: Idlewood

I finished this pullover about a week and a half ago, but couldn't get someone to take photos until today. (Thank you Susan) The pattern is called Idlewood by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. It is knit from the top down raglan style. There are some waist decreases and hip increases to make it fit nicely. I had only to adjust the length to the hip increases (decreased by one inch) to make it fit perfectly. I think this is the first sweater I have made that I am entirely pleased with.

The yarn is Noro Vintage, which I think is being discontinued. If so, it's a pity, since it softened and bloomed upon washing into a gorgeous, soft, very wearable yarn. The angora sheds a bit, but gives it a lovely halo.

You can even wear the cowl as a hood when Oregon weather opens up with buckets of water on your head and you dressed for the weather an hour ago when it was sunny.

Great project, I have worn it three times already in about 1.5 weeks! Make one for yourself!

I have been knitting and spinning both

Although the number of blog entries would seem to contradict that premise. I bought some smaller amounts of more costly fiber at BSG this year. This is one of those, a roving from Dicentra Designs. Made of a beautifully dyed blend of 60%Merino 20%Cashmere and 20% Angora, it is very soft to the touch, and was a bit challenging to spin. I had the same issue with this one that I had with the merino and yak blend I tried to spin a while back. They tended to have long easy to spin bits, the merino, and then bits of short fuzzy fibers, the angora I assume. I am not sure which section the cashemere was..I'll have to look up staple length. This blend seemed to be a bit less problematic, possibly due to better blending of fibers, or maybe this is just an easier composition. I was able to spin it into a reasonable yarn, a bit more thick and thin than I intended, but still fairly nice. I got about 188 yds of 12-24 wpi yarn from 2 oz. I think it's effectively laceweight.

This blue one is from a lovely multi-hued roving I bought at OFFF in 2009. I don't know what it is for sure, but am pretty sure it is a good quality wool, since it is soft and smells wooly. I bought it from a lady who was selling her mother's stash after her death, and this wasn't labeled. I tried to make a very lightly spun single ply yarn, and am quite pleased with this result. It's about 6-10 wpi, and divided into two skeins. 175 yds:4 5/8oz and 128 yds:2 7/8oz or a total of 303 yards and 7.5 oz. According to the yarn approximation chart in my Spin to Knit book, that is in the bulky category and we can expect it to knit at 3-4 st/in on a size 10-11 needle.

Sorry for all the gory details for those of you who don't much care, but I am preparing to put some things in my etsy shop, and want to have accurate details recorded somewhere I can find later!

These are a pair of simple fingerless gloves made from a single skein of Elizabeth Lavold Silky Flamme. Michelle started carrying it in the shop a while ago, and it was so pretty and shiny I kept stopping to look, and when I picked up a skein of my current favorite color, and it was called Brandywine (or something like,) it had to come home with me. It is kind of thick and thin and there are only 82yds in a skein. I wanted to use all of it, so these were a good choice.

I also knitted a Kookhaas hat, but I have lost it somewhere, so until I locate it, there won't be photos.

Mini Mochi Hat

Apparently this pattern is actually called the Mini Mochi Rainbow Rings Hat, and it is a free pattern which uses one ball of Mini Mochi. There was a sample in Fiber Nooks and Crannys, and it fit my large head perfectly, so the pattern author is correct and helpful in the pattern notes where she mentions that you may need to alter it a bit if your head is not large. I really loved knitting this, the changing colors, the very soft single ply yarn and the variety of stitch patterns combined to hold my interest the whole way through, and I may knit a few more before Christmas!

I don't know how this yarn holds up for socks, which it seems to be intended for, as it has 20% nylon in it, but it is perfect for a hat, and the ball band says it is washable. Anyone have experience with it?

The slouch hat

I found an awesome hat pattern and just couldn't seem to stop. Due to the backwards way blogger uploads photos, I am showing you first the second hat I knit. This is from some hand spun yarn of mine from a batt I bought from WearMoa's Fiber shop I am very pleased with the blend of colors and the lovely, soft texture of the resulting yarn.

The first hat I made from this pattern turned out so well that I had to make another, and I had just the right amount of this yarn, and it knit up to exactly the right gauge, so it was meant to be.

The pattern is called Slouch Hat, and I like the way it is exactly what is says it is, a slouchy hat. the decreases are more rapid than in a beret and this creates a gathered top rather than a flat one, and helps it be more evenly puffed around the head.

The Eco Duo yarn by Cascade is wonderful, it is one of the softest things I have ever felt, and believe me, I spend a lot of time feeling yarn! This brown one is made exactly to pattern, with a little i-cord on top, and a little band with two buttons on the side. I omitted these two details in my other two.

This third on is made with Lion Brand Amazing, a lovely looking yarn, but almost half acrylic, and I can tell while knitting with it. It is lovely to wear, and looks quite nice, but it has none of wool's elasticity.

I have a lot of pictures of this hat in an effort to accurately portray the color, but I am not sure I was successful in the end.

Alexa has recently started a love affair with hats, and she wanted to wear one on Saturday, though it was far too warm in the house to be wearing an alpaca hat, she wore it for over two hours before pulling it off.

She likes to be a part of any photo session, and I should definitely let her, she is far more photogenic than I am!

Drums of Autumn Sporran

I have participated again in a swap with the Outlander group on Ravelry, and received my swap package last week. It is so awesome that someone I only know via Ravelry and shared interest in a series of books can put together such an awesome package for me! She wrapped it all up in individual packages. The pattern is called Lilas and is a very nice short-sleeved sweater. I got an awesome bag. Nice and big with long handles for wearing over the shoulder for my farmer's market forays.

A beautiful little shawlette that she made with a shawl stick/pin to hold it on. It is beautiful and soft and I love that someone else knit something for me!

The rest of the goodies include some lovely pink alpaca lace yarn, which I love. It is so soft and the heathered color is gorgeous. A book called "A Midwife's Tale" based on the diary of an 18th-early 19th century midwife! A lovely little wooden needle gauge with a cat on it. Some chocolate, which is mostly gone at this point, and some "simples from Jenny" (teas).

A huge thank you to my spoiler stickpixie aka Aislin Mac! I love everything, you have been so kind to put it together for me!