Knitting Karma

Only a mere two blogposts ago, I tempted the knitting gods by saying how much I had learned from the Yarn Harlot about being aware of your progress and not in denial about needing to frog a less than perfect project before finishing it... WELL.................as you have probably guessed, the knitting gods bit me in the butt. Here is the comparison between my first foliage hat on the right, and my second on the left, which was off to such a good start!

My error was to put one too many pattern repeats into the crown section of the hat which added about 4 inches to the diameter and 2 inches to the height. Major OOOOOPS. Otherwise, it would be perfect.

I claim duress and distraction since I knit the rest of the second hat while in the surgical waiting room and tending to hubby after some needed fixing over the past weekend.. Did I try it on after finishing the knitting....YES. Did I frog it then....NO. Did I wash it in hot water, shock it in cold, and, oh my, even try to shrink it in a hot dryer....YEA. But other than a lovely fulling, it is still huge on my head. Did I trash it...NO. My next step is to get out the crochet hook and turn said Foliage Hat into a Foliage Beret. How about that.....making lemonade out of lemons.

I will never tempt the knitting gods again. I will be humble. I will listen to my own words and mind. Until next time, anyway.

Finished one and Restarted Another

What ended up being knit with the Bright Hibiscus homespun discussed in an earlier post, turned out to be a foliage hat. I should have enough yarn for 3 of these hats, using the bulky weight directions.

I am "training" for the Tour de Fleece which starts on July 4 to coincide with the Tour de France bike race. I have spun up two bobbins of the fiber I will be spinning for the sweater. I am going for medium worsted weight yarn and I am striving for consistancy.

I frogged the Berry Season Socks from the book 2-at-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes because the fabric was just too dense, and it almost felt woven. I began them again, this time using the top as designed in the pattern with Size 2 needles. So much better and more stretchy. The way the yarn shines in the stockinette section of the cuff makes me wonder if I should reconsider again and make a plain sock to show off the fiber. Hmmmmm.

I recall a blogpost by the Yarn Harlot where she knew all along that the socks were coming out too big and she knitted away in denial till the end...when they were indeed too big. It is one of the best lessons she has taught me over the years: Frogging in the early stages of a project is a whole lot less painful than once it is completed.

Today's nature shot:

How nice of him to stay put and pose for me!

Spinning WIP's

I think it is time to show some of the spindle spinning that I have been doing. What has been taking a lot of my spare time are these two fibers that I bought at the Sheep and Wool festival at Rhinebeck last month.

Here is the Briar Rose fiber which is BFL in lovely shades of green. The purple which is visible in the roving just blends to dull the brightness in some areas and the final result which I am planning to do a regular 3 ply should be nicely variegated in brightness, but not necessarily in different colors. I have been trying to spin a little thicker so the 3-ply is about worsted or heavier weight to use for hats, cowls, or even a vest since I have so much of it (17 oz total).

This is the pretty rose/copper fiber from Creatively Dyed in wool/seacell. It is so soft, but the frustration is that the seacell prevents me from spit-joining when the single breaks during spinning. I think that the wool portion is superwash, which doesn't felt either. The colors are so pretty individually that I decided to Navajo ply the singles instead of regular plying three singles together. It kept the colors more distinct in the final yarn.

After skeining, washing and winding into a ball on my ball winder, I began knitting a neckwarmer that I found on Peaceful Knitter's website. I am using size 8 needles, but the yarn is heavier than regular worsted weight, so I am going to frog it to get closer to her gauge. I will use size 7 needles and reduce the cast on by 2 pattern repeats to see how that does. What I knit, before frogging, is next to the skin soft, so it will be a nice use for this yarn.