Category Archives: yarn

Such a bother

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I cut the tip of my index finger on my right hand last week and I can’t seem to get anything done…well, stuff that I want to do.

It’s not a deep cut or a long cut just the sort that gets in the way because it needs covered.  

I’m an English style knitter where the yarn is held in my right hand as opposed to a continental style where the yarn is held in the left hand.  I “can” knit continental but it’s not that intuitive for me.  Or fun.  Plus I have one more fingerless mitt to finish and my gauge would definitely be off if I changed styles now.  And bandages just get in the way.  So no knitting for me.

But I could dye some yarn…

Knitted gifts

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You remember the 1898 knitted cap I made for Mr. Aitch with overdyed yarn?  Well, it needed some fingerless gloves for company.

I didn’t have enough yarn leftover and I knew I’d never get the same color to match.  That’s why it’s important to get enough of the same dye lot when knitting (or crocheting) any yarny project.  So I overdyed another skein of yarn but starting out with a totally different color.

Using the same brand of yarn and the same food dye colors, I wanted to get something that would coordinate with the original overdye.

I added some leftover Rit dye, a mixture of blue and black, from another project.  The blue and green food coloring just wasn’t covering that bright coral color.

Close enough for a contrast but still in the same family.

Original overdye

The new overdye

The fingerless glove pattern is the Don’t skid, honey! by Justyna Lorkowska.  The zigzags reminded me of smoke and Mr. Aitch needed a new pair to keep his hands warm when he smokes a cigar (in the garage in the winter). 

You can see the two colors on the palm.

Both together.

We’ve had some bitter cold temperature here lately and Mr. Aitch has worn the gloves inside to keep his hands warm while at the computer.

 

 

BFF knitted cap

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5

I loved knitting the 1898 cap so I knit another one in shades of grey.  Just because.

My BFF read about the cap and I offered to knit one for her if I could use yarn from my ever-expanding stash.

She is so not a grey person and picked the blue variegated one (second from the right).

As so another quick knit was born in three days.

The yarn is Cascade 220 Paints and I love the color BUT it pools terribly for this needle size and stitch count.  Pooling means that the colors  group together in pools rather than float nicely around the item.  Sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes not.  I wanted the colors play together and not be antisocial and cling together.

The headband is knit first and I really liked the way the colors spread but then when I began the crown part, I was not too happy with the way they didn’t as you can see below.  If that would have happened on the front instead of the back, it would have been fine.

I ripped the crown apart and tried to knit with both ends to get rid of the pooling but I was not successful.  I had a similar solid light blue in my stash so I randomly knit a row here and there to break it up.

Colorful?

Yes!  Win-win!

1898 finished

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Another finished project – the 1898 cap is off the needles and ready for gifting.

As you may recall I overdyed some purple yarn with food coloring and vinegar because the color was too bright and I could change it.

Loving these colors!

I used a bright green one the back part of the headband so the recipient could tell the front from the back.  The back is smaller than the front by design but it’s just easier to tell the difference with a bright, visual clue.

Mr. Aitch (reluctantly) modeled for me.  He will find this under the Christmas tree next month.

The doubled headband was easy to knit and will really keep the ears warm.

Now should I add a pompom to the top?