Category Archives: yarn

Light ash, grey and medium

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We have had such a mild winter so far and the temperature got up to 72 F yesterday so I decided to shoot some pictures outdoors.016-front-001

The knitting is finally finished on the Lopi purse and am waiting (impatiently) for the hardware before beginning the felting process.017-front-002

Other than that bit of inspiration for the zigzags which came from the Don’t Skid, Honey fingerless gloves from last year, I made up the pattern as I went.  My hope is that the raised texture is still raised after felting.  If not, it can always be added later.019-back-001

I like the sturdiness of the i-cord bind off. It’s the same as the other felted bags I’ve made.

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Those tabs still on the needles will be sewn over the hardware before felting. Same with the strap ends. The strap will also be lined to help with the scratchiness of the wool on my shoulder as well as to keep it from stretching out of shape.018-handle-holder-001

Maybe the hardware will arrive today and this can become a Finished Object.

I cheated

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Yes, I must confess that I cheated on my yarn diet.

I wanted to make a new felted purse and use up some gifted yarn at the same time.

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I even swatched!

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5 inches by 5 inches on the left.  4 inches by 4 inches on the right after hand felting.

Only I don’t have enough yarn to complete the project.  I’m making up the pattern as I go and I thought I just might have enough yarn when I began.

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Two balls of yarn knit and one to go.  It’s not going to be large enough for my liking.

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The back is plain.

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007-bottom-001The bottom is 5 x 15 inches.

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The bag is 7 inches tall…so far.  the purse/bag will shrink at least 20% according to my swatch.  The swatch was felted by hand and I will probably do this in my washing machine so it will shrink faster.  Not as much control but results in a denser fabric.  And did I mention that it’s faster?

Well, I found that Lopi yarn is still made just not distributed by Reynold’s. No guarantees that the color (light ash heather 0054) would match exactly as they would be different dye lots.  So I bought two balls each of ash heather (color 0056), heather grey (0057), and dark grey heather (0058).

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My plan is to gradually start working in the next darker ball of yarn then add each color going from light to dark.  I will keep the zigzag in the lightest color for contrast and continuity.

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My other option is to rip it all apart and begin over with the darkest color on the bottom and transition to the lightest color at the top.

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Which would look better?  Go from light at the bottom to dark at the top?  Or have the dark on the bottom and to light at the top?

Or am I over thinking this project and just go with what I’ve done?

Ungifted knits 2016

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Secret knits that haven’t been gifted yet include this beautiful. delicious, wonderful pair of mitts, a child-sized pair of mitts, a hat, and two ear warmers/headbands.

Don’t Skid, Honey mitts were so fun to knit.  Malabrigo Rios in the yummy Playa color is so soft and easy to work with.  The color is closer to the photos of the finished mitts…blues, greys, and some gold. I love it.

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These mitts have not been gifted as I’m not sure where they are going.  I broke one of the knitting rules: Knit something they want and will use.  I obviously had these mitts in mind for a certain person when I purposely bought the yarn and started to knit.  Mr. Aitch kept asking if the person requested these mitts and I kept making excuses about why I thought they would like them.

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So when the mitts were finished and blocked, I asked a person close to the giftee whether or not the receiver would want and/or use them.  The answer: “The mitts are beautiful but probably not.”  I’m OK with that and realize I should have listened to Mr. Aitch.

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I’ll just hang on to them for a while.

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Henry’s Hat is finished!  I had to reknit most of it but it turned out so nice.

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The already gifted mittens coordinate.

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The mitts and two Hot Mess ear warmers/headbands will soon be on their way.  Only one ear warmers/headband is finished as that project took a backseat to the other knits.

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The mitts are for my grandson using the same beginning as the felted mittens.  Both yarns are machine washable.  Lime green is Cleckheaton Country 8 ply yarn, 100% washable wool and the dark green is the same as the mittens, Lionbrand Wool-eze.

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The ear warmers/headbands are the same Red Heart I used for the mitts.  They have to be different so I’m not sure what I will do for the second one.  Maybe two-toned?

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Gifted Knit 2016 Part 2

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Still catching up on 2016 knits…

The other gifted knit was a pair of felted mittens for one of my grandson using a generic mitten pattern that I tweaked, made larger and then felted.

The wrist ribbing was knit with Lions Brand Wool-eze in a dark green that won’t felt and the hand part of the mitten was Cascade 220 in Primavera that did felt.

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Before felting, I drew around on of the mittens so I could see the difference.

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I felted the mittens by hand so they aren’t as “solid” and machine felted ones but I think they will do the job of keeping his hands relatively dry and warm.

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I filled two bowls with water, one cold and the other one HOT.

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The mittens soaked in the cold water for several minutes.

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Then dipped and swished in the hot water.

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Cold water…

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“scrubbing” the mittens to felt the yarn…

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…then back into the hot water.

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Add hot water periodically to keep the temperature contrast.  I had to wear rubber gloves to protect my hands from the heat.

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and repeat again, and again, and again until the item is felted to your liking.

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They didn’t felt as small as I thought but then again, I did this by hand.  Machine felting would have definitely been better but this was a small project and I wanted to have more control over the process.

The process took about 20 minutes of switching between the two bowls and rubbing the mittens together to get them to felt.

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They are a bit big but he can grow into them.

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If any one is interested in the pattern (I made up as I went along), just leave a comment below.