Category Archives: yarn

Looking ahead

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Eventually Spring will come.  And with gas prices going up every day, it will be cheaper for me to ride my motorcycle to work.

But it’s just too cold for that right now.  I mentioned before that I wanted to make a neck wrap.  It has to be something warm but thin enough to wear with my helmet and leather jacket.  I did not want anything that had to go over my head.  Sometimes when I get my gear on, I forget my neck until I’m ready to ride.

I have a neck gator that fits over my head but I have to remember to put that on before my helmet.

I’ve used bandanas but they aren’t exactly the right shape as either the front of my neck is covered or the back.  Not both.

I have nothing on my needles right now and I need a small project.  I want to knit this neckwarmer.  The yarn used is discontinued so I’m looking into some Malabrigo worsted.  I’ve never used it before nor have I even seen it in real life but I only need one skein.  I want something variegated.  Either greens and blues. Or reds and oranges.  I want that splash of color between my grey helmet and black leathers.

My plan is to stop at my LYS on my way home from work today and buy some.  And if they don’t have it, I’ll find something else!

Problem is when I shop for a specific thing, I can never find it.

Wish me luck!

Can you tell me the secret?

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This is what I call a hank of yarn.

Periwinkle, Sky Blue, Aqua, Lime

When I purchase a hank of yarn, I make it into a ball, usually a center pull ball.  Mr. Aitch holds the yarn with outstretched arms and I wind it into a nice center pull ball of yarn.

I don’t do that with yarn already in a center pull ball-type skein like these.  I think they are ready to go.

I call these "center pull" skeins

 I usually pull out the middle hoping to find the end but most of the time it looks like it was disemboweled.

Disemboweled yarn

What’s the secret in finding the end of the yarn in the center of a skein of yarn?  Or do I have it all wrong?

Should I rewind these into my own ball so I can pull the yarn out from the center?

Anyone?

Spit join

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Well, actually I dipped the yarn in my glass of water but “spit join” sounded more fun.

To clarify: I did my first felted wool yarn join in the middle of a row.  You can check out the process (if you don’t know how to do it) here.

I’m well into the back of my current sweater and tried to reach the end of the row before I ran out of yarn.  Didn’t happen.  So I tried this felted join technique.  Forgive my rambling on about this magical process.  My wool projects are usually small and I either don’t have to change balls of yarn or I change yarn at the end of a row.  Plus I am deathly afraid to use anything besides superwash wool as I might accidentally felt something beyond recognition.

I am loving Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn.  It feels good.  It looks good.  And does the magical felted join with ease.

Musica mitts cast on

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I started the Musica mitts over the weekend when I wasn’t getting ready for our early Thanksgiving dinner…which will be tonight.  My son has to work on Thanksgiving so he and his family are coming to our house for dinner tonight.  Mr. Aitch is in charge of getting the turkey in the oven as I have to work today.

I’ve already got the pumpkin pies, candied yams, cooked/baked and the stuffing is made.  Green bean casserole and mashed potatoes will be made as soon as I get home.  I hope I can leave for home a little early today.

Anyway, back to the Musica mitts.  I am making these for Mr. Aitch for Christmas so he can smoke his cigars outside in the winter and keep his hands warm at the same time.  He is a retired band director, still directs the church choir and plays in several community bands so I thought these would be fitting with his musical life.

Musica Mitts overview

I’m using Knit Picks Stroll in fingering weight.  Knitting on size 3 (US) needles instead of the 2.5 as instructed.  I want them to be a bit larger than the pattern.  I repeated the first few rows as well to make them longer.  I also might make fingers for the ring finger and pinky.  We’ll see how it goes.

Musica Mitts closer

Sorry for the low quality pictures.  I used my phone and the lighting was poor.

It’s funny how much I contemplated over the colors: Dusk and Midnight Heather.  Mr. Aitch is partially colorblind so all he’s going to see are blue and black.  Whatever.

I hope I can work on these this weekend.  I also have to finish the soakers and Ms Ida Mittens.  The twins’ birthdays are this month and I have a few things I need to finish.

It will all come together, right?