Hat pattern: Just Like a Peasant Cap by Amber Daniels-Cook (click for pattern - this is an Adobe PDF file.) Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, 2 skeins Needle: Size 6 US Notes: Very easy to knit. Note, VERY warm in alpaca!
Scarf notes: Merino roving. I dyed it with Jacquard dyes in blues and browns. (It was beautiful.) Spinning: I spun thick/thin singles, then set the yarn in hot water. When I went to pull the skein out, the color was gone. So, back to the drawing board. All blue was gone. I had an striated oatmeal/brown skein. I dunked it in a chartruese dyebath. And, presto, I have a verdant woodland skein. Knitting pattern: K1P1. The front and back of the scarf are the same. Slip the first stitch, purl the last stitch, every row. Size needles: US 4 It's so lovely. Soft. Green. Yum.
Last weekend I spent it with the YaYa sisterhood and we had a good time.
We laughed and we knit:
We were bandits and we knit:
We were daughters and we knit:
And we were amazed at the method that Tuulia Salmela has come up with to make a sweater from the top down, that fits, that has a set in sleeve, and WORKS!
Yes, Martha, this REALLY is knit in one piece and you can try it on as you go. Look for a pattern from Tuulia in the near future.
We also did a bit of enjoying of the Fall, and went to a Northwest Regional Spinner's Annual Spin-In and, of course, visited all the local yarn shops!
Update 7 November 2008 | Finished the Sweater Sample from this class
I've already knit a swatch to get an adult sweater going with this method. I'm jazzed!
Tuulia Salmela, an incredible knitwear designer from Finland, dyed, spun, designed, then knit this incredible shawl. Then, for some completely unfathomable reason, GAVE it to me. The least I could do was photograph it in all it's glory. Tuulia is the model. Read more about Tuulia's adventures in knitting at: http://tuulia.blogspot.com. She calls it the Red Dragon. (More photos of the Dragon here.)
A pattern will be available shortly! Check out her blog or her Designer page on Ravelry. Click a photo to see it big.
And for fun, another kind of tale-- Ben, one of my cats is VERY social. See him hanging all over Tuulia as she spins. Hilarious!
I've been thinking about why I have more than one spinning wheel. I can really make all the yarn I want with only one wheel. One could argue that I reallly needn't even bother. I can buy all the yarn I want. There are shops full of skeins and skeins of beautiful yarns. There is no necessity to make it.
But I have found myself with more than one. Several more than one. And I find that I am drawn to each one, compelled to spin, on each one for very different reasons.
Lendrum is a workhorse. It will spin at my bidding. Thick and thin, lace, spiral yarn, more. It keeps going, needs no maintenance, is beautifully plain and just keeps on giving. Really, it is all I should ever need.
But the sirens sang, and there I was - enchanted, drawn to the elegance of Schacht. Beautiful, stands heads above others. Insistent on elegance, quietly whispers in my ear. Never pulls hard or drags, smoothly executes and dances with me. The yarn we create together sings. All I should ever ever need.
And yet.
Suzie gave me a glance, called my name. Said she could travel, was flippant. Dared me to try her, to play. Came home with me. What to do? She has joined the household. She is finicky. She wants tension here, release of tension there. She wants adjustment over there. Oil now. Well, she is entertaining, she is engaging. I keep coming back to her, despite my queen Schacht. Despite my sweet hard-working Lendrum. I am afraid that Suzie will be the death of me.
And still....
There is a new gal coming to town. I walk to the end of the drive everyday in anticipation, looking for her. She'll be here soon. Lithe, athletic, limber. She promises to slip into places no other can. She fits in a pocket. I await her arrival.
Summer is near the end, evenings are cool enough to require a wrap or scarf. I'm gearing up for the Winter with hand-dyed roving, ready for spinning. Click the image to see notes on it with fiber info.
