A Sheep In Wools' Clothing

An Unoriginal Hat

This hat has been in my Ravelry queue probably since I saw it on the Yarn Harlot's blog (Nov 2007).  Well, this year, I joined the Taste of Shivaya Club.  (Justified because I dropped one lace club, and kept Shakespeare in Lace club, and kept  Spunky Fiber club ).  I have an affection/obsession of natural fibers and natural dyeing.  (That's why I have a small stash of naturally dyed yarns).

The first club offering was Worsted Winter Wool, a wool/mohair blend with a wonderful heft, drape and sheen.  It came with a pattern for a teardrop cowl.  I had a sufficient amount leftover to make a hat to go with it.  I carried along a strand of some natural gray long draw hand spun I made a couple of years ago, which matched perfectly, to get some extra mileage.

Specifics:
Pattern:  An Unoriginal Hat  by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn:  Shivaya Naturals Worsted Winter Wool and my hand spun merino long draw
Needles:  two circs, 24", Size 6 Harmony
Modifications:  None

This is amongst my personal challenge of replenishing my supply of winter accessories for my three Maine kids and my "from away" son and his girlfriend who live in warmer climes and visit at Christmas.  It is also amongst my personal challenge of doing Christmas knitting early.  The count so far this year is two hats, four cowls or neck gaiters, two pair of mittens, one man lace scarf finished.

Binary Hat for Computer Geek Son (KB Gamma aka DS3)

All three of my sons are excellent at getting around computers, both Macs and PCs, even Lynx.  Kille's Brother Gamma (aka DS3) has been taking two math classes/year in HS, acing all of them, and this year added a programming course.  He's been teaching his technology instructors keyboard shortcuts since he was in 4th grade.

Therefore, it seemed only appropriate to knit him the Binary Cable Hat where one can cross cables for the "on" position in binary either for numbers 0-15, or 0-31.  In binary (computer language), a switch has only two positions - on or off.  In binary (Base Two) the first position is for ones (either a 0 or 1), the second position (or cable twist in this hat) is for 2's, the third position 4's, the fourth position (cable twist) is 8's and the fifth (used in the 0-31 version) would be 16's.  I know clear as mud.  It's all that trig, stats, and calculus in HS and college.  And  oh yeah, Fortran IV (I make a bet that takes some of you back a few decades).  I shall stop blathering here before I show my age worse.

Specifics:
Pattern:  Binary Cable Hat (freebie)
Yarn:  Noro Kureyon (278) with String Theory DK in a red-orange colorway
Needles:  two circs, 24", Size 6 Harmony
Modification:  I added about 3" to the length after the cables to get coverage for KB Gamma's ears.

The photos are before I added the extra length to it.  The extra length went in between the cable twists and the decreases at the top.  The yarns are the same ones I used in his "Wham Bam Thank You Lamb" neck gaitor.  Between the two and his thrummed mittens, he shall stay toasty warm while geocaching!

KB Alpha's Winter Warmth

Ongoing saga of quickly knitting up warm stuff to get my kidlings through this winter.  I've intentionally picked quick knits, just to get basic warm stuff on things sticking out of coats - fingers, necks, heads.  After I get the basic warm wear complete, then I hope to start over again making pretty colorwork fancy mittens, hats and neckwear.  I want them warm first, and have let those accessories slide as they got older and less under my thumb.

Here is KB Alpha (Kille's brother Alpha or DS1)'s neck gaitor fashioned after the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb cowl.  The kids have been funny about these - they first look at it like I am crazy, then they universally have stuck it on over their faces, then they'll pull in down onto their necks.  All three did exactly the same thing.  All three have later told me they work, and these have been the first neckwear devices that my kids actually wear - they like the fact it can't come off by sliding down, and they don't have ends to have to do something with.  It just stays put and keeps them warm.

Details:
Pattern:  Wham Bam Thank You Lamb
Needles:  Size 11 Knitpicks Harmony
Yarn:   Spunky Eclectic 220 Classic, custom color (to blend with DS1's winter coat and his preferences), two strands held together
Comments:  Cast on 30 stitches, offset by 15 stitches for grafting.  Very quick knit, appreciated by 27 yo DS1

DS1's mittens will have this same yarn carried with a silver gray mohair also from Amy.

More Basic Warm Winter Accessories

As I alluded to in an earlier post or two, my stash of warm winter accessories last Christmas for folks "from away" to borrow was not nearly so plentiful as I had remembered.  So, after the first of the year, I set upon warming up the heads, necks and fingers of my kidlings, staring with the three who live here in Maine.

Enter the neck gaitors based on the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb neckwarmer (freebie) for now three kids.  Enter KB Gamma (Kille's brother Gamma or DS3)'s thrummed mittens and now DD (Kille's) mohair enhanced mittens.  I knit them on Size 4 needles, using a worsted weight wool so they are nice and firm, carrying along the mohair strand which had more color, but blends nicely for warmth.  DD's winter jacket is bright lime green (a welcome bright spot on campus, compared to all the dark grays, blues, dark reds and blacks), so I'm going for a lime theme with other stuff added for her accessories.  I just called Amy of Spunky Eclectic and asked what she had to go with a bright lime winter coat, and she popped up with this combo.  Thanks, Amy (again)!  You've brought brightness and cheer to cold winter days for DD!

Details:
Pattern:  modified thrummed mitten pattern (fewer stitches), no thrums
Needles:  Size 4 Harmony circulars (2  24") so I could knit both simultaneously & have them match exactly
Yarn:  Spunky Eclectic 220 Classic in lime and Mohair in Caribbean (I think)
Quick knit - 2 days I think (except I need to add on the thumbs yet) ;  the mohair makes them very soft, and definitely increases the warmth factor.  You can see the difference between the cuff, where I used the 220 Classic alone, and the rest of the mitten which had both strands carried together.

Thrummed Mitts Against Winter's Negative Farenheit Temps

Several years ago, when I moved to Maine, I pulled out my mitten books (of which I have several), and knit everyone in the household a cap of a different knitting technique, and some mittens.  Over the years, the younger two kids chose their mitten patterns, colors, etc, and we edited and created our own versions.  Much to my dismay, this Christmas there were not sufficient caps and mittens for my four kids and the girlfriend who was visiting.  And here I thought I had such a nice stash of well used mittens and caps.  The long neglected balaclava was resurrected and worn geocaching and snowthrowing by my son who lives in NC.

So, my shame has led my fingers to the mitten path, cowl path and soon to the cap path.  The first pair of mittens for my now-adult-sized kids are thrummed mittens.  Here in Maine, with deep snow, Canadian fronts and Nor'easter, thrumming mittens is one of several ways to ensure fingers and hands stay nice and toasty.  I've previously made a pair of thrummed mittens, but followed some directions which had the ends of the thrums tucked into the center of the thrums where it got knitted in place.  So, there were looped ends hanging out inside the mittens that never fulled and never spread out evenly.  In this pair, the thrum ends were not folded to the middle prior to knitting the thrum in place, so I was able to comb the fiber upwards towards the fingertips, and spread it out evenly.  A MUCH warmer mitten, and I am assuming the thrums will felt down better as well, making them more windproof and comfortable.

These mitts are for DS3 (Kille's Brother Gamma) in Spunky Eclectic worsted weight in "Gunsmoke" (1 skein) using black roving for the thrums.  Size 4 needles (I make my mittens now two-on-two like my socks so they match in circumference and length better).  The pattern was from Amy King (Spunky Eclectic), and Robin Hansen's mitten books also have patterns for thrummed mittens.

Handspun Baby Set

I just completed the finishing on a baby set including Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Sweater on Two Needles (Knitter's Almanac), Norwegian Baby hat (free Ravelry pattern), Striped Baby Mitts (free Ravelry pattern) and Amy King's "Baby Keep Your Socks On" booties (free on her website).

The yarn I spun from the Spunky Junkies  Fiber Club Feb 08 selection, "Think Spring" in South African Fine.  It was amongst the several nice hanks of yarn I either finished or spun during the Tour de Fleece in July.  I usually am lagging far behind in fiber club spinning, but July got me charged up, and I wound up with several hanks of yarn I really love.  I've crossed the threshold to where I'd rather knit from my handspun that from anything commercially prepared.  My "Think Spring" turned out to be sport weight, and is very soft, squishy and in perfect baby colors!  I spun it using the fractal stripe method described in Spin Off last fall.

This set was commissioned of me for a nurse at work's new granddaugher, born in July.  Gauging from how warm my hand got inside the bonnet, I am certain this set will keep the little New England tyke toasty warm this coming winter!  I knit an I-cord mitten keeper to lessen the odds of losing a single mitten....

Now That Christmas Is Over, Gift Knitting Revealed

Now that the gift giving is over, I can finally reveal the stealth knitting.  Not certain how many recipients read the blog (or even know about it), I was hesitant to post.  You know the feeling....

First up are my renditions of the Lacy Kerchief Scarf from IK Summer 2005.  I have wanted to knit this for myself for the past 2 1/2 years, and haven't done so.  I have, however, now stashed some Rowan Felted Tweed for the project.  I knit two renditions for Christmas.  The first is for Kille's Brother Beta's girlfriend, Jenn.  This was her first Christmas with the clan, and I had no idea what would make her happy, or what she needed.  I decided this scarf was the item.

Specifics:  Pattern  Lacy Kerchief Scarf
                Source:  IK Summer 2005
                Yarn:  The Fibre Company Terra  7 hanks
                Color:  Madder
                Fiber:  60% Merino, 20% Baby alpaca, 20% silk
                Needles:  US 6 Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables

Notes:  I made myself an Excel spreadsheet with two columns - one for the lace pattern repeat row, and one for the increases row.  One was eight rows, the other six rows, so the spreadsheet kept me on track.  The lace pattern is easily memorized, and though I liberally use stitch markers for my lace projects, I only needed two in this, which delineated the garter stitch section between the top edge border and the lace leaf border at the bottom edge.

In the second version, shown here, I used Rowan Felted Tweed held double.  This one I made for a dear friend, who was fondling Jenn's as it was just off the needles.  The light finally dawned that Megan needed a handknit present.  She is at this moment, the only handknitter/spinner with whom I regularly exchange presents.  I just barely got into the seventh skein on Megan's. 

I have asked Kille's Brother Beta to get me a photo of Jenn wearing hers, and hopefully this evening, I can grab a photo of Megan modeling hers.

In other gift knitting, I made each of the four kids a knitted helmet with earflaps - total geek hat using The Fibre Company's Pemaquie a 60% Merino, 30% alpaca, 10% soy wonder that is a bulky weight incredibly soft yarn perfect for warm soft non-scratchy hats!  Photo to follow when I can catch an unblurred one.

We Call Them Pirates

I have had requests from three offspring, a DIL and a grandson to make Adrian's  We Call Them Pirates hats.  Fortunately for me, I have an abundant wonderful stash of Dale Heilo yarn which is perfect for making caps and mittens, made warmer with two-color knitting.  In this case, I made the hem using Big Sky Alpaca's silk and alpaca blend yarn in a wonderful blood red color.  It received a resounding stamp of approval from Kille's Brother Alpha (DS#1), who actually consented to model it (with just a slight amount of prodding).

Specifics:
Pattern:  We Call Them Pirates, Hello Yarn
Yarn:  Dale of Norway Heilo, black and white
Needles:  Knit Picks circulars, Size 2 and 0

Short Row Felted Mittens Finished

I finished these a week or two back, but didn't get the post-felting photo up until now.  DS, Kille's Brother Gamma, is now 15 and has grown considerably since I last knit him mittens.  The weeks of subzero weather we've had this year tilted the scales in favor of him asking me for mittens to keep his hands warm.  Felted ones are perfect for this sort of weather!  This pattern I particularly like, as the back of the hand utilizes short row shaping to give a natural curve to the finished felted mitten.  That makes them more comfortable than the regular shaped mittens in felted material.

Specifics:
Yarn:  Sheep Shop Two
Pattern:  Fiber Trends Shaped Felted Mittens
Needles:  Knit Picks Options Size 11
Felting:  Two cycles in a front loading machine

I Really DO Knit and Spin

I really do actually knit and spin!  I know it doesn't appear such since the beginning of the year, but it is coming along!

Up tonight are two recent objects :  a felted (to be) bowl using three colors of yarn, one of which was handpainted, and a linen stitch to blend the color bands, and a pair of felted mittens using a Fiber Trends pattern.

First, the bowl.  The bowl needs a name, and I'm open for suggestions, but perhaps it needs to wait for the naming until after the felting.  I took a class at Michelle's Place (Fiberphilia)  from my pal, Virginia (alas, no blog, but we may convince her to share).  The pattern I think is Virginia's own, with all sorts of little tricks she has incorporated into her felted things she has picked up here and there.    Hopefully, there will be cousins to this one soon to be created - Virginia had a lot of nice shapes to her bowls!  This bowl was knit with two strands throughout, but used four strands at the rim to give it more sustenance.  She used linen stitch to blend the handpaint into the solids before and after it, sometimes using two strands of the same color, and at others, using one strand of each color.  I am hoping to felt it tonight, so I'll shoot after photos at that time, with the same supervising sheep (the fellow in the checkerboard coat).

Next up, some mittens knit of Sheep Shop Two (a bulky handpaint with short runs of color, on Uruguayan yarn like Manos or Malabrigo.  I used a fiber trends mitten pattern that utilizes short rows on the back of the hand, so felted, there is a curved shaping to the mitten in a more natural, therefore more comfortable, shape.  With the number of subzero nights and wind chills to -35 we've had in the past three weeks, and the Nor'easter today (wonderful snow falling now), DS the youngest (also known as Kille's brother gamma) needs new mittens.  He's grown over a foot since I knit his last pair, so these are WAY overdue!  I just need to add the thumbs on tonight, then off to the washer they go along with the bowl!

Post-felting pictures to follow VERY soon!