Posts from the ‘Handspinning’ category

Garter Stitch Extravaganza and Shop News

on May 24, 2007

The garter stitch bug has officially bitten.

First, there was a hat. Now there’s half an EZ-style moebius scarf. I can’t waste an inch of this yarn.


colorway: Adrian is a Fancy Pants!
chunky weight
129 yards (there’s another skein of 107 yards)
hand-dyed and handspun by Sarah of Maisy Day Handspun

She just made it for me for no reason. :) There’s a sad, sad story behind this wool. I used to be able to get this Finn top that was just fantastic. Sarah and I were fools for it. The sheep only made that fabulous wool for one year, and then they went back to being more Finn-like (coarse). We are still sad. I bet there are some customers who remember it fondly, as well.

Once I get some alone time, that hat will be seamed. I don’t think I’ve ever seamed garter before. I’m gonna have to look that up. I’ll post about the hat pattern, which I think is awesome, but totally confusing. Hopefully my thrashing about can save you some trouble.

Shop Stuff:

I’ve changed the way I do the dye kits. Now you can either purchase one with primary colors and black, or one with colors of your choice. Un-dyed yarn and fiber can be purchased separately to be used with the kits. There have been some new additions, like Louet Gems yarns and superfine 18 micron Merino wool top. The softness, it will kill you.

Vacation:

People, I’m taking a vacation. I haven’t been on one in 6 years. Both Mr. HelloYarn and I run our own businesses, so it’s not easy to get away. We’re taking advantage of a skilled house/dog/business-sitter and going to Ireland early next month. This sitter won’t be running Hello Yarn, though, so the shop will be open, but orders placed between the 4th and 13th won’t ship until I’m back. Cool? The next shop update will be after I’m back. Sorry!

Has anyone been to the Sheep and Wool Centre in Galway? Was it good? It’s a bit of a hike, so I don’t want to haul my carcass up there if it’s a snoozefest.

Now that that’s all out of the way, the most important thing of all must be dealt with. What will I knit on that long plane ride??

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Finished Object: Norwegian Baby Hat

on May 18, 2007

Third time’s a charm, and utterly charming!

Pattern: Sweet Baby Cap (free)
Yarn: Hello Yarn Sock, 1 oz., approx. 100 yards
Needle: Addi Turbo size 1 for magic loop
Gauge: 7.75 sts. per inch
Size: 6 mo.

Thoughts:

I made the 6 mo. size but my gauge was tight, so the hat is 14″ in circumference, which is more of a newborn size. Other than that, I made no changes.

What an excellent use of sock yarn leftovers this is! If you didn’t have a hundred yards left of one yarn , you could stripe two different colors.

Knit it! It’s adorable.

Spinning:

Romney wool
3 oz., 140 yards
heavy worsted

Next weekend’s MA Sheep and Wool, and my favorite Fantom Farm guys will be there, seducing me with their wools. In preparation, I’ve started spinning up the remaining rovings purchased from them at Rhinebeck. The yarns spun from them will be knit into my sweater for Rhinebeck this year, which is going to be some yoke number with the giant brown Rambouillet fleece spun up for the body and sleeves. These two colors are going into the sweater so far. I have one more brown-y green one and hope I can find at least one more brown-y green next weekend. I’m hoping to be able to get the colors to merge slowly from the natural brown fleece to chartreuse (shown in the linked 2 colors photo) at the collar. My new glasses are orange and chartreuse. I’ll be all matchy!

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Spinning And Norwegian Baby Hat Pattern

on May 16, 2007

Spinning for the Baby Surprise Jacket did it to me. I’ve (re)discovered the joy of spinning small amounts of yarn. I have a vast selection of small bits of different colorways I’ve done in the past stashed away, and it’s lovely to dig around and find a few ounces of something lovely, sit down, and spin it up in one evening, with time left over for knitting. I’ve done three skeins of yarn in the last week this way.


Hunkered South African Fine wool
1.9 oz., 116 yards
worsted weight


Trodden Corriedale wool
3.4 oz., 190 yards
worsted weight


Pluot Corriedale wool
4.5 oz., 240 yards
worsted weight

They’re going to go live in a new home- a home with a excellent photographer and knitter- so maybe we’ll get to see what they become at some point.

Knitting:

The Norwegian Baby Hat’s coming right along now.

Gro, the pattern author, has graciously posted English translation of the pattern by Theresa for us all. Hooray!! If you’re in any way quick, you could have one done before I do, slowpoke that I am.

I should say, I did my decreases differently than called for in the pattern, just out of personal preference. I did *slip one purlwise, K2TOG, PSSO*. I just prefered the way it looked, and since I knit a goodly portion of this hat three times, I had a lot of time to fiddle with the decrease.

To make stitches for the increases, I knit into the front and back of the stitch.

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