Woolly wool

Woolly wool is the term I use for my favorite type of knitting yarn.  It is also referred to as being sticky.  A close-up of my current project, the Croft Hoose Hat illustrates the wonderful characteristic of this type of yarn.  I am using Alice Stanmore's Hebridean 2-Ply given to me by a friend before she moved, thank you Becky!  If you look closely, you can see all the colors that make up the yarn.  The yarn is not soft until the project is blocked.  I find that when blocking a project made with this type of yarn the fabric gets better when worn and washed numerous times.  The stranded floats on the inside mesh together making the fabric warm by filling in the spaces.  Icelandic wool does the same thing.  I also love that the fabric develops a halo.  When I wet block my stranded knitting, I pull and stretch out the fabric before wet blocking.  The project goes into a tepid bath with wool wash for a soak for about 20-minutes, and then the water is squeezed out.  Depending upon the size of the project, I roll it in a towel and step on it to remove excess water or it goes into the washer's spin cycle.  I spread some towels in an out of the way spot and let the smoothed or pinned project air dry.   Beating the knitting with a yardstick (or I have been known to use a large wooden spoon) is another way to even out those stitches.  The first time I heard about beating the knitting I thought, "These people are nuts."  Later I learned that it is just another blocking process.  When knitting samples for a yarn company, it was in my contract how to block the project and beating the knitting was part of the process.  I have since purchased a "whapper," which is a large yardstick from Sheepy Yarn Shop.

The stash!

The colors appear warmer than in the photo above.

Each wisp of fiber is a different color and creates visual interest to the fabric.

Shook Hat, one of my favorites knit with Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper weight.  The fibers have meshed together to make the hat softer over time.  Below the inside of the hat, the floats are nicely matted down. 

A new sample project for Amazing Threads, is the Gretta Hat.  It is from Lux Adorna Yarns, and comes boxed with nine mini skeins.  The pattern is downloadable with a code on the inside.  The yarn is cashmere and while not my favorite type of yarn, I was pleasantly surprised at the result after wet blocking.  The hat is very lightweight, soft, and warm.  

A trendy slouch hat.

FO!

I finished the Ariana Shell and it is now drying.  The Rowan Felted Tweed DK was the perfect choice.  I made it larger, as I prefer it as a vest instead of a shell.  I am wet-blocking the sweater which made the fabric easier to measure and smooth into shape.  Maybe it will be dry tomorrow and I can take it to the shop.

The lace border is a nice finish to this project.  I enjoyed knitting it.
(After looking at this photo I smoothed out the left side to match the right.) 

The lace yoke was knitted flat and then grafted together.
Above that you can see the four-row seed stitch neck band.

My next tasks are to get more patterns on Ravelry, finish Monkey Jacobus  II, start Christmas cards, and then get some small projects finished.
Thanksgiving will be just the three of us this year.  Nice and cozy.  I did not buy the turkey yet and hope to find a small one.  Last week there were none smaller than 11 pounds!  That is a LOT of turkey.  My last class of the month is today and that gives me time to tidy up the house and decorate.