Weaving Wednesday hat

Weaving Wednesdays are becoming very productive.  I finished my first woven hat, a quick project.   Fingering weight yarn from my stash was the perfect choice for the warp, weft, and ribbed band.  I used the pattern in Weave Knit Wear for the measurements, approximately 30-inches long by 13-inches wide.  The weather was cold, wet, and windy last week and the hat was warm and lightweight.

Knit 2 purl 2 ribbing with matching yarn

Gathered top

New hat!

Before the vest projects, I had a scarf started on the loom.  The vest interested me more than another scarf, and the piece was ended and cut off.  It is the perfect length and width for another hat, which will be more like a beanie.  Once the band is knitted, I will decide whether to gather the top or shape the top with sewn seams.

Hat form I use for blocking and fitting.

Fitting the fabric.  I make sure to try the hat on before sewing the seam.

Machine sewn seam, seam allowance turned under and steamed, and then hand sewn.

I am working on sample knitting and the hat is on the back burner until tomorrow's weaving day.  Mary has a bag on her loom and Kathryn is making a top.  I am thinking about making yardage of fabric that can be cut and sewn into a top.  The last meeting of the weaving group at Anoka Fiber Works, one of the members brought in a book she no longer wanted.  Clothing From The Hands That Weave by Anita Luvera Mayer is an inspirational book featuring history, finished pieces, and patterns for garments.

A sampling of simple shapes used for garments from all over the world.

At this moment...

I have been finishing up lots of projects.  This week I completed two samples for the shop, a hat and a mitten.  The Baa-ble Hat is a delightful design by Donna Smith for Shetland Wool Week 2015.  Using Rowan Pure Wool Worsted made this project quick to knit compared to my fingering weight yarn projects of late.  Angel chose Rowan Pure Wool Worsted in Ivory, Umber, Gold and Lt. Grey Heather as the colors for the hat.  The design began as a Christmas ornament.  It is fun to look at all the projects on Ravelry of this hat.  I immediately thought of my handspun stash and will do a bit of stash diving today to see how much I can find for another hat.  The Nordic Mittens are a traditional star design by Beth Brown-Reinsel and were featured in Interweave Knits Winter 2004 issue (the pattern is now available as a single pattern, also.)  Knit with fingering weight yarns in solid and variegated, there are few ends to weave in when finished.  I would love to knit a pair in two solids to really show off the charted work.  These will be a perfect future class project.

The Baa-ble Hat and the sweet little sheep from Jennifer.

The Top This Hats are quick projects to make and Bobbi can't keep them in the shop!  Monkey enjoyed modeling.

Speaking of sheep--it has been that kind of week.  I met Jennifer for coffee and she had a gift for me, an adorable sheep she designed for Target and that happens to match another sheep I have on the little cupboard.  I am thinking that it might be appropriate to do a mini yarn bomb on it.  On Saturday the gals at Anoka Fiber Works had a class on how to choose a fleece for spinning.  It was interesting, informative and just in time for Shepherd's Harvest, which is coming up soon.  I will be sure to use my new knowledge when I check out the fiber for sale during the festival even though I am not in the market for a fleece.

Which bag of fleece would you choose and why?

Did you choose the light or the dark?

Learning about skirting the fleece--what to keep and what to take off.

Sheep's wool

Checking the crimp and the strength.

Alpaca

Spin a little knit a lot

My hands have been busy working on class and shop samples and on some wheel and spindle spinning.  I was on the last section of Wavelength when I noticed some funky looking stitches, which prompted me to frog and then re-knit...and frog and then re-knit...I am now back to the correct number of stitches in the sections (naturally the extra stitches occurred in just a couple of sections).  Taking a break for a bit to regroup and do some other work.

On the needles:  Wavelength, P Chullo, Beaded Beret, Kaffe Fassett KAL bolster, and Greta for the shop.  Tangled, Pigment, Goblin Hat #2, and Puffin Mantle for personal projects. I must not forget the Icelandic cardigan that needs to have the front bands and collar re-worked.  It would be nice to wear it this winter.

On the wheel/s and spindle/s:  Louie and I are spinning up some lovely white cormo/navy blue silk noil blend called Dark Side of the Moon from Hidden Valley Farm in Wisconsin.

Cormo and silk noils

The single is thin and plied together it looks like a DK weight

The new siding on the house is coming along nicely.  Yesterday Tom came by to paint portions of the the soffit and fascia from the garage side of the house.  The Cameo looks nice and clean for the trim and the Montana Suede matches the existing brick.  Now I have to decide what new color to paint the front door when all the work is finished.

WIP Wednesday...The knitting demons have left the house and I am yet again on the last section of Wavelength.  Good grief!  It is a great project to knit, but I finally put small markers at the decreases and large markers at the increases so I can feel where I am in the knitting.  I do not always look down at my knitting--especially garter stitching.

The projects from Blue Sky came yesterday and when I finish the scarf I can start on the small projects for BS.  It is a good opportunity to try out their new yarn before the release.

Birthday

I celebrated a big birthday recently.  It felt good to celebrate, too--I made it!  Jim and I celebrated with a nice supper and then birthday cake.  On Sunday Ben and Jim had an open house for me.  It was so nice to visit with friends and neighbors--and another delicious birthday cake!  I got a Fitbit from Ben and a 15-inch Cricket Loom with a stand from Jim.  I did a small weaving and will warp the loom today.  Photos to come...

Cricket Loom--just going on another path down the rabbit hole.

Jim had me wear the baseball shirt Ben and I had made for him in April.  The decorations were inside and outside the house. 

It also feels good to finish class samples.  The first is a child sized double knit ear flap hat in Pure Wool Worsted by Rowan and Liberty Wool by Cascade.  The pattern is sized for newborn to adult XL, and proceeds from the pattern go to charity.  The P Chullo hat is a free pattern with alphabet charts for the body and ear flaps.  One can fit a message into the 168-stitches around the body of the hat.  The original pattern calls for ten colors, and I am working the sample in five colors.  I made it through the first row of my message--fingers crossed that I stay on track!  Above the message there is a chart for a gryphon and a fox and the crown has waves and a snake, which I will change to a sheep.

One hat.

Another hat--two in one!

The FO (finished object) for the week is L'Enveloppe by Sally Melville.  I am teaching a class, which started out as a one to one and grew to include two other instructors and another student.  It is a project that is not difficult to knit, quick to knit, and looks wonderful on every body type.  Deciphering the pattern can be a challenge.  I made some notes on my Ravelry project page and Sally has a thread for L'Enveloppe help on her Ravelry group page.  We all agree that there will be more L'Enveloppes in our wardrobe!  The weather has turned cool and this will be a good week to  wear it.

Noro Yutzen yarn was the perfect choice.

A shape folded in half, one short seam is sewed on the long side to make a sleeve.

On the other side of the sleeve, stitches are picked up and then the side is knit with short rows.

Another fun project is Wavelength, a scarf that reminds me of giant rickrack.  I am working this in Anzula Dreamy, 75% Superwash Merino, 15% Cashmere, 10% Silk--a dreamy yarn!  The colors are brown (Sexy) and yellow-green (Temperance).  

Start with one chevron and then keep adding one chevron to each end.  The contrast
colors show off the texture nicely.

Ice is nice.

A while ago...I got a great surprise yesterday!  Jim took me along to the Minnesota Wild Hockey game.  Watching the game on TV just is not the same as going to the Excel Center in St. Paul.  Even better?  We were in one of the suites complete with food, great seats, and a pre-game tour behind the scenes.

Goalie

With Jim overlooking the ice,

I am very happy that my It's Your Choice class is a go tonight!  How fun to take knitting students forward with their knitting skills.

Yesterday at knitting group, I frogged my Nessie back to the spot (and beyond) where the bobbles are placed.  Now to get back on the short row track and see if  I can make a better bobble with the sock yarn using Sarah

18.03.2013  We are having another snowfall today.  The wind is supposed to kick up this afternoon.  Because of my two spin-outs on the way to work (I was driving Ben's Jeep with 4WD, too), I will start out earlier than normal.  The temperatures are going to tank for a few days.  Jim and I will have to strap on the snowshoes and take advantage of the deep snow before it melts!

Needs no caption!

It was a busy weekend.  We had our first development weekend for Wood Badge.  I am on the Quartermaster staff, which means cooking!  The development weekends are for the staff to meet and build our team so we can present a great program for the participants of the fall course.

I have one hat for the book almost finished, and started the second one.  There were quick adjustments to the math for the ribbing and crown shaping.  I downloaded the Craft Yarn Council of America's standards and abbreviations, which is what Sixth and Spring wants designers to use for patterns.  The Cascade Superwash wool is really nice, and I was very happy the blue they sent was the exact color I used for the original hat.  I have to work out the decorative stitching, and will rely on my embroidery books for that.

19.03.2013  The first participant in the Summer Wood Badge Eagle Patrol is finished with his tickets!  I am so happy for him and look forward to his beading ceremony in the near future.

24.02.2013  Back to another weekend already!  The hats should be at Soho Publishing and I hope that they will be included in the book.  I was happy they chose the same blue as the original.

Yesterday was Spin-In at Anoka Fiber Works.  I got the first Three Feet of Sheep spun and thankfully it fit on Louie's bobbin.  The other three feet are split and ready to spin.  Now to decide how I want to ply it...to ply with a solid, ply the color singles together opposite, or ply the colors for a color run?  Decisions, decisions!

Six feet of sheep.  Colorway--Tourmaline

The temperatures are going to be in the 30s and then in the low 40s later in the week.  The Easter Bunny will be hiding eggs in the snow piles next Sunday.

Coming Atttractions!

I am catching up my calendar and adding in the classes and events through August.  Another wave of Groupons is out and I also have some classes on the calendar that should appeal to new and experienced knitters alike.

My computer is now at Ben's computer desk, Grandma's desk is upstairs, my drawing table is in my new space, and now it is time to divide and conquer the tubs!  Ben's stuff vs my stuff.  Going through things is time-consuming, but necessary.  I am doing it a bit backwards, as I did not paint the ceiling first.  The walls are in good shape and I can live with the small divots in the ceiling where the stars were stuck. Today I will work on transferring what's left in Ben's closet to the other room and my art supplies to the new space.  This should be interesting...

27.02.13  I am making good progress on the transfer.  Having the paper bin, a trash can, and bin for charity knitting yarn has been helpful.  My goodness!  I found needles, markers, my extra scissors, and the ever-elusive tape measure and extra scissors!  Jim will be happy to know the lidded ottoman is empty!  At least four tubs are empty, too!  Yea--progress is a good thing.

I received some good news yesterday...one of my hat patterns will be featured in the new edition of 60 Quick Knits from America's Yarn Shops.  I will be making two baby-sized samples and should receive the yarn within a week.  (Picture me doing the happy dance!)

My classes coming up at Amazing Threads:

Felted Wooly Eggs--Easy Plus
Sundays, March 3 & 10
12-2 pm
$28 plus supplies

It's Your Choice (pick your own project)--Easy Plus
Wednesdays, March 13, 20 & 27
6-8 pm
$36 plus supplies

Countess Mitts--Easy Plus
Wednesdays, April 10, 17 & 24
6-8 pm
$42 plus supplies

Gaugeless Hat--Easy Plus
Mondays, May 6, 13 & 20
3-5 pm
$42 plus supplies

First Möbius--Easy Plus
Mondays, May 6, 13 & 20
6-8 pm
$40 plus pattern download or book, A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, by Cat Bordhi

Take It From The Top Vest  (Pick a vest from Ann Budd's book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters--Easy Plus
Wednesdays, May 8, 15, 22 & 29
6-8 pm
$40 plus book

Urchin--Easy Plus

Wednesdays, May 22 & 29

3-5 pm

$28 plus pattern download and supplies

Take It From The Top Sweater  (Pick a cardigan or pullover from Ann Budd's book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters--Easy Plus
Tuesdays, June 4, 11 & 18
4-6 pm
$42 plus book

Hats, Mittens, or Slippers? (Accessories from Knit One Knit All, Elizabeth Zimmerman's Garter Stitch Designs)--Easy Plus to Intermediate

Fridays, June 14, 21 & 28

1-3 pm

$42 plus book

Felted Needle Cozies--Easy Plus

Thursdays, May 16 & 23

4-6 pm

$40 plus pattern download or book, A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, by Cat Bordhi 

You can register for class by calling 763.391.7700 

or online at www.amazing-threads.com.

My current project is a fun hat in tweed yarn from Skacel--the Tayberry  Hat.  HiKoo's Kenzie yarn is a luscious blend of New Zeland merino wool, nylon, angora, alpaca, and silk noils.  The two-color star stitch is fun to knit and has interesting texture.  Best of all, only one color is worked at a time--two rows of the main color and two rows of the contrast color.  It looks like hounds tooth check.  Love it!  I hope Bobbi gets some of the yarn, as it feels wonderful, soft, and light in my hands and it is tweed!

Happy knitting! X