Archive for ‘October, 2007’

New Project: Baked Alaska Romney Sweater

I spun like a maniac last weekend, and managed a big old batch of yarn out of the tails left over from the October fiber club.

This-

became this-

became this-

^^^This photo is deceiving. That is a really big pile of yarn.

This stuff? It spins like a dream. I was filling 6 oz. bobbins like they were nothing. Romney, Romney, Romney!

Romney wool (from combed top)
2 ply
12 wpi
989 yards and 1 lb. 7 oz. total
spun and plied at 11:1 (If I don’t record that stuff here, it doesn’t get recorded.)

This is a heavy, kinda scratchy yarn. There should be enough here for a sweater for me. If not, I’ve got some more of the fiber. Now, just to decide what type of sweater to knit. I was thinking just a plain raglan pullover kind of like this, but maybe I need a buttoned cardigan with a big ribbed turtleneck-type collar, kind of like this shape, but with buttons. ???

The voting’s started over on Flickr. Some people really know what they want!

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Finished Object: Jackyll & Hide

 

Ooh, scary!

Pattern: Jackyll & Hide from Fall 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Plymouth Tweed (a worsted weight), colorway 530, just a tad more than 2 skeins.
Needle: size 7 Addi Turbo for magic loopin’
Gauge: 4.5 sts. per inch
Size: one size- 16.75″ around head/face
Fit: It’s okay on my head, which is 21″ around the widest part (nose), but on my husband, the model, whose head is a little bigger, it’s a little tight.

Thoughts and Modifications:

This pattern is simple and fantastic and so, so scary-looking. I love it.

What I hadn’t considered is that my glasses won’t fit under this. I plan to wear it to hand out candy on Halloween, and I hope the kids don’t figure out they can get me to give them candy 14 times each because I can’t actually see them!

One thing that bothered me about the pattern as written was the eye holes, which weren’t quite tidy enough for me. I moved the increases and decreases one stitch away from the edge, didn’t bind off the bottom two stitches, since that creates a gap between stitches, but rather kept them on holders throughout, then did a single crochet edging around the hole, binding off those two stitches with that. I used M1F for the increase on the left side (facing you) of the eye hole and M1B for the right. See here for those increases. The neatness pleases me. It makes the eye holes a little smaller, and if I were to do this again, I’d make them bigger to start with. As you can see, the width of the strip of fabric between the eye holes makes Mr. HelloYarn’s eyes look a little wonky. He may or may not have played this up for one of the photos.

I also changed the first K2TOG of the decreases at the top of the hat to SSK, which is personal preference again.

Happy Halloween. BOO!!

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Handspun Leg Warmers

Handspun socks are a wondrous thing, but I work from home and run around in my socks all day on wooden floors, so they’re not the best for me. My heart seizes up a little at the thought of blown out heels on handspun and handknit knee socks, in particular, but a fan of knee socks I am. It’s COLD here in Boston in my little old house and I have enough chubby wool socks, so what I needed was to extend the length of these socks. Hooray for leg warmers! These are fitted, not the sloppy kind of my junior high years. They’re pure function, if you don’t count the high voltage color. They don’t take much yarn, either! This is undoubtedly the first pair of many, because – WOW- they are cozy.

The Facts:
Yarn: Maisy Day Handspun 2 ply bulky weight handspun Merino wool 2 ply, 5 oz. and 202 yards (I used every bit of this yarn, splitting the ball in half with a scale to get the most out of it. Amazingly enough, they are the perfect size.)
Needle: size 7 Addi Turbo for ye olde magic loop
Gauge: 4 sts. per inch
Size: 13″ long and 11″ around at the top, 9″ at the bottom (measured in stockinette section, not ribbing).
Fit: My legs are 15″ around at the largest calf point and 8″ at the ankle, meaning I’ve got some negative ease going on here. I didn’t make them as tight at the bottom as the top because they need to go over chunky woolen socks. They’re soft and stretchy, so they are not binding in the least.

These are knit just like a sleeve. Cast on and rib a bit, and then start increasing 2 sts. per increase row with the increase rows spaced about an inch apart, until you get to the desired upper leg measurement. Work straight and do a bit more ribbing. These are knit at a firm gauge and stay up with absolutely no problem.

PS: I don’t normally wear my jeans rolled up that high, but I’m not promising anything now that I have such flash leg warmers. :)

PPS: Cobblestone’s coming. I haven’t had time to do her justice in both photography and a blog post. Soon!

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