Hat & Scarf Combo

This will be the year of hats on circular needles. This one was started on straight needles, transferred to circulars and then finally finished on double point needles. The pattern is called "Collapsible Cloche" and I found it at the back of a novel. The yarn is WoolEase and I got it at the annual February Fiber Swap and Bring a Friend month event at Hot Wheels Handspinning Guild. This pattern is actually intended to be felted and shrunk somewhat, but WoolEase is only 30% wool so it didn't felt or shrink as I had hoped. The hat still came out looking quite nice, especially with the matching scarf. This is another one that is destined for donation to one of the local groups that gathers warm winter wearables.

Scarf Irony

I am awash in yarn. One might even call me "yarn-rich" - how's that for a cool new word. What it means is that I am well stocked with yarns for every conceivable purpose, fiber and source - from handspun luxury to mill spun from the fibers of my own critters to a few stray skeins of bulky synthetic for knitting charity hats and scarves. So why would I ever go out and buy yarn? The answer is simple - because I wanted it and this is certainly not a yarn I can imagine producing via hand spinning. The yarn is called Flick-Flak and it came from Twisted Knitter in Mebane, NC. It is one of those new (at least to me) novelty yarns, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. So far I've knit two scarves - one I call the summer scarf (pictured left)

and the other one I call the autumn scarf (pictured right)

. These were Christmas gifts for my mom and SIL. I'm hoping to start a new one in a different yarn called Tricor that will be for me.

Multi-Strand Knitted Scarf

This is my latest way to diversify my knitting without the necessity of doing things like following a pattern or learning new stitches. The scarf pictured was knit with a total of 4 strands of yarn on size 17 needles: 3 strands of handspun (medium blue, dark blue and natural black Shetland wool) plus a strand of Sari silk yarn. I really like the look of Sari silk yarn, which is hard to work with by itself (perhaps the lack of elasticity). However if combined with wool in multi-strand knitting, it really looks pretty and is much easier to manage.