yarn – Page 3 – New England's Narrow Road

Patterns and Yarn, Hits and Misses So Far in 2020

First the Hits – Love These Patterns Enough To Knit Them Again!

Notice that these are hats, which I have always loved best. Even though all three hats pictured here came out large, I had loads of fun knitting them, and am pleased with the outcome.

Colorwork and cables are becoming fast favorites of mine. Left to right: Tettegouche, Skiff (beanie pattern), and Katie’s Kep.

At the beginning of the year I knitted two pair of mittens which turned out perfectly! They were fun to make and if I didn’t live in Florida, I would be churning them out like mad. (L- Fiddlehead, R – Glissade)

hand knit pair of mittens in Fiddlehead pattern

Too Many Misses, Some Are My Fault

Over half the year 2020 has passed and I’ve had many knitting projects fail for me. A project fails when I cease to like knitting it. When I dread picking up the project and working on it, I ask myself why do I keep on going? When I decide to stop knitting, and put it aside, or frog it, it’s because I have either chosen yarn I hate (Over the Top Tee), or the pattern is difficult (Oxbow Cardigan), or I knit as called for and don’t like the look (Millet mittens and Golden Afternoon Mittens).

The Snowfall Socks, in orange above, have been on the needles for months now. I’m using Tukuwool, and it’s very scratchy, otherwise I do like the pattern. I may never finish.

Yarn Buying Mistakes

Projects are often purchased on the spur of the moment, and I can say the same for yarn. Sales are the knitter’s downfall. Who can pass up a great deal on lovely yarn?

But buying sock yarn, when you have no desire to knit socks, or shawls, any longer, is a waste of money. I’m learning which types of yarn work best for the projects I like to knit. Sock yarn is pretty, but it’s not what I reach for these days.

The Milarrochy Tweed yarn is one I regret buying. I tried knitting with it and just didn’t like it. It’s very thin, with little thick bits. Also, it is a single ply yarn, which I am beginning to realize I dislike.

Tukuwool sock yarn is another I would not buy again. The colors are beautiful, but the yarn is scratchy. I bought these skeins from a shop that requires $99 in sales for Free Shipping, so I over-bought, thinking I would of course use it one day! (I despise paying shipping costs.) Bet I am the only knitter who does that sort of thing… hahaha!

New (Happy) Yarn Discoveries in 2020

Rauma Finull / Finnullgarn wool yarn from Norway is such a find! (I buy mine from either The Woolly Thistle or Wool & Company.) And similar type yarn in smaller skeins: Jamieson & Smith Shetland wool (find J&S cheap at Fairlight Fibers). This is real wool that comes from across the pond, and comes in an astounding array of colors.

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor is a DK weight, beautiful yarn, which I first discovered when knitting my first pair of colorwork mittens in February. The softness of Arbor makes it perfect for hats, mittens and cowls, or anything next to the skin.

Arbor yarn mitten knitting project — Brooklyn Tweed Arbor yarn is pretty nice

Quince & Co. “Lark” is a worsted weight, 4-ply, yarn and I used it to knit my Curly Snowflake hat. At first I wasn’t too sure about this yarn, but it’s really very nice for doing colorwork in worsted. I see more of this yarn being used in my future knitting projects. I bought it at Wool & Company.

Quince & Co. American wool yarn in "Lark" colors Storm and Audouin — Quince & Co. yarn in gray (Storm) and heather natural (Audouin)

I bought my first cone of yarn. Harrisville Highland “Foliage” will be used to knit a sweater one day. I can’t really say how I like it yet, but I love the colors. Both Teak and Foliage colorways were hard to find.

cones of Harrisville Highland — “Foliage” yarn cones

Harrisville Highland yarn cone — “Foliage” yarn cones

The Sassy Skein of cotton is now my favorite cotton for knitting dishcloths. The tropical colors are perfect for my Florida kitchen. Buy at Four Purls Yarn Shop in Florida, or at the Sassy Skein site.

I’ve had a busy first half of the year knitting things I ended up not liking… but I have knit lots I do like. And every project is a learning time for me, so I don’t feel time has been wasted. Live and learn is a great motto. Knit and learn also applies.

Winter Knitting Bay’s Edge Shawl Pattern

Today I finally decided on the seven colors I would use to knit the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern. I had been searching for a rectangular shaped shawl to knit.

It took me days to decide which blue-green shades of yarn to use. Then there were the two contrast colors. The main color was an easy choice as I wanted something with a bit of a gradient and not the plain white shown in the pattern. I wanted colors to represent ocean and beaches I see near my home.

The Bay’s Edge pattern suggests a gradient yarn collection (find it at Miss Babs) to make buying easier, but I wanted to choose my own colors! The ripple effect evokes waves of water so I chose blue-greens and blues with one tan (sand color) and a peachy-pink to add a bit of color to offset the blues.

At Miss Babs I added many colors to the “compare” section, then deleted them, and added more. I think I went through every single 2-ply toes yarn shown! The only color which is the same as one in the collection of yarn used in the sample pattern is Sea Oat. I chose to exchange their blues, green and purple with shades of blue-green.

My main color yarn will be “Life Begins” which is a Yummy 2-Ply wild iris (non-repeatable color way) in light blue-green with some speckles – See the big skein below. I needed one skein in 400 yds. My yarn arrived November 1st – how exciting! I love those little gifts they always include, and the yarn is super wonderful! Look at those colors…!

shades of green yarn — Yarn colors for my shawl project

Miss Babs offers smaller skeins of Yummy 2-Ply Toes with 133 yards each, and I needed 6 of those to complete the “waves” in the pattern.

Here is what colors I ended up choosing: (a “wild iris” color is non-repeatable, one of a kind dye lot).

“Sea Curtain” (Wild Iris)
“Mount Kootaloo”
“Black Watch”
“Sea Oat” – tan / beige
“Picuri” (Wild Iris) – pink
“Aquarius”

I would have liked the two darkest greens to be more of a contrast, but buying yarn online makes it difficult to see everything together. The “Blackwatch” color way is really beautiful and I’d love to knit something using that color again. It looks a lot more green than blue in reality. The photos at Miss Babs look very blue, which mine was not.

Beginning the Shawl Pattern

It took me three tries to get this shawl’s “cast on”. If you have ever knit a triangle shawl, you probably know how that weird beginning goes. You must know how to “pick up and knit” stitches. I suspected it would give me trouble and I expected to have to re-do. I finally had it looking okay and got on a roll. I can see the pretty little triangle shape emerging!

Miss Babs yarn is so pretty with slight variations in color throughout.

knitting the Bays Edge shawl — Beginning the shawl

Now it is January and I am finishing up this shawl. Once I did the bind-off on the first edge, I fell in love! The I-cord bind off looks so nice. Once I completed the second half and needed to do the bind-off again, I had to look it up to refresh my memory.

Today I wove in the ends and washed the finished shawl. It is blocked on Knit IQ mats, and in the process of drying in the spare bedroom. The pattern was easy to follow and fun to knit. I really love the way it turned out. The yarn colors I chose were meant to represent the colors of the sea. Shades of blue-green from light to dark are mixed with a row of beige for “sand” and “pink” for seashells.

Bays edge shawl in ocean colors — Blocked and drying – the Bay’s Edge shawl

My Notes on Knitting the Bay’s Edge Shawl

Notes: Beginning this shawl is a bit tricky. Watch a video about how to pick up stitches and knit them, if you have never done this. You must know how to SSK and M1R and M1L. I placed markers for each 19 stitch set on the making waves rows just in case I ended up off with my count at the end of the row. I could easily go back and count 19 stitches in each section to see where I was off. Many of the rows were simple knit across, which could easily be done while watching TV. The I-cord bind off takes time, but is worth it.

More Rectangular Shawl Patterns

Buy the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern (link at the top of this page) or view some of the other patterns I found in my search for rectangular shaped wraps.

Opaline Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Torquata by Ambah O’Brien

Fading Point by Joji Locatelli

Nakarra Wrap by Ambah

Time Trades by Caitlin Hunter

Honestly some of the patterns seemed too involved for me, but maybe one day I will be brave and make the attempt because they are all beautiful.

Winter Hats I’ve Been Knitting

All hats shown here were knit from patterns found in the Hats On! pattern book which is available at Amazon.

Gansey Watch Cap

Screen Shot 2018-08-07 at 7.05.05 PM — Fur Pom Pom Added to Gansey Watch Cap

The pattern is in chart form only, and I was not sure how to do it. I think the top is not quite right, but it’s good enough. I would make this hat again with smaller needles in the smaller size. Mine is a size Medium, but came out a bit loose.

Fana Cap

I finished knitting the Fana Cap just before I left for New Hampshire, and gave it to my daughter. We volunteered at the Monadnock Animal Shelter fundraiser and it was a cold, rainy day, so she wore her new hat.

Yarn Used: Manos del Uruguay “Gloria” in superwash merino worsted wool in color “Pescador” blue. White yarn is Rowan Alpaca soft DK combined with Rowan Kidsilk Haze mohair, held together.

Notes / Changes: I made the Medium size, which was perfect for my daughter’s small head, but next time I would make the larger size.

Aran Watch Cap

I knit this one in size Medium which was large enough around, but I needed more height. Changes: Next time I will add another inch to the top part and maybe make a longer cuff. I like a nice wide cuff to flip up and give my ears double coverage in the cold.

This is an interesting pattern with cable and seed stitch between simple knits and purls. For that reason a solid color is recommended. I used Malabrigo worsted yarn in “Water Green” color which made this finished hat nice and soft.

I plan to make this one again with the changes I mentioned. The decrease section is quick so dealing with DPN’s is fast.

Depending on your knitting skill level, the hats in this book will keep most knitters happy. I began by knitting the simple patterns like the Classic Watch Cap and Tam, and progressed to two color patterns and cable patterns. Still on my list of “want to knit” are the Triple Pattern Watch Cap, All-over Two-Color Pattern Watch Cap, and Norwegian Star.

Some of the colors chosen to knit the sample hats in this book are not the best, but change the colors yourself and come up with something unique.

Aran watch cap hat pattern — Aran Watch Cap

For more hat’s to knit (FREE patterns) for baby / children, see my post at Little Pink Baby Hat Knit in a Day.

Spindrift Shawl, Day 2 is About Choosing Yarn

I mentioned in a previous post that I would be knitting the Spindrift Shawl as a beginner shawl project.

The second e-mail from Helen at Curious Handmade arrived today. She talks about the yarn she choose for her pretty shawl, which is by the company “Top Draw Sock” in Australia, in colorway “Peace”. I will be using yarn from my stash, which is Miss Babs’ Yummy 2-ply fingering in colorway “Sorcerer”. (That’s it in my photo at the beginning before I did the winding.) I may not have quite enough to finish the shawl, so I may switch to the lavender yarn “Monkey Orchid” by Mrs. Crosby. I think they match well.

Shawl yarn from Miss Babs in fingering weight, and lavender DK by Mrs. Crosby

I am ready to knit a shawl that is easy. Once I began the Lionberry shawl, I had high hopes that I could do it. Sadly, I am frustrated with my inability to understand the instructions. I’m continuing to knit, but have changed to simple knit and purl rows in place of the intricate pattern (click the link to see how pretty this shawl is when knit correctly). My stitch count was off and I figured the pattern would end up a mess because of that.

With all the knitting projects currently in the works, I shouldn’t start another one. What can I say? The blue hat was scrapped, so I’ll let the Spindrift Shawl take it’s place.

I’m ready. The wooden size 5 needles will be used for the first 14 rows, then I will switch to the circular size 6 needles for the remainder of the shawl. By the way, I included my needle measuring gauge in the photo because I’d be lost without it. The ChiaoGoo (red cable circular needles) have the size printed on the metal, but it is tiny print. The Takumi bamboo straight needles also have the size on them, but using the gauge is just easier.

knitting needles and measuring ruler — Needles in two sizes are needed to begin the Spindrift Shawl

I do better work in the morning, so I will wait until then to begin this shawl pattern. I’ve never done the Backward Loop cast on, but it’s pretty simple.

As you knit, the body of the shawl will curl because of the stockinette stitches. It’s hard to believe, but once you get to the rows of holes, you are only 50% done! These last rows are long, but very easy to knit.

I’m now finishing up the last part of the shawl. The rows of knitting are separated by “holes” which make a lace look around the edge of the shawl.

spindrift shawl edge with holes — Knitting the bottom edge of the shawl

Here is a video that shows one way to do a picot bind off. It can be helpful when finishing the Spindrift Shawl.

Now I am working on the bind off. I ran out of yarn, and I knew I would, so I’m making the picot row lavender. The shawl is lumpy and bumpy, which will change once I block it. I’ve never knit anything that needed blocking, so this will be a first for me.