Can you believe we are on the second Friday of 2019. It all goes by so quickly. Unlike my knitting, which has stalled a little.
I’m making a bit of a cowl using some Hayfield Bonus Extravaganza Super Chunky. It is meant to be knitted in 10mm needles, but as I am knitting in the round, I only have 8mm as the largest. It’s coming out ok, and the stitch definition is great, but it will be a more dense fabric than it probably should. Maybe it will soften and relax after a wash.
I started just doing stockinette, and of course it’s got tremendous roll-up which will need sorting in the blocking. But half way through I thought I would change to do some ribbing, just 2×2, to add some character. I was four rows and thought of trying a bit of cabling too, but not crossing over, moving each rib one to the left and one to the right. Then the ribbing would be moved above the purl. Then four later, move back. However, it didn’t look like it was working, so I tinked back and carried on with ribbing. Hopefully I shall be finished by the end of tomorrow.
I do love the colour scheme though. It’s great for men, as it’s coming out rather camouflage like.
As to other activities, I mentioned last week I was looking at some courses to go on using my voucher from Christmas. And these are the shortlist.
The shoe making one is fairly expensive, so it’s more a “maybe one day” activity. But the others are all doable. The felt course is to make a pair of slippers.
Which of these would you go on?
Tasks for this weekend; amongst other things, is updating my Ravelry stash and pattern queue. It’s rather out of date and doesn’t reflect what I might do next. A jumper is in the mix and I have found a decent pattern and just picking the wool.
One thing I learnt after Christmas is ‘woollen spun’ yarn. I had no idea it existed. When people talk of worsted, I just thought it was a weight of yarn, but apparently there is worsted spun and woollen spun. Is it just me that didn’t know? Probably because you generally do not see it mentioned on yarn websites about the type of method used to make the yarns.
It seems that woollen spun is great for warm light knits. Interweave have a good definition;
The difference between worsted-spun and woolen-spun yarns lies in how the fiber is handled before the actual spinning. The fibers of a worsted-spun yarn are first straightened and then oriented in the same direction, making the yarn smooth and shiny, which gives your knitted fabric lots of stitch definition. Woolen-spun fibers, on the other hand, are not straightened; the individual fibers lie in all directions, creating a yarn with lots of air pockets. This approach makes for a lofty, lightweight yarn that traps warmth. Woolen-spun yarns have a matte finish with a soft halo and lend themselves well to extra-warm projects that won’t weigh you down—perfect for camping trips!
Another good overview is from Jamieson & Smith, with some examples of the yarns knitted.
Fine Fettle Yarns, which is where I am going to get the J&S yarn from, have some dyed and natural jumper weight yarn. I just need to settle on a shade, probably in the naturals. If you are in the US, Brooklyn Tweed have some nice woollen spun yarn.
If I have a concern, with this being my first jumper, it will be if I go wrong with this yarn, will it frog ok. I’ve said before, I always set myself a challenge. I am also tempted to use it as weft in some weaving, as it will bloom lovely when washed and blocked. It wouldn’t be strong enough for the warp due to how it is constructed.
So, maybe next week I shall have a refreshed list of projects and patterns to share with you.
Until then, have a lovely weekend.
Hook This, Weave That 