not quite

When I bought this yarn I completely fell for the shades of red, gold and green. Like a quail, it seemed to me, with it's rich dark tones and flecks of gold. Or the most gorgeous mix of fall colours. I looked for a swatch to see how it knitted up but couldn't find one. And asked the salesperson to see a swatch, but she didn't have one available. Oh well, I just had to buy it.

But the knitted result is not living up to the promise. For the last 40 rows I've been knitting an uninspiring khaki green with orange flecks. And wishing that the colour would shift to something more interesting. Oh it's still nice, but the spectacular beauty of the variegation that I could see in the yarn ball is not translating into the knitted piece. How disappointing!

So that's a lesson learned. I need to see a knitted swatch before I buy a variegated yarn - no exceptions. Because when so much care and attention is invested in making something, I don't want to be disappointed by my choice of materials.

almost fingerless

When picking paint colours for the sales offices at work I stayed on the warm side of the colour wheel. As I explained to a co-worker - the offices would become increasingly chilly, damp and numbing as winter progressed. And no sooner were the words out of my mouth when the thought of Fingerless Gloves popped into my head.

I've never had a pair of fingerless gloves - didn't see the point. But warming my hands on steaming mugs of coffee before returning them to my keyboard isn't a very effective strategy. The coffee cools too quickly and so do my fingers. And that much caffiene doesn't do me much good either. Maybe I should give fingerless gloves a try?

There are literally hundreds of fingerless glove patterns on Ravelry, but here's the pattern I settled on - Almost Fingerless Gloves. Using sockweight yarn means they won't be so bulky as to interfere with typing and working. And the columns of K3 P2 rib give lots of stretch, so they'll be nice and snug. I'm guessing the little beginnings of fingers will help the gloves stay put and fit properly. It looks like they're going to knit up quickly, so I'll let you know how they work out.

look - two colours!

At the Creativ Festival I picked up some Frog Tree Alpaca yarn at Mary's Yarn booth. It's made in Bolivia by a non-profit cooperative that provides income for poor families and their communities. And it's beautiful - rich colours, soft spun and lovely warm.

A few weeks ago, I came across a pattern for this Norwegian Star Earflap Hat in the databases on Ravelry. And the Frog Tree yarn seemed like a good choice. So another hat for the Warm Hands Network!

The pattern is simple. The challenge for me is to get the tension between the two yarns right as I knit the pattern chart. Pulling the yarn that floats behind the work too tightly results in puckering. And leaving the float yarn too loose leaves holes between the colours. As it turns out I did okay - a little too tight, but not so tight that the result is scrunched up. There's an informative post about multi-colour knitting here. But if you have a sec, click on the pattern link as well - the pattern designer's pictures are well worth the time spent to look.

delving into fibers

Shirley, Christine and I spent the afternoon at the Creativ Festival. I very nearly passed on going - I've been disappointed in previous years with how little knitting was represented. But I was pleasantly surprised this year.

My first stop was Gemini Fibres, lured in by spinning wheels, bags of roving and drop spindles. First, a drop spindle of an appropriate weight for a beginner handmade of snake wood and beech. Next, a bag of Coopworth roving - a carded roving from a Border Leicester and Romney sheep cross. I'm told it's less slippery than combed roving ... a good choice for a beginner. And finally, an instructional DVD called Drop Spindle Spinning and a book called Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning.

I haven't got the faintest idea of what I'm doing. But I'm determined to learn, and I think it's going to be fun and rewarding. And if I really can't figure it out, there's a full day workshop at Gemini Fibres next Saturday that may be the answer.

more warm hands

While I've been away from needles for the last few days, others have carried on knitting for the Warm Hands Network. Mom kindly knitted a child's hat to match the mittens I made a couple of weeks ago. And Jean made the charming hat and mitts set pictured. More warm hands and heads!

Amidst all the negativity about the financial markets, I can't help but feel cheered looking at that pom pom. It's so full of hope and good intentions!

not one stitch

Not one stitch worked between yesterday's blog and today. I haven't so much as even looked at needles or yarn. No time for the Ravelry forums. No mooning over patterns that I could someday knit. No time for anything except finishing projects.

Yesterday I worked at finishing my Flower Quilt. It's actually a depression block pattern made up of tiny triangle scraps - but I've used only flower pattern scraps. It's quite something and has been a tremendous amount of work. Over the last few days I've added borders and prepared the backing. Tonight I'll tidy up the threads on the back of the quilt face to ready it for long-arm quilting. Once that's done I'll just need to bind the edges. What a great feeling to finish a big project!

becoming impossible

Margaret Atwood observes "Each one was a possibility that quickly became an impossibility" in her latest collection of stories, Moral Disorder. Hmm, I can definitely relate to that. Knitting projects are full of possibility at the beginning - cool patterns and fabulous yarn and the possibility of dramatic results. But often the richly imagined possibilities don't materialize and the project disappoints.

At Cottage Craft I bought some fantastic wool - blackberry 1 ply with shades of indigo, red and blues. And I've been wanting to make something fantastic with it. Primavera socks seemed like just the thing! A simple pattern with lots of stretch in alternating bands of knit and purl.

But the dark yarn makes the stitches are very hard to see. And working P3tog in these tight stitches on tiny needles is tough. After finishing the cuff in K1 P1 rib, I messed up the last row of the first pattern repeat. I'll try it once more but this combination of pattern and yarn may become impossible. Good thing there's more possibilities in my stash!