I am having a bout of startitis lately. There are several somethings already on needles, but I have an overwhelming compulsion to start something new. It is a part of my personality I have decided to accept and work out the consequences later. Here are a couple of those lonely pairs I created while away.
Meet the single BonBons fingerless mitten by Susanna IC knit with a wonderful hand spun yarn from Roubaix Wool of Winterwind Farm in Battle Lake, Minnesota. The hank was 140 yards of CVM wool ("CVM stands for California Varigated Mutant [a rather unfortunate name, which may account for the rarity of this sheep]. Their wool is oh so soft.”) and kid mohair. The creator said she had a good deal of trouble selling the dyed roving because it didn't have an appealing colour so she spun it. It is a lovely drizzle of bright olive green, maroon, golden rod and violet. When I got the yarn home it simply demanded to be worked with right away.
Ravelry is wonderful in helping to answer questions about what to make with a certain type of yarn. I have gotten pretty good at sizing yarn just by looking at it or wrapping it around a needle. One merely plugs in the yardage, weight of the yarn with expected needle size and Ravelry does all the searching. The BonBons pattern fit the criteria and I liked the way it looked. It uses a faux cable motif surrounded by ribbing. In my first attempt at picking up stitches for the thumb I made the mistake of leaving a huge gap. Subsequently the thumb was frogged and redone to success. This is one occasion where the perfect yarn and pattern are married to make the perfect finished product. Now BonBons #1 is patiently waiting for BonBons #2. Since I know who and she knows who will get these mitts, there is motivation to finish before returning to Minneapolis in September. They will be available at a time one might need mittens like this.
Another single is this toddler-sized thrummed mitten. A thrum is a small amount of unspun roving placed strategically in a mitten. The thrum looks like a stitch of added colour on the outside of the mitten, but inside it spreads into fuzzy wildness. I know the inside looks like a mess right now, but as the mittens are worn that fuzziness tames into a wonderful warming layer of comfort on cold winter days.
In my case the mittens are using up some leftovers. Me being me means I did not throw away those first painfully terrible attempts in spinning. They were saved as a reminder of how far I have come in spinning and I knew eventually something would come up where that poor battered roving would become useful. Recently I secured a pair of carding paddles and brought the roving back to life with them. Then with a remnant of a worsted Cascade wool used to make a toddler sweater, I knit this single mitten. The pattern designed by Joan Beck can be found here. Perhaps you have already guessed these mittens are for Miss M and she won't be needing them until this fall.
So I have two WIP (works in progress) on the docket for the summer. Well yes that and the Hickory sock which is also standing alone. Someday soon there will be a drive to get all these projects done, but for now they have to deal with being single.
Meet the single BonBons fingerless mitten by Susanna IC knit with a wonderful hand spun yarn from Roubaix Wool of Winterwind Farm in Battle Lake, Minnesota. The hank was 140 yards of CVM wool ("CVM stands for California Varigated Mutant [a rather unfortunate name, which may account for the rarity of this sheep]. Their wool is oh so soft.”) and kid mohair. The creator said she had a good deal of trouble selling the dyed roving because it didn't have an appealing colour so she spun it. It is a lovely drizzle of bright olive green, maroon, golden rod and violet. When I got the yarn home it simply demanded to be worked with right away.
Ravelry is wonderful in helping to answer questions about what to make with a certain type of yarn. I have gotten pretty good at sizing yarn just by looking at it or wrapping it around a needle. One merely plugs in the yardage, weight of the yarn with expected needle size and Ravelry does all the searching. The BonBons pattern fit the criteria and I liked the way it looked. It uses a faux cable motif surrounded by ribbing. In my first attempt at picking up stitches for the thumb I made the mistake of leaving a huge gap. Subsequently the thumb was frogged and redone to success. This is one occasion where the perfect yarn and pattern are married to make the perfect finished product. Now BonBons #1 is patiently waiting for BonBons #2. Since I know who and she knows who will get these mitts, there is motivation to finish before returning to Minneapolis in September. They will be available at a time one might need mittens like this.
Another single is this toddler-sized thrummed mitten. A thrum is a small amount of unspun roving placed strategically in a mitten. The thrum looks like a stitch of added colour on the outside of the mitten, but inside it spreads into fuzzy wildness. I know the inside looks like a mess right now, but as the mittens are worn that fuzziness tames into a wonderful warming layer of comfort on cold winter days.
In my case the mittens are using up some leftovers. Me being me means I did not throw away those first painfully terrible attempts in spinning. They were saved as a reminder of how far I have come in spinning and I knew eventually something would come up where that poor battered roving would become useful. Recently I secured a pair of carding paddles and brought the roving back to life with them. Then with a remnant of a worsted Cascade wool used to make a toddler sweater, I knit this single mitten. The pattern designed by Joan Beck can be found here. Perhaps you have already guessed these mittens are for Miss M and she won't be needing them until this fall.
So I have two WIP (works in progress) on the docket for the summer. Well yes that and the Hickory sock which is also standing alone. Someday soon there will be a drive to get all these projects done, but for now they have to deal with being single.
Comments
Post a Comment