A New Hat - Just for Me!

Remember this post?  If you don't, I'll refresh your memory with this photo of some wonderful yarns.

The yummy green yarn (79% wool, 21% linen) is now this cute hat:

Yes, I cropped out my face.  Why, you ask?  Because it was cold and I had an extremely goofy look on my face. 

Yarn Love

Yarn is one of my newest weaknesses -- it's only been going on for about 3 years.  I love natural fibers and rich colors.  I purchased these yarns several months ago and just recently decided it was time to use them.

Half of these are 79% wool and 21% linen.  The other half are 79% wool and 21% bamboo.  Each skein is variegated in color and saturated with color.  There was one more skein in the collection, but it is now a scarf ... a yummy deep purple scarf with a multi-colored ruffled edge.

Now I need to decide what to do with the rest of these yarns!

A New Scarf Takes Shape

Surprise -- I found 2 skeins of yarn that I forgot I had.  This is almost as unlikely as discovering I have too many beads.  hehe.  This yarn is 100% superfine alpaca.  I really don't know what classifies it as superfine, but I DO know that it is amazingly soft.

I selected this basket weave pattern, which looks a lot more complicated than it really is.

The yarn is a yummy forest green with a touch of olive.  Here's a close-up of the fun pattern.  I hope I have enough yarn to make a scarf of decent length.  I'm not really good as estimating that.  Yet.

I guess, whenever it was that I purchased this yarn, I also purchased 2 skeins in a different color.  Those skeins are a variegated blue/purple/burgundy that is just wonderful.

The Green Sweater Nears Completion

Remember this post? Well, the sweater has been progressing at a slow but steady pace. It's almost complete. All I have left is the placket.

This yarn has been super easy to work with. it is a blend of 50% Pima wool and 50% tencel. It feels silky and smooth, but it knits into a fabric without much firm structure. I'm hoping it "tightens up" a bit when I block it. It wouldn't hurt if it shrunk a bit too, as it is quite loose on me.

I thought I was having a serious problem with the second sleeve but I took the project into The Tangled Skein - a wonderful yarn shop in Eagle River, Alaska - and Roberta helped me see that there was no problem. I had been out of town for 10 days in between sleeve #1 and sleeve #2. That was the source of the imagined problem.

Knitted Sweater Project

So, I started to knit a sweater a few days ago. I've only made one sweater since I learned to knit 2 years ago, and it's actually wearable! Now I'm at it again.

It's a similar "top down" pattern as my first sweater and I do believe it's a good pattern for a beginning knitter. I'm still working on the shaping of the top, so it hasn't been joined in "the round" yet.
The yarn I selected is simply yummy. It's an emerald green color. The fiber content is 50% pima cotton and 50% tencel. It's silky soft and very easy to work with.

I estimate this project will take at least 2 months!