DO block Berroco Ultra Alpaca. It drapes better, gets softer and loses most of its (admittedly small to begin with) itchiness.
I'll be bringing my newly blocked red Hatmione out camping with me this weekend... 80s during the day but mid 40s to 50s at night... I'm sure I'll be happy to have it.
Today I blocked my red Hatmione and the heart mittens.
Unfortunately, the cookie rack I set them on to dry is no longer fully enameled, and I managed to get rust stains on the mittens. I'm sure the hat also has rust stains, but at least they're the same color as the yarn!
I tried Shout and cream of tartar to get the stains out, with partial success. I'm letting them dry now and might try lemon juice and salt after the weekend.
Grr.
I don't know why, but I tend to have loads of projects going at once, switching back and forth, and I'll often finish a bunch at the same time.
Now is not a finishing time, but a starting time.
One new project I'm not going to talk much about yet, except that I'm knitting it using 6-strand cotton embroidery floss on size 1 needles. Knitting is fine using this floss, but purling is a pain due to the tendency of the floss to separate.
I've also been working slowly on a set of the Hermione's Cable and Bobble mittens from Charmed Knits to match the hat I finished recently.
On Friday, a big thunderstorm came through my area, and it knocked out power to my house all evening. I couldn't knit my small DPN projects by flashlight, so I started another Hermione hat:
(Purple Hatmione and her older sister)
This one is in "Fantasy Yarns Cashmere Luxury Aran" I picked up on clearance at AC Moores. I love working with this yarn; it's 45% merino, 49% microfiber and 6% cashmere, beautifully soft, very stretchy and forgiving, runs smoothly through the fingers, and it's not scratchy at all. The Berroco Ultra Alpaca I used for the first hat felt fine in the skein at the store, but seems to be a little scratchy when knit up into the hat. Maybe when I wash and block it that'll soften up a bit.
Yes, I've been busier than I look. I've finished up a bunch of projects...
Project details:
Pattern: from Laura Miller's website; pattern can also be found in Charmed Knits.
Needles: size 0 dpns
Yarn: DMC Pearl Cotton size 5, blue 796 and bronze 436.
Project details:
Pattern: from HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags.
Needles: size 6.5 mm circulars
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver colors 0387 (Soft Navy) and 0400 (Grey Heather) on size 6.5mm circular needles.
Notes: It's not quite done yet; I still have to line the bag with fabric and attach a shoulder strap.
Tips & Tricks: This was my first colorwork project. I knit with one color in each hand (blue in right, my dominant hand, and silver in my left hand). Despite what the pattern says, I found it very important to catch the stranded color every 3-4 stitches, or else the color blocks would pull apart at the edges. This was especially true on the edges of the bag (where the pattern would repeat) since when the bag's sides were folded, there was nothing pulling the blocks into position. I used this website to learn how to catch the floats. I would catch the last stitch of every repeat, and this seemed to keep the edge blocks in shape. I also caught the strands in the large areas of color in the shields, and every so often at the top or bottom edge of a block in the middle.
Project Details:
Pattern: a mishmash of several free online patterns. The general shape of the mittens is from the Generic Norwegian Mitten pattern. The chart on back and front is basically Corazon, although I modified it a little bit to fit on fewer stitches, and used three colors instead of two. I also cast on fewer stitches (40) and increased to size right before starting the chart to make the ribbing more fitted. I used a tubular cast-on.
Needles: 3.5mm dpns
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Bellezza Tesoro (worsted) in Cream, Pink & Purple. (on sale)
Finished Size: 9.5 inches long (from tip to bottom of cuff), 3.5 inches wide in the hand. I'd say a child's large or women's extra small. Unfortunately, a hair too small for me, which means much too small for either cousin I was thinking of giving them to.
Notes: I'm going to try blocking them larger but I don't have much faith in that (the colorwork is pretty tight).
Project Details:
Pattern: from Charmed Knits. I did 10 fewer ribbing rows than in the pattern.
Needles: 4.5 mm circular, 5 mm dpns to finish the crown.
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Redwood Mix colorway. It's not quite the same color as the pics though I did tweak the pictures to get the color closer.
Finished Size: 9.5 in long, without turning up the ribbing. 15 in circumference, unstretched. It fits my head well, and I guess I have an average to small head.
Notes: A fun knit, my first cables and bobbles. I like the way the cables shrink at the top of the crown. I'll try blocking the hat to "settle and even out the cables" as suggested in the pattern. This will go on my list of patterns I can knit as gifts.
I haven't been nearly as unproductive as my long absence would suggest. I need to remember to post more often.
Here's a picture of my newest project:
This will be a book scarf, in Ravenclaw colors. It is knit according to the pattern, on size 0 DPNs, in DMC size 5 pearl cotton, blue 796 and bronze 436. The skeins in the top corner will be for another in Gryffindor colors, scarlet 321 and gold 742. The actual color is not quite as orangey.
My other current projects are another crocheted fuzzy blue baby blanket and a tank top knit in the blue Lion Brand Incredible I bought several months ago.
