Finished! They're so tiny. The picture isn't very good, but I've had a few goes and it's the best one!
Toddler-size Cecilias
These are a present for a sweet little girl in my family. I've spun some more Caprice yarn and adapted it a little. I've added a little silk to the white alpaca to give it a little bit of a sheen. It makes it so much stronger too. For this batch I plied that with a commercial black thread rather than spinning a very fine black alpaca thread. It was much easier to work with and to thread the beads on. It obviously has no twist and so doesn't balance the white in the same way, but I really like the effect. It is closer to the 'musical' effect that I was originally after, ie thin black lines and dots on a white background. These smaller gloves are even quicker to knit than the original adult-size ones! I've used smaller needles (4mm) and 23 stitches across rather than 32.
Finished! They're so tiny. The picture isn't very good, but I've had a few goes and it's the best one!
Finished! They're so tiny. The picture isn't very good, but I've had a few goes and it's the best one!
worlds collide
I don't usually like re-posting stuff from other sites, but this one's especially for Alifan, who is both skilled cake maker and knitter.
I noticed a story about knitted wedding cakes here on CraftyCrafty and that article leads on to more examples and patterns.
Cecilia Mitts
I've just finished stitching up my simple mitts, made from the Caprice yarn I wrote about in an earlier post. It's 100% alpaca and beaded.
Leaving the fingers unencumbered and using cosy alpaca fibre means that they'll be perfect for outdoor Christmas caroling or busking!
Thank you very much to the lovely lady at Norfolk Yarns who gave mum and I a free pattern for some similar mitts. She hates sewing up and so knits hers in the round, which has the added bonus of leaving no seams inside. I decided to keep my pattern very simple to knit.
I've called them 'Cecilia' because of the simple pattern and because the yarn was inspired by music. St Cecilia is the patron saint of music and musicians, and the hymn tune known as St Cecilia is an uncomplicated tune.
Since knitting the first ones in the brown marble, I adjusted the pattern a little before starting these ones and again now that these are finished. hopefully it's getting closer to being right.
Here's the pattern
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Caprice Yarn
Inspired by some of the amazing handspun yarns in Creative Spinning, and another love of mine, music notation, I've come up with this handspun yarn I've called 'Caprice'.
I've made a small amount to see whether I've got the thicknesses right, and I'm very pleased with the first lot.
The thin black thread and black shiny beads suggest the staves, phrase marks and musical notes, against a much thicker white yarn.
I've made this from pure undyed alpaca, which is softer than wool and is said to be warmer.
The next step is to knit some mitts using the pattern I've been working on, and if they look the way that I hope they do, they'll be perfect for next year's Christmas caroling!
The 'recipe' for this yarn is:
Z-spin a very thin black thread, as thin as you sensibly can without risking breaks. Z-spin quite a thick white yarn from white alpaca. Thread the black thread with beads, around two per yard. S-ply the two yarns, distributing the beads evenly.
I've made a small amount to see whether I've got the thicknesses right, and I'm very pleased with the first lot.
The thin black thread and black shiny beads suggest the staves, phrase marks and musical notes, against a much thicker white yarn.
I've made this from pure undyed alpaca, which is softer than wool and is said to be warmer.
The next step is to knit some mitts using the pattern I've been working on, and if they look the way that I hope they do, they'll be perfect for next year's Christmas caroling!
The 'recipe' for this yarn is:
Z-spin a very thin black thread, as thin as you sensibly can without risking breaks. Z-spin quite a thick white yarn from white alpaca. Thread the black thread with beads, around two per yard. S-ply the two yarns, distributing the beads evenly.
Finished Mitts
Mum said "what about some of that jacob fleece you have?" I wasn't sure that it was brown enough, but parts of the marble yarn are black / white and so I spun and plied a little up and it's worked a treat!
There are some changes I'd like to make to the pattern, but it's pretty close to being the way I want it. Now to spin up some really special yarn for the next pair!
There are some changes I'd like to make to the pattern, but it's pretty close to being the way I want it. Now to spin up some really special yarn for the next pair!
D'oh
What can you do when you begin something thinking that you have just about enough yarn in that odd part-used ball, but run out just a few short rows before the end?
It doesn't really matter because they were very quick and easy to knit (even for me) and the point of making them was to design a very quick and easy pattern to go with some special handspun yarn which I have been dreaming up!
All the same, I'm going to try and find or spin something to finish that second thumb off, because I like them so much, they're so very close to being finished and they match a scarf mum crocheted for me (and it's very cold outside!) The yarn is very soft, chunky and 'marbled' browns. The variation in the yarn is so great that I think almost anything will work. Anyone have anything similar??
It doesn't really matter because they were very quick and easy to knit (even for me) and the point of making them was to design a very quick and easy pattern to go with some special handspun yarn which I have been dreaming up!
All the same, I'm going to try and find or spin something to finish that second thumb off, because I like them so much, they're so very close to being finished and they match a scarf mum crocheted for me (and it's very cold outside!) The yarn is very soft, chunky and 'marbled' browns. The variation in the yarn is so great that I think almost anything will work. Anyone have anything similar??
Finished handspun hat
It did take a little bit longer than I expected, but this has been a busy time of the year... Christmas caroling, Christmas shopping and, well, Christmas generally have been getting in the way of spinning and knitting.
Here's mum modeling it beautifully - it suits her much more than it does me!
It did surprise me just how much material there is in the main part of the hat - like cardy sleeves, you don't appreciate the area you've got to knit until you see them opened out flat. I moved to circular needles once the increases started to pack the stitches very tightly onto the straight needles! As with all hats, though, once you start on the reductions, it all starts to move much more quickly.
I've learned a great new stitch with this hat. 'k1b' is sometimes 'knit one into the back of the stitch', but in this case it's 'knit one into stitch below'. *k1b p* produces a very chunky and surprisingly elastic rib. As I mentioned in a previous post, when you slip the stitch off the needle, you hold your breath for a second expecting a run to start, because you don't feel you've knitted into the stitch, but somehow it works.
This was also the first time I've had to p3tog - purl 3 stitches together! It produces the mother of all stitches, but very effectively reduces these massive ribs. The pattern doesn't say so, but on the row following p3tog reductions, I couldn't easily knit into the stitch below those large reducing stitches, and so I resorted to an ordinary knit into those particular ones. I don't know whether that was what the designer intended, but it seems to have worked well.
The size is just about perfect. For the required chunkiness, I plied the wool using Navajo method (3 ply) - for speed I just plied it straight off the spinning wheel using a drop-spindle.
Because the wool came from Mum's friend's sheep (again see earlier post), I used it 'neat'. It's very coarse, the resulting yarn is a bit harsh and hairy, and so the hat doesn't feel very soft. I do like the the fact that it's a beautiful colour undyed though (very dark brown, almost black), and so if using the same wool in future, I think I'd blend it with something similar in colour but softer, such as alpaca. I think I'd like to make another of these hats using pure alpaca.
Here's mum modeling it beautifully - it suits her much more than it does me!
It did surprise me just how much material there is in the main part of the hat - like cardy sleeves, you don't appreciate the area you've got to knit until you see them opened out flat. I moved to circular needles once the increases started to pack the stitches very tightly onto the straight needles! As with all hats, though, once you start on the reductions, it all starts to move much more quickly.
I've learned a great new stitch with this hat. 'k1b' is sometimes 'knit one into the back of the stitch', but in this case it's 'knit one into stitch below'. *k1b p* produces a very chunky and surprisingly elastic rib. As I mentioned in a previous post, when you slip the stitch off the needle, you hold your breath for a second expecting a run to start, because you don't feel you've knitted into the stitch, but somehow it works.
This was also the first time I've had to p3tog - purl 3 stitches together! It produces the mother of all stitches, but very effectively reduces these massive ribs. The pattern doesn't say so, but on the row following p3tog reductions, I couldn't easily knit into the stitch below those large reducing stitches, and so I resorted to an ordinary knit into those particular ones. I don't know whether that was what the designer intended, but it seems to have worked well.
The size is just about perfect. For the required chunkiness, I plied the wool using Navajo method (3 ply) - for speed I just plied it straight off the spinning wheel using a drop-spindle.
Because the wool came from Mum's friend's sheep (again see earlier post), I used it 'neat'. It's very coarse, the resulting yarn is a bit harsh and hairy, and so the hat doesn't feel very soft. I do like the the fact that it's a beautiful colour undyed though (very dark brown, almost black), and so if using the same wool in future, I think I'd blend it with something similar in colour but softer, such as alpaca. I think I'd like to make another of these hats using pure alpaca.
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