Wurm, or Yarn Harlot Groupie Project

Yes, I am a Yarn Harlot groupie. I love Stephanie's blog and I always want to do what she's doing because she makes it sound interesting, mostly fun, and if not fun, at least not boring.  However.

We are very different knitters, have very different tastes in objets de tricot.

Hence, I have never finished anything I've started when I've succombed to the compulsion to Knit What She's Knitting. And furthermore, I usually wind up intensely disliking the project, and (not quite so intensely) myself for once again falling into the spell she casts around the projects she loves.

One example: the adorable French Press Felt Slippers.  I think Stephanie made several hundred pair (she even tried a mass felting in the bathtub!)  I could not even finish one slipper.

In any case, I believe I have learned from my mistakes and get that I may enjoy the Yarn Harlot's witty writing about what she's knitting, spinning and weaving, but that does not mean that I will enjoy doing the same thing.

However.

Recently, she wrote about making a hat that...well, you can read her blog post here.
Although I don't really have the same hat issues as the Harlot (mine involve looking like a very old bag lady in certain hats) I was very intrigued by the pattern:

Wurm.  Free pattern. Quirky. Whimsical. MOI!
And I WILL finish it. See, it's almost done. I actually have the feeling it will not look very good on me, that I've made it too small. But I can see myself making another, larger Wurm.

The yarn is Dream In Color Classy in Cocoa Kiss.

And I adore the nifty doubled brim/edge it begins with:

So thanks, YH, for this one!

Saori Weaving - Hat

Now that I've completed most of the public project for my grant, it's time to begin the work that this grant is primarily for: my personal growth as an artist. I'm beginning on a small scale and this hat seems the perfect vehicle for beginning to learn how to use Saori weaving in garments.  One of my goals was to integrate various fiber arts I love, and this little cap combines weaving and knitting.

First I hemmed the ends by zigzag stitching each end twice, then turned the edge under and did a straight stitch - these ends are the cap edges.

Then I used black carpet warp and gathered both selvedge sides by crocheting across twice, once right into the weaving, every 1/2 inch or so, then into the first row of crochet, every inch or so.

 I made two fan-shaped pieces of knitting, using short rows and one of the yarns in my weaving, Noro Furin, so they are both different in colors. I used these pieces to cover the gathered edge and anchor it in a semi-circle, so that the hat shape appears.
 It's very neat on the inside as well, as the fan covers the gathered edge on the inside.  I machine-sewed the inside part and hand-sewed the fan on the outside.

I'm now making a long length of Saori woven fabric, about 12 feet, which I will use to make 6 more hats. It suits my sometimes short attention span to weave a whole different set of colors every 2 feet or so.  I am making enough for each hat so that I can make the side pieces in weaving on some of the hats.
As for my public project, the Earthpeace Banner Project, I'm working on all the photos I've taken and updating the page.  I hope that will be the subject of my next post!

Namaste,
Zann

Kate Jackson Earflap Hat

Picked up this pattern at RiverWools just before Christmas-thought it would be a fun quick knit and I was right. I cast on the first on Christmas Day and finished the second last night. Got to use my favorite yarn - Noro. Each took less than one skein of Kochoran and Iro.

Hat No. 1 in scrumptious soft Kochoran (wool, angora, silk), Color 18.


Below is Hat No. 2 in Iro (wool, silk) Color 61:

Here's a close-up of the cluster stitches on the brim, stitch definition better in the Iro.

The thing I love about this hat, besides the fast knit-up with Noro, is the whimsy potential, most available with the Iro hat. You can wear it with the crown looking like, well, a crown.
But if you don't feel particularly queenly one day, scrunch it down to wear it close to your head.

And if it's not queenly enough for you, save your pennies and try to get one of Xenobia Bailey's fabulous funky urban crochet crown hats!  I absolutely covet this one in her etsy shop.

Kate Jackson's Earflap Hat pattern is available on Ravelry here.  Or in February, you can take a class at Riverwools, featuring this pattern.

Nantucket Bag, Dream in Color hats

I thought I was being really awful to buy yet another bag to hold knitting. And I'm sure that the wonderful purple (which doesn't show true here, so you'll just have to imagine it a smidge lighter) had a lot to do with my impulsive decision.

However, I love the Nantucket Bag - the depth, all the pockets, the permutations of its ingenious zippered sides (you can even hang it flat on the wall!), and best of all, how it stands upright. It's going with me most everywhere these days. I can even fit my 12-in triloom in there.


Hats! Granddaughter Raven spotted one of these at RiverWools and wanted to make one. It's a free pattern from Dream In Color yarn.

I did the Twisted Rib brim for her, then set her to knitting on double points for the first time. Then I made one with my favorite DIC color combination, Flamingo Pie and Wisterious, then started another in different colorways - one is a purple I got when Martha first had DIC yarn - there were no names, just numbers. The other might be Deep Seaflower.

I love this yarn a lot - it's soft and bouncy and a tactile pleasure to knit. Also when it's new, it has a wonderful smell from whatever they do a final processing with. Comes in worsted, sock and lace weight in delightful colors.

I'll post Raven's hat when she's finished.