November 14, 2005
Sedona Is Looking Pretty Good Right About Now
A month ago we were in a helicopter, soaring through the magnificence of the Grand Canyon. This Sunday we (okay, mostly TMK, because I'm a princess and I melt) stood in a bone-chilling and breezy rain, loaded the truck up with the ironing board and the pieces of a car door that some frickin' bozo had tossed onto my property, and then took it all to the city dump. Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
On the (very) up side, we spent Saturday evening with PinkPurlGrrl and her partner Bling, otherwise known as Elaine and Leslie, chowing down on Azteca’s finest and indulging in lots of girl talk. You know how these things are—those scary, tentative, initial getting-to-know-you meetings, when you either click or you don’t? Well, our plates and the check and the credit cards and the money were long gone, and our Cokes and iced teas had been filled and refilled and refilled again and drained yet again to the last drops of ice water, and a remarkable three hours of non-stop talking had passed before I—yes, I, the ultimate extrovert, the ultimate socializer, the ultimate gabber—pooped out on everyone. What a blast! Elaine, I look forward to seeing you at Guild on Wednesday!
My knitting challenge this weekend: What do you do when someone gives you some luscious superbulky yarn—but the skein contains a scant 25 yards, not enough to make any one particular thing? You make a Dulaan hat with a bright, variegated, superbulky brim and an aquamarine bulky Lopi crown.
This hat was a hoot to knit. I cast on 32 stitches for the brim, ribbed a few rows, made a turn row, and then picked up 66 stitches in the Lopi and knit the rest of the hat. I was partly inspired by Janine’s latest creation, which had the same bulky-brim feel even though it was made completely differently.
(I do have to ask, though, what is the deal with Lopi, people? I find it the itchiest yarn ever—a wool-hater's nightmare—yet some knitters swear by it. I jus' don’ get it, mon. But, hey, it was free, it was blue, it matched one of the variegated colors in the superbulky, it was destined to be used in this hat.)
And, ever since I discovered (a) how easy it was to churn out Cloud Hats and (b) that you can buy mohair relatively inexpensively when you wind it off a bulk cone, I seem to have gone completely mohair crazy. (I suspect I will eventually end up in the special, secret wing of the Betty Ford clinic. You know what I’m talking about. Some of you have even been there. Some of you are there right now, and are breaking curfew to read this blog, which is against the rules and you know it.)
After a quick trip to Weaving Works, I combined these two yarns, my newly acquired, jewel-tone, variegated, off-the-cone mohair and some freebie, cream-colored, worsted wool I had in my stash...
...to make this, my fourth Cloud Hat (the colors in this picture are pretty accurate; that mohair was bright!):
Again, loads of fun to knit. And fast!
And, apparently, I wasn’t done with the mohair. After churning out the superbulky hat and Cloud Hat #4, I immediately grabbed some freebie purple mohair I had in my stash and some variations-on-purple bulky yarn and used a slightly modified version of this pattern to make this:
Help me stop!!!
(P.S. A note to local knitters: I learned recently that the Knit Lit authors Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf will be doing readings from the book Knit Lit the Third, this Tuesday, November 15, at 7:00 PM, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. Here are the details on the Third Place Books site.)
Posted by Ryan at November 14, 2005 12:08 PM
I am awed by those Cloud Hats. I have some old, odd ball mohair in my stash that I am eager to use up. Your color combo is marvelous Ryan, and gives me encouragement to try combinations. And the mittens are great--and the mohair would be perfect to soften those little "gaps" that I always seem to have when I join the thumbs! (Thanks for the pattern.) As for Lopi, it DOES soften a bit when washed, the colors are pretty nice, and it is very, very warm, but frankly, I'm with you--I don't understand the "hype" about it.
I'd love to go to Third Place, but can't this Tuesday-waaaaaaHhhhhh!
But I WILL be at Guild! Mary B
P.S. Still no word from Meridith? I'm feeling like I need a little "kick in the tush" for my Dulaan knitting that only inspiring photos of the recipients will bring...
Posted by: Mary B on November 14, 2005 12:29 PMLopi felts really well. Makes a very firm fabric. Shave off those itchies.
Before Emily came home, I rediscovered knitting via 4 balls of denim-colored Lopi I ran across at a yard sale. My eyes glazed over. The rest is history. I spent awhile remembering how to knit while turning the Lopi into a 3 color jacket in a 3 year old size, which she understandably has refused to wear other than the 30 seconds I put it on her to take a picture. She had her face screwed up in a whine the whole time.
Posted by: CarolineF on November 14, 2005 12:35 PMMaryB, the mohair goes a looooong way. I bought 2 oz at Weaving Works, and probably used 3/4 oz for the Cloud Hat. I have a lot left!
I can only keep my fingers crossed for info from Meredith. She knows we need/want photos and assures me she will be sending some, but she's very busy ramping the Flagstaff office back up again after her trip to Mongolia. If you're feeling more inspired to knit for another charity in the meantime, more power to ya'. There's a lot of need everywhere out there!
Posted by: Ryan on November 14, 2005 12:36 PMMy knitting heart belongs to Dulaan! I have plenty of Christmas knitting to keep me busy till we hear from Meredith. I'm almost done with Reid's sweater, and my goal is to have it done and bring it to Guild on Wednesday..wish me luck. Mary B
Posted by: Mary B on November 14, 2005 01:00 PMLove the hat! Sometimes I'm afraid to play with color, but that hat makes me want to see what I can come up with from my stash.
Wednesday & Guild: If I can clone myself I'll come, but I forgot that it is the same night as the massive birthday bash at Bucca's. BLINGs birthday is Tuesday and we are combining it with two other birthday girls and going out on the town. Can I start fresh in January?
Posted by: Elaine on November 14, 2005 01:25 PMHeck, yeah, Elaine. Come whenever. Guild usually runs 2, 2.5 hours, so I don't think you'd be able to squeeze everything in.
And, yeah, the Cloud Hat is a great way to have fun with color, use up some stash, and whip out those hats, one, two, three!!! (Er, and four, in my case...)
Posted by: Ryan on November 14, 2005 01:35 PMOh I miss Azteca's. Mole Cajete...yumm
Posted by: Jayme on November 14, 2005 01:51 PMWell, DAMN, I love those knits. And I want the low-down on where to get mohair off-the-cone cheap. I wanna do some of these!
I, too, have that big question about the Lopi. I have three balls of it that my secret pal sent me, and it's lovely-looking stuff, but this weekend when I was doing the mitten, I was worried about running out of the LP Bulky, so I added in some of that Lopi. It was like working with razor wire. I had visions of some little cold kid saying, "NOOOOOO! I'd rather be cold!" so I kept the stripe of it short, just enough to extend the LP. Yeep. I think I'll use the rest of the Lopi to make a vest which, hopefully, will be worn over something else.
Posted by: Norma on November 14, 2005 02:25 PMMy five-year-old was "reading" over my shoulder and shouted out "Ooo! that's really pretty!" when he saw the cloud hat. He then, as five-year-olds are wont to do, began begging for one of his own. "Because it's getting cold, Mommy. I need a hat."
I guess that means I'll have to make (at least) two--one for him and one for some five-year-old in MongoLEEa. Gosh, twist my arm, why dontcha?
Posted by: Kirsten on November 14, 2005 03:25 PMKirsten, the fun thing about the cloud hats is that you can mix any mohair with any worsted and the results are always surprising. As I wrote in my pattern, "Try different combinations of yarn: White or off-white mohair with single-color worsted; white or off-white mohair with bright variegated worsted; dyed mohair with a complementary, contrasting, matching, lighter, or darker worsted; variegated mohair with white worsted; you can even try stripes!" Knock yerself out!
Posted by: Ryan on November 14, 2005 03:38 PMLove BOTH hats ... and those PURpLe mittens are wonderful!
Not going to be there on Tuesday, but I will be flying in your general direction on the 21st and spending a week on a (not so) hidden island near Port Townsend. Very much looking forward to the air. And we're going to the ocean!
Posted by: Sara* on November 14, 2005 06:24 PMI can get mohair off the cone at Weaving Works? I'm bound for Cloud nine!
Posted by: reb on November 14, 2005 09:31 PMNice Knits. Love the multi-ultra-bulky trimmed Lopi hat.
I hear ya on the Lopi. My favorite bulky wool yarn is Gjestal Naturgarn. Elann carries it once or twice a year. It's not super-soft, but it's much nicer than Lopi. Alfossi Lopi is nice, too. I end up using Lopi fairly often when the Gjestal runs out because I can get if locally. Lopi felts nicely and I like it's post-felting texture better than that of Lamb's Pride.
Posted by: Margot on November 15, 2005 08:54 AMSo you threw away your ironing board, eh? Drove it right off to the dump. How I admire you -- no more ironing for you! More time for knitting ; ) Do you plan to buy wrinkle-resistant clothing and get it out of the dryer while it's still hot, or are you going to be proudly wrinkled from now on?
Posted by: Carla on November 15, 2005 12:22 PMOh, no, Carla, MY ironing board is safe in my bedroom closet so I can haul it out the one or two times I iron every year (gotta love that Bounce and that wrinkle-free fiber technology). This ironing board came from some jackass who drove up the road and just flung a pile of crap in front of my house. I just can't wrap my head around that kind of mentality! We actually saw someone do this to TMK's neighbor across the street. A truck just drove up, a pile of stuff was thrown by the neighbor's hedge, and the truck drove off. We're still shaking our heads about THAT one.
Posted by: Ryan on November 15, 2005 01:01 PMHey, local author Kathryn T will also be there to read her story from the book!
Posted by: perclexed on November 15, 2005 03:53 PMI like Lopi. There ya go. It varies a lot, and I find the more natural colours (sheepy pale brown, for example) are softer than others. Lots of twigs sometimes, but I bet you can find more twigs in a ball of Kureyon! And it's so warm and nice to wear in the winter. Not to mention it's pretty cheap!
And you can make those felted birdhouses out of it! ;)