Sunday, September 23, 2012

Love–Hate

Pattern: Heads are Round
from the Top Down by
Christy Cooper
I usually don’t say much about hats and similar items, and this post is not about hats. It is about the yarn. Which I love. And hate.

The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Rittenhouse merino 5-ply.

This is what I like:
  • Manos is a non-profit organization that promotes economic and social opportunities for rural women through yarn. Each of the two skeins I bought included information on the village and the artisan.
  • The colors are gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.
  • The yarn is soft and lovely to knit with.

What I hate:
  • Knots. Each skein had at least two knots. Grrrrrrrrrr.
  • The yarn stretches a lot when washed and blocked. I ended up ripping out each hat and re-knitting it with fewer stitches. Yes, I could have swatched. But I have knit dozens and dozens of hats with all kinds of yarn and have never seen one that stretches this much. And I am a tight knitter; I knit these on US4 needles.

I wish the “loves” clearly outweighed the “hates,” but I am not sure.

Boyfriend Hat by
Stephanie Nicole


Sunday, September 09, 2012

Fair Results

Happy times for me at this year’s Western Washington Fair in Puyallup.

Jessica’s shawl
Large doily
Scarf
Small doily

Summary: three blue ribbons (first place) and one red ribbon (second place).

No, we did not try deep-fried butter. It makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it. What next?