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

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?