More Than Just a Hat

Forest

More hats. So what is special about these hats? The yarn! They are from Patty at Sporfarm in The Dalles, Oregon.

Vineyard is hand-spun merino, fingering weight. Forest is wool, closer to worsted weight. Sporfarm yarns have beautiful colors and are a joy to knit with. I have a little of each left over that will show up in some other project.


The pattern is Heads are Round, a great, all-purpose top-down hat pattern. They look a little pointy-headed on my “model” but they fit very well on a real head.

Vineyard

More Shetland Lace

Shetland lace is one of the most beautiful techniques in knitting. This new book, A Legacy of Shetland Lace, is about more than just knitting. It has history, tradition, personal stories, and culture as well as knitting. I especially like the stories of the knitters who have patterns in the book.

The book is great as a stand-alone story of Shetland knitting. But if you love Shetland lace, your library also must include Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller; Shetland Lace by Gladys Amedro; and The Art of Shetland Lace by Sarah Don. The new publication is a wonderful addition to our knowledge and love of Shetland lace.

The only problem I have with A Legacy of Shetland Lace is deciding which pattern to knit first.

Deep in the Forest

I do not wear mittens. I do not like stranded knitting. But when I saw these mittens, I had to knit them. I actually knit three mittens. The first one was way too big so I took it out, made some changes, and re-knit it, along with a mate. They are still big but wearable (not that I wear mittens but if I did, I would wear these).

The pattern is Deep in the Forest by Tuulia Salmela. The yarn is Jamieson’s Spindrift in Natural White and Pine.

Now the changes I made: Provisional cast-on of 60 stitches on 2mm needles. Completed the cuff, folded it, removed the provisional cast-on and knit the two ends of the cuff together. Then I  knit 1 round, increasing to 70 stitches. At this point, I changed to 2.5mm needles and knit the rest of the mitten as written.

I did not find the chart difficult to follow, but I did copy and increase the chart to 11” x 17” paper.

I really like the Latvian braid at the cuff. I would use this again sometime, maybe on a hat? I wear hats. But not mittens.