Category: Accessories

  • winter white

    Twitter tells me “winter white” is creamier and warmer than “regular” (bright) white. Google tells me that winter white is just wearing white in the winter, bucking the old admonishment not to wear white after Labour Day. Also, that it’s a type of hamster.

    The first two apply pretty well to the Soliton Cowl I just cast on, I think! (Not so much with the hamster.)

    Soliton cowl

    The Malabrigo Twist I used for the original is pretty chunky. This merino is on the thinner side of worsted though, so I’m holding 2 strands together. I think I cast on a few extra stitches too – you can do the pattern over any number of stitches, which makes it very easy to customize. I’m doing 131 stitches, and upped the needle size to 6.5mm (US 10.5). I have so many projects on the needles right now I had to break out my old Denise set for this one! It’s a gift, and I think (hope) the recipient will like and wear it.

    merino from the spinning mill

    I bought this 8oz skein at Rhinebeck at least 3 years ago (or so) from The Spinning Mill – they don’t seem to have an online presence, though they’re still listed on the Rhinebeck website as a vendor. It’s really lovely yarn, just nicely spun, smooth, and with good twist. It was a steal at $18 for 500 yards! Next Rhinebeck I’ll have to make a point of checking them out again.

  • Lamplight Hat

    Lamplight Hat

    Lamplight Hat

    It’s been ages since I finished this hat, but it’s finally time to release the pattern! The Lamplight Hat is a slouchy toque with a fun Latvian Braid and original stranded colourwork pattern. It’s ever so soft in madelinetosh pashmina!

    3 page PDF pattern with colourwork charts and abbreviations, available for $5.50 CAD.

    Check out the pattern page.
    Queue and fave on Ravelry!

  • WIP/RIP: a surprise

    (For those that aren’t familiar with the term, WIP means Work In Progress!)

    cashmere tank

    This was actually the first project that I took out, with the intention of ripping it out – it’s a cashmere tank, meant as long underwear, that I started in 2007! Thank goodness for Ravelry notes, I should probably update my notebook more often…

    Anyway, I pretty much finished it except for the armhole trims, but I just wasn’t feeling it. The yarn is Habu laceweight cashmere, held double – I think I had bought 5 tiny skeins. It wasn’t quite enough, and the body was too short. But the yarn was super duper soft and light, so I started ripping.

    cashmere tank

    I took out the shoulders (three needle bind off) and ripped out the upper front and back, then looked at it and thought…there’s all this knitting in this piece, can I turn it into something else? It has a bit of waist shaping, but I decided it would make a perfectly lovely plain cowl. Ravelry to the rescue again – I didn’t know what needle size I’d used but I actually had it on the project page! Whew.

    cashmere tank

    So it’s back on the needles now and I’ve knit an inch or so. I’ll go until I’m almost out of yarn, then knit a couple garter ridges before binding off. I’m really inspired by Alabama Chanin stuff right now (I’ve been devouring the third book and plotting my summer sewing) so I might actually do some embroidery or other embellishment on the fabric when it’s done. I was pretty surprised at myself for continuing on with this yarn, after all the intention was to have fewer projects on the needles! But the other projects I ripped out were pretty pleasing on that end, and who doesn’t need a cashmere cowl?

    P.S. I did an interview with Michelle Treese last week – you can read it here!