Projects – Page 6 – Hazel Purls

Crepe Yarn in Progress

It’s been a while since I last made a blog post. Various reasons, including the continued poor weather. Even though it’s now March and the crocuses and the early daffodils are up, we are still having cold, snowy, frosty and grey days. Sadly this makes taking pictures tricky. However, the sun finally came out briefly yesterday afternoon, so I’ve been able to take pictures of work in progress.

A few weeks ago I received a lovely spinning book for my birthday. It’s The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs by Sarah Anderson:

Yes, I did just grab that image from the preview on Amazon’s site.

The book’s absolutely brilliant. Full of inspiring techniques and ideas for yarn constructions I’ve not come across before. I love the clear diagrams that show the construction of a yarn at a glance. My first project inspired by this is a 3 ply yarn, with a construction similar to a cabled yarn. It’s called a Crepe yarn. 2 singles are spun in one direction, then plied. Then a second single is spun in the plied direction and plied with the original 2 ply. Are you still following? No? The “at a glance” diagram would really help here – which is one reason the book is so brilliant.

I’m spinning this with a thick single from my dyed BFL (the pinky/orange one), here it is a few weeks ago:

and two thin singles of natural white Shetland. I was aiming at a Bubble or Rickrack Crepe yarn, but I don’t think there’s enough difference in the thickness of the singles. At the two ply stage I have two almost full bobbins of yarn. However, I don’t have enough bobbins for the wheel I’m using for this spinning, so have wound the 2-ply off into skeins:

As there’s a lot of unbalanced twist in this 2-ply, the skeins are a little like super-scrunchies. I’m sure there are good reasons not to handle the yarn-in-progress in this way, but I’m afraid I don’t know them (a little knowledge at this stage may be a dangerous thing). At the moment I’m working on the second white single. When I ply I’ll put each skein onto my swift and ply from the swift and a bobbin. I’ve not done this before! It could all turn into a huge tangle of wild yarn!

Beaded knitting

I’ve started to add the beads to the cowl. It was quite difficult to know where to start and how to place them. Should I place them randomly or in a pattern? I’ve decided to place them in regular pattern because it’s very difficult to create a truly random design. As I’ve not added the beads onto the yarn already I’m adding them by using a very fine crochet hook to slide the bead onto the live stitch.

Beyond this current round I’ve not made any further decisions. I’m designing this as I’m knitting it, making it up as I go along. I’m enjoying the freedom. There is however one catch: if I make a mistake it’s likely to remain as the yarn doesn’t really like being unravelled.

Finish, start, start!

Sometime ago I dyed some Blue Faced Leicester, hung it up to dry, made the tops into a chain and then started to spin it. It’s finally finished. I decided to Navaho ply this and created two skeins. In total there are about 490 yards:

As I’ve finished lots of projects recently, it’s time to start some new ones. First I’ve started to spin the last batch of BFL I dyed – this is the pinky-orange tops as a single:

I’ve also started to knit a Moebius cowl:

This final project is being knitted in some Rico Poems yarn. I bought the yarn because it was in a lovely range of colours and then put it in my stash until I found a project worthy of the lovely yarn. At least I thought the yarn was lovely until I got it out and tried to use it.

I tried Tunisian crochet with it, worked a few stitches and noticed that the yarn was twisting up, so decided that knitting it would be best. I rewound the ball and put it into my work-basket.

A few days later I realised that this was a mistake, the ball was starting to come apart. I tried to rewind it, then put it into a plastic zip bag for sorting out later. Later came while staying at my Mum’s. I fished the yarn out and asked to borrow the ball winder.

At this stage the ball decided it was going to be two balls, with random loops of yarn in between and twisting around. It took two knitter’s about half an hour to tame the run-away ball into two neat re-wound balls.

I decided that the new project would be a Moebius cowl. I found the instructions and a long cord for my needles and cast on (and on). The cast on was lovely and easy, but the next row was hard work. However, after a very long time I got through it (though noticed that the yarn was fluffing up from the work, which was surprising for a sock yarn). Undaunted I’ve carried on and now it’s starting to look rather lovely However, I did notice I had managed to knit two stitches together at one stage, now fixed by dropping the stitches down a few rows and re-working them back up. The yarn is also still twisting up really badly and periodically I hang the loop of knitting down and gently untwist it (one time I untwisted a little too far and the yarn drafted apart).

I’ve decided after all these problems that this cowl is going to have to look gorgeous. In addition to the colour I think it needs something glittery, so I’m going to add beads. What could possibly go wrong (it’s the first time I’ve added beads to knitting)?

Work in progress

Having started January with completed projects, I thought it was time to share things that are on the wheel, spindle, needles or loom.

Clockwise from top left (more or less) are:

An alteration to a jumper to make it more suitable for my daughter. So far I’ve taken most of the blue bands off and repaired the moth holes.
Blue BFL singles on the bobbins. The singles are completed but it’s not yet plied.
Shetland and soya fibre drum carded batts and three bobbins of singles.
A project to convert some soft-spun chunky singles into three-ply yarn. I’ve lightly unspun the commercial chunky yarn and turned it into pencil roving that can be drafted and spun finely. In hind-sight I should possibly have given the chunky yarn to a knitter who would have enjoyed it and bought myself some more top.
Soay-cross fibre. Processed from the raw fleece by me. I’ve got about 10 oz drum carded. It needs carding into rolags and can then be spun. The final destination of this may be a shawl.
Jacob yarn. This is an early yarn of mine – it’s currently being knitted into a shawl (not shown).
Chunky orange, blue and red Pie-R-Square shawl. I seem to have endless balls of this yarn.
Pair of socks. All I need to do is finish off the toes.
Spindle spun blue Shetland.
(Not shown) Cambridge Beauty overshot weaving that’s currently on my 4-shaft loom.

I think that’s everything. But there may be another project or two lurking in the bottom of a box.

I’ve got lots to finish off then!

Inspiration

I’ve just been scrabbling around in my stash looking for a particular ball of yarn. I have a plan for it and I’d like to try a little sample. While I was sorting through the six large boxes of stash that lurk under the stairs, I knocked the top of a hatbox (containing drum carded fibre all ready for another project) and stuffed in with the fibre was a large bag of dried lavender flowers. I’d been looking for that before Christmas. I bought it during the summer and knew I’d put it in with my stash (it may as well be deterring moths while being stored) but then I couldn’t figure out where in my stash I’d popped it (I thought it was with some fibre stashed under the bed).

While writing this I’ve realised that I’ve got quite a lot of stash (under the stairs, under the bed, fleece in the garage and utility room) and quite a bit of craft equipment dotted around the house (in my “study” equipment is contributing to the problem of accessing my book shelves and I have two spinning wheels in the bedroom). It’s rather lovely to be surrounded by the means and the supplies to make things. All I need to add is inspiration and time!

Last but not least

A little while ago I said my bamboo shawl was finally finished and off the loom. It took another week or two, but I eventually tackled trimming the fringe (I can thoroughly recommend checked table-cloths for this activity, with a towel on the item to hold it still while cutting).

I then asked my Mum to be my photographer (thank you Mum!) while we stood outside in the surprisingly mild January sunshine. As you can see in the first picture, the start and the end of the shawl are at a very different gauge. However, I’ll never wear it like this. As you can see in the second picture, the difference doesn’t matter.

I really like the way that the fabric drapes. It’s lovely and soft. However, the bamboo is very slippery and for a future project I would like to combine it with wool for a more stable fabric.

I know that you are now in shock – three finished objects all in a row (ok, I know one wasn’t really mine)! Don’t worry, normal service will be resumed with only WIPs and UFOs for quite a while!

Sparrow Wings

I’m lucky with the spinning; if I finish a yarn I don’t want to use, then I know plenty of people the yarn can be passed onto.

When I finished my BFL I knew that I didn’t want to make anything for me with it. The yarn was lovely and everyone else loved the colour. So I gave it my mum. In no time at all she’d knitted a mini-wingspan with it:

She cast-on half the number of stitches specified in the pattern and worked until the yarn had almost run out. She then worked an i-cord cast-off on the neck-edge of the resulting shawlette.

We love the way the pattern shows off the subtle colour variations in the yarn.

Rare, very rare and a couple of firsts!

If you look at the categories for this blog and find “Projects – Completed” there are, at the time of writing this, exactly 7 (and one of those is an Almost Finished Object, and some others are skeins of yarn). So an actual finished garment or accessory is a rare thing.

Even more rare is that this took me only 10 days to make! Most projects take me years.

And the firsts? It’s something for me to wear (I’m wearing it now in my study while I type this)! I have made things for me to wear in the past – but they predate this blog by years and are also very rare. The other first is that I’m modelling it:

Now you’re recovered from the shock, here’s a close up of the Tunisian crochet:

I really love the way the basic Tunisian stitch makes the colours of the variegated yarn work. It allows the colours to mesh together in the same way that weaving does, and therefore makes them more complex.

The stitch itself is quite strange. If you look closely at the fabric you’ll find that it’s a knitted fabric with a chain stitch wrapped around each knit stitch. The bars you can see in the picture above are one leg of the knit stitch, the other leg is wrapped within the chain stitch. (So the chain goes both through and round the knit stitch).

On the back of the fabric (not shown here) you’ll see the classic bumps of reverse stocking stitch, but between each pair of rows there bumps from the back of the chain.

Working Tunisian crochet requires a hook that is much larger than you would normally use for knitting or crochet. To work this chunky yarn I used a 10mm hook – even though the ball band recommended a 6mm needle.

I enjoyed working on this. I enjoyed the speed and simplicity of the project. I also love the feel of the finished fabric. I think there will be more Tunisian crochet projects in the future.

Tunisian Shawl

The Tunisian Crochet Shawl continues to grow. So far it’s proving to be a fast project. I’m finding time everyday to spend working on it, and the yarn and technique make for quick results. So, I’m already on ball six of eight.

It is being worked in Paton’s Eco Wool Chunky in three different shades. I love the way that the Tunisian Simple Stitch makes the colours work in the yarn. However, I had to laugh when I read the inside of the ball-band:

“… has a unique Home Spun character with a soft and lofty handle.”

Here is the shawl with all the stitches picked up ready for the return row:

I’m now desperate for the hook that goes on the knit-pro cable. However, it hadn’t arrived before I went away for a few days. I don’t know how much more I can crochet without it:

… and changing plans

I started tricoting (I may have just made that word up) a scarf last night, and really liked it. This morning I wasn’t so sure. It lacked something, but I liked the way the stitch and yarn worked together. I was also concerned about the number of balls of yarn I have (8) and the likely length of the scarf (very long).

I tried a wider scarf, but still wasn’t struck. However, I liked the look of a shawl in the book I’m using (though there isn’t a pattern for that shawl), so thought I’d try that instead.

I started with five stitches (see notes on casting-on below) and I’m increasing in the same places I would if I was knitting this shawl – increase at each edge and two increases round a centre stitch. The increases are worked on every forward (pick-up) row (including the first one).

Now then. I do have an impending problem:

I don’t know how big I can make this shawl before trying to cram all the stitches onto the needle becomes too difficult. Now I’m a huge fan of circular needles and interchangeable circulars and own a few tricot hooks to which a cord can be added. So I didn’t think I had a problem… but the maximum size of hook that knit-pro do is 8mm. Or at least that’s what I thought – but I’ve just found a supplier who does 10mm and 12mm in the acrylic… so I now have those on order (I wonder when they’ll be shipped).

Hazel’s Tunisian cast-on

To cast on Tunisian crochet the books all say work a chain, and then pick-up stitches along the chain. Not having done much crochet I find I sometimes twist the chain when picking up stitches from it (which I find results in a messy cast-on). However, there is a knitting cast-on that uses just one needle (and it’s a cast-on I use regularly).

Here’s the 10mm tricot hook with a 5.5mm knitting needle held next to it. I found this gave a good size for the initial stitches. The cast-on I’ve used is long-tail cast-on. Once the first row is completed (the reverse or cast-off row completed) the tricot can be pulled to open up the cast-on stitches:

Work can then proceed as normal!