Hats Off

Hello:

I've been working on some hats this month.  The first two are newborn hats for the Shaken Baby charity.  I took the stitch pattern from the last baby blanket square (pattern 4) from the 2014 Mystery Blanket KAL I am doing with a bunch of people in Gryffindor.  I love how chunky this ribbing looks.  It reminds me of corrugated metal.

I worked the stitch pattern into the round, then came up with two different tops.  The first one is a simple swirl top.

For the second hat, I did a more complicated decrease pattern. 

I'm not sure which I like better.  I hope to write this pattern up with both of the tops.  It is very stretchy, and would make a nice adult hat, too, especially for a boy or man.

I also finished my test knit for the Eastside Hat designed by Vanesa Polo.  This hat pattern will be handed out during Vogue Knitting Live Seattle/Bellevue at the Eastside Knitters Guild Booth.

The pattern is very well written and easy to follow.  My hat came out a bit big, but not because of the pattern.  I knit quite a few extra rounds of the ribbing.  I wanted a large hat because I hope to give it to my nephew.  I gave him a hat at Christmas, but it was way too small.  He had to pass it on to his little sister.  He was due another hat, and much bigger this time.  If this hat is just way too big, he can always fold up the brim!

I love the cable pattern on this hat.  I used Black Water Abbey Yarn that I bought at Madrona.  It is a big rough... ok, it feels a bit like a scouring pad, but I am hoping with washing, it will soften.

I am almost finished with the 2nd pair of socks for my brother.  All I need to do is kitchener the toes.  I am headed down to So. Cal tomorrow morning to stay with him for about a week.  I need to get those toes sewed together.

I will report here on how he and the family are doing.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a warm head.

Imperial Yarn, The Olympic Sweater, and Tolt Yarn and Wool

Hello:

I had such a great day today.  I picked up Skeinherder at about 9:30 this morning, there was just a bit of snow falling mixed with the drizzling rain on the Plateau, and we headed east to Tolt Yarn and Wool in Carnation, WA.  Skeinherder is about half way there for me, so it was a quick drive up the hill and through the woods  and across a river (ha ha ha first, I had to drive around a lake to get to Skeinherder's house).

When we arrived at the yarn shop, it was not crowded, probably because it was about 10 am.  We were able to find street parking right across from the shop.

We wanted to get there early to shop while things were quiet.  We had plans to meet up with BlueBerryMary, Puzan, and JitteryKnitter for lunch at the mexican restaurant nearby, and then listen to the Imperial Yarn presentation at 2 pm. 

There was a "yarn tasting" table set up with the different weights of Imperial Yarn.

They have a lovely light sport weight that tempted me, but I ended up buying 2 skeins of their worsted weight.  They also have great pattern support.  I don't have photos of the patterns, but there was a sweater everyone was gaga over, and another poncho that was gorgeous. 

Tolt has a nice amount of Imperial Yarn regularly in their store in quite a few colors,

They had extra for the event, and were offering 10% off.

They had 3 drawings for yarn and a pattern, and then a Big Drawing at the end for a sweater's worth of yarn. 

We left before the last drawing, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!! 

We had a nice lunch and came back to find the store quite a bit more crowded.

We snagged chairs near the screen, and began to knit while we waited for the talk to begin.  I brought the Eastside Hat that I am test knitting for VanesaPolo.  And, just in time! people gathered in the back of this lovely store to hear Jeanne Carver tell us about the ranch, the wool, the yarn, and the Olympic Sweater.  It was a full crowd.

The slide show was stunning.  Jeanne speaks eloquently about their commitment to the land, the animals and sustainability.  She talked about salmon streams, and no-tilt farming, and what has happened to wool production in the United States.  I can not tell you how inspiring this was.  She played the video the Ralph Lauren company produced about the making of the Sweater. 

Then she brought out the sweater knit with yarn made from wool from her ranch in Oregon, spun at Kraemer Yarns in Pennsylvania, dyed at Longview Yarns in North Carolina, and sewn at Ball of Cotton in California.

Whatever you might think about the sweater's design, it has helped to shine a light on the fact that there IS a yarn industry in the United States.  The yarn is wonderful.  And we should do what we can to support and encourage more yarn production right here at home.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with Imperial Yarn.