Saturday, January 05, 2008

2008 is Shaping up to be a Year of Knitting

This week I've been on a hat obsession. You saw my knitted and crochet Tams. But the I saw the pattern Three Tams on Knitty and it fit exactly what I was looking for for my first Fair Isle project. Easy Fair Isle!

I used King George a Wool, Alpaca, Cashmere yarn for the Black solid yarn. It was a very soft and luxurious yarn. I had never seen it before, but could see myself using it again.

For the Colorwork - I used Colorchanges by Ironstone. Again, another new yarn to me. Very, very soft - a wool/acrylic mix. I really liked the vibrancy of the colors and pace of the color changes worked well for this hat.

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It was my first time knitting with two yarns. I had been practicing trying to knit American style so I could use both hands when I decided to plung into Fair Isle. It did make it easier than picking up the yarn each time, but it took a while to get used to. Especially in the ribbing, it seem very slow at first.

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But once I started knitting and didn't have to purl it speeded up quite a bit. I found it was very addictive because I wanted to see how each row built out the pattern. Plus - you uncover new colors in the yarn and it's sort of exciting. As a result - I finished it in a couple of days pretty much knitting only on this hat. It was faster than I thought it would be. I'm very happy with it and will make the other 2 versions.

Here is the hat post blocking on my daughter.

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I also wanted to make a hat for my sister but she said she would prefer Calomitery another Knitty pattern. Now this was a fast knit. I started it today while at the hairdressers and made most of it there while getting my hair done! I only knitted a few more rows at home and cast off tonight. I like it and will have to make one for me too. But this one is for Doreen, the new mom.

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4 comments:

Connie said...

I love, love, love the tams! I have several in mind to make this year, but have never seen these, so I will definitely be adding these to my Q!

Virtuous said...

LUV the tam!!
That might be my 1st colorwork project too!!!

You have so just encouraged me to give a go! YAH!

doreen said...

The tam is adorable. Great job on your first colorwork. I'm so impressed not only with the pattern and it's look of complexity in the colorwork but also the fact that you did it on increases and decreases. You go girl!
And you know I LOVE my calorimitry. I cannot wait to get it and wear it. My ears will definantly thank you! You are so sweet to make me a goodie. I feel loved.

Aura said...

Outstanding work, Janet. It's so beautiful. Can't believe you say it was easy. I'd like to give this project a try too. Sometime. The tam looks great on your daughter.