Brick Sidewalk Beanie from fibre space--Day 1

Switcheroo...

For this DestiKNITion, we’re going to tackle the project first, and then feature the store and adventures.

Project first? Why’d I switch things up like that? 

It’s because fibre space, our DC yarn shop, is in the middle of a location change. It didn’t make much sense to give you all the information in the midst of their move, so we’re going to give them some time to settle in and introduce you to the shop and its neighborhood afterward.

So, on to our project.

I love hats. I’m not especially fond of wearing them—they always do terrible things to my hair—but I do love to knit them. Their short, sweet, and stylish, less complicated than socks or mittens, but just as fun to have around.  In a town like Chicago, a good warm hat is a marvelous thing.  One that recalls a fun adventure is just that much more marvelous.

The Brick Sidewalk Beanie launches with something a step up from ordinary ribbing. The fisherman’s rib, with its alterations of knit/purl rectangles between ktbl rows does indeed give you the feeling of a brick sidewalk—especially in the reddish brown color of Neighborhood Fibre Co. superwash marino yarn I’ve chosen. 

This texture detail will continue up just one portion of the full hat, but circles all the way around the brim.

This yarn represents the first time I used my new swift and ball winder—purchases from Stitches Midwest. I loved being able to make my own ball without endless hours balancing a hank on my knees or imposing upon my husband to hold his hands up.  I’ve wanted to own one for years, and was delighted to finally make the purchase.

Who knows? Maybe this will become the first hat I love to wear.

Knit Along: Mystery Pattern Neck Comforter from Knitche - Day 4

Oh, NOW I get it...sort of...

Kathy’s been kind enough to explain the intentional pooling concept further. I get it, sort of, but I’m actually quite satisfied not to really get it, because the artist in me enjoys the mystery. But I have to admit, now I’m curious about the “argyle-ish” pattern and have an urge to do it again with something in stockinette just to see what she means. I may need to take her class.

Here’s Kathy:
“For the intentional pooling, basically you are just determining the exact number of stitches (in your chosen stitch pattern, with your chosen needle) that will fit into one repeatable color sequence of the yarn. Pooling happens when colors stack from one row to the next, so if we plan it out we can capitalize on this to create an interesting pattern. For the neck scarf, we are using 1/2 the "magic number" for a full repeat of the color sequence for Lorna's Laces worsted. Fisherman's Rib effectively stacks every other row (because of the slipped stitches and purl troughs) so we still get the pooling with this number. If we had knit stockinette, we would also get an interesting color pattern, but it would be more like argyle. This technique only works for yarns dyed in a repeatable sequence (i.e. dip or kettle-dyed, or painted in wide bands across the skein).”

Whether or not this clears up the concept for you, I hope you give the pattern a try. I’m having loads of fun watching the color stack up. Kind of like tie-die without the mess. I love the big splashes of pooling separated by a band of stripes and then back to big color splashes. And I love that we’ve transformed a problem into an asset. If only we could pull that off in life as well as we have in this yarn.