It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 10: New Year, New Yarn, New Thread!

[QuantumWeatherButterfly]

Time for a new thread for all the lovely yarn crafters!

Old thread here: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/artsandcrafts/4557189-its-crochet-knit-natter-9-so-many-projects-so-little-time-oh-well-i-almost-made-it-rhymee_

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound I was at the first yarnfolk at whitehead but didn’t make any of the others, I am at the opposite end of the country in Cork but have spent quite a bit of time in Belfast over the last few years.

@GlowWine - I love your scarf!!! And those mice are awesome, @aplo !

I did my spinning demo in the school hall at lunch time today. Between 50 and 60 students came!

Wow, that’s fantastic @Fairislefandango! I wonder how busy your next craft club will be?! Did anyone want a go?

I’m currently in a game of yarn chicken. I definitely won’t have enough of the yarn I spun to do the ribbing but if I’m lucky, I might just have enough to finish the body. Then I’ll have to decide how to finish it but for now, it’s me against a small ball of wool and I’m feeling confident…

I let two of my youngest have a go, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound ! One of them (11yo Chinese violin prodigy) was astonishingly competent for a first attempt. The other one... not so much .

Also... finished my handspun alpaca hat! I love how each colour was from a different alpaca. The kids liked that too - they asked loads of questions! I don't often bother blocking, but the crown of the hat definitely needed it. Faux fur bobble to be added when dry! It's on a balloon sitting on a pint glass

That’s brilliant

Your hat is class! I love all the colours and it looks really good, a Pom Pom will finish it perfectly

We were at a wedding yesterday so my ears are still ringing this morning and DS2 has a class birthday party to go to at 11. I’m looking forward to getting home and curling up and knitting and snoozing

I've been awake since 5:20 for no good reason. I feel like I've done half a day already. Plus ominous sore throat. Going to go on a bracing dog walk with dh to blow the cobwebs and germs away! Then I might start MIL's hat and decide on a pattern for dd's jumper. I have plenty of yarn for the former, but will have to buy some for the latter. She wants aran weight in bottle green. I'm looking forward to having a browse obvs, but suggestions welcome!

Hmmm... I've just looked at Lettlopi in bottle green heather. Anyone used Lettlopi?

I’ve made a hiking jacket from it, it depends on her tolerance for ‘itchy’ wool but you’d definitely need something under it. It’s very light and water beads on it if it gets splashed and it dries really quickly.

I like it but my DM and DH hate it

Gorgeous hat, @Fairislefandango - please tell me you'll burst the balloon to get it off, like it was papier-mâché!

I finished the first panel of my poncho yesterday. Or at least, I think it did. I'm going to measure it against an existing one I have to double check I'm happy with the size, if not I'll rejoin and do another repeat. I don't really want to though - if I need to do another repeat, I'll need more yarn and I already bought 2 extra, which will absolutely get used.

It's not quite a perfect rectangle, it grows a bit as it goes down, which reflects my struggles with the tension, but I don't think that will be visible when it's worn.

I'll try and get a progress photo later - I tried yesterday but the cat kept trying to sit on it, and if he gets is claws into it, it'll be ruined.

Progress photo! I've realised I can add another repeat into the bottom after the shoulders are connected, if I need to. So I'm going to press on with the second panel, join it up, try it on and see how I feel.

I've used pretty much 5 100g balls so it will already weigh 1kg. I don't really want it to be any heavier!

Ah - thanks @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound . She has very little tolerance for itchiness!

Cool poncho @QuantumWeatherButterfly - I love a poncho! I hadn't actually got as far as thinking about how to get the balloon out of the hat, but it's probably best to pop it in order to avoid overstretching the brim! The cat will be unimpressed though!

Oo lovely things! Lovely scarf @GlowWine . Lovely poncho @QuantumWeatherButterfly . Lovely mice in a suitcase.

Brilliant hat @Fairislefandango . I LOVE it. Fab about your demo too. All my girls at school have started crocheting. They're better than me which isn't hard. I can't persuade them to knit.

Right... after an exhaustive browse through my stash, I've realised I actually don't have any aran weight yarn to make MIL's hat! I'm considering using dk doubled, but I've actually never knitted with a double strand before- will 2xdk = aran? And what effect if any will knitting it double have on the texture of a cable hat? It's this pattern. Advice gratefully received!

@Fairislefandango 2 strands of DK is roughly equivalent to aran. I've crocheted it, its fine. They get a bit twisted if that would bother you. That alpaca hat is lovely. I've got 2 balls of lettilopi. It's itchy as fuck which is probably why I've never used them.

@GlowWine that scarf is stunning.

@QuantumWeatherButterfly I love the colours of your poncho.

I'm making a jumper using the yarn I have rather than buying more. But i don't like the pink, mum doesn't either. I've got an olive green in the cupboard that might be better?

Also I've realised that what I call a 'skein' is actually a hank. And what I call a ball is actually a skein. In my defence most of the indy dyers I follow on Instagram say that the yarn will be delivered as a skein, or they can wind it into a ball for an extra charge. And then what arrives is apparently actually called a hank. Maybe its a British/American thing.

Picture of the jumper so far

I think it will work fine @Fairislefandango

I’ve used this method to work it out @Fairislefandango www.susannawinter.net/amp/2019/12/20/math-for-knitters-knitting-with-yarn-held-double

Gorgeous colours @QuantumWeatherButterfly! I like how they’ve worked tougher!

Love seeing all the work on here. I've just finished sewing in all the ends on my dune blanket. Just the border to do.
Does anybody have/use one of those lights you wear round your neck? Can anyone recommend one?

I've got one, @VittysCardigan - I think we talked about them on an early one of these threads. Dh calls it my boob light . I just looked my order up on Amazon, but it's a broken link - they obviously don't sell that one any more. It was called a rechargeable LED book light. I don't use it that often any more, as the lighting in our living room is better than it used to be!

I'm considering one too, @VittysCardigan - DH has taken to turning off most of the lights when we watch TV because the back lamps reflect on the screen. It is seriously curtailing my crocheting!

I've got one. It's most helpful when knitting with black and also for reading patterns when everyone is watching TV with the lights low. I don't use it all the time but over the year or two I've had it, it does come out of the bag fairly regularly. DS also likes it for reading at night when he's got a cold and can't sleep.

I've cast on MIL's hat. I'm using yarn she gave me, actually! When they were sorting out dh's great auntie's stuff after she died, there was lots of knitting stuff, some of which I ended up with. The yarn could well be decades old - it's branded Jaeger (who I didn't know sold yarn, only clothes!) but on the small print on the label it says Sirdar. It's a soft marled blue wool and silk blend.

Oh I was wrong - this isn't the Jaeger yarn, that was a different one from great auntie. This one's Sirdar Balmoral - I imagine it is a long time since they made it!

Wearing my favourite thing I've ever knitted today

Argh, just lost a long message when attaching a photo. So I will post separately.

I have just finished my first sock, using yarn that I had lying around for years, another impulse buy from Germany. It's self-patterning specifically for socks, and only works properly if knitting top down. You're supposed to cut of the yellow section at the start but I decided to turn that into a cast-on feature.
I find casting on for toe-up really really hard, so my first attempt at top down socks has taught me they're a bit easier to finishs at the toe.