Hedgehog Fibres – Yards of Happiness

Hidden Gems I’ve Knit Before

I’ve been on a quest lately for hats. I know with this crazy weather summer will be here before I know it but I’ve still go hats on the brain. My head is cold since there isn’t much hair to insulate me. LOL And next thing I know it’ll be fall and I still won’t have sufficient hats to keep me warm.
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Over the weekend I started to round up my heavier knits and cleaning up my coat closet in preparation of washing and storing my knits for the summer. I came across this hat tucked into the back of the coat closet. This is the Lucy Hat, an asymetrical worsted weight hat that I’m pretty sure I knit using dk weight back in 2012. Almost 6 years later and this hat still look good because I haven’t worn it a lot in the last few years. I only thought it looked good when I had longer hair but now I’m liking it with this shorter cut. Add in the asymmetry of the hat and it curves down the back of my head where I’m coldest. Winner! Of course I’m immediately thinking of what other colors I should make this in. Perhaps I’ll use some of the Madelinetosh in Cosmic Silver leftover from when I finish my Dotted Rays shawl?
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I’ve also been slowly building up a little stash of Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in fun colors so perhaps one of these could be a pop color (I’ve also got 2 skeins of the fun purple shade called Spell on the way)? And Maryland Sheep and Wool is this weekend and I haven’t really sat down to think of my projects for fall and budget to determine what I want to buy. I like to go to Sheep and Wool with cash and a plan for yardage so I don’t come out with yarn that’s pretty but doesn’t have a purpose. Gaaaah, so much to consider but I definitely know a fun color palette for some new hats is definitely in order.

Stitching Status: Spring Spirit

It has been freezing here in Maryland/DC even after our big snow and it’s definitely not feeling spring like at all. But I know it’s coming and I’m knitting!

Untitled — Jellybean would like to switch to her lighter layers soon.

I’ve still got my Tamsyn neutral sweater on my needles but I haven’t made much progress since I finished my Mom’s sweater. I’m working on the body of a Carbeth for my cousin but on my snow day I couldn’t resist starting something else new for myself that was swirling around in my brain. I have a swing coat I love that I bought from Anthropologie almost 2 years ago now but I’ve always known I could make something better. Plus every time I wear it everyone asks if I made it and I knew I could I just needed more confidence in making my own stuff.
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So I pulled out this Miss Babs Yowza in Dahlia (the peachy coral shade) and Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK in Bollywood and have been making up my own version of a swing coat with wide sleeves for spring. I’m doing the sleeves, trim and pockets in the variegated Bollywood shade and the body in the bright coral. I already had to frog back a few rows because the box pleat I wanted to do just didn’t work out the way I wanted but I’ve already got other ideas on how to give it the shape I want. I’m super proud of myself for even being able to frog back and just work the two rows over. Before I would’ve panicked and probably started it all over but with time comes more confidence and knowledge. I’m excited about the possibility of what I can create and I’m hoping that if I knit myself a cute spring jacket it will help usher on spring.

So what are you working on?

March 23, 2018 by IamDWJ Categories: Color, Custom Design, green, Hedgehog Fibres, Jellybean, Knitting, Miss Babs, multi, My Dogs, orange, pink, Stitching Status, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, custom knits, knitting, spring knitting, Yarn 12 Comments

FO: A Vibrant Fade

Well, my first sweater of 2018 is finished and I loooooooove it. I want to wear it all the time because the colors make me so happy and it’s so soft and cozy. But of course because I went so bold on the color palette I feel like I shouldn’t wear it EVERY day but whatever, I do what I want. Let’s talk about my Comfort Fade Cardigan.
Finished Comfort Fade
I knew when I originally decided I wanted to make this cardigan that it was going to be colorful. I initially thought it would be a mix of the bright pink, orange and coral but when I put those colors together in the light they didn’t flow the way I wanted. I’ve seen a lot of muted and soft pastel fades or neutral fades but I wanted this baby to be me. So I went for all the color. And to my surprise I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on this one in person. Folks seem to like all the color. Starting at my shoulder and going down, the color order is:

Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Torchere. You may remember this color from my Colorblocked Boyfriend Cardigan a while back. This is such a gorgeous color with lots of flecks of red, pink and orange. It’s a favorite of mine.
Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK in Pucker. This is like punch you in the face orange with bits of pink running through it. It as an impulse purchase at Fibre Space one day and I’m glad I picked it up.
Miss Babs Yowza in Perfectly Wreckless. This might be my new favorite Babs colorway. It’s so good. Also I just love the gigantic skeins of Yowza – fewer ends to weave in!
And a surprise ending with Miss Babs Yowza in Ghoulish. You might remember this color from my Mom’s Christmas sweater!

Finished Comfort Fade
I didn’t realize when I saw this pattern originally and really not until I started to cast on that this was done in reverse stockinette stitch (essential wearing it on the purl side). But the color fade looks better on the reverse! So it made sense. It’s super stripey on the inside and the purl side kind of helps to blend the colors better. I added in new colors on knit rows and not on purl rows just because I liked how the blending worked but you could do it on the purl side too.
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I also knit the sleeves inside out so that I wouldn’t have to do all that purling. It was so weird to think of the knit side as the wrong side but eventually I got the hang of it.

But really what I love the most about this is the opportunity to melt all that color together. I mean look at this sleeve and cuff. It’s gorgeous! It’s so vibrant and bright and it just makes me happy. I also decided to go with the longer sleeve (not my normal) to up the coziness factor. The shawl collar is gloriously huge and I really like how she played with short row shaping in each color to help with the blending. I add a Jul Design leather closure to the front so that I can pull it closed if I want to instead of adding buttons/buttonholes.
Finished Comfort Fade
My only regret, I need pockets. I’m actually thinking about picking up stitches and then using my leftover yarn to fade a pocket to match the body and just sew it on. With something this big and cozy you just need good pockets to give it that finishing touch. Right?