One of C's dearest friends just had a birthday (the party is tonight) and we were struggling to come up with a gift. We knew that this friend, E, just got a new, cool, North Face winter jacket, and that it was such an unique color (berry) that they were having a tough time finding a hat and mittens to match. So I asked if E would like a handknit set to match.
We went to my favorite LYS, Ruhama's, and came up with two yarns: Mission Falls 1824 wool (color mallow 025) for the main color, and Tahki Bunny Print (color 23) for accent.
E decided that she'd rather have a headband than a hat, so I searched for a pattern. The headbands I'd done before had been knit the long way, and I wasn't sure how that would work with the two colors/yarns, so I tried to find something I could knit in the round. I found a cute pattern at Knitty for a headband with cables, and thought I'd give it a try!
I loved it! I did the seed stitch beginning and end with the bunny print and the rest with the 1824 wool.
Then I tried to find a nice mitten pattern with a cable, but couldn't. I ended up winging it and making a simple mitten pattern, using the bunny print for the wrists and 1824 for the rest, but adding a single cable up the back. Unfortunately, when I got 3/4 of the mitten done, I realized that I should have set off the cable with purl stitches... I held my breath and dropped two stitches on each side of the cable all the way down to the wrist. I then picked them up purlwise and was amazed that it actually worked! :) I got a little cocky with my confidence and even made the left mitten with a cable that turned the opposite way!
When I finished the second mitten, I had quite a bit of yarn left, so I decided to start a scarf. I wanted it to match, so I wrote a pattern using the cable from the headband pattern, but putting the smaller cables opposite-facing on either side of the bigger center cable. I also learned how to do cabling without a cable needle. I did need to run back and get a fourth ball of yarn to finish the scarf, but luckily they still had that dye lot!
OK, on to the pictures:
That is one L-O-N-G cable:
And a close-up of the cable pattern:
3 comments:
Look at YOU! I love the dropped stitch experiment. Isn't a it great to feel your abilities expanding? And you must have knit so fast.
They're just beautiful. Did you include washing directions?
Oh wow. Those are GORGEOUS!! You are getting so talented, you ARE a real knitter!! I love the color and love the edging colors.
Beautiful!
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