progress
I finally had a chance to cast on for the hypoteneuse stole on sunday afternoon after the in-laws went home. I did a quick swatch and decided to go with 5mm needles like the pattern calls for. the fabric is light and airy and at first I thought it almost felt like paper. my fingers weren't ready for the fiber change I guess after all the sweaters I've been knitting. the summer spun* is definitely a "farm yarn" which is one of the reasons I didn't go with a vest like some people suggested. those patterns almost required a smooth, classic yarn while the summer spun is rustic. I didn't have enough yarn to knit those patterns at their smaller gauge, but I probably could've eeked out a cardigan knitting at a loose gauge as I am now. I think that I fell in love with the simplicity of this stole and knew that it would bring out the beauty of this yarn.
while this yarn is soft, I've found that it's handspun look not only creates an interesting fabric but it also creates a different texture. the light-colored ply, which I think is the cotton and silk, is spun in a thick and thin fashion; when this is plied with the wool it creates loose and tight spots in the yarn, translating to soft and, let's say, less soft spots. my fingers have gotten used to it, but I can't help stopping to check out what the fabric looks like every few rows. so far I'm done with the first hank and have six repeats done.
* I'm not sure why, but this yarn has three different names. on the yarn label it's called 'summer spun', but on the farmhouse yarn site the mention 'silk blend' and 'silk spun cotton', both leading to the same page.
for those of you more interested in the shoes from the last post (you know who you are!), they're made by cydwoq out in cali. I love their shoes and I can't recommend them enough! after a few wears they mold to your feet.
Comments
wow. i checked out the shoes. you have 5 of them?! Do they last a longtime?
Posted by: britt | April 24, 2008 07:32 AM
they're great and mold to your feet.
Posted by: yahaira | April 24, 2008 08:13 AM
Ack, I wish you had never told me about those shoes. They're too gorgeous. I'm drooling over my keyboard now.
Have you had success ordering from their website or do you have a local supplier?
Posted by: smokey | April 24, 2008 09:34 AM
Trust me, I drool over that site every day! I've been buying them locally and have been lucky to snatch some up on sale, and I've ordered some through pedshoes.com Cydwoq just redid their site in the last month or so to accept orders, so I haven't had a chance yet to try it out. I have quite a wishlist so hopefully I'll order from them soon! ; )
Posted by: yahaira | April 24, 2008 09:44 AM
I love that yarn! You chose a great pattern for it!
Posted by: michaela | April 24, 2008 04:18 PM
oh that's gonna be a great hypoteneuse!
Posted by: anne | April 24, 2008 05:19 PM
Gosh. Seeing the yarn all done up like this is making me want to frog one of my FOs from last year. Something like this would be a much better use of the yarn!
Posted by: Seanna Lea | April 24, 2008 05:56 PM
Such a pretty pretty grey. That is going to be so lovely!
Posted by: tiennie | April 25, 2008 08:31 PM
that stole is going to be lovely. Handspun is such a grand adventure to knit with - I love it.
Posted by: Teyani | April 26, 2008 08:32 PM
Beautiful and textural in this lovely handspun. It is going to be a great stole, for sure.
Posted by: lolly | April 28, 2008 10:45 AM
Congratulations for your blog, i liked very much
Posted by: Delfina | April 28, 2008 08:14 PM
Your yarn is beautiful and whoa is that stole going to be a-mazing! PS: Thanks for the shoe link- how could I not have known about this place? *Dying*
Posted by: Nonnahs | April 29, 2008 01:07 PM
alright alright! I did go to the store but I didn't purchase any! it was hard though.. i loved almost all their flat sandals. I had a hard time deciding between Slide, Heli and Hook. So frustrating!!!
Posted by: winnie | April 30, 2008 04:27 PM
The shoes are fabulous.
I like how the yarn is knitting up. It's going to be a great stole.
Posted by: Dorothy | April 30, 2008 09:14 PM
that's going to be a stunner.
Posted by: carrie m | June 3, 2008 10:54 PM
just out of curiousity...haven´t you heard about the amazing yarns from a portuguese company called www.rosarios4 ???
Corn Fibre, Milk Protein Fibre and 100% Natural Fibres Naturally Dyed scrumptious yarns! Check them out!
Posted by: ana | June 26, 2008 05:06 AM