Experiments and Notre Dame

I’ve been goofing around and experimenting with yarn ideas lately.  I spun some of the Bohemian Breeze fibers and of course got bored after not too long.  It occurred to me that the yarn could be used in a project currently in time out.  It is the Rose Window Beanie from Knitty.  I was sad about the Notre Dame fire and wanted to do a project related to Notre Dame.  Long story a bit shorter, hat came out okay but not exactly as I imagined.  I tossed it on the small mountain of completed but unblocked hats.

I remembered a little rose window necklace I brought back from Paris.

The new experiment is a hat based on this.  I suspect it cannot be done with yarn in my stash.  There are many problems worse than this.  

Here are my latest indulgences.  There’s an extremely long and boring story behind this.  The only interesting part was a flattened post office mailing box with a tire track across it.  When opening a box like that, do not expect any needles inside to be in the correct number of pieces.  I got these yarns with the third try for the needles.

Hedgehog Fibers Skinny Singles in Piggy Bank

Lorna’s Laces in Virginia Islands 

Of course I don’t have plans for them.   Look, Hedgehog Fibers in multicolored speckles!   It does not need to be associated with a project to make me happy.  The Lorna’s Laces are like a whole basket of Easter eggs.  They both helped protect the needles that traveled successfully from Nevada to Georgia.  Yay and thank you Jimmy Beans.

Bohemian Breeze

I haven’t purchased a Phat Fiber box in a long time.  I always forget when they go on sale and they used to sell out in minutes when I did remember.   A few days ago I got an email reporting that there were still a few left this month, so I indulged myself.

The theme was Bohemian Breeze.  All but one of the samples were fiber, which was good.  The colors varied but they all had at least one other sample of the same color.  I think I will spin a skein blending them.  The fibers range from alpaca to yak and a bunch of different blends in between.

Blankets

I’ve decided to do blankets/afghans for my National Parks project.  Yup, plural.  I went through my Favorites on Ravelry and found two fingering weight designs that I liked.  One requires 13 colors, the other 18.  This will give me lots of time to acquire yarn.  It also gives me permission to buy things on a whim.  I preordered a Cuyahoga colorway this week.  It is good to have a reason beyond just wanting it.

The second blanket will be a knitted log cabin design.  The yarn is Lion Brand Heartland in 15 solids inspired by National Parks.  I am not a fan of acrylic yarn, but it does mean I can donate it to charity once I have the fun of making it.  Between the online discounts from JoAnn and the cash I just got back on a credit card it is basically free.  Yay for a free project!

I still haven’t blocked my hats.  Here’s the one I just finished. It used leftovers from other hats.  The background color didn’t quite make it to the end, but I think it still looks okay

Rocky Mountain National Park

I haven’t decided what form my National Parks yarn project is going to take.  I have started collecting yarns to represent parks I have visited.  There will also be yarns for parks I wish I had been to.

The first one I visited and the only one with multiple visits is Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  I liked it so much that I knew as a teenager that I wanted to live in Colorado some day.  I did end up there for nearly 20 years.

The yarn I picked is from a Colorado dyer, HollyPressFibers.  The self-striping colorway is The Historían Takes a Hike - Rocky Mountain National Park.

The sticker is from a designer I spotted on Etsy., Eiman Design.  The stickers will be part of a journal I am making as part of the project.

I am still knitting while I am plotting my next move.  My obsession with hats and Shetland wool continues.  I found the annual projects for Shetland Wool Week and now have to knit All The Hats.  A bunch of them are waiting to be blocked then they will be posted.