Wednesday 18 January 2012

Yarn Along




Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this weeks Yarn Along.
 I got an order for a pair of gold arm-warmers. With all the patterns out there, it always amazes how hard it is still to find a really appealing crochet pattern! I wasn't inspired by many of the patterns that I trawled through, that's why I hold tight when I find one, and file it away for another incarnation of it, at another time. The ones you know you'll come back to when you find a yarn you just love, or when the birthday of a dear friend rolls around. This is one of those : )


I bought this pattern from an Etsy shop I stumbled upon. It's ultra clear and really well written, and easy. Oh the joy and satisfaction of being able to follow patterns now : ) I just made a couple of minor changes to it and added the shell edging at the top in bamboo.


Arm warmers were not something I ever wore or thought of before learning to follow crochet patterns. I've come to really love them now and when I end up going out without them at this time of year, I miss them ; )

This yarn's 35% silk, 65% baby alpaca, warm and soft. I got into silk when I started to explore nuno felting, got completely fascinated by the cocoons, its qualities, its creative potential  and the whole thing really. Then I started to crave silk, to work with, to wear and to watch it shimmer behind smallie when he runs up the garden in his play cloak. I sourced most of it from charity shops. I uncharacteristically put a silk pillowcase on my wishlist this Christmas(being usually very practical). I dream on it these nights and it is indeed very lovely.



Drawn to its presence in yarn too, I'm curious to see how it wears over time. Still very much learning about the different fibres and their qualities in a knit or crochet fabric. 
 Friends, can any of you tell me if you think mercerised cotton DK would work for such a project and purpose..? That's what I'd like to try it in next, the pattern is designed for a fine yarn so its not the weight I'm concerned about but the elasticity, or lack thereof...whether it would hold it's original shape? I'd love your thoughts on it please : )

Nollaig na mban which we celebrated recently, inspired me to re-visit this book Woman: a celebration Amazing collection of photographs in this beautiful cloth-bound book, all black and white with the exception of one. I always marvel at the resilience, strength and courage of women. Basically, I think we rock! 


As always I look forward to checking out what ye are making and reading out there.
Thank you for reading. M


11 comments:

  1. They look stunning :) I absolutely love alpaca and silk blends, they feel so wonderfully luxurious.

    I personally hate working with cotton, mercerized particularly, so I have no advice on that front! Maybe it's worth making a small/short version to test it out though?

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  2. So beautiful! And I am sure they feel fantastic, too!
    I'm not so fond of cotton, either. I use it for dishcloths and bibs, and not much else.

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    1. They are lovely! I love the subtle color differences...making it look vintage. I used some nice cotton to make a doily...I think it would work well.

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  3. The arm warmers are lovely. I wear arm warmers all the time too. :)
    I think if you got a cotton that is not too stiff it would work well; I have knitted with mercerized cotton, and while it's not my favourite, it worked just fine for little cardies...

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  4. I love the color of them against the gray of your outfit. Very nice. Reminds me of honey. The alpaca and silk blend I'm sure if very soft and shimmery. I haven't used that combo before - it's been alpaca with wool or silk with wool so far for me.

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  5. Well those are a lot prettier than my 2x2 rib fingerless gloves :-)

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  6. Those are so beautiful! I love the color. Such crafts-woman-ship (:

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  7. oh mia, such a friend you are. i've never had a friend knit for me, she will surely treasure these. they are really gorgeous. i can really see the softness and halo of the yarn in the last photo. beautiful.
    cotton will give different results, you may or may not care for. perhaps a blend may work better for you.
    i love silk too!

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  8. absolutely beautiful. Love that shade of mustard - sophisticated, feminine and stylish x

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  9. Great to have you all stopping by lassies : ) thanks for all the lovely feedback, and your thoughts on the cotton version. There's a lovely ball of green sitting here looking up at me, so I'm itching to give it a go! I'll be back to share how it goes xM

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