Thursday, November 4, 2010

Lots of New Project Ideas

I apologize for not promptly answering some questions in the comments but I've been battling the flu. Snoopy asked about the perfect first project for colorwork and I suggested a hat knit in the round. Here is a thread on Ravelry's Stranded forum with some pattern suggestions.


Also, my free pattern for the Ankara Headband is a good choice for your first project and it only takes a few hours to knit.

Needledancer asked about sport weight cotton/wool yarn blends that come in a lot of colors to knit a lighter weight Dale Norwegian sweater. I don't know of any - if any of you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments. If I've forgotten any questions, please ask me again. Thanks!



Here is the new yarn. I'm very fond of the Valley Yarn Northampton worsted wool from Webs. It really is soft and lovely and will be perfect for thick socks. I'm definitely buying more even if it is no longer at the sale price.
 
The Cascade 220 sport is the usual beautiful rich saturated colors but is much more textured than the worsted Cascade 220. I'm not sure if I will like it for colorwork or not. I'll try using it for something soon and see what I think.
 
Because I already have quite enough yarn (and boy do I ever!!!) to make myself feel less quilty I chose a specific project for the new yarns I purchased.

The red Northampton yarn is for Susan Pierce Lawrence's Quickie Socks from the Joy of Sox.

The periwinkle Northampton is for the Cyber Flirt cabled socks from the Joy of Sox.

The heathered green Northampton is for some really long ribbed socks for DH (he usually insists on at least 10" of straight K2P2 rib... sigh)

The Cascade 220 sport is for the Convertible A Go-Go socks in Think Outside the Sox. I can't decide between making them in the green (the cables will be much more noticeable) or the purple (more my style). I think I'll add the buttons if I can find any the right size. Whatever is leftover I'll use for colorwork.

I have three FOs to show you as soon as I can get them photographed and also a review of a brand new book on color knitting.