Amazing Great Northern Yarns...My New Favorites

By -
After finishing the Porom Beret using the glorious 100% Cashmere DK from Great Northern (pics on my Rav project page), I started yesterday on the first of two Monkey Bread Berets for friends.  I made the last one for myself from the deep green 70% Mink/30% Cashmere DK weight from Great Northern and it turned out so beautifully that I knew I wanted to make more of this pattern for a couple of friends.  Both friends chose the Blueberry colorway, and it really is a gorgeous color.

You may remember I mentioned I washed the 100% Cashmere in the skein to gain loft before I started knitting.  The Blueberry Mink/Cashmere looks pretty non-bloomy in the skein (as did the dark green when I got it) but I decided to just knit it up and then see where I was...I knew it would bloom in the soak when finished.

Yesterday I started the first Monkey Bread and to my amazement the yarn, which has only tiny trace amounts of the light oil used in spinning the yarn, begins to bloom immediately as you start working with it.  Your fingers must absorb the small amount of oil (and your fingers don't feel at all sticky or greasy, just light and moisturized!) leaving the yarn free to fluff up and expand as you work.  Want proof?  Here's a pic showing the beret where it is this morning (I got most of the hat knitted up yesterday!) with the wound skein beside it.  Can you see the difference in texture between the two?


You can see the bloom much better in the close-up, which I lightened so you can see it even more:


I gotta tell you, this stuff is just wonderful to work with!  And you only need one skein to make Anne's great pattern.  I'm making only one modification:  Toward the top there is one cable that she specifies as 7 over 1...from my last hat I feel that poor lonely stitch with 7 others stretched over it looks too tortured, so I'm changing that cable to 5 over 3 left.  To my eyes, it looks more relaxed.  Other than that, I'm knitting it as she wrote the pattern, and it is just a really special knitting experience!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your knitting is beautiful. The cashmere beret is just gorgeous!!
3:00 PM
Unknown said…
This is looking very beautiful.

Seo With Google
4:39 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stop Me Before I Quilt Again!

By -
Image
What is this big pile of fabric and scraps, you may ask: Some you may recognize from the 10 Wishes quilt, but others are new. Yes, I've made a start on the Big Girl Quilt (i.e. queen-size) for Katie Rose. I've been so inspired by the lovely quilts Mary and her Heartstrings group have made that I decided to make one for Katie. Here's where I am -- two rows of string blocks made...four rows still unmade. I will sash these blocks with 2" sashing (don't know what fabric yet), making stars from the cornerstones (ditto). You can't really see the EQ design very well, I know...sorry. Here's a close-up of the first four blocks: Second four: Third four: It's really fun doing these. I love the colors...wanted them to be "girly" but not too bright. I will add a wide-ish border of some gorgeous fabric, yet to be discovered, I think. I'm also ratting through my WIPs and getting inspired to finish up the As Time Goes By quilt pretty soon. Of
Read more

Sunday, Sunday...

By -
Image
Well, I'm going to try Tonya's suggestion and load my photos in the center instead of to the left, and see if that helps any with the spacing problems I'm having. So let's try putting up Dad's River Dreams Quilt that disappeared yesterday: Well, that seems to have worked...I think. So, let's add a couple of kids' quilts I've made over the years. Here's an I Spy for my grandkids. Can you see that I added their names, as a crossword puzzle, among the I Spy squares? Well, by gum! That seems to have worked, too...thanks, Tonya! Shall we go for a trifecta here? How about a little bluework quilt I did for my nephew. I found on-line coloring book images, printed them out and traced them on white fabric, then embroidered them in blue, setting them in stars afterward. I liked the result, and so did he: I'm on a roll now! What about one that was WAY outside my comfort zone. I'm not an orange person, but a friend in France had a baby girl. Mom loved ora
Read more

A Sad Farewell to the Best Old Friend

By -
Image
And so the time has come to say farewell to our little friend, Alfonse le Soot. He would have been 13 years old right about now. Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile may remember his dramatic disappearance in July of 2008. And his equally dramatic return just over a month later. No explanation was ever found for his disappearance, but we were so happy to have him home. In late March of this year we made a trip to California, only to have the terrible news from our wonderful house-sitter, Judy, that Alfonse had collapsed and had to be rushed to the vet the day after we left. The vet tried mightily to save our little fellow, but he had experienced sudden heart failure resulting in a clot that paralyzed his hind legs. After three heart-rending days and a steadily worsening condition, the decision had to be made to let him go. We returned to Australia two days ago and today, with heavy hearts, we picked up Alfonse’s ashes, brought him home and buried him in his final res
Read more