Beanie top up

After taking a break from beanie knitting, I have been playing around with Bendigo Woollen Mills' recently released 16ply yarn, a recycled mix of natural fibres.  I bought three colours to experiment with, then ordered several balls in cream thinking it would knit quickly into a few spare beanies. 

As I had not knitted 16ply before, size adjustment was needed. I looked up standard beanie sizes.  My own head is small, and while I made allowances,  most of those I knitted veered small, so I wanted to skew a few towards large. To work this out, I looked up standard  sizes, which gave the circumference of a large beanie as 59-61cm. Since it is easier to measure it flat, I began with the flat version of the hat, a bit slower to knit, but required if the pattern has more than two colours. One or two colours are more easily knitted in the round. 

As I progressed, family members expressed  astonishment at the emerging size, and when it was large enough to hold against my own head, my daughter and I fell about laughing, my daughter insisting the only use was a tea cosy. I considered it. 

With some nervousness I decided to call upon my steeking skills. I had the distance between the motifs to play with to the left of the red scales, , so I cast off 10 stitches, then worked a sharp crown decrease. When the piece was finished I ran a row of machine stitching from the cast-off section to the band - and cut it off. I stitched the edges together by hand - very securely! The circumference is now 56cm.

A typical beanie height, is, apparently, 20-25 cm. This one is now 23cm (before a tassel!). It still looks huge, but it does at least conform to standard sizing. I'm looking for a big head to test it on.

For comparison, I found a Bendigo pattern for a beanie in this yarn and knitted a beanie in the round using the number of stitches they recommended at the cast-on, but following my pattern.

The result is a hat with a circumference of 48cm and a height of 23cm.  I suspect this is quite adequate for most larger heads, but at this stage I'm guessing. I might still have a tea cosy on my hands.

I was moved and embarrassed last week when there was a question in the South Australian Parliament about the Walk for Justice, and I was mentioned in the Attorney's reply.

Bless his little cotton socks! (no, no, I'm not knitting socks!).

Three more Kasia Jacquot panel craft bags

As a break from knitting a couple of weeks  ago, I embroidered Stanley from the set of Kasia Jacquot Work it your Way panels I bought. I really enjoyed stitching it.

Colour printing of the background as well as the design - is a breakthrough. It leaves the way open for stitching as embellishment of the printed pattern, rather than filling. 

I followed the recommended limited colour pallet rather than my own.  No regrets for that, It's fabulous. 

When I finished I ironed  and pinned it on to the chosen bag, turning under a hem of about 1cm..  After adjustment, I stitched it on by machine.

I then went around the hem with a herringbone stitch.

The bags come folded and held by a band of the same fabric. I attached this fabric band to the top of the embroidered bag so it too can be folded to fit into a handbag.

It's a slightly tight fit, and does result in creasing, but that will soon come out when filled with groceries!

I moved on to Marta, where the leaves and stems captured me. Again, I love the choice of colour. The design flows with stitching. I've stuck with the recommended six strands. It's thread hungry, but effective.                          

 

I didn't have a green bag, so went with the pink. Green, I think, would work better, but this has impact. I spent a while looking at it, hoping I could avoid the herringbone edge, but I'm glad I succumbed.

Again I added the folding option.

This week I moved on to Eva my favourite of these three.

As with all of these panels, it almost fits into a 12" hoop. I embroidered all that fitted, then moved it to finish the left edge. Again the leaves captured me. 

The two colours work together to lift the piece, and the closely embroidered stems really pop against the purple. I debated purple or white for the border, settling on white.

There are two more of the Work it your Way set I bought. I have loved working them so much that when Kasia Jacquot had a studio sale 10 days ago I ordered some more.  

Instead of two more, I now have five to work.     

I hope someone likes them as much as I do!