I recently ordered some Alpaca yarn from Adagio Mills, originally set up by Nadine and Andrew Hulme in Orange NSW, now in Hawkesbury NSW with Donna and Mark. I bought several kits from Adagio in 2020-21, knitting two myself and giving others as gifts. When I had an email to say they had stock in hard-to-get black and browns I bought some while I could.
I intended to make some shawls from Knitting Wraps in the Round to practice my steeking skills. When it came I ordered more yarn, while it was still available.
When the second parcel arrived it included an extra ball with a note inviting me to try their yet-to-be-released Alpaca-Polwarth blend. Wow! I was busy knitting the St Brigid jumper, but began exploring what I could make to try out this generous gift. Last week I had indulged in a book by Aleks Byrd, who is coming to Adelaide in August and running some workshops for The Yarn Trader.
One technique the book demonstrates is Vikkel - a method of twisting stitches to resemble cable without the use of cable needles. I think it is similar to a technique taught at the Guild in 2018 by Kathryn Gunn. In any case, I used the book's Maru pattern with the gift yarn.
The yarn was lovely to work with. Like all alpaca, it is soft on the hands. This blend has a good twist to it which only unravelled when I got into the narrowest part of the crown where tightly handling was required. Even then, it wasn't a problem.
The pattern was interesting to knit. I wouldn't say it was easy, but neither was it overly difficult. It helped that the pattern is only worked over a section to the hat. At the crown reduction I used a small circular needle from the ChiaoGoo Twist Shorties collection, not an entirely comfortable tool to use, but DPNs would not have done much better.
The pattern continues to the very top with all tapering being managed on the non-pattern stitches. Awkward, but possible.
It was a perfect project for the gift wool, given the amount left over!
One of my teenage granddaughters says it is 'not bad for an old person's hat'. That's high praise.
It's a cap, which has limited use - but use nonetheless.
I am about to knit some of the pure alpaca into a shawl or two, so will be able to compare the wool-alpaca blend with the pure alpaca. For a hat, or something likely to get mostly outdoor wear, I suspect the blend is just the thing.
Many thanks to Adagio Mills for the test ball -
and for great yarns. I'm looking forward to working with my recent acquisitions, and have cast on for the shawl.
2 comments:
what an interesting pattern. It looks lovely.
Thanks Lyn!
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