I bought the yarn for last year’s Shetland Wool Week beanie a year ago, when the Yarn Trader put together the Jamieson & Smith colourway, but it sat untouched until I was invited to a friend’s birthday celebration. The friend’s ancestors came from Shetland and she had hoped to visit her ancestral home again this year, but too many things got in the way. It occurred to me that the beanie might be a welcome gift - a connection as she walks along an Adelaide beach this winter.
I made a mistake straight away, using the lighter shade of purple for the band instead of the dark shade (more haste less speed). Luck was on my side. It produced a bit of a softer look.
I now use Lantern Moon ebony needles for preference (in the photo above). They don't bend, have fine points and are gentle on your hands. The finest gauge they make is 3mm, the size for the medium version of the pattern. Unfortunately, towards the end of the first pattern repeat, one of the ebony ends snapped in the middle of a row. I have two sets of Lantern Moon exchangeables, but only one pair of 3mm ends. I also have a number of bamboo fixed circulars, but not 3mm. The only 3mm circular I had was a fixed steel. It was the right length, but the steel ends were quite long - about 15cm. They worked well enough on the main body of the beanie, but were too inflexible for the crown. Once upon a time I used steel needles for preference (when the choice was plastic or steel) and I had forgotten how hard on the hands they are.
,
After my error with the band, I set up a set of reminders, with a loop of each colour threaded to its label and marked with it's alphabetic letter in the pattern. As the label also contains the colour number, this constitutes a complete index. I made no further colour mistakes.
Lantern Moon needles are not easy to come by in Australia. I managed to find a retailer in country NSW with some replacement points and ordered some. I continued, however, with the steel rather than waiting.
This meant I had to switch to DPNs to finish the crown as the steel circular was simply too long and inflexible to manage the decrease.
I really like the pattern, but it was a challenge to knit. Shetland wool is a little course and splits easily. The pattern requires vigilance, a mistake of one stitch will disrupt the pattern. I made a mistake in the second row of the crown and had to undo a whole round - a very slow process as it is very, very easy to miss picking up a stitch. With 3m needles the stitches are small. The pattern sequence however, helps identify an error.
I held posting this until the gift was given. I reckon my friend likes it too!
