Hi Knitters,
I joined The Knit Girllls Knitalong/Spinalong (KAL/SAL) a little while ago. Click here for the Ravelry group. The yarn above I spun from roving by Cloudlover called Haunted Vineyard. The roving became 130 yards of a double marl bulky weight yarn. There are many patterns to choose from for the KAL/SAL to suit all kinds of weights and yardage of yarn. When I spun I didn't have anything in mind other than I was trying to get a heavier weight yarn. I had been spinning only fingering weight and wanted to experiment a little.
I was so pleased to see that one of the selections was Kirsten Kapur's (I love all of her designs) Thorpe hat which requires 130 yards of a bulky weight yarn. It was a match made in heaven. While I was waiting for my Citron to dry I cast on and worked up my own handspun Thorpe.
The thing with my handspun yarn is that it isn't always perfectly even so figuring out gauge can be a little tricky. I started on US size 9 needles and was planning on making the medium size. My gauge was a little off but I kept going. When I came to the part in the pattern where I had to make choices based on size I decided I better make a large because it seemed a little small. I increased to the large size (the hat is worked from the top-down).
When I got to the garter stitch brim I realized that the hat now seemed a little too big so I decreased back down to the medium size stitch requirements before I started the garter brim and earflap. You know that garter won't pull in at all like a rib will, so I am glad I switched back to the medium size.
My Thorpe became a combination medium and large size hat. I had the matching green worsted weight wool sitting in my studio. It made for the perfect edging and ties. The edging is a half double crochet which I can never remember how to do so I looked it up on youtube before I started. Thank goodness for youtube, right?
In the end it fits like a charm! I didn't block it at all because I love the rustic look of the yarn. I wore it out this morning while TC and I tried to sneak in an outdoor ice skating session but to our sadness our neighborhood the rink was closed. It was open briefly yesterday so we got our hopes up. Instead we went for a hike in our neighborhood conservatory. There is still plenty of winter left and I hope we can get our outdoor skating in over the next couple of months.
best, susie