Well is the first cousin of so. so? so! soooooo~ only well can be, well? well! wellll and the two syllable we-yell. I think my towels are the latter. They are done, hemmed, washed and dried. They almost don't look like a set, yet I tried to chose solid colors related to the variegated weft. They're more like step-siblings than sibs. I'm not a fan of variegated weft - too bad I rashly bought three cones at one time.
These both are from the same M&W pattern. I love the pattern but it just doesn't work well here. These wefts is peacock and beige. I'm not sure what I should have used to promote the warp but this wasn't it. I'm already thinking about the next set and how to make this pattern shine.
The left towel is a M&W variation in teal and the right is tabby in the variegated. It's a good thing that these towels are for our kitchen because I wouldn't be pleased to give them away. On the other hand, I knew that I was experimenting.
I think I was experi-menting here too. I've been working on this hat for grandson Kiernan. I'm using some handspun alpaca because I thought it would be warmer. I can't control the rippled brim. I kept knitting thinking that it would get better but it has gotten worse, or perhaps it always was worse. I've phished through Ravelry to see what other flap hat knitters are doing for the brim and haven't come up with much direction. One woman said that you must knit a very tight cable cast on. I guess I'll try that after I rip this out. I saw another hat that does a row of knit, two rows of purl and then back to knit for the body. If you know the solution, please do tell.
14 comments:
Hi,
If I would knit such a hat I would knit 2, purl 2, for the brim. Or no specific brim at all but knit rather tight. Anyway, it looks really nice. Your grandson must be very pleased with it. In the spin-off spring 2008 I think it was, are hats with earflaps and no brim. I knitted one and it was perfect. Keep knitting :)
I think the towels are gorgeous and to my eye they go together very nicely. Well done!
If you did a crocheted edge along the brim, would that firm it up?
Maybe go down a couple needle sizes?
Well....IMO, Bed Barf and Beyond has shelves and shelves of perfectly matched towels that one can go and purchase with their 20% off coupon.
Your towels are a weavers matched set. They have the ongoing theme of the warp and the melody of varying wefts and treadling.
It's a tricky line....why hand weave to compete with what the mechanized mill can do cheaper and faster? Yes we strive for perfection, but we must also strive to do what the factory cannot easily do.
Those towels will look lovely with some of your hand thrown pottery. Get out that nice pie plate and put them together. See what I mean!
Hi Sharon...I would try using a much smaller needle for the brim. Those towels are lovely. I would be thrilled to get a gift like that :))
Happy Easter.
I don't knit, so I don't have any suggestions about the hat. But, what happens after you wash it? The towels are beautiful...and I can tell they weren't what you envisioned by your comments. I think you will still enjoy using them!
I always did corrugated ribbing on the edges of my hats. Even the silk/alpaca and angora didn't pucker.
As a fix for now, you might run a few rows of elastic (the little tiny kind) through the back side, or you could hand felt it slightly to get it to pull in and stay there.
I like the towels, but I totally understand what you're talking about. I, personally, would only use space-dyed yarn in a warp (except for log cabin) - it's much easier to get it to show up there with a plain weft.
I have all my cotton, but still need to wind a warp on to get some towels done. For all the years I've been weaving, you have completed more projects than I have!! Way to go!
Very pretty colors in those towels. You have really become a weaving trick!!!
Experimenting is what makes weaving fascinating to me. Trying out what colours and/or patterns do together. What happens when you change threading/treadling/both?
Your towels are really nice. But when you've made something, it very often isn't exactly what you planned. That makes you feel disappointed. Put them away for a while and in a short time, when you find them again, you'll be surprised you made something as beautiful as this!
Is your variegated yarn of the kind that repeats itself every time after some meters (or other length)? Try weaving a 'false ikat' with it, where you try to match the same colour in every warp end. Use a solid colur as weft, and you may like the result better! Clear?
I have seen ball cap style knitted hats with a piece of cardboard put into layers of knit for brims. I don't know if this would work for this style hat, and maybe a piece of sheet plastic that quilters use for applique stencils or firm fusible fabric or ...? anything stiff yet malleable that you can think of? You could just pick up stitches around the brim, knit a casing and put it in and three needle bind off on the other edge of brim to encase it. This thought needs some work but something to think about.
Sharon,
I don't know why your brim is curling. Check out the pattern I have on my web site it's under "Knitting". Maybe that will help.
I like your towels. I can see how the pattern and the variegated yarn aren't really helping each other. (A bit scary for me since I'm hoping to combine pattern with my painted warps in some way.) The blue ones in particular remind me of painted warp scarves that weavers around here ooh and ahhh over. (Those scarves also win plenty of awards.) For me, a huge part of the fun/challenge of weaving is getting a project to come out as well as I envision.... so whether I like your towels or not doesn't matter so much. It's whether you like them.
As far as wanting a matching set, well, no comments here. My dishes don't even match each other, let alone my towels!!
I don't know for sure about the brim of the hat....but on Jim's sweater the neck kept rippling. I finally went down 2 needle sizes for that part, and I might have decreased the number of stitches more than the pattern called for also. Not sure though.....you're a much better knitter than I am!
Sue
See, I'm not the only one who loves these towels! And I agree, perfectly matching sets are boring. None of my dishes or furniture matches - on purposes. These towels are siblings - no two siblings are every alike, either.
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