C's Day At The Circus Scarf

We have here the end result of a learning experiment in color The Girlio helped me conduct last week: C's Day At The Circus Scarf.


For a refresher on the experiment, click here. The short version is this: C picked a bunch of colors of roving; I spun them into yarn.

The spinning went well enough. The NZ wool I selected wasn't the nicest fiber to work with but also wasn't the worst. It worked up fairly evenly; it's just that the finished product was a little scratchier than I would have liked.


A bath in hair conditioner took the edge off the scratchies, which is good since the scarf will be worn around C's neck.


Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf by Karen Baumer
Materials: C's Day At The Circus, NZ wool, 2-plied on the wheel, 210 yards
Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm
Started: May 2, 2008
Completed: May 4, 2008

This pattern knits up super quick, it's fun and easy, and it rocks for handspun yarn! The garter stitch showcases the yarn well, and the short-row construction gives it interest. I used the alternate ending provided with the pattern, for symmetry.

When I pulled the scarf off the needles, it was about 4.5 feet long. After blocking, it's well over 6 feet long. This makes it just long enough for C to use it as an instrument of torture for her partner-in-crime, young Barclay MacGregor, aka "The Dog Who Ate My Spindle."


Fang and I will forgive him since he's so darned cute. C's not bad herself, even with trouble twinkling in her eye! Oh, what new misadventure awaits this pair!?!


As for the color experiment, I learned a lot on this project. Obviously, the experiment had nothing to do with hand-dying, since I bought the roving in pre-dyed solids. It was more about combining the bits. For the next try, rather than spin both singles from the entire spectrum of colors, I would do just one this way and the other with a "base" color from within the spectrum. This to better unify the yarn.

The finished scarf is a little wacky for my taste, but it's right up my exuberant Girlio's alley... which is why I involved her in this experiment from the start. Plus she loves it — and loves telling people she designed the yarn herself!


I have an idea for a table runner to drape over my grand piano. It may be the perfect project for phase 2 of this experiment.

Christmas Knitting (or C's Woe Is Me and the Koolhaas Solution)

Just before Christmas, C was feeling left out of the big knit fest — convinced that nobody would ever make anything for her. I had recently made two pairs of socks: one for myself and another pair for my MIL. I had also started the Urban Aran Cardigan for J, which was intended as a Christmas present but then got sidelined while I completed some smaller projects... including 3 Koolhaas hats for gifts. Little did C know, I was working on a pair of legwarmers for her after she went to bed each night.


Pattern: My own.
Started: December 12, 2007
Completed: December 24, 2007
Materials: Moda Dea Sassy Stripes (2 skeins)
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm

She loves them, and they keep her legs very warm when she rides the scooter with me.

Of course, because of all C's loud moaning and gnashing of teeth, her dad promised to make her a hat. I had recently taught him how to knit, and he had just finished his very first knitting project. Here is his Vivace Scarf:


Great job, no? It's a basic seed-stitch pattern in Ty Dy cotton.

I had recently finished one of Brooklyntweed's Koolhaas hats for him for Christmas, and I had been urging him to consider tackling one himself. I believe knitters need to be fearless. There are only a limited number of stitches and stitch techniques, so what better pattern to teach him cables on than a hat that's loaded with them? He took the challenge and decided that, for his second knitting project ever, he would make C a Koolhaas. It is with great pride that I present C's Great Poppin' Koolhaas, made by her dad:


What's with the name, you ask? I had modified the pattern for smaller-circumference heads. Before we blocked it, the hat kept popping off C's head! She looked like this a lot:



Blocking took care of the problem, so no more poppin'! I don't know about you, but I'm thoroughly impressed with this hat — doubly so because it's only his second project!

So C landed two hand-knit Christmas presents. And J enjoyed knitting the Koolhaas so much, he made one for me, too!


My husband rocks!