More Snow and Basia Hat Finished

/ LDSVenus / 1 Comment

More Snow Feb 2019  We got 2 inches of snow on Sunday morning/afternoon, and from yesterday evening until this morning when I took the picture we got a little over 3 more inches of snow.  So the ground is once more white with snow, and more snow is on the way on Thursday or Friday, sigh.  I just keep saying Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner…..

Jennettes Basia hat1

I finished the Basia hat, and gave it to the intended recipient.  She was very pleased.  I knit this on size 4, 16 inch circular needle for the ribbing and changing to size 6, 16 inch circular needles and (at the end when it got to small around for the 16 inch needles) size 6 double pointed needles for the crown,  instead of going up a needle size for the slighter heavier wt yarn, causing it to be a bit denser and heavier.  I used the sport/DK wt Polypay, which dyed up a lighter brown, and a dark brown alpaca, which I hand spun as heavy fingering wt.  These two yarns used together was a heavier weight close to, but maybe a little heavier than the worsted wt called for and oh my it will be so warm.  I had promised my family member that I would hand spin alpaca for her hat, but since the Basia hat she chose calls for worsted wt and I truly did not want to want to have to do the math for the lighter wt yarn (I’m not a math person :P), I added the Sport/DK wt wool I had on hand which made it a little heavier than a worsted wt.  She is happy with the hat, and with the sub zero weather we have been having I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to her winter wear :).  I think you can see better the lighter and darker browns together and how they play well with each other :).  I forgot to get a picture before she left, she was kind enough to send me one for my blog ;).

Mid-Winter Thaw and Basia Hat Progress

/ LDSVenus

1st picture is what happens to 19 inches of snow when the weather is warm for 2 days,  We generally have a mid-winter thaw in the middle of January so it’s a little late but at least we have one.  The temps were 38 on Saturday, 43 yesterday and suppose to be 45 today but a cold front will be here later today so tomorrow we will be back in the 20’s during the day, but that is still much better than the sub zero temps we had last week.  If the ground hog is wrong about there only being 6 more weeks of winter, I’m going to make a big ground hog stew and invite you all over :P.

As you can see I didn’t get the Basia hat done, but I did work on it yesterday and only have 2 inches left before I start decreasing for the crown area, so it should be done tonight, yea!  My daughter will appreciate it now that the cold weather is back.  I really like the marled effect using the two colors of brown, adds a lot of visual to it.  I’ll try to catch that better when I get a picture of the finished hat :).

Hope you all are having a great first part of Feb, SPRING IS COMING!!!

An Ollivander’s Wand!!

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Ollivander Wand  Oh My Goodness!!  My son and his spouse went to Disney World and Universal Studio’s to celebrate their birthdays (2 days apart).  I asked if they would bring me a souvenir postcard from Harry Potter World at Universal Studios (I am a huge Harry Potter fan.)  Never in my dizziest daydreams did I anticipate this!  I’m beyond excited!!  My son didn’t know what Harry Potter character it might have been from, but they told him it was a healing wand.  I’m still grinning like a Cheshire cat!  He said they had some of the Butterbeer (for non Harry Potter fans, it is a non alcoholic drink served to the students at Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter Movies, the Butterbeer in the books might have had alcohol in it.)  He said that is was really good, smooth and creamy with a butterscotchy flavor. 🙂

I’m about half finished with my daughter’s hat, I forgot to take a picture to put in my blog, but I will get one when I have it finished, which hopefully should be today or tomorrow.  I really love the Basia pattern, easy and very visual, it is a paid for pattern.

 

Cold Temps and Another Hat

/ LDSVenus

jan2019snows This is a picture of the back yard of a friends house so you can see all the snow we have had this Jan.  We also got another 2 inches today, that would make about 19 inches this month, sigh.

We also had some pretty low temps the past 3 days.  Tuesday night got down to about 25 below zero Fahrenheit and with wind chills was about 40 to 45 below zero.  Last night we broke a record with a low of -30 below zero and with wind chills it got down to about 55 below zero.  Our daytime temps were in the lower 20’s below zero  and with wind chills close to 40 below (that is in the day time!), On Wed the post office actually closed and said no postal deliveries.  We got up to -1 today!  Tomorrow should be 18 above and by Sunday we should be around 40 above, a heatwave!!!!

Another Basia Hat

The hat my daughter chose for me to knit from the alpaca I hand spun (a fingering weight) for her was the Basia hat, unfortunately it calls for sport weight, so I added my last skein of the polypay yarn (a sport weight) from the last fleece I sent in a couple of years ago.  I died it brown and tho it is much lighter than the alpaca (I knit them together) it is a very pretty marled color.  I think she will be pleased.  She could have used it this week :P, but it will be done hopefully by the week end.

3rd Substantial Snowfall for Winter 2018-2019

/ LDSVenus

3rd snowfall for winter 2018-2019 We got more snow over night.  The weather station said 5 inches but I think it was more like 4 inches, still it’s added to what we had last Friday into Saturday.  The biggest add on for this one was that yesterday morning was mostly freezing drizzle so we had a thin sheet of ice under the snow that happened later in the evening.  Yeah, slippery roads.  Also forecasted to have substantially below 0 temps on Thursday night (- 20F) and 0 on Friday, so with wind chills that could be very cold, and forecast for more snow Thursday thru next Monday, we will see how well the weather forecasters called it.  Good day (and week end) to stay in and maybe spin or knit :).  Hope everyone is safe and warm.

 

2nd Winter Snow Storm 2018-2019

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2nd Winter Snow Storm 2018-2019 We got our 2nd snow storm of the winter, last Friday overnight into Saturday.  We ended up with about 5 to 6 inches depending on where you took the measurement.  We were spared the ice and freezing rain with the storm, but we did have minus temps over night and with wind chills they said it could get down to -20,  I didn’t check to see what it actually did get down to with the wind chill, it was enough that it was below zero :P.  It was up to 9 today and tonight is suppose to be down to -4.  BRRRR, but on Monday it is suppose to be in the teens and maybe to 30 on Wed, woot woot a heat wave :P.  Looks like more snow on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, doesn’t look like much but the temps by Friday will be back to minus numbers.  Friday ambient temp will be -3 and -10 over night, wind chills will make it feel colder than that.  Looks like Old Man winter is finally here.  Only good thing about that is, we can now start to look forward to SPRING!  Ok, so now I start asking, is it Spring yet?

 

Winter 2018-2019 – First Substantial Snow

/ LDSVenus

Winter 2018-2019 first substantial snow We have finally received our first substantial snowfall for the 2018-2019 winter season and it’s already into January.  We have a had a few little snow storms this season, but you noticed I didn’t even post a picture they were so minor.  We will probably end up with between 3 and 4 inches.  It started last night sometime (I was a sleep :P) and it is still snowing (about 1:30 pm my time).   I took this picture about 10:00 am. The weather map shows it continuing until sometime after 7:30 pm.  These are tiny flakes so it take a lot to make an inch :P.  I hear the snow plows going over the roads off and on, noisy critters they are. 😛

It’s Finally Spun and is Yarn!!!

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Finished rolag skein Oh my gosh this was on my wheel for a little over a year!  But—it’s finished!!  The problem besides procrastination and a broken hand was the Baynes spinning wheel (no longer in production,  I included a link so you can see what it looks like, mine looks like the one on the left.)  The screw that holds one of the posts on the Mother of All (spinning term for part of the wheel), that helps hold the spool holder on, won’t tighten down and comes loose and the spool holder with the spool of singles (or plied yarn) occasionally falls off.  Ugh, very annoying.  So I will need to get some wood putty and fill in the screw hole and then screw the screw back in so it will tighten up properly (tho honestly for a second when I was spinning, I considered gluing it down :P).  Another problem is that this wheel will  not hold 4 ozs of spun yarn so I was only able to spin 3.25 oz, and I had a very full bobbin of plied yarn.  Once the bobbin gets full on this wheel it is hard for it to take the yarn in anymore, so I have to watch how full the bobbin is.  I finished with 312 yards at 16 wpi (wraps per inch – for my non spinning friends – tells me how thick or thin the yarn ended up being – a light sport weight in this example (that is what my chart says), however I have seen charts that call 16 wpi a fingering – tho if it is, it’s a heavy fingering wt.)  Any spinners reading that would like to weigh in on that and if there is a definitive chart?

I will go back to working on the practice roving I have on the Rick Reeves wheel now, so I can figure out the double band drive and how to adjust it to find my sweet spot for spinning, at least I know the spool won’t fall off that one :P.

Both Hats are Done

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These hats are now washed and blocked and ready to give as a gift.  They are soft and squishy, however, because this yarn (see 2 blogs down), even tho it is 100% acrylic,  will require a little bit of special care.  It can be washed in the washing machine on gentle and cold water but, it can’t go in the dryer, it must be laid flat to dry, and they took a full day and night to dry (maybe because of the weather or because they are so thick), would be less time I’m sure if you put a fan on it during the day.  That might be a problem for people who aren’t familiar with knitwear care.  So I will reserve this yarn for family and friends who are knit worthy :P.  The friend, who these were made for, is knit worthy, but because she is a busy nurse I hope this won’t be a pain for her.  Her babies will be warm tho :).

Now to work on a hat for my daughter out of some hand spun alpaca.