Bird in Hand Farm

Bird in Hand Farm is an imaginary place.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Stash Busting

Knitty Spring is up!  Better yet, they changed the Pattern Archive so that you can see thumbnail photos of each pattern.  It makes browsing soooo much more fun.  I want a summer shawl.   As soon as I saw Bob and Weave, I knew I had to make it with the alpaca that has been waiting patiently in my stash for the past 2 years.
I pulled out five skeins of hand spun alpca.  One is a partial skin of this beautiful blue-gray.  I got it at the Empire Alpaca Association's Extravaganza a few years ago.  Then there are four skeins from Sunshine Alpacas in Phoenix, NY.  I wish she had a website.  They are all undyed from an alpaca named Snowman.  One is a slightly heavier weight than the others.  I used the soap scale to divide the blue and the heavy one exactly in half.  I will use them for either end so that the ends are identical. 
I made two gauge swatches and then cast on 91 stitches on size 11 needles.  Four inches later I frogged it.   I cast on again.  This time only 77 on size 13s.   I made it 9 inches before I frogged it. I now have 53 stitches on size 15 needles.  It is a little looser than I would have liked, but I think it will be a good contrast for the ribbon once that gets threaded through.

The third time is the charm right?

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