amimono note

Zigzag stole

(Click to see a larger photo.)

Some Japanese knitters have been knitting the zigzag stole from this book. I wanted to knit one too, and I was thinking of buying the book from Amazon Japan. Then I found a similar-looking stitch pattern in Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns! "Zigzag Trellis Faggot and Rib Fantastic" (a.k.a Ribbing Fantastic) on page 146 is the one. I decided to give it a try.

The stitch pattern is very easy to remember, easy enough for TV knitting. I'm using my own handspun yarn (the fiber is from Crosspatch Creations), and the knitted fabric looks nice even though the yarn is a little uneven.

You can see the Japanese zigzag stoles from the links below. They are really beautiful!

• Binaemon's cream clored one and blue gray one.
• Purupuru's
• Whitedaisy's
• Tociko's
• Tea's
• Candy's

Dutch Canyon

(Click to see a larger picture.)

I knitted two swatches with the 2-plied Dutch Canyon yarn. I think they look beautiful! Didn't have to worry about the mud-ish color after all.

This blog will be a sort of photo blog for a while. It's too hot to write in English...
Also, I'll close comments section, since I get too much spam. I guess I really have to update MovableType.

Black Sheep Gathering

It's already a few weeks ago, but... I went to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, on Saturday, June 24th. Since BSG and OFFF(Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) is the only chance I get to touch spindles and fibers in person, I always look forward to these events.

Unfortunately, there was a heat wave warning on the weekend, so we stayed there only for a few hours, but it was fun. My mission was to find a lightweight spindle, a nice-sized nostepinde and some fibers. The mission was accomplished!

(Click the image to see a blurry larger picture.)

For a spindle, I had a Bosworth Featherweight in mind, but there were not as many choices as I had hoped. I tried several spindles and I bought a Shasta by Cascade Spindles.

The ice blue fiber is by Three Bags Full. Love the color! I already spun a bit and knitted a swatch. I'm thinking about knitting a small lace shawl... I love products by Three Bags Full and Crosspatch Creations, and have a small stash.

The multicolor fiber is merino/angora blend "Dutch Canyon" colorway by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I didn't know they made rovings!!

I saw only about 5 total in the booth (including other fibers/colors), even though I was there Saturday morning. Maybe people bought most of them on Friday... It's a wonder there were no fights over the rovings! If I had had enough money, I would have bought all of them. The color of the rovings was so very beautiful that their famous sock yarn looked like an ordinary yarn. And, I usually don't buy...actually never have bought... multicolor stuff for spinning.

I spun this fiber too and made 2 ply yarn, but the result is a bit underwhelming, considering the gorgeousness of the roving. As I feared they might (and this is the reason I don't buy multicolored fiber), the beautiful colors mixed with each other and the yarn became a mud-ish color. You could still say it's "Dutch Canyon" though...wherever that is.

I'll knit a swatch and I may have to think about how to ply the singles.