Chemo Caps for Idaho

My plan was to knit 10 hats to take with me to Idaho for the cancer center near my parents. This all started when I told my Mom about knitting a couple of chemo hats for a Denver Knits contest several years ago. She wanted to knit a hat for a friend. I sent a couple of patterns and she started knitting chemo caps. I suggested the extras could go to a local cancer center or hospital. After she took them and talked about what the ladies said.

It really got me that the ladies were delighted to get new, clean hats. Mom felt that they had been getting old hats that weren't even washed. So, I started saving the chemo hats I knit and taking them in my suitcase each time I visit. Sometimes, I use a few as padding in a box.
If I visit in the Summer or Spring, Mom holds the hats until Fall when the center is taking them. Otherwise, we run over and drop them off. Then we usually just stop by a yarn or bead store on the way back.

This is the latest batch of hats. I thought the aran heart hat looked really nice. It is out of Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown Reinsel.

Rama Llama

Two years ago, at the Estes Park Wool Market, I spotted some llama fiber in a bargain tub. It was small bag with 2 ounces of black, two ounces of white, and 1.5 ounces of brown. Do you see where this going? Yes, it was a bargain. The price was good. Wool costs more. I couldn't resist a chance to try llama with out spending a fortune.

Recently, I decided it was time to spin it up. I had decided it would be neat to ply the three together but what to do about 1.5 versus 2 ounces. The solution was to spin the brown thinner than the others. So, the battle started.

Turns out the fiber was loaded with extras, straw, cheat grass, a couple of burrs, and little tiny brown leaves. Also, the processing hadn't left the fibers lined up all the time. Here and there a small batch wound around themselves. Here was the true reason it was in the bargain bin.

It took twice as long to spin as expected. I end up with 110 yards bulky three ply, 7 yards of white, and 64 yards of brown leftover. I figure that isn't too bad for what I was trying.

Stash Inventory

All of my complete skeins have been inventoried. At least as far as I know I found them all. It really wasn't tough, if they aren't part of a project they are in the craft room. Of course the roving, the fabric, the embroidery kits aren't stashed. And lets not forget the beads. The yarn was done with Ravelry. You can even backup what you did by downloading to an excel spreadsheet. No such tool for the other items.

Now, I get to sort the plastic bags. Recyclable or not, they need to go. It helps a lot not to have about 100 small sacks stacked together.

Swirling Around

I just finished a swirl hat using Vanna's Choice in two colors. The pattern called for three colors but who said B and C can't be the same color. The pattern did but I went for creativity. I ended up casting on 100 instead 120 stitches, for some reason size 7 needles were going to give me a 25 inch hat. A bit big for most. 100 stitches provided a more modest 21 inch hat.

This was the first time I knit anything with the Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand. It worked really nicely. It is soft and doesn't mind frogging. I have enough left to do a basic roll brimmed hat. I don't think I could get a second Swirl out of it.