Chulo madness.
I have knit, ripped, knit again, washed and ( hang ) dried in the sun
( you know, the way Patagonians do it)
… Un Chulo.
Now knitting another, quite colorful one, which makes
dos chullos.
( In fact , it has so much color that a little black and white feels soothing)
Plus the one I knit over here …
tres chullos.
I am face-to-face with a mountain of natural colors , just off the line, washed & hung-dried skeins of handspun alpaca, spun up from raw loose alpaca locks I have acquired from three different friends of mine who raise alpacas . Three !
This Wind-Off launches the beginning of knitting for the second April Birthday Project , which is the Andean chullo / Himalayan sherpa hat, and for which last week I began spinning my alpaca stash . My brother loves these hats, has a bit of a collection , and for whom I intend to take the design for a twist of a sort, sherpa chullo and which I want to be a pleasant mix borrowing design from Andean, Himalayan, and Fair Isle , this project calls for alpaca, handspun, in order to give it the touch of stylish authenticity.
I thought alpaca would be the perfect fiber.
During the spinning of the alpaca, a couple things developed.
One, I really enjoy spinning alpaca, whether raw and weedy or in fine roving. I have in fact, dyed some and am going to spin up a couple of skeins for the mother of Nora , who has delightedly become a knitter !
Alright, item number two. An amazing thing happened, similarly to when I posted ” What do I have in common with these women? ” a short time ago, marvelling in the acquired skill of double tasking while knitting, well, I have found that I can double task while spinning too ! Even more difficult. The yarn turned out rather more “rustic” than if I were watching with hawk eyes, all the fibers going into the draft, but no, I wanted to read up on my new edition of Textisles and became adept fairly quickly at reading -while – spinning.
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Edit : Here is the almost-finished product, as I’m running out the door, photographed in bad lighting … was in a rush. I didn’t have a chance to edge it and put tassles on . 🙁 I’ll have to add them later….
Emma and I have been busy.
Recently I visited an old friend in this post and decided it was time for me to do more totally improv hats again. I am very interested in using up bits of stash yarn , perfecting these hats ! My brother is wild about these and well, his birthday is in April. But this little hat for little I decided yesterday afternoon to make for a present, as the one for who it is made is two months old and I’m attending a party for her tomorrow. This wee hat is first in a series of “Sherpa Neuveau” hats I will knit up lots in the foreseen future… my brother’s to be next.
Here it is, inside out.
In nice dappled light on the piano, angled so you can see the relief of the purl rows
I’m very satisfied with my improvising, though the crocheted edge is done badly (I don’t crochet, I improv’d that too, I was trying to tame the curling ear flaps !
It’s quite a cute little hat, perfect for a 2month baby-sized head. The colors don’t seem as vivid in the photographs as they are in person ( I need to get the hang of lighting in photography). The light purple and green backgrounds are alpaca , with little filled in color from various wool and wool blends I have hanging around. Adorable I might say myself.
. . . This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,
Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses
For honest men and bonnie lasses. . . .
(excerpt from Robert Burns Poem ” Tam O’ Shanter “)
The ” Tam o’ Shanter ” is a name given for the traditional Scottish bonnet which was born from a character in poet Robert Burns’ imagination, and comes to life in his epic poem Tam o’ Shanter. Also called a “Tam” or a “Tammy”, the hat is flat on top, usually made of wool , and has a pompom on top called a “toorie”, or pom pom, even a tassel, but also they are made without any. There is in fact, an actual arithmetic equation of the popular design, that the crown is twice the diameter of the head , but I’ve noticed many of the bonnets in different sizes and shapes. Originally, having only plant dyes available, the hat was made only in blue, but they are now popular in many colors, as well as tartan plaids. Tam o’ Shanters, the Balmoral bonnet, and the even the somewhat military Glengarry cap all are worn either formally or informally in Highland dress, as well as in uniforms of a number of military units. (I personally suspect the Glengarry evolved from the Balmoral Bonnet, as a scrunched or folded version, the advantage being that it can be folded flat and tucked into the waist of the kilt). These Scottish bonnets have been worn by men in a traditional sense ~ however, it is quite obvious that the Tam is popularly worn by women in modern day, especially the knit versions, having endless designs and motifs. The Scottish Bonnets I think are smartly fashionable, and though some styles have a bit of a regiment look, I think any excuse to wear one is acceptable!
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Originally a soft, knitted blue cap with a flat voluminous crown, it gave the Highlanders their nickname ‘Bluebonnets’. Here the Balmoral style of Scottish bonnets appears in a 16th century portrait …
The band was sometimes checked, or ‘diced’, and sometimes plain. A diced band, with a feather placed into the band, is shown in this illustration …
Now , in case you’re wondering why I’m goin on about bonnets, well, it is because I am going to make one! Perhaps several, and I’ll keep you posted !
Here I am wearing my most recent knitted thing, knit in the wild in the woods where I live. I love this pattern, and have made two of these so far, knitting up so intricately, yet the pattern seemed somehow easy. I was really blown away at how it came together. Made with mostly Virtual Yarns Hebridean 2ply , and also Elemental Affects Shetland. The pattern suggests for a red rooted version, this colorway is called ‘Beet Heid’ as as the neeps are more deep maroon or crimson, as I have made below, from yarns I had on hand . . .
That little pin cushion is the embroidery sampler my grandmother taught me when I was 10 years old, or maybe younger. I found it in a box recently, of things from my childhood, and decided to actually use it, to hold blocking pins, and not having tossed it in the years of my disregarding youth.
Anyway , here is the pattern for Neep Heid Tam.
I LOVED KNITTING THIS !!!! This tam was a free pattern I found on Ravelry.com , here. When I saw that sweet wall-paper pattern, it became instantly a must-do for me who wanted to learn how motifs can seamlessly work in an all-around pattern, up and down. I really enjoyed it !
I still have yet to add a beret loop at the top in the middle, as I really think it needs something to finish it off, don’t you? When and if I ever give it to someone, I will put on a more personalized accent.
The yarn I used was Knit Picks “Palette” that I had in my stash, which is a fingering weight yarn , and thus it knit up so fine that it is a very small tam, say for a child-sized head. I think the pattern followed needs a sport weight or DK to fit an adult sized head . Oops. I just will keep it in my cedar chest until the right ‘child’ happens to come by.