Friday, October 24, 2008

A Little Subtle Color

It was cold and rainy the other day, so Harry decided to reorganize his stash. He kindly allowed me to assist as long as I didn't pilfer anything (or try to steal back my priceless ebony circulars). He did, however, graciously assent to my taking anything he didn't want. Among his rejects, I unearthed a small ball of uninspiring white Aran-weight cashmere silk and a partial skein of variegated Richmore Count 10 mohair.

A few hours later, Kyoko-san's birthday present was finished:


I was intrigued by the fact that, no matter how close I looked, I couldn't see two separate yarns. The Count 10 is so thin that it virtually melted into the heavier-weight yarn, while still imparting its lovely variegation and fuzzy silkiness to the finished object.


The pattern is a free Ravelry download called Beaufort--get a copy here.

As I was working away on the hat, I noticed Harry carefully placing a skein of hot pink fun fur into his neatly arranged stash drawer. When I asked him what he intended to do with it, he mumbled something about a blow-up tarantula doll ... pink furry legs... I really do not want to see that finished object any time soon...

22 comments:

Kitty Kitty said...

wow... that is really lovely. I would have never guessed it would give the results that you are showing there in the photo.

fluffbuff said...

What a great idea. I am sure Kyoko-san will love her birthday present.

Carol said...

What a great subtle colour variation! Never would have guessed 2 different yarns.

Laritza said...

Harry is at it again? What ever happened with his 1000 cousins?

Lacefreak said...

I would never have thought of such a great idea! The hat is beautiful and the color subtle. The hat is really a nice one too. I can't believe Harry let you have any yarn but you made best use of them.

Dave said...

Cashmere, silk & mohair? Yowzer, that's one posh hat.

Love the subtle colouring!

Opal said...

gorgeous hat! turn away from the fun fur. turn away.

LittleBerry said...

Great hat and great Idea abd you're quite right you an't see 2 strands at all...

well as for Harry and th epink fuzzy yarn, each to his own ;o)

Anonymous said...

mmmm... a hat...it's lovely, and it reminds me that it's getting cold---must find hat patterns!

Susan (and SmokeyBlue in spirit) said...

Beautiful, subtle and such a great example of what can be achieved from stash. And in this case reject stash at that. Gonna go get me that pattern.

Anonymous said...

Really beautiful, and inspired! I can't call to mind any bought yarn that would give such a subtle shading. A happy ending for sure. Now just off to download that pattern......

Rosemary said...

Oh My gosh, I love this hat! I wish I could feel it, because it looks very nice and soft. What a great idea to use these two yarns together.

Cheers!
Rosemary

Angelika said...

That is too cool how that little bit of colored mohair can make such a nice difference. I bet those two balls of yarn were waiting for each other.

Anonymous said...

I love the nice subtle variegation! And I agree with Carol, you really can't tell that it's two different yarns held together. They blend so well!

BadCatDesigns said...

That looks lovely! I can almost feel how soft it is just from your pictures.

z's momma said...

Love the hat! What a beautiful present.

Renna said...

The hat is beautiful!

And Harry is a scamp! ;-Þ

Unknown said...

That is a lovely and created use of those leftovers.

Octopus Knits said...

Very pretty (and such a great idea) :)

Hege said...

What a lovely surprise to see how the two yarns melded together! She will love her gift.
That Harry, he's something else!

Unknown said...

That hat is absolutely gorgeous. I am going to go queue it now! I also love how you combined the yarns.

Sarah from Little Knits :D

Monika said...

Lovely idea combining the two yarns!