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Monday, September 21, 2009

Blitz - hat and scarf

These two were a bit of a frustration for me. I only had two balls of the yarn I used for these. It's a gorgeous yarn, Maxi Tosca from Lang Yarns. It's 55% new wool and 45% acrylic. It's even machine washable, though in cooler water, gentle cycle and with detergent for fine wash and no softener. No drier. At that point, I figure hand washing would be better. *L*

I picked it because I loved the colour gradients (I like the slow transition of colours better than variagated yarn) and how incredibly soft and light it felt. I choked a bit at the price, but I loved it enough that I considered getting more so that I would have enough to make something wearable; something where I could enjoy its beautiful softness.

By the time I was done this pair, I was glad I changed my mind!!

Tosca-hat

The hat is a simple double crochet hat, very much like the Biker's Beret I'd done previously. I changed the increases per round and number of increased rounds slightly, to suit the yarn. I used a 5.50mm hook.


Tosca-scarf

The scarf was incredibly frustrating. I ripped this several times before settling on a basic double crochet pattern to match the hat (I originally wanted to work it lengthwise, but that didn't work out) and finding a width that let me get a decent length with the amount of yarn I had left over, including what remained from the hat. Once I did find the dimensioned I needed, I just kept adding rows until I was out of yarn.

By the time it was done, I discovered welts on my arm, where I would drape the scarf as I was working it. It turns out I'm allergic to this yarn! I thought I'd developed an allergy to wool. At the moment, however, I'm working on a stole using a blend of wool and mohair, and I'm not reacing to it. Granted, it isn't "new wool" like this is, so maybe that is making a difference? I have no idea.

I did find it strange that I developed hives on my arm, but that my palms and fingers, which had much more contact than the back of my arm, didn't react at all. Either way, now that I know, I'm glad I didn't hang on to it for some future sweater or something!

Anyhow, this set worked out all right, and I still love the colours and how soft it is.

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