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By Beryl Farr
Yarn
Handspun Corriedale fleece - pale grey (rather fawnish)
Fleece soaked in cold water overnight, then washed in cold
water to remove dirt but leave grease in fleece.
Spun on Ashford Traditional Wheel using middle wheel of high
speed flyer. Plied on same whorl.
Bobbins rested for 24 hours after spinning and plying.
Yarn skeined, scoured and washed. Then drip dried.
Weight of skein before scouring =164 grams, after scouring
= 144 grams. # 20 grams of grease washed out.
Approx. 722 meters spun yarn, calculated by multiplying length
of skein by number of winds in skein. This about 250 meters per
50 grams.
After knitting there was approx. 6 grams (39m) left. # approx.
683m used.
Knitting
As I was not sure how big a stole I could knit, and not having
time to spin more yarn if needed, I decided to make an oblong
stole with two points at each end. My theory being that points
would add length and conserve yarn at the same time as being
a little different! A lace pattern would result in a "floaty"
and drapey stole and perhaps with a tassel at each end.
Pattern
I choose stitch patterns from "25 Original Knitting Designs"
by Dorothy Reade, self published in U.S.A. "Cats Head Mesh"
for the body of the stole and "Peruvian Cat 1" &
"Peruvian Cat 2" for the points as "Cat 1"
faces right and "Cat 2" faces left. (each cat could
face it out!)
All patterns in the book are charted on big, clear, easy to
read charts, with simple symbols. For the points I left off the
stocking stitch bottom corners.
Starting with 3 stitches and increasing on right side rows,
I increased until I had half the number of stitches plus 1, put
that piece on holder and worked the other "Cat" to
same place, then worked across, knitting together the last and
first stitches. making sure "Cats" were facing out!
After finishing first point I knitted a couple of rows... much
easier to graft garter stitch than pattern.
"Cats Head Mesh" followed the garter stitch of the
second set of points for 15 patterns, then garter stitch and
graft-- Finished!
Washing was followed by blocking or "dressing" the
stole. This done on a spare carpeted floor transformed a crumpled
pale grey/fawn "mess" into a cobweb of "CATS"
measuring about 50cm x 226 cm.
(The tassels are still being thought about.)
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