MK Carroll

Top-Down Ribbed Beanie Recipe
US 11 and 10 needles
Jenny Neutron Star handspun, "Candy", about 80 yards

This time it’s really finished – I ripped back a few rounds, then switched to US 10 needles and did 2 rounds of stockinette and bound it off. I like it better now, although I do feel like the hat is asking for more. Some buttons, maybe? A few crochet circles? I may have to just set it aside and walk away. It’s already quite exuberant.

About the yarn – the jennyneutronstar.com site won’t load for me, and the Jenny Neutron Star Etsy shop hasn’t had any activity for over a year. Back when I first got this yarn, quirky handspun yarn wasn’t as readily available. When I was asked to put together a few kits for the Alt Fiber show, I didn’t have much time and I really wanted to feature indie crafters. Jenny Neutron Star really came through for me and custom-spun 3 skeins to order (although I botched the wpi – this is really more like 5-6 wpi yarn, and it’s my misstatement, not hers). 2 years later, nifty handspun/handdyed yarns are thriving on Etsy, and so while I can’t find a way to direct you to Jenny Neutron Star right now, I do have a couple of Etsy favorite sellers for bulky thick/thin yarns: Terra Bella Spun does handspun/handdyed, which I’ve used to knit up similar hats. Miss Hawklet has some "scraptacular" yarns up right now that I find especially delightful, and I used some Midnight & Lulu yarn in the Springtime Scarflette I did last year. Typing "handspun yarn" into the Etsy search feature will get you pages and pages of delightful stuff! I know I have to be careful when I do that. For the next few days, my Etsy favorites (up on the top right corner of this blog) will be featuring lovely handspun yarns. I may have to go sit in my stash for a little while to keep me from buying more.

Yarn: Jenny Neutron Star handspun, "Candy"
Pattern: Top-Down Ribbed Beanie Recipe
Needles: US 11

I was worried about running out of yarn, and used up almost every inch of it. Now I think it’s too long, which is easy to do when working at a chunky gauge like this. I think I’m going to undo the bind-off and re-knit the hem on smaller needles (I did 3 rounds of reverse stockinette – I think 2 would be better).

One of the nice things about having an Etsy shop is that I don’t have to think about whether I would wear this (or when). I love the colors and the textures but it’s just a bit much. [Ms. M, I can hear you gleefully cackling at that one - you remember what my hair used to look like, after all.]

Yarn: handspun by Jenny Neutron Star, merino wool with random pieces of cotton, alpaca, silk, and tencel.
Pattern: Top-Down Ribbed Beanie Recipe
Needles: US 11

Remember this? The Mug Jacket and French Press Cozy went up as a free pattern in July 2007. More recently, I decided to offer the PDF as a fundraiser for Tricoteuses Sans Frontieres/Knitters Without Borders and as a free download on Ravelry.

So far, the cozy pattern has raised $99 for TSF/KWB!

May 07, 2008: I have revised the for-sale pattern; it is now written to be knit from the top of the sides to the base, and the chart has been done with Knit Visualizer. The price has increased to $5.50, with $4.50 of the proceeds going to TSF/KWB’s fundraising. The free PDF version is still available for free.

If you would like to purchase the PDF for $5.50, you can either use the buttons below or go to my Etsy shop. $4.50 of each sale goes to TSF/KWB; the rest covers PayPal and hosting fees. You can still get the pattern for free here on the blog or as a Ravelry download.