shwook hat (spun & knitted)

Morning tea in the grey light of dawn. The last twinkles of the stars in the sky. Slowly the day breaks, pink and orange behind the summits. 

All the while, my needles are clicking back and forth. As a small patch of pale blue sky arrives, I have cast off. 

By the time the first rays of the hot sun reach our balcony an hour later, my tea has grown cold. But all the ends are woven in, and my hat is finished. 

All I need now is for this hot wind to die down and I'll be able to start wearing it!  

Pattern: Shwook hat,* knitted in honour of Shetland Wool Week, joining in with Melody's KAL.
Needles: 3.75 mm and 4.5 mm
Yarn: my own (hand-spun):

néou
nère
pinha
nougèr
mesclats

*Because the yarn didn't turn out quite as expected, I ended up having "hack" the pattern a little to make it work. Once I've properly finished ravelling the project, I'll put the details up over there.

chestnuts

He often comes back from his mountain walks pockets bulging with gifts for me, his girl. Today, there were bilberries, rose-hips, parasol mushrooms (my favourite). And chestnuts. Our first chestnuts. Autumn must be coming after all.

walnuts

Walnuts all over. All sizes and colours. Some hiding in their green jackets, some waving to us from high in the trees' branches, some hidden amongst the golden leaves that carpet the ground. Baskets, pockets, bags and hands full. Fingers stained black. Basket-fulls of walnuts. Bucketfulls of black husks, gradually ready for a dye bath in a few weeks. Not yet chilly autumn air that is filled with the scent of early autumn.

shwook hat (KAL)

Shetland Wool Week is finally here! And against all the odds, I've managed to get all my yarn spun, finished (and almost dry!) ready to cast on my Shwook Hat over the weekend.  

Yarn-wise, things haven't exactly turn out as I had expected when I first starting planning this project in August. I was really pleased with my first samples and especially my swatches and had decided to embark on a woolen spin as the gorgeous lofty finish and airy quality seemed more in keeping with the spirit of Shetland yarn and Fair Isle knitting.  However something must have happened from then until now and somehow without meaning to, I ended up not only spinning semi-worsted, but also in a heavier yarn weight than I was supposed to! (If you haven't already had enough technical jargon, somehow I jumped from fingering (14 wpi) to worsted-weight (9 wpi)!)

Still, c'est pas grave! I've cast on regardless, having first taken a good bit of time working out my own version of the Shwook hat...to fit my larger-than-expected yarns.

 It's looking good so far, I'm just a little concerned about the crown...

mesclats (spun)

My first time blending two colours of fibre together with my hand combs to produce a mixed yarn - “mesclats” - yarn. I’m delighted with the fuzzy texture and espeacially the colourway.

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"mesclats"

Ingredients: 35g of washed fleece, blended together whilst carding. The fleeces used were  white (20g) and brown (crossed) (15g) Berrichon du Cher, from Gèdre.

Carding:The two fleeces were blended together whilst on the handcombs before being rolled into rolags.

 

Spinning: Two singles spun from rolags in the Z direction, using a semi-worsted technique.

 

Plying: two singles plied in the S direction until balanced. 

Finishing: Wound off into a skein, washed and dried weighted to set the ply.

Quantity: 44g giving 44m of finished yarn

WPI: 9

Yarn Weight: DK

 

nougèr (spun)

After spinning and plying, I dyed the finished yarn using a natural plant dye prepared from the late summer leaves of the walnut tree, “nougèr” in the local dialect.

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"nougèr"

Ingredients: 32g of washed and carded wool. The fibre used was white Berrichon du Cher, from Gèdre.

Spinning: Two singles spun from rolags in the Z direction, using a semi-worsted technique. 

Plying: two singles plied in the S direction until balanced. 

Finishing: Wound off into a skein, washed and dried weighted to set the ply. Naturally dyed with foraged walnut leaves.

Quantity: 30g giving 32m of finished yarn

WPI: 9

Yarn Weight: DK

pinha (spun)

The natural greyish brown fleece of the Berrichon cross made me think immediately of the pine cones - “pinha” - that litter the forest floors of the valley at this time of year.

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"pinha"

Ingredients: 38g of washed and carded wool. The fibre used was black Berrichon cross, from Gèdre.

 

Spinning: Two singles spun from rolags in the Z direction, using a semi-worsted technique. .  

Plying: two singles plied in the S direction until balanced. 

Finishing: Wound off into a skein, washed and dried weighted to set the ply.

Quantity: 35g giving 38m of finished yarn

 

WPI: 9

 

Yarn Weight: DK

 

nère (spun)

I began spinning this naturally black fleece - “nère” - as the days started getting slightly shorter. With the arrival of the night a little earlier each day, I’ve started thinking about my plans for the darker (and colder) evenings.

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"nère"

Ingredients: 40g of washed and carded wool. The fibre used was black Barègeoise, shorn on the hillside during the Fête des bergers.

Spinning: Two singles spun from rolags in the Z direction, using a semi-worsted technique. .  

Plying: two singles plied in the S direction until balanced. 

Finishing: Wound off into a skein, washed and dried weighted to set the ply.

Quantity: 40g giving 56m of finished yarn

WPI: 9

Yarn Weight: DK

 

néou (spun)

The autumn is slowly creeping into the valley and soon the first snow - “néou” - will fall on the surrounding hills. It’s time to bring the flocks down from the pastures ready for the arrival of winter.

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"néou"

Ingredients: 25g of washed and carded wool. The fibre used was white Berichon du Cher from Gèdre.

Spinning: Two singles spun from rolags in the Z direction, using a semi-worsted technique. Spun out in the fields at Payolle. 

Plying: two singles plied in the S direction until balanced. 

Finishing: Wound off into a skein, washed and dried weighted to set the ply.

Quantity: 22g giving 18m of finished yarn

WPI: 9

Yarn Weight: DK

trois nuits sous les pins

Trois heures pour y aller, trois heures pour en revenir, le nez au vent, les yeux brillants et le cœur léger à arpenter le sud ouest de la France. Lourdes. Pau. Dax. Et enfin la mer. 

Trois nuits sous les pins, à se délecter des couleurs des fougères, à cueillir la calune, à écouter le brame du cerf, le cri de la hulotte, le vent dans les arbres. 

Trois jours à être si heureux d'être là, de revoir la mer. De respirer un peu. De s'échapper. Avec mon amour.