We're off to Lapland for Christmas this year, and being a warm weather sort of person, I feel the need for appropriate clothing.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/from-russia-with-love-cabled-balaclavaI found this pattern for a Balaclava, on Ravelry which looked as if it would fit the bill, and decided to give it a shot. First off, as usual, I changed the cast on - I like it stretchy, then I used the wrong yarn - just some from the stash, then the wrong needles - to suit the yarn... But, I figured it would fit one of us...
For starters, I realised I wouldn't have enough yarn in the particular grey, but I had a light grey which was similar. I found a great technique called Helical knitting, using up small amounts of yarn to make it go further. You end up with either an Ombre effect or stripes, depending on whether your yarns are similar or very different. I only used two yarns, and got quite a crude Ombre effect, but using up the dark grey at the bottom, two yarns together until the dark ran out, and continuing with the light grey. I love this technique.
Right, to the pattern, which was very simple, an eight row cable repeat, split for the eyes, carry on for the crown. Unfortunately, probably due to the wrong yarn and needles, the crown was far too shallow. Then I had to address the eye split. When I did the cable finish, it looked a bit saggy going into the back of each stitch, so I went into every other stitch. It is now so tight is squeezing my eyes together...
So, I've been tinking (
) back to the last cable, and added another pattern. I'm now starting to decrease for the crown - again
.
Then I will sort out the eye slit. It may have to look a bit loose in order not to push my eyes together!
A picture for you to feast your eyes on...
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Jessie