Local Yarn 2: A Twisty Journey from Vision to Expression
April 9, 2019The final hat of winter! This one is knit with yarn from Fair Sun Farm, the second local organic farm I mentioned in my previous blog post. Marnie & Patrick grow organic vegetables and flowers, and Marnie sells them at Brockville’s summer outdoor farmers’ market. They also raise Canadian Arcott and Ile de France sheep, and have had two types of yarn milled from their wool (a Lopi soft spun and a Bulky 6-strand unspun). The mill they use is Custom Woolen Mills near Carstairs, Alberta. I bought 2 skeins of their undyed (cream) Lopi yarn. It’s a rustic yarn, thick and quite soft, with tiny dried plant bits still stuck in it here and there. This is a yarn that makes you feel close to the spirit of sheep — you can almost hear it Baa.
Vision: My first idea for using this yarn was to make a fairly plain hat base that could show off an over-the-top design made with some of the multitude of white/cream/beige buttons I have collected over the years (white buttons being the most common on clothing, any button stash ends up with a preponderance of white). I was thinking of something visually inspired by cockney button outfits, but with a cream base (I’ve always liked white on white designs).
Shaping the Hat: All of that creamy wool made me think of snowy mountains, so I pictured a hat with a peak and ridges. I also wanted to incorporate a headband that would hug the ears. I started knitting from the top (as always) and worked downwards, forming a hat shape with a tall narrow peak and intermittent ridges. When I got down to the headband I used short rows (technique alert!) to work cosy coverings for the ears. I first learned to knit short rows several decades ago, from a Patons beret pattern where short rows were used to shape the classic beret top and underfold. I think of it as knitting architecturally, shaping forms with partial rows and eliminating the need to sew sections together. I expanded my knowledge last year when I discovered a great book, Knitting Short Rows: Techniques for Great Shapes and Angles. Who knew that there were many different styles of short row methods (Japanese, German, Yarnover, Wrap & Turn, Twin-Stitch)? I adapted an ear hugging shape I learned from this book, then finished the headband with two ridge rows. Now I was ready for button madness!
Sidetrack: Okay, I know that I thought this hat was going to be all about the buttons, but while I was making the base this vision of tiny mountain climbers or skiers on the slopes of the hat kept intruding. I visited our local antique treasure shop looking for metal figurines, but I could only find tiny military figures. I checked online and discovered a whole new area of obsession I hadn’t known anything about: HO scale figurines for model train hobbyists. These would probably work, but I would have to order them … how long would it take to get them and how would I attach them? Hmm.
Back to buttons: I reluctantly gave up on the figurine idea. Tried out various configurations of cream and white buttons of many sizes, with and without a statement button, then with fewer buttons and some small beads. Not happy with any of these arrangements, so button madness went into the brain file for future use. Next I tried a more restrained set of beads, just along the upper headband ridge. Some colour (tiny flowers!), some cream, and one gold star.
Much better, but a bit too restrained, so I added a chain stitch line of variegated green yarn in between the beads, and made a pompom out of both yarns with some beads mixed in (bonus: the pompom added enough weight to make the long peak flop over, since the hat was no longer going to be a tall ski mountain sculpture).
Colour Balance: The cream expanse between the headband ridge and the pompom needed to have some green … so I played with various green yarn line designs. It got a bit out of hand!
Final Expression: I let it sit in my head for a while. And a while longer. Then I thought, maybe this hat is all about winter AND the promise of spring … flowers blooming on a snowy mountain? I drafted and positioned a few flowers with the green yarn, then embroidered and beaded two that seemed just right: one smallish flower stemming from the gold star at the left temple, and one large flower stemming from above the right ear. Ta dah! Done, happy to have reached the final expression after an unusually twisty journey.
Of course, that mountain climber idea is still calling me. I’ll probably have to order a few and work on realizing that vision. Maybe it’ll lead to a whole new line of knit sculptures or fantasy hats!