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........................................................................................................................................................Now in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.

Saturday, January 05, 2013

                                          Hand Spun Hat from Start to Finish.




 Raw fleece was hand picked and then bundled in cheesecloth for washing. For Arnold I decided to blend Shelly, one of our Jacob sheep with Lolly a Lincoln/Ronmey/Shetland cross and a wee bit of Dottie his Pyrenees/Newfoundland dog. Carding was done on the lovely Ashford 12" drum.

Three bobbins were filled with laceweight singles, ever so slightly over twisted for durability. The Elizabeth 30 was used in the spinning and I can't say enough about Ashford's competition lazy kate for putting together this 3ply yarn. It holds tension just beautifully so that tangled hold-ups are a thing of the past. I doubled this yarn for a dense, warm knit using a modified version of  the Arcadia Hat by Mimi Hill. Not that I didn't love the original but I had a request for an added brim which bumped up the charted pattern and required a new decrease sequence.  And with no time to spare; a wind breaking hat for January.

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