I recently realised that the inspiration behind most of my projects often comes from a yarn rather than a pattern. It usually goes like this: we receive a new yarn at the shop, I obsess over it for a little while and then a pattern magically materialised on my Ravelry feed or I come up with an idea of my own. The pattern very rarely comes first.
So unsurprisingly, this is exactly what happened with my Melted Chevron beanie. After receiving a batch of Qing Melted Baby Suri last summer I knew I wanted to make something with the colours Daffodils and Firaja.Straight away the idea of a simple stranded motif came to my mind and Melted Baby Suri being so incredibly soft it felt like the perfect option for something like a hat or a cowl.
One thing to know about Melted Baby Suri is that it has very little stretch. This is partly due to its fibre content and partly due to the way it is spun. To compensate I used a 2 x 2 tubular cast-on as well as a wider number of stitches around the brim. The cast-on is done on 3.00 mm needles while the rest of the brim is knitted on 2.5 mm. I found this helps giving even more stretch to the cast-on. Stitches are then decreased just before starting the stranded section of the pattern.
Melted Baby Suri classifies has a heavy 4ply however the ratio in between the stitch gauge and the row gauge ratio is a little bit unusual – 20 stitches and 34 rows. Therefore I decided to make a second version that would be easier to substitute using a more ‘conventional’ woollen yarn. We tend to overlook row gauges but when you do a piece of stranded knitting it essential to get it right as otherwise you can end up with an item that is few inches too long or too short.
Big Chevron uses the same chevron stripe and is knitted in the round from the brim to the crown. The easy stranded motif makes it a great project for people wanting to try stranded knitting for the first time. I used De Rerum Natura Ulysse for my sample but it would also be possible to get gauge by holding a strand of CaMaRose Organic Summer Wool together with a strand of Midnatssol. The colours of Midnatssol are so joyous I am almost tempted to knit myself a third version…
We love to see what’s on your needles so please share your project with us on Instagram and Ravelry so we can show them some love! Remember we’re currently running a little lockdown giveaway. To enter follow us and post a photo of a project you’ve completed in lockdown using a yarn you bought from us. Tag us @___yak and use the hashtag #yaklockdowngiveaway and you could win a £25 giftcard!
Until Next Time… Happy Knitting!
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