Loving the Hand-spun

My only experience so far with hand-spun yarn is 2 skeins I bought from Jessi's Etsy store. I bought the first several years ago...I was noticing all the hype of knitting with hand-spun throughout the internets and decided I wanted to experience knitting with it. Browsing Jessi's store one day, I couldn't resist the colors of one skein she had for sale. That first skein became this cowl which I have worn often and absolutely love. In fact, I loved it so much that I immediately went back online and grabbed a second skein from her. This time the name (Mother Earth) and the colors were calling my name. I saved this yarn for over a year trying to find the perfect pattern. I knew I didn't want to knit another cowl, but I needed to find something that would use every inch of yarn.

I finally decided on Thorpe. I love the hand-spun versions I'd seen on Ravelry and I wear hats OFTEN! I finished all but the crochet edging up in one setting months ago and there it sat. Because I had no idea how to crochet and because I had no yarn that would match for the edging. My friend Anne to the rescue on both accounts. I was slow and felt like I had two left hands for awhile but crochet I did. It's not perfect, but I love it anyway.

Because I was using scraps of yarn and wasn't sure I'd have enough for the crochet and the braids, I also grabbed some leftover hand-spun of Anne's that incredibly matched the purple in the original yarn almost perfectly and did a little color twist into the braid.

I think this hat adequately shows off the loveliness that is Jessi's yarn well...and it's so soft to boot. The only problem was it didn't eat up enough yarn! So I cast on some Toast mittens and knit until I ran out. My toast are more like wrist warmers than arm warmers, but they are soft, cozy, and have already been worn often as I type in my cold house! It's amazing to me that such a small amount of fabric covering only the wrists and part of the arm could actually provide warmth...but they do!

And just because I'm so enamored by the colors...some more pictures.


Deets for both projects are on Ravelry if interested. Toast is here. Thorpe is here.
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Now playing: 'Relator' by Pete Y0rn and Scarlett J0hanns0n
Found via Molly...had no idea SJ could sing and though I haven't been exactly enamored with her acting lately, I was immediately taken with this song.