You might remember that I was having some problems with this skein of Värmlands wool. It didn’t “tell me” what it wanted to be. I think part of the issue was that I photographed it with all of the colorful fall leaves, and the grey-brown natural color looked too “quiet” beside those reds and golds. So, I decided to split the skein in half and overdye with red to see what would happen and to see if I got an idea about what to knit. I used a direct, acid dye (with vinegar), and allowed the bath to completely exhaust the dye. While still wet, it looked like a chestnut brown, but when dry, is this lovely purple-tinged scarlet. I got very little bleed off of the rinse, but gave it an extra vinegar rinse to be sure, and there is no more bleed. With 100g of yarn, I think I have enough for a hat. I’ve been looking at Hermanna Stengård’s 1925 publication of designs from Gotland Island that were collected at the turn of the century, and represent many patterns in use in the late 1800s. Many of the designs were worked into mittens by Inger and Ingrid Gottfridsson in 1984 (published by Lark Books). Hermanna’s book has been reprinted as a facsimile, and The Mitten Book — now out of print, can often be found on the secondary market.
The dark red color looks like it will be just right for a pattern called “Columbine,” thought to date to the 1700s. In Hermanna’s book, it is shown as the edging on a scarf, but I think it will work well for a hat band. I haven’t thought yet about what will go on the top, but in my usual method of design process, I’ll figure the decrease sections first and then work out what fits best. I confess that I don’t like to work decreases into design elements themselves and then try to cope with distortions…I take the easy way out, so leave room between the elements to account for adding and subtracting stitches.
Knitting with Värmlands Wool
As my friend Shelagh noted, this wool is a little “hairy,” and some might find that makes it scratchy. I am quite partial to what I refer to as “crunchy” wool — if you are familiar with Shetland wool, that is the feel. Others refer to this as “tooth,” and that characteristic is what makes a really good colorwork wool. The long hairy bits will make the patterning a little less crisp. I can already see in the corrugated rib that the similarity in color tone between the grey-brown and red will possibly make the designs a little muddy. I plan to push ahead anyway because the exercise here is in determining how the wool “works” in knitting as a guide to how others might wish to use it.
As you can see, there is nice stitch definition, so possibly a good choice for stranded color work. For the moment I’m reserving judgement on how it will feel against my skin around the hat band. The obvious other possibility is that this might be a good yarn for weaving.
Here are the Värmland sheep in the field.
Meanwhile…..
Math all complete, and the sleeve and armscye match perfectly. I hope to finish sewing up the seams today and then all that is left is the neckline edging.
Finally, here are some swatches for the next sweater. As usual, I’m behind the curve in choosing yarn. This is Shibui Birch, a lovely sport-weight/fingering yarn of singles in 100% merino, that unfortunately has been discontinued. It is amazingly soft, and although I worry a bit about the possibility of pilling, my plan is to work the sweater in a series of textured stitches that should help keep the fibers bound into the yarn. The colorway seems perfect for me…caffeine!