Ravelry Blog Swap

This week I participated in the Ravelry Blog Group’s yarn swap. The “rules?”  Simple. Choose a skein of yarn from your stash and mail it to your swap partner at the appointed time. It might be a very special skein. It might be something left over from a project. It might be something that’s been in your stash for years because Aunt Ethyl wanted you to have it but it’s so ugly you’ve never been able to figure out what to do with it. NessaMcTastic on Rav, who blogs at mixedmartialartsandcrafts.com was my partner.

I lucked out! No “vintage” wintuk acrylic 100% nonallergic orange-green-tan mix. Instead Vanessa sent me a lovely denim-colored skein of Patons SWS (Soy Wool Stripes). The yarn is an Aran weight, with subtle color gradations.

The yardage is 110, so whatever I chose to make it needed to be dainty, size-wise.  I thought about knitting fingerless mitts. That would have worked. And I like to knit teddy bears in colors that do not appear in nature, so that thought competed for my attention too.

I decided to use the yarn search on Ravelry to inspire me on a one-skein project choice. There are currently 9627 projects posted on Rav knitted or crocheted with Patons SWS. The yarn is stashed 5438 times. Even in the first several screens of projects, one kept catching my eye. A cool, quick-knit, headband/headscarf, from Knitty’s winter 2006 edition: Calorimetry. It looked like it would show off the color changes in an interesting way and the yardage looked about right.

My Calorimetry definitely captures the color changes. I was short a bit on the yardage, but was able to modify the end of the pattern to complete the increases in fewer rows. My version is very close to the original. I am well satisfied.

I always have an interest in how patterns pick up their goofy names these days. Calorimetry is a scientific term for the measurement of heat lost or gained. So, I guess this headband is supposed to be a way to, to, to reduce heat loss or or or something like that.

Thanks Vanessa a/k/a NessaMcTastic!

10 thoughts on “Ravelry Blog Swap

  1. WOW — you are fast! I’ve never worked with Patons SWS before but a few years ago Vogue Knitting had a great sweater dress pattern for this yarn and I’ve kept it in my stash of patterns for “one day.” Very nice headband … did you like the way the yarn felt as you knitted?

  2. @Evelyn…Yes, I liked the feel of the yarn. A bit slippery to handle, but very soft.

  3. Wow! You are a fast knitter! I didn’t think to make a calorimetry. The yarn is slippery and fuzzy, but it’s soft and warm. I do actually like this yarn!

  4. @Karen… “one day” is right because it took about 2 and 1/2 hours to knit this!

  5. @Vanessa…I really like the yarn. Thanks so much for introducing me to it.

  6. @suddenexpression…thanks much. It’s such a well thought out pattern, I hated to mess up the short row work there at the end. But it’s not too noticeable and I decided changing to a different color and yarn would have spoiled the headband.

  7. Lovely headband, and you’re right, it does bring out the colour variation. I’m loving seeing what everyone makes with yarn they wouldn’t normally choose!

  8. @Emma…thanks. It was such a quick fun knit. I think I will soon make another.

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