Tag Archives: Queensland Collection Brisbane

Calorimetry time, again

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A chill hits the air and I often start thinking of knitting headbands. And Kathryn Schoendorf’s Calorimetry, a free pattern available on Knitty, including via Ravelry, is definitely my favorite knit of this sort. These two are knit in Plymouth Yarn Boku. I know, off the head they look a little lip-like. Just ignore that because when worn they’re just cute. One 99-yard skein of Boku, a few hours of knitting, a foray into your old-button stash and you’ve got a great gift–for you or for others.

Here’s how Calorimetry looks buttoned up minus glasshead.

 I had some Queensland Collection Brisbane left after knitting up a Colonel Talbot scarf. Brisbane is a definite Aran weight, so this Calorimetry is almost a beanie. It would be great for the messy-bun or pony-tail crowd.

I think it’s nifty the way the colors worked out. It reminds me of photos of far away galaxies.

Sometimes I do think that I knit mostly to keep my eyeballs entertained. Very lively colorways often capture my attention. So I decided to try a Calorimetry in a very tame color. Here it is knit in the WEBS housebrand Valley Yarn Amherst. The yarn was on sale. 100% merino. I bought one 99 yard skein to take it for a test drive. Very nice yarn. Great little pattern!

Colonel Talbot Scarf

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This post is another post on the “I wonder how the same stuff looks in different yarns” theme. Glass head is looking cozy in her five-and-one-half foot Colonel Talbot Scarf. Joan Janes designed this easy mostly garter stitch scarf. It includes a few very nice touches to keep a knitter from nodding off. More on that in a bit.

The Michigander in me needs to call this one my Colonel Wolvervine version. It will look great hobnobbing around Ann Arbor on a maize and blue football Saturday when everyone else bought an off-the-rack scarf.

The yarn is Fiesta Yarns Boomerang, an Aran weight, in their college set of colorways. If you’re a fan of that other Michigan football school, Boomerang also comes in a Sparty green and white colorway.

At first I was concerned about how the yarn was pooling on the edges and mixing in the middle. But I came to think the effect was cool. Here’s another view.

Among the sensible touches in this pattern is the fact that the scarf is completely reversible. When the wearer flips it over a shoulder or ties a knot in it, she won’t need to be embarrassed that her back side is showing. The edges are applied I-cord, knit on as you work the rows. Such a nice trim. And, as you’ll see more clearly in the last version in this post, there are 10-row long drips of nicely space stockinette.

Soon after completing my Wolverine version, I decided to knit another, this time it’s dubbed Colonel Brisbane. That’s because it’s knit in Queensland Collection’s Brisbane, another Aran weight. Glass head says it’s going to really keep someone warm.

It’s a tad more difficult to see those drips of stockinette in Brisbane. But again I love the effect of the color-changing yarn.

This colorway combines colors I’d not think would work well together. But they do.

Now for something completely different.

Here’s a nice tame Colonel Talbot. This one was the first time I knit the Colonel. I used String Theory’s Aran Caper. Caper is an 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon yarn. It worked up exceptionally nice. And the evenly spaced drips are clearly visible in this version.

It’s often the simplicity of the knitting that keeps me coming back to a pattern.