Braided head band

So I finally finished knitting the braided head band.

I loved this pattern when I saw it! I’m pretty much a beginner but when I read the pattern I knew it was within my grasp.
I used my own hand spun yarn from this roving http://www.etsy.com/listing/58376655/merino-roving-jewels-of-the-nizam-semi

The yarn isn’t as thick as what the pattern called for, so I used a 7mm needle. The scarf turned out slimmer & less bulky than what the original seems to be but it fits well & I love it. I used buttons on this one for the custom fit but might make another without buttons.
If you’re using a thinner yarn, like I did, I recommend adding 2 more stitches to the CO & incorporating them in the cable. So it would be C10B and C10F and P14 instead of the usual. Also, doing a sl 1 (purl-wise) instead of knit-wise, creates a nice, neat edge but takes longer overall (from all the YO you have to do.

Pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/anthropologie-inspired-braided-headwrap

Hooray for the handspun sweater!

Ages ago I went looking for someone to knit me a sweater out of my handspun yarn. And I found them. Michelle's grandmother Patti in Florida was kind enough to knit me the sweater which is a ribbed Raglan.
Michelle has an Etsy shop called OakGroveAlpacas where she sells yummy Alpaca roving, home grown yarn & hand knit/woven items.

Below are pictures. The yarn striped in subtle stripes. I spun the yarn for the sleeves so that color repititions were shorter. One of the plies was the dark brown corriedale & the other alternated with different colors & blends. The result being stripes of different colors & textures.


Above: pre-drafted rovings made them easier to spin.

The color rovings with merino, silk on the left bobbin (lots of blue here) & the brown corriedale on the right.