Finding the right stuff!

I had to put a few stash bins back in the closet today  and while I did that, I dug for the right yarns for my two small projects.  And guess what?  I found two that will work just fine.

I have a stash of a yarn called Store Yarn.  It's a soft grey bulky pure wool.  

I made a vest out of the same yarn in red, and it was quite pilly. No emotional attachment at all!  It will be fine for a tea cozy.  I won't felt it, opting instead for cables on the cozy.  It's working out quite well.

Just a nice big over sized cosy that looks rather more like a hat than anything else.  I did debate using a pattern, but I don't think this cozy requires a pattern.  I plan to make the decreases quick, one row decreasing the center stitches of the knits, then the purls and then the last two of the knits.  After that I think it will simply be cinched together.  There may be knitting and reknitting, but I am okay with playing with the decreases to get things how I want them to look.

It's being knit fairly tightly on 5 mm needles and is just exactly right.  It's a wee bit hard on my hands, but that tight knit means it won't pill as easily.  Before the end of my knitting day, I made it to cable row number six, so about half done the project after day one.

Yarn two was harder to choose.  The grey would also be perfect for a nice tightly knit cabled hat for my neighbour but I wanted something superwash if possible or at least harder to felt. they grey is a little coarser too and if she is sensitive, it may bother her.  Plus this stuff felts really easily.   

My lovely neighbour is a plain sort of person. She loves her garden as I love yarn.  I came up with this.  

It's a kit Fiona Ellis did for the River City Yarns the first time she came to Edmonton.  There is yarn in the kit for the two mittens with the different tops, making a really striking pair.  

I think this is the perfect yarn for her.  It is soft to wear against skin and is really washable. She wanted an ear flap hat and this yarn would look lovely with a simple colour work design.  For a sturdy hat, it should have a lining, I think and I have just the right thing.  

I have several colours of Mission Falls 136, a DK variation of the 1824 Wool, left from a baby sweater I knit a few years ago for a niece.  The two yarns would pair really well and the smaller, and probably less tightly knit 136, would be just the right size for a lining which needs to be slightly smaller.  I am hoping that the 2 layers of yarn, will make for a good, warm hat.  

But this second project is down the road.  Not far down the road but it's not quite hat weather yet.  

One new thing a day.    It's enough for me to be getting on with. Letting go of yarn is a hard thing for me.  I know it sounds silly.  It is silly!  But it's okay.  Two nice yarns.  One for me, and one for a valued friend and neighbour.