Monday, March 7, 2011

How Many Teeth Will I have ?

This morning I went though my fingering yarns trying to picture which yarn I would make my first Hitchhiker out of. Hitchhiker author Martina Behm seems to have created the pattern with Wollmeise in mind. I went through all of my Wollmeise and thought about making it in the colorway Orient. It would look nice but when I went to the Hitchhiker project page there are already two done in Orient. Something like that wouldn't normally stop me but I really did want to make my first Hitchhiker in something more unique.






I put all Wollmeise aside and chose my Little Traveller in the colorway Weeping Isle. Weeping Isle is an electric green with flecks of lime, yellows, orange and rust in it. It sounds yucky but you would have to see it to understand what I'm trying to describe.

When I opened the package and saw it for the first time my mouth dropped opened. I loved it, didn't like it and was intimidated by it. This colorway sparked quite a few emotions in me.I thought about sending it back and/or giving it away. Sometimes the more complicated a colorway, the harder it is to choose a pattern.




As you can see, this photo was taken with my cell phone.

I thought about another Multnomah or Swallow Tail even though I wasn't feeling a fever for those shawls with this yarn. A lightbulb came on just last night. I had over looked Hitchhiker. Well, so far I'm liking what I see.


The question on my mind is; How many teeth will my Hitchhiker have ? You see according to Martine, one skein of Wollmeise Superwash (575 yards/150 grams) creates 42 teeth in the Hitchhiker. My Little Traveller is only 560 yards. Perhaps with my tight gauge I can eek out the 42 teeth. I will have to check non-Wollmeise Hitchhiker projects to see how others faired, how many teeth did they end up with. I'm sure different variables apply.

Will I be able to get 42 teeth ? We shall see...

8 comments:

JelliDonut said...

I have more sock yarn than any one person should, but I have no Wollmeise. How could I let this happen? Can't wait to see how many teeth you get.

Gale Bulkley said...

OMG. I LOVE that colour.

Camille said...

Love the Hitchhiker, love the yarn. Your shawl will be very pretty

Sinéad said...

I love the casual "I put ALL Wollmeise aside". ALL? Just how much do you have? I have 3 skeins and I think of them as the crown jewels lol. I'm almost afraid to knit with them! I just love smooshing them. Plus, Sanguine Gryphon? Ooh. I've never tried that before. Love the colour.

hakucho said...

Sometimes we need something outside our comfort zone to well, wake us up. Looks like you picked out the perfect pattern...enjoy :)

Sheila said...

That is such a pretty colorway and haven't had the pleasure of working with Wollmeise yet.

I hope you end up with close to 42 teeth. That detail on the end of the wrap will make the colors pop.

SusanB-knits said...

Very pretty yarn! can't wait to see how many teeth you get

Caroline said...

I've been trying to be on a yarn diet, but I feel compelled to at least browse through Wollmeise now. Yours is so pretty!