For the love of mountains

Can you see the theme?  Mountains.

I finished my first Colorado souvenir:  a Continental Divide hat and mitten set.  When I went out to Colorado with my family this past August, we stayed around and in the Rocky Mountain National Park to hike and sight-see.  It therefore made sense to mimic the almost endless stretch of mountains, with a tribute to the oddly fascinating Continental Divide.

This set was knit with Mountain Meadow Wool Cody, a soft, woolly, textural merino wool yarn that is grown and spun in Buffalo, Wyoming.  I very much enjoyed knitting with the yarn, but it was in blocking I learned how lovely the wool really is.  We speak of wool blooming, but this yarn blossomed.

But really, I love it the most because of Buffalo.  Buffalo to Buffalo...my yarn has traveled from Buffalo, Wyoming to Buffalo, New York!  Go Buffalo!!

In any case, knitting-wise, what is most interesting is that the mountain stitches (right and left twists) do not stand out stark and clear.  The way the Cody yarn was spun and plied causes softened textures, so that textures in the knitted fabric are subtle.

You may understand the difference I am trying to convey a little better by comparing this set to another hat I recently finished.  After enjoying the mountain stitches so much, I decided to make a similar hat for my sister:

Can't you just see the difference?!  The texture stands out sharp and clear with this orange cashmere yarn, with the mountain stitches obviously raised out above the fabric.

(This hat was knit with LB Collection Cashmere, which was in my stash from a yard sale find.  It was a beautiful yarn to work with, and even better since I got it for far, far, far less than $17 a ball!!)

It is amazing how changing fibers and plies will make an incredible difference to the same pattern.  This is a great illustration of why you always have to take the yarn into account when planning a knitted piece.  As we see in this example here, merino wool is not going to drape as well as cashmere, but cashmere is not going to keep its shape as well.

Always remember:  choose wisely.

So while the shape of merino wool was what I wanted for my red set, the drape of the cashmere was what I wanted for this orange hat.  My sister is the recipient of this second mountaineering hat, and I knew she would appreciate its easy, soft and draping style.

There is a break on the mountain stitches, however!  The next souvenir coming up is for Timberline Falls.

I hope you have a fabulous week ahead!  I am still open for test knitters for older patterns of mine.  If you want to join in, please read my last post:  The Ganger Games.

Happy knitting to you!