Tuesday, December 18, 2007

"Princess" Kitty Pi

I have another kitty pi ready for felting and blocking. It's an experiment with a new yarn, so I wanted to capture photos before I felt in case it's a disaster.

The base is my old standby Patons Classic Wool Merino but I couldn't find a color I liked for the sides. I came across this absolutely delicious creamy pink in a Bernat alpaca blend and thought I'd give it a shot. I hand felted a small sample and it did ball up, but I'm not sure how much it will shrink compared to the Patons. It's really difficult for me to predict what will happen, even if I felt swatches, because the base is crocheted in the round and the stitches shrink differently lengthwise and crosswise. I compensated by keeping the sides short and I also decreased stitches every 25 for about 5 rows to make it cup in a little. That way if the sides shrink less than the base, it will hopefully still stay upright. The Alpaca is also a bulky yarn and has enough substance to hopefully hold itself up.

Details:
Base - Patons Classic Wool "Royal Purple" - one skein
Sides - Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends "Peony" (70% acrylic, 30% alpaca) - one+ skein
Trim - Bernat Boa "Parrot" (100% polyester) - 1/3 skein
Hook - 5mm H8
Stitch - Single crochet in the round
Starting dimensions:
Base - 18" diameter
Sides - 4.5" including single row of trim

I am in mad love with both the colors and the Bernat Alpaca. I can't describe how soft and wonderful this fabric feels. If this felts properly, it will be a pi fit for the most spoiled of kitties. I plan to knit something else with this yarn to make use of the texture. The Bernat Boa was on sale and may have changed my mind about eyelash yarns. The colors are fun and really suit the overall scheme.







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