About the Belt

I gave you a quick and dirty shot of the belt that I'm working on for the Philosopher. It's only progressed slightly, mostly because after I put up that post, I found a different stitch pattern that I wanted to use and ripped it all out AGAIN.

Anyway, I'm finally finally finally happy with the density that I'm getting for the belt, it has been Philosopher approved, and I'm making progress. Snail-slow progress but still it's something.

The belt is being knit out of hemp.  Here's the pound of hemp that I got in the mail.

This is a single ply of light laceweight, which, while very flexible, is not quite dense enough for a man's belt. After some trial and error, I decided on chaining the yarn first with my trusty crochet hook and then knitting the crocheted hemp.  That seems to be working out pretty well.

Ultimately I decided upon using the linen stitch. It's wrapping in on itself just smidge but once I washed a section of it, it lay out flat. So I think as long as I aggressively soak and block it before I give it to him, and give it with a) clear instructions and b) the offer that I'll reblock it if need be, I should be okay. 

I've got about 14" done. I need about 50"  And I can only do a little bit at a time or my hands absolutely start screaming--this is not an easy knit.