Slouching into the New Year.

I started a new pattern on Saturday night. It really was just something to fill the time while watching a Middle School Boy's basketball game. If you have ever watched Middle School Basketball, you won't blame me for needing something interesting to do. But sometimes a last minute, lark turns out to be a great decision. Slouchy('s no Slouch) is a free hat pattern that I found on Ravelry by Lea Kobayashi. (Free is good -- Remember?!) I have been looking at the pattern for the last few weeks and I even saved a PDF of the pattern on my computer. So, of course it was a natural when I needed to make a quick choice.

I have been working the pattern over the last couple of days worth of commuting and have made good progress. At this point I am almost through the 1st of two skeins of the Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes that I had left over from my Avocado Carnaby. As I said then, the stitch definition of this wool is excellent.

The hardest part about the hat so far was knitting the cables -- not actually knitting the cables, it was getting under the seat on the train to pick up the cable needle when I lost control of it going over a bump. The cables were a ton-o-fun to do. I have not done any in a long time -- and these were small and easy. Forming ribbing, they are both lovely and useful. I also like the detailing formed by the SSK and the yarn over. The combo creates an interesting spiral to the ridge of the hat. The hat is topped off with a quick i-cord and a decorative bead.

I am nearly to the point of decreasing for the crown of the hat. The knitting has been so easy that I have yet to grow tired of it. This may end up being a "go-to" favorite for gift making.

Happy Knitting!!

With Ginkgo, Blocking Isn't as Easy as You "Thinkgo"

I remember when I blocked my Fall Colored Ginkgo Leaves last year, I ended up having to run out to my local craft store to pick up another package of rust proof pins to finish the intricate blocking required on this shawlette. So, at least this time, I have a sufficient number of pins on hand. I used two blocking wires along the top of the shawlette and one blocking wire down the center spine.

Using a printed copy of a photo out of the pattern, I pinned out the point of the shawlette.  Then slowly worked up each side of the shawl until I had each leaf blocked. When I was done, I only had 3 pins left!

The shawlette blocked out to a measurement of 45 inches wide by 22 inches high.

The hat, surprisingly, was more difficult to block. Since this is a slouch beret, I couldn't just throw it on my head form as I have for the last few hats. The ribbing on the hat was pretty loose after it was soaked and I needed to stretch out the body of the hat so the lace could be seen without stretching the ribbing.

I stuffed the body of the had with plastic grocery bags an then used the eyelets formed by the increases just over the ribbing through which to run a piece of yarn.

I pulled the yarn snug and tied a bow knot. This helps stretch the body of the hat and eliminates the stretch in the ribbing .

I then place it with a wine bottle going up into the stuffing to support the hat without smashing the ribbing. The ribbing may take a little longer to dry this way, but I am not in any hurry.

I used a fun little online picture editing website, PicMonkey. A lot of the features are free and it is kind of fun to use, however, as you can see, the pictures are not very clear. If you would like to see better pictures of this project as well as notes on how I worked the pattern please go here for the hat and here for the shawl.

Happy Knitting!

How to turn a pony into a show-jumper... combine the Shetlands two favourite exports | Mail Online

"They are the two things Shetland is most famous for – so it’s perhaps surprising no one had the idea before.  Shetland ponies and Fair Isle knitwear are beloved across the world, so why not combine the two?"

For those of you who only speak American English, in British English a "jumper" is another word for a sweater. This is such a fun article, I just have to share! 

How to turn a pony into a show- jumper... combine the Shetlands two favourite exports | Mail Online:

'via Blog this'

Matching Ginkgo Hat

Making a matching lace hat to the Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl for my darling daughter has been a great learning experience and I am having fun doing it! The lace is coming a long very quickly as I only have to knit instead of purl. I am actually just as fast at purling as I am knitting, but you don't have to think/count as much when you are going one direction. It is also faster because you only have to do the knit increase. I picked the left side of the chart only because that is the side of the chart which has the stitch legend on it. But I don't think I will need it because I am not switching back and forth between 4 different increases.

Happy Knitting!

What Should I do with Left Over Yarn?

I completed the knitting on Jacklyn's Ginkgo yesterday evening. Before blocking it and to get an estimate of the yardage used for the shawlette, I weighed the remaining ball of yarn.and there is 47 of 100 grams left. Nearly an entire ball of yarn for some varieties that are only 50 gram balls. So, what to do with the left overs? I thought about knitting a set of matching lace wrist warmers, but I didn't know if that wide of a lace pattern -- 15 stitches across would look good on such a small object. Also figuring out how to center the lace panel so that it looks good on the back of the hand. . . A HAT! A slouchy-lace-beret-type hat. That was just the ticket.

So, I began researching the construction of slouchy hats by looking at patterns on one of my favorite resources: Ravelry. There, I found a few hundred free patterns using the term "Slouch Hat" and 34 in a fingering weight yarn. So I started reading patterns.

I am such a skeptic and sometimes it is hard to trust what I am reading. The shawlette pattern is a repeat of 15, so I decided to cast on 120 stitches; however, when I got to 120, I looked at it and said to myself, "you'll never get a head in there!" and cast on 30 more. Wrong, wrong, wrong! After 2 inches of a 1 X 1 rib, it was obviously too big for any head and I ripped out and started over with my original 120 stitches. (Lesson Learned.) But this time since 120 was a multiple of 4 I went with a 2 X 2 rib. After 2 inches of ribbing, I can tell you all those people who have written patterns for fingering weight yarn knew what they were doing when they cast on ~120 to 130 stitches.

I have finished the ribbing, knit one row and then increased the stitches to 150 by k4, m1. I will knit about 4 to 6 rows of stocking stitch and then start the lace pattern. Hopefully, this time will be the charm!

I have some knitting to get through.

Happy Knitting.

I Think That There is an Alternate Personality Buried Inside Me. . .

and she designs knitting patterns.

I dream about knitting. I eat, sleep and breath knitting patterns. In a meeting at work -- I should be taking notes on some financial directive, and I am sketching out some stranded color-work pattern or figuring out how to accomplish some knitting project. I have more things bouncing around in my head than I have written down. But not for long. The problem is . . . finding the time to knit it all and having the money to buy all the yarn to make the samples.

She used to design quilting patterns and before that quilts, and before that crocheted afghans and before that -- water color and acrylic paintings.

Progress on Ginkgo

I put this project to the side while I finished a couple of other things (chullo, chullo, cap and scarf, sea anemone) but now I am back to it. I have made pretty good progress and am through the first two sets of leaves. I really like how the leaves are formed.

The lace on this shawlette is created on both sides of the knitting -- no resting on the purl rows. I have already had to "tink" back several times to fix where I have put in the incorrect decrease. This pattern uses four different single decreases: k2tog, skp, p2tog and ssp. (Click on link for videos of each decrease.) There are two knit decreases that slant in different directions and 2 purl decreases that also slant in different directions. If you get them switched up, the lace just doesn't look right.

For as many times as I have had to knit and re-knit some of the rows, the Sakkie yarn that my daughter selected is quite resilient. It is taking the beating well. I might just have to try some for a pair of socks.

So far so good. Only two more sets of leaves to go.

Happy Knitting.

I've Eaten Fewer Potato Chips In One Sitting.

As I have posted in the past, I think that I have a problem. And this hat is the most recent result of my OCCKD (that's Obsessive Compulsive Chullo Knitting Disorder). I knit this for a friend of mine who has been admiring my work quietly for some time. She was so heart broken for me when I lost my South Bound Chullo I, especially since I lost it after leaving her hair styling shop. 

I do think that this will be my last one for awhile -- not that I don't like making this pattern, I am just looking forward to making other things. Like most knitters, I have a large stash of yarn and a huge list of patterns to knit. Stay tuned for what is coming!

I better get on that stash! -- Happy knitting! 

 

Sea Anemone Ear Flap Hat -- Finished

What do you get when you cross an ungulate with a zoantharia? An Anemone ear flap hat! Sorry that is just a little zoology joke.

After being put to the back burner to make my son's hat and scarf, I finally got back to my sea anemone ear flap hat. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, I saw a really neat technique that Carla Price of the blog Knitting is a Romantic Drama used for a hat. I used that technique with a bulky yarn to make an ear flap hat with the left over Noro Hitsuji from the chullo hat I made my husband. I really like the way that it turned out -- it should be incredibly warm.

I basically adapted the ear flap hat patterns that I have done to use the tendril technique with help from notes on Carla's blog post dated 12/14/2012.

Easy Peasy!

Happy Knitting!

Knitting for my baby boy!

OK, he isn't such a baby, but I love to knit for my VERY LOVED ones. My handsome son is in the Navy and after two years of not getting to see him, he surprised me with a trip home for Christmas! So, since I had not anticipated seeing him, I had not bought him any gifts. But he wanted me to knit him a hat and scarf. Easy peasy!!!

I spent the entire week knitting for my boy. The first day he was here, I took him to my LYS and let him pick out the yarn. He had already picked the hat pattern, David's Hat, off of Ravelry and knew that he wanted lime green and black. However, he settled on a bright (not quite lime) green and charcoal. I bought two skeins in each color of Plymouth Yarn's Galway and one skein of Cascade Yarn Highland Duo in a marine blue.

I enjoyed working with the Galway. It has great stitch definition and seemingly was made for Fair Isle work. This will not be the last time I will knit with it. The Highland Duo is very soft which was the point as it is the liner on the hat, but it is very splitty and requires care to not knit only half a stitch. I have used Cascade yarns in the past with great appreciation, but I was not as happy with this one.

My boy wanted a very long scarf. I didn't bother looking for a pattern as I thought it would be best to knit a classic look. I knit a 2 X 2 rib in an uneven stripe. The charcoal stripe was 15 rows and the lime was 21 rows. The total length was 93 inches with a width of 6 1/2 inches.

What a great Christmas!

Happy knitting!