I needed a break from my never-ending Christmas gift and decided to knit a chemo hat for a coworker. I was told that she likes owls and that purple is her favorite color. So here’s what I came up with:
Super-soft Owl Hat
Pretty cute, eh!?
The hat needed to be soft as it will be worn next to bare skin. I spent a while searching for various cashmere yarns and finally decided on Trendsetter Kashmir (which is 65% cashmere and 35% silk). I thought it would be perfect for the owl hat pattern. This yarn is so so soft – I wish I had a big blankie made from it. For some reason, I thought I’d only need one ball for the hat but, alas, I needed to purchase a second ball. The first ball ran out just before starting the decreases. Oh well, I’ll just have to figure out what to make with just over 3/4 of a ball of this luxury yarn.
Here is the other halloween costume in our house:
Monkey Suit
I decided to start keeping my own, general purpose, blog rather than the shared knitting blog that I’d been participating in for years – Good-Natured Ribbing. I did import all my old posts to have them all on one place.
So, soon you’ll be hearing more about my other crafty endeavors, my family, and my various escapades. Welcome and enjoy!
Recently, a coworker asked me to make her a pair of mittens and didn’t really have any preferences. She just wanted them to be warm. After searching through many mitten pattern, and deciding on several different ones, I decided to let the yarn be my guide. I spent a good hour at the yarn store looking at all the different wooly yarn, waiting to be inspired. I didn’t quite get the inspiration I needed, but I couldn’t pass up the Shepherd’s Wool: so soft and great colors (made in Michigan, too!).
I spent a little time swatching and more time searching for patterns and finally selected Chevalier. These are mittens I’ve always really wanted for myself but never got around to it. It is a good thing my friend has smaller hands than me, or I would have a hard time giving these up!
Because “warm” was the only requirement, I knew I had to do a little something extra. Having recently finished my Fiddlehead mittens, I was armed with a new technique of lining mittens (and enjoying the results every day!). I decided that lining these mittens was the right way to go. In order to make this work nicely, I used the i-cord cast on, just like Fiddlehead. This give you a place to pick up and start knitting the liner without it showing.
Pattern: Chevalier Mittens
Yarn: Shepherd’s Wool in Midnight Lake for the outer and ggh Kid Melange for the inner
Needles: Size 5 US for the outer and 4 US for the inner
Modifications: Replaced the standard cast on with an i-cord cast on; added fuzzy warm liner
So I’m a little slow with the photos 
Details: Artyarns Ultramerino4, Size 1 dpn, toe up, magic cast on, 60 sts, wrap/turn short row heel, increase to 64 sts before 2×2 ribbing.
They pooled like crazy and the color is a bit muddy but they feel great. I’ll definitely use the yarn again if I can find it in a solid or semi-solid color.
With only a couple days left before Christmas, I decided that I should knit a little something for my dad. I decided on coffee cup cozies since he frequents Tim Horton’s, where they serve coffee in thin cardboard cups that get so hot they are impossible to hold.
As you can probably tell, this is made of Noro Kureyon. I got three from one skein and they all looked different. It looks like I felted mine a bit more than the one in the pattern, but I needed to to get the right fit. Since they are so little, I just hand felted these then let them air dry on a Tim Horton’s cup. Here it is before and after felting.
I made 3 of these but wrapped up my dad’s before photographing them. I’m going to keep this one for myself! By the way, I used this pattern and made no modifications.
I received a single skein of Cash Iroha as part of a swap a long time ago. It is quite lovely but has very little yardage. Since the hand warmers in Last Minute Knitted Gifts calls for a single skein of this yarn, I made those! They will be a Christmas gift.
I made the thumb opening about 2x the specified length – they fit my hands so hopefully they’ll fit hers, too.
Since the cold weather hit a few weeks ago, I decided I needed all new winter accessories. My old hat is getting a bit pilly and my old mitts are threadbare on the palms. But what to knit?!
I decided on the fourth grade hat, a free pattern from Twist Collective. This was my first entrelac project. I think I liked the process, though it didn’t really make sense to me for the first couple of tiers! Here’s how it turned out:
I love the way it looks but wasn’t sure about the fit at first. It has grown on me and I’ve been wearing it a lot the past couple of days. I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light in several different colors. This yarn was left over from my mitten project.
These are Fiddlehead Mittens, pattern from HelloYarn (Fiddlehead Mittens“>available here). I love love love these mittens. The best part, besides their stunning outer beauty, is the super-warm-and-fuzzy liner. The mitts started off with an i-cord cast on (also a new technique for me). When the outer is done, you do the liner by picking up around the inside of the i-cord.
As you can see, I ran out of the Kidsilk Haze used for the liner. I decided to use some leftover pink mohair, Kid Seta, from some other projects (this and this) instead of buying another ball of the green. I don’t mind the “secret” pink thumbs.
I finished this blanket a while a go (after 5 months of work) and the bonnet was just finished recently.
Pattern: Serenity Blanket (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease (to ensure an easy care blanky). I think I got into the 5th skein.
Needles: Size 7 US. I used Denise Interchangeable but wish I hadn’t. It was hard to slide the lacy stitch pattern over the connectors.
Pattern: Leaves and Berries Bonnet
Yarn: American Cashmere Yarn – 80% Cashmere, 20% Silk
Needles: Size 1 US
Notes: I bought this as a kit (yarn and pattern) at the Michigan Fiber Festival a few years ago. The yarn and pattern come from Marilyn Merbach from Rabbit Tree Farm in Saxonburg, PA. The construction of this hat was new to me (click through to Flickr to see notes).
Because I was giving these as a baby shower present, I wanted to keep them secret. The shower was today and the gifts were given. I love how both of these turned out!!
I guess I’m serious about this finishing streak. A year ago, I started knitting the Minimalist Cardigan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. You can see the early stages of it here and here. About 2 inches into the last piece (a sleeve), I had a minor mess up – but set it down instead of fixing it. And there it sat for until about a month ago when I ripped out the sleeve and started again. Days later, all the pieces were done and blocking.
I blocked the pieces before sewing them together – wow, what a difference! It was so easy to finish… all the parts just fit together. The fit is perfect and it has wonderful drape (thanks to the bamboo!).
Yarn: Briar Rose Celebration (50% Merino, 50% Bamboo)
Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan (in Ravelry)
Needles: Size 7 US (Denise Interchangeable)
Mods: None! Unless you count the variegated yarn.
This is my favorite sweater so far! By the way, did you notice I’m wearing the same tank top as the model in the magazine? Unfortunately, I didn’t have a belt that fit around my chest to finish of the look. (scroll down on this page to see the original)
I started these about 2 years ago… Seriously. I knitted one around the time the pattern was released then put it aside for other things. I had a hard time with the tubular cast on and didn’t like how it looked. This kept me from going back to it. Now I’m on a finishing streak and I knocked the second mitt out in 4 days.
The first one uses the Italian tubular cast on (without waste yarn) – tutorial here. I found it to be a bit unsightly, at least the way I did it. So, for #2, I tried the long tail tubular cast on – video tutorial here. This came out much nicer. Now that they are all blocked and have been worn several times both of the cast on edges look about the same – so there was no need for all the fuss after all. Either method works.
And I love them! They have been worn many, many times already.
I put a new free pattern up on the Knitzi website. Something a little different this time… easy fuzzy legwarmers for your little ballerina. Inexplicably, Ava picked the name “Pickles” and it stuck.
This is a very straightforward pattern but the combination of yarns makes them something special. I used 2 partial skeins (just over half of each) of Claudia’s hand painted sock yarn (in Pink Clouds) and one full skein of Kid Seta silk/mohair blend (in Cotton Candy). They are very warm and will come in handy this winter!
The pattern is available here and is also on Ravelry:
(how sad is that… come on, knit some up so I can have more than 1 project!)
Having just completed two large and lengthy project, I needed something super-fast to satisfy an instant gratification craving. I decided to make a neck warmer/cowl. I’m not quite sure why that was my choice because I’m much more of a scarf person. Maybe I just haven’t found the cowl for me.
Anyway, I started digging through my yarn closet, looking for something interesting. I pulled out some yarn I dyed spun a while ago and decided on the simple but effective Gloria Cowl.
I love how it turned out, but as I mentioned, I’m not crazy about this form of knitwear. So I decided to give this to a coworker. She also like it a lot and has offered me artwork in exchange. I’ll share that when she’s! You’re going to love it!
I actually finished this a couple weeks ago, but I’m only getting around to this now. Last year for Christmas, I got a gift certificate to a yarn store in Windsor. With that, I got 5 skeins of Manos wool and silk blend. Then it sat around for a while because I couldn’t decide what to do with this lovely yarn.
Finally, I decided to go for Clapotis. It was started in May – working only a few rows at a time. After many months, I finished it.
Before I started, I figured out that I should use all 5 skeins, starting the last skein when I started the decrease section of the pattern. My calculations were a bit off… it turned out well over 6 feet long!! I guess that is OK because it is really cozy, even if it isn’t all that practical. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when the weather turns really cold.
I needed something baked good-related to knit as a thank you gift (or a bribe or payment… depending on how you look at it). This was for someone at work who doesn’t really come across as a knitting fan.
I decided to go with something utilitarian as well as cute. It went over pretty well, I think. Though I haven’t seen it since I guess pink and sparkly might not be his style.
Comments (0) 
Themocracy