Before you laugh at me, yes, I have another tall slouchy hat to show you. If ever there is evidence that knitting can influence your tastes it is me, who did not even like knit hats beyond what was necessary for our occasional snow. And I never wore anything slouchy. Ever. But clearly, that has all changed.
This is the Twisted Vines Hat by Melissa LaBarre. In November she ran a pattern sale on all patterns she published that month, and so I snatched this pattern right up. I cast on almost immediately because it was perfect for my Dragonfly Fibers September club yarn, Traveller, a sportweight yarn, in the colorway Tropicana. You may remember that I like to call this the happiest yarn in the world because, well, it is. Have you seen that color? It is impossible to photograph inside and, well, I'm never outside in daylight this time of year.
Typically I do not wear things in this shade. I am known to wear some wild colors, but in general even I know better than to mix red and orange. Let alone with pink! But this yarn knit up so wonderfully in the stitch pattern and it was a lot of fun to watch where the pops of color would fall.
I realized last night as I prepared to write this post that I as much as I have been wearing this hat, I did not have any photos of it. And as I set up my chair in a closet for best nighttime lighting I remembered, dear readers, how many of you were dissatisfied the last time I wrote about a hat without modeling it for you.
So here you go. Post-zumba, settled on the couch for Vampire Diaries and trying to decide how the snow falling outside would effect my work prospects today. Don't say I never did anything for you.
For more FO fun, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis.
Last month I got the opportunity to do one of those things some knitters daydream about, but not all of us get to actually try -- I got to test knit. I wore it to work the day after I finished and somehow telling my coworker that it was a test knit for my favorite hat designer did not have quite the impact I would have thought. But you guys understand, right?
The latest design from Alexandra Tinsley, Petoncle, is everything I have come to expect from Alex. Straightforward and clear layout, with a pattern that is deceptively simple. The pattern itself uses more colors than I did, but what I immediately loved about this pattern was its potential to use worsted leftovers. For my version I used three colors. The grey is Dragonfly Fibers Selkie, leftover from Shipwreck Cove; the white is Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool; and the purple is the end of my Yarn Love Anne Shirley that I used for a hat last year.
I volunteered to knit the size large because I know that I have a larger circumference head, but I probably could have done with the small no problem. The reality of a size large that I did not consider is the fact that it is longer than the beanie style, which actually makes it even more fun. Actually, I must admit that I have taken to sleeping in this hat. It is just so comfortable! And it is sometimes cold here but I refuse to turn up the heat.
Alright. So there you have it. A wonderfully customizable hat from the lovely Ms Tinsley. If you have never tried color work before, this may be the pattern for you.
In the meantime, check out the other wonderful finished objects over at Tami's Amis.
Wednesday night marked a significant event in my life. As a long time theater fan, raised on the soundtracks of opera and musicals, it was always disheartening to have to say I had never seen Wicked. I owned and loved the book, I thought the music was splendid, but I had not actually seen it on stage. So for Christmas my roommate, a certified Wicked fanatic, bought tickets for us to see the national tour when it came to our area. Wednesday night we finally got to use our tickets and sat in the front row for one of the most magnificent productions I have ever seen. I would rave on and on about the dialogue and the staging and how I may or may not have cried during Defying Gravity, but you can read all of that on any high school girl's facebook page provided you can decipher all of the emoticons and glitter.
As a thank you for buying my ticket I decided to make Andrea a hat to go with the shawl I made for her last year. The only problem was that the shawl was in lace weight and Knit Picks does not make that particular color in any other yarn. Thanks to a Ravelry de-stash I was able to score two skeins and decided to knit with two strands held together. All that was left was to pick a pattern, which took a while but I finally settled on Springtime in Philadelphia, as I had always liked the pattern and it used a light fingering weight.
Elphaba Beret in Knit Picks Shadow, Midnight Heather
I only used about half of each skein. The entire hat is knit on size US 2, 2.75mm needles as I do not own US 0s. To make up for that I decreased the stitch count when I got to the ribbing and knit it all through the back loop to make it a little tighter. The color is really hard to photograph, but I love it. It hints at all the colors in Elphaba's black dress.
Our Glinda was played by Tiffany Haas, and we were honored enough to be at Anna Eilinsfeld's debut performance as Elphaba. It was a really fun night and I'm glad that even though Andrea's seen it now five times she will still let me drag her to lotto for tickets this weekend before the tour leaves town. Maybe I can talk her into wearing the hat again.
We have a storm blowing in over the mountains today and it is making everything stand out very vividly.
Seriously, can there be any way to better spend spring break than out here? It's so beautiful. The colors that are popping up everywhere are amazing.
Last night I finally finished my Malabrigo March project, Quest, designed by Laura Nelkin in the latest issue of Knitty. I used about 3/4 of a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Buscando Azul, aka Tardis Blue.
I really enjoyed knitting this pattern. I made the plain version in size large and it is a perfect fit. I'm pretty sure everyone who has seen me knit this got the "it's the color of the Tardis!" explanation of the hat, but I stand by my assertion. I was going to put a button on the side like the pattern calls for, but I've changed my mind. At least for now.
In addition to being in love with the color, I am a big fan of the fit of the hat. It has short row shaping to make the front longer than the back, which makes a nice cloche shape that I honestly would never have tried before this pattern.
Now I'm off to find my raggedy doctor and his blue box!
Christmas has come and gone and somehow I managed to get all of my gifts made in time. I'm serious. It was a race to the end, knitting up one last gift a few days before Christmas under a blanket as we watched a movie as a family, but somehow I managed to get them done (did I mention we got snowed in the weekend before and were trapped in the house together?)
With one notable exception, all of the gifts I made this year were hats. Figure if you're going to make something for everyone you might as well follow a theme, right?
I started my sister's hat back in October[ish]. It was the only gift that was knit on schedule, but it turned out quite nicely. She's rather quirky and artistic, so the unique butterfly pattern seemed perfect. Sofiya Cremin's pattern is a lot of fun to knit up, provided you don't lose count in the decrease section (or do as I did and put it down for a while and forget where you were).
My mom's hat is one that most knitters will recognize -- Ysolda Teague's Riply. I knit it up in Borocco Alpaca Light and still have some left over. The color is an almost navy shade of blue, but has a lot of other colors flecked into it. Mom's a PE teacher, so I thought she needed a more girly hat. Hence the lace band. And those pleats! So much fun.
(this is the "Faith, stop taking my picture!" shot)
The other two members of the familiy, Dad and my brother, recieved identical gifts. Or at least that was my intention. As you may remember, on Thanksgiving my family ran a 5K (yes, we trot for our turkey. Though some of us may have walked for a bit), and as it was rather chilly, the male half of our four-person group was not too happy with their lack of hat choices. Well what's a girl to do but knit running hats for the ones she loves?
Both hats were knit from the same pattern, the Seaman's Cap, which you can still find on Ravelry (though not the actual details of the pattern). Unfortunately, halfway through the second hat the pattern seemed to disappear from the internet. Now we know, kiddies, always print your patterns if they're not a download! I managed to improvise from what I remembered but it came out shorter than intended. Fortunately, my brother loved it. I mean seriously. I don't think he even took it off when he went to bed.
I made 5 other hats at the last minute. Fortunately they only took 2 days and maybe a total of 4 hours.
They're Jayne hat ornaments! Sent to a few of my online friends to decorate their Christmukkah trees or fingers as the case may be. Easy and fun, I just copied this pattern for Jayne hat pins.
Oh, and I made one more Christmas hat.
It's Hermoine! Better known as my BFF[fffffffff . . . well, you get the idea]. Now she is truly chic geek as she chases her students around the playground (I don't actually know if she chases them, but I think it'd be entertaining).
The last thing I made was 1 nearly completed glove for the boyfriend to wear when he plays hockey. He's only been asking for a pair since March. Maybe next Christmas he'll get the other half.
I have much more to tell you about, but haven't the time right now. But I promise to be back soon. Until then, remember, needles are for knitting and stabbing annoying people at the grocery store.
There is nothing quite so satisfactory as the sudden empty time you have once the semester ends. After tons of papers and researching, grading and testing, you're suddenly faced with entire days in which you might have nothing that must be done. What is a girl to do with all of this free time but knit?
During the first week of finals I had tons that I had to do. I would stay up until 2, 3, 4 in the morning and crash when I got home in the afternoon. In the midst of all of this, one day I fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon, only to be jolted awake by the doorbell. Now, I'm not very nice when I'm woken up, least of all by people who I do not know (sure, it could be someone I know, but no one I know at school knows where I live). In addition, I do not have a way to see who is at my front door, so I've gotten into the habit of answering the door with a giant bread knife, just in case. Fortunately, if it's the mail or UPS they've left the package and gone on their merry way before I make it to the door. So wasn't I pleased to open the door and find . . .
My package from the ladies of the Stash and Burn Podcast! Inside were all sorts of goodies. Stitch markers that are beaded... a yarn postcard... a delicious chocolate bar... this beautiful case for circular needles (I've never seen anything like it. I've been showing it to everyone)... and TWO skeins of Malabrigo Chunky in the Vaa colorway (never used Malabrigo before. It's heavenly).
Of course I had to knit with it right away! I stopped whatever paper writing I was working on and started pattern stalking. The result was Braided, a really fun scarf pattern by Susan B. Anthony. Yes, it's got measurements, but I just got started and just knit what I felt like. The result was a fun quick knit that looks way more complicated than it actually was.
(the yarn is not nearly as blue as it looks in this picture. It's actually a deep green)
I also decided to call it quits with my French Press Knits slippers. Not that I don't love the pattern. Not that I don't find the creation absolutely fun. But this was my first felting project and I don't think the straps turned out well. I still really like these. I wear them all the time when I'm home, they're very warm and comfy. Totally worth the $7 for the pattern.
Today I finished the Vine and Leaf beret pattern from the Fall09 issue of VogueKnitting. I had to go up 2 needle sizes to get gauge, but it ended up being much bigger than what I was expecting. However, it's really really nice (my family is in love with the color). I may thread in some elastic in the ribbing. If anyone feels like making this, I would highly recommend using a smaller needle for that part to help keep it from falling off. In any case, of all my FOs, this was one of my proudest moments as it is my first Vogue project (and yes, that is Top Model McKey modeling).
I'm also all but finished with Veyla. I need buttons, so pictures will come after I get some (so, like, never).
There is just way too much more to write about, but break is upon us, so you never know when I'll appear!
As everyone who knows me is aware, two weeks ago was my birthday. It was great, it was awesome, and it hasn't stopped. Last weekend my mom and I went to a GIANT (I mean giant. Get it?) concert for my birthday. We went to see Superchick but saw 7 other bands as well, culminating in Stryper, who is on their 25th anniversary tour. I've been waiting to see Superchick since I was in the 9th grade. Which means I've been wanting to see them since I was 13 or 8 years. Needless to say, it was awesome. I love having my mom come visit, and buying my tshirt from Matt (Superchick's lead guitarist) was just the icing on the cake. We actually took knitting with us because it was a day-long outdoor event that was supposed to be around forty degrees, but we didn't need it. I did make a lot of headway on my Angela Shawl on the way there, but that was all the knitting we accomplished that day.
Oh yeah. Did I mention we were second row center and the people in front of us never showed?
Speaking of the Angela Shawl, it is all but finished. I highly recommend this pattern because I had so much fun making it. Monday night all I did was knit the last bit of the lace chart and did the bindoff Tuesday morning. However, I still have not blocked it because I've been way too busy due to school to take the time I'll need to figure it out. This was my first lace shawl and I'm very proud. I found Ravelry user sarah1's spreadsheet for the initial stockinette section to be quite helpful to get started. Then it was just a matter of finding a pencil and ticking off the chart rows as I went. Only problem-- those last rows are WAY too long for my small project knitting taste.
I used my Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock yarn and still have quite a bit leftover. I'll save it for future scrap yarn fun and look into getting some more. That yarn is awesome!
Last weekend was also one of many Cons in NYC. In attendance were many big names including Linda Hamilton and the ever lovely Miracle Laurie. Also in attendance were my good friends over at Echo Alert, Frank and Andrew. If you read this blog regularly then you know about this already and if you haven't go look at the preceding post. They gave Miracle Laurie my scarf!
(screencap courtesy of Frank)
I can't tell you how excited I am. I love Miracle as an actress as well as her character(s) and she was so nice to the guys (and me by extension). I made the Haruha scarf for her because the leaf motif reminded me of her initial Dollhouse character, Millie. Millie was a very sweet, down to earth, caring girl (woman?) who wore a variety of outfits that were more bohemian in overall style. The leaves seemed like something that would appeal to her and the Finnish origin seemed just exotic enough to intrigue her. And of course it's purple because that's Miracle's favorite color (and mine)!
While they were at the con, Frank also picked up a birthday present for me that's, well the best way to describe it is frakin awesome!
That's really all there is to say on that count. It's now sitting in a frame in a place of honor near my Firefly autographs, Indiana Jones whip, and lightsabre.
Lastly, I cast on a new project last night for my friend Carmen. I'm improvising the pattern myself, but she showed me some pictures of what she wanted, so I'm working an insane amount of stockinette to make this crazy hat for her to wear with her Bella mittens. The good thing about stockinette was that I could work on it at the movies last night when we went to see Zombieland. Yes, this is not my typical movie choice, but I actually mostly enjoyed it. Probably because of all the cultural references. You can tell I'm working on a degree that involves some film cultural analysis because that's all I seem to look for anymore. I think my favorite reference was to the song "Send in the Clowns" (or whatever the title is). That was pretty sophisticated for a vulgar comedy full of zombies.
I am a slave to academics. I truly am. I spend all my time either at school or doing school work. When you just look at the class hours, it doesn't seem like that much. But when a professor looks at you and says "wow. you're doing a lot" you realize that you're not just lazy, it really is a lot of work. And when you spend all of your time doing this it's really nice to just take some time to relax and calm your mind. So when you do take this time to knit some calm and 2.5 hours later discover that the amazing hat you were making was way too small for any adult human being and have to rip all of it out, it's really sad.
Over the weekend I cast on Urchin, which I'm really excited about making for myself. I had finished a few things for friends and wanted to do something fun. I followed the pattern, thought I had gauge, and started making the smallest size. After a while I realized that was going to be too small, so I decided to make a larger size. Then on Wednesday I was watching Selena Gomez's Facebook live chat only to discover after I finished and grafted (which involves cutting the yarn) that it was insanely too small. You know those caps that Jewish men wear? Yeah, it was like a tall version of that. So sad. So now I'm remaking it, again, on much larger needles. It's looking better and I'm hoping this time will work out much better.
I did learn two techniques for this hat. One is the w+t, or the wrap and turn, which is explained on the Knitty abbreviations page. There are no pictures, but when I went hunting I discovered it to have been the most clear explanation out there. W+T is my new favorite stitch, especially in this hat, because it makes the knitting go bye so fast and is very gratifying to look at (oh no, the writing teacher just ended a sentance in a preposition).
Even more important than the W+T is the other thing I had to learn to do for this hat-- hand winding. As you know, I bought some gorgeous yarn via Ravelry, which came in hanks. These are great because it's theoretically more yarn and it's just plain pretty looking. However, you can't knit anything in a hank, it has to be wound into a ball. So that's what I did (after losing circulation in my fingers the first time around)!
I do have some FOs (finished objects. I do knit-speak!) to show for the past month. In the finished pile are Miracle Laurie's scarf (pics to come when Frank gets it to her) and yet another pair of Bella mittens which are sitting waiting for the baby gift and beanie to be sent out with it. I also made another beret for my friend Stephanie over at La Femme Chic. I love the hat, but I must say that she totally rocks the look (and you can't even tell I blocked it on a dinner plate).
Two hats within one week. Am I catching a trend in my own knitting? Am I going to have to force myself to branch out into other patterns? Not for a while. I plan on hitting the craft store over the weekend so I can pick up the yarn needed to make the three sets of Bella mittens my friends have asked for. And then I should probably start on my mom's birthday present. Plus I've been promising a friend a blanket since August and need to just deal and finish it.
Over the weekend I made the Edge of Lace hat from the Edge of Lace Hat and Cuffs pattern in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I had fallen in love with it from the pictures and couldn't wait to make it. I started Friday and finished quickly. The lace section was really easy and lots of fun to do during parts of Veronica Mars and Flashpoint. However, I was disappointed because it has a rectangle top that has to be sewn in rather than the typical decrease pattern. Because of this, it took me until last night to figure out how in the world to go about finishing. I ended up sewing the two corners together on the inside for about an inch and leaving it at that. The result is ok, but not the smooth look I like in a hat. But I'm not giving it up because it's such a beautiful color (I'm actually currently wearing it at work). I went on Ravelry and looked at other people's projects using this pattern and it seems that most feel the same way and so have changed the pattern to decreases, with really nice results.
(hey look! there's my amazing Indiana Jones hat)
I'm not sure if I'll make the cuffs to go with it. Maybe next season. I've got way too many projects right now.
I love hats. They seem like they have such personality and are just fun in general. Despite this love I never truly embraced it. I own several, but haven't worn them for more than the "It's cold outside and I don't want my ears to freeze." This is mostly because I've always worn my hair really long and didn't think the combination looked that great on me. However, I chopped most of it off back in the fall and have found hats are a pretty good look for me.
The first project I learned to knit on was a hat. Since then I've stuck to scarves and of course recently started branching out. Last Sunday I found a skein and a half of this beautiful gray alpaca and immediately pulled out the one pattern book I own: 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I found this great pattern for an alpaca hat called "Lacey Beanie".
I'd never used alpaca before. My mom gave me this yarn several years ago when I got into crochet. I love how soft it feels and how easy it is to work with. However, five year old alpaca evidently starts to disintegrate when you don't use it. That was a major pain, but it worked. The hat is a little itchy, but I love wearing it and I don't have to take it off when I go inside.
This was also the first time I tried a lace pattern, and, like most of the new things I've tried, it was a lot easier than I thought. The key is knowing what all the abbreviations are, because every designer has a different set. Also, make sure that when you yarn over that when you knit the next row you still get that gap in the piece. I had to rip out an entire set and start over because I had yarn(ed?) over in the wrong direction.
Overall, I like this pattern. It's knit on straight needles, so it has to be seamed up at the end, and you have to be careful that your stitches don't fall off. It was kind of boring, but a snow day was a great time to finish it up (Yes, we had a snow day in college. Only one I've ever had).
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