New-England-Warm Hat

February 20, 2013

So much knitting and crocheting, but so little blogging! Here is a hat I made for my dad using the technique of thrumming. I took a mitten class at Metaphor Yarns, but once you know the technique, it can be applied to anything.
Thrummed Hat FO
Here’s the inside, showing all the bits of wool roving which makes it so warm.
Thrummed Hat FO inside
The pattern is made up out of my head with a fold-up brim for extra warmth. The grey is Cascade 220.

The report from Eastern Mass. is that it is warm. Mission Accomplished.


That Hat

February 16, 2012

My talented niece is an expert knitter – check out this hat!
Green_Knit_Hat


2 Pairs of Gloves Update

January 8, 2012

I just received this wonderful picture of my gloves being worn. That is a knitter’s favorite kind of picture — or, at least, this knitter’s favorite kind of picture:
Boys & Gloves


2 Pairs of Gloves

December 17, 2011

2 of my friends are young men who have trouble buying gloves that fit well. I had a lot of fun knitting these unique gloves, even if I did need to do quite a bit of rework to get them right. (Well, I hope they are right – I haven’t seen them worn yet.)
XL Gloves FO
The first pair is for a student who’s high school colors are orange and black (the Panthers).
HL Gloves FO
The second student’s school colors are red and white – the Wildcats.


Warm the Children

December 8, 2011

Here is a collection of hats I made for the local Warm the Children.
Warm the Children
The boys’ school has a “mitten tree” every year to collect warm items. I can’t believe how many of the items this year (other than mine) were handmade!
Cascade 220 Handpaint Hat FO
This is Cascade 200 Superwash Handpaint from Metaphor Yarns (random pattern out of my head).
Earflap Hat FO-1
This is an earflap hat made of Wool-Ease, a free pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn site.
Wool Ease Hat FO-1
Here’s another Wool-Ease hat, this one made out of “Thick & Quick” left over from my mom’s sweater (another random pattern).
Wool of the Andes Hat FO
The third random hat is made from Wool of the Andes Bulky.
Fella FO 1
This isn’t a great picture, but the hat is quite cute. It is made from Luisa Harding Kashmir Aran using the pattern A Hat Fit for a Fella (AKA Men’s Cabled Hat). This is one of my favorite yarns, very soft and sqooshy and extrememly warm.

In case you are wondering, the tags are care tags. All are machine washable except the Wool of the Andes hat.


Sock Monkey for My Favorite Monkey

March 1, 2011

I made this hat for my favorite little monkey, to keep his head warm this winter:
Sock Monkey Hat FO
The pattern was the Sock Monkey Earflap hat from Trappings and Trinkets.
Sock Monkey Hat FO
The brown and cream yarn was Cascade 220 Superwash; the red is Minnow Merino Superwash.
Sock Monkey Hat
The only modification I made was to crochet round eyes and sew them on instead of using buttons.
Sock Monkey Hat
This was a fun and fast knit and I may just have to make another one in my size!


Go Mohawk!

October 3, 2010

Ray at Knitivity shared a lovely but simple mosaic pattern called “Dots on the Half Drop.” I wanted to try it, and I wanted a break from my other projects. I picked these colors because I had forgotten to pack them with the rest of my yarn, therefore they are the only 2 colors of cotton that aren’t in our storage unit.
Mohawk Dishcloth
Partway through the dishcloth I realized they are Adidas’ school colors – Go Mohawk!
My selvages are a little wonky, but it’s just a dishcloth for us to use so I didn’t bother to fix them. Love the pattern. It would make a great wool hat because of the extra thickness due to the slipped stitches.


Happy Birthday ES!

September 16, 2010

My dear friend had a milestone birthday and I couldn’t be there. We used to live less than a mile away and now I live 200 miles away and I MISS HER. I wanted to make her something special and useful. I came across the fingerless gloves, Handed Yes, Fingered No. I discovered this pattern via the Rainey Sisters, one of the most-read blogs in my blog reader.

Handed Yes Fingered No

This pattern is great because 1) it comes in small, medium and large sizes, and 2) it is not symmetrical – the left and right hands are made to conform to one’s actual hand shape.

Handed Yes

I used Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran which is merino wool, microfiber and cashmere and wow, do I love this yarn. It is squishy and warm and great to knit with. It only took 2 skeins (with leftovers). I see some more gloves out of this in my future.

I made the medium but they turned out to be a little big. It seemed like it would fit OK on the wrist but I didn’t want the hand part to be floppy, so I decreased about 4 stitches at the wrist to snug up the hand. I decreased every other rib, so that the hand part on the back of the hand has alternating K2 and K1 ribs (instead of only K2 ribs). I also used a regular rib instead of the broken rib, so they are very stretchy.

I added buttons which I got out of Grandma S.’s button box. Sending the love from generation to generation.

Handed Yes


Summer is for Ice Cream

August 25, 2010

I was browsing Ravelry for baby hat patterns and when I came across “Soft Serve” (Ravelry link) I knew I had to make it:

Soft Serve Baby HatOur former next-door neighbors will be parents in October so I hope their baby likes this whimsical hat!

It is knit from fingering weight acrylic (from my stash) on US 3’s. I had to modify the pattern because the 0-3 month size came out to be 10 inches – way too small. So I picked up stitches along the cast-on edge, increased 12 stitches evenly spaced, and did another band of stockinette and another band of seed stitch. Now it will easily fit a 12-14+ inch head. I also changed the “swirl” on the top to make it more ice-creamy.


Tyra done!

February 10, 2010

I finished my Tyra. It is warm and comfortable. I don’t think we were able to get any really good pictures, so I may do another post if I can get some better snapshots.
Tyra FO
Tyra FO
Tyra