Green Aviator
Here’s another project that flew off the needles! Of course, it helps that Lopi is bulky. Lately, I’ve been enamored with Lopi patterns and have added some (both vintage and new) booklets from Reynolds or Ístex to my library. When rummaging through my stash for an easy, quick project, I found two skeins of greenish Lopi and decided to try a hat.
Gansey Redux
It’s hard to get back in the swing of blogging when one hasn’t been able to blog regularly for a while. My knitting feels unproductive. I’ve also been procrastinating on finishing up a sock pattern, but have set this week as the deadline.
The mother of one of Mom’s co-workers had recently passed away, and she had given my mother two bagfuls of leftover yarn (her mother had been a knitter and crocheter). Mom requested that I make her (the co-worker) a gansey cap with this yarn, just like the one I had made earlier this year
Zeebee Quick
Finally! Here’s some knitting content. : )
I had some free time earlier this week and wanted to work on something quick and satisfying. A quick poke in my stash brought forth a skein of Colinette Point 5 that Blog-free Nicole (thank you!) sent me two summers ago (after the One Skein Secret Pal swap).
Goldilocks
When I started putting away the few colors of left over Wool-Ease I had pulled from stash for the Gansey Watch Cap, it occurred to me that I could make my own marled yarn by mixing and holding different color strands together as one yarn.
But what to make? Hats! I needed to add a couple more to my packet for Cornerstone.
A little cheese, a little whine
I cast-on for my first project of the new year last Friday. I was full of excitement, hope, and knitting promise. The yarn was a good match for the pattern, light colored with good stitch definition. A very good start!
Alas, the most unexpected and most terrible thing happened! more »
Very Warm Hat
Here’s a Finished Object that I’m very late blogging. It’s also my very first EZ project. FuzzyBritches’ Warm Up the Winter gave me the perfect opportunity to knit a Very Warm Hat, which I’ve wanted to knit for quite a while now.
The yarn was left over from the Triple Patterned hat you’ve already seen. more »
Triple-patterned
As I finished up the baby items back in September, I was really craving stimulation; I wanted to knit something a bit complicated, something that required a lot of attention. I knew stranded colorwork was exactly what I needed.
This is only my second stranded project (and fourth where I’ve used my left hand). It was a perfect opportunity for me to practice knitting with both hands. I’m sure you will be able to pick out a few problem areas in the pictures, but overall, I’m happy with the hat. (I’m not happy with how my left hand tensions yarn, however.)
I had the most trouble with the bullseye pattern and tinked quite a few times. I thought I was vigilant enough to have avoided any mistakes, but nope! I found two mistakes in the color patterning after washing and blocking the hat, rats! While knitting, I often paused to admire the floats, they’re such fun!
I love the cuff, but honestly, it seems too big and obscures much of the bullseye underneath. On the other hand, the cuff adds an extra layer for warmth. I’d recommend skipping the colorwork on the cuff, knitting a few rows of plain stockinette (or perhaps just a small motif), and then incorporating another twined herringbone to balance with the one at the cuff top. The twined herringbone is a really nice detail and reminds me of the vikkel braid used in Estonian folk knitting.
This hat is huge–I knit the largest size (22″ circumference), but it blocked out a bit bigger than that. I’ll be sending it to FuzzyBritches for her Warm up the Winter campaign.
Beribboned
A couple weeks ago, Mom and I took a quick trip to the State fair. We checked out the knit entries at Creative Activities building, stopped in at the new MN wine booth, looked at some sheep, and ate a couple of delicacies unique to the fair.
I found the two hats I entered hanging in a far corner of the main knitting display.
A yellow fifth-place ribbon was attached to my backgammon board. (But I noticed the board was showing the wrong side, oops.)
And these socks? They got third place. I’m excited!
Cute sheep we saw:
Grand Shop Hop
Quick note: I am testing a new photo popup plugin in this post. Go on, try it out by clicking any of the pictures below. Please let me know how it works and how you like it. Thank you!Update: To close the pop-up if the instructions don’t work or show up for you, click on the pop-up/larger photo itself and it should close. Update #2: This plugin has been deactivated, thanks!
A couple weekends ago was the “Handcrafts on Grand Shop Hop.” The stores included The Yarnery, The Bead Monkey, and Treadle Yard Goods. Mom and I decided to go, because we hadn’t been to two of the participating stores yet. I’m glad we did, even if it was cold and rainy!
Hat of Gold
Skeins Her Way is having a contest, check it out! You could win a copy of her Fitted Tank pattern and some lovely organic cotton yarn. Go to her contest post for the prize and entry details.
Here are my knitting goals for this summer:
