Are You Ready For Some Football?

I am! With the weekend just starting, I went into my stash to find some yarn to knit another pair of Hedwig and Friends Socks.  Think I'm going to try to see how the pattern works with a sport weight yarn and Size 3 needles.

I'm using KnitPicks Stroll Sport in Stream Heather.  It's a nice denim-y blue, perfect for weekend socks.  And, hopefully, a perfect fit for my husband.  Think I will skip the beading on these socks though.  Can't wait to get through with Saturday errands and chores so I can start these!  Which football games will you be watching today?

Hedwig & Friends

Hedwig and Friends is a new sock pattern now available free on Ravelry! Just a few rows of cables create this fun pattern.  The rest is knit and purl stitches.  Plus, a few beads for some added cute-ness! And, best of all, just in time to sit down and knit while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II on DVD!

The yarn above is Tern in Back Bay by Quince and Company.  At 221 yards per skein, two skeins are more than enough to make a pair of women's size medium socks.  Tern is a dream to work with, 75% wool and 25% silk.  A great fingering weight yarn, hand wash, lay flat to dry.

My prototype sock was knit with KnitPicks Stroll Fingering in Jack Rabbit Heather.  To say I love this yarn and this colorway is a huge understatement! It's wonderful! 75% Merino Wool and 25% Nylon, this Fingering Weight Yarn is machine wash and tumble dry low.  At 231 yards, 2 skeins,again, was more than enough to knit a pair of women's size medium socks.  

A New Pattern to Celebrate Socktober!!!

Effervescence Socks by iknit2purl2 on Ravelry

To celebrate Socktober, I designed a sock pattern to share with all of you! Effervescence is now available  as a free download on Ravelry.  It's an easy knit, using the mock cable stitch.  By utilizing yarnovers and slipped stitches, you create a pretty cable pattern over a 2x2 rib.  This sock pattern alternates the mock cable stitch between the ribs which creates a bubbly, effervescent look over the sock.  And did I mention it's easy? An 8 stitch pattern over 4 rows creates this fun look!

The yarn above is The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in Miss Spider.  At 450 yards, one skein of this fingering weight sock yarn is more than enough to make a pair of Woman's socks in size Medium.  For the pair below, I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight Socks That Rock yarn in Turquoise.  Again, one skein (360 yards) was more than enough for a pair of Woman's Size Medium socks.

 

FO - Hemlock Ring Blanket (and a Knitting Pictorial!)






Hemlock Ring Blanket - Pattern adapted by Jared Flood

 I just finished blocking my first-ever, Hemlock Ring Blanket. I have to tell you, once I started knitting it, I couldn't put it down. Really, it was much, much easier than anything I ever imagined! Nothing more complicated than yarnovers, SSKs, K2togs and PSSOs.
 



Fan and Leaf Pattern Detail

 I used about 1 1/2 skeins of Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool in Antique.  This yarn comes in big, generous 478 yard skeins and is reasonably priced at about $20 skein.  I should have bought 3 skeins so I could make two!  I used size 10 needles because that is all I had (size 10 1/2 is recommended).  As you all know by now, I knit loosely and, even with the smaller needles, my finished blanket blocked to about 60 inches through Row 55 of the chart.

The pattern is great and easy to follow.  I'd recommend stitch markers to keep track of the repeats.  (There are only eight).  I can't wait to start another.  And another!




Crochet Bind-off

 I was so excited to finish the Hemlock Ring Blanket that I chose to do the crochet bind-off instead of the knited one.  It's much easier, I think, once you get the hang of it and, I think, a lot of the completed projects that I have seen on Ravelry used the crochet bind-off.  I had never used this technique before and, while I was able to find knitting videos online for a plain crochet bind-off, I couldn't find a video showing how to crochet through 3 stitches, then chain 7.  I fiddled with it a bit and this is what I came up with:

• Chain 7 out of the last stitch ( I knitted through Row 55 and had 472 stitches, starting here leaves 471 stitches which is divisible by 3 and prevents any leftover stitches at the end).




Chain 7 stitches

•       Slip 3 stitches off of the knitting needle onto to the crochet hook. (At this point, there will be 4 stitches total on crochet hook)



Slip 3 stitches to crochet hook

• Pull yarn though the 3 stitches (2 stitches left on crochet hook) 

Pull Yarn through 3 stitches

• Pull yarn through remaining 2 stitches

Pull yarn through 2 stitches

• Repeat starting from Chain 7.

As far as blocking goes, you need a LOT of pins.  I pinned each loop from the bind-off.  If you did the math above, that's 157 loops! Plus the points of the flowers and the inner loops and, and, and!  I used my bathroom floor and my Alphabet Blocks when my husband was on away on a business trip.  And, I kept the door shut to keep the cats and dog out.  Too many pins to worry about!


Hemlock Ring Blanket - Blocking- That's a lotta pins!

I'm going to give this to my mother-in-law for Christmas.  I think I will knit at least one more as a Christmas gift and then, hopefully, one for me as well!

I Couldn't Resist

Kirsten Kapur has some of the prettiest designs on Ravelry.  One of my current favorites is Cladonia.  I think I'll knit it as part of the Small Knits Knitalong (SKKAL on Twitter) that Rachellynnec on Twitter is hosting.  Yes, another knitalong, but, really, who could resist knitting such a pretty shawl!

Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry

Knit from the top down, it has a large stockinette section and a comparitively smallish lace section.  Perfect for sitting in carpool (the stockinette section) and night-time knitting (the lace section).  I found this beautiful yarn at The Loopy Ewe:

 

It's Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist in Natural and Seasprite. It is amazingly soft! 100% Alpaca, DK weight. Hand wash and dry flat. Each skein is approximately 245 grams and 549 yards, so I am hoping to make two shawls from this beautiful yarn! 

I love knitting with this yarn!

So Many Knitalongs!

Have you been keeping track? So far this summer (well, since mid-May, which is almost summer around here!), I have joined five knitalongs! Plus one more knitalong queued!  First, I joined SubwayKnits Rose Lace Stole Knitalong....check, project complete, waiting to be blocked.  Second, I joined Camp Loopy Ewe Project 1 Knitalong...Andrea's Shawl...check, project complete, waiting to be blocked.  Currently, I'm knitting The Loop Entrelac Tank in the Sweatshop of Love Summer Sweater Knitalong, (I'm a little behind but think I will catch up soon!)  The Camp Loopy Ewe Project 2 (a ginormous thank you to all that chose Irish Hiking Mittens as their cable project! I'm knitting them too! And I should finish on time!) and NotGoingToSockSummit Socks.(Alas! I am still on sock numero uno!)  Coming up BmoreCrafty's Small Project Knitalong which started August 1st! (I'm hoping to join in later this week). Whew! 

So, what's the appeal of a knitalong? Knitting with someone! Talking through yarn selection, pattern selection, swatching, problems, alterations etc! And seeing everyone else's projects as they progress! Knitalongs keep me inspired!  

Have any terrific knitalongs that you've really enjoyed?  Share here!

Dream In Color: Classy

I love this yarn! It is so soft and smooshy! Dream In Color Classy is a Hand-dyed Superwash 100% Merino Wool Worsted Weight yarn.  Skeins are approximately 4 oz and 250 yards.  That is a lot of yarn! More than enough for most one skein projects! Gauge is 4 - 4 1/2 stitches per inch on US Size 7-8 needles.  I love that it's a Superwash yarn....machine wash then lay flat to dry or tumble dry (I use the low setting) and remove while still damp.




Dream in Color Classy in Beach Fog from

© The Loopy Ewe

  I just bought this Gorgeous Skein of Dream in Color Classy in  Beach Fog from The Loopy Ewe in St. Louis.   I love the the blues and light purples in this colorway.  I'm going to use it for my 2nd Camp Loopy Ewe Project - from Sheri's Blog:

"Project Two is called “Hiking in the Mountains”. Doesn’t everyone have to go on a hike when they’re at camp? I know that it’s not always in the mountains, but it always felt like you were dragging yourself up a steep hill/mountain, by the very end of the hike, waiting for it to be done. (Or was that just me?)  For this project, the challenge is to knit or crochet either a pair of socks or a pair of mittens or a pair of gloves, in an adult size. (No fingerless mitts this time around.) The other part of the challenge is that the pattern you use needs to contain cables, which are always fun to do!"

As you can guess, I am going to knit Irish Hiking Mittens and I have been so thrilled to see that some other people joining in the project are knitting them too!  Thank you everyone!

Something New! Entrelac Knitting!

Have you ever looked at a knitting pattern and just sighed and thought, "That is sooo pretty but I'm sure that technique is waaay too difficult for me?" That is exactly what I thought looking at all things Entrelac...scarves, totebags, felted tote bags, sweaters....so pretty and, I was so sure, much too difficult for me.

Then, through the magic of Twitter, I saw @sweatshopoflove's The Loop Entrelac Top.  What an adorable summer sweater!  I queued it when it went on Ravelry.  And there it sat for a year, a whole year!

The Loop Entrelac Top by Allyson Dykhuizen

Really cute, right? Well, I have never tried knitting anything Entrelac and that diagonal, diamond-shaped, basketweave pattern was more than intimidating! But then I saw (again, on Twitter!) that Allyson was having a summer sweater knitalong and one of the selections was this very sweater! I was in!  The time frame was June 1st to July 31st....more than 8 weeks plus Allyson made a how to knit Entrelac Video!!!  Her written instructions are very easy to follow and the video is terrific!

Just so you know, Entrelac is basically just knit stitches, purl stitches, knit 2 together, purl 2 together and picking up stitches....really easy stuff!

So, despite a busy summer, waaay too many projects on my needles, and a lingering fear of this new technique, I finally cast on The Loop Entrelac Tank Top last week.  As of right now, I am almost done  with both Entrelac straps! I should be onto the main stockinette sections tonight! And, PS, since this sweater is for my daughter, I made the straps a little short and put them on stitch holders so I could get a perfect length for her.  Actually, I'm hoping I have a few more sections of Entrelac to knit!

Do you have any knitting techniques that you've been afraid to try? Share here!

Yo Adrian!

Yo, as in YO, a familiar abbreviation to knitters for yarn over.  A simple stitch really...just bring the yarn when knitting from the back of the work to the front of the work by going under the right needle and, then, back over the right needle to knit the next stitch. The result is an extra stitch.  Sounds so simple, doesn't it? I thought so too until I started the lace edging for Andrea's Shawl.



Andrea's Shawl on Ravelry



What happened? I knit the first 24 rows (that sounds like a lot but the edging is knit first in a 7-9 stitch pattern with a 4 Row repeat so it really was only a few minutes of knitting). It didn't look anything like it was supposed to look.  Why? It appears that I have been knitting YO completely wrong forever!! Instead of under and over, my yarn went over and under.  Honestly, I never noticed a problem until this pattern.  So, I hurried on over to the Knitwitch website and watched her video on yarn over.  With the correct stitch correctly on my needles, I've knit about 100 repeats of the pattern now:

I love the way the YO's (when knit correctly!!) make this lattice pattern:



With only 30 or so repeats left, I plan to start the lace portion of this shawl tonight.  Then, I'm going to go through some of the patterns that I've knit using YO incorrectly and decide if there's anything I'd like to try again soon to see how the project knits with the correct stitch!  

Whatcha Been Up To?

I feel like I've been quite a bit MIA from my blog the past few weeks.   Between part-time accounting work, crazy kiddo schedules and trying to design some knitting patterns (more on that later), I haven't been able to sit down long enough to actually post something here in a while.

I'm having a lot of fun trying to design some socks.  I carry a graph paper notebook with me everywhere.  I'm almost at the point where I can write the pattern down and put something on Ravelry so stay tuned for an update.

I'm also knitting some socks for my husband.  I've knitted socks for my daughter (who says thank you and wears them), my son (who says thank you) and for me (I love my hand-knitted socks).  But I haven't tackled anything for my husband until now.  Of course, he wanted dark socks which I am finding are very difficult to knit in the evening.  I'm using yarn from The Sanguine Gryphon in Sooty Dancer (Bugga) which is knitting up quite nicely in this diamond pattern.  I wanted to knit something a little bit more interesting than a plain sock and this pattern isn't difficult and provides a nice, simple detail. Hopefully, perfect for my hubby!



I'm thinking of trying to knit a shawl or wrap soon but can't decide on a pattern...any suggestions?  My daughter's dance recitals and two, yes two, weeks of rehearsals are coming up (next week start's the rehearsals) so I am feeling a bit of a need to start a new project to get me through those looonnnnnggggg nights of rehearsals.  So...whatcha been up to?  Tell us here!

I Have New Socks!

I am SOOO excited! My first sock pattern, April Showers Bring May Flowers, is now available on Ravelry as a free pattern download!

The Spring Weather here in the Atlanta area was definitely the inspiration for these socks. Lots of rain brings out all of the beautiful flowers...the cherrytrees, followed by the dogwoods, magnolias, wisteria and azaelas! People start planting their annual summer flower gardens right about the first of May here. Lots of impatiens and begonias! Such a pretty time of year!

I used Knit Picks Palette Yarn which is a fingering weight yarn and 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. I used less than 2 skeins of Celestial as the main color, and way less than 1 skein each of fushcia and sky for the flowers and raindrops.

Since I've tried some colorwork techniques this past winter with Selbu Mittens and Fair Isle Mittens , I thought I would like to knit some socks with colorwork. As you all already know, I have been quite busy knitting socks these past few weeks. Definitely portable as I drive the kiddos here and there (there's baseball season for my son and lots of rehearsals and dance classes for my daughter's Spring Performance and Recitals). But being in an It's Spring frame of mind, I wanted to knit socks that reminded my of Springtime.

 A little bit about this pattern...it's more or less just a basic stockinette stitch sock with some colorwork added to the leg. There are only 31 rows of colorwork, of which 14 rows are solid colors. And you never work with more than 2 colors at once.  Not too difficult, right? It was a lot of fun to design and playing with the Knit Visualizer software was really a lot of fun!  You can find the the pattern on Raverly. It's free!

Happy Spring!

Ahhh...The Fine Art of Yarn and Other Knitty Storage

Today's Topic: How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised?

A few months ago, someone on Twitter commented about these storage bags fron Woodland Woolworks.  At $2.50 a bag, I considered them a steal and immediately ordered 6 small and 6 large to store my stash....Love them! They fit under my bed (crazy yarn storage but what can I say?) or at least the part of the bed that isn't taken up with all of my scrapbooking and photos.  And they fit under a chair.  And I can see what I have....no opening or unzipping bags to peek inside!  It's all visible! And, did I mention, inexpensive? 

Storage Bag from WoodlandWoolworks.com

Since receiving them, I have more or less organized my stash....Malabrigo, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Pagewood Farms, Lorna's Laces, Madeline Tosh, Quince and Company... all go in separate bags.  Some yarn is just stored by weight since I don't really have enought of a collection of a lot of brands....sock yarn in particular because there are soooooo many pretty sock yarns out there.  Note to self:  Look for Quince and Co yarn...I didn't notice it when  I was going through my yarn and planning some projects last week.

I haven't been that interested in listing my stash on Ravelry but recently I did go through my knitting books (another collection of sorts, I might add) and I updated my Ravelry Library. I also put all of the knitting books in one place so I would know where to look for them!

As far as knitting needles are concerned, I do confess that until a few weeks ago, most were piled up in a tote bag.  And, by piled up, I mean piled up!  For a while, it seemed like I would buy knitting needles every time I bought yarn at the Local Yarn Stores.  But I ordered a very nice Needle Organizer from Namaste (it no longer seems to be available or I would give a link).  I also bought a 2 inch notebook binder (the kind my kids use for school) and an assortment of pen and pencil holders that fit  inside the binder.  I used the Namaste bag for my smaller needles 0 -5, mostly DPN's, some circular needles, stitch holders, stitch markers etc.  The notebook is filled with mostly circular needles size 6 - 15.  Of course, at any time, you may see some stray sets of needles around my house.

Don't get me wrong though....there is plenty of yarn lying around my house for me to ooogle and pet.  When I get new yarn, it is immediately placed on the counter in the hallway so that I can look at it and plan what I am going to knit with it.  Sometimes, only the yarn/project that I am currently working on sits on that coveted spot in the hallway.  Sometimes, it's yarn that I've had a while that I am interested in knitting.  And, sometimes, I just pull out all of my storage bags so that I can look at all of my yarn and plan, oh, I don't know, the next 3 or 4 or 12 projects.  And, by the way, I still have 2 or 3 bags left to fill!  Hmmmm, where can I go shopping?  Half the fun of having a collection is enjoying it, right?  How do you store your yarn....share here!

Hmmm...

Today, I am going to take a look back at my so-called knitting progress over the past year.  (I wish the topic was how my stash has grown over the past year - by leaps and bounds - perhaps too much!  But that will be a blog post for another day!)

Last year at this time I was a Twitter and Ravelry newbie and I probably hadn't even thought about a blog yet.  I was just beginning to get interested in knitting again...I learned to knit from my grandmother when I was about 9 and have gone through knitting phases over the years...no previous knitting phase has been quite like this one though.  I attribute this lasting interest to Twitter and Ravelry.


@Voolenvine's Vinelle



So, about this time last year, I knitted Bella's Mittens, which were my first learn about it on Twitter and find it on Ravelry project.  Then, I knit @Voolenvine's sweater, Vinelle. 


Later came Ishbel, joined a sweater twitablong with @jbee42 and @cheekytart.  And met @knittingknoobie when I visited NYC last summer! 


Test Knit Granny Bomber Jacket
for @Sweatshopoflove










Then, I test knit a sweater with intarsia for @sweatshopoflove.

Irish Hiking Mittens Designed by Me!!

And I even designed a pair of mitts and a pair of mittens. I guess my knitting has progressed quite a bit since last year! Learned to knit lace and intarsia. I had never knit mittens before and here I was at the end of 2010 designing my own! And I am noticing that I am a bit of a binge knitter. Handbags knitted for holiday gifts in 2009 was followed up with hats for holiday gifts in 2010. Now, it's socks. Lots and lots of socks. For me, this kind of binge knitting gives me a chance to develop certain skills and see how different yarns work in similar patterns. Of course, that's not really why I binge knit...it's more like...Oh! This is fun! Let me knit another one! Hmmmm.....what's next? Any suggestions?



Lots and Lots of Sock Patterns to Share!

Okay y'all...I feel so bad...I was doing really well keeping up with my blog & now I'm a bit behind again! I even started this post a few days ago.  By golly, it's getting complete right now! Here goes!

I'm making a list with links of the wonderful sock patterns that everyone shared so I can start knitting socks: (all of the sock patterns with * are free!)

Knitmore Girls Plain Vanilla Socks*,     Plain Vanilla Socks by Keri McKiernan*,    Monkey by Cookie A*, Kalajoik*,    Popsicle ,     Pom Star Socks,     Charade *,     Maeva * ,    Hearts Abound Socks * ,    Be Mine ,    Basic Ribbed Socks * ,     Yarn Harlots Plain Sock ,  Swedish Fish Socks , Mesmer , Milo , Spring Forward Socks * , Baby Cable Rib , Skew Socks * , Angee , Jaywalker * , Maeva * ,

Enjoy! I am going to get backed to knitting some socks...first up, some improvised plain socks for my son!

Knitmore Girls' Vanilla Socks - I love these!

Norwegian Selbu Mittens - Update!

I am really enjoying these mittens. I'm hoping they fit my daughter but the pattern is perfect for trying the Selbu technique. Why? I think mostly because this pattern uses sport weight yarn so there are less than 60 stitches per row (48 in the beginning). So you get pretty quick results. And it's a gorgeous design that isn't too complicated. After all of that fussing with trying a black bacground with a white design, I am really glad I went back to the traditional white background and black design. I'm already looking forward to knitting another pair. The next ones will probably be more traditional. I like Terri Shea's book, Selbuvotter, which has many beautiful Selbu patterns and provides a great history of these traditional Norwegian black and white Mittens. Check out Terri Shea on Ravelry. These patterns are gorgeous!



I think the palm side (and eventual thumb) have a beautiful design! All in all, this looks much more complicated than it really is so don't be afraid to try it.  If you look closely, you can see on the palm side that every other row is merely alternating black and white.  The most difficult part, for me so far, of knitting these Selbu Mittens (and the fair isle mittens previously) is learning how to keep the yarn tension correct.  It's getting better but does take a little practice.

Snowed In...So Why Is It So Difficult To Get This Mitten Started???

We have snow in Atlanta! Not just a dusting (which is usually enough to close school for a day) but about 6 inches! This is the view of my front yard and the street...all snow covered and a LOT icy. 

No snowplows here in Georgia!  And the roads are too hilly to navigate if you don't have four wheel drive.  Even my husband stayed home yesterday!  The kids played outside and my husband shoveled the driveway (thank you Sweetheart!).  Today, my husband would like to get on a plane for a business trip.  His flight on Monday was canceled along with a gazillion others.  Right now, all I am hearing on the news is "Stay home...the roads are too icy".  And, since there is another snow day, the kids are still asleep (teenagers!) and I am with our Westie, Stella, who most definitely does not like this much snow!  So, for now, coffee and knitting - how good is that?

So what have I been knitting? Well, the Fair Isle Mittens were completed over the weekend.  I like the way they came out but the definitely need to be blocked and there are a bazillion ends to weave in.  These mittens are much heavier than I would have thought - the yarn is 2 ply Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift.  I guess all of the carrying of yarn results in a very heavy mitten. 

I'm looking forward to trying Fair Isle again but right now I am knitting a pair of Norwegian Selbu Mittens.  Well, trying to at least. 

It took FOUR trys to get the cuff of the first mitten going.  I felt like Goldilocks with knitting needles! First, I tried US Size 2.5 needles-the cuff looked way too small after 12 rows.  Then, I tried US Size 4...the needles were metal and after 5 or 6 rows I just gave up because I kept getting jabbed in the wrist...not something I wanted for two whole mittens worth of knitting.  I tried again with a circular size 4 but I knew the Magic Loop and Stranded Knitting would drive me crazy.  So, I found a set of US Size 3 needles...kind of long and a little jabby but bamboo so not so bad.  Oh, and after trying, three times to knit a black cuff/background with a contrasting white, I switched to a white cuff/background with contrasting black.  By George, I think I got it...so far so good.  And, as a friend often reminds me, I'm not worrying about the gauge or size...they will fit somebody!  I'm using Cascade 220 Sport which is nice and soft and, hopefully, will knit up quickly...there's only 48 stitches per row.  Since I am expecting that the kids will be back in school tomorrow, I hope to get a lot done today.

New Year's Resolutions - Knitting Wise Of Course!

Happy New Year Everyone! What are your knitting resolutions and goals for 2011? I have lots planned for my needles this year! First up, NaKniMitMo - a Ravelry group for National Knitting Mittens Month.  Mittens I'd like to knit include Hermione's Mittens and Norwegian Selbu Mittens.  Of course, I'd also like to do another pair of Irish Hiking Mittens.  I actually started the Hermione Mittens a few days ago and, so far, I'm doing okay with the colorwork and the chart reading!

Hermione Mittens from http://www.ravelry.com/ - In progress!

Along with NaKniMitMo, I've joined  Allyson's (The SweatShop of Love) sweater Knit-A-Long...a sweater for me.  I'm going to knit this from Knitty

Beatnik from http://www.knitty.com/


I found yarn at KnitPicks and I'm going to use City Tweed DK Yarn in Splash.  I've already ordered the yarn so shhhh! I may get started a little early.  The Knit-a-Long officially begins January 10th!
Also on my 2011 Knitting List, finish the 2 pairs of socks that I'm about 75% complete on...why can't I finish them? And start some new socks...and some shawls...and hats...and...and...and...

So, what's on your 2011 Knitting List?  Share Here!!!

Nutcracker Hat Challenge - The Results Are In!

I did it! I stretched the time period out a bit...last hat was finished on December 14 but I knitted Nine hats in just over 2 weeks! Yay! My fave was A Hat Fit For A Boyfriend. I knitted six of those. I absolutely loved the way the top of the hat turned out. I'd knit this hat again and again and may have to knit one for me in January if the weather here in Georgia stays as (unseasonably) cold as the past 3 weeks have been! I'm probably going to try to get one more Turn A Square done before Christsmas. I want to make this for my son in his school colors (green with gold and a little white). In the meantime, I'm finishing two "girl" hats - Brattleboro Hat which I'm knitting for my daughter's ballet teacher and (shhh! its a secret) Hermione's Deathly Hallows Graveyard Beret  (for my daughter). I should be finished with both of those today! And then maybe a Christmas Stocking for my niece who is coming to visit us for Christmas! Here's some Pics of the hats (now all wrapped and mailed!).

Buddy modeling the "Rudolph" Hat

Wanna Join Me?

The Challenge:  How many hats can I knit in eight days! I'd like to get nine done Before Christmas...one for each of the guys in my family.  I'm choosing pretty plain patterns mostly because the guys in my family are not fancy hat guys.  I'm hoping that each one will only take about 4 hours. 
Sounds like a lot of daily knitting right? Not this time of year. 

This afternoon started The Eight Days of the Nutcracker.    Haven't heard about that time of year? It is a bit specific to dancers and their families.  Today was the "in-studio" rehearsal for the Nutcracker at my daughter's dance school.  Then, a regular day of dance classes (where certain Nutcracker dances are almost always practiced).  Followed by a "tech" rehearsal at the theater. (The dreaded "tech" rehearsal might be over by midnight; it is supposed to start at 6pm - it won't.  There will be  hours of making sure everyone knows where to be on stage for two casts - my daughter's dancing in both of them).  Wednesday and Thursday bring dress rehearsals, Cast A one night and Cast B the second.  Cast A's dress rehearsal will last much longer than Cast B's.Finally, show time! Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon.  It is a long, long week.  But I think I love it as much as my daughter.  I'm not even a once upon a time dancer.  But we've been going to Nutcrackers since she was two and she's been dancing in them since she was seven.   It's a family event that starts off the holiday season.  Even my son loves the Battle Scene.  I never get tired of watching it.  The rehearsals though get a little tedious.  But there's a Starbucks nearby.  Perfect for several evenings of knitting.

So what am I going to knit?  First up, Rib-a-Roni.  I started this in an adult size large today...we'll see how far I get this evening.  Later, I will knit A Hat fit for a ....   nephew or a brother-in-law.  Then, of course, another Turn A Square.  I think that will be my 5th Turn A Square.  I love the crowns of all three of these hats.  The decreases in the pattern create very beautiful crowns on these hats.
And, I promise not to buy any more yarn! I have several skeins of worsted weight yarn that I can choose from.  So, Stashbustarmy, I promise not to go AWOL this week!  Wish me luck!
I can't wait to see how many hats I can knit this week! Wanna join me?  Take the hat challenge!

Irish Hiking Mitts - My First Pattern!

Believe it or not, I have spent much of the past week designing my first knitting pattern! I am SOOO excited! Irish Hiking Mitts is now available on Ravelry as a free pattern download! It’s my holiday gift for all of you lovely knitty and yarny people who have been so encouraging over the past year!

Since I’ve never attempted designing a pattern to share before, it took a while to figure out what to try. My priorities in chosing a first project: (1) a small project and (2) something that I could knit with yarn from my stash.  With the colder weather, I thought fingerless mitts would be a great place to start…something fairly simple with an interesting pattern. I love knitting cables and if you haven't tried them yet, this is an easy pattern to try! I adapted these mitts from Adrian Bizilia’s Irish Hiking Scarf…a beautiful cable pattern. I hope Adrian finds that these mitts are true to her original and lovely pattern!  And ,Stashbustarmy - this project uses about 220 yards (or less) of worsted weight yarn!

Once I started knitting, it wasn’t terribly difficult to write the pattern down. The thing with mitts is that you get a chance (more or less) to test knit your pattern by working the second mitt. Hopefully, I found most of the errors when I did this! I also made a second pair to test the whole pattern. It was a little bit of a challenge to add the pattern onto Ravelry. I’m going to stick to the theory that creative people (cause that’s what I am now, right?) are not necessarily tech people. It took a while for me to figure out how to save my Word file as a PDF file. The instructions on Ravelry were great and I managed to set myself up as a designer and upload my PDF file into the Ravelry library fairly quickly.

Hope you all get a chance to make some warm and toasty Irish Hiking Mitts soon! Happy Holidays!