Hats, Hats, Hats

 

One of my friends asked me to knit them a beanie style hat a month or so ago.



And that got me started on a hat kntting streak. So over the last month and half, I've been knitting hats. Most of the them have been the Pro Bono hat pattern by Angelina Fagan.





I really like this pattern because it is an easy K2P2 one using chunky yarn. I also used worsted weight yarn for several of the hats and just increased the cast on to 88 stitches. I may make a few more but I either need to decrease the needle size and/or the number of cast on stitches. They are a perfect size for my head but I've had several women with not so much hair as I try them on and they fit but could be a bit more snug.

I also knitted a Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Rachel Iufer using Malabrigo Chunky Yarn.




Finally, I knitted The Amanda's Hat(pdf) by Gina House.



I like the stitch pattern so much and I had just enough yarn so I made a cowl too.

Yarn Sale Purchases

This weekend was a weekend of yarn sale purchases. On Friday night Renaissance Yarn in Kent was having a special sale for Leap Day and everything in the store was 15% off. They also have Fiber Fest Friday which is a drop-in knitting group. So I headed over there after work, spent a couple hours knitting, and came home with several skeins of Cascade 220.




I'm going to use the black skeins to knit a vest that converts into a bag from Knit Tricks! by Rebecca Wat. It is knit with 4 rectangles, 2 long and 2 short. I'm going to try knitting it using my knitting machine.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the dark pink skeins. I got 4 skeins so I'm thinking of making a tank or short sleeve top on the knitting machine, as well.

Now, 15% off would be considered a pretty good deal at any yarn store, but this weekend it paled in comparison to the 50% off sale at Hilltop Yarn in Seattle in Queen Anne.

Unfortunately, they had an electrical fire in their basement and although there wasn't any major damage and very little smoke damage, they had to sell everything at 50% off. Its a great deal for knitters, but not for Hilltop.

This was one CRAZY sale. Charity and I got there about an hour after they opened. We were told that there was line down the street before they opened.

The store was packed with at least 200 knitters and I'm not exaggerating. You could hardly move. If the fire marshall had come by, they certainly would have had a violation on their hands.

I found 10 skeins of purple Rowan Summer Tweed and 9 skeins of a pink Rowan Summer Tweed yarn when I first got in the store. It was right by the door and I guess most people were interested in other yarns because I was able to get enough to work on 2 different projects from my copy of The Summer Tweed Collection by Kim Hargreaves that I picked up a couple of years ago. I did my first sweater out of a pattern from the booklet.

MJ just finished up Cinnamon and I'm thinking of making that or Thyme. Both are cardigans. And then I'd like to make a tank or short sleeve top like Rosemary or Amber.

I gave up trying to look at anything in the back room next to the registers because it was full with no moving room with people trying to check out. I finally went out on the back porch, where another line ended and waited in line for 2 1/2 hours to check out. Along the way I picked up 5 skeins of chunky Malibrigo and a set of Denise Needles.

I already have a set of Denise Needles which I LOVE. They are so versatile. They usually cost $50 and I got them for $25 which is a great bargain!

 

 

 

 

Yarn Fix

Last night, I got to touch a lot of yummy yarn at A New Yarn in North Seattle. My friend Ilauixh just started working there and they needed volunteers to do inventory.

I got to count the Cascade 220 they have. I just love that yarn. I wanted to buy some because they sell it for around $6.50 which is the least expensive I've seen in all of Seattle. I also got to count some sock yarn and the new bamboo needles they just got in.

A New Yarn is a non-profit yarn store that supports Northwest Family which is working to end domestic violence.

A New Yarn sells new yarn, books, and knitting notions as well as donated ones. I actually took some left over balls of skeins with me to donate.

We only inventoried the new yarn and books but I had a good time looking through some old knitting books and patterns from the 60's, 70's, and 80's that people donated.

Charity and I are planning on going on Saturday to sit and knit at the store. Maybe I'll buy my Cascade 220 then!

Portland Yarn Crawl Recap

Yesterday, I spent an awesome knitting and yarn filled day on the Amtrack train from Seattle to Portland and then in the Pearl District of Portland.

Charisa was the wonderful organizer for the trip. I am very impressed about the amount time, energy, and effort that she put into the trip. She is amazing!

She went from organizing a small trip for about 6 people in her local knitting group in Monroe to a trip for over 35 knitters from all over the Seattle area. We even had a couple of people get on in Tukwila and Tacoma. We filled up an entire train car!

On the way down, we knitted and chatted and met the other people in the group. Charisa put together a great brochure with the agenda, map of the Pearl District with yarn stores, a book store, and Whole Foods on it. It also had all our cell phone numbers in case we needed to call someone in the group if we got separated.

One of the best parts of the brochure was the "Meet the PDX Yarn Crawlers" bingo along with the name tags she made for us.



The name tags had information about us from a questionnaire Charisa sent out (I was a slacker and didn't fill mine out, so Charisa had to go find the info on my Ravelry profile). The bingo cards had squares with one of the things on our name tags. So we had to go around and find the people who were on our squares. It was a lot of fun!

I worked on a Headband by Drops Designs on the way there and back. I didn't finish it like I thought because I kept having to unravel mistakes on the way down. I almost finished on the way back, but I was so popped and my contacts were dried out, that I had to stop.



Iliauxh was my unofficial tour guide for the trip. She took charge and led a group of us knitters to our first yarn store. I tagged along with her the rest of the time too. I took my GPS with me because I loaded all the Portland Yarn stores in it.


View Larger Map

But it was so overcast and we went indoors so often, I never got or kept good satellite reception. No problem, Ilaiuxh rocks with a map and a mission, especially a yarn store mission!


The first store we stopped at was Dublin Bay Knitting Company. This store is so nice and roomy with lots of Handmaiden and Fleece Artist yarn. There is even a sitting area with comfy couches to sit and knit in. The owner's mother was there to help out and even made cookies and scones for us along with spiced tea! We got a 20% discount because we were on the yarn tour too!

We then went to Knit Knot Studio, who also gave us a 20% discount. This store is very small but is filled with tons of unique and unusual yarns.


I've always wanted to try out Recycled Silk yarn but I've never seen it for less then $35. Well, I got this lovely skein for $12.


It is 100% Recycled silk made in Nepal by the Himalaya Yarn Inc. Company. I got color SD-00, which is very lovely. I'm thinking of making a small purse/bag out of it.

I've also wanted to buy some hand-spun yarn but once again, the price tag has kept me from being able to really afford it. However, Knit Knot had some really nice hand-spun too. Here is the skein I got:



It is 60% silk and 40% merino. It was spun and hand dyed by Jain Konrad of The Un-Ewes-Ual in Beaverton, OR. It is super lovely and I can't wait to figure out what I'm going to do with it. It has to be something really special!

The last skeins of yarn that I bought are by Harrisville Designs. It is Heathered Bulky in Peacock. I bought 2 skeins. I think I'm going to do a felted project with this yarn.



The final store on our yarn crawl destination was Knit Purl. We were all impressed with the wall of Koigu sock yarn they had:



I bought some Eucalan to wash my hand knits with. It doesn't require rinsing which is a big plus!

After the yarns stores and stopping at Whole Foods, we went to Powell's Books. This is an incredible city block sized store with 4 floors! They sell new and used books. Of course, the aisle with the knitting books was packed. So I didn't stay in there as long as I would have liked but I did end up with 2 used books that I'm happy with.

The first one is 2000 patterns of Design and Figure Knitting. It is published by Miyashita Shoji Co., Ltd in Tokyo Japan but is in English. It looks like it was published in the 60s. It is geared to Machine Knitting but because the Japanese use standard knitting chart symbols I can use if for hand knitting without much change.



Here are some of the pages from the book.



See why I think this book was published in the 60s or 70s?!? And here is a chart of the knitting symbols:



I'll be doing a review of the book on my Japanese Knitting Pattern blog soon along with more pictures from the book.

I also got Knitting Know-How: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Belle Meyers. I think it will be helpful for the TKGA Masters Hand Knitting program I'm enrolled in.



So as you can see, I had an incredible time on the Portland Yarn Crawl. I meet some great knitters, got in plenty of knitting time to and from Portland, went to some awesome yarn stores where I bought some great yarn, and even picked up some wonderful used knitting books.

I definitely want to go next year. We are talking about making it a 2 day trip with more yarn store trips and more time to spend at Powell's Books. I may drag Amy down before then though. She could spend all day at Powell's and I could spend time there and in the yarn stores.

Amy's Earflap Hat Reduex

 

Well, I finished Amy's hat for the second time this week. I ripped it all out today and started from the cast on. It fits her much better. I even added the pom-pom. I wasn't sure how she'd feel about that. But when I mentioned it was all I had left to do she said "Cool".

Airplane Projects

I finished Amy's ear flap hat that I started on the way down to CA while I was there, in the evenings. It was a really quick knit because I had only an hour or two at night to work on it and I still got it all done except the finishing. I had her try it on last night and it is too big. So I'm going to rip back and do it again. I may go all the way to the cast on because I don't like the hole at the top. I know I can close it up with a needle, but I'm thinking of using the same Magic-Cast On I use for toe-up socks.



On the way to the airport in Burbank from Oxnard where I was working, I stopped at two yarn stores. The first one was Stitch Cafe. They had some merino wool yarn with sterling silver in it that I almost bought but at $24 a skein, I decided it was just a little to pricey, especially since I didn't know what I would do with it.

The other store I stopped at was Unwind on Hollywood Way literally 5 minutes from the airport. Stephenie has a nice sized store with lots of great yarns. I just enjoyed walking around the store and looking at everything. I asked Stephanie about an easy one skein project I could knit on the plane. She showed me a couple of scarfs but they would have required me to think more then I had wanted to on the plane.

So she showed me a project called Beech Wood, a neck warmer, that takes two skeins of Manos Silk Blend . She gave me the pattern (which is no longer available on the Ilga Leja site directly but is available, without pictures, on the web archive site here) and a stitch marker.

She also let me use her ball winder. Here it is after it was wound. Stephanie showed me a trick on how to undo the knots/wraps on the Manos skeins so that you don't lose any yarn.



This is a really lovely yarn. The colors are great and I love the sheen that the silk gives the wool. It knits up pretty too.

I started the neckwarmer in the store on size 5 needles and it was way too small. So I traded in those neeedles for a size 8. I think it is a better size but they are 16" length (I meant to get the 24"... but this will be better for hats) and I can't really tell. I may move it onto my Denise needles so I can get a better look at it.

I got about 3/4th through the first repeat which is a 32 row pattern stitch while waiting in the terminal and on the plane.



Now, I've got 5 WIPs (a first for me I think!) and I need to get back to my Mr. Greenjean for my sweater along too!

Earflap Hat For Amy

I started working on an Earflap Hat for Amy on the airplane trip down to California today. She said she wanted a Jayne Hat (for Jayne Cobb on FireFly) but when I showed her the pattern she said she wanted it in blue. Well, what's a Jayne hat if it isn't orange, red, and yellow?

So no Jayne hat for Amy. But I am knitting her an earflap hat instead. This one is from the Fall/Winter 2005 issue of Knit Scene. And it is available for free, as a pdf.

I found the pattern through the niffy pattern feature in Ravelry.

I was going to bring my socks that I'm knitting on the plane but I was worried I wouldn't be able to knit them. It is a little much working two socks on two cables at the same time. I need a little bit more room then an airplane seat can accommodate.

This is knitting up quick so I should have it done by the time I get home and I can surprise Amy. She keeps asking me when I'm going to knit her something every time I cast on something for me. I'm feeling a little guilty. Especially, every time she tells me her ears are cold (hint, hint). :)

Current WIPs

I'm making progress on Mr Greenjeans. At first I was a little worried that I was making it too small and the the armholes would be too tight. But when I tried it on I was hiking it up all the way to my neck. The sweater design is a v-neck and there is still a button band to pick up and knit. So when I take that into account, and try it on the way I'll actually wear it, it fits fine.

Now I am a little worried about the bottom half being wide enough. I did pick the size based on the bust measurement, but my hips are a few inches wider so I think I'm going to increase now that I'm getting past the waist. I'm just not sure I know the best way to increase in the cable and ribbing pattern. Will need to look that up.

Also, I've started a toe-up sock. I used the formula from the Sock-ra-tease by Renaissance Yarns pattern to figure out the number of stitches to cast on and increase to. But I'm not sure I want to do a plain stockinette stitch sock. I may do K2P2 ribbing on the top of the sock for a better fit. I have another pair of socks that I did that way and I like how they fit.

I don't want to make this pair of socks too complicated because I'm going to knit both socks at the same time on two circulars. I'm tired of my socks not being the same size and so I'm hoping that by knitting them at the same time I'll avoid having significantly different tension.

I've finished the first sock's increases and I'm going to cast on the second sock tonight. Then I'll move both socks to the circulars and start knitting them at the same time. I may try the afterthought heel on these too. I haven't been completely satisfied of either version of heel gussets I've knitted on socks so far. Maybe I'll like this version better.

My "New" Art Room and Office

When we moved from Texas I really parred down on my knitting and art/craft supplies. I actually wish I had a picture of all the stuff I had crammed in my art room/office. But luckily an embarrassing picture like that does not exist!

I sold or gave away a lot of what I had especially my paper craft stuff like paper, embellishments, and rubber stamps. I also sold a lot of my craft books.

Since I work at home, I am using the downstairs family room for my office and art room. This is the pitiful state it was in:







And this is my newly "remodeled" room:










Isn't this so much nicer?!? I still need some art for the walls to help spice up the ugly grey walls. I'd also like to get a small card table for the center of the art room side.

The book shelf is from IKEA and I'm using it a room divider too. I debated on getting the 5X5 vs. the 4X4. But since we will be moving in the next year or two and don't know what size room and where the windows on the walls will be, I went with the 4X4.

It now holds all my knitting books and baskets full of yarn. I love looking at it from my desk while I'm working!



Thanks to my brother, Brian, for contributing to my art room fund!

Mr Greenjeans Swatch

Last night at knit group, I cast on my swatch for Mr Greenjeans from the Fall 2007 Knitty.

Ialiuxh, Charity, and I are starting a sweater-along after the new year. But Charity has already started on hers. So I need to catch up!

I'm using Knit Pick Swish Superwash, which is 100% Superwash yarn, in Jade.

It looks like a got gauge the first try. But I've found before that I have to use a size 7 needle with worsted weight yarn so I didn't even try with an 8.

Well, I'm not sure I got gauge exactly. When I use my ruler, I get 9 stitches for 2 inches and 12 rows for 2 inches. But when I measure across the stockinette stitches which is 22 inches, I get 5 1/2 inches which is 4 stitches per inch and I get 28 rows in 4 3/4 rows which is 5.9.

I need 18 stitches by 24 rows. And I know if I change needle sizes down to a 6, I'll probably end up with too many stitches per row. So, I may end up recalculating the pattern to use my gauge. So much for following the pattern exactly!

Carrie said to wash my swatch. Her experience has been that superwash gets bigger when washed. So that might be a good thing, in this case.



Also, at knit night, Ialiuxh gave me her skein of Socks That Rocks yarn that she got from the sock club. She doesn't like blues and teals much and she knows I do. Isn't she SWEET!!!!

The colorway is called Bella * Coola / Nuxalk. The pattern that came with it is called Salish Sea Socks by Cat Bordhi. It looks like a fun pattern.

And it even came with a little emergency key chain skein. The label says, "Don't Leave Home Without It".