gnome for the holidays

pattern: Garden Gnome Hat
designer: Betsy Farquhar
yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Red & White
needles: Addi Turbo 16 inch circs in US sizes 0 and 2

modifications: I used size 0 needles for the ribbing and only knit 3 gnomes instead of 4, making it a much narrower hat, also making it a much longer hat

The wee was invited to a tea party today, and since the invitation called for fancy hats, I decided to kill not two but three, yes, three birds with one stone and knit him this gnome hat. First, I fell in love with this pattern the minute I saw it on ravelry. Second, not only would I fulfill my desire to knit this hat simply because I am so in love the design, but I was planning to knit the kiddo a holiday hat anyway. Third, well, fancy hat! Seriously, this hat is positively papal in length. Check out this action shot:

The kid is hanging out there in the carrier, and the hat is about halfway down his back. I kind of love it like that. Matt jokes that it's perfect because the kid now has a place to tuck away his dreadlocks. Heh. That and the first thing he said when he saw the kid wearing it was, "Oh, look at little Gnome Chomsky!" Double heh. 

I have to say, for a moment there I wasn't sure I would have it finished and blocked in time for the party this morning, but fortunately I had a ton of time to finish knitting at the doctor's office yesterday. The sprinkles of happy on this whole project? Apparently, Knit Picks Palette is kind of awesome for knitting colorwork. It's nice and sticky, and it blocks beautifully. Did I mention that when placed over a hot air vent, it seemed to block in about an hour? No? Well, it did! This, of course, pleased me so very much. As for the kid, I'm not so sure how pleased he is with it since it is a little big:

 

Happy holidays, folks!

overshot

pattern: Thorpe
designer: Kirsten Kapur at Through the Loops
yarn: Madeline Tosh worsted merino and handspun by Krista of pigeonroof studios
needles: Crystal Palace 16 inch circs, US size 7

 

Here's one of those projects that I finished in October and am only getting around to photographing now. Funny thing about it, though, is that I overestimated the size by such a long shot that it still doesn't fit the wee. Eh. I know that within a month or two it will fit him perfectly. Let's take a moment to revel in its garter-y goodness:

I love this pattern so stinking much. That garter edge makes me all sorts of happy. Apparently, I'm not the only one who enjoys it:

minor adjustments

Remember this hat? Well, just a week or so after Rhinebeck, tired of it falling off the kiddo's noggin, I quickly added earflaps and some i-cord ties to keep it in place. Now just a month and a half later, the hat is too small for him. Just as well, as it gives me an excuse to knit him another hat (or two - or more!).

I gotta warn you folks, while I have no intention of pontificating about motherhood here or sharing the details of my wee's every bodily function, I am going to be sharing a ton of baby knits and baby sewing projects and maybe the occasional story or tender tidbit because this little person is a huge part of my life. Not mentioning him at all for the sake of not boring or disappointing people would be strange. I only say this because in real life it feels like I've been written off by people since the kid came along. As much as I try not to take it personally since I understand that not everyone wants to hang out with someone who is tired yet over-enthusiastic and sadly under-socialized, much less hear about  what the wee and I got up to (ooh, the library singalong - exciting!), it still stings. Also, I recently became aware that there are actually people who believe that once someone pops out a crotchfruit, their creative life dies, rendering them boring, milky pulp incapable of producing an iota of awesomeness. Funny that, considering I have a million and one ideas bouncing around right now. My struggle is with finding the time to execute them all, but I am making time here and there. While a lot of those ideas for projects are baby-related, the majority are not. Which is to say stick around, and I just may surprise you.

hatta boy!

pattern: Giacomo's Baby Hat
designer: Whitney at the Purl Bee
yarn: Madeline Tosh worsted merino for the main color, scraps of handspun Pigeonroof Fiber & Hello Yarn for the colorwork
needles: Addi Turbo 16 inch circs, US size 2 for ribbing, US size 4 for the rest

This wee hat has been on my to-knit list for too long. All it took was a bunch of scraps of handspun and some MadTosh I had lying around. Two hours later, I was done. I can't believe it took me so long to get around to it! It was such a quick and satisfying knit. Granted, I wish I had chosen colors that had greater contrast, but overall I'm pleased with it. As is Finn.

See you guys at Rhinebeck!

well, this is finally coming in handy

Funny thing about this baby hat. I knit this years ago, back when I started knitting in earnest and had just started going to a local knit night at one of my favorite cafés in Long Island City. I think it was back in 2002. Only 8 years ago, but it feels like forever. I was still figuring out a lot about knitting. I remember I was so proud when I finished this because I had just learned to knit in the round. This was in the way back times, back when I still used DPNs, and I was teaching myself how to knit cables. Never mind the fact that it was clearly too small for me, I was so chuffed with myself when I finished it. It was ridiculously teeny, and someone suggested I hold onto it because someday there would be a baby it would fit just perfectly. Then we laughed at my huge gauge issue, and I threw the hat into a resealable plastic bag with my fledgling stash where I forgot about it until yesterday. I finally got around to sorting the old stash out to see what stays and what goes and lo, I came across the wee hat. I laughed, and I got a little misty as I remembered the awesome women I used to knit with. I hope they're all doing well and that they're happy today.

So there's one more knit for the feisty one, even if it's an unintentional one. Hoping to get more knitting time in the next 8 weeks, but we'll see how that goes.

two birds + one stone = happy campers all around

pattern: no. 9 Boy & Girl Hat from Scandinavian Jacquard Caps
designer: Kazekobo
yarn: Louet Riverstone in Aqua & Caribou
needles: Crystal Palace 16 inch circs is size 7
modifications: none

Since this is also my project for the Ravelympics:
cast on date: 02/13/10 some time shortly after midnight
finish date: 02/14/10 approximately 1 AM

After chugging away at the blanket for what feels like forever, it was such a refreshing change to blast through a project in one day. Granted, I'm no Sven Kramer. It's a worsted weight hat on size 7 needles. Some people are able to fart out a hat like this one in half an hour. I kept having to put down my knitting for errands, cat-ass-trophies, and a sudden flurry of long-distance phone calls from my family. Had it not been for all the distractions, I'd like to think I would have knocked this out much sooner than I did.

As it is, I love the pattern and was pleasantly surprised by the Riverstone. It is so soft and lovely. I bought it about a year ago with the intention of making something for Matt with it. And lo, I found the perfect project! For Christmas, Matt's dad gave us colorwork hats that he picked up at some local craft fair. Matt's hat, which he loved, had little people on it. It was a very similar motif to the one presented in Scandinavian Jacquard Caps. Unfortunately, Matt recently lost his hat at an installation. Good thing that one of the patterns in this awesome book is so similar to that hat. Coincidentally, that specific pattern was one of the reasons I bought this book.

In fact, it was kinda love at first sight with this book for me. The minute I looked through it, I wanted to knit (or crochet) every single pattern it offered. I may make it an ongoing project to knit every pattern in there. Although it is written in Japanese, the charts and diagrams are clear enough that they transcend any kind of language barrier and make the patterns extremely easy to follow. If you're more of a visual learner/follower to begin with (as I am), it's really a breeze.

Getting back to the hat, I am happy to say that Matt loved it. It was both the perfect Valentine's Day present and the satisfying knit that I needed to recharge my knitting mojo. The only problem is the pompom. I decided to make a huge pompom, just because I wanted to make a ginormo pompom. Matt wasn't so keen on it, however. At the moment, he is wearing the hat sans pompom, and I need to trim this one down to a more suitable size. I may not bother reattaching it, though. Matt seems pretty thrilled with it without the pompom. Meh. Should I ever make myself a matching hat (I know - vom), I will definitely make a humongous pompom for it because I am a huge fan of the ridiculously large pompom on a fairly simple, straightforward hat even if other people (ahem - Matt!) aren't.

what did you say? crochet??? no way!

pattern: Thorpe
designer: Kirsten at Through the Loops
yarn: pigeonroof studios worsted weight handspun in Winterberry
needles: 16 inch circs in US #8
modifications: I knit the crown to 88 stitches (instead of 80) because I was using a smaller needle size knit at an almost comparable gauge (just a tiny bit smaller). When knitting the earflaps, I knit over 16 stitches for each (instead of 14) in order to accommodate all those extra stitches. It fits like a dream!

Ever knock out a project in a day or two only to let it languish because you just can't bring yourself to take care of those finishing details, like say, crocheting an edge around it? I am such a slacker when it come to those things, as evinced by the fact that it took me two years to get around to sewing some darn buttons on a pair of socks. I had been meaning to knit myself a Thorpe ever since I first saw Mr. brooklyntweed's, but I was being picky about the yarn I would use for it. As soon as I got my hands on some lovely pigeonroof handspun in a worsted weight, I knew I had to make it. Last week, slightly sick of sock-knitting, I cast on and nearly finished my Thorpe in one go. Then came the time for the crochet edge, and I waited... and waited... and like the super-procrastinator I can be, waited some more. Why? Because I was afraid to crochet that edge. Which is really truly silly. I like crochet. Or rather, I like crocheted projects, but my few attempts at it have been nothing short of sucktastic. So finally, last night, I bit the bullet and went in and crocheted that edge. And you know what? I rather like it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (super-easy, in fact), and I am pretty pleased with the way it looks:

And Malachi approves! Now off to crochet myself a hexagon blanket! Or, you know, baby steps on my way there....

slouching towards somerville

pattern: Fern Glade (this is the slouchy version of the 2 offered)
designer: Megan Marshall
yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK
needles: 16 inch circs in US #3 and #6
modifications: None.

Disclaimer: I actually knit this about a month ago, but lazy git that I am, I am blogging about it now. Yep, because I'm on it!

When I went to see Clara Parkes at MIT last month at the Common Cod Fiber Guild (which, seriously, what an awesome group of knitters), she spoke about how the specialness of a yarn makes for a more enjoyable knitting experience and an end result that you will love more, and really, have truer words been spoken? Knitting with the pigeonroof handspun was an exquisite experience, and the yarn has transformed an otherwise basic pattern into something magical. On the other hand, I am not sure about the Debbie Bliss. It was alright to knit with; I don't have any complaints. It's squishy, and I am happy with the texture more or less. I think I am having second thoughts about the color I chose. It kinda screams toilet roll cozy. Also, I don't think the DB was as nice to knit with as say the Louisa Harding silk/wool blend I used to knit my mother-in-law's Porom. That project is a perfect example of a great combo of yarn and pattern, and the color is pretty spot-on, too. Funny thing, too, is that price-wise, I think the Louisa Harding was only 25 or 50 cents more per skein than the DB, which for a small project like a hat is really not a big deal and totally worth it.

Back to the hat, though, I love the design. It is so very pretty! The only problem is that knowing how loosely knit to begin with, I should have gone down a needle size or maybe knit the fitted version of this hat instead of the slouchy version, because it is huge. I mean ginormo. Like, I know my head is massive, but this is humongous. When I first tried it on, my immediate thought was that I looked like one of the Martians from Mars Attacks! There are a plethora of jokes that could be made about that really, from the Jiffy Pop being ready to the Vatican going green. I like it and wear it a lot, however. I just need to wash it every couple of wears so that the ribbing tightens up again. I also don't wear it with anything stuffed inside of it as in the photo I linked to, but you know, perhaps someday I will and hopefully start a new trend.

holidaze knits

pattern: Porom
designer: Jared Flood
yarn: Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool
needles: 16 inch circs in US #6 & #8

I am still in a bit of a holidaze, so just a quick post and run here. I am happy to report that my mother-in-law loved the Porom I knit for her. In turn, I loved knitting her a Porom. I am all about the quick and easy yet lovely knits, and this pattern certainly fit that bill. To a non-knitter, it probably looks waaaaaaaaaaaay fussier to knit than it actually was. Score! It was a breezy dream come true! The Louisa Harding was a delight to knit with, also. I need to pick up some more of this Grace yarn for a project for myself, possibly for a slouchy Fern Glade. I am really digging the slouchy hats lately. Of course, I won't be able to cast-on for that until I finish some more holiday knitting. Since I wasn't able to finish what I had in mind for Matt in time for Xmas, I am going to try to get it done in time for his birthday, which is New Year's Day. So I had better get back to my knitting over here. Hope you all had a fabulous holiday, folks!

here are the selbu moderns*

pattern: Selbu Modern
designer: Zeitgeist Yarns
yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Elephant's Dream and Vatican Pie
needles: 16 inch circs in US size 0 & US size 2

I don't think I have ever loved a hat as much as this one. I love the pattern. I loved the process of knitting it. I love the way it fits. I am absolutely smitten with everything about it. I had a feeling I would. When I first saw friends favoriting the pattern and queing it up on ravelry, I was intrigued. It was seeing a shrill caramel's Selbu Modern that convinced me that I must knit one for myself. I was hit pretty hard by a case of "the covets." Then I saw Christy's, and I could not wait to cast on. I think it was Kelly's that pushed me over the edge to action, and I cast on right away. I wasn't the only one. The add knitter and Ashley were knitting theirs as I was knitting mine. I kinda wish we could all get together while wearing our Selbu Moderns out and take over a bar/pub, where all the patrons would be asking, "Ummm, who are these crazy-ass loud chicks and why are they all wearing the same hat but in different colors?" We could say we're a roving gang of knitters out to collect some booty (heh, booty) and beer and coerce them to buy us beer with our pointy sticks. But I digress....

I was a little concerned a couple of days ago about how the colorwork part would fit because I hadn't blocked it yet. Well, it blocked out beautifully, I am happy to say:

As I suspected, the red did bleed a fair amount, but thanks to Adrian's tip about using shampoo and cold water, it didn't stick to the aqua (and I didn't end up with a red and lavender hat that I would probably not be so thrilled with). Hooray for happy knits! If you're looking for a quick and pretty project, seriously, this hat is so for you. Thank you to Kate at Zeitgeist Yarns for putting together such a lovely pattern and for making it available on her blog for free. Kate, you are so awesome!

* The post title is a reference to Kill Hannah, which I will half-shamefully admit to adoring.

drove my chevy to the levee, but the levee was wry

I finished my Selbu Modern this morning during my break, and I *love* just about everything about it - the pattern, the rockqua goodness rocking my world, the texture of the Jitterbug, everything! Except I kinda wish that I had knit the colorwork on larger needles. I used a US size 2 (as the pattern calls for), but I think I really should have gone up a couple of sizes to get the maximum amount of slouch. As you can see in the photo above, it's not exactly slouchy as much as kind of ruched. I think the whole thing might just be resolved by a good blocking. Afterall, I do knit rather loosely and that gorgeous pattern on the crown just begs to be stretched out to its full glory. I realize that I should have probably swatched, but you know, if it's not a sweater, I don't bother (which is to say I never swatch).

I am a little afraid that the red is going to bleed all over the blue here, so I am going to test the yarn's bleediness before I block this as per Adrian's awesome advice. The yarn I used here is Colinette Jitterbug in Elephant's Dream (aqua) and Vatican Pie (red). I'll post all the details once this is happily blocked and properly photographed. Also, can someone explain to me what is up with the name of that red colorway? Vatican Pie? For real? Is that some sort of euphemism for altar boys? I get the whole Vatican red thing, but what's up with "pie?" Actually, I don't wanna know.... When I asked Matt what he thought of that name for a colorway, after he was done pointing out the obvious to me (duh, Vatican red) and shaking his head at my crack about it, we somehow got onto the topic of PILFs. (Warning! You may not want to read any further if you might be offended by light-hearted joking about priests and such. You may want to avert your gaze here and probably pray for my soul. Click onto another site, please, and do come back next week, when there will be more knitting and less sacrilege. Thanks!) You may be asking, "Ummm, excuse me, but what is a PILF?" It's kinda like a MILF, except we're talking about a priest and not a mom. Yep. Last month, as we were watching horror movies, we noticed a theme throughout most of them and that is the PILF, like the strapping young priest (Father Bolen?) in the original Amityville Horror and the would-be priest in The Prophecy (which I wouldn't really count as a horror movie, but I'm including it in this). For some reason, I really crossed a line when I mentioned Colin Hanks as Father Gill on MadMen. Eh, he's kinda cute. Okay, now that I am done securing a nice warm spot for myself in hell, I'm off to block this puppy. Hopefully, I'll have a FO and PILF-free post for you tomorrow.

so you think you can hat hat hat

pattern: so you think you can hat
designer: Susan Chang
yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton in 239
needles: Addi Turbos US size 4, Crystal Palace circs & dpns US size 7
modifications: I cast on 108 stitches for a total of 9 pattern repeats instead of 8 as the pattern called for

You know what my favorite item to knit is? Hats. They never take more than a day or two to whip out, and they are so satisfying. Immensely satisfying, in fact. When I watched the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance a couple of weeks ago, I immediately fell in love with Mia's hat and knew that I had to make it. I was not alone in such hat-lust, and one of the wonderful people on ravelry, insaknitty, came up with a pattern for it. I cast on Monday night and finished it around 2 in the morning because I was still up and couldn't get to sleep (apparently, this is what not taking Benadryl for a few days does to me - awesome!)*. I love it! Regarding the mods, I decided to add one more pattern repeat for a total of 108 stitches on mine because I have a huge noggin. I had seen Diana's earlier in the day, and hers fit her perfectly, which made me realize there was no way that 96 stitches was going to fit me properly. As the annoyingly fastidious couple behind me kept whining about Saturday night at the theater while watching The Crappening** (seriously folks, if you must watch this, wait until it comes out on DVD and Netflix it - it suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked), it seems my head just may be large enough to eclipse theater screens and such. I mean, I know my head is big, but I didn't realize it was all Easter Island proportioned. Anyhoo! Yeah, I cast on a whole more buncha stitches. Besides, I wanted it to be slouchy, and with that extra repeat, it is slouchiliciously delightful.

Total side note: the poll on my sidebar closes later tonight so if you haven't had a chance to throw in your vote, please do so now. I will talk about the results and the poll itself in the coming days. As it is I have been running a little behind here so I have a couple of belated posts coming and new posts that tie into this as well.

* Yeah, if this lack of sleep continues, I am dragging my butt to the doctor because it's a little strange to me that I stop taking Benadryl and now I can't sleep.

** I cannot believe that The Happening has been compared to Hitchcock's The Birds. NO! Wrong! Hitchcock was leagues beyond this tripe.

just in time for spring!

pattern: Foliage, from Knitty
designer: Emilee Mooney
yarn: Pear Tree light worsted merino in Moss
needles: Bryspun US#8 circs (magic loop it, baby!) and Susan Bates US#6 for the bottom ribbing

When I saw Grace's version of this over at KathrynIvy, I knew I had to knit one for myself. She is so inspiring me lately with all of her lovely knits. Funny thing, I don't really remember this pattern from the Fall Knitty. I guess I must have just skimmed over it and not really paid attention. Well, I love it. It was a superfast knit; I was able to knit it in one day. More specifically, I knit the body Saturday night, but then I realized that I didn't really like the way my SK2Ps looked, perhaps because I knit continental. Yesterday, I frogged the whole thing and knit it over again, this time doing S2 from the front K1 and Pass 2 slipped stitches over so that I got these little ridges down the middle of each leaf pattern. I knit the second version of the hat, the lighter weight one. I made a few mods, including knitting it on size US#8 and US#6 needles, as opposed to the size US#7 and #5 the pattern called for, in order to make it fit right over my huge noggin. I also only did 2 1/2 pattern repeats instead of 3 and bound off using the kitchener bind off so that I would get that nice neat edge. I think I could have probably gotten a good fit using the size 7 needles as lace opens up and gets kind of stretchy. As it is right now, it fits a tiny bit loose at the crown, but I like the way it looks.

I can definitely see myself wearing this until the end of the chilly days here. My only problem is with the yarn I used, which I think will fuzz out terribly with wear. As I was knitting with it, the Pear Tree got super-pilly and fuzzy. I am afraid that in a year, this will look like some silly green clown afro wig instead of a lacy hat. Ehhhh, for now I will enjoy its squishy warmth and softness.

P.S. - It's funny how the color looks so much darker and richer in the top two photos. I think it's because of the lighting (or lack thereof). The color is actually much much closer to the other two duos of photos. It's not teal at all so much as a deep sea green. I've never seen moss that color so so much for the name on the yarn tag.