Pixie

As much as I love Eliza's Cubba Hat, it seems to be getting a bit small. And I liked that she had a blue/purple hat and a pink/orange hat, so one or the other matched any given outfit. So I flipped through my Vintage Baby Knits book (because I want to knit just about everything in that book) last week and cast on for the Stella Pixie Hat.

What a great little knit! Looking at it, I expected it to be shaped with decreases or short rows, but it's not. When you knit it up, it looks like this:


The "ribbing" on the top isn't really ribbing at all, it's purl welts. Because if you knit vertical rows of knits and purls, the purls recede, but if you knit horizontal rows of knits and purls, the knits recede. And these horizontal rows of knits and purls pull in, just like ribbing, only in the other direction. So you knit this rectangle with no shaping at all, just taking advantage of the nature of knits and purls, and then you fold it in half and graft the top. Voila! Hat. I am such a sucker for clever patterns.

Except when I folded mine in half, I didn't have the same number of stitches on each side. It's always something with me, isn't it? So I went looking and found my problem:

An error in the stitch pattern. Lesson: don't knit this pattern in semi-darkness.

What to do? That blip threw off the pattern for the whole left side of the hat. Should I rip? Of course not. I pulled it off the needles and dropped a whole section of stitches. I probably didn't have to drop even as many as I did, but I figured it would be more of a pain to keep track of exactly which stitches I had to drop how far, so I just pulled the needles out and started pulling.


Yet another reason to love double pointed needles.


Coming right along.


Oops, missed one.


Almost done. (And the munchkin woke up.)


Where I should have been an hour ago.


Grafting.


And, hat!

Now let's try it on.

Heh.

Side view:

See what I mean about the purl welts?

She didn't need the added height of a button band to fasten it, so I crocheted a quick chain and wove it through the cast on edge for a tie. I had some tension issues from the surgery, but a quick bath and run through the dryer (yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, so no worries about felting), it's mostly evened out.

Happy Halloween!

Cisco Hat by Berroco
My handspun Corriedale, "New Day" by Spunky Eclectic



Maybe a little big for this year, but I think she can make it work.

January Recap: Soakers are the new socks.

Sorry to be so silent. I have been knitting and spinning quite a lot, but if I had blogged it play-by-play, you would all be drooling right now from all the redundancy. So let's just round it all up into one post, shall we?

Soakers are the new socks around here. They're quick, they're easy, they will actually get used (unlike a lot of woolens in Texas weather), and I can satisfy my nesting urge while sitting on my butt, which is much easier on my very pregnant body than, say, steam cleaning the carpets.

For those of you thinking, "what's a soaker?" it's a cover that you put over cloth diapers to make them waterproof. We all know the wonders of wool, but when used for this purpose, it really is like magic. When treated with lanolin, it makes a breathable layer that absolutely stops leaks. So, while knitting this March baby a bunch of sweaters would be a little pointless, knitting soakers is downright practical.

I spent all of New Years Eve and New Years Day spinning, and off I went. I haven't really stopped since. I have 4 newborn size, 6 smalls, and 4.5 mediums so far.

1. globe soaker, 2. Red Velvet Soaker, 3. Red Velvet Soaker, 4. Acadia Soaker, 5. E soaker, 6. Raisin Wannabe Soaker, 7. Raisin Wannabe Soaker, 8. Rainbow Ruffle Soaker, 9. Rosebud Soaker, 10. All-Star Soaker, 11. Hive Soaker, 12. Hive Soaker, 13. Forces of Nature Soaker, 14. Forces of Nature Soaker, 15. In progress

I did manage to churn out a couple of hats as well, one baby-sized and one daddy-sized.

Cubba, by Woolly Wormhead


Thorpe, by Kirsten Kapur, felted because apparently even a top-down hat isn't completely foolproof!

Given my to-be-soaker stash, I predict more of the same for February.

In other news, the nursery is 99% complete, but I can't really show you yet because the 1% that is incomplete is the lighting. We installed the ceiling fan and the blades turn, but the lights don't work. And the outlet where I was going to plug in a lamp on the changing table is also dead. So we need to do some troubleshooting. In the meantime, it's a little dark!

Humdinger

Last weekend we made an unscheduled trip back to West Texas, braving thunderstorms threatening golf-ball sized hail and tornadoes during our late-night trek across the state. Thankfully, we made it just fine. I got some knitting done, but I ripped it all out. I think I have to finish a thing or two before anything is going to go right on the needles.

My father-in-law is a bit of a bird watcher and puts out five gallons a week of sugar water in his many hummingbird feeders. They attract quite the crowd.

I stood out on the porch for a long time and got some pretty cool shots.

I also finally got a chance to take a picture of some long-finished knitting. I made this out of Cascade 220 a while ago, but it took me a while to block it and then it sat around for a while before it got photographed. I got it in just under the wire, though, before dropping it off for its recipient.

I made up the pattern myself, and I think I'll make another one out of the llama I spun up. I'll need to make a few modifications, since the original is already on the large side and I think the llama may be heavier than the Cascade 220. And I'll be doing some kind of contrasting softer lining on the second hat.

2007, adieu.

Howdy, strangers. It's been a little while, so settle in with a warm beverage, or do like I did when I got back to the internet-connected world and just browse the pictures. I'll try not to be too wordy.

First up is Christmas knitting that didn't get blogged, mostly because it was still damp when I packed it up and hit the road. I actually didn't get a picture of it until last Saturday, but when I snuck it out of my father-in-law's house for a photo shoot, he ran out and posed for me even though he was on the phone. Hi, David! Glad you like the hat!

The pattern is loosely based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Very Warm Hat. I charted out the lettering myself and decreased at six points every third round to create the pointy stocking cap shape. I considered pompoms for the ends, but the bells made it more easily reversible.

I had intended to knit it in acrylic so that it would be machine washable, and also because my husband was with me when I was shopping and he insisted that we could find yarn for the hat at the yarn store we were in, but I didn't get two rows in before deciding that it was too splitty to be bothered with. So I made another trip and switched to wool (Patons Classic Merino and Cascade 220) and was much happier for it.

The big news is that I got a spinning wheel for Christmas! It's a Kromski Symphony in the walnut finish and I really love it so far. That center picture is the White Finn Top that came with the wheel. It was a bit coarse for a garment, so I decided mid-spin to make a cozy for my french press that stays at the ranch, at which point I stopped trying for consistency and went for a more homespun texture. And then I made it three-ply, which evened it out a lot, anyway. Tell me all your places to get good rovings; I am on the hunt.

We also made a very quick trip to New Mexico to see some property in the mountains that my father-in-law had put an offer on. It was a lot of hours in the car, but so worth it to see some snow and breathe in the cold air. I was very happy for my mittens!

2007 has been a pretty good year; I found a new hobby that has kept my mind occupied almost non-stop. My hope for 2008 is to temper that a little with a little more attention to some things that have been neglected in the pursuit of fiber, such as cooking and housecleaning and perhaps even laundry. But with a new wheel in the house, I'm not making any promises.

Happy New Year!

mmm, cashmere

I used up every last inch of those two skeins of cashmere. The result? A beret and neckwarmer. I had planned on gloves, but I thought the light worsted yarn would be too thick, and cashmere should be where you can feel it, hence the neckwarmer.

I need a hat like this for myself. It's so perfect. An EZ pattern, of course, her tam o'shanter from Knitting Without Tears. I did a 1x1 ribbed brim with a tubular cast-on, but that was my only change.

Resorting to the mirror shot.

I used a tubular cast-on (and cast-off) for the neckwarmer as well, and went up to a size 9 needle for drapiness. The backside of the waffle stitch looks nice, too, so I sewed on two buttons to make it reversible. If this counts as a scarf, it's my first one!

Onward!

Cabled Zeebee

This red Manos was one of my yarn store purchases last weekend, and I just couldn't wait to play with it. I swatched for a Zeebee, and it occurred to me that if I was knitting a hat sideways, I could stick a cable on it, and so I did.

Such a quick, fun knit, and sure to keep my ears warm this winter, if we ever get winter. Plus, it doesn't seem to itch like my Koolhaas does. Apparently, I'm sensitive to one of the many fibers in Road to China. I may have to make another one.

The garter stitch, of course, grew three sizes when it hit water. (Does this only happen to me?) But I noticed while it was still damp and threw it in the dryer and it bounced back.

What to do with the leftovers but make another mug cosy?

I think this will be my last one, though. I left out the last decrease row on this one and felted it a little bit, and it still doesn't want to stay on.

Yes, I do like this color; why do you ask?

Two Finished Objects today, both in shades of plum. Well, technically, cherries and garnet. And both with cashmere content. I've always been a firm believer (or at least fervent hoper) that you can bring on winter weather by dressing for it. That hasn't worked yet, but maybe knitting for it will?

First up, Little Child's Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.

The yarn is the Merino Cashmere 4-ply sock from The Knittery in Cherries. Whereas* their merino sock is a little thin for US1s, the merino cashmere is a little thick. It could stand to go up to a 1.5 (2.5 mm), but the firmer fabric should help with the wear of these soft fibers.

I wouldn't recommend fancy patterns for this yarn, as it's a little splitty. I started with the Traveler's Stockings from Knitting on the Road, but ripped in frustration and chose this simpler knit/purl pattern instead, and I'm quite pleased with it.

I really like the cast-on for these socks: long-tail with the yarn held doubled. It makes guesstimating the length of the tail a little difficult, and you have three ends to weave in at the top instead of two, but it is so stretchy. I never would have thought that doubling the yarn would make that much difference.

These socks are like chocolate for your feet. I'm so glad I finally finished them.

* I can't beleive I just used whereas in a sentence; what's next, hereinafter? Dropping this in a footnote doesn't really help me on the nerd factor, does it?

Second, Jared Flood's Koolhaas hat from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts.

I used The Fibre Company's Road to China in Garnet, about one and a quarter skeins. This yarn is a cornucopia of fibers: 65% Baby Alpaca, 10% Cashmere, 10% Camel, 10% Soya Fiber, and 5% Yak. Each fiber takes the dye differently, creating a nice subtle play of color.

I twisted the ribbing on the brim for continuity, and my row gauge was off, so I just knit until it was long enough before starting the decreases instead of following the pattern exactly.

I really enjoy knitting hats. Especially when I realize that I don't have to keep track of exactly what I'm doing, becuase I only have to knit one.

So quiet today.

I woke up this morning to discover that the TV and internet had gone down for the third time this week. The good news is, each time a technician has been sent out the same day. The bad news is, that means I got to spend a Saturday waiting for the tech, and then waiting for him to fix the problem, hopefully for good this time.

My husband is out on unpleasant business, and, while I feel bad for him, I can't help but enjoy the solitude. The dogs are tired from barking at the technician, and there is quiet all around me. So, after I made some good headway on Mom's cardi, I started a new project.

Now, if I can only grab a snack without upsetting this delicate balance. I do love alone time.

Swatchcap

I finally received my replacement size 7 Harmony tips yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, one of them was mis-threaded. But, between the first set and the replacement set, I have two working tips and was finally able to swatch for Mom's cardi.

The yarn (Plymouth Suri Merino) is incredibly soft, but it makes my nose itch a little bit.