My new favorite hat!

Great hat for the holidays: a cute and quirky little design (not my own, see earlier post) that knits up in literally one afternoon. Very versatile, depending on the type of yarn you want to use.

Pictured above, I used Cascade Soft Spun in Charcoal on 10-1/2 needles. I made some modifications to the pattern, so here's my suggestion:

Cast on 75 stitches (again, I'm a pretty tight knitter).
Knit 15 rows in seed stitch.
Bind off first 12 stitches, continue to knit the rest of the row.
Connect to the first stitch using either 16" circulars or DPNs (I used the circulars, so much easier on the hands). Knit until the piece measures 5-1/2 inches total. Start to decrease:

Place stitch marker to indicate beginning of row
Knit 7, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
knit
Knit 6, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
knit
Knit 5, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
knit
Knit 4, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
Knit 3, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
Knit 1, knit 2 together, repeat to end of row
Knit 2 together, repeat
Cut 6" tail, wind through remaining stitches and pull taut.

It is a beautiful, compact little hat with a lot of options with regards to texture, style and size. Add a button of your choice and wrap for Christmas!

The Joan hat in progress, but making a switch

So I started the Joan hat last night (my name, not what the pattern called it), it's working like a dream, but...

Maybe I've just gotten too accustomed to circular needles, but these double points are killing me. I really thought I could do it. So I'm going back to The Lamb Shoppe to invest in a set of 10-1/2, 16" circulars to get this project going.

A few notes on the pattern:

I'm a really tight stitcher, so I decided to work in 10-1/2 instead of tens. Also, the yarn I used for the scarf last Christmas was not Paton's chunky, but instead a lovely Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed wool.

I'll have to switch back to the double points when I am doing the crown of the hat, which is cool, but I just really don't enjoy working them in the round. So... I'll use that as an excuse to go shopping...

New Project: Just in Time for Christmas!

A quick post:

I am working on a few last-minute Christmas gifts and came across this darling hat pattern via Ravelry and this other person's blog:

http://racheliufer.blogspot.com/2007/10/robins-egg-blue-hat.html

A quick little hat for my sister in law, in the same Paton's Shetland Chunky purple that I used last year to make her a cute little k2, p2 ribbed scarf. I checked out the pattern, it's not my first hat but looks like a lot more fun and more interesting than your basic ribbed or rolled hat.

To the lambshoppe this afternoon to pick up my skein of yarn and I'm off! I'll update later this weekend with some in-progress photos and notes.

I love Fridays... :)

Knittery Wittery

Okay, so I know this is terribly lame, but hear me out.

I started knitting in March 2008. I'll admit it, I was totally sucked in to the book "Friday Night Knitting Club". I was also looking for a hobby that would keep me occupied while my husband worked long and inhumane hours trying to save his dying business.

His business closed in January 2009, I was wrapping up my 4th project.

Now, December 2009, I have completed 25 projects and have three that are currently in various states of completion: almost done, half way there, and abandoned (thankfully only one lies in this last category, I never really did like the yarn).

At any rate, I told my husband I would start a blog as a location to document the various projects I've completed and the people that I've given them to. In spite of the growing list of completed projects, only two are for me! Only one I really consider wearable. But hey, that's okay! That's what it's all about, right?

So I'll be posting pictures and stories, pattern sources and little hints I find along the way. I won't pretend to be terribly witty or anything else, and if you get bored here, you can always check out my other blog about my other passion in life: 7th Avenue Cook.

Enjoy...