Father in Law Scarf

My father in law is the hardest person on the face of the planet to shop for. Period.

He's not one of those people that has everything. It's more that... well, he won't ever get rid of anything. So if you buy him something, it's likely he already has one and has had it for the better part of the last 5 decades. Case in point: the 30-piece tupperware set that has sat in his garage ever since we gave it to him ten years ago. The reason? "But I HAVE tupperware!" Yes, but the lids don't match. Quite frankly, they don't even seal.

So... our frustation mounts as we give him gifts over the years, and watch him thriftily regift them at cousin's weddings, friends' kid's brithdays, etc. The silverware set. The set of new, plush towels. Sets of sheets.

So I set my needles on making him something I knew he would love and appreciate-- a nice, soft scarf that was made just for him. Now, we might get frustrated that he never actually keeps the gifts we give him, he has a true, old-fashioned appreciation for things that are MADE for him.

Thus the father in law scarf! Jauntily striped across both ends, this thing came together in a snap because I used large needles, my tried and true knit one, purl one rib for a nice, luxurious plush feel. He wrapped it around his neck happily that Christmas eve and has worn it since! SCORE! This is one gift that won't end up on somebody else's wedding table!!!

Little Hats for the Girls Next Door

My husband and I live next door to a wonderful litle family, two girls and a baby boy that we love to see playing in the yard, growing up so quickly before our very eyes.

We love picking out fun little things to bring them, especially the girls, when we travel or go away for the weekend. Our favorite may still be the little hula skirts and bikini tops we found for them in Hawaii last fall.

As Christmas break spread out before us, and our Colorado winter kept us snuggled up inside away from the mounting snow and bitter cold, I suspected the girls might need a field trip and their mother a break! How about we go to the knit shop and get ice cream one day?

I explained the project to their eager little faces: let's go to the store, you can pick out whatever yarn and buttons you want, and I'll make you both a little winter hat. What fun!

About an hour later, I was reminding myself why it is that our only children are dogs and a cat. Sweaty and frazzled, and pulling skeins of silk, angora, cashmere and every other ghastly expensive yarns out of their hands (how could girls so little have SUCH expensive taste???), I was wondering how I would ever get to the easy part... actually knitting something?

We settled on a couple of skeins of yarn, after a little clever sales technique negotiation on my behalf, it was time to pick out the buttons. Buttons flying, me trying to catch them, they settle on similar but different buttons (much like the yarn) and we were out of the shop and off for ice cream.

For the next week, every time we saw their faces looking over the fence, the same question: "Are our hats done yet?" We saw them at another neighbor's holiday open house, and they both came running up to me...

"Are our hats done yet???"

"One of them is!" I respond. Oh god, what a rookie mistake.

They eye me suspiciously. "Which one is done?". Knowing that all future loyalty lies in the critical answer that comes-- finishing one surely indicates that one of the girls is clearly my favorite-- I'm saved by their father, graciously proferring a glass of wine and saving the day. I knew that hats had to be finished, stat.

The girls loved them. They ran around gripping them, tossing them in the air, modeling them on their teddy bears. I'm not sure that I've actually ever seen them on their heads, but that's okay. The joy is in the making, right?

A Sweater for Selah

Facebook can be a many wondered thing.

A few months ago, I logged in on a dreary Saturday morning and discovered waiting for me one of the funnest little surprises that Facebook has to offer-- a new friend request! Not some former roommate or long lost high school acquaintance, but a childhood friend with whom I haven't spoken in (scary to admit!).. twenty years!

I happily accepted this little ray of sunshine on a bleary morning and spent the next 30 minutes perusing and doing that voyeristic thing that Facebook has made socially acceptable-- browsing through another person's pictures. Not only had my childhood friend grown into a beautiful young woman, she'd married and, was soon expecting her first child! A baby girl!

Such a fun series of discoveries. Never needing much of  a reason to go to my favorite knit shop, I scooted over and picked out a beautiful, washable, soft pink and set my needles to work on the "5 hour baby sweater". Google it-- you'll find a million patterns out there. I printed off one that was made for a little older baby; nothing like putting your time and efforts into a project only to have the wee ones outgrow it a week later. Or... worse... never fit into it at all!

This was such a fun, easy, and enjoyable project. a joy to knit up, a great project for a beginner knitter to try their hands at a little sweater. Barely using one good sized skein of yarn, it's inexpensive to boot. One of the best parts is picking out the buttons... classic bronze teddy bears! See detail, below...

Now I peruse Facebook in search of photos of the darling Selah, hoping to see my sweater in one of them!

Sweater Season!!!

I had been looking for a very long time for a good sweater pattern that I could make for my husband. He's got great taste-- a man dedicated to the classics, be it film, music, food, or fashion. Which made it ironically very difficult to find a pattern that would suit his discerning tastes!

So many patterns out there are to be different, and you end up with these wacky creations that look, well... homemade. Sorry if I offend anyone. But simplicity often is the hardest thing to achieve, and in my life, simplicity rules. Whether it's cooking, design, or clothes, less is more in my book and it was tough to find something that met that demand.

Finally, one day at the knit shop I came across a pattern by a New Zealand company called Naturally. It was perfect! A basic sweater, with two mid-chest stripes, and an optional faux turtle neck finish. I could do this!

And... so far... it's working! I'm done with the back, working up the front just the same and can't wait to finish it.

It's true, April in the Rockies isn't necessarily sweater season... but my hope is come fall he'll be rocking the new sweater in style!

The JOAN hat... part deux

My husband and I are in a dinner club, a great group of friends that has expanded over the past year or so to include extra members and gets together about once a month to drink wine, enjoy good food, and catch up.

Originally we were all coworkers, but over time a few of us have moved on to other career choices. We've had friends and family move into town, and now it includes a total of 9 of us, including three couples, a new-to-town single chick, and two moms. We've grown very close and in many ways we're all family.

It was tough news one night last winter when we learned that one of our group would soon be facing chemotherapy treatment to a localized type of cancer. I know that when I see people struggling, my natural reaction is to move to support mode and help... in any way I can. Cook a meal? You got it. Do some laundry? No problem. A comforting gift? Absolutely.

Which brings me to the Joan hat, part deux. I found out the preferred color, and put my needles to work on creating a hat to keep the chill off for when the chemo had chased her hair away. The beauty of the Joan hat is not only the versatility, but the fun of the button or medallion you can put on the side.

The medallion has become a medal of honor, and I'm so happy when I see her wearing it or hear of her enjoying it. It's a small comfort, but I often say that a knitted piece is made of a million little hugs, and what better gift to give when faced with something so scary?

Golf Club Covers-- Pure Kitsch!

One of the funnest projects I've done to date was these kitschy, old-school golf club covers. Our group of friends includes several hack golfers (myself included) and some really rather decent golfers (myself NOT included!) and I just couldn't help myself when I came across this pattern on http://www.lionbrand.com/.

Despite previous posts berating them for their inaccurate or seemingly incomplete instructions, these worked up beautifully and in no time flat. I have to say, the argyle pattern was really gratifying and came together very quickly. The only challenge is juggling the multiple little balls of yarn while knitting across (a task made a lot more difficult by the fact that I have a house chihuahua who insists on sitting directly on or under any project I'm working on).

The knit one, purl one rib of the neck of the club cover looks way too tight, but it stretches nicely. The argyle is such a hoot, and I was able to make custom covers for three friends with a very personal touch. A final note: I realized that, within the graph of the argyle on the pattern, you could really design whatever you want, be it initials, a simple graphic, whatever... so this pattern is simple but also a great launchpad for your creativity!

The light blue, navy and white is for our friend Sean, a to-the-blood Columbia alumn. It's not exactly Columbia blue, but it was the closest I could reasonably get.

The pink and navy combination is for our friends Kristen and David, a classic couple with modern tendencies and I knew the throw back would thrill them.

We all got a good laugh opening them over the holidays. A great gift!

Luxury Scarf!

It was last summer on a short little day trip to southern Colorado when my mom and I popped into a really cute little knit shop after lunch. I found this beautiful cashmere blend yarn on sale, so I bought four skeins. I didn't know what I was going to make, but what I did know was that I had to have it.

All I can say is, beware of this reckless, maddening behaviour! I can't tell you how many random skeins of yarn I have in my stash cupboard because of this. 8 skeins of a misty blue wool, three skeins of a thick cotton fuschia, random skeins that I bought in a buying frenzy on eBay. (BIG mistake, that one!)

At any rate, I guess when you're desperate you can always make a scarf, right? And what a scarf this turned out to be! A tight little knit one, purl one rib will give you the illusion of stockinette stitch on both sides and result in a dense, compact texture. Keeping it narrow and making it extra long adds to the hip and luxurious end product.

Last winter, we had our friends Jack and Darci over for dinner. At some point I had pulled out a work in progress to show her, and as the evening went on she sat there cuddling my project (a kitschy, old-fashioned golf club cover) like a well worn stuffed animal. The image is still stuck in my head, and as I felt the plush texture of this beautiful crimson scarf... I knew who the recipient had to be!

Details (needle size, length, width, etc) coming soon....

Patterns, Projects and Perfectionism

Okay... so I finished a very fun project this week but unfortunately do not yet have photos... but they are coming soon. It's an off-the shoulder little sweater that was fun and not too much of a nightmare to knit. I'll fill you in on a seperate post with that.

Patterns. I use Lion Brand Yarn's patterns quite a bit, and I haven't had any issues until just recently, when I decided to do a little cardigan for my soon-to-be 4 year old neice. The problem: the "size 4" pattern wasn't even close to fitting a size 4 child-- even though I checked my gauge religiously. I continued, however, until I was finished with both sleeves and realized that they weren't going to come close to fitting the armholes in the main body of the sweater.

WTF? I mean, here I've already spent a ton of time working on a sweater that isn't going to fit the intended recipient, anyway. I powered on, knowing that somewhere along the line there will be another little girl that I can give it to. But to get all the way to the point of finishing it and the dimensions just simply don't fit?

I don't get it! I've used other Lion Brand patterns before, and while I wouldn't even come close to saying that they are clear (especially when it comes to finishing instructions) they've actually never before simply not fitted at all.

So now I have 12 skeins of yarn (this pattern was so cute, when I bought the yarn online I actually bought it in three complimentary colors, in order to make sweaters for others) in beautiful shades of blush pink, leaf green, and chocolate, that I don't know what to do with. Scarves, anyone?