Choices

I'm trying to decide what to knit next:

28's Big Sister 77 by Lynne Ashton,

Deirdre by Linden Down (she also designed the Estelle, which I knit last year),

or Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark.

I think anyone of these would be perfect for early spring. But which one to choose....

What are you dreaming up for spring knitting?

More of the Same

Playing with Noro and a solid yarn again. I love how the sapphire blue glows against the pale tan.

Fun, Natural Fun

Yesterday morning as I was heading out the door to go to work I realized I had a problem: I only had 5 pages left in the book I was reading, no small knitting projects in progress, and and hour long subway commute each way.... I'm just not the kind of person who can ride the subway for more than a couple stops without anything to do. It makes me nuts.

So I opened a drawer and grabbed two balls of yarn that looked okay together and seemed to be about the same weight; a ball of handspun from the Union Square Farmer's market in dusty blue and some Noro in greys and blues and browns. I crammed a size 6 circular needle in my purse and ran out the door.

Two long subway rides, one short subway ride, plus some downtime at work and I had a finished hat by last night.

It's just a simple kid's cap. I cast on 70, did 1x1 rib for and inch, then alternated 4 rows of the blue with 2 rows of the Noro, decreasing after about 5 inches. Easy and cute. So cute, in fact, that I'm now making one for myself with the same ball of Noro and some tan handspun from the same farm. I love alternating the self-striping Noro with a solid, it's fun and creates a really pretty effect. I wonder if I could get away with doing something like that for a cardigan for myself... would it look too dorky? Would I care? Some things for me to think about...

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

New Pattern Time!

Here's a nice little headband for keeping your ears warm on days you don't want to wear a hat. It is secured in the back with a button which is nice because you won't mess up your hair pulling a headband down and you get to use one of those cute buttons you've been saving.

Seed Stitch Headband

You Will Need:

-Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (Less than half a ball) or 4 strands of any worsted weight yarn held together

-Size 11 Knitting Needles

-Tapestry Needle

Gauge: 4 stitches in seed stitch = 1 3/4 inches

K=knit, P=purl, YO=yarn over, K2tog=knit 2 together, SSK=slip slip knit2tog

Cast on 7 stitches.

*K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1*

Repeat this seed stitch pattern on every row until piece measures 20" or 1.5" less than the circumference of your head (remember the headband will stretch).

Now you will put in a button hole:

K1, P1, K1, YO, K2tog, P1, K1

Knit in seed stitch pattern for 3 rows.

K2tog, K1, P1, K1, SSK (5 sts)

K2tog, P1, SSK(3 sts)

Bind off remaining 3 sts

Sew on a button and you're done!

Coming Soon

This past week I've been super interested in quick projects. I'm talking like less than 2 hours... or even less than 1 hour. And that's how this new Seed Stitch Headband was born. And I've already made six of them...

I'm hoping to have the pattern up later this week. It's just way too overcast this morning to take any decent modeled photos. Irina and I were actually planning to do a little photo shoot this morning for a couple of different projects but we had to cancel because it's so dark out. Boo hoo, oh well.

Sick Day

Hello.
I'm home sick today. Here are the things I'm thinking about doing:

I started knitting this sweater soooo long ago. I'd love to get it finished in time to get some wear out of it. The problem is that I think I made some adjustments to the pattern and I'm not sure if I wrote them down anywhere.... Also, I just can't seem to decide if I want it to be short sleeve (as the pattern is written) or long sleeve. Long sleeve will take longer but I think I would wear it more.

I also should get started on this pile of vintage dresses to be mended. Some of them are mine and some are for the secret project. And now that I think of it there are actually more dresses in need of mending in the craft room... yikes.

The third one from the bottom is a gorgeous dress from the 60's that I was wearing last night and I sneezed so hard that a little section of the zipper ripped out. haha.

I'm also reading Love in the Time of Cholera for the third time and listening to First Aid Kit's album The Big Black & the Blue for the hundredth time and absolutely loving both.

It's snowing like crazy here. On a clear day you'd see the Empire State Building in the distance. Not today.

Hope you're cozy and well.

First Timer

Remember that swatch I showed you? It's for a new project that I'm feeling excited about. My very first stranded colorwork project! Is it intarsia? Umm, I'll have to check the definition. Anyway, the project is a pair of gloves from the winter 2010 edition of Spin-Off magazine called, simply, Norwegian-Inspired Gloves by Erda Kappeler. I couldn't find it on Ravelry to give you a link but I might scan in a photo from the magazine just to show you what I'm working towards. Here's where I'm at so far:

I'm changing a couple of things: The pattern is for gloves but I'm going to try to change them into mittens. I just think handknit gloves in anything heavier than sock yarn look really bulky. Like big monster fingers. And secondly, I'm changing one of the charts. The original pattern has a chart on the back of the hand for (what I think is) a rooster and I'm doing a deer chart instead. I might do a different animal on the other hand. We'll see.

SNOW!

Yesterday it started snowing. Hard.

First I decided to swatch for some new mittens using some scraps of worsted weight yarn. Some is Cascade 220 and some is some random thrift store wool. It looked like this:

The project I'm planning for is knit in the round. To get a more accurate swatch I knit across then loosely brought the yarn back to the right hand side of the right side of the knitting... Uhh. Does that make any sense? It's a way of swatching in which you are knitting a flat stockinette swatch but you only do knit stitches (no purls) as if you were knitting in the round. The back of the swatch ends up looking like this:

After knitting on that swatch for a little while I went out with Logan to walk around in the snow storm. We went out around midnight. I was snowing fairly hard but it wasn't too cold out and the night was beautiful. I realized as I was walking that I was wearing 6 hand-knit items... Really! My socks, cardigan, hat, mittens, shawl, and scarf were all hand knit by me. Logan was wearing a scarf from me as well.... Wow, a lot of hand knit stuff. When I finally came in from the cold I looked like this:

Haha, icicle eyebrows are funny.

Sand and Stones

Irina got her Christmas gift early:

They are fingerless mitts of my own design and I've been making them for a few people on my Christmas list. These particular ones were knit in Noro and I love how the colors worked up. It reminds me of sand and stones.

Are you still trying to finish (or start) making any last-minute gifts?

I know I am.

Bulky Beanie

Have you started making holiday gifts yet?

I'm working on it.

Sort of.

Slowly.

But I think this new hat pattern is really going to speed things up for me.

I designed this hat as a pattern that can be knit in a day or two and then given away. It looks good on women and men and even older kids and the hat can be thrown in the washing machine so there's no chance of your lovely handmade item being ruined in the wash. It's definitely not revolutionary or anything but it's the kind of thing I like; simple and classic. Also, I was able to use yarn that was left over from knitting my Acorn Head which makes me feel like the yarn was free!

It's the kind of thing you could knit a pile of and then decide who to give each one to later. I like to do that. Do you do that?

I think you could wrap up a this hat with some homemade cookies, or a box of tea, or a book and it would make a very sweet gift. Can you tell I'm starting to get excited for the holidays?

Well, anyway, here's the pattern. I hope you like it.

Bulky Beanie

You Will Need:

- Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (The colors I used were Denim and Cilantro, less than half a ball per hat)

- Size 13 Circular Needles or DPNs

- 1 Stitch Marker

- 1 Tapestry Needle or Crochet Hook (to weave in ends)

Cast on 36 sts.

Place stitch marker and join to knit in the round.

Work K2, P1 rib for 6 rows (feel free to use a 1x1 or 2x2 rib if that's what you prefer, I just think the 2x1 rib looks nice and tidy).

*K6, M1* repeat to end of round (42 sts).

Knit stockinette until hat measures 6" from cast-on edge.

*K5, K2tog* repeat to end of round (36 sts).

Knit one round.

*K4, K2tog* repeat to end of round (30 sts).

Knit one round.

*K3, K2tog* repeat to end of round (24 sts).

Knit one round.

*K2, K2tog* repeat to end of round (18 sts).

Knit one round.

*K1, K2tog* repeat to end of round (12 sts).

*K2tog* repeat to end of round (6 sts).

Cut yarn, thread through remaining 6 stitches and pull to close up the hole. Weave in ends and you're ready to do some gift giving!

p.s. If you like the sample hats I knit, they are both for sale at Treehouse.

New Pattern Soon

Hi. I've got a lot of projects going right now. One of them is a pair of mitts. I wrote up this pattern last winter and now I'm test knitting it in hopes to have a new (free) pattern for you within the next few days. I'll also have a new pair of pretty green Malabrigo mitts for myself so it's a win-win situation...

Brambles and Shakti

Hi,

I knit most of my Brambles Beret. Then I took this photo:

Later that day I finished the hat but I'm holding off taking any more photos of this thing until it's blocked. Blocking might happen tomorrow but I'm not sure... I really enjoyed knitting this hat and it went really fast. Each row of the chart was different enough to keep it interesting but not so different to make it annoyingly difficult. I'll definitely be knitting another one soon and I really recommend this pattern.

I cast on for a Shakti hat this morning. I'll give you an update on that later. For now I'm just home from the bar and off to bed!

Casting on Brambles

I cast on for a Brambles Beret from the latest issue of Knitty today. I'm using some vintage wool yarn that Michelle gave me. The color is such a pretty dusty gold, it reminds me of curry.

I'm excited to knit this hat because I usually just knit my from my own Simple Slouchy Beret pattern (I've probably knit about 15). That pattern is just so easy and mindless and I really like the plain design of it (it is my own pattern after all).

I think Brambles is going to be a really great pattern to knit, it has some cables and texture but not too much craziness. A ton of people have already knit this hat and they all look really cute.

What's your favorite pattern from the new Knitty? Did you make anything today?

Visiting Mochimochi Land

I went to the opening of the Greetings from Mochimochi show at Gallery Hanahou (as I said I would) on Thursday and it was really great. I have just a few photos to share:

There were fat little unicorns prancing up onto a rainbow and getting eaten by big purple guys, and ghosts in a graveyard, a rat-infested city, and a god with an Elvis-stule pompadour sitting on a cloud. There was also a train with a knit cover that would randomly begin whizzing around the track and which made me slightly (and perhaps unreasonably) giddy every time it started up again.

I made a super short video if you'd like to see the train in action.

It has been estimated that everything in the show took 200 balls of yarn and over a million stitches to complete. I think those numbers almost put the enormous amount of work in perspective (but just almost). I strongly suggest that you see this show if you can. It will be on display until October 29. More info is here.

Greetings from Mochimochi!

What are you doing tomorrow evening?

If you're in the New York area you should be going to the Greetings from Mochimochi show at Gallery Hanahou.

Here's how the show is described on Gallery Hanahou's website:

"In her first solo show, craft artist Anna Hrachovec stretches the possibilities of knitting as a medium to create an expansive and wacky landscape installation. Crash-landed aliens, rat-infested skyscrapers, giant ants, and everything else that comprises the 8-foot installation is entirely hand-knitted by the artist, who used 200 balls of yarn and more than a million stitches to make it all come to life. And just for fun, the piece includes a working model train – converted into a silly knitted monster, of course!"

Fun stuff! You can find our more about Anna Hrachovec at Mochimochiland.com where she also maintains a great blog. The opening party is tomorrow from 7-9 pm and I've really been looking forward to it. Openings at Hanahou are always really casual and fun and there's usually a very nice amount of champagne...

Hope to see you there!

Knitting and Teaching

Hi. How are you? I'm fine. It got colder here... Finally. It's even cold enough for me to wear my sweater. I'm starting to like this sweater more the more I wear it. I'm still not totally in love with the fit and design but it does do a good job of keeping me warm.

I'm also knitting a new cardigan. It feels like it's going so so slowly. Right now it's sort of a weird vest. I've started on one of the sleeves but i'm changing the design from a short sleeve cardigan to a long sleeve one, and that makes it even more slow going as I figure out what I want to do. I'm really happy with the yarn I'm using. It's 100% wool from Australia and it's soft but it also feels quite strong. It's also a very nice color. This photo doesn't really show the color well, it's really a pretty goldy-tan color and I like it a whole lot.

And lastly, I will be teaching a Beginning Knitting class this Sunday the 10th! It will be held at Treehouse Brooklyn and it's going to be a lot of fun! I will teach everyone how to knit using chunky knitting needles and we will be making beer coozies that kind of look like beer can sweaters (but not with sleeves or anything cheesy like that). I feel like they are the perfect thing for autumn barbecues and chilly bonfire parties to keep your beers from making your hands cold. Totally appropriate for the season and also perfect for gifts!

I hope you'll take this class with me or consider taking the other rad Treehouse classes coming up this month!

Please click HERE for more info!

Tell your Brooklyn buddies!

Still here. Still knitting.

Hi!

So I know I've been slightly absent lately... But I've been knitting a ton. It's really true. I've been working on gifts and a new cardigan. Here's proof (in case you're skeptical):

This is me knitting at in the backyard of a bar in Williamsburg. And I have some other things to tell you about too. But I'll share more tomorrow. Remember when I mentioned taking a beer brewing class? Well I did indeed brew beer and tonight was the night for bottling said beer.... All 48 bottles of it... And I'm really happy about it but also exhausted.

Spinning Experiment

I got a package the other day. It was some wool I bought from Skeinwinder 123 on Etsy. It is so nice and pretty.

This one is BFL in a colorway called Rainbow Soup.

And this one is merino in the colorway Midnight Zephyr (I like these names).

My original plan when I bought them was to simply spin the two together into a 2-ply. Probably sock weight or worsted weight. But when I laid the two big braids or wool next to each other I was starting to have doubts about whether I'd like the result.

Time to spin and swatch...

It was super overcast when I took these photos so the colors are weird but you can at least get an idea...

The 1st swatch (on the left) is a single of each wool spun in to a 2-ply yarn. It's okay but I don't love it.

The middle swatch is a 2-ply made with one strand of the Rainbow Soup BFL and one strand of wool in a Lemon-Lime color. This one looked really cool as yarn but when I knit it up I really didn't like the resulting fabric. Too much contrast.

And lastly, the swatch on the right, one strand of the Rainbow BFL Navajo-plied (making it a 3-ply yarn). This one was the winner! This method involves spinning one extra thin yarn and then sort of hand crocheting it. It takes quite a bit longer that a normal 2-ply, which explains why this swatch is so much smaller, but the result is that you get to see more crisp color transitions.

So I spun and spun and spun and I'm not done yet but here's a taste of the prettiness.

See how certain colors really pop? Like the yellow and red? That's why navajo-plying is so neat. You really get to see those colors.

I think this yarn might end up as a pair of mittens. And I'll think of something to do with that big lump of merino later.

Do you spin yarn? Do you like reading about the process I use to decide what I make? Let me know what you think!