I Love this Video

Handmade Portraits: Mabel Pike from Etsy on Vimeo.

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!

Evelyn Roth

I've been thinking about this video a lot since I saw it on the Craftzine blog yesterday. The video suit gives me mild panic attacks.

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.

Easiest Ankle Warmers

Hey guys!

I'm just popping in to share a super quick pattern with you all. It's almost too simple and silly to be called a pattern. it's more of just loose guidelines... But first, a quick story:

Anyway, yesterday I picked up my That Girl cardigan after letting it sit untouched since September. I decided to make it long sleeve, did some calculations, checked my gauge, measured things, wrote things down. I was being a very responsible knitter. I knit the sleeve one way and then decided to go for a different look. I ripped back, recalculated and started again doing special decreases of my own design. But things didn't look quite right. I wondered, "Why does the sleeve look so wide?"

I counted the stitches and discovered that there were 64 stitches on the needles and not the 54 that I wanted. What tripped me up?.... Subtraction.

I had told myself over and over in my head that 76 minus 12 is 54. boo hoo.

So that project is currently hiding in a heap under the bed waiting for a day when I feel more confident in my basic math skills.

But I despite my lack of brain power (I blame the cold) I did want to make something yesterday and feel productive. I picked up a pair of huge size 17 needles and a ball of Lon Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Oatmeal. You may have noticed I use this yarn a lot. I just like it. It's big and affordable and you can put it in the washing machine. Good things.

I started knitting and within 3 episodes of Seinfeld I had these:

Here's how they are made:

Cast on 16 stitches on size 17 needles with a super bulky yarn (or you can hold four strands of worsted weight together).

Knit garter stitch until the piece is 12 inches long.

Bind off.

Sew the cast-on edge to the bind-off edge.

Weave in the ends and you're done! You made something in less than 2 hours!

And I have to say that I did feel a lot better after I finished knitting these. Like, okay, I don't know how to subtract 12 from 76... but at least I can make something to keep my ankles warm.

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.