A Boyfriend's Hat

Hi everyone!

Lessee, since my last post I have actually gotten some knitting done! I finished my green beret/slouchy hat, and I love it. I was unsure if I could pull off the slouchy style, but it seems like I can. With great gusto. I like it because it keeps my hair in check (the wind whips it around something fierce) and my head warm. I didn't expect it to be a particularly warm hat, but it is! My guess is that the extra space in the hat traps heat from my head and makes a little warm pocket. Whatever the case, I hope that the slouchy hat trend is here to stay for a while. It's flattering, warm, and exceedingly fun to knit and block.

And a silly one. I was playing around with photoshop (Paint.net, actually) and this happened:

Pattern: Meret by Woolly Wormhead.
Gauge: About 5 spi
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Superwash, colorway 21
Needle size: 7
Notes: Cast on the large size to compensate for tighter gauge. The ribbing could have been tighter, so I'd probably use a smaller needle for it next time. For the slouchy part, followed the instructions for the medium size with one extra repeat for slouch, not two extra repeats for extra slouch. Fantastic pattern, I loved it.

I also started and finished a hat for the ever-knitworthy Boyfriend. Actually, while we're on the subject, quick aside to say that on the 3rd, we celebrated two years together! We didn't do anything because we're both  dead tired and swamped with work during the week more often than not. That and broke. So, anyway, bless him for gracefully handling my transition from normal person to crazy knitting lady. He deserves all the handknit hats in the world! (Not a sweater, because we know how that always ends.) More after the jump:

Procrastination Station

I don't want to do my work at the moment. It's the last day of Thanksgiving break and I am not looking forward to going back and doing that extremely stressful school thing. I have homework, but let us focus on more pleasant things.

Like yarn. Guess whose uncle took her to Loop yesterday? This lady, right here. He said that it was a "special birthday" and told me to go wild. Now, I find that sort of impossible to do (because if we're being honest here, I do have a bit of a guilt issue with spending lots of money, especially if it is other people's), but I think I got a good haul. Let's check it out!

Item #1: 4 skeins of Berrocco Vintage, which is 50% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 10% Nylon. It's destined to become my first knitted garment (that is, not a hat, scarf, or socks). I was thinking about doing St. James, which is the garment pictured on the right (photo from the project page on Ravelry, copyright belongs to Raveller thshizknit). I like the idea of this shirt because it's got good waist shaping, and if I don't have waist shaping I look like a giant blob in between my boobs and my hips. Trying to clothes shop can be a nightmare, because things have to have room for my rack and also be small enough to fit. I am not a tiny human, but small enough that finding clothing in the Women's section is a trial. And of course, junior's doesn't have ample boob n' hip room. Besides being bespangled with sparkly shit. No, I don't want pants that say "Princess" on the ass in rhinestones. Thanks. Well, to recover from my tangent, I'm not sure if I'd do the tie, although it is cute. I'm just not sure if it's me. One option might be to do it after the shirt is done and keep it detachable.

Second up is a skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton:

My dear uncle who took me liked it and so asked me to get a skein to knit him a hat. I prefer to knit in wool, but uncle is vegan and eschews animal products when possible. He also liked that it's an organic cotton. He wasn't feeling acrylic, so this is it. It's really soft, though.

Next, we have two skeins of Ella Rae Classic Superwash:

The one here is tan, and not so yellowy as the photo makes it seem. It's for a colorwork portion of a hat I intend to knit for Boyfriend. The color was his choice. He wanted a tan color for some reason or another.


The other is a bright teal that Little Brother picked out. Yes, his color taste is not the most sophisticated (if you'll remember, he's the same one who wanted the orange hat with red snowflakes. I couldn't get him to agree to at least try and match this color to that monstrosity.) but hey, I like the color in a vaccuum, even if it is a bit "minty fresh." He wants gloves. The yarn is good for this because it's superwash and no 16 year old boy wants to handwash his gloves. The yarn is ok, although it's a tad rough on my tensioning finger. It's the same stuff I'm knitting my Meret in right now.

Next up is a skein of Madeline Tosh tosh worsted. It's a bit spendy, but the color! I die!

Now you look at that and tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing. The colorway is "Nikko Blue" aka "Freaking Gorgeous Blue." I'm thinking a cowl, hat, or something else worn close to the face. That blue will not be ignored.

Next (why yes, there is even more!) is three skeins of Malabrigo. I wanted one or two going in, but threw on a third on a whim.

 

The colors got a little wonked out between shopping this up and uploading it, but it's a decent approximation. From left to right we have Azul Bolita, Burgundy, and Orchid. Burgundy is for Boyfriend's hat (along with the tan from earlier), while Azul Bolita and Orchid are ALL MINE! MWAHAHAHA.

Or not. I mean, they are for me, but I don't know if you could do many nefarious things with Malabrigo. I'm thinking another hat for the Azul, maybe mixed in with some Orchid. Can you guess which one was thrown in on a whim? If you guessed Orchid, you'd be correct. It's so pretty.

I also got a set of size seven DPNs (Crystal Palace, bamboo), a 26 inch size eight circ (also Crystal Palace, also bamboo) and a 26 inch size 10.5 circ (ditto). I got a 9 inch Hiya Hiya size zero, too, for shits and giggles. I thought this might be the time to try it out. And that's a lot of bamboo, but it was that or plastic, if I didn't want to spend a billion dollars on needles. The rest are rosewood and Addis (which, speaking frankly, I think are a rip-off. No way are they worth that much. It's ridiculous), which are not what I want. I successfully resisted some gorgeous Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted. It was is the Winona colorway, and it looked like a sunrise. I also resisted Mal Sock, because I don't even like knitting socks that much. It was beautiful, but impractical. I have plenty of sock yarn for the time being. So it was a good day.

I'll leave you with a bonus photo of the Kypria that Lina from photo.knit.dog sent me:

Bad Blogger, Bad!

Sorry... no one. Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis. All three of you.

School's been hectic and most of my knitting has been sort of put by the wayside. I started a pair of gloves (Knotty Gloves), but I had to rip back. It was my first time reading a cable chart and I buggered it up big time. So I have to rip back about 5-6 rows to the ribbing. It always takes me forever to put something I've ripped back on the needles, though. It's so tedious. Boring, boring, boring.

My main project at the moment is one that I just cast off yesterday: another cowl for me. The first time I just cast off the normal way, and it was too tight to fit over a human head. Well, I could get it on, but let's just say you haven't felt forehead pain until you've tried to shimmy a too-small cowl off of your head. Ouch. Or more appropriately, a quiet ow ow ow ow, trying not to alert anyone to your dumbassery. So, I undid it (teeeeeedious, so tedious) and re-bound off with Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. That worked fairly well, although I do need to block. Oh, and the pattern and the yarn and zee photos, of course! Please excuse the horrible quality, Myspace-y look, and end hanging out (klassy):

I know that I take an awful photo, no need to remind me.  And that I look like some sort of misguided yarn gangsta on the right. But a friend of mine said it showed the knitting better, so you all get to see my mug not once, but twice. Take it in, because I am usually fairly reticent to post my photo online. I don't photograph well, no matter how nice I may look in real life. Also, by the time I get home, it's dark, so I'm working by myself by the light of one dim lamp. A sad portrait of our stalwart blogger, huh?

The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Stone Blue (photo left is a better representation of the color) and the pattern is Crofter's Cowl by Gudrun Johnston. It is available on her blog, here: http://shetlandtrader.blogspot.com/. Look in the right column, you'll find it. The pattern is originally supposed to be done in two parts and grafted together to create a mirror image. Always the lazy knitter, I just did five or six repeats and called it a day. The lace pattern ended up moving around for no reason a few times. I think I missed yo's or did a single decrease instead of a double or something. It's certainly not the pattern's fault. But I wore it today (miserable weather here in Philly, just awful. Rain and wind and cold and sadness) and it was so warm and soft that I forgive it any mistakes. My neck was thanking me the whole day.

My other main project is for a Secret Santa, so I can't post about it here. Shh!

And contests. There is one for one of eight skeins of yarn over at Photo. Knit. Dog. Last day to enter is today, so hurry up!  Knittin Brit in WI is having a very generous giveaway as well. I won't ruin the surprise for you. Last day is Saturday for that one. Darcy's Knotty Knitter is having a Sari Silk giveaway, which expires tomorrow at midnight. As always, thanks for your generosity, giveaway people! It is always much apreciated.

Hats! Hats! Hats!

Hello everybody! (Hello Dr. Nick!) How is everyone lately?

I have finished my hat trio. Mom decided she didn't want one after all (and good bloody riddance, I say; she's always finding some snide comment or other to make), so the Norwegian Star Hat odyssey is complete. The pattern is very, very well written and easy as cake to follow. I have two gripes about it, though. One, it is too big. Too deep, I mean. I had to mod the decreases on each of the three hats, and if I hadn't, they'd all be covering our noses. Second, I prefer it when sizing is done by different stitch counts as opposed to gauge. I have one, count it, one 16 inch circ, so I couldn't exactly go to my needle closet and hand select the one that would give me *angelic choir* Perfect Gauge. But that's a personal thing, not the designer's fault at all. But the pattern is fabulous, mostly, and I would suggest it to anyone who wants to learn colorwork or just wants a nice hat. Hell, the fact that it appealed not only to me, a 19 year old woman, but also to my 17 and 16 year old little brothers (a hard crowd to please, am I right?) says something about the design. I'm very pleased with the finished products I got, although the colors that Kevin and Chris chose are not really to my... taste. *ahem ahem* Well, I think I'll wrap this little trio up with some photos and facts.

Hat #1:

Recipient: Me
Recipient's Head Size: 21.5 inches around
Gauge: 5.5 spi
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted (purple) and Universal Deluxe Yarn Worsted Tones (blue)
Needle Size: 7 (4.5 mm)
Comments: Fits well, modded the top decreases as detailed in an earlier post.

Hat #2:

Recipient: Kevin
Recipient's Head Size: 22.5 inches around
Gauge: 6 spi
Yarn: Universal Deluxe Yarn Worsted Tones (blue), Bare Sheep Yarn Company Abby (green&blue) and Caron Dazzle Sport (pink)
Needle Size: 7 (4.5 mm)
Comments: Added a repeat to make up for tighter gauge/room for Frampton-esque hair. Turned out too big but recipient liked it. That flippy brim bit is his doing; probably did it during blocking. Top decreases modded in the same way as Hat #1.

Hat #3:

Recipient: Christopher
Recipient's Head Size: 21.75 inches around
Gauge: 5 spi
Yarn:Sheep Shop Yarn Company Sheep 1 Yarn (orange) and Lion Brand Wool-Ease (red)
Needle Size: 7 (4.5 mm)
Comments: A little too big, but he prefers it that way. The Sheep Shop yarn is an aran, and there was just a little too much difference in weight between it and the Wool-Ease for me to be entirely comfortable. Also, put too many rows before the start of the colorwork. Should have done less like in the other two. To compensate, decreased faster.

Overall, I am thrilled with how the hats came out and I'm really glad I did them. The one ply yarns (Mal and Sheep Shop) worked better, I think, than the plied one, but that could be just personal preference. I'd recommend the pattern to anyone looking to try colorwork and is already familiar with circular knitting and making hats. And I know, the little brothers; hide your daughters, right? They've turned into handsome young men while I wasn't looking. I want to get a picture of them together in their matching hats one of these days.

Next on the docket is glommits for the Boyfriend, he of the long, thin hands. I'm hoping to get gauge with the one set of non-sock DPNs I have, because there's no way I could Magic Loop a whole project. So fiddly. Then, I have to find something to do with the other half skein of Malabrigo I have. I understand that it pills like a sonofabitch when knit into gloves/mittens, so I'm thinking a short cowl or neckwarmer, if I could eke it out of a half a skein.

Otherwise, I've been watching Heroes, Season one, which is fantastic. I don't plan on watching the other seasons, though, because my understanding it that the show went entirely downhill. I don't think even the utter hotness of Zach Quinto could save me.

That's panty-melting good, even when he's being evil and is covered in blood. Gay? Not in my world. Nuh uh, not. at. all. Of course, this is the Quinto I fell in love with, much to the dismay and creeped out-ed ness of Boyfriend, the lifelong Trekkie:

...*slumps in a dead faint*

Ahem, so where were we? Right, Heroes. First Season: Awesome.

Of course, I do realize that I should be talking about books, considering that it's in the name of the blog, but I didn't realize that knitting would preclude reading, so, that's that. It's my blog and I'll talk about what I want. Nyah!

Okay, I'm done talking about what I want. At least for today.

Finished! And New Yarn!

HI. I'm a little jazzed today because there are some good things going on in my knitterly world.

First, I finished my hat! And I absolutely adore it. I've made a lot of things (relatively; 25ish projects in less than a year of knitting) and I don't think I've loved anything quite as much as I love this hat. It's something I will actually wear, and it doesn't look especially homemade, at least I don't think. There's a picture on the right. Sorry about the longness, but I wanted to get the super-awesome tassels in, too. And yeah, there's an un-weaved in end there, but that's been remedied by now. I would get a modelled shot, but the model would have to be camera-shy me. Plus I have a giant zit right now, so it was more work than it was worth. Maybe someday. So, I learned a few things in the course of this project. First, and most obviously, colorwork. Up until this project, I had never done any, not even stripes. So I dived into the pool all at once, so to say. And I am so damn glad I did, because it was fun. Second would be English knitting. I did the two handed method, and my right hand was noticeably better by the end of the chart. Which brings us to: chart reading. This was my first project with a chart. It was a lot easier than the other charts I've seen, mostly because it was colors, I think. There were no weird symbols involved, no slanty lines. I've never been a visual learner, really. I also made tassels for the first time. They aren't perfect, but they're nice enough. It took two times to get these, and I think they're good enough. And last, pompoms! I wasn't sure if I wanted to put one on top (thought it might be too cutesy) but the top was wonky and it would cover the hole that you always get. Plus, a friend of mine said, quote, "That hat is screaming for a pompom." So I decided to stick it on there. I didn't do it the "right" way because I am too lazy to cut out cardboard circles. I wrapped the yarn around 3 fingers and did it that way. Simple. I modded the top decreases: Did two rows of decreases in a row, then a knit row, and on until I hit 28 stitches. Then I k2tog for two rounds. Simply put:

*k14, k2tog* around
*k13, k2tog* around
Knit
*k12, k2tog* around
*k11, k2tog* around
Knit

And so on, until you have 28 stitches left, and then do two rounds of k2tog.

My little brother, age 17, pronounced that the pompom made the hat sexy and that he would be a sex machine if he had one like it. He offered to buy it off of me (how strange!) and I told him I'd knit him one. Why he didn't just ask I will never know. So yeah, the hat is done, and I adore it. Both little brothers and my mother want one like it now. Usually I'd refuse, but I really liked knitting it, so I will. I also know that they would all walk around exclaiming about how their sister/daughter knitted it and isn't it cool, so I'll do it, surely. Kevin (little brother numero uno, seventeen years, eighteen in February) wants it in garish and clashing colors and a sparkly pink pompom. Silly boy. Chris (little brother numero dos, sixteen years) wants an orange one with black snowflakes. It's going to be Halloween all year, I guess. Mom hasn't decided on a color, so I'll probably just use some half-skeins I have lying around for her.

Okay, so now I've effectively written a damned novel on a hat, we'll move on. Went with the Little Brothers, the Boyfriend and the Uncle to the city yesterday. Uncle Cal and us have a long standing tradition of going to the city or somewhere else and have a little shopping spree. Uncle Cal isn't married, and has no kids, so he likes to spoil us a little sometimes. He is really awesome, both as a uncle and as a person, so we all absolutely adore spending time with him. Anywho, so we were on South Street, as is our wont, and of course I had to stop at a yarn shop. Loop would have been my preference, but it's very out of the way from the main of South Street, and I wasn't about to have everyone trudge down the street for 30-45 minutes in the rain. So we went to Nangellini. Don't get me wrong, I like Nangellini, I just sort of wanted to get a workhorse yarn, and Loop is better at "normal" yarns in solid colors. But I wasn't about to let that stop me. I got three skeins/hanks/thingies of yarn. First was a skein of Frabjous Fibers recycled sari silk. This is not normally the kind of yarn that I would purchase, but Uncle Cal was very intrigued by both the idea and the execution. He really liked the fact that it was spun by a woman's cooperative. Did I mention that he's a bit of a hippie? So, he heartily approved the splurge it was. The color is just beautiful. I can't really capture it with the camera. It's very saturated and just extremely beautiful. The second was a hank of fingering weight merino. It's from Kraemer yarns, in a 450 yard put up. The label just says "Superwash Merino Wool," so I think it's their Lesley yarn, as opposed to Jeannie. The 450 yard put up seems to be unusual, though. It's from their undeyed collection, and I'm looking forward to trying my hand and Kool-Aid dyeing. It's lovely and soft. And last, I picked up some Noro Kureyon. I know it's sort of a yarn du jour, well trodden path, etc. But a lot of times, things are popular for a reason. I know to expect that it's scratchy, but the color is just so lovely. I got colorway 40, "aqua teal." I'm thinking of using it in some colorwork with a solid. It will both look lovely and stretch the one skein farther. It is, in a word, gorgeous. I love the color. Mix it with a white or a black, maybe? It would look lovely against a neutral like that.

Oh, and my Aunt Grace gave me some of her old needles. They're all straight needles, and seem to be 14 inchers. 9 pairs of bamboo, different sizes, and two pair of metal ones. They're certainly more than a few years old but should serve me well.

*ahem* So, as you can see, there's been a lot of knitterly activity here. Or, maybe not a lot of activity, but there's sure as hell a lot of enthusiasm. I've also been listening to Florence + The Machine on repeat since last night, and am enjoying the crap out of it. If you got this far, congradu-freaking-lations, and thanks. I don't think I would read my own verbal diarrhea if I were someone else. Sometimes I just get a little over enthusiastic.

Colorwork: Or, Look What I Did!

Hello, all out there in blog-land!

So, as you can see by today's title, I have tried something new: colorwork! I got tired of the endless yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog of Wisp, so I decided to start something new for the moment. I want a hat with earflaps. I've wanted one for a while, and the fact that they seem to be in style right now (although fuck me if I really know, because I am the least fashionable person around) was a plus. So, I started browsing Rav for patterns, and I kept coming back to the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat. I liked the design, but I wondered if I could really do colorwork. I've never done any sort of it before, not even stripes. After some encouragement by a cotillion of internet buddies, I decided to take the plunge. I went with the two handed method (or, as it could be less eloquently described, double-fisting), and it was my first time really using English method. I found it pretty easy, except I couldn't find a comfortable way to wind the yarn around my finger. Also, my right hand is still sort of idiotic when it comes to these things.

So, the colorwork turned out pretty darn well for a first try, but I can't get the damned thing to fit properly. First the earflaps were more like neckwarmers, so I frogged back and tried again. Still too long, so I frogged back and tried again. And now... it's too short. Looks like a damned toddler's hat. I should have put in a lifeline last time but didn't, so I'm going to have to painstakingly frog yet again. Do you know how difficult it is to A. Keep track of the beginning of the round B. Get all of the stitches back on the needle and C. Orient them all correctly? It's a giant pain in the ass. Giant pain. I'd give up if this weren't my first colorwork, I swear. As it is, I am quite proud of it, so damn it, it . will. be. perfect.

And as for the yarn and pattern. The pattern is pretty much impeccably written, but the hat runs a little deep (which is why I unsuccessfully tried to shorten it). I would definitely recommend it. Clear directions, nice chart, and everything is laid out beautifully. The purple yarn is Malabrigo, worsted, and it is a joy to work with. The stitch definition is fantastic! The blue is Universal Yarn Deluxe Worsted Tones, which is a decent wool. Seems to have a lot of lanolin, but it's nice enough.

Wisp is slumbering right now, but it will be finished! I just needed a break. Also, in blog giveaways recently, Simplified Bee is having a $25 gift card giveaway to one of a few craft stores in order to celebrate 100 posts! Congrats! Audrey's Give Aways is having a giveaway of an Atomic Mushroom painting. Normally, I would not mention a non-yarn giveaway, but Boyfriend is quite the amateur mycologist and this would be great for him, as sort of a jokey gift. And finally, SadieKate is giving away 3 skeins of yarn from 100 Pure Wool. What pretty yarn! As always, I thank the bloggers and their sponsors for their generosity!