Fast, warm, and {amazing} hats!

Just when my Christmas elving was hitting high gear, Calder made a request for a new winter hat. A request for anything knit can never be denied, especially when it's something as fast as a hat, and especially when he's still wearing a hat that I knit for him seven years ago (7 years without misplacing it, wow!).

The hard part about knitting for Calder is that he's slightly very picky when it comes to color, fit, level of "itchiness" etc. So really, it's amazing that I was able to knit him a hat that met all of his requirements for seven years. Can I do it again?

When it came to color, he asked for something that was "mostly grey with pops of pink and green", but then he also mentioned that there could be other colors too. He has also complimented the colors in Alex's circle blanket numerous times.

So the yarn choice was obvious, I went directly to Lion Brand's Amazing yarn. Usually I don't love yarns with an acrylic base, but I love this yarn. The color combinations and variations from one ball to the next make it a lot of fun. It's a frustrating love, because I only use the yarn once in a while, and when I'm not using it, my fingers are crossed that they don't discontinue it!

The one problem I had when thinking about this hat was that I wanted there to be some consistency throughout the hat, and the balls that change color really jump around {which I also wanted to give me the "pops" of color for pops}. Sooooo my bright idea was to pick out two skeins : one that was "mostly grey" and then pair that with one of skeins with brighter colors. Long story long, I went with Olympia for the greys and Arcadia for the colors. Knitting the hat with both yarns held together produces the hat you see in the first picture.

Here's the basic pattern on size US10 needles with the amazing yarn held double:
~ cast on 72 stitches using either the magic loop or double pointed needles
~ knit 2 purl 2 for seven rounds
~ knit straight for 36 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 1 knit 2 together all the way around (48 stitches remain)
~ knit 2 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 1 knit 2 together all the way around (32 stitches remain)
~ knit 2 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 2 together all the way around (16 stitches remain)
~ decrease round : knit 2 together all the way around (8 stitches remain)

~ cut your yarn, thread it through the remaining stitches, pull it tight and close up your hat!

I was surprised at how much the Olympia skein toned down the colors in Arcadia. Honestly, I think C would have liked it a little brighter, but I like the muted look.

Since that first hat was so easy and the results such a fun surprise, I picked up two more skeins another  Arcadia and a Rainforest. Notice how different this Arcadia {on the left} is from the one above.

I think there's time for one more hat, but then it's back to the elving… I'll just stock up on amazing combinations in case we need a last minute gift :-).

Well Tested

Remember back in August when I showed you a new sweater and mentioned something about the shoes that inspired it? Well Cash and I went for a walk in the woods yesterday and finally took some pictures.

I wanted to link to the post about our honeymini-moon, but looking back through the archives, I realized there was no post and there were only a handful of photos! Obviously we had a lot of fun and didn't write home about it. We have dreams of a big vacation chasing cyclists around France, but last year decided that we would keep it simple and drive to the Finger Lakes region of New York and do some camping. It was a fun few days of seeing waterfalls, talking to locals about secret swimming holes, stocking up on delicious foods at the farmers' markets, and picking up lunch at Moosewood.
On the last day of our trip I had one more mission ~ to stop by the Aurora Shoe Company and pick up a pair of the shoes that I was coveting ever since I shared them with you in this post two years ago! If you haven't watched the video that talks about the company and shows you how the shoes are made, click here to check it out.

I wanted a pair for the longest time, but was in love with the idea of going right to the source. The day we visited the factory, activity was relatively low. David, the owner, greeted us and fit me for a pair of shoes while another worker was cutting leather for future shoes. I bought one pair of the Middle English style in burgundy. They felt slightly tight when I first put them on, but it was nice having an expert help with the fitting, but David assured me that they would stretch and mold to my feet as I wore them. It's been almost a year, and my pair fits like a glove.





As soon as I bought them, I started thinking about how good they would look paired with jeans and woolly sweaters, and that's how the shoe-inspired sweater project began. As I said in my post on the sweater, the shoes immediately had me thinking about "cool fall days, apple picking, and another wine tour in the Finger Lakes region". One not-so-secret secret of going directly to the factory is that the shoes are about half the price of what they are sold for online or in other retailers. So who's in for a visit to the Finger Lakes? After testing out my first pair for a year, I'm ready for more. We can stock up on wine and shoes, and then go back again next fall for the apples and more wine and shoes.

Version B

I worked out a worsted bean version of the star-topped hat. And look ~ this one matches my sweater. This year's fall uniform is complete!
It's been a lot of fun knitting up these hats... it's a busy week, so the pattern's on the back burner, but I've already started to think about star-topped mittens, and baby sweaters!

GO GO Gadget Gloves!

Once winter struck, I experienced the downfall of the iPhone. iPhones, like many other smart phones, have capacitive touchscreens, which require the flow of electrons between your finger and the screen to function. Unfortunately, this requires taking off your gloves to use the phone. The solution is to connect the circuit between your finger and the glove.

There is a commercial option, and I originally thought of this project when looking for Christmas gifts for C. Spending the week in Germany, I realized just how much he uses his phone, and just how cold it was there. My original plan was to buy him some conductive gloves, but once I saw how un-exciting, un-cool, un-fashionable the options were (here are some examples), I realized that this wasn't the gift for C.

A much better gift would be to modify a pair of gloves that Calder already owns and loves! In this post I'm modifying a pair of my mittens (which I love and now will never have to take off). The modification is simple ~ use conductive sewing thread to make a connection between the iPhone screen and your finger. But I can offer a few tips to ensure even better success:
1. Put the glove on and "use" your phone. Mark the points where your thumb touches the screen; this is where you'll want to make your stitches.
2. Make a number of overlapping stitches at marked point.
3. Make sure that your stitches are clearly exposed to both your thumb on the inside of your glove and the screen on the outside ~ you want those electrons flowing!
4. I left a few inches of the tails of the thread inside my glove to provide additional surface area between my thumb and the thread.
5. Put them on and enjoy the magic!

A great review of conductive threads can be found here. This site offers a variety of conductive fabrics and threads in small, quantities. I ended up purchasing a variety pack of threads from this site, but now that I re-visit the site, I'm surprised that I ordered from them because there's so little information on their site. Either I'm looking in the wrong place now or I placed my order on faith and a whole stocking of pre-Christmas goodwill.

A few more things : this is soooo super easy to do with knit gloves, because you can sew in the spaces between the knit stitches rather than having to make holes in your gloves. That said, I want to branch out and modify some of our other gloves, particularly the leather and ski gloves. I'll let you know how it goes!

GO GO Gadget Gloves!

Old is New

My prize purchase of the day!::

After breakfast and reading the early edition Sunday paper (we can't wait until tomorrow to get the real Sunday paper!), C and I went out this morning to do some quick furniture shopping.

We found a couple of amazing things ~ he's going to purchase a Japanese bed for his room. These usually come with woven mats where the mattress would be, but we can order it without the mats and he'll have a sleek, beautiful bed frame. We stopped by Ikea to look at a few things, but all we left with were a couple of hot dogs and some jars of pickled herring! On our way home from Ikea we saw a sign for an estate sale and we decided to check it out. We walked away with three old and beautiful oak chairs for his kitchen table and I bought the old table pictured above. The base is cast iron from an old foot powered sewing machine and the top is a piece of marble. I'm so excited about this table and wish I could take it back to Boston with me!! Unfortunately, I think it's going to have to spend the year in Berkeley while I scheme up ways to move it east. Now... all I need is an old card catalog and my furniture dreams will be complete*

Ooh ~ and I added ears to the lamb washcloth!**Note ~ if anyone would like the pattern details for the lamb washcloth, I'd be happy to post them!

Surprises, Excuses, and Welcomes!

Wow, with a title like that, this blog is almost as dramatic as some of the others out there, poke, poke.

First the welcomes - I noticed an increase in blog activity over the past couple weeks and I wanted to say hi! I'm a fond browser of all crafty blogs and am always looking for something new, so if any of you have blogs send me a comment and I'll visit! I humbly understand if you haven't found my crafting to be crafty enough to deserve their own comments;-).
Excuses* - there are none! BUT I was reading through some of my own posts and started to frown at my use of punctuation. Someone might read my posts and think that I don't know the difference between a sentence and a fragment of smushed together words without a verb. I do understand the difference, but sometimes it's fun to use punctuation to express the words and pauses the way they would come out of my mouth. So, I may never not apologize for this again (catch the double negative?), but I'm counting this post as my get out of jail free card.

On the other hand, I take full responsibility for every spelling mistake.
Finally, I am busy with the crafts. I'm working on my most creative piece yet. Hammering(knitting) along, piece by piece, and without any patterns. As a result, I don't want to tell you what it is before it's complete. Instead, I'll show you pictures along the way (such as the one in this post)and let your mind wonder. The pictures throughout this post are all components of the project.

*Edit - I will ask you to excuse the picture quality. Foggy Boston in spring.

What's going on?

Let's see, what's gone on in the week since my last post?

I finished a knitted item:

What? You can't tell what it is? Well that's one of my surprises! Finished way ahead of time and now there are other projects to start.

Socks for my pop.

The Sunshine sweater by Auntie Amanda! She was the winner of the craftster knitting contest - woohoo! Now, I just have to decide what color sweater I want?!?!

I also visited the Boston Museum of Science today. I had a great time and it was nice to spend a few hours not thinking about research or homework.

And now - what's on the schedule for this week?
-a haircut!
-placing a Knit Picks order
-and research...

Big Thaw

I'm knitting, but I can't blog about it. Knitting surprises doesn't provide for much material. I could talk about the weather. The 40 degree, ice-thawing weather that we're having in Boston! Though, it (both my post and the weather) may not last long and I need a nice hat to go with my new scarf, so I just put something on the needles. Who knows, maybe I started it just so I'd have something to post.


Let's not forget, this is my third hat of the winter. The first two are ok, but they aren't great, super-warm and cozy hats for the blustery days we had the past couple of weeks. Plus, they don't quite match the scarf.

Watching the ice melt as I wait for the train.

Best Kept Secrets

The internet constantly amazes me. As we all know, there is just so much information out there, and it is truly a skill to conduct a quality search for information. I haven't checked lately, but I really hope that kids are learning how to conduct successful searches. This can replace lessons on using the card catalogs in the library.** It's both frustrating and rewarding to do weeks of research and just when you're at your wits' end you find the golden nugget!


For me, one of those great finds is Knit Picks Yarn Sellers. This website sells quality yarns at unbelievable prices!
Seriously. Superwash sock yarn for $3.50 a skein (230 yards!), 100% Merino DK weight for `2.75, 100% Merino sport weight for $1.99. Yes - $1.99. I still can't get over my amazement. I placed my first order two weeks ago and am still giddy about the amount of yarn I received for $20. Bonus - if you place an order over $45 you receive free shipping. Can it get any better?!

Oh yes, and here's what I've accomplished with my new purchase:

A food secret: Vanilla Icecream and Almond Butter are a match made in heaven. Try it.

**I LOVE card catalogs. All of the little drawers. I dream of having one and filling it with fun stuff. There has to be a card catalog looking for a home.

Surprise Projects

I have two surprises in the works. Since I want them to stay that way, I can't blog about them and it may drive me crazy! Particularly since I've only worked on the surprises for the past couple of days. So without them, I have little to say. I may just give you a peak of one and let your imaginations run wild!

Relaxing Weekend in the Snow!

I went to New Hampshire for the weekend with some friends. It was great to be away in the cold and snow. They did the skiing and I did some knitting!

I used my purple alpaca yarn from christmas to knit the small version of the Counterpane Carpet Bag from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I finished both sides of the bag over the weekend, I just have to block them and put it together! I want to pick a jazzy printed fabric for the lining.

For how intricate the scallops look, this is a fairly easy pattern. I would recommend using stitch markers because it can be difficult to keep track of the repeats without counting and recounting what you've done.

I've ooh and ahhed over this book for about a year before I finally bought it. The book is full of fun and interesting projects. I see myself knitting many of them in the future. The beautiful photography in the book may be the cause of this need to knit. For example, "If I knit the afghan on page 94, will I be standing in a beautiful barn all nice and cozy? or If I knit the thigh high socks on page 85 will my calves look that skinny?". I doubt it, but I will keep dreaming as I turn the pages.

Between knitting, I took a beautiful and chilly walk to this frozen site:

Quality Handmade Gifts are the BEST!

Last night I exchanged gifts with my craftiest of crafty friends Nikki. I was blown away by the gift she gave me, and my pictures don't do it justice!



The full gift included: a large tote bag (with many pockets!), a smaller bag for stitch markers and other gadgets, a knitting needle case, two balls of green wool, and a big bag of buttons. I already have a project in mind for the yarn, it involves felting and a brand new pattern that exists only in my mind. I'm so excited about my growing button collection. While I want to keep my supply of craft materials to a minimum (until I have my own house with a craft room!), I've needed a lot of buttons lately and have wished that I had some on hand. Now I do!

I can't post a picture the needle case justice until I fill it with my needles, so that picture will come in a few days.

Needless to say, I think she put my gifts to shame! Look for her kicka$$ line of totes in a shop near you.

I'm almost done with my own pair of falling leaf socks, so until they are completed I leave you with this silhouette of the socks:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Do you understand my wish for a merry Christmas?

My vaca to Colorado was great - full of wonderful people, food, and weather! The whole visit was a lot of fun! I look like a giant on skis:


While out there, I received many gifts of great yarn to add to my stash:
-Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the Martha's Vineyard Colorway- already being knit into a pair of falling leaf socks for myself.
-Blue Skies Alpalca - in purple, green, and tan. I'd like to turn this into a soft, wintry hat. Possibly Brooklyntweed's Red Light Special.
-Light and dark purple new wool - I'm still thinking of a project for these.

I also bought a beautiful knitting book that is full of pictures of both knitted swatches and nature shots, called The Art of Knitting.

Finally - one of my goals for 2007 - KNIT A SWEATER! I'm going to place an order for knit picks yarn as soon as I get back to Boston.

ps. Today is Russian Christmas, although with no snow on the east coast, it sure doesn't feel like it!

Excited Anticipation!

I have so much grading to do tonight that knitting is not in the picture, but that's ok because --- Tomorrow is knitting night at my place and I'm going to do a little "sock workshop" for everyone! No one knows how to knit socks and they are all excited to learn, so I'm going to help everyone make one of the mini socks pictured in previous posts. I think it'll be a great way to show everyone the basics of toe-up sock knitting and in the process they'll make a cute ornament!

While I'm at school tomorrow I might try to put together a sock worksheet!

It's so much fun having a group of poeple to knit with, particularly since everyone is working on different projects!

And a picture of sheep:


Good night!

oh and I've been thinking - I'm hoping that in my knitting future will be a larger garmet - possibly Knit and Tonic's Somewhat Cowl, or the Enid Cardigan from Interweave Knits Winter 06 mag... we will see!

TO DO...and do and do and do

I have a busy week coming up... After I made my to-do list, I realized there may not be much time for knitting. But I shouldn't complain since the week is going to end with a flight to Manchester, UK!

My goal is to finish these by the end of the week:



Excuse the white fuzzies. I took the picture outside and didn't think about sweeping the porch first. These are just basic toe-up socks with wide ribbing and a cable in the middle. Made from Pattons wool on 3.5 mm Addies (sp?). I just have to finish the 2x2 ribbed cuff and then I can wrap them for a Christmas present! I'm really excited to give these as a gift. They are super stretchy, so I have no worries about them fitting anyone who may receive them. They're also super warm and cozy! The only bummer is that they aren't superwash... but I have plenty of superwash ready to take on my trip. I love knitting socks while traveling because they are so portable and with circulars, there's no DPNs to lose!

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

I'm SOOOO excited! The emails just came out for the Knitty 2007 calendar contest, and I'M IN! I can't share my winning picture yet, so you'll have to be patient, but the wait is worth it! I will tease you by saying that the picture would be a pefect shot for my birthday month... yay! yay! yay! If you know me, there's a good chance that you'll receive a Knitty Calendar for Christmas!

Since I can't share the winning shot, I will share this:



Peas and carrots sock yarn from Yarnmonster. I took this pic before i wove in the ends. This was my first ever toe-up sock with a short-row heel using the magic loop method. I love the magic loop, toe-up, and short-row heels....

yay! for socks, YAY! for knitting calendars!

Clapotis!

schu.clapotis9
Originally uploaded by Pairaschut.

I really enjoyed making this pattern, and it was the perfect wrap for a day of sailing.