A hat pattern, not a picture post

Though it does have pictures in it.

(You probably thought I’d forgotten how to write a post that wasn’t Project 365-based, didn’t you?)

Hat, on my hand

Looking at the top. Yay decreases!

This hat as written will fit small newborns, and the seedstitch stripe pops out a bit from the stockinette body, which is where the Baby Halo title comes from. (I am highly original.) I invented this hat for wee Elena (in a day!), and I’m pleased to say that her parents (and grandpa) loved it! Hooray! I’m putting the pattern (such as it is) up here for free. Print as many copies as you like for your own (or a friend’s) use, but please don’t sell it or sell the hats you make using this pattern, or I’ll be forced to put a Swedish curse on you.

This hat is Elena-approved!

Baby Halo Hat
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton (worsted weight) – small bit of Yellow (608) and a little more of Blue (sorry, that skein did not come with a color number!). I don’t have exact weights/yardages, but both required so little yarn, the yarncakes are almost intact.
Needles: 4.0mm / US 6 double pointed needles & 5.0mm / US 8 double pointed needles
Size: To fit a small newborn head. Elena was just under 7 pounds when she was born, and this hat is just a bit smaller than other hats I’ve seen in worsted weight for newborn head sizes.
Make it:
Using 4.0mm/US 6 dpn and Blue, CO 66 sts using the knitted cast on method. Join, being careful not to twist.
Work k2 p2 ribbing for about 1 inch.
Change to 5.0mm/US 8 dpn and work 3 rounds in stockinette stitch.
Change to Yellow [without cutting the Blue yarn — you will carry it up the work by twisting it with the yellow yarn at the beginning of the rounds] and work 1 round in stockinette stitch*. On next round, work k1 p1 (seed stitch) around. Continue working seed stitch around for approximately 2 inches.
Change to Blue and work 3 rounds in stockinette stitch.
Begin decreases:
Decrease Round 1: *Knit 10, k2tog* repeat from * to* around
DecRnd 2: Knit even
DecRnd 3: *K 9, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 4: Knit even
DecRnd 5: *K 8, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 6: Knit even
DecRnd 7: *K 7, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 8: *K 6, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 9: *K 5, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 10: *K 4, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 11: *K 3, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 12: *K 2, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 13: *K 1, k2tog* repeat from * to * around
DecRnd 14: *k2tog* repeat from * to * around
Cut yarn and weave through remaining stitches. Weave in ends and present the hat to happy parents.

A look at the innards

Carrying the blue yarn up while working with the yellow yarn was kind of challenging. Apparently I figured something out by the end of the yellow stage, but I don’t know exactly what I did. I am so very helpful.

* On the hat in the pictures, I didn’t work the first Yellow round in st st, and I think it would have looked a little cleaner if I had.

If you have any questions or problems with this hat, let me know!

Edit: The part of this blog that has said “My Patterns” for like 2 years now, without any actual patterns? It has patterns now, including this one. I plan to keep putting my little patterns/hacks in there!

Read Full Post »

Twenty-nine

It’s my birthday again, and it’s the last age I’ll ever be that will have a 2 at the beginning of it. Unless I live to be 200, and that seems unlikely.

I finished knitting my sister’s tea cozy last Friday (and dammit, the pictures are on my laptop at home; I’m at work) (pictures tomorrow), and while I feel like I should start one of the other Christmas Gifts That Weren’t Finished (or Started) In Time, I’m really much more inclined to knit for myself, at least for one project. I need to take advantage of all this knitting excitement and energy and put it into something for me. Aside from the t-shirt rag rug I made back in September/October, I haven’t made anything for myself since February.

Because I have a billion knit projects in my Rav Favorites list, and a bunch in my Queue, I’m going to need some help deciding on a project, and I’m hosting a contest to entice you to tell me what you think! Should I make…

… the Emerald Cardigan (Ravelry link) (Knitty link) which will make a perfect over-everything cardigan — something I don’t already have in my wardrobe

… a Hooded Scarf (based on this Ravelry link, but in burgundy & cream alpaca, with a more complicated cable), perfect for keeping my hair nice when I have to go out in the wintery cold. Yarn was purchased on my honeymoon and I’ve been trying to find the best pattern for it

… the Tuscany Shawl from No Sheep For You (Ravelry link) which I’ve been lusting after for probably two years, and which has haunted my dreams

… or the Back-to-School Vest from Fitted Knits (Ravelry link), which would be a cute addition to the work wardrobe?

(I’d like to take this moment to acknowledge that yes, the last time I asked your help in choosing a project, or a yarn for the project, I failed to keep up my end of the bargain by actually completing the project. Let it be known that I won’t let that happen again. If you care.)

Vote on which one you’d like to see me start (and finish!), using the little poll thinger below (I hope… I’ve never used one of these things before), and leave me a comment telling me what you voted for and why, or just hello. I’ll be tracking the votes on the poll thinger, but I’ll use the comments to choose a number for the winner of this amazing prize:

Two skeins of Louet Gems fingering weight superwash sock yarn in Fern from my stash!

The contest runs from now through Thursday night, the 29th, at midnight Central time. Get your votes and comments (only comments will be entered to win the prize) in by midnight (Central) on Thursday! I’ll choose a winner (or rather, the random number generator will choose a winner for me) and post the results on Friday. Thanks for your help!

Last week’s pictures will be posted later today (probably tonight). I’m having a hard time choosing one from Saturday’s birthday bar crawl. They’re not as hilarious as some pictures from college, but they’re pretty sweet.

Read Full Post »

Like a bolt from the clear sky

This is weird.

I have an unfamiliar urge.

An urge to … KNIT. Constantly I’m thinking about knitting. Knitting a tea cozy. Knitting myself mittens. Knitting myself two pairs of mittens. Knitting mittens for a friend and sort of coming up with a new pattern to do it. Knitting a sweater, two sweaters, THREE sweaters! Charting a basic colorwork pattern (my own!) for a truly awesome gift idea! I can do everything!

I think the fierce cold (high today? -6 F. Low tonight? -26 F, before windchill) has frozen my brain into the knit setting. Wool sucks me in with its promise of warmth and cozyness, and the thought of knitting in a cozy recliner with a warm cat draped across my feet or stomach or legs (better than a hot water bottle!) is helping me get up the nerve to leave the warm, knowing I can eventually get out of the arctic freeze to return to knitting bliss.

The tea cozy is being knit in these yarns…

One of the sweaters wants to be knit in these yarns…

My desire for two of the sweaters comes from squares in my Paintbox Blanket…

One pair of the mittens for myself has got to be these Deep In The Forest mittens, which I love with a passion that scorns all my previous passions for knit patterns. I just thought of the perfect combination of yarn (already in my stash! I so rule!) for this project, and of course it doesn’t match my current hat and scarf set. Doesn’t matter. I’ll make 4 pairs of these mittens.

And, in the middle of all this knitterly inspiration, Femiknitter is coming to my house tomorrow morning. I am having a damn hard time containing my excitement, although I’m sure it’ll lighten up a little when I get back home after the gym and see how much cleanup I have to do.

Because when knitterly inspiration strikes, it leaves a wake of destruction. Or at least massive clutter.

Read Full Post »

Flowers, Flowers, and a Contest

Today’s Thursday Three post is late because I just now (at 9:30pm) got back from a floral design show.

Yes, a floral design show. It was the biggest gathering of older white women I have seen in a long time.

It was a fundraiser for a local charity whose main focus is literacy. I was there with two other library staff members to get an award for our work in last year’s Big Read program, and I didn’t know until yesterday that it was this big flower show. The charity partners with a local florist, and four designers create these massive arrangements LIVE AND ON STAGE while you watch, and the whole thing gets narrated by a very droll man who talks about each arrangement as it is finished and brought to the front. Amazing. The theme this year (it’s an annual event that’s been going on since 1974) was A Salute to Disney or something. Every arrangement was based in some Disney movie or other. Wow. Snow White, Pocahontas, Tarzan, 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Honey I Shrunk The Kids — all in floral arrangement form. Overwhelming was just the beginning. It was really neat for the staff to be recognized individually and to have my work acknowledged, but I’m not sure if all that was worth sitting through the flower show.

(After each arrangement was described and it was announced who won them — audience members were put in a drawing — people walked up and down the aisles of the theater with them, showing them off. Wacky! Sadly, I did not have my camera with me, so no pictures of the horticultural splendor that befell me.)

Here is this week’s repository of randomness, the Thursday Three:

Three Things I Love About Spring
1. Trees are starting to bud out

2. Blue flowers are carpeting the lot half a block from my apartment

3. I can air out my apartment! I’ve been leaving the windows open during the day and the whole place smells amazing! This spring is Nature’s reward for surviving the bastardous winter. There better be some sweet weather this season, Ms. Nature. I’m telling you.

Three Houseplants I Own
1. Ziggy, my longest-lasting plant

2. Charles in Charge, a gift from my sister

3. Chuck Norris, a spiky aloe plant from friends who couldn’t bring him along to California. (We renamed him)

Three Yarns I’m Considering For My Next Pair of Socks
(Help me decide which yarn to use for my next pair of socks! Tell me in the comments what yarn you want me to use and why!)
1. Cherry Tree Hill potluck Jewels

The picture’s a little blurry due to lunch-hour time restrictions, sorry!

2. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Flames

3. Cherry Tree Hill in Monet

I’m getting along on the Shockwave Socks, but I want a plain sock to work on next week when I see The Yarn Harlot, so I don’t have to worry about following a pattern when I just want to laugh and have a good time and see Rachel again (we met at the last Harlot event in town)(that link goes to a WordPress entry but it’s a carryover from when I was on Blogger (evil) and the pictures are all gone and I’m sad. I’ll have to see if they’re still on my computer, upload them to Flickr, and paste them onto that year-old entry. Of course I’ll do all that. I totally have the brainspace, energy, and time to do all that. It’ll only take a minute, right? Right.).

Anyway, so yes, I want a plain sock, and I want to use one of those yarns. Tell me which one you like best and I’ll use the yarn that gets the most votes. One lucky commenter will win this bag from StuckInIllinois’ etsy shop! And it’s highly likely that there will be some knitter-friendly goodies in the bag when you get it. Highly. Likely.

Comments will stay open until midnight on Monday, April 21st. Happy voting!

Read Full Post »

Oh yes, yes I did.

If you had any doubts that I’d go buy some more yarn, let me put them to rest.

Tempted Yarns Merino Superwash in “Gratitude” colorway, 400+ yards

Seacoast Handpainted Yarns Merino Superwash in “Joyful” colorway, 560 yards

and one of my freebies from Shari for becoming a Loopy Groupie, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Thin in “Lake Michigan”

I’m headed out of town tomorrow morning for my next step in the doula training process — a weekend-long workshop. I’m really excited, a little nervous, but so so thankful that I kicked myself in the ass last November. This is going to rock.

The full story on Monday, kiddies!

Read Full Post »

Recap and Review

My Stitches Midwest 2007 Experience can be summed up in the following picture-less points (sorry, the Dada camera is still at the repair shop):

1. If you can help it, don’t go to Stitches when you’re ill. It really brings down your energy level and there is nothing at Stitches that feels better than a nap.

2. That said, I had a really great time hanging out with Femiknitter and exploring the giant knitters’ playground that is Stitches. I loved every minute of the four hours that we were there, and had a blast napping when we got back to her folks’ house. And eating spicy food that opened up my sinuses. And going to bed really early. (Nick was right; the knitter in me was stronger than the cold, but just barely.)

3. I managed to stay within my self-imposed yarn budget. This was both an awesome thing and a sort of sad thing. It was awesome because, hey! I’ve got self-control, but it was sad because hey! when else am I going to see this much amazing yarn in one place. I blame my self-control entirely on my cold, of course. Had I been more lucid I would have said to hell with the budget and pulled out the MasterCard.

4. I purchased 6 balls of Kureyon (enough to finish up the afghan) (mostly bright colors); 2 skeins of ShiBui Knits sock yarn in Orchid; 2 skeins of Koigu in black (I’m not linking to anything here because, well, it’s black Koigu. You can probably imagine what it looks like.) because I have some pretty Koigu leftover from my first socks and I think that color would make cute toes and heels on a black sock; 1 skein of Chapman Springs STR in lightweight and 1 skein in Sapphire STR in lightweight (apparently not on the website yet) (for a Chevron Scarf… mmm!); and 1 enormous cone of Valley Yarns something-or-other that is comparable to Rowanspun (I don’t really know… I was delirious from the great deal — $32.00 — and the fever) in a luscious brown-with-pinkish-bits. It’s going to be the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the new IK.

5. Not a huge haul, but everything I bought makes me feel good. And I had a plan going in. Everything I bought had a specific and pre-determined purpose, except the ShiBui Knits sock yarn. That just made me giggle, so it had to come home with me. Having a plan RULES!

6. This is the part where I make a little grumpy noise. I’m going to preface my grumpy noise by saying I like Tess’ Yarns. I love Melinda’s color sense and I love the base yarns. Last year I bought two skeins of their microfiber ribbon, but didn’t have a pattern for it (do you see why I went in with a plan this year?). What made me a little grumpy was the set up of their booth at Stitches. None of the yarns had pricetags on them — you had to get a price sheet (of which they kept running out, and were taxed with printing more) to find out what the stuff cost. And when I tried to buy a pattern for the microfiber ribbon yarn tank top, I had to wait in line THREE TIMES because the pattern just could not be found (It eventually turned up, after my third wait in line, as we were ready to leave). This is just a review of their service at Stitches in a crazybusy situation — I’m sure the online and bricks-and-mortar store service are better.

7. I am feeling much healthier now. I’m not at all disgusting anymore, which pleases me no end.

I’m sorry this post is so boring and picture-less. I’ve had to rely on a surreptitiously borrowed camera, and it’s not always available when I want it to be. Hopefully the Dada camera will return to me soon, free of all its Dada tendencies.

Read Full Post »

Welcome!

Hey, I see you found your way over here! Thanks for stopping in.

I’m still getting the blog the way I want it, so things may be moving around for a bit. But I have all the major things settled in, and I’m glad you’re here to visit.

If you came from my old blog, you may have noticed that I’m having a giveaway to celebrate the new place.

It’s KnitPicks Sock Garden in Morning Glory [I’m an idiot, it’s actually the Stargazer Lily colorway] (discontinued), and all you have to do to get a chance to win it is leave me a comment telling me what you love love love about springtime knitting. Or telling me hello. Really, this is a massive begging maneuver to increase my comments and make me feel better about myself. Post a comment by midnight Central time on Tuesday, May 15th, and I’ll give the yarn to the lucky commenter whose number was chosen by the random number generator. For fairness.

So poke around, get to know the place, and feel free to come back. I’ll be talking about my latest knitting mistakes (three big ones!), my feelings for the Summer 07 Interweave Knits mag (hint: I wish the new layout would die a fiery death!), and how I fell off the Knit From Your Stash bandwagon (sort of!).

Have a great weekend!

Read Full Post »

Pssst! Wanna buy some Mohair?

All yarn has lived with me for 3+ years in a non-pet, non-smoking home, and has spent most of its time in plastic bags. It’s lovely stuff, but mohair and I just don’t get along. I’m open to PayPal and check (will wait until it clears). Shipping (you choose method) is not included in the price here, but will be when the order is compete.

For Sale Unger Legacy Cotton/Mohair

9 x 50g balls of Unger Legacy, one ball had been swatched and then rewound, but all the yardage (appx 140 yds per ball) is there.
32% nylon, 26% acrylic, 26% cotton, 16% mohair
Color #01, Dove
Price: $35.00 the lot

For Sale Mohair of Unknown Origin

A friend works at a place where yarn companies send their stuff to be made into color cards. They have huge amounts left over, and I got this batch in a sale a few years ago. It came to me in weird cone-shaped hanks, and I’ve wound them into yarn cakes. I don’t know what brand this is, what the total fiber content is (though Mohair is pretty obvious), and I don’t know the yardage. The yarn WPI is about 6 with space left for the fluffs to spread out.


Dark purple, 9 ounces
Price: $20.00 now $10.00

Blue/purple variegated, 11 ounces
Price: $24.00 now $12.00

Raspberry/deep pink, 10 ounces
Price: $22.00 now $11.00

Midnight blue, 6.5 ounces
Price: $11.00 now $5.50

Medium blue, 5.5 ounces
Price: $9.00 now $4.50

Turquoise/robin’s egg blue, 2 ounces
Price: $4.00 now $2.00

Acid green, 3 ounces
Price: $5.00 now $2.50

Dark blue, 4.5 ounces
Price: $6.50 now $3.25

Want the whole lot? All Mystery Mohair for $40.00 plus shipping.

Read Full Post »

The Magic Words

So, this past weekend (that of the 24th to the 25th), Nick and I went to Geneva for a little getaway. I planned the whole thing without telling him where we were going, where we’d be staying… only that we would be going away for a night. Orginally I wanted to stay at a cozy little bed and breakfast with lots of hiking trails and scenery, but holy crap on toast — those cute little B&Bs cost upwards of $200 a night. Even in off-peak, non-tourist season. Curse them. We ended up staying at a very nice (and well within our price range) chain hotel in Geneva, with a lovely room, and only a short drive up the river to the downtown area.

Some of you who know the area might think that I planned this getaway in this particular location because of a particular store in the downtown area. I did no such thing. My only consideration was that Geneva is close to DeKalb (about 30 minutes’ drive) and picturesque (of course I don’t have any actual picturesque pictures because the camera has entered its Dada phase, the stupid bastard, and refused to take pictures of anything). My plans had nothing at all to do with shopping.

Right. Yes. So, Nick was all surprised and happy when we got to the hotel and saw our room (it was very nice), and then I gave him his gift (sorry for the stock photo, blame the Dada camera). His eyes got all big and he looked kind of sad and said “Honey, I didn’t get you anything, I’m sorry.”

And in the same breath he uttered the magic words:

“We can go to the yarn store tomorrow.”

And we did, and my husband bought me Koigu for our ten-year dating anniversary.

He helped me choose the color (I love when he has input on my knitting!). I had it down to three different colorways, and he liked this one (after I explained that lots of colors are fun on socks — he’s a solid color kind of guy).

And in case you were wondering, the skeins are sitting on this book, with which I am in serous lurve

This Just In: This arrived as I was typing up this post!

Hooray! The book is here! I’m going to see her on Tuesday and I have the book! Hooray!

Read Full Post »

Some Observations

1. The weather has gone bat-shit crazy, as is usual here for March. Yesterday it rained all morning, got sunny and warm at lunchtime, then went grey and evil during the afternoon. Then it snowed all night with high winds (my apartment building? It sways in the wind. Yes.), and that seems to be the trend for today. Fantastic. But the weird-and-happy thing is, the wind that’s blowing feels not as soul-crushingly cold as it has been. That long-awaited season (I’m not going to jinx it by saying its name) is coming!

2. I have purchased new yarn.

Cherry Tree Hill in Monet.

Fleece Artist in Moss.

I decree that this is not a falling off of the KFYS wagon. I have determined that casting on for a second pair of socks practically equals finishing a second pair of socks, the prerequisite for purchasing more sock yarn. Plus I wanted it. Plus the CTH has turned into a beautiful teal-green-based rainbow of a yarn cake. And the pretty pretty Moss is for a specific project (more on that later… it is marinating just now). So I am entirely justified. I mean it.

3. Our friends Mark and Amy are coming to town tonight! We haven’t seen them since New Year’s Eve: Hammerfist Style and I’m totally excited about it. Friends of ours are having their wedding reception tomorrow, and MarkAmy are staying with us and it’s going to be awesome with the cooking together and the dressing up for the party and the hanging out. I’ve started the pre-preparation for the crockpot dinner I’m going to put together on my lunch hour, and dinner will be ready just after they get here, and all will be awesome. Awesome, I say!!

4. I have made progress on the to-be-felted tote.

I finished the base,

and cast on about thirty-seven times for the side. First it was too small. Then it was too big. Then it was way too big. Then it was too small. Now it is just right. Ugh. Garter stitch is a little sneaky stitch when it comes to how many stitches equal how many rows. This last time (the time that seems to be working, unless I have jinxed myself by saying that) I cast on 64 stitches, which is the number of ridges (2 rows of garter) I have in the base. I hope this is right.

5. My Mom’s feet make sort of cracking/snapping sounds when she walks. It’s not painful (I think) or problematic, her feet just do that. When I was little I could always tell when she was walking down the hall or up the stairs or wherever, just by hearing her feet snap. I never really thought about it until I moved out of the house and didn’t hear it regularly anymore. This morning, as I got up early to chop vegetables, my feet made the snapping noise and I realized that my feet have been making that noise for a long time. I have my mother’s feet. It made me all happy.

(I just don’t have any good recent pictures of me and Mom, what with the camera being a twit, so I give you a picture from my wedding day)

Anyone else have any physical trait from your parents that makes you smiley and happy?

Read Full Post »