Knit Progress: A few more hats

I think I broke a personal record for hats knit in one week! I managed to knit eight hats from the balls of scrap yarn I created last weekend. I was having so much fun pairing the colors, I couldn’t stop. The hats above are the last 4 I created at the end of the week. The last two pictures are of the same hat. I like the subtle color transitions in some of them – the gray one stands out to me especially, but I also like the vibrance of the teal and green and the purples & reds.

I also purchased a few more skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino to round out my glove inventory. It took a while, but I finally settled on three colors that I call Apple Harvest – a golden “Topaz”, a beautiful deep red “Burgundy”, and a granny smith shade of “Lettuce.” I’ll be working on gloves for the next week or two and then it’s back to holiday presents!

Knit Progress: Yarn Scrap Hats

I’m still working away at creating a bunch of things for the arts festival and trying to work from my existing yarn stash to maximize materials. Out with the old to make way for the new! After finishing up the last round of gloves, I had a small bag filled with scrappy little balls of yarn that I was saving to make pinwheels out of later.

I pulled the bag out and organized them by color into a rainbow of little balls and decided to Russian join them into larger balls by color to use in hat projects! The hats above are what they’ve turned into so far, combined with my stash of sock yarn leftovers to create highly textured and completely one-of-a-kind color combinations.

Its been so much fun to pair the yarns and see how it will all come out. I still have enough yarn to make a few more., stay tuned!

Gifting Knits: Ladies & Literature Book Club edition

In addition to knitting, reading is one of my hobbies. A few years ago I met a great group of local ladies through a Goodreads group called Ladies & Literature. Since then the group has opened up to international members and numbers in the thousands. I am lucky to be one of five moderators for the group. One of my projects is the Annual Top Reader Competition that challenges our book club members to participate in every single “official” book club discussion for the year. That turns out to be 16 book discussions a year, one each month with a quarterly Classic book on top. This year we had 8 ladies complete the challenge. Of those 8, three win the big prize.

One of the prizes I supply is a custom knit piece. This year I worked with two of the winners to make a custom piece just for them based on my patterns. I love it when two hobbies can come together!

In addition to the prizes, one of our moderators is expecting her first baby, which was recently revealed to be a boy. After looking through patterns and inspiration, I decided to create my own version of a hooded blanket with bear ears. I had some Bernat Baby Blanket yarn on hand and was so pleased with how soft and thick a blanket it makes. You can get the notes for the blanket design here.

Happy Knitting and Reading!

Knit Progress: A visit to the yarn stash

After working on longer projects, I decided to visit the yarn stash and make some quick projects for the fall Arts Festival stockpile. I found some great yarn that I hadn’t used and some remnants from projects that would coordinate to create something unique.

Wine & Pink
I started with pairing a big ball of wine color yarn with some color changing roving in pinks and purples that was left over from smaller projects. I made a pair of herringbone fingerless gloves and liked the result. I still had a good amount left and decided to make an extra roomy version of my Meringue hat pattern. I especially like the way the alternating rows of yarn work in this pattern.

Orange & Silver
I found a bunch of bright orange roving that a friend gave me a while back and thought it went perfectly with the silver and gray yarn left over from a hat request. It makes a great hiking hat with the bright orange! The roving shows off stitches so beautifully I couldn’t resist continuing on with some chunky cabled fingerless gloves.

Smoky Jewel Tones
After that, I decided to make something on the delicate side with some beautiful handspun silk and merino yarn. It was thinner than expected, so I paired it with a charcoal gray sock weight yarn that let the beautiful color variations of the specialty yarn shine.

I have a few book club prize knits on the list to complete next. What are you working on?

Knit Progress: More Hats

After pulling all of that yarn out to make a large batch of headbands, I took some time to reorganize my stash and take inventory for the festival. Things are looking pretty good, but I thought it would be nice to make a few more hats. Going through my yarn I came across a number of skeins that I had in mind for such projects and got to work.

One of my favorite is the Cascade Yarns Eco Alpaca – a gorgeous yarn that is so soft! The creamy color way was perfect for my meringue hat pattern. I also thought it would be good to make a few more “guy” hats and had fun piecing together smaller remnants to make unique color ways that aren’t achievable with just one skein.

I’m back to a few mitt and cuff experiments for fun to add pieces for the show and then it will be time to focus on making some more presents for the holiday season. Happy knitting!

Updated Knit Pattern: Twisted Rib Reversible Hat

I finished this pattern this weekend after a long break. Not too much has changed, but I cleaned up the type, added some additional measurement information and included a chart for the crown decreases in addition to the written instructions. This hat is really simple, but looks great and works for a wide range of head sizes without modifications because it is so stretchy.

Buy it here on Etsy for $3.50.

Buy it here on Craftsy for $3.50.

Knits: April Showers Edition 2013

This last weekend of April is a rainy one, but I have a quick round-up of my knitting progress for the month. My day job is still keeping me very busy, so knitting has been taking a back burner. I made the most progress on the Cuffed Zigzag Mitts revisions. The pattern was in good shape, so all I had to do was just add some charts and tweak the layout a bit. I also got to use my skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Mansfield Garden Party – a one-of-a-kind skein I picked up last year. It seemed like a good time to use it with all of the beautiful spring colors. It was so large that I was able to use it to make a final test pair of the gloves, a matching hat and another pair of gloves to send to my niece.

I also started working on the revision to the reversible rib hat pattern, but then got distracted by making a final piece to donate to the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art Yarn installation project. At the last free workshop there was a mountain of donated yarn to choose from. I found a huge hand-dyed skein that I couldn’t resist, so I am making a fan lace piece that works well with the nubby texture and shows off the color variations in an interesting way. It took me a few tries to land on the right pattern, but I’m pleased with how its turning out. I’m giving myself until the end of the week to get as far as I can and then I’ll bind it off and donate it even if I haven’t gotten through all the yarn. (It took me 2 hours to hand-wind a center-pull ball that felt like a bowling ball when I was done!)

I have also been enjoying a beautiful spring here. We’ve gotten a good amount of rain this year and it has yielded one of the more beautiful blooming seasons in recent memory. Here are a few pictures – the cherry tree is in my front yard and never lasts long enough!

Updated Knit Pattern: ZigZag Swirl Hat

Its been a long time coming, but I am finally finished updating the ZigZag Swirl hat pattern. The zigzag pattern has been revised from the original with the addition of a pattern chart as well as more detailed measurement information and yarn yardage.

I’ve also knit the sample up with my recommended yarn – Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Oak. The yarn has a wonderful feel, the right amount of bulk and a beautiful depth of color. I hope you enjoy!

Get it on Etsy for $3.50

Get it on Craftsy for $3.50

Updated Knit Pattern: Gingerbread Icing Ear Flap Hat

I got on a roll and reworked the Gingerbread Icing Ear Flap Hat pattern. I’ve made some modifications to the original pattern to make the crown decreases smoother and have adjusted the ear flap size and placement slightly. I’ve also added a number of charts that makes it easier for the chart-reading knitter, and flat measurements for many parts of the hat. Have fun!

Get it on Etsy for $3.50:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/97754843/knit-hat-pattern-gingerbread-icing-ear

Get it on Craftsy for $3.50:
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/accessory/gingerbread-icing-ear-flap-hat/12825

Updated Knit Pattern: Interweave Hat

This one was a quick update since the pattern is fairly simple. I really like this hat because it knits up quickly and is warm for winter. Looks good on men or women too! This update includes new pattern charts for the body pattern and the crown decrease. I’ve also written out the crown decrease rows in their entirety based on a specific row count, which makes it (hopefully) easier to follow.

Enjoy!

K&P_interweave_hat