It seems as though I blinked and the calendar jumped from June to September.
So much has changed in my daily schedule, thanks to a new job, that I have nary a moment to catch my breath or share my latest knitting foibles.
I continue to knit hats with reckless abandon. My original plan was to knit enough hats for all of the nieces, nephews, siblings, and in-laws for Christmas and offer a grab-bag of sorts. Each hat would be wrapped, and the recipients would be welcome to swap hats (once opened) with willing participants. To date, I’m not sure if I will complete enough hats to accommodate the aforementioned. Perhaps I will host the grab bag for just nieces and nephews. My greatest fear is that one child who always emerges as the disgruntled grab-bagger. You know, the one who cries upon opening the gift. I can pretty much predict which hat will cause such a reaction. Which begs the question–do I offer a consolation prize? There is a fish hat pattern on Ravelry called “Fish, Dead or Alive?” And I’m thinking that would be an appropriate solution (the hat is actually a fish and the person who dons the hat essentially puts his/her head in the fish’s mouth). I’m thinking it could make one see the original grab-bag gift in a whole new light of appreciation.
At any rate, I am posting pictures below, of the hats I have already completed. I am currently working on an owl cable hat called “Who!” It’s a simply designed hat that uses cable construction for the owls around the brim. The addition of small, yellow eyes really make the owls stand out. I chose a deep purple for the hat and I am eager to complete it. An owl-lover myself, I’m tempted to call this one my own, but then what kind of gift-knitter would I be?
After the owl hat is completed, I am determined to explore the use of color with stripes using the Fibonacci method of stripe distribution. I’m hoping stripes will knit up more quickly and easily than my last few charted/stranded patterns.
As the leaves begin to turn and the faintest hint of a cool breeze taps me on the shoulder, I am eager to settle in to fall. I ask nothing more than good health for my family and friends and some free time to knit and read.
Really, what else is there besides those few things, and the occasional cupcake?
Until Next Time,
Knit loudly,
–Michelle
LADYBIRD, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
I (foolishly) thought it would be easy enough to knit a row of ladybugs on the brim with one ladybug missing and THEN knit ONE ladybug in flight above the others. Well…knitting one of any motif isn’t such a great idea if A) you’re a new knitter who is unfamiliar with Intarsia or B) if you’re knitting in the round and wish to avoid knitting BACKWARD. Nonetheless, it worked out (sort of). Though I do pity the one who gets this hat simply because I might have knit some bad mojo into it for all of my complaining.
I’M LICHEN IT
This has to be one of my favorite hats, thus far. I love the color combination and I really enjoy knitting with the Berroco Jasper. This hat reveals my love of all things green. The contrast color is called Lichen (hence the name) and I think I might like a whole suit made out of it (too bad the 70′s are over). The charted snowflake pattern is from Luise Robert’s book 1000 Great Knitting Motifs.
MERCY, BOKU!…MERCY.
The name of this hat comes from my plea after having knit with Plymouth Boku yarn. Though the colors are lovely, I really struggled to keep tension with this yarn. It’s rough, splitty and the newly purchased ball was riddled with knots. Over all, I am pleased with the outcome and admittedly, the yarn softened up with handling. The swirl pattern is another charted pattern that fit within my stitch count. It was found on one of the many free pattern pages on the internet.
SNOW DAY
This hat was one I knit simply because I put myself up to the challenge. I wanted to knit a series of snowmen but it was my first attempt using more than two colors. The third/fourth color was required only for the snowman’s nose and hat. I am a work in progress with my yarn manipulation, so I spent a great deal of time untangling the skeins. I added duplicate stitch for the carrot nose, as I soon discovered that one single colored stitch has a funny way of sinking into the knitting and disappearing into the main color. It was easy enough to do and I completely understand why some knitters prefer duplicate stitch over stranded knitting. For simple patterns, one can often achieve the same effect without having to carry yarn.
