Yes, Another Hat.

Yup, another hat. This one is knit using the lovely Malabrigo worsted weight yarn. I love the yarn and have all kinds of projects I'd love to knit using it. The pattern is what I call my Big Button Hat (although the button isn't that big!). The pattern starts off on straight needles. You knit the seed stitch section on the straights then join on a circular needle.

I've been knitting a lot but it has been for a springtime swap that I'm participating in on Ravelry.com. I started three different patterns before I found one I liked. Finally sent my package out yesterday. As soon as my partner gets it I will post pictures and information about it here. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the extra goodies that I included. I'm just glad to have remembered to take pictures of the knitted item!

More to come!

That's Gap-tastic!

I have some finished projects to share with you. On my head is another hat. This is the Early Morning Beret. My hat doesn't really look like a beret because I wanted a slightly less slouchy hat that wouldn't get caught on my winter jacket. I used a brushed baby alpaca yarn from Plymouth Yarn.

I've also finished the Gap-tastic cowl. This called for Lion Brand Yarn Wool-ease chunky. The yarn was almost impossible to find! I looked in multiple stores in several towns. Finally found some at JoAnn's. Three colors only and this earthy green is the only color I liked. It is a big cowl and a warm one too.

Another hat! This one is Etta. It is supposed to be a lot more slouchy but I have not yet blocked it. It is made with Red Heart Soft. Yes, Red Heart again. Can I defend myself by telling you I am currently working on a hat with the fabulous Malabrigo?

I won a contest! Peacefully Knitting in Arizona had a book giveaway on her blog and I was lucky enough to win. Fiber Gathering by Joanne Seiff features lovely sections on Fiber Festivals across the country. There is even one in Michigan! The book also includes patterns. I was thrilled and surprised to have won.

I entered a swap on Ravelry. It is the Spring has Sprung swap. We each got assigned a person and we are to make a one skein item plus we are to include a $10 gift has a spring theme/idea. It is a secret swap so I will share all the details later.

That pretty much rounds out all the knitting news. I have a sleeping child pinning down one arm so typing is difficult. So tell me, what are you working on?

Tip of the Hat

I have been on a hat knitting kick the last week. It could have something to do with the fact that I shaved my head. What?! Yes, last weekend my husband buzzed my hair. It is not totally gone but it is darn close. One unfortunate side affect is that my head is cold! I live in Michigan and it's snowing. Brrr! This hat is the Slouchy Copy Cat Hat. I loved this pattern. It gives the look of cables without actually doing them. I used Red Heart Soft yarn. Now don't groan! Hear me out on this, I didn't have a lot of money to be purchasing yarn and I could not find any colors that were jumping out at me. I felt the swatch they had knitted up of this yarn and was surprised by how soft it actually was. Plus, I liked the color which is Vanilla Swirl.

I just want to add that it is really hard to get pictures of yourself!

This next hat is also knit in Red Heart Soft. This pattern is the Striped and Slouchy Hat. I worked as fast as possible on this one. It is a favorite of mine. The funny thing is that on the day I started this hat I received my packaged from the Secret Cupid Swap. Inside the box was this hat, made for my by my secret cupid, in black and grey. I was thrilled to get it!

The color of this hat is light grey. I really like this hat and I have gotten a lot of compliments on it :-)

This is the hat made for me by my secret cupid. I truly enjoyed this particular swap. I got a thoughtful person who checked out my profile and blogs. The extra gifts were things that summed me up. Big coffee/tea cup, tea, yarn, little gifts for the kids and a handmade necklace and stitch markers. I recommend checking out Ravelry for all the patterns, groups, swaps, and helpful, great people!

Just a Little Knit

I've been in a January funk. Too much snow and not enough sunshine. Life is in a huge upheaval and I would like to sleep until the end of the month. With that attitude I've not been knitting much. I spent the last week knitting two burp cloths and a pair of booties for a friend from my Mothers of Preschoolers group. The burp cloths were knit with Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn. The color is Pretty Pastels. The pattern is a dishcloth pattern that I repeated twice to get the length. It's kinda hard to see but there is a heart shape that repeats twice.
The booties were a simple booties pattern that I've made a dozen times. The yarn is Bernat Softee...I think. I have the hardest time keeping ball bands. They always disappear. I need a knitter's notebook to write this stuff down in!

Gifts!

These Christmas Tree ornaments were easy to make and cute. Of course, you can personalize them with your choice of sequins. This particular one I made for my dad. I also made 6 or 7 more for gifts. Those were given to teachers and friends.

For some reason the website that I got the pattern at no longer has the pattern available.

I made Lion Brand Yarn's Easy Triangle Shawl. It is supposed to be made with two skeins of Homespun. I happen to like the feel and colors of Homespun but I made this shawl with Wool-ease thick and quick, color charcoal. Plus I wanted it to be longer then the pattern so I ended up going through the pattern rows three more times...I think. It seemed to take forever so I call this my endless shawl. My sis-in-law liked this shawl so much that we gave it to her as a Christmas gift.

I had fun doing the crochet cast off that this pattern calls for. I am thinking about learning to crochet. Right now all I can do is crochet a chain.

For the same sis-in-law I made a Little Black Clutch. Quick and fun pattern and I think it makes such a cool gift! This one has two decorative buttons. I also sewed a snap closure on the inside (I did this on the one I made with the bee pin.) One of these days I will get around to making the longer one for me in gray :-)

For a friend of mine I made this cowl. I liked the pattern because it was pretty easy and it was my first cowl. I found the pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is Patons Decor and I still cannot remember the color.

I'm knitting a couple of other things right now but it is slow going. I'm tired. The kids and I got sick again right before Christmas. I'm still fighting this cough and I don't have the energy for much. Still missing my mom like crazy and not having her around to ask questions of almost puts a damper on knitting. I'm trying to be chipper though. Through the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry I made a new friend that brought to my attention a group for knitters that have lost their mothers. It has been nice to go on there and chat about my mom. I love that there are people out there that feel exactly as I feel. I miss having little knit gifts from my mom. I just miss my mom.

Okay, okay, okay. Time to stop being maudlin.

Happy New Year!

Irene's Dress

I finished the Perfect Sundress from Lion Brand Yarn for Irene. I made the size 4 dress since she has a long torso and needs a size larger in dresses. I used three balls of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. The main color is Seaspray and the accent color is Terracotta.

She loves the pockets! She wore the dress to school and the teacher complimented her on it.

I found cute butterfly tights that had colors from the dress. I like making dresses and sweaters for the kids. I need to find some more patterns :-)

Felted Little Black Clutch

For my sister-in-law's birthday I decided to make her the Little Black Clutch from Pretty Little Knit Stitches. I've never knitted and then felted a piece before and wasn't sure what to expect. The actual knitting of the piece was fun and I loved how it looked like a purse. Plus, I used the Kitchener stitch to seam it and I've never done that before either. I used a black worsted weight wool yarn from Plymouth Yarn and used two strands held together.

My husband was kind enough to help me felt it. I think he was kind of excited to see what would happen. It did take longer for it to felt then what the pattern said, but I think that no matter what, with felting, your time will vary.

I added a bee to the purse for a little extra flair. It has black and clear crystals. With this purse you can add just about anything to it. One example and a blue ribbon around it which made a very cute bag. Oh! Almost forgot, the Little Black Clutch pattern is available in two sizes. I made the wider but shorter version. There is also a longer, narrower version. I am thinking of making that for myself, possibly in a grey wool.

This pattern is also available on Ravelry and is a free download!

A closer view of the bee. I love it! It took me awhile to find something I liked and that I thought my sis-in-law would like too.