FO: made up hat

Pattern: I made it up. That's why I call it "made up hat." Because of my creativity.
Yarn: Knitpicks Sierra
Needles: Size 9 knitpicks options

I liked the process of making this hat. There was minimal planning involved. I just winged pretty much every aspect of it. And for that, I'm pretty happy with the results.

This hat can be worn as a slouchy hat.


Or pulled down over your ears and forehead to keep you warm. Personally, I HATE having cold ears and cold forehead, so I like my hats to really cover my head.


And the crown, which I wasn't happy with before, but quite like, now that I see the photo.


I'm on the fence about writing up the pattern. Does the world really need another stitch pattern plugged into a hat pattern?

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My swatch is all done. And I learned two things. First, I don't have gauge with the recommended needles. Second, a cowl neck in alpaca is never going to work. Alpaca is soft and lovely, but my neck is super super sensitive. It only accepts merino or silk, or silk blends. So the cowl, the feature I love, rules this sweater out. But swatching convinced me that I really want to knit a cozy, comfy sweater out of this yarn. Knitting with it is like butter. I lurve it. Must go hunt Ravelry for likely suspects.

Happy Holidays

So I finished the Amelia Cardigan. Kind of. After blocking the bejesus out of it, the cardigan fits, but the neckline? Is uberwide. So, once my Christmas knitting is finally done, I will pick out the bind off edge and add a couple more inches to the neckline.


No, my Christmas knitting is not done. Two of five gifts are finished and in the hands, or post office box, of their recipients. But the other three are still in progress. But this is okay, because their recipients are coming to visit in early January, and we will have Christmas then. So that's still in progress.

I took the time out to scratch the "knit something else" itch, so I designed a hat. Well, designed in the sense of tossed a stitch pattern onto a hat and go from there. But I'm pretty happy with it. I think I'll write up a pattern and knit a second one to get the bugs out of the pattern. Right now, the decreases are just too sloppy. I'd like to do something more elegant with them. Also, I need to size it down just slightly.


So I've got quite a to-do list. I have under two weeks to complete my Christmas knitting. I need to fix the neckline of my Amelia cardigan. I want to reknit and write up my hat pattern. I have my Laminaria shawl to finish up. And I am feeling the urge to use some very special alpaca yarn to knit a cowlneck sweater. I'm thinking Francis Revisited. I want to make a sweater that's like wearing a hug.

New Pattern: Milky Way Scarf

I'm pleased to announce my latest (second!) design: The Milky Way Scarf.


The scarf is knit from 400-450 yards of fingering weight yarn - I used a sock yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Midnight Derby. The lace pattern is quite simple, but creates an elegant effect. The undulating edging and random yarn overs evoke the night sky. The pattern is charted.



The pattern is available for free (FREE!) download at my Ravelry pattern store, or at the Dancing Ewe Yarns website.

This is the secret design I've been talking about the past couple of months. I submitted it to the Dancing Ewe's scarf from sock yarn design contest and am completely thrilled that the pattern took first place in its category of Opera Scarf. A big thanks to the Dancing Ewe and the illustrious judges for the incentive to design my first lace piece.

Designing is hard!

So I mentioned that my local yarn store is having this contest - make a scarf, in any of four categories, out of sock yarn. I've been interested in trying my hand at lace design. I've designed a pair of socks (On the Fly Socks), but the novel thing there was making up a stitch pattern. So this contest opportunity - with its prizes and celebrity judges - seems just the right nudge to get me going.

But I come to find out.... this is hard! And scarves don't even need shaping. I figured that, given my not insignificant experience knitting lace, this should be a breeze. But, uh, it's not. The rules of the contest specify that the pattern must not be published prior to the contest, so you don't get to see photos of the design I finally settled on, but I am going to show you the rejects.

(Washed out with flash - makes it easier to see the pattern.) The bottom design is the first try. But in addition to being fiddly to knit, it's pretty complicated and hard to see in a scarf. I like it a lot, though, and think it's got potential. Just not for this project. The design on top... eh.. not so much. It's simpler than the bottom, but still not hitting any notes.


Attempt number three: Something still not hitting right about this one. Subtle, but to the point where it gets kind of hard to see.


So what did I end up going with? Well... that remains to be seen. I'll post photos, and the pattern, after the contest is over. Early August.

FO: Kiila Socks

My socks are done! These socks have been the bane of my existence. There's a reason I don't like to do cables - it's because they're fiddly. Then compound that with needing to tweak the pattern to accommodate my gauge and my increased stitch count (heaven forbid I actually change needle sizes to accommodate the pattern!) and it's one of the more challenging patterns I've knit. That doesn't mean I don't like them, because I do. And the pattern is lovely; simple but elegant. I just went and made things more difficult than they needed to be.

Pattern: Kiila by Yarnissima. (If you like it and are on Ravelry, grab it quick! It's only a free download until June 8th.)
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in a green color
Needles: KP circs size one
Methods: Magic looped, two at a time.
Notes: I made lots of little tweaks to make it work. I knit at 72 stitches, did the small size on the gusset, and mussed about with the ribbing on the leg to accommodate the 72 stitches. Oh, and I did fewer rounds of ribbing at the cuff for a shorter sock. All in all, the changes made it very challenging, but a lovely sock. If I had to do it again, I’d just suck it up and go to a size 2 needle so I wouldn’t have to deal with the tweaking.




So these are very pretty, but I am so relieved to have them done. My June sock challenge socks will be very simple, I think.

In other news, I've charted out my design for the scarf contest at the LYS. Now to cast on and knit! I hope it looks good and not a mess!

On The Fly Socks!

Some may recall that last year I designed a pair of socks. That is, I made up a stitch pattern without any reference material and I was darn proud of it. I even made up the chart for it.

I've finally revised the chart and put it together in a .pdf for free download from Ravelry. Click for pattern page.


Your feedback is appreciated. I never realized how difficult it is to write instructions for a short row heel!