Oh Happy Day!

My shipment from kyarns came today! Oh, Koigu Kersti #621, you complete me.



And of course you brought friends...Koigu #622, you beautiful pink thing!



And KPPM #433, with your turquoisey complexion and lavender highlights, you sing your siren song to me.



Koigu Kersti and KPPM, there will always be room for you at my table.

Anna of Green Cables

Get it? Anna of Green Cables? Anne of Green...okay, it's lame, I know.

Because St. Patrick's Day is coming up and there's a green hat KAL and all, a green cabled hat made from one hank of Knitpicks Sierra.

It fits my 23" head, but since it's cablicious it also fits Mary's head with the brim folded up and Anna, whose head is a bit larger than mine (She actually said it was snug, although I don't see her eyes popping out or anything. Instead, that same sort of amused expression she always gets in one of my hats...the look that says "Other moms go to work, or drive a soccer van, or drink a bottle of white wine in the afternoon....my mom has a knitting blog."). I was going to show you how well it fits me, but the day I took this picture I was wearing my Old Navy camo pants and a black hoodie, and when I put the hat on all that was missing was some of these.

You can add length to the hat easily by adding more ribbing at the bottom. I personally don't like anything folded up on my ears, hence all the beanie-style hats I like to make.

Yarn: Knitpicks Sierra, 1 Hank.
Needles: 1 16"circular & a set of dpns in size 7, or whatever size gives you gauge (I knit big, so knit a swatch! The needle size on the ballband said 9-11)
Gauge: 3sts/inch in stockinette (To see this hat in a smaller size & gauge, check here.)

Begin

Please note: if you downloaded this pattern before 12/5/07, there was a missing purl stitch after the p2tog in the 2nd round of the Third Cable. This has been fixed.

CO 72 sts on the circular needle (switch to the dpns during the decreases) and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist. Place marker to indicate beginning of round.


Ribbing

Knit 10 rounds of K2P2 ribbing.


First Cable

Round 1: *Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to back, K2 from left needle, K2 from cable needle, p4. Repeat from * to end.

Rounds 2 through 5: *K4, P4. Repeat from * to end.


Second Cable

Repeat Rounds 1 - 5 as in First Cable.


Third Cable - In which you start the decreases.

Work row 1 as in First Cable.

Round 2: *K4, P1, P2tog, P1. Repeat from * to end. You have 63 sts now.

Rounds 3 & 4: *k4, p3. Repeat from * to end.

Round 5: *K4, P2tog, P1. Repeat from * to end. 54 sts remain.


Fourth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to back, K2, K2 from cable needle, P2. Repeat from * to end.

Round 2: *K4, P2tog. Repeat from * to end. 45 sts remain.

Round 3 & 4: *K4, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Round 5: *K2tog, SSK, P1. Repeat from * to end. 27 sts remain.


Fifth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next st to cable needle and hold to back, K1, K1 from cable needle, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Rounds 2, 3 & 4: *K2, P1. Repeat from * to end.

No round 5 on this cable!



Sixth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next st to cable needle and hold to back, K1, K1 from cable needle, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Round 2: *K1, K2tog. Repeat from * to end. 18 sts remain.

Round 3: *k2tog. Repeat from * to end. 9 sts remain.

Break yarn and thread tail through remaining sts, pulling tight to cinch closed. Pull tail through to wrong side and weave in ends.



Copyright 2007 Lydia McNeil - You may not use this pattern for profit or reproduce it for profit; you may use it to knit hats for yourself, for others, or most certainly for charity, but not to sell.

Fake Isle

I was inspired by g-girl's recent blog posts about what's on her needles (although - yo, where are the pictures? You'll have to be satisfied with her travelling vines scarf, I guess!) to turn the frogged scarf of underestimation & shame into a Fake Isle Hat). It's a great pattern, although again - my gigantic knitting probably warranted sharper decreases at the top. Hmmmm...what to do with the rest of the Noro, though...perhaps some Fake Isle mittens.



I do have another FO to post about, a cable knit hat of my own design, but I have to wait for the girls to get home later so I can stick it on someone's had and snap a photo. I haven't figured out how to take a picture of my own head very well yet, a skill a lot of other knitters have mastered.

In a completely different vein (that has absolutely nothing to do with knitting) I saw this article that appealed to my love of all "when worlds collide"-type tales about Jose the Beaver (I kid you not, his name's Jose, despite the fact that, estoy pretty segura, he's not Hispanic! El coyote, si, Hispanic. The beaver, not so much.) in New York. He's the first beaver to appear in NYC in 200 years! I like how the biologist says he's sure people will see more and more beavers now....I guess Jose's texting them.



I wonder why Anna always looks so amused in one of my hats?

When Will I Learn?

Above, the before picture.

Below, the after.



This isn't the natural order of things, but it's been that kind of day.

I ran out of this Kureyon about two-thirds of the way through this scarf, which wasn't even very fun to knit. Said scarf then sat in a drawer for six months next to finished objects, where I'm sure it was teased mercilessly. Yarn can be cruel.

Now look at this:



I ran out of Kersti 7 rows too soon - can you believe that? This is the purly bump side of the Falling Leaves shawl from Lavish Lace. It will block flat in a diamond pattern, just as soon as I get more Koigu.

The Hardships of Winter

Dateline La Jolla, CA: Severe weather rocks San Diego County!

That's right folks...while you might be trapped on a plane for 11 hours where you live, here in Windanseaville these oranges have been on the ground for at least 8 hours while their owners wonder when the drizzle will stop long enough to go outside without getting their hair all frizzy.

And lookie here - the umbrella!



Okay, John says I have to stop before I jinx us. Wouldn't want to do that - I liked getting to go to the beach over the weekend - Mary even swam yesterday.

Anyway, I'm knitting away on another Shedir and also a shawl from Lavish Lace using Koigu Kersti, which I'm truly enjoying.

In other knitting news, my sister finished her first circular-knit hat, which turned out pretty cute. She's knitting a PICC cozy right now.

Speaking of which, Tami T in CT asked for a PICC cozy pattern. There's one at Knitpicks, but I'm working on a few possibilities that I'll post pretty soon. The first one I made was super simple:

1" of K2P2 rib over 32 sts in the round on dpns.
Switch to stockinette, inc to 36 sts, knit for 6".
1" of K2P2rib, and bind off.

See it here on Fiona's arm? Truly, her arm doesn't usually look like Mary-Kate Olsen's - this is just bad photography.



Basically, if you know your gauge and the measurement of the arm above and below the elbow, you're knitting a sleeve with two cuffs. If you don't know the measurements, it should just fit an adult arm. Also, I used washable yarn, because I was thinking that might be useful. And it shouldn't be scratchy - cancer patients have enough to make them uncomfortable, no?

Anyway, like I said, I'm thinking about other designs and will post them as soon as I have anything.

Here's something else: Sarah-Hope, designer of the much-admired Santa Cruz Hat on Magknits, made my Horseshoe Hat for a very handsome friend! I love seeing people's pictures of patterns I've made up - the yarn they choose, the alterations they make - it's cool. One of these days I'll make a list of links because I know you're out there, my friends, but not today. Today's perfect for just knitting.

Britney So Totally Copied...

Holy cow, it's been almost a week since my last post! Lest you think I haven't been knitting, I most certainly have. It's just that I don't have anything newly finished to show, so I had to drag the salmon-colored scarf out just for this post. If you're curious, it's the ostrich plume lace pattern flanked by some garter stitch on either side.

When I first posted a picture of this scarf being blocked, Harriet asked for an ultra easy lace pattern to get over lacephobia. I think I'd have to recommend a feather and fan pattern - that was my first lace; I made Misty Garden out of Scarf Style but any feather and fan will teach the yarn over, K2tog type of rhythm that makes up a lot of lace patterns. Also, Branching Out - a lot of people knit it as their first project. Here's mine from last year some time.



Let's see, what else is new.....Okay, here's something. Wednesday night I shaved my niece's head, because something happened that we weren't expecting, being new to the whole cancer thing: her hair actually hurt when it started falling out. You know the feeling of having a really tight pony tail all day, and then when you take the elastic out your hair kind of hurts? That's what it felt like. It bugged big-time, so she elected just to get it shaved off.

I used the clippers John trims his beard with set to the shallowest setting, and while my sisters drank wine I took my niece on a hair tour of the 80s & 90s, going from Flock of Seagulls to Bow Wow Wow to GI Jane. And in a turn of events that I guess isn't all that shocking considering the source, we now find that Britney's been totally scamming her personal style. Although to my knowledge my niece has no tatoos and also wears panties.

Then Thursday we went up to the Cancer Center and had her PICC line inserted - and guess what? The nurses were super impressed with the PICC cozy. So, all you knitters out there - knit a PICC cozy and donate it to your nearest oncology ward. They'll appreciate the heck out of it.

Friday was round two of chemo, which for me translates to a lot of knitting time. Not only that, but I got to teach someone else a new skill - my sister, who, like me, learned how to knit the way all my Spanish relatives knit, with a long needle tucked under her right arm, wanted to learn how to knit in the round so she could make a PICC cozy too.

I set her up with a baby hat to start with - easier on a 16" round than a bunch of double pointed needles, I think. Today she had about 4" of hat done, and she'll be ready to switch to the dpns tomorrow. And once she learns that, the knitting world will be her oyster.



Today we knit on the beach...what a glorious day it was, warm and sunny. And Fiona got her hair cut - very chic, don't you think?

Horseshoe Hat

Remember this?

You may also remember that I said I would write up a pattern once I figured out what I did...Well, I guess my mind hasn't been completely lost, because I found a piece of paper amongst my non-knitting things with notes about this hat!

Of course, I didn't write down what kind of yarn it was, but it was something bulky and a little hairy. It was 95% wool and 5% something else, if I recall. I'm not sure what this inability to save a ballband means, but I'm sure there's some kind of meme out there that would tell me. (What kind of knitter are you? Um...the non-swatching, distracted, ballband-loser kind, apparently.)

Here's what I did.

Gauge: 4 sts/inch

To start:

CO 80 sts & join for working in the round, being careful not to twist. Place marker to indicate beginning of round.

Make the brim:

Knit K2P2 rib for 4 inches.

Make the first Horseshoe:

Rnd 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 (all rounds except round 2): *P8, K12. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 2: *P8, slip next 3 sts to cable needle and hold in back, K3, K3 from cable needle, slip next 3 sts to cable needle and hold in front, K3, K3 from cable needle. Repeat from * to end of round.

Second Horseshoe:

Repeat rounds 1 through 5 as above for first Horseshoe.

Rnd 6: Here you will decrease by 8 sts in the purl sections. *P2tog, P4, P2tog, K12. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 72 sts now.

Rnd 7,8: *P6, K12. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 9: You're going to decrease again, but in the knit sections this time, and by a total of 16 sts: *P6, K2tog, K2, K2tog, SSK, K2, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 56 sts.

Rnd 10: *P6, K8. Repeat from * to end of round.

Third Horseshoe:

Rnd 1: *P6, K8. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 2: *P6, slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold in back, K2, K2 from cable needle, slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold in front, K2, K2 from cable needle. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 3: *P6, K8. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 4: Decrease in the purl sections. *P2tog, P2, P2tog, K8. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 48 sts now.

Rnd 5: *P4, K8. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 6: Decrease in the knit sections. *P4, K2tog, K2tog, SSK, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 32 sts.

Rnd 7: *P4, K4. Repeat from * to end of round.

Rnd 8: Decrease in the purl sections: *P2tog, P2tog, K4. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 24 sts.

Rnd 9: Decrease in the knit sections: *P2, K2tog, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round. You have 16 sts.

Rnd 10: Deacrease all around: *P2tog, K2tog. You have 8 sts. Break yarn, draw the tail through the 8 sts, and draw them together. Pull the tail to the wrong side and weave in ends.



That was pretty much it - if you knit this hat, drop me a comment so I can see the final product - Love that. And if you find I wrote it down wrong, let me know!!

Copyright 2007 Lydia McNeil - You may not use this pattern for profit or reproduce it for profit; you may use it to knit hats for yourself, for others, or most certainly for charity, but not to sell.

Still Too Big

Even after the shrinkage, the shedir is a little too big. Maybe if it's worn with the brim folded up a little...maybe...it might work. And just look at it, lying there all innocent-like.

I did love, however, knitting with Calmer - it's awesome. The hat, even after washing & drying pretty roughly, feels like the knees of your favorite jeans. It's soft and velvety, and the yarn has a little elasticity, so it should knit to fit unless you're a gaugiot (that's gauge-idiot, i.e. someone like me).

Speaking of Calmer, I was down at The Grove last week, browsing (There isn't a ton of yarn there, but what they have is good quality and they have a multitude of cool stuff for ribbon embroidery, books, cards, and assorted other inspirations; plus it's across from Rebecca's) - they had an unbanded ball they let me have for practically free. It's sort of a light lavender so maybe it'll be a shedir for Mary. (Which will probably fit John if I haven't learned my lesson, and I guess he can wear it to the Gay Pride Parade and people will wonder just what kind of marriage we have, exactly. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

And today, even more Calmer. A brickish red, bought at Knitting in La Jolla (my LYS, lucky me) along with size 1 addi turbos to start that new shedir. I'm a little afraid of the addis for this yarn - it's kind of slippy. John suggested surfboard wax, or possibly a little steel wool action, to which I said, "Yeah, no." I'll just try to be a little more careful.



Clearly, Patty believes in being Calmer herself.

Ho Hum.

I've just finished a lace scarf that I knit mainly to be able to invoke the OO/OI rule. I'm not crazy about it - we'll have to see if it grows on me. Here it is pinned to my carpet. I used some yarn that was pretty in the ball but only so-so knit up - it can't decide if it's apricot or salmon, so instead it's just unappetizing.

In other breaking news, I finished my first shedir. Because I hate gauging (Dear baby knitters: Please knit a gauge swatch. You can be a better person than I am. But if you can't, take comfort from this ) I just launched into it, figuring the stretchiness of the yarn and stitch pattern would cover my usual multitude of sins (by which I mean the giganticness of my knitting).

Shedir is now in the drier, getting the bejesus shrunk out of it so it will fit, oh, ANYONE I know. Cross your fingers.

Alpaca Father/Daughter Hat

So, as a result of the chemo, which, by the way, rocks - I mean, it sucks to have to go through it, but thank God we have it - we are expecting my niece's hair to go on sabbatical. She has long dark hair, curlier than mine but just as plentiful.

This is a modified Father/Daughter Hat in a larger gauge than I normally knit it. It's Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande, in the light denim colorway. This yarn is so wonderful to knit - it feels so good as you slide it through your fingers - but I will warn you that it pills. I made several pairs of fingerless mitts from Weekend Knitting out of this yarn, and a lot of little alpaca fibers knocked themselves out having a pill party. But I think a hat will be okay....

Anyway, I was thinking about how cold it would be without your hair, and how tender that skin is. If you've ever sunburned your part, you know what I'm talking about. And that's your part - not your whole head.

So this FDH has a longer ribby part (3"), to fold up a little and cover the neck a bit more. The gauge was 10 sts/3" on size 8 needles, and I cast on 80 sts to start. YMMV, so check your measurements and swatch (In other words, do as I say, and not as I do!).



PS Maybe this is a teenager thing, but notice how Fiona can manage to hide her entire body under a single hat. Or maybe she does have super powers.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day...

...something to love.

I am captivated by anything with depth, saturation of pigment, hidden meanings of color. Beet, garnet, crimson. Ocean, sapphire, indigo. Pine, lime, pea. And even the orange I've rhapsodized over before.

Rich colors tell a story. They draw the imagination in and take us far afield from home - to rows of poppies, the seashore, the forest.

Apparently I was feeling a need for reds: behold my first yarn purchase of 2007.



You are looking at two selections of Koigu: some Kersti in colorway 621 and KPPM in 602. And the Malabrigo, so soft and delectable, is appropriately named Amoroso. Just in time for Valentine's Day.

Cabling Along

First of all, thank you for all your good wishes towards my niece. (Who isn't pictured above.) She started chemo yesterday and is doing great - and I'm almost done with my first Picc cozy. I figure I can swatch my way into making a few; I also have a blue alpaca waiting to become a soft hat. And I think I have to make a shedir (pattern on page 3 here), too.

It's been so crazy around here that I've had a scarf soaking in the sink ready to be blocked for two nights! I'm thinking about taking it out but I haven't prepared a surface for blocking, so maybe tomorrow.

I do have a finished object though - I had a lonesome skein of some bulky wool kicking around the knitting corral for a while so I whipped out this cabled horseshoe hat (oy - enough western references already!). It's modeled by Anna, who hasn't been pictured for a while here except for her hands, which don't count. (By the way, she's standing in front of a painting by local artist Lisa Hill.)

Pattern to come when I go back and figure out exactly what I did - that's what I get while knitting while distracted!

PS I'm now down 6 skeins of yarn, closing in on 7, and there's a package on it's way with replacements!!

We could use some cupcakes around here.

We've had a pretty nonstop week here in Windanseaville. Fiona had the flu, everyone else had their regular crazy week, and - the scary major event - we found out my niece has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

FYI, if you have a lump on your neck, get it checked out. She went from having nothing to stage 2 in the space of two weeks or so - luckily, we found out that fast-growing cancer is also easier to cure, so her prognosis is very good. Plus, she's 31 and in amazing shape, so she's primed and ready to kick cancer ass. She starts chemo tomorrow (I'll be breaking out some super-soft yarn for a hat, and I also plan on making one or two of these).

Waiting around in doctor's offices the last few days gave me some time to knit, as I'm sure you could guess. I'm working on a lace scarf that I'll post as soon as it's done.



But in the meantime, we could all use something to cheer us up - and what could be better than cupcakes?



I'm working on an in-the-round bottom-up pattern, which should be done sometime soon. Every one I make is a little improvement from the previous one, and as soon as I get it down pat I'll post directions.



Mary loves them all.

No Knitting!

What a week - I had another bout of carpal tunnel/tennis elbow/whatever, so I've really been taking it easy on the arm. I'm beginning to think my mouse is the culprit, so I'm going to look into getting a trackball or something.

So no real knitting, between that, sick kiddos, life in general, and a trip to LA (that's Ellay, not Louisiana) which was really cool but ruined me for shopping because we went to the Gift Mart, where I saw:

a) really cool stuff to buy that never seems to make it down to the provincial backwater that is San Diego, dammit, and
b) the actual wholesale cost of things that do come to local stores so I will feel eternally ripped off by retail.

Anyway, my arm's better and I'm knitting away on various things, but I have no new knitting photos....you'll just have to look at the tidepools instead. Photo taken Jan. 14, 2007 - we may have bad shopping, but you've gotta love the scenery.

Cabbage Rose Scarf

Have you visited Drops Design? It's a goldmine of free patterns. I found this simple garter-stitch scarf there and decided to knit up yet another skein of leftovers (more of the Plymouth Encore Worsted - I have enough for a small army from all those washable things I had to make).

Believe it or not, I'm down 3 skeins and haven't even set foot in a yarn store yet. Bet you thought I'd be making a beeline to Knitting in La Jolla the minute I used up even one, right? I have been window shopping online, of course. And I've bought books. But no yarn yet! I'm saving my yarn for a rainy day.

Speaking of books, my friend g-girl tagged me with this meme (PS Scroll down and look at her adorable niece.). Usually, I'm a meme-breaker (I don't forward chain letters either, or anything with hugs, kisses, too much pink stuff, or angels.) but I kind of liked this one. I'll spare you from getting tagged, but anyone who wants to can take this meme and continue the play:

1. Grab the book closest to you.

Okay - check. Right here next to me.

2. Turn to page 123.

Check.

3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences.

"When the piece of stocking stitch is two inches high (or should I say deep?), or a little more for a thick foot, the knitting is finished. Cut wool and nylon, leaving a piece about 24" long. Draw the toe-stitches together, fasten them securely, and weave the two sides together."

4. Include the title and the author's name.

I almost feel like I shouldn't - you knitters out there can probably guess the author, at least! I think I'll make you guess for a couple of days.

5. Tag 5 people.

Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play along!


Back to the scarf....The construction is fun - you increase from three stitches, knit some plain, knit some ribbing, go back and pick up stitches for a second layer of ribbing (to make a scarf sandwich, if you will), more plain knitting, more ribbing, and then decreasing back down to three stitches. All in garter stitch, so you can knit with your eyes closed, practically. Although - big warning here. I cast this scarf on at night, knitted for about an hour until my eyes were closing, went to put down the pattern, and realized I was knitting the HAT. If you go look at the hat, you'll see it isn't really my style, either. Rip.Rip.Rip.

The original pattern called for some crocheted flowers, but I opted to use up a little Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the perfect pink for some cabbage roses from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers .

Winner Wine Cozies, and a Tale of Two Annas!

I'm so excited! My felted wine cozies won the whiplash competition at whipup! If you've never been, definitely check whipup! out - it's a showcase of some very amazing crafts, and I'm honored to be chosen!!

In other news, I'm working on starting a Fix-it Friday KAL, which will be at a separate blog. There was some interest from people who want to join and get their detail work done, so we'll see how that goes. As it was, this week I barely got to blog because I it seemed like I had to have several Fix-it Fridays in a row.

Last but not least, this week I gave my dear friend a pair of knucks for her daughter, who is in school in a wintry climate. My friend is a very accomplished hand quilter, so I passed the embroidery task on to her, and I'm sure they will be amazing. (Such a cool friend, with such a cool family.)



Her daughter's name is Anna, just like my Anna, and she fences, just like my Anna, and she's tall and thin, just like my Anna! And I started these knucks right after finishing my Anna's - except, I'm ashamed to say, my Anna's still need the ends of all those little fingers woven in, let alone the embroidery! See? This is why I need Fix-it Fridays.

This is the first time I've made a pair with the textured cuff, which is very pretty.

Orangina...

I've never liked orange, but have a look at this Malabrigo
worsted. It is a color I can't begin to describe except to
show you graphically (especially since they were a gift, and the tags
were not included so I can't tell you the colorway at all).



It is the color of the blood oranges on my trees, just now starting to turn darker as they ripen. Yellow, orange, tangerine, red - all at once.



After taking these pictures of the trees this morning, I saw this painting just inside my back door.



I painted it last year on a trip to Italy, and in the details I see these colors once again, deep and true.




Color you can't name because it is every shade at once...




I love orange.

Pompom Socks

Remember, back in the day, how you used to be able to buy peds with the pompoms on the back? Just thinking about them totally takes me back to junior high PE class - we all wore peds and Love's Fresh Lemon.....ahhh.

So I've been down with this cold for about a week now, and unable to do much of anything. Thinking too hard makes my head hurt, so even the knitting has to be mindless.

Plus - I've got to knit through my stash some so I can invoke the OO/OI rule (short for the one-out/one-in rule, pronounced "ooo....oy!" as in "Ooooo....I love that yarn! But Oy! I have so much!" Which reminds me - who else is bugged the sh!t out of when Rachael Ray says "ee vee oh oh"?)

So here are some pompom socks for Mary. I used the veriest of basic patterns from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, slapped a tiny cuff on them (including the stretchy cast-on cuff on the green ones that I learned about in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook) followed by a couple of plain rounds before heading straight for heeltown.

The red socks used some sock yarn from Knitpicks in the geranium colorway, and the green socks are Plymouth Encore Worsted with blue toes (didn't have enough of the variegated).