Winter Kitty Hat

A little late, but here's a finished project: JJ's two-year winter hat. She wore this all winter long and it keep her head toasty and cute, and she received so many compliments on it. Funny how the plainest looking things get noticed. Anyhow, given how often we lose things around here (socks...mittens...toys) it's amazing we held onto it all season!

Pattern: Kittyville Hat (free! And also found in Stitch 'n Bitch)

Yarn: Tahki Yarns Lana, 1 skein (92 yards) in cream

Needles: US8 dpns

For her 21-month old head size, I cast on 77 stitches and knit a narrower seed stitch for the head band. I knitted 3.5" of stockinette before beginning decreases every 11 stitches. To make smaller ear flaps, I just decreased the total number of cast on stitches by 2-3.

I used almost the entire skein exactly - only 6 inches leftover! I love when that happens.

So glad the weekend is here. Have a good one!




 

Baby Sun Hats

Wow, where did the summer go? School has started and it's been over a month since we returned from our big Canadian trip. JJ turned 7-months old recently, and is really on the go - trying to clamber over anything and everything and desperately trying to crawl.

Back in the summer I made these little sun hats to protect her little bald head from a sun burn. I had grand plans of making one for all the little babies I know, but sadly that never happened...it took me much longer than I expected. Maybe next year. I've got patterns that go up to toddler sizes. I think it's a Simplicity one, I'll have to look it up.



I've been knitting too. I've actually knitted a few things but haven't gotten around to photographing them, so my blog has been painfully slow for some time now. I finished my hot-pink Ishbel, the Swallowtail shawl, and started the Tulip Cardigan for JJ. I've got some Christmas knitting on my mind too...maybe a little ambitious, but I'm going to try this year.

Hope you're all enjoying the cooler weather!

Not a Totoro fan.

My mommy made me this super cute hat and I was only able to pose in it for about 10 seconds.

This is how I spent the rest of the 5 minutes is was strapped on my head:

Modeling her finest Knitwear...

I can't believe JJ is almost a month old! She's having a little nap right now, so I have a few minutes to share a few new pictures. I have taken a ridiculous number of photos of the wee one, and am clearly suffering from new-parent syndrome...I can't bring myself to delete even the blurry, bad pictures because she just looks so darn cute in all of them. Ha! That's how it is with your own baby.

This is a crafting blog, after all, so here she is modeling one of her hand-made hats:

This is the little green one from Courtney, although it appears to have rotated on her head...

The cuffed booties I knit for her were too loose, and the only way to keep them up was to unroll the cuff. Sort of a legwarmer-shoe-thing. This is the first piece of baby clothing I bought when I was pregnant - at the time I could hardly imagine what it would be like when she arrived, and here she is now...

Totoro Bonnet

I've never actually seen the show, but this is the much-recognized character called Totoro, a tree-spirit from Miyazaki's anime film My Neighbor Totoro. I really ought to rent this sometime. Isn't he cute?


Anyhow, I saw a knitted pattern online for a cute Totoro hat and couldn't resist making it:

It's made with leftover Lion Brand Cotton Ease, knit on US6. I had just enough to make the ears, ties and tassles, and the face details are just white felt and black scrap yarn. The pattern is a free one by Hello Yarn and calls for DK weight, but it's not hard to sub in worsted weight. It's quite a clever little pattern...basically a toe-up sock using a figure 8 cast-on, and then you make a few decreases to shape the back of the bonnet.

I think Totoro's nose should have been a little bigger, and I forgot he had whiskers...oh well. he's still pretty cute as he is. This staircase bannister is the best baby mannequin ever.

What else but more baby knits!

JJ is quickly acquiring a stylish hat collection....

This one is based on the Gooseberry Hat pattern, except with some heavy mods because I only had 20g of this pretty yarn from Tasmania...I only included 6 sections instead of 8. I still had a few yards left at the end though, so I made a fat crochet flower to top it off.

Leftovers hat using a generic baby hat pattern...this will match the Crossover Top also made with Jaeger Aqua. I cast on 80 stitches on US6, and just alternated stockinette and garter rows. When the hat reached about 5" in length, I decreased 8 stitches every round until 8 stitches remained, then pulled it shut. The bow thing is made of the last couple yards knit into I-cord.

Ok, I didn't make this one...Courtney made it. She is spoiling JJ already. Isn't it cute?! It's super soft. This one is coming with us to the hospital!

Bitty baby socks made from leftover Plymouth Happy Feet...

And some adorable rollerskates and stuffed bunny from two lovely ladies at my knitting group!

Not particularly chatty today...just got back from an all-day Lamaze birthing class and feeling a little pooped. We talked about labour and delivery for almost 8 hours! It was a good class though and we are feeling more prepared for the big day.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Turn-A-Square Hat

It's never too late for more winter hats!

While I was back in Toronto last month, I churned out two of these Turn-A-Square hats and busted through some of my worsted weight leftovers. How I love using up leftovers! There is something just so satisfying about it.

It's an easy and free pattern, so go and download it for your pattern library - you'll be glad to have it when you're thinking about Christmas presents later this year. Each hat took only a few hours to make, and I gifted one to my SIL. You also get to practice jogless stripes, which I now realize I did completely wrong for my striped vest. Just shows you how you're never as clever as you think you are...

My knitting is a bit all over the place right now....I finished the orange sweater and blocked the sleeves, but haven't photographed it again. Another pair of fair-isle mitts are in the works, but after about 4-inches of progress I realized I forgot to leave a thumb hole - GAH. I'm not ripping out sticky wool, forget it. It will probably become a cell phone cozy or something. With that failure, I cast on for a pair of ankle socks to use up some leftover DK weight wool with a simple cable lace pattern, which will hopefully knit up quick enough to maintain my interest.

I've been baking and making bread too, which I plan to post soon - I've been a bad blogger lately, so I've got to pick up the speed and try to redeem myself a little.

Hope you all had a great Valentine's weekend and did something fun with your sweetie. D & I gorged on cheese and chocolate fondue, an appropriately 80s date-like dinner for two.

Porom Beret

Ooh, I jumped on the beret train. They are everywhere. I finished in December, before we moved and wore it around a few times before it got packed away. I have only just rediscovered it during the unpack. It's Brooklyn Tweed's Porom Beret. A very nice pattern indeed, and the photos, as usual, are beautiful.

I knit it with Knitpicks DK Swish in Nutmeg, which is also a heathered colour, and might I just say I am really liking it. So far, I've knit the Ducky Cardigan and another baby sweater, and this is my third project using it. I haven't tried throwing it in the washing machine yet, so I don't have a review on its performance in the wash. Nonetheless, I am planning to buy more of this in the future - inexpensive, soft, and pretty colours.

It's snowing over here, and I'm hiding out at home today, doing some more knitting. I'm gradually starting to feel the quilting motivation returning, but so far it hasn't been enough to reign me in to actually start anything. I've been thinking about quilts a lot though, does that count? Thanks to my mommy for the early b-day gift which was spent on books at Amazon.com - I just got Last Minute Patchwork & Quilts, Confetti Cakes, the Bouchon cookbook, and Breadhitz (recommended by Devon), so I've got lots to keep me going for a while. As I type, I am waiting for English muffins to rise. I had no idea they could be cooked/baked in a cast iron pan! Those are for breakfast tomorrow. Hope they turn out. I went to a wedding show today, for work, so I have a few pictures of that to post soon. Have a good weekend!

Short Row Hat & Entrelac Scarf

Two finished objects to show you today!!

D, while working, was taken hostage as the model of my photoshoot

Let's start with the hat... a bit of a surprise, actually. One of those sudden urge knits. After finishing the scarf, I had about a ball and a half of the Mille Colori left so I thought I'd try the Short Row Hat by Veronik Avery, which had been on my to-knit list for a while, and...

Excuse the unwoven end poking out the top

Wow. The pattern is sooooo interesting. Awesome. Super addictive to knit. I literally couldn't put it down because I was so intrigued by how the colours were coming together and the way the hat was shaping itself. Although it looks like entrelac, the diamonds are actually cleverly done with short rows. And, the hat is neither knit top down or bottom up; it's sectional. Sooo cool. This must have been such a pain in the butt to design, but what a great pattern!

Hat Pattern: Short Row Hat by Veronik Avery

Scarf pattern: Entrelac Scarf by Allison LoCicero
Yarn: Lang Mille Colori, 3.5 skeins for scarf, 1.5 skein for hat
Needles: US8 circulars and dpns

This wins as the fastest project I have ever knit - I started on Friday afternoon and finished on Saturday evening, and I'm guessing it took about 7 hours from start to finish. Measured in other terms, this hat equaled 8 episodes of the first season of the West Wing.

Trying to photograph the top of the hat on myself.
Clearly, not such a successful idea.

I am really excited about wearing these now that the weather's getting chillier. I know they're not meant to be a set, but I kind of like them in combination, although it is a whole lotta squares. What do you think? Hat and scarf together are a little too much?

More crafts than I can handle

As far as crafting goes, it is nearly impossible for me to focus on one craft and actually finish a project from beginning to end. I flip flop usually between knitting, sewing and baking, and have been known to do some beading, scrapbooking, cardmaking, upholstering and pottery throwing. This fall has been my best record yet, sticking mostly with knitting, with the completion of several small items and even a sweater (though ugly, but whatever).

I don't know why I find arts and crafts so fascinating, or why I am drawn to many different crafts. If I had the time, I'd probably want to learn how to cobble my own shoes. I told D that he should do some sort of study on why people find things interesting. Part of it is the satisfaction of creating something with your own hands and taking pride in that. Sometimes it's because you don't want to spend $500 on a designer sweater that looks so easy reproduce. It could also be that it's difficult for you to find well-fitting, well-made clothing, so you sew it yourself. Or you want to have something unique that no one else has. As romantic as it sounds though, realistically, there just isn't enough time to make everything from scratch, it's just too stressful! (not even Martha could do it - but I do love her ideas).

Which is why I really like the concept behind Etsy, a sort of online one-of-a-kind craft show, where you can relieve your anxiety by purchasing all those lovely things you don't have the skill, time, or patience to make yourself. Plus, you are supporting independent artistry and the promotion of handmade goods. Everyone wins. Admittedly, I haven't shopped on the site yet, but have spent endless hours perusing the goods. I encourage you to visit this site as soon as possible. You can shop the old fashioned way by category (jewelry or papergoods), but it is even cooler that you can shop by colour (every shade imaginable) to find a match for that outfit you can never accessorize for.

Oh my. How did I get started on this again? Oh right, over Christmas I got some new crafty toys that I want to share. First, check out these awesome, super cute travel-themed cookie cutters given to me (and D) by Miss A (the mitten modeler). D's benefit in this gift will be eating the cookies.

D's new lunch box!

choo choo, put put...

I also got this crazy gum paste flower making kit from D's parents to supplement my cake decorating hobby. I've never worked with gum paste, but it is supposed to be easier to mold and cut than fondant. The flowers look so real and are very detailed - I will surely have hours of fun with this. And a flower garden in my living room.

Aside from the new crafts, I was really responsible over the holidays and did not buy any new yarn, fabric, or other supplies besides some bias tape from Fabricland (they had some wonderful winter coat wools that I had to drag myself away from).

And it was a relatively productive holiday for ongoing knitting projects. Ene is coming along - I worked chart 1 and 2, am on the second repeat of 2, and have managed not to lose any stitches. It's been a slow knit for me since I have to look very carefully for all the yarn-overs, which is kind of dizzying after a while. I haven't suffered any neck cramps though, fortunately.

I also made this bobbly beret in Deep River. It's the Trinity Stitch hat that's popular on Craftster and Ravelry right now. I followed Sticks and Tones modifications since I had the same needle sizes, and cast on 112 stitches. I started decreasing at 7" and did 4 decreases every 2 rows, and it still came out rounder on top, unlike the original pattern. My hat is a little slouchier. And it doesn't sit flat and circular like a beret, which is OK. At first it was annoying me that it wasn't more beret-like, but now that I've worn it a few times I am really liking it. This thing is so warm that your head starts sweating if the weather isn't below zero.

D acted as my photographer on our outing to the North Market today:

Pattern: Trinity Stitch Hat with mods (see link above)
Yarn: 2 skeins Patons Classic Merino, grey, held doubled
Needles: US8 for ribbing & US10 dpns

And would you believe that after the long cold spell, the pansies outside our building are STILL alive?? I took this photo this morning. This weather is crazy, I tell you...