Pippa's Hat, Take 2

Ah, the confusing world of the interwebs. I thought I had put the Pippa's Hat pattern up as a free download, but instead I have linked everyone to a subscriber only service. Sorry!! Here is the pattern. Free and easy!

Pippa's Hat

Yarn:

Chesapeake, Verde Collection by Classic Elite Yarns (50% Organic Cotton/ 50% Merino Wool); 50 grams/ 103 yds per skein. You can knit at least 3 hats with a skein of each.

#1: 5957 (True Blue), #2: 5981 (Tendril Green), #3: 5985 (Mandarin Orange), #4: 5904 (Scuba Blue), #5: 5925 (Tokyo Rose)

Needles: US 7s, 16” circular; US 7s dpn. Use needle size that gives you proper gauge.

Gauge: 24 stitches per 4 inches in stockinette stitch.

Size: 6-12 months

Notions: Stitch marker, darning needle.

Notes: s2togk1PSSO: Slip two stitches knitwise, knit the next stitch, pass the two slipped stitches over this knitted stitch.

When knitting colorwork, if you must carry a strand of yarn behind your work for more than 5 stitches, please secure your floats. This will be necessary when knitting the crown.

If you would like to try this in a larger size, simply add another pattern repeat!

Pattern:

Cable CO 80 stitches in color #1. Place stitch marker and join for working in the round being careful not to twist your stitches.

Work in 2x2 rib for one inch.

*k2 in color #2, k2 in color #3; repeat from * until end of round.

Repeat for 5 rounds total.

Knit 1 round in color #4.

Purl 3 rounds in color #4.

*k4 in color #1, k4 in color #5; repeat from * until the end of the round.

Repeat last round.

*k4 in color #5, k4 in color #1; repeat from * until the end of the round.

Repeat last round.

*k4 in color #1, k4 in color #5; repeat from * until the end of the round.

Repeat last round.

Knit 1 round in color #2.

Purl 3 rounds in color #2.

*k2 in color #3, k2 in color #4; repeat from * until the end of the round.

k1 in color #4; *k2 in color #3, k2 in color #4; repeat from * until the last stitch of the round; k1 in color #4.

*k2 in color #4, k2 in color #3; repeat from * until the end of the round.

k1 in color #3; *k2 in color #4, k2 in color #3; repeat from * until the last stitch of the round; k1 in color #3.

*k2 in color #3, k2 in color #4; repeat from * until the end of the round.

Knit 1 round in color #5.

Purl 3 rounds in color #5.

Knit 1 round in color #2.

Crown Decrease:

*k1 in color #3, k2 in color #2, k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k1 in #3, k2 in #2, k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k1 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k2 in #2, k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k3 in #3, k2 in #2, k2 in #3, k3 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k1 in #2, k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k1 in #3, using color #3: s2togk1PSSO (see note), k1 in #3, k2 in #2, k2 in #3, k2 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k5 in #3, k2 in #2, k1 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k1 in #3, k2 in #2, k2 in #3, s2togk1PSSO in #3, k2 in #3, k2 in #2, k1 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k1 in #3, k1 in #2, k7 in #3, k1 in #2, k1 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k1 in #2, k3 in #3, s2togk1PSSO in #3, k3 in #3, k2 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k9 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k3 in #3, s2togk1PSSO in #3, k3 in #3, k1 in #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*K7 in #3, k1 in #2. You will no long need color #2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

Continue only in color #3: *k2, s2togk1PSSO, k3. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*k1, s2togk1PSSO, k2. Repeat from * until the end of round.

*s2togk1PSSO, k1. Repeat from * until the end of round.

Finishing

ssk all around. 5 stitches remain.

Slide the remaining stitches onto one dpn and make an i-cord for desired length.

Weave in the outrageous number of ends!

Pippa's Hat

I knitted this little hat for a dear baby, Pippa, on her first birthday. It took about a day and was a joy to knit. At the time, we were dealing with gray, snowy weather and the color palate lifted my spirits. Here's a link to the pattern: Pippa's Hat. Please let me know if I need to make any corrections.

Enjoy!

Watch Out, Liz!

There are some hats coming your way for Project Nepal!

I spotted this pattern on Grumperina's blog. The hats were extremely fast and fun to knit. One hat took me about a football game and a Daily Show episode.

Pattern: Thorpe by Kristen Kapur
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky (one skein is enough for a medium hat with leftovers for trim): Old Sage, Wild Mustard, Aran, Clemetis.

Send your warm, wooly goodies to Liz by the 25th!

Just What the Knitting Doctor Ordered

The knitting mojo is back! Here are my first four steps to recover from a knitting slump:

1. Find a quick knit that is useful and, preferably, beautiful.
2. Find the perfect yarn. It should be a joy to knit. The pleasure you experience when it slides through your fingers will trigger the knit-love areas of the brain. (Note: Guilt could cancel out the pleasure, so use stash if your budget is tight.)
3. Cast on immediately.
4. Ignore all those around you until you finish.
   
   Here's what I ended up with ...
   
   

Tretta Hat by Grumperina
Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in a spring green (141)


It's just a gorgeous (and fast!) hat. I love it but it looks so much better on N so we're sharing. I needed to jump start the mojo, so I didn't get the beads. I think it looks good with or without them.


I have more mojo enhancing steps to come, but for now we at XRK would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving. And don't forget to visit Carol's great Thanksgiving Quiz. Ah, family.

A Swirl Cap

How do you thank someone for rescuing you from the blue screen of death? Why, knit him a blue swirl cap! This was a quick knit for Jorge while he was retrieving data and upgrading our hard drive. He deserves much, much more.

Pattern: Improvised on the needles
Yarn: Cashsoft Baby DK and Cashcotton DK
Needles: US5s and US6s


Notes: This is an adult medium cap -- not quite covering the ears. I cast on 120 sts using a 2 color long-tail CO method. I think the effect of the 2 color CO might be lost due to some curling at the bottom, but I do so love this CO. Here is a video tutorial for all those who don't already know this CO. It includes instructions for a rather clever braid as well.



I used a semi-corrugated rib (inspired by the Anemoi Mittens) for the brim:
Round 1: k 1 round CC
Round 2 - 6: [k2 MC, p1 CC]


I then proceeded to work 5 repeats of rows 5 through 29 this spiral chart followed by knitting 1 round MC. (If you use the spiral chart, the brown squares are CC, the white are MC.)

I didn't want to end the colorwork there, so I continued with ... are you ready for this? ... a "lice" pattern for the top of the head. Appropriate for XRK, no? The pattern is simple and I wanted to start my crown decreasing in the 3rd row of the pattern. So the crown looks something like this (white squares are CC, grey squares are MC):



For the double decrease, I used sl2tog, k1, psso. Therefore, round 36 would read as follows:
Knit 10; slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over; knit 11.



Round 56 is k2tog all around.
I don't always like colorwork in DK weight, preferring sportweight or sockweight yarns, but the softness of the yarns and the quickness of the project won me over!

The Backbou as a reluctant model.

Out With The Old

I need structure when in an overwhelming situation. So I often make arbitrary limits just to bring some order and control to the chaos. Therefore it seemed only natural for me to create some kind of absurd rule for MDSW 2008 purchases: I couldn't buy yarn from any vendor from which I had bought yarn in 2007 that was still in my stash.

So no Brooks Farm. No Tess. But I was able to buy from The Fibre Company due to these quick knits just before we left ...

Pattern: Sideways Ribbed Cap by Cathy Campbell
Yarn: Terra from The Fibre Company (sunflower and light indigo)
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Thank you Liz for your inspiration! This hat is an end of the year present for another of R's teachers. We thought the lightest yellow of the sunflower was reminiscent of sunshine and the indigo evoked a clear blue sky. Perfect for our lovely outdoorsy preschool teacher.


It took me a while to find buttons that would work until The Yarn Lounge got some Danforth Pewter's buttons. I didn't realize until I got home that I've actually been in their store in Middlebury, VT. The business is wonderful and they are right near the Vermont Organic Fiber Company. Sounds like a fun day of shopping next time I'm up in the area!

Terra is 60% Merino, 20% Baby Alpaca, and 20% Silk. That equals 100% delicious. And at 100 yards a skein, these are better than some of the skimpy yardage skeins that I saw this year at MDSW.


Pattern: Ruffles Scarf by Amanda Blair Brown from Scarf Style
Yarn: Terra (Sunflower) from The Fibre Co.
Needles: US 7s
Notes: I had a skein (and a bit more) leftover from the hat, so I tried a Ruffles Scarf. These short rows were actually a lot of fun to knit. I didn't have enough for a long scarf, but it's just enough for R!

And now may I present my new Fibre Company yarn ...

Organik

Limited Edition Longhorn

MDSW Fun and Some Syncopation

Phew! What a weekend! It was such tremendous fun hanging out with Liz on Saturday -- and extra special fun meeting her Montco Sit and Knit friends! I keep thinking about how much fun it would be to take a trip up to Philly just to hang out and knit with these people.

The BackBou did a great job of just taking the kids away to look at dogs and sheep and funnel cake while I was browsing stalls with Liz and standing for an hour in the Socks That Rock line.


But now I have my first skeins of STR! There are some rockin' BSJs are in my future ...

I won't bore everyone with a stash enhancement report (I did well), instead I'll show you the great picture from the day ...


Aileen, Sally, Lolly, Isel, Liz, a mystery guest, and Jenna. As you can see from the "Rabbits" sign, we were at the packed Ravelry meet-up.

And now for a FO!



Pattern: Syncopated Caps by Kate Gilbert, Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: Plain and Fancy Sheep and Wool Co
Needles: US 4s
Notes: No pattern mods even though I thought I would need to add some length. However, I knit the women's size and it fit me perfectly. The yarn, as I've said before, is a dream. Knit with it. Love it.



I had bought the yarn so that R and I would have matching caps, but she really, really wants this to be an end-of-the-year present for one of her teachers. I can't say no since I love her almost as much as R does.

Four Skeins of Malabrigo

Remember last fall when I ducked out of the Second Wave Clapotis KAL? Well, I ended up with four yummy skeins of Malbrigo Stone Crop in the stash. One became a Coronet. One a Koolhaas. One skein was sent to China in a care package for my good friend who is working in Beijing trying to get ready for the Olympics.*

That leaves one skein left. No problem. Baby hats! With my last cozy skein in the stash, two boyish hats were a breeze.



Pattern: Earflap Hat from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas
Yarn: Malabrigo Stone Blue
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Easy, fast and just the best hat. I made the larger size so he can wear it (I hope) for a number of years.

I love this book. If you are a beginning knitter, the directions are precise and sufficient. If you are an expert, you'll love how beautifully simple the designs are -- not too fussy but easy to embellish if you wish.



Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Malabrigo Stone Blue
Needles: US7s
Notes: This hat is for a new cousin in Minnesota. It's a simple 2x2 rib that decreased by letting the ribs collapse into each other to become 1x1 at the top. It won't fit him for long, but that's fine. I have a sweater planned for the fall ...


I've always had a problem with pompoms, but I followed the excellent directions in Knitting For Baby and did a fine job on this one!

*An interesting side note: The Chinese government has censored XRK. My friend cannot read our blog. Huh? I couldn't recall any of us saying anything particularly revolutionary or anti-communist. But since we've been censored anyway, please take a moment to read this. Then, if you are so moved, click here and take action.

There. Now we can be censored!

Still Winter Here

Oh, Ann, you and your daffodils and your new gardening blog tease me. 15 years in the South have totally screwed up my seasonal clock. I expect Spring to come now, but here in Philadelphia, we are still definitely in hat season, and will be for several more weeks to come. Knowing that, I made myself a new hat.

When I was in Richmond in January, I spotted Stewart wearing this hat, the Sideways Ribbed Cap, a pattern from the folks at the Vermont Fiber Company. Hers was in a cute two-color combination, and while beanie-type caps are usually not flattering on me and my very oval face, I thought that the horizontal ribs would add just enough volume to flatter. I immediately thought of the mill-end skeins of Fibre Company Terra in the stash, the absolute steal of the day at MDSW last Spring. Remember how I almost destroyed their booth while pawing through baskets of their incredibly gorgeous, incredibly expensive yarns for sale dirt cheap, looking for just the right color combination? Neither skein was a full 50g, and I knew I'd need to combine the two to make something. Here was the perfect pattern!

Now I have serious yarn lust for this yarn. It is really spendy, but a sweater of this yarn would be amazing. The colors of this yarn are just incredible, and while I was concerned that it might have just enough hairs to make it itchy against my forehead, this thing is soft and warm and wonderfully cozy. It might just be worth the price.

* sorry, trying to ping*

Warming Up

It's taken me a bit of time (over a week) to get around to posting after our family trip up to see The BackBou's folks in the Mad River Valley. I love Vermont in the winter with the cold temperatures and deep snow (one morning I was up snowshoeing before 7am and it was -1 Fahrenheit!). This state was made for handknit socks. I can only handle it for so long however. I was ready to get home to my blooms in the garden and lighter jackets.

Just before our trip, I realized that I had no really warm hat for R. I dipped into my leftover bin and found tons of O-Wool Classic. Here's what I came up with (sorry the pictures of the hat really aren't very good) ...


Pattern: My own
Yarn: O-Wool Classic
Needles: US 7s
Notes: I made it way too big, tore it out, and made it just a bit too big. When we got home, I washed it and dried it. It shrunk up just perfectly and now it fits and it really, really warm.



These pictures aren't very good, you can't really see the pink stripe in the middle of the green nor the blue ear flaps. I'll try to get a better picture when the temps drop again this week.

It was fun to just put some yarn on the needles without any earthly idea about how it might turn out. Knitting without a pattern is so freeing sometimes. (And for this, I can thank Elizabeth Zimmerman. Reading The Opinionated Knitter has set me free.)

We are very busy these days making calls and sending off emails in order to finalize reservations and rail passes for our June trip to Norway. I've had to come to terms with the fact that this will in no way be a yarn vacation. There is really no wiggle room in our budget or in our luggage since we'll be carting everything on our backs from ferry to train. But maybe I'll be able to pick up some sock yarn or a cool pattern.

Speaking of socks ...

I finished Socks for Veronik on the ride up to Vermont (somewhere around the Merritt Parkway).


Pattern: Socks for Veronik by Mona Schmidt
Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% superwash Merino
Needles: US 1s
Notes: Loved the pattern. Loved the yarn. I've washed and worn these 4 times in the past 2 weeks. I would wear them everyday if I could. I will most certainly buy more of this yarn at MDSW.

And now, back to travel plans and enjoying the gorgeous 70 degree day ...

So Long, Manos!

I have managed to knit up just about all six skeins of Manos that had long lingered in my stash. The final FOs were more successful than the first few.

The Purl Scarf (Ravelry link)

I made this with one skein of Manos and one skein of Douceur et Soie, another longtime languishee in the stash. At first, I questioned even using the Douceur, as they were very similar in color, but the addition of the Douceur added a very subtle sheen to the Manos, as well as a lovely halo. That, and I had no idea what I would do with this ball of yarn, having had it now for four years.

The One-Day Beret

I really did need a warm winter hat. I tried Thorpe, and we all agree that while it might be an excellent hat for a Mongolian, it was not so good on me. I then made Gretel. The slouchy Gretel. And it was wwaaaaaaayyyyy slouchy, as in rastafarian slouchy. Rather than simply rip it back to a more normal size, though, I decided to felt it a bit. This the point that my super-slouchy beret turned into a gigantic head cozy. The felting process caused the ribbing in the brim to lose all elasticity, and well, it was a mess. It was impossible to frog (thank you, felting), so I threw it out. I'm sorry I did not take a photo of it, since all our loyal blog readers truly deserved a picture of this monstrosity, but I just pitched it. Sorry, Gretel, maybe next time.

So I needed to attempt a third hat, and since I really do admire Kirsten's work, and after the personal failure of the Thorpe Hat, I wanted to give another one of her patterns a try. The One Day Beret is a top-down beret recipe, and it is totally customizable to any yarn or gauge. Once you get past those first few rounds, it is really simple and quick knitting. My bind-off ended up being a little loose, so I threaded some elastic in the brim and snugged this up nicely. A smashing success!

Chevalier Mittens

I fell madly in love with Tikru's mittens when I first saw Grace's a few months back. Mine still need a good blocking, but since I've been wearing them every day, I've been unwilling to soak them and wait days for them to dry. They are a little too long than I'd like, but they do keep out the chill on cold mornings. I also made a huge error by knitting these on Addi Lace needles. Pointy needle + single ply yarn + cabling without a cable needle = lots of splitting and poking of the fingers. I could have easily gone upstairs and gotten a blunter needle, but I was lazy. Thus, I deserve the finger poking.

So, instead of making a whole sweater out of this yarn, as was my original intent, I made a ton of warm winter accessories, for me, for Rosebud, and for charity.

What yarns can you set free?

Fear Not!

Fear not fellow knitters, I only had to endure a few short hours with no knitting on the needles. (Breathe deeply Madge, I survived! Never again, never again ...)

So here are some FOs as yet unposted.




Pattern: Hiiumaa Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Trekking pro natura (75% New Wool, 25% bamboo) in 1501 (white) and 1503 (brown)
Needles: US 1s
Notes: It's easier to tote around socks when you are only working from 1 skein of yarn! Well, that was the only excuse I could come up with for not knitting these quickly. They were the BackBou's Xmas present which I am happy to report he loves. One minor complaint is that they slouch a bit much for him (I like the slouch myself). Maybe some ribbing changes and calf shaping would have helped with that.


Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts from The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Yarn: Valknitz (55% mohair, 45% wool)
Needles: US 5s
Notes: Quick and easy. When I'm not wearing these, the BackBou is. I'm planning on making some for the girls as well. I get compliments on these constantly. The yarn is really beautiful and warm. Our new Sunday activity is ice skating and these keep me warm while still allowing me to lace up the skates.


Pattern: Syncopated Caps from Interweave Knits (Summer 2007) by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co., natural white and magenta variegated
Needles: US 2s
Notes: I intended this to be for myself, but I noticed early on that my gauge was (duh) incredibly different in the colorwork and in the round. So I didn't stop (because that would have been prudent and sensible) but thought, "oh hecko, it's sure to fit someone ..." And so it does. R now has a new hat! This pattern rocks -- I loved knitting it and could barely put it down.



I am going to the yarn store today to buy another colorway to go with my remaining white so that I can have one as well! What can I say about this yarn other than every knitter should have some in the stash or on the needles.

And I will encourage, by force if necessary, Liz and Mo to pick some up when we see each other this Sunday. That's right! An XRK summit in Richmond! Huzzah!