Headresses + Hats with Horns

At my work, we all doodle toward the end of our meetings while we're chatting. As Mike stated when I showed him this, "That's one hell of a work doodle." It's like knitting while talking, I was definitely paying attention, just moving my hand around. Can you tell that subconciously I must want a headress and Viking type helmut with horns. The funny thing is that I've drawn headresses before, and didn't realize that I went home and braided my hair to match the drawing (minus the horns) until Mike pointed it out.

My Swedish "brother" is coming to visit next summer for our wedding. I may get my hands on one of these helmets after all!



We've finally gotten some colors picked as inspiration for our nuptuals next year. It's a jumping off point, we'll see how it pans out. I hate matchy matchy, but love a broad spectrum of colors. My limited selection is half a rainbow. I know this says something about myself...

'

I'll have to get some type of sweet treat tonight. After all, it is my birthday! However I have my first committee meeting tonight for something I'm looking forward to, and didn't want to miss it. Believe it or not, volunteer work in my field has been hard to find! Cake with three types of sprinkles to follow on Saturday.

Purple Cables

We had a cold spell in February. After the tenth time walking to work freezing my head off in a thinly knit hat (Rowan Felted Tweed), I attempted to rectify this situation.

This purple chunky yarn was meant to be a purse a long time ago. One of those cute baguette clutches with huge cables and some type of velvet/sequin/tulle/extranneous embellishment that yours truly would have rigged up. It had been sitting in my sewing basket 85% completed for about four years now. I pulled it out (which was harder than it sounds, since I hadn't yet learned to seam correctly, and had knotted the bejesus out of it...) and whipped up this slouchy hat for myself.

Ahhhh. Warmth. Cozy. And huge!

I think I love it. (Wink wink)

In non-knitting news, I read The Soloist yesterday. I visited the Philadelphia Free Library to pick up books and kill time since I misplaced my housekeys (hopefully inside!) and had to wait for Mike to get home. The Soloist happens to be the book that they've selected for One Book, One Philadelphia this year. I had been meaning to read it, but had an extra incentive since the author is visiting next Wednesday for a discussion and concert with the Black Pearl Orchestra. The book was quick and the true story touched my heart. I found myself finishing it in one sitting (instead of finishing my taxes I might add...) It also reminded me how lucky I am.

If anyone wants to go to to the concert and discussion next week, just let me know!

Pi Topper Chemo Cap

A sweet friend of mine is going through chemotherapy. It's going to be tough, but she has an excellent prognosis and a positive outlook.



Instead of flowers, I sent my friend a hat. Her hair was falling out, and she said, "Screw it!" and got a buzz cut. I'm really proud of her. Mind you, this is a woman who always kept a hairdryer in her car "just in case".



This pattern is special because it was created by someone who understands this experience firsthand. The designer, Corey Laflamme, wanted it to be comfortable, cozy and have a slight pouf at the top to hint at hair underneath. See below? That shaping is not my ultra-flat hair!



I used Rowan Calmer which is cotton and nylon, and good for sensitive skin. I didn't think I'd like it, but it's perfect for hats.

I guess I got her a flower after all. How adorable is that button?



Here's one last shot from the front for -- err, scientific purposes.



As if you didn't already knew I was a ham for the camera, right?

Tweedy Tam

I had a ball of Rowan Felted Tweed leftover from my Tyrolean sweater, since I decided not to do the embroidery. It was just the perfect amount for a new hat.

I found a free pattern on Ravelry, called Tweedy Tam by Lydia McNeil. It is such a quick, easy and adorable pattern, I highly recommend it. This tam was finished in under a week.

I wove a doubled strand of thin black elastic on the inside edge. It makes the hat stay on perfectly, and is comfortable even if I put all my hair into the hat.

I decreased the top a bit earlier th an the pattern called for, since I don't like when hats look like teats. (Sorry, I'm from South Florida, we're boob obsessed).

If I were to do it over, I would make it larger. That's not necessarily the patterns fault, though. I don't think I increased enough stitches, and didn't pay attention to the gauge. Please note, the pattern is written well, any mistakes are my fault!

I'm already thinking of making another one with my felted tweed yarn in blue...

Illustration Friday: Hats

Illustration Friday is my new favorite thing. There are such talented people on the IF Flickr pool, it is quite inspiring.



I love hats, I've always enjoyed wearing them. Some think they don't look good in hats, but I think it's just a matter of confidence. "Fake it until you make it" is my motto for hat-wearing.

I didn't have too much time, so picked five hats I thought would be fun to draw. The first is a red waterpolo goalie cap, which was my 'uniform' when I used to play, along with 2 square feet of spandex. That's probably the least flattering cap anyone could wear.

The other four obviously show my subconcious desires to wear outrageous headresses, vintage hats and be royalty, save the brown cloche. That's just cute.

Oh, and speaking of cute, I made a third pair of Saartje's Bootees for a woman at work. She pleaded and begged, and paid for the yarn. It was a treat to work with Koigu Kersti and that adorable pattern again, even at the laundromat.



Enjoy your weekend, everyone! I'm ditching Mike to go on a roadtrip with gal pals which I'll tell you about next week.

Bus Projects and Yarn Cakes

I am quite enamored with this Colinette Jitterbug Yarn. How can you not fall in love with it? Look at those colors! (Keeping in mind this is a night picture, no less!)



When I brought it home, I had to stage this little picture. Whenever I have a skein that has been wound, I think it looks like a little cake.



I want to create a hat that I can put all of my hair into and wear low on my head. Mike said, "like a Rastafarian hat?"



To which I said, "No.......errr. Wellllll....kinda..Yes."

The yarn is great. It is springy, stretchy, and the fabric has an excellent drape. However, I'm not enamored with the pooling of the colors.

The informal poll I had my friends take think it's fine, but I think it looks better as a yarncake. Or socks. I looked at their website and they offer patterns for this yarn in sweaters and larger scale items. I wondered if the colors would pool more nicely in a pair of socks, but I do not want to take something out to start something again. After all, this is supposed to be a quick "bus project".

When I wake up early enough to make coffee, I'll read my book or Newsweek if my magazines ever return from black hole which is my local post office. Currently, I'm trying to finish Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I'm enjoying the humor and insanity, and I can balance the book and my coffee easily.



If I don't make any coffee, I'll work on my hat. I think I just want to finish the hat and make some tiny mitts before summer hits. The yarn is that lovely to work with. And I'm sure Yossarian would think I was insane for worrying about that, when he is trying not to get killed in combat.

I have one last thing to tell you. Mike picked up the few pieces of mail that arrived. He opens his package, blanches and groans, "Oh no!" I assumed it was a student loan bill. Oh no. It was his new license plate.



I think I love Pennsylvania after all.

Heroes, Smarty Pants and Urchins

I could not resist posting one more photo from the aquarium. This sea urchin and these fish were amazing. There was no movement at all. They were just posing as if in a fashion shoot for couture.



When I was young, I wanted to be a marine biologist, just like my hero, Eugenie Clark, aka "The Shark Lady". I literally read this book fifteen times. One of these days, I'll pick up my own copy.

My parents always stressed that I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, where that was an astronaut, a shark lady or an architect. I love that they taught us to be independent and dream big.

The two friends that I knitted for this month are intelligent, brave and fun as hell. That was the only unified theme I could figure out for this random post.

I got some knitting done on the car ride from Philly to Baltimore. As you can see, I couldn't resist wearing the finished mitt, but will be happy to give them to my friend Kathy, who needs some warmth.

Lastly, I got to give the Brainy Beanie to my best girl, Heather. What a happy recipient of this hat. Heather passed the knitting gift test and will be getting more presents in the future. Is it just me, or does she break the stereotype of the typical electrical engineer?

Brainy Beanie

This will be called the Brainy Beanie after it's new owner, Heather, who just happens to be an electrical engineer. I made it extra big to fit her large brain. Hope you like it, Heath!

Pretty yarn for Heather's hat. Diarufuran to be knit on size 7 Lantern Moon double point needles in rosewood (to replace these awful metal ones below).



Thanksgiving progress. Loving knitting with this yarn, it will probably pill...but the fabric is gorgeous and quick to knit up.

Detail for some eye candy.



Sad face when I finished Heather's hat and realized it was just a tad small. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. So I took it to knitting circle and ripped it out there. I only lost the top portion of the hat, but actually enjoyed knitting with the fabric again. I told you this is a joy to work with.



Progress! Don't you love the striping? I actually took this picture to document at what length I need to start decreasing. Although I have a pretty big head, I have the tendency to make my hats too small. So now I know to knit until it feels uncomfortably long, and that's the right point.



Happy face that the hat is now the proper size. Although it doesn't look that much bigger, it made a huge difference. The hat is quite stretchy, but doesn't feel like it will fall off now.



Leftover yarn from the one skein! that was needed to knit this hat. I've already started a log cabin blanket with this lovely scrap.

Cable Knit Vanilla Beanie

This is called the Vanilla Beanie because like one of my favorite spices, sometimes seemingly simple things are under-rated, but do the job just as well.



This is a quick knit that makes a simple gift look real snazzy. Non-knitters are always impressed with cables and alternating colors, so wipe your brow and act gracious when the compliments come in, even though we know the truth! Feel free to knit the hat in one color, and just do the cable rows at a regular increment (I did every 7 rows).

If you haven't tried cables before, you won't believe how easy they are. Click here for some online pictures, or refer to your favorite knitting book for help.

NOTE: I wrote this up to the best of my knowledge, and hopefully it should be free of error. If you have any problems, please email me at vanilla (dot) beanie (at) gmail (dot) com.

Cable Knit Vanilla Beanie Pattern

Finished size:
One size fits most. Approximately 22" circumference slightly stretched.

Materials:
• A: GGH Bel Air (90% extra fine merino wool, 10% polyimide worsted; 50g - 142yds), 1 skein #20 Olive

• B: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (55% merino wool, 33% micro fiber, 12% cashmere; 50g - 100yds), 1 skein Light Blue

• C: GGH Bel Air (90% extra fine merino wool, 10% polyimide worsted; 50g -142yds), 1 skein #15 Black

• US 7 (4.5mm) double pointed knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge

• Cable needle, or learn to cable without a needle!

Gauge:
20sts and 32 rows = 4" in k4, p4 pattern slightly stretched with right cable twist

Notes:
This hat alternates between k4 and p4. In order for the purled rows and the knitted rows to alternate evenly, the number of stitches has to be divisible by 4 and evenly divisible by 2. To make the hat looser or snugger, add or subtract in increments of 8.

4-st cable: Slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, hold at back of work, knit next 2 stitches; knit 2 stitches from cable needle. Complete!

Directions:
With color A, cast-on 112 stitches. Join stitches in the round being careful not to twist them. Place a marker to mark the beginning of each round if you wish.

Row 1, 2, 3: *K4, p4; rep from* to end of round. This will be a 4x4 rib stitch.

Row 4: *Make 4-stitch cable, p4; repeat from* to end of round.

Row 5, 6, 7: *K4, p4; rep from* to end of round.

Row 8: Switch to color B.

Repeat rows 1-7 with B.

Row 8: Switch to color C.

Repeat rows 1-7 with C.

Row 8: switch to color A.

Repeat rows 1-8 until hat is desired length before you would like to shape the crown. My hat was about 6" when I started to decrease and I had switched colors 6 times.

Start shaping crown:

Note: When knitting the 2 stitches together, you will be decreasing the number of purled stitches, while always maintaining 4 knitted stitches. You will knit a purl stitch together with a knit stitch for the k2tog.

Row 1: *K3, k2tog, p3, k4, p4; repeat from* to end of round. 105 stitches remain.

Row 2: *K4, p3, k4, p4; repeat from* to end of round. (You should be knitting the knits and purling the purls).

Row 3: *K4, p3, k3, k2tog, p3; repeat from* to end of round. All purl rows should only have 3 stitches, all knit rows 4 stitches. 98 stitches remain.

Row 4: *Make 4-stitch cable, p3; repeat from* to end of round.

Row 5: *K3, k2tog, p2, k4, p3; repeat from* to end of round. 91 stitches remain.

Row 6: *K4, p2, k4, p3; repeat from* to end of round.

Row 7: *K4, p2, k3, k2tog, p2; repeat from* to end of round. 84 stitches remain.

Row 8: Switch to next color. *K4, p2; repeat from* to end of round.

Row 9: *K4, p2tog, k4, p2; repeat from* to end of round. 77 stitches remain.

Row 10: *K4, p1, k4, p2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 70 stitches remain.

Row 11: *K4, k2tog; repeat from* to end of round. (You will knit the last few stitches because there are not 6 left to k4, k2tog). 59 stitches remain.

Row 12: *K3, k2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 48 stitches remain.

Row 13: *K2, k2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 36 stitches remain.

Row 14: *K1, k2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 24 stitches remain.

Row 15: *K2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 12 stitches remain.

Row 16: *k2tog; repeat from* to end of round. 6 stitches remain.

Finishing:

Break off the yarn leaving a 12" tail. Using a yarn needle, thread through the last 6 live stitches and pull them together tightly. Secure and weave tail through the inside of hat.

Happy Belated Birthday, Brooke!

The cable knit beanie for Brooke was finished last week. Only 2 months after her birthday, but better late than never. And it being handmade and to her specifications will add brownie points for me!



This hat was very easy to knit, and prompted me to finally spend $2 on a cable needle. They really are worth it, and the money is earned back in one measly row!

I will be hand delivering this goodie when I fly down to Ft. Lauderdale in two weekends.

More details on this hat can be found here. If you're interested in the pattern, email me, and I'll write it up for you.



I'd also like to extend thanks to myself for volunteering to model this lovely hat.

Andrew's Ugly Camo Hat

This is a picture of my brother, Andrew, and my best friend, Brooke. Who is not my real sister, but my mom's favorite daughter!



I keep a knitting journal. That is one of my hobbies...keeping too many journals for lists, and specific things. It is out of control, but that's for another day.

I started a knitting journal to write about how I started knitting, projects I had done, people I had taught to knit, and a place to reflect on life lessons learned. Yes! All from knitting. It can certainly be a metaphor for life, if you didn't already know.

At knitting circle tonight we were discussing siblings and only children. My friend, Sherry , who is an only child, seemed alarmed how siblings really try to hurt each other. I laughed and told her that hurting each other was part of the fun! By the way, I'm glad that everyone seemed to prefer whatever they were, a sister, or an only child.

So in honor of the brother that I have bitten, pinched, hit with the middle seatbelt, dressed up in a tutu to walk around the block, and embarrassed over the years, I'm going to tell you why he is my favorite recipient of a knitted gift. Oh, and this is a brother who punched me in the eye on Thanksgiving while I was wearing glasses and drew blood.

From my journal:
...my beloved brother died last December 16th, 2005. It has shaken my world and at the same time made me feel closer to him. Besides being one of my all time favorite people, he was the most enthusiastic recipient of any knitted gift I have ever made for someone.

Probably three or four years ago--(it was the Christmas I couldn't go home to Florida and was in Indiana with Mike's family), I wanted to make him something special to show him how much I loved him. So I knit him a beanie in 2x2 ribs with awful Red Heart camouflage acrylic yarn from the Stitch N' Bitch book.

It was knit well, but a little small. When I gave it to him, he loved it and wore it all the time. Until the time when he died. (About three years non-stop). It was smelly and stretched out, reeked of smoke and hair oil, and it was very loved.

He wore it in the summer, winter, spring and fall. In Florida, no less. He wore it while brushing his teeth, walking to the bus stop, and to sleep, so that his unruly hair would be more manageable in the morning. I guess I could have told him that he could have washed it. (We're talking about crunchy Red Heart acrylic yarn here!)

My brother died in December. I found the hat in his room and it still smelled like him. I held it to my face and bawled. My mom asked if I wanted to keep it, but I didn't want to. I wanted to keep the best loved hat with my best loved brother. It was to be mixed with his ashes and they would return to the Earth together.

Somehow the hat was not put in the pile. I think my mom could not bear to part with it either. The smell is now gone, but not the memories and love.

"Bobble Bobble" --Marissa the Turkey

This is a hat that I made last Thanksgiving (2005) with individual bobbles every few stitches. Each bobble had a bobbin and a separate strand of yarn. I'm sure I could have found an easier way to do this, but the hat looks great and is very fun to wear.



It was inspired by a friend's grand-daughter who has a delightful little beanie with polka dots in different colors. It thought bobbles would be more fun and would brighten up gloomy winter days...

This hat was knit on a road trip to Bloomington, Indiana for Turkey Day. I sat shotgun of my own car and used the glovebox as my "studio". My boyfriend, Mike and friend Dave have a wonderful appreciation for knitting after seeing the horror of intarsia and bobbles that transpired on I-70.



This is an old picture, I don't know where my arms are, I am not pushing out my chest even though it looks like that...I don't have a close-up of the hat, and last but not least: I made this hat up as I went and don't know what yarns I used. But I'm a very irresponsible knitter, perhaps that will change soon.

Post edited to include picture of 'Bubble Gum Hat'. And coincidentally, my neck looks like a turkey's in this picture...