Felted Toddler Hat

I am one of those people who hates to throw anything craft-related away. But I might need that last little bit of yarn later for something. I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem. So I really liked the idea of this small felted hat to use up the last of 3(!) skeins of yarn.

Pattern: Toddler Felt Hat by Lucy Lee
Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton and Cascade 220
Needles: US 8s/5.0mm

I noticed a few of these on Ravelry seemed a little shallow, but not all of them. So I went with the length as described, but in retrospect I wish it had been a little deeper before I felted it. Still super cute though!

Illusion Knitting

So in addition to bobble-knitting, we were also challenged to try illusion knitting, something else I had never tried. I have had the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf in my queue for ages, but as I am not a huge scarf-knitter I wasn't quite up to doing that as my first illusion knitting project.

But I found the perfect project to try this technique out with. From the top it doesn't look like all that much:

When seen from an angle, though, the symbol for the Deathly Hallows appears:

Pattern: Deathly Hallows Illusion Cloth (free Ravelry download) by Jenn Bragg
Yarn: mystery sport weight yarn
Needles: US 3/3.25mm

I am not sure this is a technique I would be super-excited to do in a large scale way, but it was pretty neat to see the image appear.

Birthday Giveaway '09

Just like last year and the year prior, I am giving away presents for my birthday. To participate please leave a comment before the end of the month. While you are at it, think about giving me a great tip for packing/moving. (Not required, but we will need them before too long.)

This year there are again 3 prizes: a skein of Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel sock yarn in an exclusive sock club color from last year, a copy of Naughty Needles, and a copy of Vegan Lunch Box. I know the last may not be to everyone's interest, but I bought two copies of it specifically to give one away and keep the other. Even if you are not a vegetarian or vegan, this ideas are really awesome for packing lunches (especially for kids, but for grownups too) that you don't have to worry so much about. If you know you would not like this book leave a note in your comment. Otherwise the rules are the same as always:

I will be drawing 3 names, and there will be 3 winners. International readers are welcome to participate, as I am willing to ship internationally. Good luck!

A Wooly Beginning

Remember way back when I had just made a wedding afghan for one of my brothers and I mentioned that I had two brothers getting married this year? Well, I hadn't posted about it yet here, but I have started the second wedding afghan.

The trick was that I knew that I would have to work on it all summer, so I needed a pattern that I could do in small pieces to avoid a giant wool blanket on my lap when it was hot outside. And the modular nature means that I can keep going until I pretty much run out of wool.


So I ended up going with the Cross Your Heart blanket from Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers in some Ella Rae Classic, whose color will hopefully still make this pattern acceptable for my brother. Hey, weddings are about love! Hearts work, right?

Hayfever

This has been a terrible season for pollen allergies, so this past week of rain has been welcome for Salvbard, who is a pollen-sufferer. I was a little disappointed by how this yarn spun up color-wise, but I teased that it was pollen-colored, just like everything else outside.

Fiber: 4 oz merino
Yards: ~120
Weight: worsted - bulky
Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns

I had tried separating this roving into strips to make the colors blend less, but I had so little success that I ended up just doing this as a two ply. I am a little embarrassed by how long this has been on the wheel. I just reached a point where I just couldn't get excited about finishing it.

The end result is a very soft yellow yarn that makes me think of baby things, except that this would be handwash only. Anyone out there got any good ideas of what to do with it?

Droplet Hat

On of my knitting communities had a challenge this month to knit something with bobbles. Well, I have never done them before, but I can't say that I ever desperately had the urge to do so either. Doing a Ravelry pattern search through my library, though I found a few ideas. (Seriously, what did we do before Ravelry. Look through our own books and magazines? Crazy talk!)

Ultimately I settled on a pattern from Knitting Nature. Holy crow, that means I have now knit two patterns from this book, I thought would only be for inspiration.

Pattern: Droplet Hat by Norah Gaughan
Pattern Source: Knitting Nature
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted in color 157
Supplier: Webs
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm

My major modification was to take out the seam stitches and knit it in the round. Not only did that make it a little easier, but even in the pictures in the book, the seam is quite visible and in my opinion slightly unsightly.

I know many people complained that this hat is a little shallow (including on the model in the book, though they hide it by having her hair over her ears), but I have a small head, and found it to be an okay depth. If I did want to add more depth though, it would be important to do it before the decreases, which are so elegantly hidden in the patterning at the top.

I love the concept behind this hat, which is based on droplets running down ann inclined surface. As far as a verdict on the bobbles themselves, though, I am still not crazy about the look of them. They were moderately entertaining to knit, though, at least with Norah Gaughan's no-turn version.

What? Another Hat?

I love the double layer of warmth over the ears of a double knit hat, but honestly double knitting isn't my favorite way to knit. So enter this solution:

Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton in pine and light grey
Supplier: Webs
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm

I did a crocheted provisional cast-on of the number of stitches based on the Basic Hat Pattern by Ann Budd in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Then I knit the double layer (with purled turning roll, picking out the provisional cast on to knit together with the live stitches. Such a simple idea, but I love this hat! Too bad it is already promised to someone. I will have to make another like it for myself.

Doubly Slytherin

Hat-making continues apace. Next is a reversible double knit hat. I actually finished this at Leakycon as well, but I am a bit behind in my blogging.

Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton in pine and light grey
Supplier: Webs

I cast-on the number of stitches based on the Basic Hat Pattern by Ann Budd in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, but otherwise I just did my own thing.

I had promised a friend to make them a nice warm hat in Slytherin colors, and now seemed to be the time. I will just hold onto it until the weather cools off again before gifting it. Non-knitters don't always appreciate gifts of wool during the summer... go figure.