The Effect of Knitting Different Stitches

If you've ever purchase a Miss Babs Yowza skein, you know that this skein of yarn is GINORMOUS....

560 yards of yarn!

The above is a photo of a different colorway of a skein of YOWZA, but you get idea of size (each square of the grid is 1x1 inches).

I made a hat for myself....

....And there was a ton of it left over. I decided to use a herringbone stitch to make myself a cowl. I wanted to use as much of the yarn as I could before I got too bored or it got too big to use. I ended up using Purl Soho's Big Herringbone Cowl. (I made one previously, but it was much too thin for my liking!)

The pattern is fairly easy to follow, but does require that you pay a bit of attention to it. It is not quite extreme lace knitting, but it's not mindless knitting either. I continued knitting on this hat until I felt it was big enough to use comfortably.

It ended up being the same height as my hat.

One of the things I love about knitting is that you get different variations of color simply by using slightly different stitches.

It's close enough that it matches in color and tone, but isn't exactly the same as my hat.  And the best part about this stitch is that it's almost as thick as double knitting and gives you a nice thick fabric.


It kept me warm when walking about downtown Seattle for Emerald City ComiCon! Plus, I still have quite a bit enough of it left over to use for maybe a pair of fingerless gloves.

Pussy Cat, Pussy Hat, I love You.

As part of the podcast, we encourage folks to do a bit of #craftivism by helping their local charities with things they make -- Afghans for Afghans, Knitters for Peace, 20,000 Tukes -- as well as supporting worth charities.

This time around, we're supporting Women and getting our voices heard to support Women's Rights, which include, but isn't limited to our reproductive rights, equal pay, equal treatment. So, I've been knitting a few hats using the KitKat Hat pattern.

Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza, Funny papers

Yarn: Cascade 220 - Pink and Heathered Purple

 

Sammy is not amused. "This doesn't look like a cat!" 

Yarn: Katmandu Chunky

I've got one more left to be knit using the colorway, NASTY WOMAN, by White Birch Fiber arts. I'm pretty sure I'll have it completed before this Saturday.

And just because I'm a geek....

 

Designed by Hayley Gilmore

Can be found at: http://ladieswhodesign.com/protest-posters/

Target Archery Beanie

I haven't posted much about my archery but rest assured that I'm still flinging arrows at various targets.

Over the summer and fall, I was outside target and field archery. It was a blast. This is a typical target face, and each ring represents a score.

White = 1, 2 points. Black = 3, 4 pts. Blue =5&6 pts. Yellow = 7,8 pts. Yellow = 9, 10 points. 

The inner most yellow is also an X or a Bullseye.

(Bigger 120 cm targets are used when you're at least 60 yards away)

Now that winter is here, I've moved to indoor archery, and surprisingly, it's pretty darn cold in those indoor ranges because they are usually large drafty warehouses with very little insulation. So I decided to make myself some archery related gear, including this archery beanie.

When I'm outdoors, I typically wear a hat with a brim to act as shade from the sun. Indoors, I don't have to worry about the sun, but just keeping my head warm.

It looks like a target face, except for the arrows.....

I made some minor modifications to the pattern. The pattern used a lot of white (the 1&2 rings), but I am not particularly fond of white clothing, so I just opted to use a lot more black (the 3&4 rings)

This project was a great stash-buster because I had all of the colors in my stash from previous projects. All of the yarns that I used are Cascade 220!

Viking Wants Knitted Hats

Normally, my Viking isn't too big on knit items, because he runs very warm, so making warm things for him doesn't quite work. On occasion, he has asked for hats, but they've been usually novelty hats, like his Viking Helm or Blinky the Fish (from the Simpsons).

However, the weather around here has been dipping into the low 30 (deg F) and he generally walks to the train station, so he's asked for a few 'regular' hats that he can wear to work. I was only too happy to oblige! I love knitting hats as they are a quick easy knit and I can swap between socks and hats for work knitting.

We went through my stash and he picked out a few colorways that seemed appropriate for work and we went through Ravelry to look at various hat patterns. He picked the ones he liked, and I started working on hats for him. He has a 23" head, so I have to up-size every hat so that it fits him properly.

The first hat was made out of Madeline Tosh DK. It's a scrumptious yarn and the varigated blue matches his eyes. I used the Koolhaas pattern by Jared Flood.

 

The second hat is using leftovers of Cascade Greenland yarn (discontinued) that I had left over from other projects. He wanted the green to dominate. I used the Turn a Square hat pattern, also by Jared Flood.

Luckily, hats are a fairly quick knit, plus, I'm tickled that he wants them. He's worn both on multiple occasions now, because the weather has turned rather cold in the mornings. I've got more in the queue for him, but I'm running out of his preferred colors; apparently, his favorite colors differ from mine! So I'll have to pick up more yarn just for him when Stitches comes around.

Finished Objects for 2016

Knitting-wise, 2016 has gotten off to a great start. I've finished a bunch of projects this January alone. Of course, I've also had a bit of start-itis, so finishing these projects is a good thing. Surprisingly, all of my knitting has been gift-knitting thus far.

It's an unusual occurrence for me, but my recipients have been pretty happy.

Cutting off a Few Heads -- Finished Objects

I finally got a few heads off my Hydra Project cut-off, in terms of finished objects.
First up! The Viking Hat that I had promised for a dear friend.

Then I finished up the tabi socks that had been languishing in my project basket.

It feels good to get things finished. Now, onto the rest of the heads!

Gift Crafting for 2015

My gift knitting is usually pretty sparse and limited to extremely close friends & family who are "knit-worthy" and whom I know will use their hand-made gifts. And I spread them out throughout the year as in-between projects.

However, this past month, it seems that I have been gift knitting a lot as a form of procrastination on my existing larger projects (two sweaters and a shawl).

First, I made a hat for a dear friend who is going to be spending a summer internship on a boat doing marine geology.  Consequently, I had to knit her a Jacques Cousteau hat! As she was slated to go out on the boat in June, I had to finish before she packed up and moved!

When she received it, she immediately sent me a text telling me she loved it and that it had been a big picker-upper for her as she is bogged down with school, finals, and the ilk. That made me feel good.

For another, a friend whom I've known for more years than I care to count was going to have a baby. I'm normally not one for knitting baby things, but I found one that was cute and (supposedly) a quick knit. It was definitely "cute", but not necessarily a quick knit for a variety of reasons  --- including not being able to count and running out of yarn, which was discontinued and having to scour the internets for another skein...which luckily I found. But, it got done. The baby is due in June, so it also had to get done relatively quickly.

I also found some cute dog buttons. Both parents are very dog-friendly, and the baby's older brother is a wonderful dog named Hank.

For them, I also found an almost-completed pieced quilt. It had been pieced together, but not quilted together. It was about the size of a baby blanket or mat.

 I took it home and (badly) quilted it together.

And the not-last project that I'm currently working on are holiday gifts. My BIL is a big San Diego Chargers fan, so I'm knitting up Charger themed hats for him as he loves knitted hats (and he is one of those people for whom buying gifts is difficult).

I've also got one more gift project on the needles, but since I'm not quite done with it yet, and the recipient might be reading this blog, I'll not mention it quite yet. :-)

Making a Jacques Cousteau Hat

A dear friend of mine told me that for the summer, she was going to be spending it on a boat doing marine geology. As she is a close friend, I offered to make her the iconic Jacques Cousteau red hat.She loved the idea, so I set about making one for her.

Luckily, there is a pattern on Ravelry --- everything is on Ravelry.

It's a pretty straight-forward pattern, and a lot of folks have made it with a lots of modifications, so it was just a matter of finding what would work for me.

For this hat, I cast on: 110 stitches, for a 22" head. My gauge is 6 stitches in 3x2 rib over 1" (ribbing is relaxed & not stretched out). I wanted it to fit over all of her hair.

I probably could have gone down to 100 stitches without issue given this gauge. The hat fits even with all my hair down. For a guy with close-cut hair, I think 100 would be just fine.

It worked up pretty well. I really liked the decreases.

I made it long enough so I could have a two inch brim.

Overall, a most excellent hat pattern. Now, I just have to mail it off to her.

Making Bucket Hats for Archery

I'm having fun with archery and am progressing slowly.

 

(Bare bow @ 30 yards)

But as the weather is turning much nicer, I've been having a problem with the sun shining in my eyes.

I tried to wear sunglasses while shooting, but the pair that I have don't work (the bow string catches the edge of the glasses and they fly off). I also tried wearing a baseball cap, but the bill interferes with my bow draw.

So, I looked online to see if I could figure out how other archers were dealing with this problem. And the answer?

(Image from The Telegraph)

 BUCKET HATS!

The soft brim can be folded back to prevent interference with the drawing of the bow and still keep the sun out of your eyes. Luckily, I can wear hats and still look good, even if the hat is a bit dorky.

Now, a normal person would just buy a bucket hat, but noooo. I decided that it'd be awesome if I made some bucket hats out of my Doctor Who fabrics.

If I was going to look dorky on the range, I was going to get my GEEK ON. I looked online and found several free patterns for bucket hats, and proceeded to make mockups, and then test versions of reversible bucket hats.

There were tweaks to the patterns -- as most patterns I found were for children sizes, so I had to scale up from a child to an adult size. Luckily, head sizes don't need much shaping so it was just a matter of math. I took my scrap fabrics from other projects and made myself a couple of test hats once I had the pattern figured out.

A head form makes things easier when assembling a hat. It's not necessary. I had forgotten about the head form until I started making this hat with the cat fabric, which made assembly so much easier.

The hats are completely reversible. Now, I just have to get the actual Doctor Who fabric sorted. I'll take more in-progress photos for the next round of hats.

Viking Helm for a Viking

It is very difficult to buy gifts for my Viking. This holiday season was no exception. Usually, I ask him flat out what he wanted. This year, he wanted a knitted Viking helm, complete with horns (even though he knows it's not quite historically accurate), but it is quite stereo typical.

We looked through Ravelry and he pointed out what he liked, what he didn't like, and what colors he wanted. I decided to use one Ravelry pattern as the base, making some modifications to it. I picked up some Cascade 220 in the approximate colors he wanted, and got to work.

My plan of attack was to a) knit up a beanie hat; b) knit the band separately; c) crochet the horns to make it denser than knitted fabric. So, here are my modifications to this pattern:

1. Using SILVER GRAY YARN, do a provisional cast on for 96 stitches and knit the rivet band 
• Moss stitch 4 rows
• Knit 4 rows
• *K7,  make bobble*  - repeat to end
• Knit 4 rows
• Moss stitch 4 rows
2. Using DARK GRAY yarn, then knit until the same height as the band. Fold this band over to make a thick "head" band.
   
3.  Slip 11 SG yarn onto waste yarn. 
4. Knit 1 DG + 1SG together to form one stitch for 37 stitches (96 - 22 = 74 / 2 = 37) 
5. Place 11 silver gray stitches on waste yarn, and knit 1 DG + 1SG together for 37 stitches. You end up with something like this:
   
6. Knit hat in dark gray for 5.5" from brim. Then start decreases. 
7. Pick up the 11 front stitches and knit band separately until it is the length of the hat. 
   • Row 1: p1, k1, p1 k5, p1, k1, p1
   • Row 2: k1, p1, k1 k5, k1, p1, k1
   • Bobble Row: Every 9 rows, insert a bobble in the middle of the bobble band ---- (moss stitch) k2, mB, k2, (moss stitch)
8. Kitchener stitch the band to the back 11 stitches. 
9. Sew down the edges band as desired. You get the following looking beanie.

Once the hat was finished, I wanted to crochet the horns. I found a pattern on Ravelry, but it was poorly written, so after MUCH frustration, I decided to make my own (which I'll post later). I also knitted a moss-stitch grey band around the bottom of the horn, to simulate how it might be attached to the actual helmet.

The Viking also wanted a "broken" horn, so I made that as well.

Then it was a matter of sewing it onto the hat.

Making Gifts Makes Me Happy

I couldn't post about this knitting project until I could give it to the recipient, as I know she sometimes reads my blog. (It's the price of having a public blog!)

A dear friend is a big baseball fan and loves the San Francisco Giants. Earlier in the year, she mentioned wanting a hat in the team colors. (I had given her a red & black striped hat last year). I tried to look for a variegated orange/black combination but to absolutely no avail. So I opted to just create another striped hat instead.

I picked up some black Cascade 220 superwash and orange Cascade Pure Alpaca. It's a pretty warm and soft combination.

The pattern is the Elizabeth Zimmerman "tam-o-shanter" hat with a few modifications. The stripes are made using a odd-number progression (7-5-3-3) and a jogless jog. (In this photo, it hasn't been blocked, but I love the star effect.)

 

And to save a bit of wrapping (and to double as a re-useable gift bag or ditty bag), I also made this project bag for her. She loves sugar skulls and when I saw this fabric, I knew it was for her.

When I gave it to her, she danced around the room, singing "I got my Giant's hat...I got my Giant's hat....." She also loved the bag and had plans for it.

It makes me happy when a gift is well received by someone who I know will get plenty of use out of the item.

Tiara Hat for a Friend

Last year, I gave a good friend a gift certificate for any small knitted item of her choosing. After some contemplation, she decided on a tiara hat. I did a search on Ravelry, and found a lot of knitted tiaras, but not specifically a hat. I eventually found two that met the criteria:

• A reversible tiara hat 
• Frigging Princess

She settled on Frigging Princess, and the colors, which were black & white. Since she's a person of some sparkle, I found a new yarn from Cascade called, Hollywood, which has flashes of angelina or some such in the yarn. It's very sparkly. She mentioned wanting to add beads to it afterwards, so I hope that the sparkly yarn meets with her approval.

The hat, itself, was pretty easy to knit, although I did have to learn a bit of intarsia in the round. It was a bit fiddly at first, but I got the hang of it relatively quickly.

Hats Hats Hats

I've been on a slight hat kick lately.

My Coach Yeti's hat

Gray & Green Scrap Hat --- made with left over green & grey yarn from a variety of projects. Apparently, I've been buying more apple / acid green yarns

An EZ Tam (based on the Elizabeth Zimmerman tam instructions)

A Noro Stocking Cap (although, I did finish this at the tail end of 2011)