Or, hello, my new Escheresque is finished:
So warm and toasty, I think this hat will be making a few trips up to the ski cabin. The fit is snug, and the thick cabled brim covers my ears up nicely. I can’t wait to try it out in some serious cold.
brimmed!
Lots of cables and hot pink this weekend:
I made it around the cabled brim on my new Escheresque, so now it’s time to pick up stitches and do some (relatively) mindless stockinette. Although we haven’t really had a very dull or grey winter here at all, I’m still loving the bright pink as a contrast to the feel of winter, it seems to have a rather infectious spirit of warmth and cheeriness about it. The perfect antidote to a neutral winter wardrobe!
Posted in accessories, cables, colorwork
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hat tricks
This week it’s all about cables. And quick projects–I’ve started two, good thing there were no New Year’s resolutions about project monogamy. First, a hat to coordinate with the scarf I finished up in December:
You may recall that the scarf featured a reversible cable. The hat does not. Why? Well, you rarely have to worry about the wrong side of your hat showing, for one. For two, reversible cabling does bulk up the finished fabric, and while that’s great for a scarf, I was concerned it might be a bit too much for a hat. So, this hat features a cable motif that is similar to the scarf, but not exactly the same. Perfect if you are not into being overly matchy-matchy (I most definitely qualify as not!). Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and have not had a chance to run down to Loop and Leaf for a top up. Sooooo, I went diving into my stash and started this:
A re-knit of my Escheresque pattern, this time in a more colorful mix of brown and hot, hot pink (I get warm just looking at it). I’ve been wanting to do an update on this pattern for a while, and am finally finding the time. Over the years I’ve had some requests for more sizing options and a “less pointy” decrease, so the updates should make the pattern more versatile and give the knitter a few extra choices. Always to the good!
The yarn, in case you want to pick up something shocking for yourself, is Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Light, a lighter weight of their worsted Ultra Alpaca. It’s a 50/50 wool/alpaca blend, and I really cannot say enough good things about it: it’s delightful to work with and the wool keeps it from becoming the floppy mess that a 100% alpaca might be, so it’s perfectly suited to a little cable project like this one. The price range is also pretty good for this kind of quality, typically around $6 for a 144 yd ball if you’re getting the Light iteration of the yarn.
Posted in accessories, cables, colorwork, patterns
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savory green super breakfast
My new favorite breakfast these days may sound a little oddball:
Oatmeal–with kale! I first heard about mixing oats with greens over at the Heather Eats Almond Butter blog, and I was oh-so-skeptical. But after a friend mentioned her love of plain oatmeal with salt, I thought maybe the idea of savory oats deserved some exploration. Surprise, they’re tasty! I’ve been picking a big bunch of kale and sauteeing it with garlic, then adding a handful to my oatmeal each morning. This morning’s batch also includes a few pecans, ground flax seed, and a spoonful of nutritional yeast.
What unusual (but tasty) food combinations have you tried lately?
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New pattern: bungalow hat
The lastest issue of Knitscene magazine is available now, and I’m thrilled to tell you that one of my patterns is included in this issue:
The bungalow hat is a quick knit, worked up in Rowan’s Denim yarn. The pattern features some cool construction details, including short row shaping and exposed “seams”
It’s a perfect casual hat to ward off those early spring chills, fun to make and to wear:
I hope you enjoy it! The magazine (Spring 2012 issue) is on newsstands now, so head on over to your favorite LYS and pick up a copy.
Also, a quick note about gauge: If you use the recommended Denim yarn, it DOES shrink when washed. The pattern included both pre-washed and washed gauges, but to be totally sure that YOU will wind up with the right finished hat size, I would definitely recommend washing that swatch (which you are totally going to make, right? right? Bueller?)
Happy knitting!
Posted in accessories, patterns
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two oh one two
Happy New Year! I hope you’re all having a good one so far. It’s been pretty low key around here. Yesterday I wished the old year good-bye and got some snaps of my last finished object of the year:
A snuggly little scarf, with thick and cozy reversible cables. The pattern for this is currently in the write-up phase, if you want to receive an email update (and a discount) when it’s available for purchase, head on over here and sign yourself up for the mailing list (you can unsubscribe at any time and I don’t sell/give your information to anyone).
As an added incentive to look forward to the pattern, I’ll note that it looks very dapper when paired with menswear also:
And now I’m off for an afternoon of New Year’s knitting! Looking forward to another year of sharing my craft adventures with you.
Posted in 50 crafts in 50 weeks, accessories
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year’s end
I’ve been quiet here on the blog, too busy enjoying time with family and friends, and savoring the last little bits of 2011:
I hope you’ve been having an enjoyable year’s end as well, I’ll be back soon with more knitting!
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transitory
I’ve been living out of my backpack and hopping around quite a bit these past few weeks:
Hiking through the desert
Speeding along rural highways
Early morning bus rides over the San Francisco Bay
And through it all, I’ve been steadily working away on this little travel project:
This week things took a turn for cold up north, and it’s been so nice to have something soft and cozy to get my hands into. Tomorrow is the last leg of my journey and I’ll be clicking away in time to motion of the train again, speeding south and home.
Posted in 50 crafts in 50 weeks, accessories, cables
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About those thanksgiving plans…
So far, it’s looking like even my “scaled down” collection of Thanksgiving travel yarn was too much:
I brought nine (and a bit) balls of yarn with me, and have used only one (and a bit) balls of yarn to date. I still have a week away from home left though, so I may get around to “using” all of those balls in some way yet!
I’ll be back later this week with some photos of what the “cast on” gray is turning into…
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travel plans
As I mentioned yesterday, we’re traveling for Thanksgiving this year. Last night I started figuring out what knitting to bring and came up with this:
First, my “Thanksgiving travels” are actually going to extend a bit beyond Thanksgiving weekend, so I (kind of) have an excuse to pack lots of yarn. But still, this was too much. Yarn for my current sweater, a scarf, a baby sweater, a hat, some socks (or maybe mitts), a couple of ideas I want to swatch out…yeah right. I’m really going to do all that.
After much contemplation, I narrowed it down to:
Which is probably still too much, but at least in a more reasonable ballpark. Now I just have to figure out how to fit it all into my bags. Have I mentioned I’m also bringing along about half of the Outlander series? Between knitting supplies and reading supplies, I’ll have no room for clothes!
Posted in stash, yarn
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