Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mittens to Match





As soon as I finished the Miller's Hat I knew a matching pair of mittens was in order.  Originally, I wanted them to be grey with red cuffs, but the amount of remaining malabrigo dictated the design.  The following picture shows how much yarn I had left after weaving in the ends.  I would have added another round to the body of the mitten if I had had just a little bit more yarn.




I used the cable pattern from Cheryl Niamath's fetching (rav link) for the cuff, but added one extra repeat to make them longer and crossed the cable in the opposite direction on the second one to make them symetrical.


The body of the mitten is based on this classic mittens (rav link) pattern.  This is a great, traditional mitten pattern with a gusset thumb (a neccessity for me) and rounded top.


The cuff (grey) is Patons classic merino and the body (red) is malabrigo worsted. Everyone should have a pair of malabrigo mittens - they are just the softest thing without being fuzzy.  Now to see how well they hold up.


(my project on ravelry)




Friday, November 13, 2009

Random Thoughts








I was looking at my profile today and noticed that it says I've been on blogger since 2007, even though I just started "this" blog two months ago.  I originally started on blogger when I was doing my library tech. courses and we had to do a course on multimedia.  I had never heard of blogging before and frankly, thought it was going to be really stupid.  We had to set up a dummy blog and publish, I think, three posts.  I remember one of my classmates commenting (we had to comment on each other's posts too) that mine reminded him of Martha Stewart.  I didn't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult (I chose compliment). I kind of wish I hadn't deleted those posts - it would be fun to see them now.

Fast forward a year or two and I resurrected my blog when I was digital scrapbooking so I could participate in contests etc.  I never really got going on it and let it go when I stopped that foolishness. I probably shouldn't have deleted those posts either.

But my blog reader lists dozens of amazing people all sharing their lives, whether they are diy, decorating, crafts, knitting, or whatever touches me.  And I have gained so much inspiration from them.  My husband doesn't get it - why do I want to read about other people's lives? Because it makes me appreciate my own - I'm not alone in my feelings on this or that.  Or I gain a new perspective into things I thought I knew.  Not to mention all the decorating, craft, knitting tips I have gained.

So to every blog poster I have read - thank you.  Thank you for sharing a little (or a LOT) about yourself, your home, you family, your lives.  Blog on ...........

Monday, November 9, 2009

It all started in Soho

I finally finished the hat I've been working on for Dave.  This hat has been in the works for over a year.


Sort of.


No, I'm not a ridiculously slow knitter.  It's just that the yarn and pattern wouldn't work together.  So it has taken me over a year, 14 months actually, to finally produce something I'm happy with.  And I am happy with it.



I started with a corrugated rib, followed by the initial pattern from this chart, followed by 2 stitch stripes. It has four point double decreases and voila, great hat.  




I started with a corrugated rib, followed by the initial pattern from this chart, followed by 2 stitch stripes. It has four point double decreases and voila, favourite hat.  




Pattern:  my own



Yarn:  Koigu KPPM and Sandes Garn Lanett

Needles: 3.25 mm (my ravelry link)


The reason for the title is that I bought this yarn on our trip to New York City (INY) in the summer of 2008.  We were staying at the Soho Grand and one of my top priorities was to visit Purl Soho which was just up the road from the hotel.  Dave picked out this yarn for a hat and I knit him up a turn a square.  I will not post a link to it because I hate that hat.  It didn’t turn out right, the colours all blended together and I screwed up the top making a spiral instead of a square.  Not to mention my colour changes were horrific.  What a waste of Koigu!  Thank goodness for this hat, because now he has retired the other one and I don’t have to be embarrassed by it any more.



I will make a Turn a Square someday, but with different yarn.


Friday, November 6, 2009

The Perfect Hat in the Perfect Yarn

Let’s face it, most people, particularly women, don’t look good in hats.  Myself included.  But I live in Canada and I actually like to get out for a walk in the winter so hats aren't just an accessory but a necessity.  You can imagine my delight when I came across this pattern – Miller’s Hat by Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops.  It fits all my needs – beautiful, cables, covers the ears and looks good on.

Hat perfection.






The herringbone rib band is fun to knit and the texture looks fantastic.  Don’t be afraid that it’s going to be too tight, it stretches just enough.  And adding the simple garter stitch trim really changes the fit of the band.






Then there’s the slouchy cabled top.  More texture, lots of depth and again, great fun to knit.  I did go up one needle size for this section based on what others had said and I’m glad I did.






I will wear it pulled down in the back like in the pictures.


I didn't block it because I like the fit and I know malabrigo can really grow with wet blocking.  We'll see if I change my mind later because I am a bit of a blocking fiend.


I had forgotten what a dream Malabrigo is to knit.  How to explain the feeling - it just glides through your hands.  No itchy wool here.  This red is very hard to photograph properly though.  It's a deep red with quite a bit of variation in the colour.

Pattern:  Miller’s Hat (rav link)
Yarn:  Malabrigo (mmmm) and a tiny bit of Paton’s Merino Wool for the trim.
Mods: None, perfect as written






Love.

Although even with my new gorgeous hat, I am still not ready for this.  Nooooooooo…….