The Iceland Hat

After a long hiatus from posting (and knitting), I bring to you my favorite hat ever:



The Iceland hat, alternately titled Capucine, had its start in my brother's birthday present to me: a gift of two balls of lopi in a beautiful, heathered blue ... carried by hand back from Iceland.

I'm always impressed with my brother. I don't think that many people would manage to get exactly the right color. Maybe it's because he has blue eyes, too!

So I've been on the lookout for a pattern to use this yarn in. Many of you will be familiar with lopi, thanks to the Reynolds line by the same name. The style of yarn seems to be an old standard of Icelandic knitting. The yarn is constructed from fairly long fibers of wool (staples!), simply twisted together without being plied for strength. So it has a sort of nature-ish, haloed, thick-thin thing going on. All in all, it's thick, hearty and lovely, evoking the "unprocessed" quality that brings such big bucks at Whole Foods. It needs a pattern that allows this quality to shine through; I find it can easily be overpowered by complicated cables and textures.

Because of that, I wasn't sure what to make with it, since lately I favor fine (and highly-processed) yarns in patterns meant to show off complicated stitch-work.

A search on Ravelry of free hat patterns quickly yielded a winner. And in spite of my general preference for more complicated knitting, this hat's structural interest, fit, and gorgeously outrageous tassels manage to showcase the yarn perfectly (IMHO), and I find myself fabulously pleased with the results. Totally cute.



Technical details:
I found my row gauge was a little off - I found it necessary to knit more rows than were indicated in the pattern, for all three sections: the ribbing, the garter stitch section, and the in-the-round crown.

I also decided that I liked the look of a proportionately wider garter-stitch section, so the first five or so rounds of the crown are in garter stitch. I inserted extra rounds of stockinette before the crown decreases.


The tassels (so fun!) are made according to these instructions, with the lopi and a few strands of a coordinating sock yarn I had lying around, to give them some textural interest and pick up some of the undyed strands of the lopi. I made them detachable, using decorative cords, so as to be able to wash the hat without damaging them.

At Last My Love Has Come Along

Here's a finished project that I've finally gotten photos for. (Thank you, Jay! You're hired!)

Please excuse the flood of photos. I'm just pleased as punch to have had a real, live photographer to help me out!

The pattern is Ubernatural by Stephanie Japel. Word of warning: this pattern has errors in it, and I wouldn't recommend it for a knitter who isn't confident adjusting the "recipe." Notes below.

The yarn is the green merino I salvaged some time ago. Although the yarn itself is two strands of worsted-weight held together, as the pattern recommends, it wasn't quite "bulky" enough to get gauge.

Still: this is a very wearable little sweater when I want some warmth in the cool Colorado evenings! Here, I was dressed up for the premier of Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll, Boulder's very first nationally-broadcast cable TV show!

So, the notes. Two things seem off. The first is that the raglan increases, as written, won't work. If you purled one of the YO's, maybe, but it doesn't give you the nice paired-increases in the picture. I'd replace them with the instructions "yo pm yo" in row 2 with the instructions "yo pm k1 yo", and thereafter on RS rows "knit to marker, yo, pass marker, k1, yo". The effect is to add a stitch between increases. This is necessary. This also requires shuffling some stitches around. See below.

The second is a little less straightforward. The instructions for the small size say "CO 40", and row 2 sets up the distribution of stitches: "Make buttonhole, knit 7 [for right front panel] yo pm k1 yo [for raglan increase], k4 [for right shoulder], [raglan increase], k18 [for back panel], [raglan increase], k4 [for left shoulder], [raglan increase], k7 [for left front panel]." Sounds OK. But here's the problem:

The button bands are knitted with the rest of the garment, with the first and last three stitches of each row done in garter. That means that the front is effectively only 11 stitches in width, compared with the back's 18. Uh oh!

There are two ways to fix this problem. The first is to size-up and cast on extra (that's four extra for corrected raglan increases and about six extra for the button bands) and work as follows: "Work 3 in garter stitch (making buttonhole), k7, increase, k4, increase, k18, increase, k4, increase, k7, work 3 in garter stitch."

The second fix would be to pull the extra increase stitches from the back panel, knitting row two as follows: "Work 3 in garter stitch (making buttonhole), knit 4, increase, k4, increase, k12, increase, k4, increase, k4, work 3 in garter stitch." I believe this is what Ms. Japel intended. Choose your fix depending on your gauge: the first will have 82 stitches at the bust, the latter 72. I chose the former, and mine was still pretty darn tight. But pretty!

Dad's Man Scarf

Men are hard to knit for. No matter what I do, the yarns, colors, and patterns I tend to like turn out girly. No good for men. So my poor father has been waiting for years on a knitted gift. Socks have languished in the forgotten WIPs bag; hats have failed before they were begun. But here, at last, is a project I was happy to gift to my beloved Dad.

This is Jenna Jenks' Braidy Scarf done in Tahki (that's TAAAAAAH-ki, apparently) Sedona, a beautiful worsted wool-silk blend tweed. The pattern, though shamelessly lifted from The Gap, is a real pleasure to knit: minimal, easy, and completely stylish. Dad, I hope you actually get some use out of it!

Tahki Sedona is also a real pleasure to work with. The colors are reserved and gorgeous, and the wool in the silk gives it that little hint of crinkle that I love. I chose it initially because it was the only tweed yarn that didn't look like it came from a candy store, and I ended up entirely pleased by this choice.

For anyone who happens to want to knit but thinks they don't have the skills to make something beautiful, I recommend you try this pattern! It looks beautiful in chunky yarns, too, so it takes only a minimal yarn investment (the pattern calls for Lyon brand Wool-Ease Chunky, about $3 a ball) The two braided cables provide the only moments of breath-holding, and with a little faith and courage I'm certain that anyone can get past them. Believe me, the gratification is worth it!

Jaywalker Socks

Finally, a new post.

A classic pattern, done in Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock, my Jaywalkers have been a lot of places. An attractive, simple pattern makes for a great traveling project!



I began these on a trip to Steamboat Springs with some friends, finished the first one on the plane to the southernmost tip of Argentina, and finished the second aboard the Lindblad Explorer in Antarctica. I believe there were four women on the ship who were knitting socks! Go figure.



This yarn is definitely not my favorite. The colors are really nice, and the dying creates beautiful stripes. But as you can see from the picture, it has problems with pilling. The picture was taken after one or two wears, and they look very worn. Still pretty, though.

For all that this is a simple pattern, knitting these was not entirely easy. The first time around I found (as many people have) that the sock was impossibly tight; to get it to fit over my heel, I had to rip it out and knit a larger size. I also had.. must confess... gauge issues, ugh! The second was much looser. To get them to look the same, I knitted the second in a smaller size. And thought I don't think it is very noticeable, I'm not going to post pictures of them both! Illusion of perfection preserved!

For the Queen of My Family

Every now and then, when I get around to actually finishing something, I am reminded of and once again surprised by the amazing transformation that projects undergo when they are done. The errors that you've spent the whole time eying, the little bits of unevenness, your concerns about pattern/needle/yarn choice, all disappear after the finishing touches are done. Your project becomes a thing that has a life separate from your hands and needles, and it becomes a whole other beast. How nice it is to finish!

And every now and then, even more rarely, I get to put those magical finishing touches on a project that went off without flaw to begin with. And that's a transcendent knitting experience.

I give you: the finished Queen Anne's Lace shawl.





I am in love with this. I could point out some things that I'm less-than-pleased with in terms of my execution, but I won't. I think this is the loveliest single object I have made to date. Mom, I love you! You are Queen of Everything, every day.

Hatty Doom

Very clever of you to find me, Mr. Bond. I've been waiting for you.

Above you see the deadly weapon that I whipped out and into the mail less than five hours after the inaugural Hat Attack began last weekend. The pattern is the one provided by the organizers. It's called Binary. 10 points to whosoever may point out why (who doesn't also have access to the Ravelry discussion of the pattern!). The yarn is Lamb's Pride Worsted, of which I've formed no opinion yet, though I love that it's unplied.

And below you'll see what I did with my time when, five hours later, I was still amped on killin' hormones and had nothing to do but wait for the USPS to do its job. Which it still hasn't.

Yarn again is LPW (got two whole caps out of it!) and Malabrigo color X, again salvaged from the doomed Matrix mittens. The pom is ridiculous but entirely necessary.

I'm having mixed feelings about Hat Attack and am debating whether to sign up for the similar but better-established Sock Wars that's coming up. It's a really fun way to connect with people internationally.. But it's been a lot of waiting, a lot of reading and posting to the forums, and not a lot of actual knitting or getting knitted presents. I'm worried my target may have just decided to stop playing.

Some yarn thoughts:


This is the Araucania Nature Wool Chunky (minus one hank that I was swatching from). It's interesting stuff. The color is actually kind of pretty, and the yarn is soft enough, but the dye job is pretty inconsistent. And on top of that, the hanks come actually a little felted together, which to me might indicate sort of poor handling. I'm still toying with the idea of making Durrow with it, but I'm concerned that the cabling might not look good with the variegated effect. But then, I don't think anything looks good with variegated yarn. Oh well.

Green Wisp

For those of you who wondered, this is the Wisp I was talking about. Please excuse the slightly blurry and so-typical Lace On Leaves photo, but it is the only photo I have of it from before I blocked it to death, and I am too vain to show it any other way. I highly recommend both the pattern, from Knitty Summer 2007, and the yarn, Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I easily made the scarf in less than one ball by making it just a touch narrower - now what to do with the tiny quarter ball that is left?

Ski-mergency Moebius Turtle

When I was heading out the door on my way to a Christmas back-country skiing trip, I had a realization. Although I had spent the last week and some carefully, maybe obsessively preparing my gear (I hadn't yet been on a back-country trip for which I felt fully prepared), and I finally had the important things - weather gear, hattage, glove- and mitten-age, appropriate underwear, All Ten Essentials, everything - I didn't have anything to keep my face and neck warm but a scarf given to me by my dear mother. Not only do I love it too much, I would trip on the ends.

Luckily, I knew just what to make, and I had the perfect materials on hand. So I grabbed them, and I knitted this on the way to Aspen:

This is a moebius! This is what my best friend taught me to make! The yarn is Noro's Kureyon (color 152 for the interested), recently frogged from my unfortunate attempt to be creative with the Matrix mittens from Knitty:

See? not too pretty. If it had just been the colors I might have kept going and hoped for the best, but the gauge was simply too different; even my tiny hand was uncomfortably between the child's and medium sizes.

I'd thought that the two yarns would work well together because of one glorious moment of color harmony, which can be seen (more or less) below.






























I suppose that's because I figured - hey, the colors are the same, and if a color happens within a ball of Kureyon, then it must go with the other colors! Maybe I should mention that I've never knitted with Kureyon before. I liken the experience to reading a book by an author you love, whose writing style you adore, whose characters are fresh and new and compelling, but whose plot you just wish would happen differently with all of your heart. The colors are beautiful; the colors are rather amazing; but I have no idea why they appear together in one ball when the colors so clearly do NOT work that well together.

But for my moebius, it worked very well. It was surprisingly warm, and actually took the place of my hat most days since it better accommodated the strap of my goggles. Hoo-rah!

First Sweater Ever!

This is exciting. This is also probably my last Knitty pattern for some time, since it seems I just can't bear to simply follow a pattern for a wearable garment; no, I have to change things.

This, my very first sweater, is a rather odd alteration of Jenna Adorno's "Blaze." I substituted the yarn rather dramatically and added gussets at the underarms, because it did not look like it would move well otherwise. In all else, it is unchanged. It was begun in early May and finished early June.

Let me say a word about the yarn. I was cheap, so I wanted inexpensive, and I didn't feel like making it in the mohair blend that Jenna uses. I went for another "M" instead, settling on an appropriately-weighted (washable) merino yarn: Giunco, by Laines du Nord. I ordered it from the WEBS site, yarn.com, where I've sometimes found excellent deals on yarn. This time my feeling were mixed: the yarn was colored VERY differently from what displayed on my screen; I thought I'd ordered a yellower golden-brown, and ended up with a chocolate color not at all flattering for my hair color. This may not have been their mistake, however; afraid that I hadn't purchased enough for the project, I ordered a backup-ball the next time I shopped there, and it came a deep, deep coffee brown! Luckily I didn't need to use it, or I would have had to rip out my borders backwards-like to make the dark neck look like it was on purpose.

But aside from the radically-differing colors sold under the same label, I wasn't enchanted with the yarn. It did what it was supposed to - it solidified Blaze's simple aran pattern nicely. But it was not at all soft, and hasn't softened much in the washing. I think from here on I will avoid "washable" wools, as hand-washing is alright with me!

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied. After the amount of trouble I had with gauge swatches/worrying I didn't have enough yarn, I'm very glad it fit! (Remember: always check to see whether swatches are supposed to be in SS or in the pattern.) But really, kind of boring to knit, with no shaping at all. Glad to move onto other projects.

Sock-Within-a-Sock

This post does not merit a picture, but I would like to note that I did that ninja-est of ninja tricks, knitting two socks at once on the same needles. I did them, for the cheapness, in Wool-Ease deep blue on dpns. I did them. They are done. They have some rather handsome ankle shaping, and against recommendations I did a conventional turned heel rather than a short-row heel. They were on-again, off-again, so though I started them in January I didn't finish them until May.

I'd like to say that this method of knitting socks is very good for me: I do not like to knit from patterns, finding it perfectly easy to knit a sock according to some basic formulas. That, however, was "a" sock, not "socks". It is less easy for me to duplicate a sock knit without a pattern. So.. knit them both at once and you don't have to worry!

Another note: I am a continental knitter, and I do two-strand yarn a little differently, because I absolutely hate to throw yarn with my right hand. So, for fair-isle, intarsia, and now double- or two-sided knitting, I hold my yarn like so:

I believe that this method of holding the yarn makes things go a lot faster. However, as with the sock-in-a-sock, when you are working with two strands of the same color it makes it easier to confuse the strands - in that case, locking the two socks together irreparably!

Fair Isle socks

Begun on a trip to NJ for Passover.

Completed: April, just after the thesis due-date



These socks are a little funny. They were my first experiment with fair isle, and they are knitted without a pattern. They're a little lumpy around the heel because I did the turning of the heel upside-down! Whoops! It is one of the hardest things in knitting for me to make a mistake on one of a pair and then duplicate it on the other.

The yarn came from an Ebay seller called JojoSquare. I bought a bag of 10 in plain white wool, fingering weight, planning to dye bits of it for various small projects. I dyed the blue and yellow using Koolaid, which was fun! I had been hoping to make some guy-socks, so I don't know what I was thinking choosing these colors. They quickly became socks-for-me. Only I still have not laundered them, as I'm afraid I may not have set the colors correctly! I'm curious to see how the yarn launders, however; as of now the fabric it makes is rather unpleasantly firm. Not a favorite yarn.

Handwarmers

Here are some handwarmers of a different flavor. These are done after Knitty's pattern "Dashing" (I'll stop with the Knitty patterns soon, I swear). These were finished in March, and were done in an absolutely delicious unplied merino wool by some Italian label called Divé or somesuch. Boy, did these things give me trouble! And not for the normal reasons, either: cabling? Easy. Run out of yarn? Not a chance! There's a pocket-creature out there with a matching sweater, even!

No, the problems came from the recipient, who has VERY LARGE HANDS. I don't really want to remember how many times I started them over and over and over.. Eventually I made them fit, by using the largest size provided by the pattern and needles several sizes bigger than I wanted them to.

And the ultimate tragedy? The recipient tells me that after several weeks of near-constant wear they were ruined when his house caught on fire.

But still, they looked very handsome, and we remember them:

Handwarming dolls

Let me just say: I LOVE this pattern. I LOVE it. It is yet another Knitty pattern, "Pocket Creatures." I have made so many of these that I stopped taking pictures of them, and I started branching out from the suggested decorations for them long ago.

Let me say again: these are SO quick and easy, and so adorable and so full of structural interest that I just never get tired of making them. Here goes, and forgive some of the crummy pictures:

All pocket creatures made from Reynolds' Lopi unless otherwise specified. The jacket on the cyclops is made from a horrid bit of tweed yarn that I bought on super-sale. I made so many of these guys that I ran out of buttons and embroidery floss with which to give them faces, so I extended the clothing idea:

For instance, this dude, shown unfinished and holding a little yarnipop (recognize it?) was eventually graced with a giraffe-neck sweater and matching curly hair. Pretty darn cute.

Another thing that is nice about these dolls is that they are actually functional: they are advertised as hand-warmers, with a little microwaveable sachet of rice and lavender inside of them. And damn if they don't actually do the job! A couple that were meant for gifts got stolen by my roommates in the middle of the northern winter, and I didn't get them back until spring.

Teddy bear

This guy was another Knitty pattern, "Bubby," for yet another sweetheart. The bear now lives in the keyboard drawer of an Ikea desk I help to build, and every time I open the drawer it makes me go "Aww!"

The yarn is a bit of Classic Elite's Miracle tencel-and-something stuff. Working with this yarn showed me just how much I love working with unplied fibers, in a roundabout way beginning my love affair with Reynolds' Lopi.

A bit of trivia: the face and the bow around the bear's neck are made from a deconstructed bit of the wool Noro from the nautalus.

Nautali

These are fun toys, made from the Knitty pattern "Nautie."

This first was made with scraps of Artful Yarns' silk and cotton Fable, left over from making some awesome thigh-high socks.

The eyes are made from some stone beads, held in place by wires.

This one went to a sweetheart, and was so much fun to make that its twin went to my dad.






This guy has a Noro wool shell and a face of some unidentified orange and yellow twist yarn.

Eyes are, again, beads and wire.

This fellow went to a "fellow" blogger, in return for a gloriously beautiful crocheted bracelet.

The thing that I dig the most about this pattern is that the structural magic happens as you go; that is, the shell curls because you knit it that way, picking up a stitch from way-back-when and knitting it together with a live stitch. These guys are exciting, fun, and oh-so-ADORABLE! They drove me a little crazy, though, because I kept wondering what the formula would be for the perfect (i.e. leaves the circular cross-section undistorted) rate of increase would be, and whether it would be easy/possible to knit a 3D version of the Golden Spiral using this method.