knitting school dropout

2008 is just around the corner and i doubt i'll finish up any of my current works in progress before then, so:

1. ez norwegian mittens, 2. we call them pirates, 3. calorimetry, 4. scottish tweed raglan, 5. felted tweed hat, 6. leaf lace shawl, 7. fitted knits pink puff-sleeve cardigan, 8. entrelac scarf, 9. baltic socks completed, 10. arrowhead cardigan front, 11. cloud bolero 3, 12. cioci's hat v.1 front, 13. fmfiflat, 14. swallowtail shawl 5, 15. shetland triangle, 16. anais, 17. jyri finished, 18. elizabeth zimmermann's mitered mittens, 19. elfine's socks, 20. bubble pullover in the grass, 21. can you tell i'm crushed out on my sweater?, 22. brown flop side view, 23. cioci's hat 2, 24. ez maltese fisherman's hat 1, 25. the saddest pom-pom in the world, 26. almost black hat for the girlfriend, 27. stella's hat 2, 28. stella's hat top, 29. morning surf scarf, 30. neckwarmer, 31. slightly slouchy hat, 32. first noro sock, blocking, 33. single socks, 34. monkey #135. Not available36. Not available

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

my finished projects for 2007 ( yeah, yeah, i included 4 mate-less socks as finished objects). most have made an appearance here before, although there were a few scarves and hats that i neglected to post about. i'm pretty satisfied with my knitting this year, although i only managed to knit 2 long-sleeved sweaters.

thanks for all your interest and lovely comments regarding stella's hat, i'm working on one for my great aunt stella at this very moment, as she requested one on christmas. :)

i'll be staying in this weekend, as i've managed to catch the inevitable post-holiday cold. luckily, i have the la vie en rose dvd in my possession to entertain me.

wishing you a happy and healthy new year! thanks so much for reading along in 2007!

Posted by melissa at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

in august, i made my first attempt to recreate the hat that my now 94-year old great aunt has been making for 40 years. hers was knit flat and seamed, with a neat flat top. i knit my best approximation in the round out of some gorgeous malabrigo, but was never really happy with the top. well, the other day, i set out to make another, and this time i'm very happy. you'll have to yank it off my cold, dead, head if you want this one, or, you could always knit your own.

pattern: stella's hat (my own) Download PDF here or here's the ravelry link

yarn: nature wool chunky, 1 skein (i've also knit one out of malabrigo)

needles: 5mm, us8 16" circular and 5mm dpns

it's a simple pattern. you'll only need to know how to knit, purl, k2tog and work in the round.
i hope you like it. mwah!

Posted by melissa at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBacks (1)

thanks so much for all the lovely comments regarding my bubble pullover. i guess i finished it just in time for the cold new england weather. it's been getting lots of use!

since casting off, i've been casting on like mad for lots of small projects. i've had a couple crappy weeks, nothing bad, just feeling generally overwhelmed by small, usually benign things. so, i pushed aside all my current sweater projects and made some damn hats!

hat 1: bonnet for a 32 year old
yarn: maisy day handspun in "spitfire", purchased from hello yarn and one ball of debbie bliss cashmerino aran in brown.
needles: 5mm 16" circs
pattern: i knit the bottom (ear covering) portion from the maltese fisherman's hat pattern in elizabeth zimmermann's knitter's almanac, except i doubled all the numbers. after i cast on the additional stitches for the front, i just went along and knit the top as i would any plain hat, instead of following the pattern. i only had 112yds of this yarn, so i knit it a little shorter than i normally would and added a garter stitch border and ties. i also added the most pathetic excuse for a pom-pom ever. which, incidentally, is the only kind i can seem to make.
the verdict: it's cute. i love the handspun. it covers my ears. i am happy.

hat 2: brown flop
pattern : none, but here's where i tell you my secret for making a floppy hat like mine (please skip this part if you dont care :))
take your standard formula for a plain close fitting hat in the yarn of your choosing. knit 1x1 rib for 1 inch, after this point continue in rib, but start adding short rows to the front 60% of the hat. your ribbed band will become wider in the front than it is in the back. add as many short rows as you wish. my front ribbing was about twice as long in the front as it was in the back. after the front rib was the length i wanted, at the beginning of the next round i began knitting in stockinette, but increasing every other stitch like this: k1, k1f/b, repeat until end of round. there, now you have lots more stitches and you can knit some easy stockinette for hours. i added a few more short rows to the front of the stockinette portion too. once it starts to get long, you can try it on as you knit and decide when you want to start decreasing to close up the top.
yarn: louisa harding grace 50/50 silk wool, a little less than 2 balls.
needles: 4mm 16: inch circular
thoughts: grace is a beautiful yarn. i forgot to take in to consideration the fact that this hat will stretch out with wear. i would make it a tad smaller next time, until then, i'll re-block it after a few wears.

hat 3: another maltese fisherman's hat from elizabeth zimmermann's knitter's almanac
yarn: berroco peruvia in a heathered pink.
needles: 5mm circulars
details: i wear this one all the time. it's longer than the first one and the yarn is nice and soft. i bought more of the peruvia in a dark blue to add trim and ties, but i haven't done it yet. this hat covers the ears PERFECTLY. i walk around, all smug and warm, every windy day. i did the same thing with this hat, doubling the numbers, doing my own hat thing at the top, etc.

hats have always been my favorite thing to knit. a simple one can be knit up in a day and they're a perfect way to test out a yarn for it's durability, or to get the chance to try a yarn that you couldn't afford in a sweater amount. long live the hat!

oh, and can i share with you the awesome tags that i ordered from namemaker? they're kind of motivating me to knit those gifts i keep putting off.

Posted by melissa at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)