Baby Hats!

I'm going to the LA Dodgers Stitch-n-Pitch game in just under 2 weeks, and I recently found out that Stitches from the Heart will be accepting donations at the game.  So I'm taking a break from focusing on my own knitted tops, and I designed a super-cute, super easy baby hat using leftover sock yarn.  Here's the pattern:

You will need:

• About 20 grams (something around 80 yards) of sock yarn

• Size 3 knitting needles, either DPNs or a long circular for Magic Loop

Gauge is not really critical for this project.  As long as you're comfortable with the fabric you're getting, just go with it (otherwise go up or down a needle size or two until you like it).

Instructions:

CO 3 sts.

Knit I-cord for about 2 1/2 inches.

Rnd 1: Kf&b around (6 sts).

Rnd 2, and all even rounds: K around.

Rnd 3: K1, M1 around (12 sts).

Rnd 5: K2, M1 around (18 sts).

Rnd 7: K3, M1 around (24 sts).

Continue in this manner, increasing 6 sts every other row, until your knitted circle is approximately 5 inches in diameter.  I usually end up with something between 80 and 90 total stitches around.

Knit even until the hat measures approximately 6 1/2 inches, not counting the I-cord.  Bind off loosely, weave in your ends, and tie the I-cord in a knot for extra cuteness.

My favorite thing about knitting hats top-down is that you don't need a gauge swatch, and my second favorite thing is that you can pretty much knit until you run out of yarn, as long as the length is close enough.

Some easy variations on this pattern, if you like:

• You can use pretty much any weight yarn you'd like.  Just pick needles that work with the yarn, and stop increases when your circle is big enough.
• If you don't like the rolled brim, you can change it to a ribbed brim pretty easily: when the hat measures between 4 1/2 and 5 inches, start your rib pattern (1x1 or 2x2, or any rib pattern you'd like), and work for about an inch before binding off.  Or feel free to use a different pattern for the brim.

Now back to making more baby hats from my leftover sock yarn!

Word of the Day: Focus

So… week 3 of my Tour de Fleece spinning?  Epic fail (or epic failure, if you want to be a bit more grammatically correct)!  I got absolutely NO spinning done, cause I just wasn't feeling it.  Oh, well, there's always next year, right?

On the plus side, I did do some knitting.  I finished knitting my Kiama, and just need to sew in the ends and block it (pictures to be posted soon!).

Since I finished knitting one major project, I got to start on another top I've been dying to make: the Radian Yoke top from Knitscene.  I'm making this in a yarn I dyed myself awhile back, and so far the pattern is fun and not too difficult:

 Radian Yoke in progress.

I've been trying really hard this year to focus a little bit more on my sweaters, so I can actually finish something to wear once in awhile.  It's kind of working :).  And I'm still allowed to knit socks, too, cause sweaters are too big to carry in my purse.

Also, I had to take a little time away from my major project knitting to make up another Quant (I made one a year or two ago but gave it away for Christmas).  Some of my knitting coworkers want to learn entrelac, and as the resident knitting expert I get to teach it!  I made this one in a gorgeous red semisolid in Manos Maxima. 

 Quant in Manos Maxima.

I love the way the colors turned out, but the semisolid colorway definitely isn't as impressive in entrelac as something with a longer repeat would be.  Now I kind of want to spin something to knit more entrelac in a more appropriate colorway… but I would also like to wear my Radian Yoke before the weather gets too cold, so I will attempt to focus.

Tour de Fleece Week 2 Update

Now we're two weeks into Tour de Fleece 2011, and I've made a bit more progress on my spinning (though still not as much as I had hoped, thanks to the current state of my kitchen).  This week I spun up some superwash merino from Susan's Kitchen in the Water Depths colorway.

 Unspun fiber (very pretty!).

I think I bought this fiber at WeFF in 2009, but I didn't write it down so I don't remember for sure (note to self: write things like this down in the future!).  The blues were so pretty I couldn’t resist.  The colors marled in a really lovely way in the singles:

 Singles on the bobbin.

 A better view of marling in the singles.

I tried not predrafting or splitting this fiber at all, and instead I attempted to spin "across the web", if that's the right term.  This was a bit challenging for me, and I probably should have gone down a ratio or two to compensate for my slower drafting.  When I plied the yarn, it ended up nicely squishy and springy, even though I think I overspun it a bit.

 Plied yarn on the bobbin.

 Plied yarn in the skein.

The yarn ended up a heavy worsted weight-ish, and is closer in WPI to what I consider to be my default yarn.  I'm not quite sure what I want to make with it yet, but it does look like good hat yarn.

The Yarny Details

Wheel:	Spinolution Hopper
Spinning Ratio:	6.25
Singles WPI:	22-24
Draw:	Short, mostly worsted
Plying Ratio:	4.25
Finished plies:	2
Plied WPI:	6-8
Weight:	~4 oz.
Approx. Yardage:	118

I also started spinning some SW merino/Seacell/Banana fiber mix.

 Unspun fiber (love how the Seacell and banana didn't take the dye).

This fiber is taking a bit longer cause I'm spinning the singles pretty fine (for me), but I predrafted the fiber (without splitting it at all) so it's spinning really nicely.

 Beginning of a bobbin of singles.

And in other news, I have been getting some knitting done this past week.  I'm working on Kiama, a pattern I fell in love with because it looks incredibly flattering on everyone, and I always need more layering pieces for wearing to work because the air conditioning is always a bit chilly in my office.

 My Kiama in progress.

I'm using some yarn that's been in my stash for quite awhile.  It's Twist, a cotton/acrylic/rayon/nylon blend from Knit Picks, though I believe the yarn has been discontinued.  I've been working on this sweater for about 3 weeks now, and I'm making really great progress.  Hopefully I can finish this up soon so I can wear it this summer!

Until next week, happy knitting (and spinning) :)!

Tour de Fleece Week 1 Update

We're one week into Tour de Fleece 2011, and I have made some moderate progress on my goals:

• To spin every day
• And to use up some of my fiber stash

I swear, though, I have a good excuse:

Before photo (that's vinyl pretending to be wood!).

After photo (before putting baseboards & appliances back).

We tiled our laundry room and kitchen floor (by ourselves) over the July 4th weekend, and we've been finishing it up over the past week.  Hopefully I'll finally have a stove back later today!

But even though kitchen remodeling has been severely cutting into my spinning time, I've managed to finish up some Targhee top that I started spinning a month or so ago:

Singles on the bobbin.

Plied yarn on the bobbin.

Plied skein, before finishing.

The top is from Mountain Colors in the "Northern Lights" colorway, which I bought from The Loopy Ewe way back in July 2008, when I first started spinning.  I wasn't very good at drafting back then, so I used to split up my rovings into relatively thin strips and predraft them to death.  I apparently had intended to start spinning this Targhee awhile back, cause it was already split into strips.  Without the splitting I could have made the colors more distinct, but I actually love the way the colors barberpoled in the final yarn.

I really can't believe I let this fiber sit around for so long before I started spinning it, cause it turns out that Targhee is really yummy--it's really soft, crimpy, and has a long enough staple that it's easy to spin.  Bluefaced Leicester has, since I first started spinning, been my absolute favorite, but I think Targhee is now a close second (but not as readily available as BFL).

The finished yarn is squishy and soft and will make some kind of great winter accessory.  I'm getting better at spinning somewhat finer yarns (vs. my default yarn, which is usually a heavy worsted-ish), so the finished yarn is approximately sport weight. I'm thinking of making the Honey Cowl, with some possible adjustments to make sure I get close enough to gauge (given that the pattern calls for DK weight).  I'll have to wait until the yarn is actually dry to swatch and see if it looks as good as I hope!

The Yarny Details

Wheel:	Spinolution Hopper
Spinning Ratio:	6.5
Singles WPI:	~28
Draw:	Short, semi-worsted
Plying Ratio:	4.25
Finished plies:	2
Plied WPI:	~12 (sport weight)
Weight:	~4 oz.
Approx. Yardage:	408 yds.