Woolies For Winter

I have finished knitting the scarf I was working on, and am about half done weaving in the ends (see photo, left). You can read about the details here. That's the part that gets put off regularly around here, the seaming and weaving in of ends. Who knows when it will actually be ready to wear?

The same goes for this little Baby Surprise Jacket knitted in Patons Classic Wool Merino in a solid and a marled denim blue color (see photo, right). It's waiting for seams and buttons. I am debating whether to add a collar or a simple I-cord edge. It needs that touch of the darker solid color around the neck to make it look complete.

I have managed to accumulate a tidy little pile of things to donate to afghans for Afghans this month. They were seamless and didn't have nearly so many ends to weave in, so they got finished in short order.

In the photo at left: 3 baby Folk Art hats that I've already blogged about here, and 3 pair of solid colored socks (to go with the Folk Art Hats). I used the free Blossom Knitwear pattern for these.

In the photo at right: A striped hat that I made following the free Scrap-Happy Celebration Hat pattern, but altered it to make it baby-sized. Also a pair of striped socks to match the hat, applying the same method of striping from the hat pattern to the Blossom socks mentioned above. I'll have to play around with more color combinations with this pattern.

I understand that the sets of hats and socks will be separated for shipment to Afghanistan, and that it doesn't matter if the items match or not, but I like to make matching sets. If I were making these for a local charity, a friend or for a neighbor I would make a matched set. That's just the way I roll.

One more project to share today:

These purple socks are finally done. I started them back in November and suffered second sock syndrome for a while. I had thought I might try using some wooly nylon reinforcement in the heels and toes, but couldn't find a suitable color. As it turns out, the Socka is a little thicker than the Regia and feels more durable. We'll see what happens after I wear them for a while.

Folk Art Hats

Yup, I'm knitting more of those baby hats and socks for afghans for Afghans.

You know, it's a lot of fun playing around with color and pattern combinations, and a baby hat makes a great test swatch. This batch of hats are based on the free pattern Folk Art For Your Head, which is an adult sized hat. I've made changes, of course.

Basically, I followed my pattern for Infant Earflap Hats for the shape of it. I prefer a fold-up cuff to the rolled brim of the Folk Art hat because it allows the hat to grow with the baby. It's also warmer.

I had to fudge the stripe pattern to make it fit onto a smaller hat. Here's the row counts for what I did:

Color 1- k1p1 rib 10 rounds, k 2 rounds.
Color 2- k 8 rounds.
Color 3- k 1 round, p 1 round.
Color 4 and 5- *c4 k2, c5 k2* across, 4 rounds.
Color 6- k 1 round, p 2 rounds.
Color 7- k 5 rounds.
Color 2- k 7 rounds, at the same time begin decreasing on alternate rounds (starting with *k6, k2tog* across) on 5th round.
Color 1- Continue decreases and complete hat with this color.

Year in Review

What did I do this last year? Why, lots of stuff of course. Most of it is on my weblog, so I can review it when I like. Here's a tally of it all:

I sewed 1 handbag and 1 crib sized quilt top.

Yes, I know I didn't blog about the quilting. I was too busy, and had packed it away before I resumed my blogging. I made a bunch of quilt blocks too, but didn't get them sewed together.

The pink quilt top I have pulled back out, hoping to finish, and am able to photograph it, so there you go.


I knitted 2 tea cozies. I never thought I'd make a tea cozy, but that was before I had children and interruptions that left my pot full of cold tea.

I value my rare moments of peace with a cup of tea, although most often I'm not drinking proper tea. As Poirot would say, it's a tisane.



26 dishcloths, scrubbies and bath mitts. Can you imagine such a thing? If you had suggested to me last January that I would make a couple dozen dishcloths this year, I would have laughed.

I found a pattern I really enjoyed knitting and ended up making lots of these for gifts. Who knew?



8 pair of socks. That's 5 pair of adult socks and 3 pair of child's socks.

I discovered that both my mother and my youngest son greatly admire handknit socks and can't wait for me to knit them another pair.

Sorry, guys, I am going to finish my purple socks first.

And speaking of socks,


7 pair of baby socks and 7 baby hats for charity. These went to afghans for Afghans.

17 afghan squares for charity. These went to Oliver's Blanket project, hoping he will be able to get some much-needed new equipment.



5 hats for holiday gifts. 4 adult sized and 1 toddler sized, for family living in colder climates.

Trying out different patterns, some I loved, some not so much. The fit varies a lot from designer to designer.

I prefer to make my hats snug-fitting so they don't blow away in gusty winter winds.



I knit One pair of mittens in wool for the boy to wear when we go to the mountains to visit the snow. Who can resist a pair of buggy mitts?

1 doll's outfit. A sweater and leggings in a premie baby size just fits the doll my mother made years ago to teach the children how to hold new baby siblings.


Last, but not least, the sweaters.

3 little sweaters for babies and children. A seed stitch coat for my cousin's 1-year-old. An aran style cardigan for the 4-year-old.

A simple Baby Surprise Jacket with a matching Baby Beret for a future baby shower.

That's the list of finished projects for the year. I wonder what the coming year will bring?

Long, Colorful Scarf

Now that the holiday knitting is over, I'm taking time to make a list of all the delicious things I would like to knit next. I find it so amusing because the list is so long that I doubt I will ever knit them all. But still, it's fun to think about knitting all that stuff.

I'm not thinking about all those knits idly, oh no, I am working on projects while I'm thinking about other projects to come, of course. And what better time to start next year's gift knitting than now, hm?

On the left you can see what I'm working on today, a version of Joel's Scarf from The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch. Sally Melville was inspired by the Doctor Who Scarf when she designed it, giving it her own colors and stripe pattern to suit her own aesthetics. I wholeheartedly approve. I always did love the idea of a very long striped scarf, but never felt the need to make an exact replica of any of the originals.

This scarf I'm making for my eldest son, who loves to wear unusual accessories. He has grown to expect a gift hat from me each year, the wackier the better. I hate to disappoint him. I guess I'll have to make a hat to go with the scarf, won't I?

I've had to substitute some of the colors in the scarf. Some of the colors have been discontinued and some simply aren't available at my local shop. As for the rest, well, I really didn't like that Patons olive green at all. So, here's what I'm using:

Patons Classic Wool Merino in leaf green, old gold, royal purple and paprika.
Lion Wool in cadet blue and dark teal.
Cascade 220 Heathers in rust.

I like the way these colors play off one another. The feeling is cheerful without being too bright or garish. I also like the fact that you can almost knit this in the dark. It's a great tv knitting project, yards of garter stitch, easy peasy.

Merry Christmas

These were the last of the knitted holiday gifts. I finished them yesterday, wrapped them up and sent them off with the rest of the booty to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

3 washcloths for boys in brightly colored stripes that make them easy to find in the laundry. Their mother hopes that when they have their own garter-stitch goodness they will leave her dishcloths alone. We will see.

I am taking a break from knitting today. I'm going to spend some time planning and deciding what I want to knit next. I want to make some more baby hats and socks for afghans for Afghans, finish the second half of my plum socks and start a cardigan for myself. There are dozens of other things that have caught my eye, and it helps to at least make a list to remind me of these delightful knits waiting to be made. I'll work on that later this evening.

Just now, I'm finishing up dinner preparations. We're having a simple meal, some of it prepared ahead of time and reheated, some of it made fresh this afternoon, but none of it was complicated. Roast turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry orange sauce, crudites, sparkling cider and panettone for dessert. For my eldest son, it's all about the stuffing.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day with your families.

Yet More Holiday Knitting

The holiday knitting continues between batches of cookies and loads of dishes and laundry, with Christmas carols playing in the background. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes crazy stressful, such is family life.

On the left you see a little hat I made as a gift for my cousin, who will be celebrating her first birthday next month. It was a very quick knit, made from super bulky yarn. You can make this hat while watching tv in an evening. Yes, even you! The pattern is Omly's Action Baby Hat and you can find it here. I don't have any circulars or double points in the proper size for this yarn, so I used straight needles, knit it flat and seamed it up the back.

On the right is a little group of kid's play kitchen accessories, 2 'dishcloths' and a pretend 'oven mitt'. Or, they can be a set of bathtime accessories for your favorite toddler. Either way, the kids just love the squishy texture of garter stitch and if you give them these, they will leave your dishcloths alone. Maybe.

Inexpensive worsted weight cotton yarn is all you need to make them. The mitt pattern is in the previous post here, and the dishcloth is Abigail's 4-Corners dishcloth here. I made changes to her pattern to make it smaller, I cast on 12 stitches, then short-row decreased down to 3 stitches for each quadrant. If you cast on about 8 stitches, you get a great coaster.

You still have time to knit a couple of little projects like these for last-minute gifts, so get busy!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Child's Mitt Pattern

As promised, here is the pattern for the bath mitts I made for my 4-year-old. They have been knitted flat in garter stitch in one piece and are seamed along the outer edge of the hand and inner edge of the thumb. They are designed to fit a preschool aged child loosely, which makes it easier for them to put them on by themselves.

Materials:
You will need 1 ball of worsted weight cotton yarn, a pair of size 7 US/4.5 mm needles, a tapestry needle and a stitch holder or a bit of contrasting yarn to hold thumb stitches.

Stitches used:
Garter stitch = knit every row.
M1 = increase a stitch by knitting into the front and the back of the next stitch, or using your favorite method.
K2tog = decrease by knitting 2 stitches together.

Cuff:
Cast on 30 stitches. Knit 16 rows in garter stitch (8 ribs).

Row 17: Knit 14 stitches, m1, knit 2, m1, knit 14; 32 stitches.
Row 18: Knit across row.
Row 18: Knit 14, m1, knit 4, m1, knit 14; 34 stitches.
Row 19: Knit.
Row 20: Knit 14, m1, knit 6, m1, knit 14; 36 stitches.
Row 21: Knit.
Row 22: Knit 14, m1, knit 8, m1, knit 14; 38 stitches.
Row 23: Knit 14, place the next 10 stitches onto a holder, cast on 2 stitches, knit 14 making sure to not leave a gap (see photo right); 30 stitches on needle.

Knit 24 more rows in garter stitch (12 ribs). Your mitt should look like the photo at left.

Row 48: *K2tog, knit 3* repeat between *'s across row; 24 stitches.
Row 49: Knit.
Row 50: *K2tog, knit 2* across; 18 stitches.
Row 51: Knit.
Row 52: *K2tog, knit 1* across; 12 stitches.
Row 53: Knit.
Row 54: *K2tog* across; 6 stitches.
Cut yarn leaving a 10"/25cm tail, thread the end onto a tapestry needle and draw the yarn through the remaining stitches and pull up tightly. Fasten off. It should now look like the photo at right.

Thumb:
Put the thumb gusset stitches back on the needle, as shown.

Row 1: Cast on 2 stitches onto right-hand needle, knit the 10 stitches from left needle, cast on 2 stitches; 14 stitches.

Knit 14 rows (7 ribs).

Row 16: *K2tog* across; 7 stitches.

Cut yarn leaving a 6"/15cm tail, thread the end onto tapestry needle and draw yarn through remaining 7 stitches. Pull up tightly and fasten off. It should look like the photos at left and right. The knitting is done, now it's time to sew up.

Finishing:If you're new at sewing up garter stitch using mattress stitch, Knitty has a great article with lots of photos that shows you how.

I recommend that you start sewing up the longer seam of the outer palm first. This stabilizes the mitt and seems to make it easier to work on the more fiddly thumb.

Start sewing up the thumb by seaming the length of the thumb seam, and finish by grafting those extra 4 thumb stitches to the 2 cast on palm stitches they match up with, smoothing and pulling up any little holes you come across. Weave in ends and you're done.

Want to put a ruffle on the cuff for a feminine touch? I embellished this mitt with a simple crocheted edge.

Round 1: 2 Single crochet in each cast-on stitch around the cuff, slip stitch in first stitch to join, chain 2.
Round 2: Double crochet in each single crochet around the cuff, slip stitch to top of chain, fasten off. Weave in ends.