YARN - knitted beanies.

Looking back on the blog I realize it has been a year since I posted any knitting projects. This is a bit odd given that I knit probably 5 times more than I sew. See - the sewing room is allllllllllll the way upstairs and the tivo and the couches are downstairs - where it is warm. Once the weather perks up and it is no longer dark when I get home - I'll do a bit more sewing. But this winter has been all about the knitting.

Here is a list of knitting projects I have completed since November.

5 pairs of fingerless gloves. Yes - five! I had my own Christmas sweatshop going.

3 baby hats.

1 hat/mitten combo for my baby niece.

2 adult beanies - including the one above which was a Christmas gift for my mom. The other was for me to walk the dog in.

1 gorgeous (if I do say so) baby blanket that I will have to blog about separately in all its glory.

I wish I could give you some fantastic tutorial on how I made these beanies but honestly - I have been making hats on circular needles for so long now I don't even pay attention to how/what I am doing. I cast on what "looks right" and start knitting then start to decrease when it looks about head-size. These hats are a bit of a change-up for me though because they are truly beanies. They have a ribbed foldover brim and a much more fitted look. I made the bigger one for my mom and then made a matching one for my niece with the leftover yarn. Want to know the cutest thing ever? They wear them together after their swim class. How f*cking adorable is that?

Since I am of no help at all with providing patterns or instructions - here are a few similar options for you to use.

1. Pill Box Hat from Lion Brand Yarns.
Single color, no brim, great for a first project.

2. Cashmere Hats for Mom, Dad and Baby from The Purl Bee.
Three great patterns. I'm especially in love with the baby hat with the little ear flats. Precious. Also - can we say cashmere? Yum!

3. Rolled Brim knit hat from Martha Stewart.
This one actually looks the most like all the hats I usually make. The difference is that it does not use circular needles which is nice given that many beginning knitters don't have all the supplies. This patterns also uses very chunky yarn - meaning you can finish in just a few episodes of Sex and the City on a weekend afternoon.

Enjoy.

B.L.E.

YARN - one pair of mittens - this time with fingers!

With a little persuading by Sarah - I finally made a pair of mittens with finger and thumb covers. On a rainy Sunday filled with Dim Sum and yarn shopping - Sarah picked out the yarn and I got to work. I love the coloring on these - they are made from just one skein of yarn but it was hand dyed - making for that great variation in color from mitten to mitten.

I used the same pattern from Martha Stewart that was noted in my original post for fingerless mittens http://housewifebyaccident.blogspot.com/2009/02/yarn-lots-o-mittens-none-with-fingers.html. Since this yarn was much thicker than the original pattern and Sarah has petite paws - I reduced the cast-on stitches from 39 to 30. With a stroke of luck I finished the mittens with just 6 inches of yarn to spare.

In our adventures Sarah and I stumbled upon the greatest little yarn shop called Urban Fauna Studio http://www.urbanfaunastudio.com/. The place is about the size of my bedroom but filled top to bottom with treasures - 2 inch tall knitted robots, felted centipede toys, ceramics that look knitted and the most beautiful yarns - most hand dyed, sustainable and/or organic.

There are no stuffy pretentious old ladies there - nobody to judge the quality of your cable knit. Instead it is owned and operated by a guy in (maybe) his early 30s who acts surprisingly like my brother who is a tattoo artist in Portland. Seriously - he was wearing a t-shirt with a hot dog dancing with a mustard bottle.

He was incredibly helpful and truly passionate about his store, art, yarn, knitting, spinning and the culture of just experimenting and playing with material. It was very refreshing - especially for me - I often just pick up yarn and let it tell me what I should make - I rarely go into a shop with some grand preconceived plan.

I have quite the stash of yarn now. Luckily it has been cold and rainy so I can justify sitting around happily knitting away.


B.L.E.

YARN - lots o' mittens none with fingers!

My sister claims these are called "handwarmers" but Ms. Martha called them fingerless mittens and I am afraid of her so fingerless mittens it is.

A few weeks ago I opened up the January issue of Martha Stewart and saw these mittens and I was smitten. I never even turned the page - just grabbed some random yarn I got for free at work (could one of the reasons RedEnvelope failed be because there was sh*t like yarn just sitting around - free for the taking??) and got to work.

This project was fun for many reasons - 1. I have never made mittens or gloves or anything of the sort 2. I have never used doublepoint needles and 3. you don't really have to count stitches you can eyeball it - and I don't like to count or follow directions 4. how friggin cute are these???

Here is the link to the pattern -
http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/fingerless-mittens?autonomy_kw=mitten&rsc=header_7

These quickly became my new obsession. All in all - I have made 7 pairs - even one by commission - thanks Alisa!! While in New York - I visited a cute little yarn shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn with Carrie and Alisa and it was just brimming with mittens. I picked up another mitten pattern (free from the nice owner lady) this one with ribbing detail.



The ribbing is fun - almost gives it a lacey kinda look - especially in the white organic cotton one. But I have to say that the roll top original Martha one is my favorite - it has that urban pauper look - so very Olsen twins circa 2006.

Anyhoo - if you need mittens with no fingers - call me! I can't seem to stop.



Cheers!

B.L.E.