Knitting Friends

I have great knitting friends. Some are as excited as I am about knitting and we talk fast, finish each other's sentences and are constantly thinking about the next project. It seems that there is never enough time for knitting, so we talk and email and fantasize about our knitting projects, or the next yarn we want to try or next technique we want to learn. Some friends are Rock Star knitters that knit speedy fast and can solve any knitting crisis, others can re-invent any pattern to work better, and others will try anything and it usually works. Some don't have to look at their needles while knitting and others have an amazing intuition about which colors will WOW a project... and which ones "not so much...." Here is one of my knitting friends who agreed to be photographed. This is Julia, sitting with me while I'm knitting my tank top.

Another Success

Here is another Christmas gift hat complete ~ Same ribbed pattern, but the yarn is thicker and not as soft as the other two ribbed hats. My husband assures me that is the yarn his dad will like. 100% wool from Montana sheep ~ so here it is! Thanks to my model, Rockin10 daughter!

Three is a Charm

I love the magic of felting. These bags are from the book Knit One Felt Two, and the lime green is my Rockin13 daughter's dance bag, and the turquoise bag is my Rockin10 daughter's dance bag. The striped rainbow is my first yoga bag ~ can you tell how much I love to play with color? Cascade and Brown Sheep are my favorite felting yarns ~ the lime green is Brown Sheep and a bit fuzzy once felted, due to the mohair content, and the turquoise is Cascade and smooth and crisp ~ no fuzz. They are used a lot and wearing well ~ and they were a blast to knit and felt!

Past Masters ~

My journey through Entralac turned out so successful that I wanted to share the inspiration. I made this in 2007 and changed the pattern from a small bag to a longer sized bag I could use for my yoga mat. It continues to make me smile each time I get out my yoga bag and mat, as it turned out perfectly! That adds to my good Karma and more inspiration for more knitting adventures. If you've not tried Entralac, it is a fun technique to play with ~ and has a lot of potential for color play!

River Chat

Knitting in the river again ~ and loved this picture showing the relaxing place I'm knitting while also having fun chatting. The river's rapids are next to me, so the inner tubes coast by, just out of arm's reach. This is a great place to spend a sunny day.

A Pattern for Success

This is a great pattern to knit. Although the knitting took longer than a rolled brim hat, there was no boredom of monotonous knitting. I put markers every 10 stitches so I knew when to repeat 4K 2P 2K 2P and it worked like a charm! I would highly recommend this pattern to all those needing to make a guy's hat! I am on my 3 hat from this pattern, for my father in law, out of wonderful Montana wool from Beaverslide Dry Goods and it is beautiful. The hat in this picture is the wee Packer's hat for little Jack.

Endless Summer

Don't we wish for an endless summer? Spending our weekends at the river, frolicking in the water and on the inner tubes, knitting in the river, eating amazing meals, star gazing and relaxing camp fires. Lots of laughs, lots of traditions and lots of great memories being made. I finished many knitting projects in the river this summer, and recharged my creative batteries so that I can continue to be productive and inspired. There is hope that we'll get to the river in September or perhaps October for more relaxation and togetherness. I'll keep you posted!

Birthday Surprise Complete!

The Seahawks' hat is finished and looks great! All ends are woven in and I'm ready to wrap it for a surprise birthday gift ~ the pattern turned out really wonderful, and it looks perfect on my husband so it will be just the right size for Chris ~ Bravo for another finished project!!!!

Jack's Packers Hat

Jack is 2 years old. He is our family's youngest Green Bay Packers Fan, as the son of my husband's nephew. I knit him a hat this weekend, in the same style as the Seahawks hat ~ and the hat is beautiful and very stretchy due to the ribbing all the way from brim to crown. It will be a Christmas gift for him. Some of last year's Christmas Hats looked like this....

Seahawks Surprise

It is rare when someone asks me to knit them a specific item. Our friend, Chris, tried on the Husky Pride hat last weekend, and asked if he could order a Seattle Seahawks hat from me...and after some pondering, he asked for the hat to be without "who who"s on the top. For those that speak the knitting language, "who who"s are little 3 inch i-cords on the top of the hat that add to the whimsy appeal. It is so wonderful to get a request ~ meaning someone WANTS my knitting ~ that I was inspired to get out right away and get this hat started! Getting the proper colors were tricky, as the Seahawks changed colors before they went to the Super Bowl, so I found something with a recent logo (Thanks to dear Jerry) to take to my wonderful knitting shop, Cultured Purls. They had the deep navy blue and electric green in Cascade Superwash, so Chris can wash this hat, if necessary. I also found a great free pattern on-line that looks very "Chris like" and so I hope it turns out perfect for him. I started it on our camping weekend and am still knitting on it! Since it is a K4 P2 K2 P2 pattern, there is a slowdown for me with all the purls.... the pay off is that it looks marvelous!!! Don't you agree?

In Defense of Sari Silk

No one uses Sari Silk anymore. Why is that? I started a small project out of Sari Silk left over from a bag I finished (2007 New Year's Resolution) this past weekend camping. I was knitting in the sunshine and all the wonderful colors of the silk were such delightful surprises coming through my needles! Oranges, yellows, blues and vivid purples, all bound together with reds and greens and each one bursting with color and shine. It is so beautiful to watch the yarn while knitting. When its done it will be a little purse for the Church Bazaar, dressed up with some beads and hopefully looking very Bohemian!

Husky Pride

Remember the Brioche project for my New Year's Resolution? I was inspired by my post, "Bye Bye Brioche" to continue and finish it, so I took it camping. Before going to bed on Saturday night, I re-read the instructions so I would know exactly where to start, and how to do the stitch pattern ~ and I dreamt about it! I took that as a good sign and once I'd had my first cup of coffee on Sunday, I dove into the brioche ~ and I couldn't get the ribs to line up! After fussing with it and re-reading the pattern, I decided to begin decreases for the crown of the hat and be done. I decided to put an I-cord top on it to continue the whimsy look and was told by my audience that it really needed 6 of them ~ dubbed "who who"s so I put 6 of them on the hat, and here it is ~ Husky Pride for University of Washington. Do you think someone will buy this at our Church Bazaar?

Christmas Countdown

I've finished a project for a Christmas gift. I can't tell you who the gift is for, just in case someone should read this (Ha!) and feel the need to wreck the Christmas surprise. I made it out of Manos, and it went together pretty fast. The color work makes it snug, so I'll have to block it damp on my glass head so that it will fit the recipient. Wow ~ a Christmas gift done! (How many to go?)

More Hats (and Cats)

Here are more pictures of this weekend's hats. Photo credits to my daughter "rockin13" as she really has a talent for picture composition!

The Cat on the Hat ~

Another great camping trip and four hats to bring home. My 13 year old daughter, who will now be called rockin13 on this blog, took these great pictures of my hats, our garden and our cat. All the yarn used is from my stash, so they are all "free" with added time and love to create them. I know they will be loved at the November Church Bazaar. Shadow, our cat, sure loves the hats ~ doesn't she look great in red?!

Bye Bye Brioche?

I'm pondering whether I should rip out my brioche project. Learning the brioche stitch was one of my 2008 Knitting Goals. The Brioche Hat was a project that I worked on during spring break. The hat is pretty far along, and I'm not sure where I am on the pattern. It was a tricky stitch pattern, and I did make a few, ah, design features not called for in the pattern. I asked my daughter to take a picture of it, before I ripped it out...... and I started thinking that I should re-read the pattern and see where I am... and finish the hat. If I finish it, I can donate it to the Church Bazaar. That will be better than giving up on the brioche hat. Hmmmmm, I'll have to ponder this one.... as I do hate to rip....