Star Crossed Road to China

Road to China is my new favorite yarn. What is not to like? The deep purple color is a winner. The combination of 65% baby alpaca (not just any alpaca, but a sparkling new baby one!), 15% silk, 10% camel, and 10% cashmere is a winner. (The fiber breakdown on the website is different than what is written on my ball band. *shrug*) Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Lawson is a winner, too. (ETA 8/24/21) It's a free download here. The colorway is Dark Amethyst. It was abbreviated on the ball band as Dk Amethyst so I mistakenly thought that the yarn was DK weight, but no matter. It all turned out fine. Because I have some sort of blockage in my head preventing me from following a pattern, here are my modifications: - Cable cast on - 1x1 twisted rib for 6 rounds on size 9 needles - Knit the rest of the hat on size 10.5 needles And a question for the ladies: why is it so hard to make your hair look right when wearing a slouch hat? I could not get a picture of me in this hat that deserved the light of day, so back of the head is all you get to see. This is partially due to waking up at 4:45 AM for work, but mostly due to it being really hard to get cute hair with a knit hat. Hmph.

Ultimate Slouch Hat

When traveling on public transportation or shopping at the produce market, I am overcome with slouch hat envy. Although the weather here doesn't even come close to being in the single digits, folks here know how to rock a hat, and I found it shameful that I was a knitter, yet I sported a naked head. Naked head no more! Introducing the Ultimate Slouch Hat.

$2.99

This hat lays just so thanks to short row shaping at the crown, and since it's knit from bulky Cascade Ecological Wool,  it works up at lightening speed! I think the best part is that I can get 3 hats out of one skein of Cascade Eco, so I foresee giving a lot of these away as gifts. Thanks to my test knitter, Deb!

Needles:

• 16-inch US  #9 circular needle
• 16-inch US #10 1/2 circular needle
• 1 set of US #10 1/2 DPNs or a 20-inch US #10 1/2 circular needle 

Skills needed: 

• knitting in the round
• knitting with 2 circular needles or DPNs
• short row shaping.

Sizes

• Small, 20-22 inch circumference
• Large, 22-24 inch circumference

Gauge

• 15 stitches = 4 inches

I Heart Pom Poms and The Devil Cat

Cross country ski season is here, and with it comes a new ski hat. May I present to you I Heart Pom Poms by Karen Borrel. I have somehow managed to give away all of my previous ski hats, and this yarn, the butter soft (and superwash!) Malabrigo Rios in Azul Profundo is leftover from my cardigan design. I have one more skein left, and I hope to transform it into a matching cowl or scarf.

 

Even though I wouldn't describe myself as a lover of pom poms, I knew I had to make this hat when I saw my friend's FO. The nifty part of this design is that it can be transformed quickly into a cowl, although I don't see myself ever wearing it like that since having two pom poms around my neck would make me look like I have goiter. 

I made some minor modifications to this hat:

• CO 88 stitches instead of 92 - I think I could have reduced the number of stitches by 4 more for an even better fit
• 1x1 ribbing with size 6 needles both at the bottom and top of hat
• Body of hat with size 8 needles
• Stitch markers for eyelets every 22 sts
• 10 purl ridge repeats instead of 9 for more slouch

 All this skiing means that my cousin is watching the house and, more importantly, the beasts. Greaseball lived up to his beastly reputation and woke my poor cousin up when he thought it was an appropriate time for breakfast. Let me assure you that it was not an appropriate time for breakfast. It never is when that devil cat wakes me up.

You can find more of his work at http://hyperdoodle.blogspot.com.

Some Gift Knits

Greaseball wasn't too irritated with me. This picture is taken post sweater fiasco: I wanted to try a dog sweater I'm knitting up on him to see if it would fit. He's not a dog, but he walks on 4 paws, so I wanted to see if the front leg spacing (front paw spacing? arm spacing?) was correct. Ooooh boy. He did not like that at all, and this is the cat who can sport a pimp hat and a beret. His points of contention were that he's much more plump than my brother's dog and he has almost no neck, so this meant that the sweater was too constricting around his shoulders.

Onto some of the gift knits from last Christmas. A friend of mine has twin daughters, and I've been meaning to knit them hats. I told him this after he gave me a present, but I hope he knows that I was sincere and not just doing the "oh crap, now what do I do?" reflexive present maneuver. Their colors are totally girly, pink and lavender, so I was forced to visit my LYS. Such torture! The hat was made with Karabella Yarns Merino Superwash, and it is perfectly soft for little girls' heads. The initials on their hats were a compromise because my friend had asked that I embroider the girls' names onto the hats, but when he spelled the names out for me and they were over 10 letters apiece, I made a mental note to only use their first initial. I'm a little suspicious that he also wanted their names on their hats so he doesn't get them mixed up, but he wouldn't confess to that once I pointed it out. The pattern was just something I made up: a seed stitch brim and a stockinette cap. I added some contrasting crocheted flowers to the side so they wouldn't look so boring.

I also crocheted this hypnotic tawashi for another friend. It turned out super cute, as do most things that come from Japanese craft books. Which makes me ponder what is it about Japanese things that make me and other women I know go gaga? Age-wise, I should be over my Hello Kitty and Company phase, but since I'm not, I don't even go into Sanrio stores for fear of leaving with some cutesy chachki that I'll end up giving to my friend's daughters.

Tiny Boyfriend Hat

The annoying thing about kids is that they persist on growing, leaving a debris of lovingly hand knit goods behind. The cutest baby in the world has turned into the cutest toddler in the world, and this toddler needed a new hat since the last one I knit him doesn't even cover his ears anymore.

It must be really cold where he lives if he needs a hat right now. In my neck of the woods, the high is supposed to be 75°F on this November day. 

The pattern is The Boyfriend Hat by Stephanie Nicole. It's a simple, ribbed hat that has very symmetrical decreases at the crown. To make this hat kid sized, I cast on 90 stitches instead of the prescribed 100. I also knit the hat for 7 inches before doing the decrease rounds because I wanted his ears to be covered. The yarn is some RYC Cashsoft DK I had in my stash. Ahhh, gotta love using up the stash!

I thought this kid would be swimming in this hat because I made it much bigger than I thought was prudent, but as you can see, this is only going to last a season. Hopefully, he'll be back in the land of mild winters next fall, though, so no hat will be necessary (but I'll still figure out a way to make him more knitted goods).

More Stash Busting Projects

This time, the stash busting included both produce in the refrigerator and leftover project yarn.

Since broccoli has been super cheap and good, I picked up some crowns. When I was stashing the broccoli in the refrigerator, I found some more broccoli in the produce bin that was last week's "OMG, this organic broccoli is cheaper than the regular broccoli!" score.

Got too much broccoli? Make soup! The way I make broccoli soup is simple. Cut washed broccoli into florets. If you have the stems, peel them and slice them into coins. Peel some garlic cloves, and cut off the ends. Throw the broccoli, garlic, and some uncooked white rice into a pot, and fill the pot with enough stock or water to come up to about 3/4 the way up the pile.


Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, and then use your handy stick blender to puree the whole thing. Stir in some yogurt or cream, and add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes, I get fancy and I saute some onions/leeks/shallots at the beginning of this process, later deglazing the pan with a dry white wine before I add the broccoli, rice, garlic, and stock. Instead of broccoli, you can also use winter squashes (either raw or roasted), carrots, or sweet potatoes. I'll also add lemon juice or cider vinegar if I think the soup needs to be less sweet.



More yarn stash busting has also occurred. In addition to the 10 preemie hats, I knit this hat from leftover Cascade 220 and other worsted weight wool yarns.


It's a boy sized version of Felicity. We have matching hats now, so we can walk our dogs and be dorks together.


To make this hat fit his noggin, I cast on 100 stitches and increased to 150 stitches before starting the decrease rounds.

Palate Cleansers

My saffron is here! So far, I have 9 stamens from three flowers. A paella's worth of saffron it is not, but hopefully more of the crocuses will flower soon.

This is one of two measly garlic bulbs that we planted who knows how long ago - it never separated into multiple cloves. The garlic bulb has been curing on my counter for the past 3 weeks, and I chopped it up last night to add with some Marin Sun Farm chuck roast. Next time, we'll buy garlic intended for planting in this climate. I'm pretty sure that the boy just stuck two cloves of garlic into a pot after I told him about how envious I was of Pam Pierce growing a 6 pounds of garlic on a small 3x3' plot.


Since I'm between sweaters right now and I want to reduce my yarn stash of single balls, I'm knocking out some small projects as palate cleansers. The hats featured above, true color being the brownish red in the second picture, are for a friend and his son who recently moved to Chicago. The pattern is The Boyfriend Hat from Stephanie Likes to Knit.

And since I'm actually posting about knitting, let's revisit an old topic: Irish Cottage Knitting. I am exclusively knitting lever-action style now, and it has improved my pace and reduced wrist pain. To switch, I had to go cold turkey and not knit in my old English style, which pained me since I had so many big projects I wanted to start but couldn't due to lack of reliable gauge. Purling was a challenge, and what I finally figured out was that I had to keep the angle needles obtuse (wider than 90 degrees) when I purl, and acute (smaller than 90 degrees) when I knit. If you take a look at this video, she actually does change the angle of her needles for a knit and purl stitches. Wider for purl, narrower for knit.

Baby Cabled Baby Slouch

The Tilden Park Scarf is an easy ruffled and ruched infinity scarf that adds a feminine touch to any outfit.

My fertile friends are starting round 2 of baby season, and that means more hand knits for all! Baby season is coinciding with a time that baby cables are etching themselves into my brain, resulting in this Baby Cabled Baby Slouch. Why are baby cables on my brain? Well, because you don't need a cable needle for them since these cables are really cheap impostors, resulting in a quick, portable knitting project!



As you can see, Mr. Ball gets to do the honors of mimicking a baby between the ages of 3 to 6 months.

Don't forget to check out my other free patterns listed on the sidebar!

Materials
• 140 yards (less than1 ball) Rowan Calmer
• 1 US size 5 16 inch circular needles OR needle size needed to achieve gauge.
• 1 US size 7 16 inch circular needles OR needle size needed to achieve gauge.
• 1 US size 7 circular needles, any length, OR needle size needed to achieve gauge (US size 7 DPNs may also be used instead of 2 circular needles)
• 1 stitch marker
• Row counter
• Tapestry needle

Special Skills Needed
• Knitting in the round

Gauge
• 4.5 stitches = 1 inch on US size 7 needles in stockinette stitch

Finished Measurements
Finished hat circumference is 16 inches. Supposedly, this fits a 3-6 month old baby. Mr. Ball has a 16" head circumference, for reference.

Abbreviations
[ ] repeat instructions between brackets
co cast on
k knit
kbl knit stitch through the back loop
k2tog knit two stitches together
k2togtbl knit 2 stitches together through their back loops
MIP make one purl-wise
p purl
p2tog purl two stitches together
rt right twist. Knit two stitches together, but do not remove the two old stitches from the left needle. Insert right needle knit-wise into the first stitch again on left needle, knit it, and now slide old stitches from the left needle. Is this confusing? If so, there are numerous "right twist" videos on YouTube that are fantastic.
sts stitch(es)

Directions
CO 72 sts onto the smaller 16 inch circular needle. Join to knit in the round, placing a marker at this point so you know where your round begins.

[k2, p2] to end for 5 rounds.

Increase Rounds
Round 1: Using larger 16 inch circular needle, [k2, p1, M1P, p1] to end.
Round 2: [k2, p3] to end.
Round 3: [k2, p1, M1P, p2] to end.
Round 4: [k2, p4] to end.
Round 5: [k2, p1, M1P, p3] to end.
Round 6: [k2, p5] to end. (126 sts)

Baby Cable Pattern
Round 1: [rt, p2, kbl, p2] to end.
Rounds 2-4: [k2, p2, kbl, p2] to end.
Repeat Baby Cable Pattern until the hat measures 5.5 inches, starting your measurement from the cast on edge, ending on round 2.

Decrease Rounds
Note that decrease round starts on round 3 of the Baby Cable Pattern.
Round 1: [k2togtbl, p2, kbl, p2] to end.
Round 2: [kbl, p2] to end.
Round 3: [kbl, p2tog, kbl, p2] to end.
Round 4: [kbl, p1, kbl, p2] to end.
Round 5: [kbl, p1, kbl, p2tog] to end
Round 6: [kbl, p1] to end.
Round 7: [kbl, p2tog, p1] to end.
Round 8: [kbl, p2] to end. (54 sts)
Round 9: [kbl, p2tog] to end.
Round 10: [kbl, p1] to end. (36 sts)

Repeat rounds 9 and 10 2 more times. (16 sts)
[k2tog] to end. (8 sts)

Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail.

Finishing
Using the tapestry needle, thread the yarn tail through the 8 remaining sts. Pull closed. Weave in ends.

If you happen to knit this up for a trendy baby, please send me a picture of your finished object! I'd love to see how your slouch turned out!

http://spindlesandspices.blogspot.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Pigs and Chickens

I found these fabulous, folding shopping bags at my favorite Target alternative, Ichiban Kan. My friend, (Jen who remains blogless), showed me her fabu bags, and I just had to get some for myself. The problem was that by the time I made it to Ichiban Kan, only one boring floral print was left. So, I stalked the store every week, sometimes even twice a week, until the bags were back. Last week, I hit the motherlode and I bought 9 bags. For $2 each, they are a steal! And the best part is that they fold up into nothing and I can fit them into my purse. My boring floral bag has been so handy!

My favorite prints, by far, are the ones featuring Mr. Pig and his sidekick, Ms. Chicken. Or is it Ms. Chicken and her sidekick Mr. Pig? Regardless, the idea of barnyard animals baking and serving tea makes me very, very happy.


I brought a friend new to the Japanese dollar store scene with me and she also bought a ton of bags. She says that the French on these bags is kind of funky, but I wouldn't expect anything less. My favorite project bag, also from this place, has an awesome poem on it that reads, "Lunch time will make everyone happy." Indeed, lunch time does make everyone happy!

Because I am a knitter, I could not pass up the sheep bag. Sorry, folks, I took the last one! It was the display, but I lurved it and had to have it.

I'm finally getting around to photographing some of my finished objects from the Christmas knitting frenzy of 2008. This is a hat I made for the boy, a bigger version of a hat I made for Baby RoRo.


The boy, however unlike a baby, has lots of feedback on this hat. He has been begging for a grown up version of the Aviator Hat since last May because he wanted it to fit underneath his snowboarding helmet. Well, it turns out that his snowboarding helmet fits too snugly to accomodate anything other than his giant nugget, so he mostly wears this hat out and about and underneath his bicycling helmet. His complaint, however, is that he does not like the flaps flopping around when he is off of his bike. The traditional solution to this, a long cord at the end of each flap, was deemed "dumb looking." At this point, though, my job was done. I know that the customer is always right, but this customer can sew, so I told him he can attach some buttons to the earflaps and sew a couple of buttonholes into the top of his hat. So, if he does the modifications and likes it, perhaps we'll write a joint pattern.

Mingus has decided that, despite the weather, he's all done with his winter coat. I have been gathering large amounts of fur from this dog on a daily basis. I thought that these pictures made Mingus look like he's floating on a cloud. Except, as you can see, he's actually lying on the floor.


He likes to lay in his fur after I brush it off. I always let him have this moment of silence before I toss it in the dumpster. I used to spin the stuff, but I have a huge fiber stash that needs to be spun up first. In the spirit of recycling, I also tossed a bunch of fur in out backyard since someone told me that birds like to use it for nesting material. Well, his fur just stayed out there in the backyard, and then it rained, so I ended up having to pick up soggy fur. I guess our local birds do not want their nests to smell like dog, especially wet dog.

A Slouch for All Seasons

The slouch trend could no longer be ignored. I had to have one, regardless if I looked silly or not! The top of my head and the tips of my ears were tired of being cold during dog walks, so slouchy hat to the rescue!


The pattern, A Slouch for All Seasons, was quick and fun. And if I get tired of this hat, Vespa wears it well.


Pattern: A Slouch for All Seasons
Yarn: Cascade 220, in some shade of red (the ball band is hiding from me)
Needles: Size 7
Pattern Modification: I changed the 1x1 ribbing to 1x1 twisted rib

Baby Hat Madness

I had recently knit a bunch of baby hats for my cousin's twins. The twins, affectionately and appropriately called the Mini JJs, requested hats with ear flaps since these little LA babies needed to be bundled up for their new digs in St. Louis.

The payoff for baby hats is huge! I get pictures like this:

and this:


Their mom added the ties to the ends of the hats since it turns out that babies don't like to keep hats on their heads. I suppose Greaseball is much more patient in this respect. Next time I make a baby hat, I will make sure to add ties!

The bunny ear hat also got a fitting home with Little RoRo. Ack! He's so cute!

Now, the boy has requested an aviator style cap just like the ones I've given to three babies. Unfortunately, his head is not so small (although, babies heads, I was surprised to learn, are really not super small), so it might be awhile.

I will never be bored

When I was a child, I was constantly bored. In fact, I bugged my parents about it so much that I was forbidden to mention the "B word." If I slipped up and started to utter, "Mom, I'm bor-", my mother would dole out one awful chore after another that could be done around the house to stop my boredom. Yeah, lots of fun that was.

I do not get people who wistfully yearn for their younger years, because being an adult is absolutely fabulous. I can't even remember the last time I complained to anyone about being bored! Even if I'm stuck at home, I can pick up my camera, or I can knit, or cook something, or go for a hike, or poke a dog. When I pointed this out to one of the parental units that my annoying childhood whining would have been prevented by an allowance, more pets, and the freedom to buy whatever materials I wanted and do whatever I wanted, I got no sympathy.

So, these pictures are what I did recently to prevent boredom.

I bugged the cats and took blurry pictures of them while making clucking noises in an effort to get both of them to look at the camera.


The boy planted more seeds and we harvested our second salad of the summer (SSS). I spent a long time on the deck trying to figure out what he planted since he didn't label anything. It's okay because I like surprises.


My hoya carnosa's blooms fell off, and I decorated my handspun with them.


I spent a lot of time staring and taking pictures of our carniverous plant. I think the boy fed it some Korean bbq, or at least that what he claims when asked why this plant is suddenly thriving.


I knit a chemo cap for my MIL. Sadly, the last of her hair fell out yesterday and she doesn't recognise herself anymore. I'll be knitting many more caps, as will some of my friends (thanks again, you are all wonderful). F*ck breast cancer.

Stripey Baby Beret Pattern

The Tilden Park Scarf is an easy ruffled and ruched infinity scarf that adds a feminine touch to any outfit.

It's baby season! Well, at least it is for one more of my friends, Nanda, who is expecting the last of this year's bumper crop of babies. I think there were at least 5 kiddos born within the last 6 months amongst my fertile friends!
Since Nanda is a knitter, and more specifically a knitter with very discriminating taste in yarn, I wanted to make her a worthy hat. This is a variation on my pattern Le Mieux, made a little bigger so it can fit babies from 3 to 6 months.

I used Aurora 8, a favorite yarn of mine because of its squishy softness, but any worsted weight yarn will do.

Don't forget to check out my other free patterns listed on the sidebar!


Materials
• 40 yards of Karabella Aurora 8 in green (color 63)
• 40 yards of Karabella Aurora 8 in blue (color 43)
• 1 US size 5 16 inch circular needles OR needle size needed to achieve gauge.
• 1 US size 7 16 inch circular needles OR needle size needed to achieve gauge.
• 1 US size 7 circular needles, any length, OR needle size needed to achieve gauge
(US size 7 DPNs may also be used instead of 2 circular needles)
• 6 stitch markers
• Row counter
• Tapestry needle

Special Skills Needed
• Knitting in the round

Gauge
• 4.5 stitches = 1 inch on US size 7 needles in stockinette stitch

Finished Measurements
Finished hat circumference is 16 inches. This fits a 3-6 month old baby.

Abbreviations
[ ] repeat instructions between brackets
cc contrasting color
co cast on
k knit
k2tog knit two stitches together
ktbl knit through the back loop
mc main color
MIL make one left
MIR make one right
p purl
pm place marker
ssk slip one stitch knitwise, slip next stitch knitwise, then knit stitches together
sts stitch(es)

Directions
CO 72 sts onto the smaller 16 inch circular needle in mc (blue yarn). Join to knit in the round, placing a marker at this point so you know where your round begins.

[ktbl, p1] to end for 5 rounds.

Next round: Switch to larger 16 inch circular needle. k12, pm, k12, pm, k12, pm, k12, pm, k12, pm, k12, pm

Increasing Stripe Rounds: [k1, MIL, k until 1 sts remains before marker, M1R, k1, slip marker] to end. k next round. Alternate Increasing Stripe Rounds between the mc (blue) and the cc (green). For the first round, use the cc (green yarn). Carry the unused yarn up the back of your work.

Repeat the Increasing Stripe Rounds until there are 24 sts between each set of markers (144 sts total). Your last round should be with the mc.

Decreasing Stripe Rounds: [ssk, k until marker, slip marker] to end. Repeat round once more, then switch colors. For the first round, use the cc.

Repeat Decreasing Stripe Rounds until only 6 sts remain, switching half of the stitches to the second set of circular needles when the hat circumference is too small to be worked only using the 16 inch circular needles.

Nubbin Rounds: k1 round, removing markers as you go. Repeat this round 2 more times. k2tog 3 times. 3 sts remain. Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail.

Finishing
Using the tapestry needle, thread the yarn tail through the 3 remaining sts. Pull closed. Weave in ends.

Here goes my usual plea: if you knit this, I'd love to hear from you and see your finished objects!


http://spindlesandspices.blogspot.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Tuesday Pictures

The boy and I were looking for birthday gifts for his mother and my father (stick with me here, there is a point). Conveniently,they share the same birthday, which means that we have no excuse whatsoever to forgot about March 19th. This year's birthday theme was wind chimes! While we found one that my father would like, we couldn't quite find the perfect one for his mother. The boy decided that he would make the perfect one for her.


He made her this wind chime out of bicycle gears and fishing line. It has a very pleasant sound that isn't jarring to the ears like other chimes. I was sad when we had to pack it up and take it over to her, but perhaps I can convince the boy that we need one for our house.

There's something so sweet about a grown man making his mother a birthday gift.

My washcloth swap partner finally received my package, so now I can reveal to the world (all 3 of you) what I sent!

These garterlac dishcloths by Criminy Jickets were so fun to make, and they worked really well with all my variegated cotton yarn, of which I have tons. I've told my friends to not let me buy variegated yarn anymore! However, since I revert to a five-year-old when faced with a wall of yarn ("Ooooh! Look at the pretty colors!), I'm not sure how long I can hold out. I gave my swap partner the blue washcloth, and also sent her this one:

It's the Round Dishcloth by Amy Carpenter. I plead the 5th on whether or not I ran out of orange yarn.

Last week, I decided that my cousin's twins really needed matching beanies, so I knit a tomato hat to go with the finished eggplant hat. Twins everywhere in the world are shaking their heads in disappointment, for I'm sure this matching thing can get old really fast. These twins were also born the day after Christmas, so not only do they have to share their birthdays, but they'll have their birthdays overshadowed. Hey, but at least they'll have each other to commiserate with.



This past weekend, we drove to Lake County to eat ham. The boy's parents have an amazing garden, so I played with my camera and they wondered why I was crawling around on their lawn. Their bulbs are all abloom. And so were my sinuses.



Some of their flowers were dying while the plants were getting ready for new growth. Again, I don't know why I'm fascinated with dying flowers.

A cool water drain.
The dogs couldn't escape from my lens, try as they might.


Oops, I thought I uploaded the picture where Mingus was smiling nicely for the camera. I guess not.


And on this goofy note, it's time to say goodbye.