Holy Speed Knitting!

This is the Yarn Harlot and she is one heck of a fast knitter. I bow down before her amazing speed.

Simple Tweed Hat

Just like with my last knitted hat I used the Super Simple Hat Calculator to make a hat for myself that actually fits. I’m happy with the results.

This was a really simple hat and knit up more quickly than my first attempt with this pattern. I am a new knitter and assume this hat went quicker because I used larger needles?

On a side note: I only got to wear this once. I wore it to class today. I had it on when I sat down and I could not find it after I searched all of my belongings before I left class. It’s an auditorium style lecture hall and I looked under the entire row I sat it and the rows in front and behind me. Either it got wedged into my seat and I couldn’t see it or someone walked off with it. Ugh! The good news is that I have plenty of this yarn left to make another if I want.

Finished: Hubs Scrap Hat aka The Hat So Large It Ate My Head

I used Mary Young Smith’s Super Simple Hat Calculator and cast on using size 3 circular needles and scrap acrylic yarn. Looking back I probably should have used larger needles in say size 7 or 8. This one of the first hats I’ve needle knit (not knit on a loom) and I wasn’t sure what size needles to use. Live and learn, huh?

NOTES:

1/15 – I don’t know if it’s because I don’t think my husband will like what I make him – even though he’s really easy to please – or if it’s because I want it to be extra special but whatever the reason I’ve never knit or crocheted anything for him. I finally decided that the poor boy needs a hat so I asked for him to look through my yarns and see if he liked any colors. Well, I have tons of scraps of acrylic yarn and of course what he picked out was something I only have a little bit of so after we picked out some coordinating colors hub’s only request was that anything I make him wasn’t too “girly.” No problem!

1/20 – Worked on this some more over the weekend and the past few days. I’d say it’s about 1/3 of the way finished. Maybe it’s because I’m still new at it but knitting is going so much slower for me than crochet.

1/22 – I’m starting on the decrease rows today and should have the hat done tonight but I don’t think hubs will wear this hat and that it will end up either being my hat or given away to a family member living somewhere in a colder part of the world. Reason? Hubs looked over at me while I was knitting today and said, “Hmmm, looks kind of … um … like a Rasta hat. Is that what you had in mind?” Now, hubs is pretty conservative when it comes to color and even though he picked out the colors I’m not sure he realized how they would look together. The hat’s colors do kind of have a Jamaican feel to them but the hat itself is a beanie not a tam or beret. We’ll see what he thinks when it’s finished.

1/23 – Finished this last night. Hubs hasn’t seen the finished project yet (he works nights) so I’m not sure he’ll like it or not. If he doesn’t it’s definitely not going to be mine because it’s HUGE on me. LOL If he likes it I hope it fits him.

1/24 – OK, so the hat fits him but he’s not crazy about it. It does NOT fit me and as you can see in the photos it’s huge. I feel a little bad that this was a disappointment so I’m going to head out and buy some yarn for a special hat just for him. Clearly I can’t allow him to choose the yarn since he picked these colors and wasn’t happy. I guess this shows that he truly doesn’t know squat about how the colors he picks will work together just like he tried to tell me at the start but I completely ignored his warnings. So the lesson to learn here is that any color he might choose does not necessarily guarantee his satisfaction.

Project info

Name

The Hat So Large It Ate My Head aka Hub’s Scraps Hat

Pattern

Super Simple Circular Hat Calculator by Mary Young Smith

Craft

Knitting

Made for

husband

Tags

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 3 / 3.25 mm

Notes

1/15 – I don’t know if it’s because I don’t think my husband will like what I make him – even though he’s really easy to please – or if it’s because I want it to be extra special but whatever the reason I’ve never knit or crocheted anything for him. I finally decided that the poor boy needs a hat so I asked for him to look through my yarns and see if he liked any colors. Well, I have tons of scraps of acrylic yarn and of course what he picked out was something I only have a little bit of so after we picked out some coordinating colors hub’s only request was that anything I make him wasn’t too “girly.” No problem!

1/20 – Worked on this some more over the weekend and the past few days. I’d say it’s about 1/3 of the way finished. Maybe it’s because I’m still new at it but knitting is going so much slower for me than crochet.

1/22 – I’m starting on the decrease rows today and should have the hat done tonight but I don’t think hubs will wear this hat and that it will end up either being my hat or given away to a family member living somewhere in a colder part of the world. Reason? Hubs looked over at me while I was knitting today and said, “Hmmm, looks kind of … um … like a Rasta hat. Is that what you had in mind?” Now, hubs is pretty conservative when it comes to color and even though he picked out the colors I’m not sure he realized how they would look together. The hat’s colors do kind of have a Jamaican feel to them but the hat itself is a beanie not a tam or beret. We’ll see what he thinks when it’s finished.

1/23 – Finished this last night. Hubs hasn’t seen the finished project yet (he works nights) so I’m not sure he’ll like it or not. If he doesn’t it’s definitely not going to be mine because it’s HUGE on me. LOL If he likes it I hope it fits him.

1/24 – OK, so the hat fits him but he’s not crazy about it. It does NOT fit me and as you can see in the photos it’s huge. I feel a little bad that this was a disappointment so I’m going to head out and buy some yarn for a special hat just for him. Clearly I can’t allow him to choose the yarn since he picked these colors and wasn’t happy. I guess this shows that he truly doesn’t know squat about how the colors he picks will work together just like he tried to tell me at the start but I completely ignored his warnings. So the lesson to learn here is that any color he might choose does not necessarily guarantee his satisfaction.

Status Report

WIPs

• Big Softie Snood: I worked on this last night and I have a long weekend to really buckle down and get some work done. I hope to either get it finished or at the very least really see some progress towards getting it completed by the time Monday rolls around.
• Hub’s Knit Scraps Hat: I just CO this hat yesterday using some scrap yarn in a color that he deemed wasn’t “too girly.” Honestly, men … But I digress. Since I don’t have enough to make the whole hat that color I’m going to use scrap yarn in stripes of coordinating colors. I sure hope that’s not too girly …

Long Term Projects:

• Fuzzy, Purple Poncho: This is going to be a fun poncho to wear but I have to admit that the pattern has become a little boring otherwise this would have been completed a long time ago.
• Sweet: Another case of something I’m sure I’m going to like wearing but this pattern is boring. Maybe it’s a combination of the pattern and the yarn I’m using. This might be turned into a hibernating project.

Hibernating:

• Gray Ultimate Crochet Socks: I already have a pair of the fantastic socks crocheted up and I love them. I wear them to bed, with my boots, and when my tootsies need to be warm and cozy. I started this second pair and finished one sock and then stopped to work on something else and didn’t pick them up again. I have one-sock-itis. Ugh.
• String Bag: The pattern for this market bag is not complicated and is crocheted using twine. It’s rough on my hands and I think I sat this aside to give my hands a break and I just sort of forgot about it. Now it’s resting in my project bag waiting for me to pick it up again.

Queued Up:

• Nubby Brim Cloche by Eileen Tepper
• Winter Slouch Hat by April Draven
• Aspen Neck Cowl by Andrea Tung (I think I’m going to adapt this to be loom knit on the large, yellow Knifty Knitter Loom)

Help! I Must Make This Hat

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I’m not a fan of reality TV and I’m not sure I know who Kim Kardashian is other than she and her family have a show about their crazy, rich, celebrity- filled lives. Not too sure why she’s famous besides the TV show and honestly I don’t care to know either. What I do care to know about is this adorable hat that Kim was photographed wearing during a recent shopping spree.

Nevermind the shoes, focus on the fab hat

Can anyone point me in the direction of a similar pattern? It looks like an oversized beret or tam – whatever those big, spirally hats are called – because her hair is tucked up inside of it and if I remember correctly she has long hair (don’t all of those celebu-tards have super long hair?). Wouldn’t this be a great “Gee, I’m having a bad hair day and need to cover my head but still look great,” kind of hat?

Any and all help would be much appreciated. Thanks, ya’ll!

A Motherload of Yarny Video Goodness

I am still what I consider a new crocheter and an even newer knitter. I just began crocheting this past summer and I’m still trying to teach myself to knit and even though I’m a fast learner I’m still not really doing anything very advanced. Most of my work is made up of simple stitches and shapes. I can follow patterns and I have even written a couple of my own patterns for simple things. For the most part though I’m still in the advanced beginner stage.

My point? I’m still learning. I’ve been borrowing books from the library and reading blogs like they’re going out of style. I almost always find inspiration but I very rarely learn new techniques this way – from reading about it. What ends up happening is that I’ll read about something and then re-read and re-read it again, then work on a project and frog it several times in frustration. I know myself well enough to know that I’m a visual learner which means that hands-on training is perfect for me. Right now this is not very practical considering my budget and schedule. What’s a crafty girl eager to get some learnin’ in her head to do? Well, she heads to Youtube!

I can’t fathom that there’s anyone who hasn’t heard of Youtube so I’m not going to bother describing the site to you. But you might be surprised at the number of crochet, knitting, and looming videos you can find. Can’t figure out how to make a crochet magic ring? Find it on Youtube! How do you do cast on with a knitting loom? Find it on Youtube! How do I use circular knitting needles? Find it on Youtube!

Bottom line: If you’re like me and are a visual learner then I highly recommend running over to Youtube when you’re stumped on a technique. Chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Work In Progress: Big Softie Snood

Example of old school snood

Back when I was a youngster, a snood was a stretchy band with a mesh net on it that held your hair loosly at the nape of your neck. They were popular for about two seconds. The other day I was reading an article about what those in the fashion industry predicted would be the “it” items for the coming years. One such item: the snood. I immediately pictured my above description and envisioned girls looking like they’d just stepped out of a Jane Austen novel.

If you are as clueless as I, please allow me to enlighten you: the international fashion community has decided to take a perfectly good word that already describes a perfectly nice (but maybe a little dated) item and give it a second meaning. Confusing. NOW a snood is also a scarf that call also be worn as a hood.

Example of modern snood: Purple Peppermint Loop Scarf made by MaraBianca for sale @ Etsy.com

Snoods are very similar to cowls in that they’re worn around the neck, are large and loose, and are joined in the round. I think that the big difference between a cowl and a snood is that a cowl is supposed to be used as a neckwarmer and a snood is meant to be both a neckwarmer and a hood. Personally, I think both words can be used interchangeably.

When I was out yesterday I found some incredibly soft cotton yarn and I’m just improvising a  pattern for my own snood (the hood kind not the hair kind) in half double crochet. I’m making a rectangle about 20″ x 30″ and then I’ll stitch the piece together along the shorter edge. I’ll post pics of the finished project once completed.

I decided to make this since none of my coats have a hood. Yes, yes … I have tons of hats and just as many scarves but it’s nice to have some variety.

Christmas Gift Goodies

Now that Christmas is officially over I can finally share the gifts made for my family that have been consuming so much of my time since before Thanksgiving. I’ve already posted a few of these items on my Ravelry page so for those of you hooked into my profile there you might see some repeats.

Let’s begin!

Susan’s Hodge Podge Mittens

Mom’s Bullet Hat

Garret’s Scarf

Katie’s Poncho

Dad’s Cashmere Scarf 1

Dad’s Cashmere Scarf 2

Garret’s Pom Pom Hat 1

Garret’s Pom Pom Hat 2

Dad’s Loom Knit Hat 1

Dad’s Loom Knit Hat 2

Erik’s Pom Pom Hat

Erik’s Skater Beanie

Mom’s Hodge Podge Mittens

Krista’s Extra Long Scarf

Krista’s Bullet

Crocheted Cotton Face Rounds

First of all, let me start off by saying that I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of making my own cotton rounds so please know that I know that I’m not being totally original when I post this pattern but I really wanted to share with you how I make these. Not only are they quick and simple but most crocheters, loomers, and knitters have some cotton yarn in their stash so it’s a inexpensive way to do something green.