Baby Blanket for January

Happy September everyone!

With the upcoming move to a larger place, and an exhausting trip to see the U.S. eclipse, I haven't had much time for knitting or spinning recently. And I'm not looking forward to packing up all of my stash either (and, you know, other things too), so this might be the last post for this month. But I did want to share my newest knitting project with you all.

I'm making a baby blanket for the little one we are expecting in January.

New baby will probably look something like this.

It's been awhile since I made a blanket, since they are so large. I'm generally a fan of working with smaller needles, and a blanket takes forever with small stitches. So I'm pretty sure that the last time I made a blanket was in high school.

My version of the Sunny Days Throw in blue and purple from Knitting Digest Magazine

I'm actually using the blanket to warm my toes at this very moment, so I've gotten my time out of it. I vaguely remember that I wanted to use the blue yarn from my stash (Wendy X-treme, a gift from someone else's destash) so I bought the lavender yarn to match it. I'm pretty sure the purple is wool, and it has shed like no tomorrow (it's a bulky single ply), but the label for it has been lost to the mists of time.

So, onto my current project. My husband picked out the yarn so that he could participate. I told him that he should get:
1) acrylic yarn, so that it is washable,
2) bulky yarn, so it won't take too long to make, and
3) one or two different colors, since most patterns are written for that.

Unfortunately, while his color sense is ok, he knows absolutely nothing about fiber arts. The yarns were both acrylic and bulky, but one was super-bulky, and one was just regular bulky/chunky. He got me Lion Brand's Hometown USA in silver and Big Twist brand's Chunky Yarn in blue-green. Beautiful together, both soft, both large and easy to knit up, but very different weights.

Well, crafting is nothing without a little challenge, so I went looking for a pattern that would combine the two in a nice way. I figured that a mosaic pattern would be great for two colors, not too difficult to remember (I'm still coming off of my lace shawl and wanted something a bit simple for now), and might even be better with two different weights. If I used the bulkier one as a highlight on the other, it might "pop" out of the fabric and give it a nice texture.

For my pattern, I decided on the Two Colour Slip Stitch Throw by Sandra Oakeshott. I kind of wanted to give a little love to a pattern that hasn't been done too often (according to Ravelry) - maybe someone will decide to try the pattern that I wrote as a cosmic payback. I hate the colors that she used for her example blanket, but I will be using turquoise and silver, so that part doesn't matter.

Anyhow, how does it look so far?

About 6" done on the blanket - a little more than one repeat

I think it is coming together nicely. The silver certainly pops out of the fabric, and the pattern is very easy to remember. I am out of practice with knitting using large needles (size 11, in this case) so it is a tad bit awkward, especially to purl. But it is going very fast with the easy pattern and the bulky yarn, so I am pretty sure that I will be able to finish in time.

One more look at the pattern close up and stretched out a bit:

Close up of the pattern

Linen Mosaic Hat

Well, I did promise that I would post something about the linen mosaic hat I had been working on. I finally got around to getting the pictures onto my computer, so I might as well show you all. I was somewhat hoping that the recipient of the gift would send me a nice picture of the hat being worn, but it looks like he hasn't gotten around to it.

A hat

It came out even better than I had hoped it would. I didn't end up blocking it, though. Partially because it might ruin the texture of the pattern, and partially because I ran out of time. I didn't want to put a wet hat in the shipping box!

The hat is nice and long, and I ended up using the rikke hat as a model for the shape of the hat. I thought the square shape of the original pattern was fine for a winter hat, but not so much for a hat for all seasons. The intended recipient lives in Los Angeles, so it is less a winter hat and more an indoor hat. It hangs down in back in that slouchy way that I hear is trendy (though what do I know about fashion?).

I realize I never showed you how the yarn looked "in skein". Here you go.

The one problem I had with its construction was that, because of the linen material, the brim did not grip the head like a rib normally does. So I improvised with a "drawstring" that is woven through the rib stitches. Hopefully, as the linen softens, there won't be a problem with the drawstring not pulling tight anymore.

Well, I still have quite a bit of linen left over, but not enough for a shirt. Any suggestions for it?

Presents for the Holidays

Although I don't celebrate Christmas myself, I do have relatives who do. As such, the season is an excellent excuse to give myself a deadline and make some presents. I am working on just two this year.

First, a hat (of course).

I have been working on this project off and on for almost a year, but, since I told my uncle last December that I would send it to him, I figure it would make a good Christmas present.

He is allergic to wool, so I figured that I would use the linen yarn that I bought on a whim a few years ago. I had never worked with linen before, and it is a bit like cotton. However, even more than cotton, it does not stretch. At all.

All mistakes are much more obvious, although I haven't had any problems with muscle pains after knitting it that I have heard can be an issue. It also falls off the needles all of the time (I am knitting the project on double-pointed needles). After trying it, I think that linen is definitely better on the loom, but I also recommend trying it at least once, if only to better appreciate the loveliness of wool.

So, the pattern.

I am making a mosaic pattern, which is a color pattern that uses slipped stitches. The pattern is based loosely on the Amazing Hat by Melanie Hoffman. However, I have added an extra twist, by using three different colors, instead of two.

Amazing Hat

The linen is having an interesting effect with this kind of pattern as well. Wool or acrylic would stretch and make a mostly flat material. But the linen is making an interesting three-dimensional effect.

I hope I can finish this one in time. It doesn't travel well.

The second gift is a simpler pattern, but I spun the yarn on the wheel.

Last post I mentioned the gradient wool-silk blend that I was spinning on my castle wheel. Well, I finished the yarn, although the leather connecting the footman to the treadle broke, so it was finished on the other wheel. It also bled blue dye when I did the wet finish, but it doesn't look like it effected the color that much.

Loving the colors

I am making the Wingspan shawl. So far, the pattern is very easy, and great for knitting in class. This is my first time knitting with an unplied handspun, and I am worried that the fabric will bias. It shouldn't matter with this pattern though.

Still loving the colors

Hope they will both be enjoyed!

Brioche Hat

I needed a project small enough that I could knit it standing up (while waiting for the bus), interesting enough that I could do it for 20 minutes with nothing to distract me, but easy enough that I wouldn't need a pattern in front of me.

So I started another hat. Now you know why I have so many hat projects.

I actually already have a hat on the needles, but it is a complicated mosaic pattern on yarn that needs good tension (read: must be sitting down) on double pointed needles (read: doesn't travel well). I'll try to post something about that project sometime soon.

But today, I am going to talk about my new brioche hat.

For my birthday, my boss gave me a gift card to my LYS. Dangerous, I know, tempting me into the shop when I have so much stash to use already. But I was good. I bought two bulky-weight skeins of yarn, one solid, one variegated. They were super-soft (merino wool) and I was thinking that I needed a winter hat for myself, so I can stop borrowing my husband's.

Cascade 128 Superwash

I was looking for patterns that would highlight the two colors together. My mother-in-law has been working in brioche stitch, and it looks great, so I was thinking that I would try the same. I found a great brioche hat pattern in one of my knitting books: Weekend Knitting by Wendy Easton.

I don't use the patterns in my books nearly as much as I should. I have a bunch of them that I have bought or that have been gifts (that's actually most of them). I love my stitch dictionaries, but I rarely follow patterns too closely. And so many of the patterns I have are colorwork or need specific yarns: I would rather use the yarns I have.

That said, I had never tried brioche before, and I had heard that it was really hard. Having done it, it is not too bad, but takes a bit of time to get the hang of it and figure out what is going on. A youtube video helped too: trying to describe it is very difficult. But, I will put in my two cents: maybe it will help someone who thinks like I do.

This is the pattern in the round, which is easier (I found):

Set up (color 1): knit 1. *put yarn to front and slip 1 purlwise. knit 1 without putting yarn to back to make a yarn-over. repeat from *.

Round 1 (color 2): put yarn to from and *slip 1 purlwise (this will be color 1). yarn-over. purl two together (1 yarn-over of color 1 and one stitch of color 2). repeat from *.

Round 2 (color 1): knit two together (1 yarn-over of color 2 and one stitch of color 1). *put yarn to front and slip 1 purlwise (this will be color 2). knit two together without putting yarn to back to make a yarn-over. repeat from *.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2.

To do it flat, do a four row repeat: round 1 (color 2), round 2 (color 1), turn, round 2 (color 2), round 1 (color 1).

My hat looks like this so far:

Outside

Inside

The material is really stretchy and thick, and I love how the colors look.

Depending on how the crown goes, I might submit this one to the state fair.