Trish Knits.com

Last week’s time change means that we all of a sudden have been plunged into darkness–the deep, gloomy black kind of sky that sets in even before I get to leave work for the day. I really hate it because the skylights in our new building at work, though they show the light brightly when the sun shines, they also accentuate the deepness of the darkness at dusk.

It is at this time of year when I find myself turning to the knitting even more. Thank goodness for the knitting. Perhaps this is why I gravitate toward bright colors generally; they counteract the effects of winter darkness. Yes, that must be it. But then again, what is my most favorite color? Deep, dusky purple. Almost, but not quite, black. Go figure!

I’ve decided that I need to pick back up on my daughter’s hat:

my daughter's school spirit hat

I posted my problem about having an extra stitch on Ravelry and on my KnitHatsNow group. Most folks who responded said that one stitch isn’t that big a deal, and that I can ignore it until I have to adjust for the ribbing. Even Sarah Bradberry, whose book on hats I really admire, said she would ignore it, adding the encouraging phrase, “when this happens to me…” It happens to her? Wow. If extra stitches happen to THE hat lady, and she feels good about ignoring them, then hey, it’s good! I’ll live to knit another day. My daughter is especially thrilled that she will be getting her hat sooner rather than later. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts; I truly appreciated them all.

Listen to this article

mitered square in progress

You might be wondering why I haven’t been focusing on my knitting in this blog lately. The truth is, there hasn’t been much knitting to blog about!

So I thought I’d show you the progress on my giant garter stitch mitered square. Believe it or not, that bit has about one and a half skeins of Noro Kureyon in it, and it has a ways to go! I think I will put a complementary color of Wool of the Andes in the center when I run out rather than try to find a third skein of the same color in the Noro.

I plan to make a sort of rainbow-y patchwork of squares, picking up stitches along the sides of existing squares to create new ones. There will be several different sizes of squares. I’m using the layout chart from the Babette Blanket as a guide. Of course, though, it’s just in my head for now, because I haven’t yet begun to add the second square. But I do think in theory it will work. In any event, I am finding the endless rows of garter stitch to be a nearly foolproof comfort.

Even the hat I am knitting right now, the one I am knitting for my daughter? It too is plagued with problems. I am just noticing now that one of the wedge sections has an extra increase in it that the other sections do not. I am thinking I should just ladder down to that extra kfb and get rid of it, hoping that the surrounding stitches will eventually take up the slack of the bit of extra yarn that the extra stitch created. Or should I just rip back? I do hate frogging so the thought of this has caused me to put the hat aside, much to my daughter’s disappointment. I could knit two together somewhere in that wedge and pretend the extra stitch never existed, but I am afraid that the hat will look lopsided in some way.

Does anybody out there have thoughts on this? Which method should I try? Thanks for the input… my daughter would be forever grateful.

I am planning to attend Stitches East for the first time this weekend. Who’s going? I hope to meet you there!

Listen to this article

beginning of school spirit hat

I started a new hat again! This time, it’s a plain stocking cap, in my daughter’s school colors. I plan to make a white band, and then write “Lady Hawks” in duplicate stitch on the front. I’m so bad at secrets. I was trying to keep this as a surprise for my daughter, but could not. So now she knows, sooner than I originally wanted her to. Oh well… at least she squeed with delight at the very thought of having her own custom hat in school colors. She said when her friends see it, they’re all going to want one. To which I taught her the appropriate response:

“My mom can teach you how to knit.”

You go, girl.

Not much else going on. I’ve been in a bit of a funk for the last couple of weeks and I’m not feeling well. I have even less energy than usual and I would rather just crawl into bed and sleep for a week. Must be that Seasonal Affective Disorder kicking in. Ah yes. My favorite time of year.

I gotta snap out of it quick, though. Just found out today that my DH’s entire family will all be in the same zip code for Thanksgiving Dinner… OURS! Egad. That’s the one thing about being in a wheelchair that makes life interesting sometimes. My house is the only one that is wheelchair accessible so everyone comes here. Not that I mind, except that my house looks like one giant attic that needs cleaning out. Wish us luck; it’s going to be a long month of house cleaning. But SO worth it in the end. I love my husband’s family.

Tegan says:

cat sitting inside a hat

I’m off to bed early for a change. Catch you next time I’m more awake!

Yet Another Hat completed

Project Name: Yet Another Hat
Source: Lifestyle Top Down Hats, No Swatch Needed
Yarn Used: Noro Kureyon
Needle Size: 4 (!)
Date Started: September 20, 2008
Date Completed: October 12, 2008

Notes: I don’t have much to add here, except that I like this one best so far of the three that I have tried to do. Still I feel that I am on a quest for the perfect hat for me. Haven’t quite gotten there yet, though. But I know who this hat will be perfect for. Shhhh…. I’m not telling.

New Project

Recently I started knitting the Hypoteneuse Wrap:

Hypoteneuse wrap just begun

As you can see there’s not much to see yet. I’m hoping it’ll be done for Christmas.

For some reason, I still feel pretty crappy. I’ve been fighting a bit of an infection for a couple of weeks and this one I think is taking the wind out of my sails. Sorry I’ve been so scarce lately. It has been hard to blog when I can barely keep my eyes open. Hopefully soon it’ll be back to normal around here.

front view of almost finished hat

side view of almost finished hat

For some reason the daughter insisted tonight that I give you a hat update, so here it is! Hedda Hat-Rack is modeling for you my almost completed purple and olive Noro Kureyon hat. I think her head is a bit smaller than mine; the hat doesn’t come down nearly as far on my own head so I do have a bit left to do. I’m down to just feet of yarn left on the first ball, and will be attaching the second ball probably tomorrow. This is my third hat this month and I think I’m finally getting it right! This one is going to be cute. I’ll have to get a couple more balls of this colorway because I feel an acute need for matching mittens coming on!

It’s Here! It’s Here!

I got home from work today and saw the box from Amazon on my porch that contained the long-awaited new book from Stephanie Pearl McPhee: Free Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again. I’ve been hearing folks complain that the book is on backorder and they’re still waiting. I can’t imagine that the folks at Amazon weren’t communicating with the publisher on the amount of pre-orders, which if I know my knitting community, was probably pretty high. On the other hand I was also hearing that some who were told by Amazon that shipping would be delayed received it anyway, so I guess we’ll see how it all pans out.

I’ve been in end of fiscal year hell at work, so I doubt I will have chunks of time to sit and read over the next couple of weeks. And I still haven’t perfected a technique for reading and knitting at the same time. I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, either. (Oh wait… I can’t walk. I forgot.) So, I’m looking forward to a good snow day or a long weekend or something where I can switch back and forth between the knitting and the reading. Can’t wait. Really.

Oh I am so excited I could jump up and down! (If I could jump up and down, that is!) Today I would be pleased and oh so proud to share with you, THIS:

daughter knitting top down hat with magic loop

My DD, age 12, saw me knitting with Noro Kureyon a couple of weeks ago and all of a sudden just had, had, HAD to have a ball I had leftover with blues and purples in it. I was saving my leftovers for a blanket project I have planned, but the DD learning some new knitting skills was well worth the sacrifice! She has been watching me make hats over the last several weeks and was determined that that was what she wanted to do.

Now, this is a kid who can do basic garter stitch, a little bit of stockinette, and anything rectangular. Blankets, iPod covers and amulet bags are her specialty. But this time, she really wanted to learn to knit a hat. A HAT! Yes, she’s my kid! So we had to conquer increasing, knitting in the round and magic loop all at once! And you know what? She got it. Totally got it. And she’s doing a really great job.

Speaking of hats, here’s the update on my latest:

olive and purple hat in progress

I can’t think of a funny name for this one! That’s because, I think, it’s going to be lovely. I can hardly wait to be done so I can wear it!

Homework Tip #1: Write What You Know

first grader finishes spelling homework

See Steven. See Steven spell. See Steven write. Sentences. In the first month of first grade.

Problem is, Steven can think of at least forty-eleventy things he’d rather do besides homework. We’ve had some colossal battles over the last few weeks, some lasting hours. Steven reads and writes above grade level so when he was coming home with words like “hat,” “rat,” and “on,” to make sentences with, he rebelled. Big time. Huge tantrums. I didn’t think we’d survive one or two of them, but somehow we did.

Steven is a bit of a clown and often likes to express his humor at times when frankly, we wish he wouldn’t. But, why not be expressive with his spelling words? We drew the line the other night when he wanted to put the word “butt” into just about every sentence. But then there was tonight’s writing creation, and we just had to let it go. The teacher will just have to deal.

Word: Sock.

Steven’s sentence? “I have a smelly sock. P-U.”

Seriously. It was a keeper.

Olive and purple hat in progress

Well, as you can see, I’ve started another hat! It’s late here so I just wanted to give a quick peek. I’m still on a quest to create a semi flat top hat with the perfect rolled brim. I’m using another colorway of Noro Kureyon (I think color number 188). It’s my favorite so far, even though in general I’m not a fan of greens.

I’m having massive startitis right now and I actually cast on something else that I can’t talk about yet. I’m excited nonetheless. Stay tuned!

I also decided to try something different with the style of my photos. I guess I’m experimenting a bit! Let me know what you think, if the new photo style looks good in your browser, etc. More later! Tomorrow’s another Monday. Yuck.

cantaloupe hat completed and displayed on mannequin head

Project Name: Cantaloupe Hat
Source: Lifestyle Top Down Hats, No Swatch Needed, by Charisa Martin-Cairn
Yarn Used: Noro Kureyon
Needle Size: 4!
Date Started: September 5, 2008
Date Completed: September 17, 2008

Notes: This experiment with Charisa’s pattern yielded something on the continuum between Rastafarian and circus clown. Guess which end of the spectrum I think it’s closest to? Heh. Definitely the hat I’m wearing when my primary aim in life is to embarrass my children. Yes, this will do the job nicely, thankyouverymuch. That and I also like to wear weird hats on very stressful days in the office. At least they allow people to question my sanity for a bit instead of their own. But, I kinda like it! Guess I’m weird, too.

Hat Model Naming Help Needed!

Meet my new hat model, Hattie. For lack of a better name, let’s call her that for now. I think she’s a cousin of the models on Charisa’s site, because I broke down finally and asked her which ones she bought. She kindly pointed me to a seller on eBay who had just the thing. She’s actual plastic, rather than styrofoam, which is a good thing since I have cats.

But ok, she needs a real name! Help me think of something befitting of her usual role, modeling hats of all sorts from the elegant felted ones I make to the totally weird ones I somehow come out with but love them just as much. Oh wow. I just thought of a doozie. But I’ll keep quiet and see if one of you comes up with it, too. Leave me your thoughts in the comments, k?

Ciao for now,

The Crazy Hat Lady

cantaloupe hat almost done except brim

It’s been a few days so I thought I’d update you on the hat I’m making. I think it’s almost done! It’s wider at the top than the bottom, and I’m making it slightly longer than I normally would so that it can have room to be a bit billowy. I’ve been trying on as I go and I’m just about ready to knit the brim. I’m sure I’ll get some weird comments about this hat when it’s done, with all the bright colors and stuff. It’s ok, the weirder the better. One of my co-workers once commented that she never knew what I’d show up to work with on my head. This one will probably get her attention too!

My usual lunch buddy is on vacation for the next two weeks and I was actually feeling a bit anxious about this, but then I happened to discover a knitting group that meets at lunch time every day. I am looking forward to having a group of knitters to eat with. I’ll bring my hat along and do a couple rounds after finishing my sandwich. Should be fun!

Book Review: Domino Knitting

I just got the book, Domino Knitting, by Vivian Hoxbro, and I have one thing to say: where, oh WHERE has this book been all my life? I’ve read other mitered square tutorials, and what has stopped me cold from just diving into the mayhem is all the finishing. Why did I avoid buying the book all this time, when in fact the answer has been there, for the entire time I’ve been a knitter and even longer than that? I’m having a super-huge “duh” moment here! The concept is that you make blankets (or lots of other things) out of mitered squares that are knit on as you go. No seaming! Wow.

But even more than that, I’ve been clamoring for a long time for techniques for a no-sew afghan that is knit in strips where you can knit on the strips as you go. I’ve always wanted to do a blanket showing different panels of cables and other stuff, but I didn’t want to mess it up at the end with sloppy seaming. (I’m REALLY bad at seaming!) Well, several of the designs in the book are for pot holders knit in strips as you go. Voila! Again, the answer was there all along, Dorothy… you had the way to get home all along… just click your heels three times and say, “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…”

Ok, I’m losing it. Goodnight.

I’m always finding myself explaining to my daughter why she really needs all that math they teach her at school. Well, kid, here’s an example! It seems I have a problem making hats that fit me just right. I’m all about the guessing, and usually they wind up too big or too small. Well, duh. There’s math that can fix this problem. Really.

hat progress

My friend Lola came over for lunch today and measured my head while she was here. I’m 22 inches, just like I thought. Now, just so you don’t think I’m all remembering my math from Jr. High and stuff, I had to go look it up. Luckily it was pretty quick work finding a website that talked all about circles. Turns out that to figure out how wide to make my hat circles, it’s a simple division problem:

22 in. ÷ π = 7

So if I make the top of my hat have a diameter of 7 inches, that is the size that will fit my head exactly. Not bad, eh? I thought so too. Please let me bask in the glow of my brilliance for a while, eh? Don’t let me down for a day or so at least, by telling me that any 8th grader could do this. K?

Baby Yours

When the Yarn Harlot recently made a pair of baby sweaters for the owner of her favorite local yarn store, I must say I fell in love with the “boy” version. Just look at those cables!

baby yours sweater pattern and yarn

And the yarn is such a lovely shade of blue! It’s Nyame, in Socks that Rock mediumweight by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Love it! I might have to make this one up and dress a doll with it. The yarn is soooooo pretty! Sigh. I definitely am not on the market for another baby. I will queue this one up on Ravelry very soon.

Gotta run; it’s getting late and Kelley Petkun has the Mason Dixon Knitting ladies on her podcast this week. I am dying to listen to them talk about their new book!

Ciao for now, knit friends!

Ciao for now!