Trish Knits.com

Tag: hat

  • Hat Happy

    The sock is going well, thank you, but I need a change of pace for the holidays. So, I have decided that the sock is what comes with me in the car on a daily basis (I’m not the driver, don’t worry!) and that I need a different project to work on at home. So I decided to cast on for an old favorite hat:

    Hat Ribbing with other colors in the background
    Hat Ribbing with other colors in the background

    This is the “Long Winter’s Nap” hat by Brian Kohler, which was done for Knit Picks in 2005. Sadly the pattern is no longer available. Please don’t ask me for it either, as the copyright is now solely in the hands of the designer. I don’t know if he plans to re-release it or not.

    I loved knitting this hat, but even though I worked it at a fairly tight gauge, the original hat I made still came out too loose for my head. So this one I began the ribbing with fewer stitches at a tighter gauge. I’ll increase to the number of stitches needed for the pattern after I’m done with the hat band.

    The other thing I am going to try with this version? Stripes. It means doing rounds of plain stockinette between the pattern repeats to hide the color transitions better, but we’ll see how it goes. I think it’s going to be an adventure. I hope I get it done in time to be able to wear it for Christmas.

    For the yarn I’m using Cascade 220 in a natural color for the ribbing band and pom pom, and then alternating colors 2425 (rust) and 9338 (olive heather) for sort of an antique faded-looking red and green. At least that’s what I’m seeing in my head! Time will tell whether I have have a workable idea. Wish me luck…

    I’ve been having the urge to write again. Not just about knitting, but lots of things. When I was younger I wrote short stories and essays and poetry, a lot. I filled notebooks with my writing. I’d like to try my hand at writing again. Sometimes I wonder whether age and a half lifetime of technical and marketing writing has sapped the creativity right out of me. But I guess I don’t know what will happen unless I try, right? So, occasionally this blog might contain other types of entries, just for fun, and I hope you’ll bear with me if I do veer away from knitting every once in a blue moon. I can’t even say it’s going to happen soon, because writing well takes a while, but if it does, I hope you won’t mind.

    In the meantime I’ve got lots of knitting to do. It feels good to be making progress again.

  • Knitting Little Things

    It’s been a busy and stressful couple of weeks at Casa de Trish Knits. Cars needing emergency repairs, way stressful at work, and lots of extra school related stuff with the kids. Who knew planning for high school next year was going to be so hard? When I was a kid, you just sort of showed up. Apparently, at least in my daughter’s case, it’s not quite like that. So, we’ve been extra busy and extra tired. Not much quiet time, and not much restorative sleep happening, either. Sigh. I’m kind of a caffeine-charged nervous wreck. But, sometimes, that’s just the way it is.

    I’ve actually been forcing myself to knit. Staying awake in the car, and knitting. Keeping myself awake at all these extra meetings with the help of my knitting. Trying not to work so much at night so I can veg out in front of the TV and knit. (Believe it or not, I don’t do that very often.) I’ve been forcing myself to knit, because I do think it’s helping. And I have some stuff to show for it, too. Wanna see?

    Elijah the Elephant in progress
    Elijah the Elephant in progress

    This is Elijah by Ysolda Teague. At first I thought there is NO WAY mine is going to look anything like the one on the website. But, just tonight, I got far enough on the trunk that I could really see the head taking shape. If you’re like me and you really, really hate major amounts of seaming and finishing, but you want to make toys, Ysolda’s patterns are for you. Already I want to make several others of hers and I have ideas for others based on basic shapes in her patterns. I’m really enjoying making this little guy, and in the end, I think I might be sorry that I’m giving him away. My friend Marie has a friend who is collecting toys for an orphanage in Haiti and our knit group is helping the cause. But I can tell already that this is probably not going to be the only Elijah I ever make.

    Then, for my commuter knitting, there’s this, which finally looks like it’s supposed to be a hat:

    Hat Progress
    Hat Progress

    I just added my second skein of Noro Kureyon today and I hope to have it finished in the next week or so. It’s based on Charisa Martin Cairn’s Lifestyle Top Down Hat and I’m hoping in the end that it will have a bit of a slouchy beret shape. I guess we’ll see…. wish me luck!

    Finally, I have to share this:

    Boyzilla and Bird
    Boyzilla and Bird

    This is my BoyZilla at the pet supply store this past weekend. The kids like popping in there on the weekends when we’re out and about doing errands because there are always animal rescue people on hand with pets for adoption. This bird started out on my son’s arm and walked his way up to his shoulder. In this photo it looks like my son is a bit unsure about the whole thing but really he was quite excited and took the photo to school to show his second grade class. Isn’t he cute?

    This Saturday is knit group already. Time’s flying, but I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully I’ll pop into the blog at least once again before then. It’s late, though, and I have a 12-hour workday to look forward to tomorrow. Oh, joy.

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  • Knit Happy!

    It’s late, especially today, but I just wanted to share this before bed:

    Knit Happy mug
    Knit Happy mug

    I got this adorable mug from Knitting Today earlier this week. In fact, I got several of them. They come in six colors, and of course I picked purple to show you. I don’t plan on using the mug for tea; I plan on keeping one on my desk at home, one on my desk at work, and giving the other three as gifts. The little sheep is adorable, and I love the saying on the front, “Knit Happy.”

    The ironic thing is that I don’t feel like I’ve been knitting happy at all lately. I’m surrounded by yarn and a plethora of patterns and books, and everything is all neat and organized and I can actually see what I’ve got now. Except that now that it’s all neatly put away it’s like I don’t want to touch it. I wish I could just dump all my yarn out all around me and go diving for something fun. While I’m great at making the kind of mess something like that would involve, I’m not so good at putting it all away without help. So in the boxes it stays, and at times I think I forget what I have.

    Maybe I should bite the bullet and go to my trusty box of Cascade 220, and ball up some yarn and knit a hat. Hats used to make me knit happy. But you know what? I haven’t made a hat in a looong time. Maybe that’s the cure. The hat I’m dying to make most is Vivian, by Lisa Cruse. The showier, the better. Big hat, huge flowers.

    Or, cables? I have a fabulous pattern for a cabled scarf that came with some cashmere I bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The cable pattern looks pretty complex, so I told myself I should practice it on something else before tackling the cashmere.

    Or, Girasole? I know I mention that project a lot. But one advantage to that one is that the alpaca yarn I have for it is right behind me in my active projects bin, waiting. Maybe I should just cast on for that.

    Tomorrow is an interim meeting of my knitting group. Our official meeting isn’t until September 12, but lots of folks have been itching to get together and knit. I’m going, and I guess I better decide by tomorrow what I’m going to knit.

    Wish me luck deciding! I’ll check back in tomorrow.

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  • Why I’m Not Meant to Do Tubular Cast On

    See this?

    Live knit stitch hanging loose
    Live knit stitch hanging loose

    Sometimes I wish my camera wasn’t so good at closeup photography. What you’re looking at is clear evidence as to why I should stay away from tubular cast on with small needles and fingering weight yarn. When joining the knit stitches with the live stitches in the waste yarn, I missed a few. They were SO tiny from being pulled and tugged that once in a while they got impossible to see. And I tried to think of a way to fudge and fix it, but I can’t. I’m sure there might be a way, but I think the safest thing to do at this point is to frog and go with a different cast on. Thank goodness I have the A Knitting Glossary DVD by Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen where I can look for ideas on something stretchy and attractive for my tam. Wish me luck!

    So, my summer of knitting frustration and general slumpiness continues. Hopefully, things will get better soon. Until then I think I’m going to call it a night. Perhaps a fresh outlook and some sleep will do the knitting some good.

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    Listen to this article

  • Be Warned: Loooong Knitting Post Ahead

    And Thank You for that, oh Cable Internet Provider Craptacular! I’ve been offline more than on since last Wednesday so this is the first chance I’m getting to update since our Bowie Knitting meetup on Saturday. So, bear with me, as this is sort of a catch-up post.

    First, I have an FO Report!!

    Lady Hawk Hat
    Lady Hawk Hat

    Project Name: Lady Hawk Hat
    Source: Me!
    Yarn Used: Cascade 220, less than one skein each of Navy and White
    Needle Size: 5 (I’m a loose knitter)
    Date Started: October 17, 2008
    Date Completed: February 7, 2009

    Tammy did the duplicate stitching on the hat
    Tammy did the duplicate stitching on the hat
    Notes: I did this hat using a simple top-down formula and changed colors back and forth basically when I felt like it. Except that I knew that the letters I’d be using were 10 stitches high so I had to do one of the white bands at least wide enough to accommodate the lettering. I am not sure why this hat took so long to finish, except that it did. Perhaps it was that I was dragging my feet about doing the duplicate stitch lettering, and it turned out that was for good reason, because I sucked eggs at stitching. I’m going to have to practice with some swatches before next time.

    So, enter in Tammy, who graciously (and patiently!) tried to show me how to do duplicate stitch at our last group meeting. She felt sorry for me and my pending sense of disaster, I think, because she took pity on me and offered to do the stitching and bring the hat back to me. This was so generous of her! It looks great, doesn’t it? And I do think that my generally hard-to-please, almost-teen was genuinely thrilled with it, even if it was in her usual understated way. Thanks to Tammy for helping to make this project a success!

    February Bowie Borders Meetup Report

    Our little monthly group met on February 7 at the usual time in our favorite little coffee shop. There was much yarn and much fun enjoyed by all! Here are some photos of the afternoon’s doin’s!

    I brought my little Flip Ultra video camera with me to group for the first time and I got a few shots of the fun.

    It was a great day! I am always so excited to go to group every time. I love the bunch of people that I am getting to know!

    And Finally, A Ravelry Connection!

    You know, I am amazed at the number of ways Ravelry has impacted my life over the last year and a half. Over the weekend I got my glasses done, at long last, after being frustrated with my poor quality of vision correction for at least 4 years. Wouldn’t you know it? Someone I met on Ravelry is a Master Optician at a local optical chain, and she helped me make some good decisions about my eyes. I have progressive lenses, and have had them for the last several years, but my mid-range vision for the computer has been consistently awful. Anne Marie (“Roxy”) fixed me right up! Given the amount of time I spend at the computer, she recommended two pairs of glasses, one for distance and reading, and one for computer use and reading. Wow. I never would have thought to do it this way, but it works and I love them! Of course I had to make sure to document the occasion for the blog:

    Trish with Anne Marie... I can see again! THANKS!!!
    Trish with Anne Marie… I can see again! THANKS!!!

    So as you can see, Saturday was a great day filled with many rewards. I do love the knitters!

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  • Off the Needles!

    Finally I have some progress to report on my daughter’s school spirit hat:

    hat off the needles
    hat off the needles

    I managed to bind it off today! Tomorrow morning, before work, I will attempt to create the words, “Lady Hawks” in duplicate stitch. I’ll be using an alphabet chart from Sarah Bradberry’s site. I’ll follow the tutorial on the Purl Bee site, which seems amazingly clear and makes it look easy enough. Still, I am a bit nervous. I’ve never done duplicate stitch before, so wish me luck.

    Tegan is fairly indifferent to my knitting apprehension:

    Tabby with eyes shut
    Tabby with eyes shut

    But hopefully all will be well and there will be an FO report soon.

    I’ve been having trouble focusing on blogging this week and I do apologize for that. But you see, I have a problem. It’s American Idol season, and for some reason I can’t turn my eyes from the sight of a train wreck. American Idol season usually means lots of knitting for me, though, so I’m going to have to squeeze the blogging in there somewhere!

    And, so, wish me luck on the hat. We’re expecting a cold snap just in time for the Inauguration festivities, as per usual, and my daughter cold use a bit of warm woolly love on her noggin.

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