Red stuff day

This is Faye Kennington’s fun “Off With Her Head” design. She writes that “The hearts and flouncy garden trellis motif of this hat have an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quality to them.” Indeed they do. My Glass Head shudders to think of Iracebeth’s a/k/a the Queen of Hearts uttering her famous cruel phrase. Maybe it brings up old memories from the glass factory? Anyway, the hat does have an Alice in Wonderland look going.

And somehow this hat also conjures up a much less threatening Valentine’s Day vibe. I knit mine in Berroco Ultra Wool Worsted. The yarn is a sturdy superwool that’s skeined up in a huge variety of colorways including many solid shades.

The pattern is wonderfully clear. The fair isle chart didn’t even need magnifying to make it a comfy-on-the-eyeballs knit. It was almost completely clear of longer floats. That’s definitely a plus in fair isle work.

I followed the pattern precisely, including working the ribbing for 3.25 inches. If I knit it again I believe I’ll either shorten or lengthen the ribbing because the hat’s a tad awkward to wear. The ribbing is too short to fold over nicely. But with the ribbing unfolded the hat lengthens into more of a slouchy than I prefer. Still, an excellent pattern. And a fun knit!

The position of the hearts just before the crown decreases begin is a great look.

Next up, red socks.

These are Carol A. Anderson’s Iowa Crew/Cruise Socks. Mine are knit in a new-to-me yarn, Raggen by Viking of Norway. It’s another sturdy worsted in 70% wool 30% nylon. Steve’s pair has machine washed well–absolutely no felting.

Anderson’s been at the helm of Cottage Creations for a month of Sundays. Her booklets have been digitized and are now available on Ravelry. The pre-printed booklets are also still available through the Cottage Creations website and at many local yarn shops.

If you need a warm pair of boot socks or bed socks, this fits the bill. The pattern is written for all size feet. As with all Anderson’s patterns, she holds a knitter’s hands in a tight grip throughout the knit. The patterns are wordy and folksy. They make for a good read as well as a good knit.

Back to hats. This next one is Susan Villas Lewis’s Breck knit in sportweight Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. This my fourth Breck. You’ll find the others here and here. I haven’t yet found a color combination that doesn’t work.

The simple slip stitch work has always been very effective for me. Go for the high contrast is my only advice. My sense is that it’s the mix of stockinette and garter that makes this hat stand out from the crowd. And the knit 2, purl 1 relaxed ribbing throughout the body is a great touch too.

The crown decreases are simple. But they work. It doesn’t bother me that the ribbing first changes to 1 by 1 and then to stockinette as the crown stitches draw closer together.

Breck is a seriously excellent pattern. Give it a try, especially since DK weight seems to be squeezing the sportweight yarns off the shelf. I’m finding sportweight somewhat over-represented in the sale shelfs of my local yarn shops.

Whether it’s Valentine’s or Galentine’s or Palentine’s …or even just another Wednes Day…have a great 14th!

Finishing your yarnie porridge

With a few modifications, this is the Ravelry freebie Braided Headband by Ashley Moore. I’d tried to knit something else to begin using up my 3 skeins of King Cole Timeless Chunky. It didn’t work out. Gauge would not happen.

Timeless Chunky is put up in 100 grams balls, 164 yards each. I purchased it on-line  at a hefty discount mostly because I liked the denim colorway and I was curious what 10% alpaca would do to acrylic. My curiosity is satisfied. Apparently it doesn’t do anything good. The yarn is very soft. That’s nice. But it’s splitty. It sheds like crazy. It made me sneeze. And it’s hard to work with every way you can imagine. Life is short and knitting with yarn I don’t love doesn’t seem what I owe myself.

But I decided not to waste this yarn. It’s quite nice once the yarn turns into an accessory.

And so it began. Moore’s headband calls for worsted and the recommended cast-on is 20 stitches. I cast on 26 and worked a 3-stitch I-cord at each each. I like the way the I-cord finishes off the edge. Here’s another look at the headband off-head.

Fifty-two grams (85 yards) of Timeless Chunky used up.

And so it continued. I’m a grown-up knitter. I can finish my yarnie equivalent of a detestable porridge. Maybe I could get some slippers out of this yarn. Mine is Faye Kennington’s very popular slipper pattern. The pattern calls for super bulky and a gauge of 12 stitches and 20 rows to 4 inches. I figured that if I doubled my Timeless Chunky I might be able to turn it into a Timeless Super Bulky. I tested the gauge and, to my surprise, it worked out on US size 10 needles.

Mine is a surprisingly fun and quick pattern. I chuckle some, though, at the fact that the cables reverse direction from foot to foot so supposedly they are left and right specific. I can’t tell which is which. But I dutifully knit a right and a left slipper. Then I quickly forgot which is which.

Here’s a look at them off-feet.

If knitting with Timeless Chunky was difficult, knitting with Timeless Chunky doubled was about thrice difficult. The double strands decided they needed to socially distance. It took extra care to be sure I was knitting the strands together. And just as often, they decided they wanted to infiltrate their neighbor’s bubble. It eventually worked out though. Cute slippers.

Knitting with this yarn doubled was very hard on my hands. Mine used up 126 grams, 207 yards.

Maybe the eating-your-porridge idea is getting old? How about eating liver and onions when you were a kid? You must sit at the table until you finish at least 2 bites more. I decided to Knit Pippi by Kelly Gubbles, another freebie offered on Ravelry.

This is such a nice hat. It would look even better knit in a different yarn. Check out the great crown decreases.

Pippi gobbled up 80 grams, 131 yards.  Lordy. Still 42 grams left. I turned extra stubborn at that point. What should I knit with my remaining 42 grams?

This is not a bikini. It’s Knitwise Design’s Earbuds. You put it over your ears.

Cute, right? Pop a pair in your coat pocket for times when a chill strikes unexpectedly. Earbuds used up 30 grams. That’s about 49 yards.

With only 12 grams of King Cole Timeless Chunky left I could rest comfortable in the knowledge that the debris littering my black fleece sweatshirt and all my sneezing and my sore hands had been worth it. I had four new accessories for my gift stash. And I tossed that last 12 grams.

Cozies for feet (and legs)

Mighty handsome legs, don’t you think? These tiny tiny leg warmers, baby sized, are tincanknits tic tac toes. Try to say that tongue twister fast three times. Tincanknit tic tac toes. Tincanknit tic tac toes. Tincanknit tic tac toes. Actually, not as difficult as I thought.

Here’s a closer look, off leg. As with the rest of tincanknit’s patterns, the pattern is sized from baby to adult. What an excellent idea. Newborn Georgia’s leg warmers–which could also serve as arm warmers–are knit in Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious. It is, or rather was since it’s been discontinued, 70% merino wool, 20% nylon, and 10% silk.

I’ve never worn leg warmers. And I’ve never been a ballerina either. But I gather that ballerina status is not required to wear leg warmers.

Now we move to a cozy that’s less cute but more useful. These are Kris Basta’s Better Dorm Boots for Men.  This Ravelry freebie is meant to be knit in bulky weight (or worsted weight doubled) and results in a workhorse of a foot cozy.

My version of Better Dorm Boots is knit in Plymouth Yarn Chunky to assure that they are machine washable and dryable. The 25% wool helps warm the feet and the 75% acrylic makes sure they’re easy care. 120 grams of chunky is all it took to knit the largest size.

Bob’s feet are enjoying them.

These next handsome socks are knit from Churchmouse Yarn and Teas’ Basic Sock pattern. If you’ve not knit socks before, this pattern–in all its delightful wordiness–is an excellent place to start. I knit mine, well Steve’s, in a yarn he really likes: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Mediumweight. This is a sport weight, which make for a firm warm sock when knit on a size 1.5 US needle.

Here are Steve’s feet enjoying a nice nap. The true shades of this colorway are the deep purple and blue shown above on my white backdrop. But I couldn’t resist showing off what a nice fit they turned out to be.

I didn’t want to forget about kids’ feet. These are Mine. They’re actually Isaac’s. But the pattern is Mine by Faye Kennington.

Mine are meant to be knit in a super bulky weight. I tried knitting them in Sirdar Bigga, a super bulky, but my gauge was way off. The slippers would had to have been donated to a basketball player. I downsized to a bulky weight and then my gauge was way off in the other direction. These turned out to be 8 inches long. I knit them in Valley Yarns’ Berkshire Bulky. 85% wool and 15% alpaca so, once they’re washed and thrown in the dryer, they’ll be looking for something closer to a toddler’s feet.

But they were a fun knit. It would have been better, I think, if I’d started my two-color look at the start of the garter stitch rather than just after the cable section. The pick up of stitches isn’t as neat as it should be (and would have been) if I’d changed the color just on the sole section.

Would you possibly like another look at those tincanknits’ leg warmers? My Ravatar insisted on trying on the leg warmers and she’s asking to be featured on the blog in full-body view. She’s also been begging me to knit a pair of tic tac toes just for her. She says her spot on top of my knitting corner bookcase next to glass head gets really chilly sometimes.