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Pismo Hat

Specs

• Pattern: Marnie's Pismo Hat


• Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby. 1.25 skeins Navy Blue, small part of the Light Blue skein


• 2 2.75mm/U.S.#2 Addi Turbo Circulars

Methods

• Tubular cast on for 1x1 ribbing


• Jogless color changes via the link Marnie specified in the pattern -- it works really well!


• Knitting the yarn at a much tighter gauge than specified on the ball band. I wanted this to be a hard-wearing hat and it really is -- while still being super-soft AND machine washable.

Comments
The pattern is great. Error-free and easy to follow. Marnie went into great detail on how to do the decreases and it paid off.

The only change I made was to do P2tog rather than P2tog tbl. I tried out the P2tog and it didn't really look any different. Since it's so much easier I went with that. I'm sure the inside of my hat looks different, but I'm OK with that since no one sees that anyway!

The Cashmerino has held up well to several washings and almost daily wear. And it makes all that 1x1 ribbing worth it! I may even make another one next year in Paul's football team colors -- Navy and Orange.

Bliss Soho Scarf

specs

• pattern: Mistake Rib (see below)


• yarn: Debbie Bliss Soho -- 3 balls of color 37501


• needles: 5.5mm/US #9 straights


• finished measurements: 66 inches long x 3 inches wide (unstretched)

comments

The pattern is a mistake rib. For my scarf I CO 23 stitches. The mistake rib is simple. You just do a K2P2 rib on every row. Why does it not look like normal ribbing? The pattern is "off" by 1 stitch because you're only casting on 23 stitches. So, only every other stitch lines up with a knit or purl. The others line up on top of each other similar to seed stitch.

I also slipped the first stitch of each row purlwise to give it a nice edge.

In order to use up all the yarn, I cut the fringe ahead of time so I could knit until I had almost run out of yarn. To make sure I had cut enough fringe, I fringed the first side after I had knit a few inches.

I did block this scarf and originally it was much wider (probably 5 inches wide) but after some wear the mistake rib pulls back in. If I did it over again I would either add another ball of yarn to make it longer (to compensate for the narrow width) or add another 4 or 8 stitches to the cast on to make it wider.

The yarn looks very soft and cuddly in the picture but it really isn't. It has a classic wool feel. I think some people would say it's scratchy.

The color variations in this yarn are great. Here's a closeup of the fringe. After washing the scarf the yarn puffed up and the fringe untwisted a bit, giving the fringe ends a soft V-shaped edge. Since it's single-ply it just loosened up like that. I like!

Interlacements Mitts

I picked up this pattern at Rosie's. They're so simple! You cast on around the fingers and knit toward your elbow.

the yarn is so soft and comfy to wear	this color is more accurate	there is no thumb gusset just a K1P1 rib to do all the stretching you need

Specs
Pattern: From Rosie's Yarn Cellar
Yarn: Interlacements Oregon Worsted - about 75 yards

The yarn is so stretchy and comfy. The hanks are over 500 yards so I plan on making a neck warmer and a pair of socks with it. The color is really really bright but I like it too (in small doses). I wore them around the office yesterday because it's cold in the mornings and I got a few compliments and even more stares :)

I plan to make a few more pairs of these. They're great little stash buster projects, they are nice to wear by themselves or over gloves, and would make lovely stocking stuffers.

Mom's Scarf

I did it! Mom's scarf was completed Friday night. And I love it. The yarn is such a dream to work with. I highly recommend it.

Specs:

Yarn: 1 Hank of Tess Yarns' Cultivated Silk & Wool
Pattern: Feather and Fan. I used Jo Sharp's pattern from Scarf Style, but really it's just a Feather and Fan. The book did give me the inspiration (after trying out at least 10 different stitch patterns) so it certainly deserves the mention.

Notes:

The garter ridges every 4 rows shows of the luster of the yarn nicely. I like the way the edges sparkle.

Silk has some weight to it, and it makes this scarf very drapey. I love it but it was one of the things that made choosing a pattern so difficult. When you wear the scarf it gets narrower and longer.

Hooray For Me Gloves

Finished just in time for the cooler fall weather...

yup, looks just like the first one	in fact, they match perfectly!

Specs
Pattern: Marnie's Hooray For Me Gloves
Yarn: Regia Multi Effekt (the pattern said 1.5 balls but I only used one (and had about 20 yards leftover)
Notes: I cast on 3 stitches (instead of 2) between the index, middle, and ring fingers, and only did 10 rows on those fingers.

I love these little gloves!

Kelly's House Socks

They're done. And only 2 months late!

They look a little big on me but that's because Kelly's feet are longer than mine (she's 10 inches taller than me!)

Specs:

Yankee Knitter Classic Socks
Plymouth Encore Worsted (5 spi) - nice and thick for house socks
2 5mm circs

Kelly - If you're reading this please know that I washed and dried the socks after taking the pic. They washed up beautifully and they're now free of foreign feet matter ;)

Philly Knitter Secret Pal Gift

I think I'm setting an all new savannahchik record with this FO.

I started and stopped 2 other SP projects before finally settling on this one. I made the scarf in less than 2 weeks.

Specs

Yarn: Plymouth Indiecita Baby Alpaca. 2 balls for the scarf. The fringe came from the third ball.
Pattern: Reversible Lace Ladders Scarf from Heartstrings

This was a fun little pattern to knit up! The one thing that bothered me about the cabled scarf I made for Kelly last year was that the back of it wasn't as pretty. The pattern solves this by alternating 2 sets of purl rows with 2 sets of knit rows. So, both sides look the same!

The fringe -- all I did was alternately knot the fringe to make the lattice pattern. It gave the scarf a little more weight and drape.

Paul's House Socks

I just realized I never posted a pic of these! Well, I only have a pic of one sock. You're gonna have to trust me that I made a whole pair.

Specs

Yarn: 4 balls of Lana Grossa Big Wool held doubled.
Pattern: Joan's socks from Lion Brand

This was my first flap heel sock. I think I prefer knitting a short row heel. Why? I'm lazy and hate picking up stitches.

Rogue

Yay! My first blog FO! I'm really happy with the way this one came out. Here are some pics:

The Full Front View

The color isn't right in this pic but it's still too early to get good outdoor pics.

Throat

Sleeve

Hood

Like many Roguers out there, the hood definitely needed some massaging in the area of the double decreases. I gave it a good steaming though and it's looking good.

Specs

• Yarn: Lamb's Pride Top of the Lamb in color Burnt Red


• Needles: Addi Turbo 6.0mm (US #10)


• Pattern: Girl From Auntie

What I Love

• The way the pocket shaping is hidden. The way it stays flat


• The way the hood falls along my shoulders when it's down


• The fact that I don't have to roll up the sleeves! I shortened them by 2 inches


• The feminine shaping built in with the cables

What I Might Do Differently Next Time

• Hide the sleeve increases in the purl ditch similar to the neck and pocket


• Play around with the hood to try to eliminate the double decreases


• Do a plain stockingnette hem. I did that on the sleeve and I like it better. It's not as stiff but it's also not as bulky.

That's it! This is such a well designed, fine-tuned pattern. It's obvious that Jenna puts alot of effort into her patterns.

Now off to shower so I can wear it - all day! It's supposed to be in the 40s for the next couple of days. I finished it just in time!

Kelly's Lavold Scarf

My first finished object since I got back into knitting.

Yarn: 3 skeins Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky
Needle: 6.0mm (US #10)
Pattern: Modified Ragna Panel from Viking Patterns for Knitting, Elsebeth Lavold, page 54

I made this for my sister-in-law, Kelly, for Christmas 2003. It took a couple of weeks to complete, mostly because I'd get antsy with the repeat and put it down to play with something else.

I chose this pattern becasue she loves Celtic knots and I thought it would go well. Here's a closeup of one of the knots:

I really like the way the fringe comes from the convergence of two cables. I'd like to take credit for it but it was a total fluke. Lucky, huh?