scarf

Hosta is Finished

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Here is my just finished scarf! I’m very happy with it and I’m sure I’ll make another one.

The brown yarn is Madelinetosh 80/10/10 (wool/cashmere/nylon) in color Sand Dune.  The green yarn is Madlinetosh Vintage (100% merino) in color Terrarium.  The pattern is Hosta, designed by Nancy Marchant, sold on Twist Collective.

It was really fun and fast to knit.  I finished it in exactly 1 month, even with THREE OTHER projects going on! I know! THREE!  I actually finished one of those projects today, but I can’t show it to you because I’m going to submit it for publication.  If it’s not accepted you’ll be the first to see it, and I’ll publish it myself.

Meanwhile, I have a new job!  Yes, I will soon (in September) be working full time again, which will take some getting used to.  No more trips to the beach in the mornings, or knitting all afternoon.  I also won’t be teaching English anymore.  I might just write a post about THAT adventure sometime soon.

The good news is that I will be able to afford to do the fun things I love doing again.  Like traveling and eating out at restaurants a lot more often.  Now that I know I’ll be working, I’ve already started on a little pent up retail therapy.  Mainly shopping for work clothes since I don’t have ANYTHING to wear to a new job.  And a little yarn.  Always a little yarn.

The Last FO for 2012

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I’m pretty sure this will be last Finished Object for 2012.  This is the warm and squishy scarf I made to go with my glittens and hat.  It’s made with Madelinetosh DK, held double and knit on 7.5mm needles.  I used 400 grams in total (4 skeins).  It’s so thick and comfy!

There are several patterns out there that are similar.  Mine is not a cowl (like one popular design), the cables are a little closer together and fat, and the gauge is really different.  Therefore, I’m quite happy to tell you here exactly how I made it, without worrying about stepping on anyone’s copyright toes.  It’s dead easy:

CO 40 stitches.

row 1:  Knit 8, (k1, p1) x 8, knit 16.  row 2:  knit 16, (k1, p1) x 8, knit 8.

Repeat over and over and over.  Every 10 rows make an 8×8 cable over the 16 off-center (k1,p1) stitches.

This creates a reversible, thick scarf.  You could join the ends together to make a cowl, but that’s not what I wanted.  You could do the cables every 14 rows to make longer, less thick, cables.  You could choose to put the cable in the center.  Just play with it.  Have fun.  Knit yourself something beautiful and functional.

Now all we need is some really cold weather!  (I might regret saying that at some point…..)

I’m so Blue

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This last March I made some glittens (not mittens, not gloves, but glittons).  They are wonderful!  Here they are again.

I’ve been wanting a matching hat, and being too lazy to design my own, I chose to make a hat that already had a written pattern, called Uskglass.  That is a Ravelry link to the pattern.  Normally I link to non-Rav pages so that everyone can see them, but for some reason the author doesn’t have the pattern on her site.  Anyway, this blog post is about my hat.

I knit it in the same yarn as my glittens, namely, Madelinetosh DK in color Lapis.  Here is the hat, before blocking.

It’s really floppy and I wasn’t at all happy with the picot edge hem at the bottom.  It seemed way too big compared to the next cabled section and it didn’t lay nicely at all.

So I soaked it for a long time, then laid it over a small bowl, which was just the perfect size to smooth out the cables.  I turned the bowl upside down and sat it precariously on top of a wine bottle.  Don’t touch or it will fall over!  It sat like this for 2 days, drying.

Yesterday it was dry and today I got DB’s help to take some photos of the finished hat, on my head.  I’m super happy with it!

Now all we need is some cold weather.  It has been super windy these past days, but not all that cold.  I hate the wind.  I’d trade it for 10 degrees colder and no wind.  Then I could wear my hat!

I still have enough of this yarn left over to make the 3rd piece of the set….. you guessed it – a scarf.  I wanted something quick and easy to make so that I can finish it in time to wear this winter.  There are several scarf patterns out there that are like that, but of course I wanted something just a little bit different.

I’ve ended up knitting a scarf with 2 strands of this DK weight yarn held together, making it more like Aran weight yarn.  I’m using big needles so it’s zipping along.  It is also completely reversible, which I love.  Here’s a WIP photo:

I’ll tell you all about how I made it when it is finished and I can properly show it off.

So, I will be all blue from head to finger tips, very soon.