Archives for July 2011

The Knittens are done — see?

To recap, these were knit from Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, using the Celadon and Turquoise colorways. The pair took approximately 150 yards of each color, so one can easily get two pairs of mittens out of these two skeins. Note to myself: store all leftover MadTosh mitten yarn in a special place so I can mix and match colors for another pair.)

I used a U.S. size 2 (2.75mm needle) for a gauge of 9 sts/9 rows over one inch in the colorwork.

Pattern coming soon!

Slouchiness

There were a couple of questions about my Super Slouch and the volume of hair it would hold, so I present the following photos in response.

Please to note that this hair photo is presented for scientific experimental purposes only. Yes, I know that I have age-inappropriate hair length. I like it this way and have no immediate plans to cut it. Yes I know that in this photo it looks like the ends are damaged, but they are not. My hair is wavy/curly and I air-dry it so it dries very wavy. Right before this photo was taken, I brushed it out so you would get some idea of the volume of hair I was shoving into the hat. Hence the appearance of the ends.

A close-up of the ends:

Not a split end in sight.

Can you tell that I have received a lot of unsolicited, unwanted advice about my hair? 😉

Anyway, here is the hair bundled up in the hat, from the back.

And from the side.

All photos taken against the white stucco wall of my villa in Italy. 😉

I did not put the hair up with any pins or clips, just shoved it into the hat. I think when I actually wear the hat in the winter I’ll put it up with a hair fork or something. But as you can see, there is ample room in the hat for my metric ton of hair.

I am working on the second Super Slouch in the alternate lace pattern, but since it is commuter knitting only, there is not yet much progress to show you. I’ll report back on Tuesday with a photo of my progress.

But Wait, There’s More!

This lovely fishie is Goldfish Wanda:

And here is a mitten inspired by her.

I am using The Loopy Ewe Solid Series fingering weight yarn, in the “Tangerine” and “Caribbean” colorways on my usual size 2 (2.75mm) needles.

This mitten was so much fun to knit that I did knit it very quickly — I cast on late Friday night after I finished the second Knitten and finished it this morning. I’ll be casting on the second mitten shortly.

Lucy Sez

This is the best thing to do on a hot steamy weekend:

Nap in the a/c!

My slouchy hat is done.

I have to tell you, the whole time I was knitting this hat, I had Rick James’ “Super Freak” running through my head, except that my version went like this:

It’s a super slouch, a super slouch,
It’s super slouchy!

(My apologies for the ear-worm.)

So I will of course be calling this design “Super Slouch.” Here it is on my rather large head:

The tubular ribbing is very stretchy so it will stretch to accommodate a wide range of head sizes. Unstretched it is 18″ around and it will stretch out quite a bit. My head circumference is around 22 inches and it fits with a good deal of stretch to spare.

This was knit from Madelinetosh Tosh DK, using a U.S. size 4 for the ribbing and a U.S. size 8 for the lace portion. Tosh DK has approximately 220 yards per skein and I estimate that I used 200 yards for my hat.

The reason I designed this hat is because I wanted something I could bundle all my hair into in the winter, and pull it down over my ears. I have approximately a metric ton of hair, and it all fits nicely in the hat with room to spare.

I am planning on making the pattern available for sale, but before I do, I am knitting another version of it. Here is the ribbing:

This is Fiesta Boomerang in the “Morocco” colorway. I’m using the same needles as for the Madtosh DK version, even though Boomerang is a bit thinner. But it is working out nicely so far.

This hat will have a different lace pattern — one that will work well with a more variegated yarn. So the pattern, when finished, will have two options for the lace.

Gotta love a two-fer!

Looking for Needles for a Charity Project?

Check out this etsy shop, which has tons of needles and hooks — dirt cheap.

Just sayin’.

Preview! Preview! Preview!

Do you subscribe to Potter Craft’s CrafterNews email newsletter? If not, you’ll want to check this out. Its a free preview pattern from my upcoming book, Wendy Knits Lace: the Lace Stripe Scarf. This is a quick and easy project, so lace newbies can make it too!

Lucy Sez:

“Look at me! I’m being adorable!”

Look! I have another mitten on the needles.

Actually, this is the second mitten of the latest pair. Here is its mate:

And the palm:

I am calling this design “Knittens.” Rather a twee name, don’t you think?

But I could not help myself.

I am once again using Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, this time in the Celadon and Turquoise colorways. And a U.S. size 2 (2.75mm) needle.

Speaking of mittens, the Morbid Mittens pattern is now available for sale in my Ravelry shop.

Slouchy

Remember a few days ago I posted a photo of some ribbing done with a tubular cast-on? That was the start of a hat that I ripped out because I wanted to go down a needle size and make a deeper rib. I have done both those things and am now happy with my hat-in-progress.

I am using Madelinetosh Tosh DK (have you figured out that I like Madelinetosh?) in the “Terrarium” colorway.  The ribbing was knit using a U.S. size 3 (3.25mm) needle, and the body of the hat is knit using a U.S. size 8 (5mm).

New KnitCircus Podcast

KnitCircus magazine has just started a podcast and the first episode is now available, here. It will soon be available on iTunes as well.

Meanwhile back at home, Lucy has it made in the shade!

The Morbid Mittens are done:

To recap, I knit these from Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the “Composition Book Grey” and “Tart” colorway, on U.S. size 2 (2.75mm) needles. The mittens took about 1/3 of a skein of each color, that is, approximately 135 yards of each color.

Pattern coming soon.

Nicole asked a great question in the comments the other day:

Are you doing anything special with the contrasting color when you have several main color stitches in a row, or are you just letting it float along the inside?

So glad you asked! Long-time readers may remember that when doing stranded colorwork, I prefer to let the color not in use simply float along the back rather than weave. But in the case of mittens, I do weave, approximately every 5 or 6 stitches. This is because I don’t want fingers getting caught in loose floats on the inside of the mitten.

Mittens for Camp

Speaking of mittens, the pattern for my Camp Loopy Mittens is now available for sale in my Ravelry store for $3.00.

We’re Having a Heatwave!

How Lucy stays cool:

Napping in the shade!

The cuff I showed you in the last post is, as you no doubt figured out, a mitten cuff. The mitten is being knit from Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the “Tart” and “Composition Book Grey” colorways on a U.S. size 2 (2.75mm) needle.

Here’s the first mitten, completed:

As you can see (if you click on the photo to enlarge it), I am knitting a quotation from an Emily Dickinson poem into the mittens. The other mitten will have the rest of the line.

While I realize that this quote is a bit morbid, I have always loved the poem. I charted these mittens out quite a while ago and never got around to knitting them.

I am, of course, calling the design “Morbid Mittens.” They will certainly not appeal to everyone, but I’m not knitting them for mass appeal. Still, I will write up the pattern and make it available once I’ve completed them.

I spent a long time picking out the colors. I knew I wanted red for the lettering, and the Tart colorway (a red that has some black in it) is perfect — exactly what I envisioned. The background color was a tougher choice. I didn’t want black — too dark. But I wanted something gloomy. I was a little concerned that Composition Book Grey would be too dark for a good contrast with the red, but I am very pleased with how it looks now that I’ve got one mitten done. I think the color combo is nicely gloomy, but still has enough contrast so that the words are legible to anyone who looks closely enough.

Also, I love the way these two colors look together on the palm!

Speaking of Mittens

Thanks for all your nice comments on my Camp Loopy mittens! A pattern is forthcoming.

Tubular!

Because knitting 2-color mittens is a bit of a pain on the commute, I started another project, this one with a tubular cast-on:

Lucy sez:

“It’s tubular, dude.”