I Need a Hat - The Cross Stitch, version 2

In my previous post, I showed the method I've been using for the 1-over-2 left cross from my first "I Need a Hat" post. (I think I'm going to call this hat "Moss & Cross".) It's a cabling-without-a-cable-needle method that is quick and easy, but does involve leaving a stitch "hanging out", completely unsecured while you work 2 other stitches.

The following is an alternate method for cabling-without-a-needle.

Here we are at round 5 again. (The first stitch on the left needle has been slipped in each of the previous 2 rounds.)

Begin by slipping the next 3 stitches from the left needle to the right needle. One ...

Two ...

Three ...

I Need a Hat - The Cross Stitch

In working the "cross" portion of the pattern stitch I'm using for this hat (described in my first "I Need a Hat" post), I've been doing the cross without a cable needle. So, I thought I'd take some photos of the technique I'm using.

Here we are in round 5 of the pattern. (Having worked slip 1, knit 2 in rounds 3 and 4.)

The first stitch on the left needle is the slip stitch - the stitch that will be crossed over the next 2 stitches on the left needle. What I do is drop the slip stitch off the needle, then knit the next 2 stitches, then pick up the dropped stitch and knit it.

Yep, I just leave that first stitch hanging out in front of the work, completely unsecured by a needle. Since it was slipped in the previous 2 rounds, it isn't directly connected to the other stitches in this round and therefore, it's much less likely to work it's way out while you're working the other stitches. It helps that in this pattern, the stitch only has to "hang out" while you work 2 stitches and then it's picked up and all secure again. Finally, the yarn itself is a little "sticky" and that helps as well.

So, here we go.

I usually just slip the stitch off the needle, but if you want to give yourself a bit of extra insurance you can use the right needle to give the stitch a little tug.

Must finish this - Update 4

Another 2 weeks have gone by and where am I? Well, I have made reasonable progress.

Nevertheless, I need to be realistic here. It's the holidays! There is no way I'm going to put time into this project during the coming weeks.

So, I'm going to set it aside and come back to it in January.

I Need a Hat

A couple weeks ago, I gave away the last of my hand-knit hats, which - of course - means it's time for me to get started knitting a new one.

First though, I should mention that I have a "thing" about itchy hats. In my quest to overcome itchiness, I've tried a variety of different fibers (merino wool, superwash wool, alpaca, angora) and techniques (standard knitting, fulling, etc.) and have finally come to the conclusion that I simply need to line any part of the hat that will come in close enough contact with my skin to cause itchiness. (Reference Bill's hat.)

Because (for anyone who isn't familiar with this) ... an itchy hat is just awful!! It's nice and soft and warm and then all of a sudden it's ITCHY ... and to alleviate the itchiness, it MUST be removed IMMEDIATELY ... at which point all its nice, soft, warm qualities are absolutely worthless!!

OK, back to this hat. I went to my stash and picked a yarn I've used before - Valley Yarns Deerfield (alpaca & silk).

This is a lovely, soft, fairly non-itchy yarn. However, from past experience, I know it will eventually get itchy at my forehead and around my face. So, I will plan to line that section at a minimum.

Because I hadn't figured out the exact details of this hat, I decided to start at the top. (After having knit and blocked a gauge swatch.)

(These photos are over exposed and don't show the color correctly.)

The pattern is a 9 stitch/6 row repeat of a 3-stitch cross stitch with moss/seed stitch between. The 3-stitch cross pattern is:

• R1 & 2: k3
• R3 & 4: slip 1, k2
• R5: 1/2Lcross (1 over 2 left cross)
• R6: k3

And here's where I am as of today.

If all goes well, I should have a new hat within the next couple days ... and hopefully, some better photos!!

Hat for Bill - part 2

Having knit the hat one time in it's entirety and then ripped it all out (see my previous post), I started up again. This time, I went with the 1-1½-inch negative ease, I knit the entire lining in stockinette stitch ... and I remembered to take a couple "in progress" photos.

I modified the process just a little by leaving the provisional yarn at the bottom of the lining and picking up the main yarn there. So the revised process was:

1. Provisional cast on using lining yarn and work about an inch. 
2. Pick up stitches at provisional cast on. Using main main yarn, work a couple rounds, then work a turning round and work back up to even with lining "fabric".
3. Join the main "fabric" and the lining "fabric" together.
4. Work the rest of the lining and the rest of the main hat separately.
5. Tack the pieces together at the top.

Hat for Bill - part 1

This is the hat to go with the "Gloves (and then a Hat) for Bill" that I posted almost 2 months ago now. It took a while to work this out (obviously) ... and the 2 (or was it 3) re-knits definitely slowed me down.

The first issue was the yarn. It is way too itchy to work on its own and Bill wanted a simple close fitting hat, so I knew I'd need to line the entire hat. As an old hand at sewing, I knew I could sew in a lining, but this is knitting and it seems to me that a knit hat should have a knit lining. So (he-he) I picked up some Ella Rae Bamboo Silk yarn (70% bamboo, 30% silk) in Pumpkin.

The color really is a pumpkin orange and not as bright as it appears in these photos. Nevertheless, it isn't a "match" for the Classic Elite Desert yarn ...

but the yarn and the color work great for Bill and after all that's what really matters!

Must finish this - Update 3

So, I've been back from Kauai for 2 weeks and it's time for another status report.

I've done a tiny bit of work on the back, which looks like this on the right side ...

And this on the wrong side ...

Socks: Serenity / Pyroclastic / Widdershins

Now that they are finally finished, I thought I'd write up the pattern for the socks from my Knitting in Kauai / Second Sock, Second Time posts. I named these "Serenity / Pyroclastic / Widdershins" because ...

Serenity is the yarn — Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Sock yarn. Pyroclastic is the source of the lace pattern. Widdershins is the source of the heel.

Here are a few photos of the finished socks.

Second Sock, Second Time

As mentioned at the end of my previous post, during my recent trip to Kauai, I just about finished knitting this second sock ... for the second time!!

So, why a second time? After all, the first sock looks perfectly fine, doesn't it? Of course it does.

Nevertheless, after I finished the toe on the second sock, I had a "bright" idea to knit the sole of the second sock in twisted stockinette stitch. Just to do something different ... and without knitting a gauge swatch.

I know better than that!!!

Knitting in Kauai

Although I didn't work on weaving in ends while I was in Kauai, I did knit. (Of course!) Mostly, I worked on a pair of socks.

While sitting here ...

and looking out at this ...

One morning, I noticed a fellow knitter sitting in the lovely atrium area of the hotel.

Must finish this - Update 2

Okay, another 2 weeks have gone by, so it's time for another status report. What have I accomplished? Absolutely nothing!

Oh, I had ideas. On, Tuesday, Oct. 25, I packed up my bags for a trip to Kauai. I slid the back & front into a bag.

Then, into my suitcase.

Must finish this - Update 1

So, 2 weeks later, where am I? Well, first off, I think I've struck on a good thing with this "self-motivation post" idea. There's something about having a status report deadline that is truly motivational for me.

This past Friday, I realized that my first 2-week report was due and I had accomplished absolutely nothing. But, the report wasn't due until Monday, so I had some time to make progress ... and that's exactly what I did.

Saturday morning, I opened up that bag sitting next to the sofa.

and I thought ... "weaving in the ends on the sleeves shouldn't take too long. I'll bet I can knock both of them out in a few hours."

Not so much.

Brioche Stitch

I've been signed up for the Knitting Daily email for a while now. At first, I found the daily emails frequently had great tips/info. More recently, though, they seem to be primarily about selling stuff with an occasional interesting tip - usually tied to selling something. That was the case again today.

This morning's email is titled "Learn Something New: The Brioche Stitch". I've been curious about this stitch and the email (web version here) does have very basic how-to instructions. However, as is the norm, to really learn anything, you need to buy something.

Being innately cheap, I googled "2-color brioche stitch" ... and found a fantastic site called "The Brioche Stitch" by Nancy Marchant with all kinds of great information. Her "Brioche Stitch In Color" page starts with a 2-color brioche stitch ...

2-color Plain Brioche - Right side

Then covers ...

Sweater for Bill - ideas

I've been thinking and talking about knitting a sweater for Bill ... well, ever since it would no longer be a "Boyfriend Sweater". We got married in 2007, so that's a while now.

I've learned that Bill has specific ideas about what he likes and does not like in a sweater. I've also learned that if I'm going to take the time to knit a sweater for him, I need to pay attention to his ideas. So, from time to time, I'll hold up an image and say, "what do you think of this?"

Recently, he said, "I saw something in the catalog we got the other day ...." Well, I ripped that page out immediately and set it in the "save" stack.

However, during my latest, go-through-the-paperwork effort, I decide to scan it, post about it and then toss that page right into the recycle bin. So, here's the scanned image ...

And now, I've "filed" it to my blog, so I'll always be able to find it.

When I finally knit that sweater, it will be interesting to compare it to the various "ideas" that came before it.

New Zealand Ketchup

Yesterday was our annual New Zealand Ketchup making day. Just in time too, 'cause a couple days ago Bill used the very last jar of our 2010 batch.

Making braised lamb shanks.

(After searing the lamb shanks, he uses red wine to deglaze the pan and then a pint of NZ ketchup and as much broth as he needs to have the right amount of braising liquid.)

I have no idea if there's anything truly "New Zealand" about New Zealand Ketchup - other than the source of the recipe - but I do know that it's yummy. And that those kiwis do not mess around when it comes to cooking up condiments. The recipe calls for 12 lbs of tomatoes!! Luckily, we had a good crop of tomatoes this year.

So, here are the 12 lbs of tomatoes in a 12 quart stock pot.

Must finish this!!

This is a self-motivation post designed to overcome my finishing inertia. I don't remember exactly how long ago it was that I knit up these pieces. It was a long time ago. I suspect it may be in the range of 20+ years. (I have serious finishing inertia.)

Here's the front ...

and the back ...

(A close up of the flower motif)

Gloves (and then a Hat) for Bill

Towards the end of last winter, Bill held up his commercially produced wool gloves, pointed out the holes and noted that a knitter's spouse really ought to have a nice pair of hand-knit gloves.

He's right, of course, and I happened to have some lovely wool yarn on hand, having purchased it about a year or so earlier. (On sale!)

I bought the yarn with the idea of knitting Bill a hat, but since I didn't know what design I would use, I bought extra to be sure I didn't run out. I thought the self-striping earth tones and thick/thin yarn could be simple and interesting at the same time. After checking my stash, I decided I had enough yarn to make gloves as well as a hat and since the urgent need for gloves had been brought to my attention, that's where I started.

Bill likes "thick" fabrics, so while the recommended needle size was 7, I ended up using size 4 needles. (Partly, because I have a set of size 4 double pointed needles.) I wanted to keep the stitch pattern simple to show off the yarn and decided on 3 small cables up the back of the hand (blending in to the index, middle and ring fingers of the glove) and stockinette stitch for everything else. For the cuff, I chose a hem, rather than ribbing. Here's the wrist edge of the back side of the gloves.

Here's a full shot of the back side of the pair.

You can sort of see that the thick/thin yarn gives the stockinette stitch thumb and fingers a bit of a Wicked Witch of the West look. You can see it even more in this shot.

Memory Lane: Diagonal Stripe

Here's another "Memory Lane" sweater from my own closet. This is another one that goes back about 20 years. I had seen a picture of a diagonal striped sweater in similar colors and decided to knit one myself.

Twenty-ish years later, I still like these colors, I still like the diagonal stripe and I still wear this sweater. Yeah, it has that 80s over-sized look, but hey, at least not the big shoulder pads.

In this shot, my complete lack of attention to how the sleeve stripes would intersect the body is quite evident.

Memory Lane: Cotton high-neck tank

This is the first in my personal collection of oldies. It's a just-below-the-waist length tank with cut-away armholes and a high neck.

I'm fairly sure that I bought the yarn when I was still living in New York, so that would have been about 25 years ago. I can't remember if I knit it in NYC or after I had moved to LA. Either way, it's at least 15 years old and is probably in it's early- to mid-20s. I planned to knit a sweater set, but never did get around to knitting the cardigan. (I hung on to the extra yarn for years!)

Memory Lane: The Idea

My recollection of things I've knit and given away is not always that great. Sometimes it takes seeing an old photo or leftover yarn in my stash to remind me of something I knit years ago.

With all my documenting of recent projects, I thought it would be fun to go back to some of the oldies and, given the sorry state of my memory and the fact that I don't have digital images of those oldies, I will need some help with this task. So, I'm going to contact the victims (er, recipients) of my knitting and ask them to send me photos - preferably at least one shot of the item being modeled. Hopefully, the really horrendous items have long since disappeared, but if any are still around, I'm game for those too.

Oh dear, simply taking the time to write about past projects has reminded me that I did once knit a sweater for a boyfriend and, naturally, experienced the Boyfriend Sweater Curse. I will not be contacting him!! (And I do remember that sweater.)

Oh, and this reminds me that I have not yet knit a sweater for my husband!! Perhaps I should re-think this Memory Lane idea.

Naw, I'll get to the sweater for Bill. We have time. Plus, I need to finish the hat to go with his new gloves first.

It only seems fair that I pull out my own oldies as well. So, I'll do that too. Oh and maybe I'll scan old photos ... or threaten to post scans of old photos!!!

Cherie's Hat

The incredible, wonderful, amazing Cherie came up for a visit a few weeks ago and that prompted me to finally put the finishing touches on a hat I had started about a year ago. This was one of those projects where the recipient wasn't planned from the beginning, but became clear by the end. Everything about this hat makes me think of Cherie.

Cherie and I both re-located from southern California to the Pacific Northwest within the last 5 years (me from Sherman Oaks, Cherie from Santa Monica). We had both lived in SoCal for many years and neither of us had a proper winter hat.

I've knit quite a few hats since I moved - and given most of them away. After all, if I give a hat away, I make room for another one to take it's place, right? Besides, how many hats does any one gal need? (Socks, of course, are an entirely different story.)

What made this Cherie's hat? Two key elements:

Fire and Yarn

I have a rather large amount of yarn in my stash. I could use the "I live on an island" excuse, but the truth is my stash represents 20-plus years of yarn acquisitions and it was just over 4 years ago that I started living on an island. I guess I just like yarn.

My stash falls into four categories:
1 - Yarn I bought with an intended purpose, but haven't yet knit up
2 - Yarn I bought with no specific intent, but was sure I could put to good use
3 - Yarn left over from a project I have finished
4 - Yarn given to me by friends and acquaintances working on downsizing their own stashes (I'm a sucker for FREE yarn!)

The last two categories in particular include some skeins that look like this.

No label. No idea of it's fiber content. Or gauge. Or recommended needle size. For that matter, I have no idea how this skein ended up in my stash. I don't recall knitting anything out of this yarn - although my memory on that front is not all inclusive.

So, what to do.

Garlic, Scape and Scape Oil

Another post that is completely unrelated to knitting.

Our friend Todd got us started growing garlic and each fall, Bill devotes one of our three raised beds entirely to garlic. This year it was the front bed and around early- to mid-June, this is what it looked like.

I meant to take a few photos that showed the scape on the plants, but forgot. Then, we needed to get the scape cut and processed before an "off island" trip in early July. After we returned from our trip, I noticed that a few scapes had "escaped" our scissors. So, when we harvested the garlic, I took pictures.

Tubular Bind-Off for 1x1 Ribbing

Now that I've completed all that sampling of Cast-Ons for 1x1 ribbing, what about Bind-Offs? This is actually much simpler. A number of years ago I learned Tubular Bind-Off for 1x1 Ribbing and it is without question my favorite.

Arguably, it was my satisfaction with this Bind-Off that got me started experimenting with Cast-Ons. I was sure there had to be a Cast-On of equal magnificence to this delightful bound off edge ...

The method I use for Tubular Bind-Off for 1x1 Ribbing is described in Hand Knitting Techniques from Threads. I tracked down online versions here and here. Neither of these are exactly the same as the process I use so I'll describe it (and document it) below.

Cast-Ons for 1x1 Ribbing - Conclusions

After working up approximately 20 swatches of various cast-ons for 1x1 ribbing, what have I learned?

Lesson 1 - I should have done this a LONG time ago because ...

Lesson 2 - Tubular edges for 1x1 ribbing are magnificent!
The round (aka "tubular") edge achieved by working several rows of tubular 1x1 ribbing before moving on to standard 1x1 ribbing is just beautiful. My favorites are: Invisible Provisional, Version 1 (take 2); Tubular Cast-on, Version A; and Tubular Cast-on, Version B. (All described on my "Day 3" post.)

Lesson 3 - When thinking about using something other than a tubular edge, I will think again!

Lesson 4 - If I still think there's a good reason NOT to use a tubular edge, I would choose Alternate Cable Cast-On, Channel Islands Cast-On or Crochet Cast-On. (All described on my "Day 4" post.)

Lesson 5 - When considering my cast-on choice, I will remember that I am embarking on a hand-knit piece to which I will devote hours and hours of my time. The beginning warrants my finest effort.

Now for some additional details as well as a few photos ...

Experimenting with Cast-Ons - 1x1 Ribbing - Day 4

   • Long-tail Cast-On
   • Channel Islands Cast-On
   • Cable Cast-On
   • Alternate Cable Cast-On
   • Knitting On
   • Crochet Cast-On (in 2 versions)

Now, I'll try various non-tubular/round-edge cast ons and see what they look like with 1x1 ribbing.

It probably would have made more sense to start with these. However, my initial impetus for experimenting & documenting 1x1 cast-ons came when I was working with a tubular/round-edge cast on and it was only as I  was working through those that it occurred to me to document the non-tubular cast-ons as well.

Long-tail Cast-On

Because if I'm going to be complete, I need to include Long-tail. The 2 sides do look different. Here is a photo with the return row facing (tail is on the right and this is typically the "wrong" side).

Here is the other side facing (tail is on the left and this is typically the "right" side).

Experimenting with Cast-Ons - 1x1 Ribbing - Day 3

   • Tubular Cast-On, Version A
   • Tubular Cast-On, Version B
   • Invisible Cast-On
   • Invisible Provisional, Version 1 - Take 2

Next up are "tubular" cast-ons, another "invisible" cast-on and a do-over of a Day 1 "invisible" cast-on.

Tubular Cast-On, Version A

This cast-on is in two of my "go to" knitting books - Vogue Knitting and Hand-Knitting Techniques from Threads. An online version can be found here. You begin with a provisional yarn and cast on half the number of required stitches. Then, with the main color work k1, yo to the end of the row ending with k1 (which leaves you with an odd number of stitches on the needle). For the 1x1 ribbing, the yo becomes the purl stitch and the k1 is, of course, the knit stitch. After the k1, yo row you work 2 or 4 rows of tubular ribbing. If you need an even number of 1x1 ribbing stitches (pretty common in my experience), my instructions say to increase 1 st at the end of the 1st row. Once again, this would leave me with 1x1 ribbing that begins with a purl stitch instead of a knit stitch. Perhaps I just need to get over my "issue" about starting 1x1 ribbing with a purl stitch. On the other hand, maybe I could increase 1 at the beginning of the row instead of the end of the row. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

The Hand-Knitting Techniques from Threads instructions recommend beginning with a needle size 2 sizes smaller than the main needle size. I did that and here's the provisional cast on of half the number of stitches followed by 1 row with the main yarn (k1, yo ... ending with k1). Front side ...

and back side ...