Hats, Hats, Hats

1.  Classic World War II Watch Cap by Helen Waittes from Cocoa Beach Yarn Company. 
Cascade Superwash 220
2.  Skull Hat, by Gina Davidson from Knit Two Together (Blog).  Cascade Sierra
3.  Combination Summer Hat, by Amanda Muscha from StrangeKnits.
Cascade Sierra
4.  Urban Jungle Crocheted Slouchy Beanie,by Vickie Howell from Vickie Howell For Caron.
Cascade Sierra Quatro
5.   Urban Jungle Crocheted Slouchy Beanie,by Vickie Howell from Vickie Howell For Caron.
Cascade Sierra
6.  Chaos Cap,by Amy Duncan from Two Sticks and a Sheep
Cascade 220
7.  Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits
Cascade Pacific
8.  Meret (Mystery Beret), by Woolly Wormhead from Woolly Wormhead
Cascade 220
9.   Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits
Cascade220
10.  Chroma Stocking Cap, by Aimée Chapman from 52 Weeks, 52 Hats
Lionsbrand Amazing
11.  Grey Gardens, by Kate Burge and Rachel Price from Knitty, Spring + Summer 2013
Noro Taiyo
12.   Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits 
Vanna's Choice

Forest Gnome join Teeny Gnome

Pattern: Alan Dart Yuletide Gnomes (Jultomtar & Teeny Tomte)
Yarn:  Cascade 220 for face, Queensland Kathmandu Aran for rest.  Sirdar Foxy for beard.
Needles:  Size 5.  Size 10 for beard.
 Mods:  Knit most of this in the round.  Stuffed with wool and polyester beads for the okole.  

October

All 3 of my sisters visited in the last month.  No. 1 had not been home for almost 2 years.  No.4 visits about once a month and No. 2 come 2-3 times a year.  Dad turned 94 this month.  Mom will be 90 next month.  Living is getting more challenging for them.  No. 2 is still here and cooking up a storm!  She made the best corned beef.  Her secret is to glaze the corned beef after it has cooked with mustard, brown sugar and ground cloves and bake in the oven  @ 375 deg while the vegies are cooking. Yummy!  She also made brown stew and swears by the whole slow browning, caramelizing of the meat and vegies before the actually stewing.

For dad's birthday she had me make a Chocolate Zucchini Cake .  If you are like me you will say, well why zucchini?  I'm not sure what it added but the cake was very yummy and moist!  The mods are to use buttermilk in place of the sour milk and bake at 350 deg.  I would also increase the amount of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top so each piece had at least 3. 

Top with ice cream:)

On the knitting scene, I'm on sock number 5 of the new, improved sock knitting mojo.  Number 4 was another Finnish Sock.  Zeska, was nice enough to provide the pattern for free (in Finnish) but translate the pattern stitch to sl. 1, K1, YO.  Pass slip stitch over K1 and YO.  I'm calling this Furlough Sock, as much of this was knit on time made available by our country's budget issue.

Pattern:  Petäjä-sukat by Eeva SavirantaYarn:  Tosh Sock, Madeleinetosh
Needles:  size one Chiaogoo needles.  I'm on a roll with these nice pointy needles, using the the magic loop method.
Mods:  There is no English translation for this pattern so I adapted the pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, 6 stitch pattern CO 66 stitches.  I added a purl stitch to match the beginning purl stitch to the patterned portion of the foot, working 34 stitches for the foot and 32 for the sole. 
Comments:  The varigated yarn did not show up the pattern as well as the solid color of my first one, but made for a nice snug fit.  The yarn was a bit splitty with these pointy needles, but not excessively so. They feel wonderful on.

No. 5 sock is Kellswater Sock in Tosh Sock, colorway Stormy.  It is knit toe-up.  So far I've knit one toe.

Another project was Red Hat.  Such a clever name, lol.

(oops, have to trim the tail after blocking)

Yarn:  Malabrigo Rios, color Ravelry Red
Needles:  size 7,8 short circs, and size 9 dpns
Pattern:  I'm sure this has been done before, but I didn't use a pattern except for the decreases.
CO 90, twisted CO. K2P2 5 inches.  I wanted this ribbing to fold up and cover the ears. 
Change to size 8 needle. Fisherman knit in the round. for another 5 inches or so. (I have a 22 inch head)
Decrease according to Fisherman’s Hat by Christina. The number aren't the same but easy to fudge. I changed to size 9 needles as recommended.
I've using the twisted CO for socks over two needles lately as it is stretchier and easy to do.
Warning:  Try not to drop any stitches in the Fisherman Knit portion.  It is a very challenging to fix!  I found tinking back as soon as a mistake was made the the best way for me. 

Seattle/Camano Getaway

I had a wonderful little getaway to Seattle and Camano Island while Big Sister and the General were visiting the folks.  I knew they would be in good hands!

I finished Caamaño Socks
Pattern:  Katniss Socks by Rose Hiver, free on Ravelry.
Yarn:  Koigu, a light blue
Needles:  ChiaGoo size one.

 

I knit my flap 2.25 inch and had 17 end stitches. After picking up the 17 gusset stitches plus the additional two that are knitted together, I had a total of 59 stitches before doing the math for the clever ribbed gusset.  

There was some stash enhancement, but everyone knows sock yarn doesn't count, so I have no guilt and did not hold back.  

The first shop I visited was Bad Woman Yarns in Wallingford.  Free parking!  Yay!  They had a nice selection of Skacel yarns and others. I went for the good stuff.  

Barely seen in the photo is the Madeleine Tosh Sock in Tart.  It was love at first sight.  The second has sparkles and is 88% rayon but sparkles:)  Rayon Metallic by Blue Heron. 

The second yarn shop I visited was Pinchknitter Yarns in Stanwood, Washington.  Sirkku Bingham – Owner and operator, was very friendly and helpful.  I actually went twice since the Katniss sock required stitch markers and I did not bring any with me.  She had some neat HiyaHiya ones that work like safety pins.  They will work for crochet as well.  There were some wonderful samples in the shop.  I got the yarn to make the hexagon sock from Think Outside the Sox. 

Best Foot Forward, by Nashua Handknit will make wild and crazy sox!  When I went back there were some ladies gathered knitting.  Such a warm, bright place.  I loved it!

I'm thinking of Wave, by Skein Designs, for the sparkly stuff and Paraphernalia, by Taina Anttila

for the Tart.  

I stayed a few days with my snowbird friend and family on Camano Island.  Her Halloween/Fall decorations inspired me to come home and make a couple of pillow cases.  Well it started off with table runner, then Halloween dog kerchiefs and then pillow cases.  The pillow cases are a little habit forming to make!

I made mine 24 inches long since my pillows are a little short.

Jeck in a Sox

Pattern:  Jeck, a freebie on Ravelry, by Regina Satta,
Needles: size one brand new ChiaoGoo,  32 inch, magic loop.  They are nice pointy needles.
Yarn:  one of kind colorway Tosh Sock, 100% superwash merino.  The colors were quite surprising and I really loved knitting them.  The picture does not do it justice.  There are bits of pink, baby blue, mauve and white.  Tosh merino is a very nice yarn to work with. 
According to the designer, a jeck is a crazy person so the crazy colorway was perfect.  The pattern was well written and easy to follow.  I had a little problem with the toes as I missed a couple decreases, but all was good in the end. 

So what next?  I wish I had some red sock yarn to do the Katniss Socks by Rose Hiver.  It's another Ravelry freebie with cool pattern and cables.  I'll have to check out the stash.

Watch out for the Tiny Gnomes

Totoro's had an intervention to get the gnome off O'Totoro's back.

Pattern by Alan Dart.

A Sock Occurrence

A small miracle has occurred. I finished a pair of socks.  This project was plod for me, but I persevered!  Maple Toffee Socks
Pattern:  Sugar Maple by Melissa Morgan-Oakes from 2-at-a-time Socks
Needle:  size 1
Yarn:  Orange Toffee yarn, wool, alpaca, nylon, hand dyed by Hungry for Handspun.  She doesn't dye anymore, but makes wonderful soap!
Perhaps it will be chilly enough on Camano Island when I go up the end of the month.  I'm looking forward to Harvest Jubilee!


The second weaving on my Schacht Cricket loom came out more even.  There were a couple of missed threads on the back side, but none on the front.  My left selvage was nicer then the right, but after discovering a little tug helped on that side, it looked much better.

I watched the second Craftsy video on Rigid Heddle weaving and learned a few new tricks. Deborah Jarchow recommends making samples.   Umm, since I'm not even a swatch knitter I can see that will be a challenge. I would have learned from a sample that the two colors I chose for the warp would not contrast enough.  After washing, though and in the sun I can see that second stripe better.  The project stripes more horizontally then I had envisioned.
Yarn:  Lousa Harding Ondine.  This is a wonderful cotton, on sale at Webs right now.  I'm tempted, but the whole point of weaving at all is to use up stash, so I'm holding back.
I packed the weaving tightly and I'm thinking next time a little looser may give a little more drape.  I'm not sure about the fringe at this point.

One of my walking buddies got me hooked The Killing, the American version.  It stars a very gloomy Seattle and I loved the great aerial views.  The female protagonist, a flawed (is there any other kind?) detective sports some really cool sweaters...the kind I would love to knit, but alas would have no where to wear.  The show is more of a miniseries then free standing episodes and has finished it's third season.

She also got me hooked on Breaking Bad.   This AMC series is in it's 5th season, so I have a lot of catch up to watch on my computer since I'm still holding out on the TV replacement.

The 5-0 Halloween edition filmed down the road.  I had a huge cherry picker outside by house for 3 days, and one night a guy with stadium lights hovered over my garage.  I wonder if can charge for airspace, lol.

It's seems a bit like Fall today as we have some drizzle going on.  I'm grateful I don't need to water my azaleas:) The stores are full of Halloween already.   Can the new year be far behind? I'll be happy to bid 2013 Aloooooha!

First Weaving

Cricket Loom, Table Runner

Mostly hand spun with Lionbrand woolease for warp. 

Another Bangle

Pattern:  Bangle Video from The Bead Gallery
Sterling silver bangle, acornbud tag, and fresh water pearl acorn made by me.  Silver plated Totoro charm from Solistar on Etsy.  Silver umbrella charm from CrazyCoolStuff on Etsy. 

 The search goes on for sterling silver Totoro charms. 

A quick little project

I can't remember if I saw this idea surfing the Web, or if I just adapted the idea of using a turkey lacer from the Mary's Stiletto's Tutorial.  I also tried a little piece of wire I had left over from a project.  I still have not figured out the perfect glue to hold the beads up.  I generally avoid glue as it just doesn't seem very permanent.
I tried Cheerwine while visitng theknittedbrow.  It is a very sweet, cherry flavored soda and I liked it quite a bit.  It is not found in Hawaii, and the company is not able to ship any to me:(.  However I did find the bottle cap bead for it a one the local bead shows.
These were fun and fast to make!  Of course never mind that my spinning wheel has a delta flyer and no hook is needed, lol.  In the rare instance that I may put on my fine flyer, I am ready with not just one, but two hooks!
The alarm system is upgraded and now wireless.  I'm sure the thrill of all the text and email messages it will be sending me will wear off quickly.
I started my acupuncture and the plan is for 4 total sessions in the next 3 weeks.  And to jump start the process I have to take 8 odd looking "pills" twice a day.  They are herbal "Chinese" medicine.  The way I look at it, I have nothing to loose.
I cast on for some socks.  Darn it, if there is something on the needles, I may just knit!  The 19-inch TV is funny to watch.  Subtitles have gotten hard to read. So far I'm holding off on the replace big screen. 

Puffs

The TV died so I cancelled my premium channels.  I still had some Dexter episodes to go, but since Oceanic cancelled Showtime, no Dexter and even worse, no Homeland, which starts September 29.  Also, no True Blood or Ray Donavan.  Oh well, I shall survive!

There is still no knitting mojo, but I've managed a couple silver bangles and spun the rest of my Shetland into puffs. I made the puffs closer together and they are a little more consistent.  I love the way the hand dyed yarn made such cool, shaded puffs!  Maybe next year I can try a real beehive, although they sound fiddly.

My house was burglarized.  Thank goodness no one was home and our alarm system worked. Still replacing the damage is a pain, not to mention an expense.  I had thought about upgrading my alarm system so now I have incentive. There really is no way to prevent someone from breaking in if they really want to, but any deterrent gives me a little peace of mind.  It's really a sad commentary about how things have changed around here.  There are so many more people making their living by sponging off of others, or supporting their drug habit. 

There are many reasons to get a watch dog.  I took the "Am I ready for a dog?"quiz.  At the end, it suggested I get a goldfish.  At least it didn't suggest a plant.  I fell down on the whole commitment issue.  Will you be around, will you walk me, will you mind me drooling or getting hair all over your knitting.  Can you stand having some possessions destroyed.  And the Landcaster doesn't want a dog. 

I'm starting some acupuncture next week get the old yin-yang balanced. Too much yin or not enough yang.

Gem Bangle

Pattern:  Gem Bangles, Video Pattern by The Bead Gallery.
I like the way the charms can be changed up to suit one's mood.  It makes a great "holder" for stitch markers, too.   I love pounding silver.  There is something cathartic about it:)

It's a very warm summer so far.  There was one un-hurricane, Flossie.  Luckily she fizzled out before the islands.  There was some wind and rain, but a nice amount of rain. 

Happy crafting!

Missing, One Sock Knitting Mojo

Has anyone seen my sock knitting mojo?  It was last seen knitting Verdant Socks.  Since then I have amassed some sock yarn so I hope it returns soon.

Hawaiian Quilt Pillow, Monstera

Pattern:  Japanese artist Meg, a non-traditional Monstera leaf
Hand appliqued and quilted. 
Now to find a pillow form. 

2013 Tour de Fleece

I spun almost every day this year. I managed to get through a lot of the Ewa Beach cotton and a little of the green cotton from Cotton Clouds. That was slippery stuff! My long draw made some progress.

I tried both the fast whorl and the regular whorl on my Rose and found that I'm no fast spinner. The regular one goes fast enough, thank you very much. After plying, I ended up with 3.6 oz of cotton. Now to read up on how to set the twist and dye it. But that's for another day.

 I finished a bit of the churro, 2.7 oz, on my Navajo spindle. I plied on my Rose.

The brown alpaca was a joy to spin! It actually had quite a bit of dirt in it. I didn't notice it until I went to set the twist and ended up washing it about 3 times in hot water. It' nice and soft.

For the challenge days, I worked on some "art yarn". My thick and thin got a little better, so I tired out some coils, and spiral plying. I also used some orphaned Noro Silk Garden to try some corespun supercoils. I used my Shetland to do the puffs, separating out the mustard color for the single. The little surprises of the color were so much fun. The yarn was hand dyed by Widdershin Woolworks on Etsy. It was a joy to spin. I dyed the Romney locks from the failed lichen experiment with some Wilton's cake dye and attempted a bit of corespinning and tail spinning. This was a big challenge. I'm calling it yarn anyway. I keep thinking I can somehow knit a hatband with the rainbow colors.


I had a couple of detours. I became one of the 9000+ who knit Color Affection, by Veera Välimäki, This is such a clever pattern! I got one of Madeleinetosh One of a Kind bags from Little knits. The garter was nice and mindless.
                                                                My Tosh Affection

Mods: I used size 7 needle since I knit on the tight size. I used color 1, the dark green to do the border instead of color 2, the gray. I wasn't sure if I had enough so I did a picot bind-off in gray. This is a huge crescent shawl. I really enjoyed the yarn and the construction of this shawl and I love the way it looks. There just isn't someplace in Hawaii where I can use it, sigh.

 I tried a pattern from Craftsy, and made two Kiss Kross bracelets. I used sterling silver for the base and GF wire for the wrap. The first one is amazonite and came out large for me. The second one is labradorite. The clasps were the challenge.

Multicolored Yarns

Wiki has these definitions to ponder

Yarn ...re:  a wide selection of variegated yarns:

• Heathered or tweed: yarn with flecks of different coloured fiber
• Ombre: variegated yarn with light and dark shades of a single hue
• Multicolored: variegated yarn with two or more distinct hues (a "parrot colourway" might have green, yellow and red)
• Self-striping: yarn dyed with lengths of color that will automatically create stripes in a knitted or crocheted object
• Marled: yarn made from strands of different-colored yarn twisted together, sometimes in closely related hues

What is this hand-dyed and hand-spun then?  Multicolored and marled?

I never know what to do with these types of colorways. I thought these would be socks, but it's rather thick for socks. I was thinking something along the Jaywalker pattern stitch to break up the colors. I settled on this hat, and I'm quite pleased with the way the colors added more texture to this mock cable pattern.

Pattern: Tapestry Hat, by The Knit Nook Free:)!! Needles: Size 6 Yarn: 100% Rambouillett, 3ply, hand spun on my Majacraft Rose, and hand dyed with acid dyes, alpine blue, purple and oxblood) I purchased the wool from Certified Cute. Mods: none. This beanie just covers the tops of my ears. I'm sure I did not get gauge (if I'd bothered to check on it) and if I had to do it over I would add another pattern repeat or two. The pattern is quite airy and very stretchy. 

I'm looking for a nice pattern make with my Twisters.

After watching one last Asian flick, the classic Sword of Doom, I watched a cute Walt Disney movie with Jennifer Garner, and Joel Edgerton called The Odd Life of Timothy Green.   Somehow this movie made me think of the movie Little Otik, but with a Walt Disney happy ending and no one getting eaten. Perhaps I'll go see World War Z next week.  I'm not sure about a happy ending, but in two words...Brad Pitt!

TV Void and Cream Puff Temptation

It's come to my attention that I somehow managed to make it through adolescence without ever reading a book by Beverly Cleary.  I wonder how that happened?  She was born in 1916 so age can't be a factor.  I read a lot when I was younger, and it is rare now for me to read a book.  I was captivated by Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and of course I can read pattern/craft books all day long.  I do remember reading Homer Price, which is listed on Cleary's Goodread page under "people who liked this book also liked....I was devoted to Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley and Albert Terhune.  After that I had a long streak of SciFi...A Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, A Wrinkle in Time and Red Planet, are just a few titles that stick in my head. Perhaps that is why I am deficient in Beverly Cleary. 

There is a void on the the TV since Game of Thrones ended.  I'm a little over Dexter and True Blood but I will watch them until the end.  I had Asian Movie week and watched House of Flying Daggers, The Emperor and the Assassin, Hovering Blade, A Better Tomorrow  and Musa the Warrior.  I hope not to spoil these for anyone, but everyone dies, and and no one gets the girl.  I'm ready to watch a silly movie with a happy ending now.

Here's another Queensland Pima Fresca FO.

Pattern:  Oana Shawl, by Kirsten Kapur, from Knitscene, Winter 2011. 
I've been on a roll copying projects by Nanea at Aloha Yarns.  This issue of Knitscene just happened to be on sale at Interweave when I looked, for $4 bucks so it must have been karma.
Needles:  10 1/2
I went a little bonkers until I found the errata.  If I'd only read the comments on Ravelry...heh.  I finally had to blow up the chart, add markers to set apart the pattern repeatmand move those markers every chart repeat.  The purl row is usually not very busy so that saved the project for me.  I did have to concentrate but the the project went quickly with worsted weight yarn.
The yarn is very soft  to work with.  It does shed so I decided not to do the fringe.  Cotton has such a short staple and am afraid it will really fall apart.  I love this yarn and have one more color to knit up!

I'm gearing up for Tour de Fleece.  I have a bunch of cotton to comb.  I want to try the lace flyer that came with my Majacraft Rose, but have never used.  I also have the jumbo flyer to try.

I'm been so ambivalent about whether to continue to work my two days/week. It has been a year of big expenses, so a paycheck is nice that respect.  I also met my certification requirements for this year.  I have one more set to do by 2016 and would have to take the big test in 2017.   So why not continue?

My Vitamix has come and I'm trying to kick start some weight loss.  The first kale drink I made tasted horrible, but they've gotten a better.  I downloaded the Loose It app for my phone and I can't tell you have much pleasure I get scanning bar codes.  Cheap thrill.  Some local foods are a challenge.  I was given some Pancit Bihon for lunch and the nutrition info on line varies so much or measures portions in gram.  My sister is hot on chia seeds, so I got some of those.
They got stuck in my dishrag and a few sprouted a several days later.  I was sad to see that a Liliha Bakery coco puff has 255 cal, but I decided to just budget goodies in, instead of obsessing about them.  In life there be coco puffs, and sometimes it's better to just go with the flow.

Food and Fiascos

From Urban Dictionary:

Bubble brain:  A person with a brain as empty as a bubble. Both girls and guys can be bubble brains, but it often refers to a girl. A bubble brain may not remember what you say minutes after you have spoken. If she is thinking at all she is thinking about herself Senior moment:  A lapse of memory, logic or mental function which is atypical or unusual. The individual suffering the event, may not necessarily be advanced in age, although senior citizens are more likely to experience an occurrence. Sheila at Journey Wheel sent me an email declaring herself a bubble brain and Blogless Sandy and I can really relate.  Now at our age, though, I believe this is actually called a senior moment.  I kind of like bubble brain better as it connotes youth and this aging thing is for the birds.   1.  Concentrating on patterns and following instructions.  Case in point. Crochet African Flower Hexagon.  Ravelry has a couple tutorials, Heidi Bears and Barbara Langer. (one makes a hexagon and the other makes a square.  Craft passion has a cute little purse made out of them here.  Making these motifs is quite fun and addicting and making use of my Plymouth Jeannee stash.   Hello!  I made row 4 a different color when is should be the same as row 3.  Now what.  Do I continue along or change make them "correctly". 2.  Calendar fiascos:  not checking the calendar, not putting events on the calendar, not getting the date or day of the week correctly.  Concentrating really hard helps these things...well usually it does.  I missed my first quilting meeting yesterday :( Well enough about that.   I'm very sad to say my lichen dyeing experiment was a flop.  I ended up with smelly yarn the color of a dirty sheep.  If I can get the smell out, I'll over-dye with some other type of dye.  I did learn some things with my acid dye attempt.   I started with some Rambouillet Natural Roving from Certified Cute Etsy Store. I used acid dyes Oxblood, purple and alpine blue that Blogless Melody had left me from her silk scarf dyeing class.  I picked colors I liked and and envisioned them blending together.  Didn't happen.  Next time, I will dilute the colors more.  Also, just because I like certain colors, doesn't mean they will make a yarn I can knit something wearable with.  Perhaps I can make socks with this yarn.  Or perhaps I can over-dye it a bit.  Dunno yet.  I'm just happy the fiber did not felt in the process and it was a joy to spin.  Sistah Rita was in town and we had yummy ramen at Lucky Belly, the new trendy ramen place in Chnatown. The menu is small.  We had a lovely beet salad.  Instead of just piling the beets on the micro greens with the goat cheese, they layered the beets with the goat cheese and cut the layers into rectangles and sprinkled candied pumpkin and sesame seeds on top.  These were the bomb!  The staff was very friendly and attentive, too.  The ramen is quite nicely presented and very tasty.  No mabo tofu ramen on the menu for the Landcaster, though. We stopped at Daijingo Shrine, left a donation,  and picked up a traffic omamori.   Her son rolled his car and walked out with just a some stitches on his head.  He had one of these in his car.  With the traffic what it is here in Honolulu, only no. 2 behind LA, it can't hurt.  Every little bit helps a bubble brain. Blogless DiveDoctor had a birthday, so we took her to 3660 On the Rise.   The meal servings are huge, and we just had enough room to taste desert.  I hate when that happens.