Forget the Knitting Needles and Give Me a Camera!

I was contacted through the photo-sharing website Flickr by a British writer requesting to use a knitting picture of mine for an article in an upcoming issue of Motoring and Leisure magazine. She sent me a copy of the issue (which has cute penguins on the cover!). A picture I shot is in a magazine! Eek, I'm excited! It is included in a article about getting tickets to various events (a mommy/baby show, bike show, motoring show, etc.) and in specific about a craft fair.

Here is the picture:

My two skeins of Manos del Uruguay "Wildflowers" against my former hardwood floors.

I've always been interested in photography (interested in others' works), so I've been trying to learn the basics and improve my picture quality. Now I've been published! Granted, I've been published by a magazine that I had not heard of previously (and quite possibly is a free publication - not that there's anything wrong with that), and I received no money whatsoever, but I'm happy that a picture of mine was "good enough" to publish in a magazine - woohoo!

Keeping Boyfriend's Ears Warm Since 2006

I knit a simple stockinette cap for my boyfriend last winter. He wore it frequently, especially when shoveling snow; however, I knew I could create a better-looking, better-fitting hat for him. This past Christmas, I included two skeins of Mission Falls 1824 wool in his stocking, and I told him that I'd knit him any type of hat he preferred, and he asked for a ribbed cap.

I present to you the Boyfriend Hat:


Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool, 100% merino superwash, 2 skeins (with about a fifth of a skein leftover), color 004 - a beautiful charcoal grey
Needles: US size 8 (5mm) sixteen-inch circulars and dpns
Pattern: My own, see below
Design/knit time: January 5-12, 2007, which included ripping and re-knitting the crown a couple times

I'm proud of my hat. I love the ribs and the decreases. I also love this yarn. It's yummy - super soft and spongey. Best of all, my boyfriend likes it (yay!).

My pattern is very basic, but I think the decreases are alluring, so here's my pattern to share....

The Boyfriend Hat

Copyright 2007:
This pattern is designed and owned by me. Feel free to use the pattern for personal use, but please do not distribute this. Please send others the link to this site if you want to share the pattern. Thank you!



Sizing:
This pattern should fit a typical male head of 23.5" circumference. The rib pattern is stretchy, so it should fit slightly wider or smaller heads, or you could decrease/increase the number of stitches cast on in multiples of 10 and still follow the pattern. Note that this finished hat should only cover the tops of ears. If you want a hat to fully cover the ears, knit an extra inch or more before starting the decreases.

Pattern:
With 5mm sixteen-inch circulars or dpns, CO 100 stitches. (I used the cable cast-on.) Join to knit in the round and mark beginning of round.

Row 1 (and every row): *K3, P2; repeat from * until end of round
Repeat this row until the hat measures 5.5" tall.


Decreases:

Row 1: *K3, P2, K2tog, K1, P2; repeat from * until end of row (90 sts remain <-- if you had CO 100 sts) Row 2: *K3, P2, K2tog, P2; repeat from * until end of row (80 sts remain) Row 3: *K3, P2, P2tog, P1; repeat from * until end of row (70 sts remain) Row 4: *K3, P2, P2tog; repeat from * until end of row (60 sts remain) Row 5: *K3, P1, P2tog; repeat from * until end of row (50 sts remain)

You have now decreases every other rib out of the ribbing pattern. (If you are using a sixteen-inch circular needle, remember that you will need to switch to double-pointed needles when you cannot fit the stitches on your needle any longer.)

Row 6: *K2tog, K1, P2; repeat from * until end of row (40 sts remain)

Row 7: *K2tog, P2; repeat from * until end of row (30 sts remain)

Row 8: * K2tog, P1; repeat from * until end of row (20 sts remain)

Row 9: *K2tog; repeat from * until end of row (10 sts remain)

Row 10: *K2tog; repeat from * until end of row (5 sts remain)

Cut yarn, weave through remaining 5 stitches to close hole at top, and weave in the ends. You now have a ribbed hat perfect for your very own boyfriend (or husband... or friend... or relative... or yourself).

This pattern on Ravelry: here.

Catching Up

Oh, the knitterly things I have to show from last year!

Here's my friend opening the dishcloth set at her wedding shower:


Here's a Christmas present for me from a fellow knitter:


That's a Lantern Moon basket and needle case. For a year, I've been talking about buying a lined basket to hold my works in progress, so my friend stepped in and bought one for me.

And here's my final finished objects from 2006...


...which are two dishcloths I knit for the Winter Wonderland Swap. Both dishcloths are slip-stitch patterns. The dishcloth on the left is the Mason-Dixon Knitting "warshrag," and the cloth in the right was inspired by this site:

My dishcloth slip-stitch pattern:
Cast on an odd number of stitches.
Rows 1 and 2 (1st color): Knit all stitches
Rows 3 (2nd color): *K1, slip 1 purlwise; repeat from * across the row
Row 4 (2nd color): *K1, yarn forward, slip 1 purlwise, yarn back; repeat from * across the row
Repeat these four rows for as long as you want.


With the unseasonably warm weather earlier this winter, I fretted that my winter accessories would remain in the closet for another year.


I'm wearing short sleeves! In New England! In January! Hello, global warming! This picture was shot at Moore State Park, a lovely park in Paxton, MA, with a lake and small water falls, an old mill, fields, short hiking trails in the woods, and plenty of knitting spots.

When I took a trip up north to New Hampshire, I finally needed a winter hat, so I knit myself a new one in just a few hours while vacationing next to a snow-covered mountain and watching reruns of Top Chef:


Pattern: My own. A stockinette-stitch hat with 2x2 ribbing at the base.
Needles: US size 6 (4mm) and 8 (5mm) sixteen-inch circulars and 5mm dpns
Yarn: Lion Brand (Felting) Wool
Knit time: Roughly 3 hours per hat

I think Lion Brand Wool is just fine - slightly scratchy, slightly fuzzy, and not too splitty - good enough for a wool hat. However, the Knitpicks Wool of the Andes is very similar, wears better, and costs less - though Lion Brand does offer different colors like a blue-purple, teal, and dark pink.


The teal blue hat is for a friend. I knit her a scarf for Christmas, but I haven't given it to her yet, so I'm going to include the hat with her belated Christmas gift:


You might have noticed that hardwood floors are no longer the backdrop in my knitting pictures. I've moved, and my new place has carpeting. I will miss those hardwood floors, especially for their photogenic appeal. I also will miss the beautiful sun and sky pictures from my old apartment.

January 11, 2007: Sky at 2pm

February 2007

I will not miss my former upstairs neighbors.