... has begun!
I have made three hats so far (two pictured here - the third is less cute and pretty so I haven't taken a picture just yet). I knit basic 2/2 rib for an inch or so over 60 stitches, then plain stockinette (so knitting every row) alternating yarns in stripes (four rows of the light pink, then two rows white, then four rows dark pink, two white, etc.). I have knitted the flower I used to embelish the "girlie" hat for a few different things, the pattern is in the miscellaneous folder at www.knittingpatterncentral.com. I doubled up the yarn and just backstitched the anchor on the "boyish" hat (although to be fair, I have seen far more anchory anchors than this one... !)
They are tiny so would suit newborns to about 3 months. I'm going to build up a bit of a stock and then try to sell them at work, or maybe on ebay.
Knitting the baby hats made me think about hats in general. So I've cast on for one for me (like I need another hat). This one is a copy of a style of hat that's really in at the moment - ribbed at the bottom then a lace pattern for the body of the hat, which is knit too long so sits quite baggy on the back of the head when you're wearing it. I'm using a lace pattern from the Legendary Cath's sock patterns collection, knitting over 104 stitches in the round. I started off using a circular needle and found myself in all sorts of trouble, messing up the pattern and losing count and it was all just too traumatic, I've changed to DPNs and magically all the problems I was having have disappeared!
I knitted Easter friends :) I'm not sure why I always end up knitting for Easter (I don't have many young children in my family - at present!) but I do, and then find myself handing them out to adults who are always slightly baffled as to why I might have knit them a cute Easter egg cosy. These little guys are about 2 inches high, just big enough to house a Cadburys Creme or Kinder egg (being incredibly middle class and posh, I opted to fill mine with a Galaxy egg to appeal more to the adult palate...)
I have been knitting the chicken for about three years now. I found the pattern at www.knittingpatterncentral.com, and I was going to attach the specific link but I can't find it anywhere... and I'd better not write the pattern here in case I get into trouble!
The bunny, however, I did design myself - no doubt there are a dozen other similar patterns floating around the internet but this one is all mine!
You need:
3.5 mm straight needles
Small quantity white double knitting wool (Acrylic DK Nastiness TM will be fine for this)
Tiny amount pink DK
Tiny amount black DK
Method:
Body:
Cast on 26 stitches.
Rows 1 - 6: K1 P1 across row.
Rows 7 - 16: K across row.
Row 17: Ktog across row (13 stitches)
Rows 18 - 23: K across row.
Row 19: K2tog across row.
Cut yarn leaving a long tail and thread through remaining stitches, knot firmly on the wrong side.
Ears (Make 2):
Cast on 4 stitches.
Knit 9 rows.
Next row: K2tog across row.
Next row: Ktog across row.
Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitch.
Making up:
Sew down body on the wrong side. Sew ears to head (I weave the yarn which I pulled through the last stitch of the ear down the side of the ear, and then use it to stitch the ear to the head). Embroider nose using pink yarn, and embroider face with black. Simple!
Operation Baby Hat is going well - I have made three hats so far (two excellent ones and one reasonably good one - to be honest the yarn puts me more in mind of socks than hats, so I may knit socks from it next). I shall post the hats next time!
There has been knitting! Not a massive amount, but some. Got to keep my hand in....
So I knitted a scarf. Here is a very poor picture of it (I usually take pictures for the blog on my phone. I thought I'd try using an actual digital camera. The picture has come out blurry, and I am left feeling it wasn't really worth the effort...). The colour looks poor here, in reality it is a lovely lilac colour.
The pattern is from my favourite website - www.knittingpatterncentral.com - and I started knitting this so long ago (having written the two row pattern on a bit of paper) that I can't actually remember which pattern I used or what it was called. Anyway, it consists of some yarn overs, some psso's, and looks all a bit lacy (but not fine lacy, it's DK weight yarn). All in all it was a really quick knit, and it's really warm.
The socks I started knitting about a billion years ago are also nearing completion. I could not get motivated to cast on the second sock for about a month so progress on these has bee
n really slow - but when I finally picked up the needles I whizzed through the leg, turned the heel at the beginning of this week and you can see from this picture (again with the digital camera but this one has come out better) there isn't much left to do.
I knitted these for my dearly beloved husband. He got made captain of his cricket team! These socks are a simple 2x2 rib pattern and I've added a band at the top of each in his team colours (deep red and gold).
Since the heels are not reinforced I doubt they would last two minutes on an actual cricket pitch, but he's pleased with them anyway - I picture them more as a pair of "lounging around the house after a good match and a shower" type socks...
I bought some bedroom furniture, to solely house yarn. It came flat packed, so I put it together, positioned it where I wanted it, then put all my stash in it (organised into colour coded bags). Then I hopped about from foot to foot for a time squeaking. Having yarn specific furniture is a FABULOUS thing.
The stash re-organisation exercise however did make me realise that I have far too much crappy yarn. I subscribe to a knitting magazine (The Art of Knitting. 1 in 10 patterns is actually something you'd wear. But it is full of useful tips and ideas for patterns.) Each edition features a pattern for a square to make up an afghan, and comes with a ball of yarn. I can't be bothered with afghans made up of squares - I love them to look at, and I'd love to receive one, but for me the knitting is just too slow and dull. So I have all this leftover acrylic nonsense yarn to get rid off (I always seem to have acrylic horribleness. Why? I'm sure it's not my fault!). Once the socks are done and off the needles I'm intending to knock out some baby/child hats and sell them off to get rid of the acrylic nonsense.
Then I'm turning my attentions to my "Knitted Idols" book I got for Christmas. I want a Mr T!
