New Year's Resolutions

Firstly, I realize it's been a  very, very long time between updates. However, since I doubt anyone is reading this blog anyway, I guess I don't have to apologize. :)

I have been furiously busy! First, let me show you what 17 donated Chemo Caps (and one very curious kitty) looks like. I donated to Knots of Love. If you are interested in donating Chemo Caps, premie caps, or baby blankets, it is an amazing nation-wide site. Check it out. I think I will be taking a break from caps for awhile, since I have a few more giant projects lined up!







Here is my other newly-completed project, loosely based on the Ron Weasley Blanket. I've been knitting squares of left-over worsted and DK weight yarns for what feels like years, and finally realized I had enough for a VERY large blanket (big enough for a twin-sized bed, or a large cozy couch throw!). I cast on 30 stitches on size 8 needles, and cast off when it was square (they ended up being about 6 3/4" on each side). I am kind of in love with this blanket. It is super soft and cozy, big enough for me and my DH to snuggle under together on the couch. :)

Isn't this gorgeous!? 

I've also made some awesome progress on my Knitted Zig Zag Afghan.  It is almsot 50% done. Very soft and warm. I am in loved with Red Heart Soft yarns after this.

I calculated my number of stitched when I cast on to be approximately 90" wide. I thought it was going to be narrow, but it is almost 96" wide. Perfect for our queen-sized bed.

Updates on the Afghan

In addition to making a few chemo caps this week in-between repeats on the afghan, I also managed to make significant progress on this! Isn't it looking lovely? That's about 20 repeats of the pattern, measuring around a foot in length unstretched. Adorable. Maybe not quite as wide as I'd calculated (I think I'm about 75" instead of 90") but it looked so nice I couldn't bear unraveling it. VERY time consuming; about 45 min - 1 hour per repeat, depending on how interested I am in the TV program I have running at the time. :)

Strings & things

Well have I got a post of epic proportions for you! Let me start with this gem, one of the new Holiday 2013 Essie shades, "Parka Perfect." 

This lovely shade is a nice blue-green, when I was expecting more of a baby blue. It really reminds me of a slightly darker version of my beloved 'Turqoise and Caicos,' so of course I adore this one. There was a lot of shimmer in the bottle that didn't really translate to the nail, unfortunately. It DID wear like iron, with two coats, a base and a top and after a week it is barely worn. Really pretty shade, looks blue against a blue background and green against green. Will wear this lovely all year round. I also got the red glitter from this collection - can't wait to wear that one! :) 

Lovely Parka Perfect

This lovely yarn is from a sweater I tried to knit years ago. :) I found it wrapped around a Christmas decoration I had put away long long ago. It was two mis-shapen sleeves, and a too-short back panel. Yikes. Still, this yarn is gorgeous so my SO and I unraveled it and repurposed it into four LARGE yarn balls, which I am now using to make my roll-brim chemo caps. The colors are amazing. I can't remember what this yarn is called, but I think the color is called River Stones or something to that effect. Lovely muted tones.


Speaking of chemo caps, my little fingers took a short break for Thanksgiving but are now back at work! Here are a few of the striped lovelies I've constructed this week!

                   


This baby-blue darling is knitted from a BIG ball of my favorite baby yarn - literally, I could probably make 1,000 hats from this and still have some left over. But the color is adorable and it is so soft, I almost don't mind.

This lovely cap was made using a basic eyelet pattern in place of the stockinette stitch for the bottom. I started with about 10 rows of stockinette, then one repeat of a 16-row eyelet pattern, and then continued in basic roll-brim style. Voila!

These beauties are what I'm most excited about. I was home last weekend admiring my great-grandmother's afghan in the spare room, and I started thinking about how she'd made it for her bed all those years ago. Then I thought, why shouldn't I make a giant knitted afghan too?? Definitely the most ambitious project I have thus-far undertaken, at least in size. The pattern is really simple. I found a pattern on Ravelry, here, that is EXACTLY the same as my great-grandmother's afghan. So perfect. I picked out a few colors of Red Heart Soft and got some long circular needles. I really do like Red Heart for blankets, and it actually is pretty soft after washing. And economical. And the soft stuff was like 50% off at my local craft store. Score.

I'll let you know how it goes with the afghan. I plan to get started tonight as soon as I finish this hat! :)

Dior "Rouge Red 999"

So I normally don't buy into the "pay $28 for a nail polish" thing, but this little gem came as a part of a gift set from Nordstrom for a steal, with the matching lip stick, lip gloss, and lip balm! Of COURSE I had to get it! This is just the most perfect red. There is no hint of any other color it applies like a dream, a gorgeous red cream that is opaque in one coat but I used two just in case. I wore it for a week, and you can tell that it is actually growing out with no hint of wear. Only a few tips are minorly injured, a major feat when you use your hands as harshly as I do. Overall, this is a wonderful product. If they ever release another shade I just "have to have," the wonderful formula of this one has convinced me that is may be worth the price. This is a true red, no hint of any other color. Amazing. A++. 

The little gift case! Ignore the water marks... 

Roll-brim mania and spiral hats

So I was super inspired by a Spiral Hat by Darn. Knit. , and I just had to see if I could change it into a pattern for straight needles. It looked a lot like the Turkish Rib II (right slant) from my big book of stitches (see here for Amazon link). As this pattern is widely published on the internet, I don't feel bad about publishing my interpretation of this hat here! For an AMAZING video tutorial of this stitch, see New Stitch A Day.

For this hat I used Impeccable yarn in Folklore and Cherry.



Size 9 straight needles

Cast on 80
Work in K2, P2 rib for 6 rows
Knit 1 row
Work in following pattern until hat measures ~7 inches:
Row 1: P1, *p2tog, yo, repeat to last stitch, p1
Row 2: K1, *yo, k2tog, repeat to last stitch k1.

Repeat ad infinitum.

To decrease:
k2 tog for a row
purl a row
k2 tog
repeat, until 10 stitches remain. Cut an 18" tail, thread onto a big needle, and run it through the loops on the needles. Pull tight, sew down the seam being careful to keep the edges matched as the slant makes it tricky.

Enjoy!!

I've also been knitting my silly little hands off with the following roll-brim hats for my local Chemo Caps society - how adorable are these?!

This is just so bright and cheery! Love!! 

Baby foxes!

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, ALL of my girlfriends are pregnant. One of my very best friends is having a little boy, and the theme of the nursery (and baby's middle name!) is Fox! How stinkin' adorable. Anyway, I've been knitting up hats and blankets for him like a crazy person, and I came across this baby fox hat pattern. OMG. I can't event describe how cute. I needed to make this, stat! 

The front! 

I combined two different patterns, sort of. I started with size 8 needles and Red Heart Soft yarn in Black and Tangerine, and Impeccable yarn in Aran. I didn't even know Red Heart made super-soft yarn! I'm a big fan of Red Heart, mostly because it's cheap and when I screw things up I don't feel bad about tossing it, but for baby hats and chemo caps I really want something super duper soft, which traditional Red Heart is not. 

Anyway.

Size 8 needles

Cast on 56 stitches

Work in *K2,P2 for 6 rows, then stockinette until it reaches ~5 inches in length. Decrease as follows (and as written in the previous baby hat post):

1. *K6, k2tog, repeat

2. Purl

3. *K5, k2tog, repeat

4. Purl

5. *K4, k2tog, repeat

6. Purl

7. *K3, k2tog, repeat

8. Purl

9. *K2, k2tog, repeat

10. Purl

11. *K1, k2tog, repeat

12. Purl

13. *K1, k2tog, repeat

Cut a long (~18") tail, put a big needle on the end and slip it back through the stitches on your knitting needle, draw tight, sew down the seam, and you're done!

The back!

Now the fun part - the EARS! 

You have two options here. You can use this link for your ears, or this one. I used the second, which was sized-down by another Ravelry user for babies here -> Check THIS one out! I used his pattern exactly for the ears, so I won't repost the pattern here. But seriously, you should check it out. 

Modeled by a baby pumpkin :)

Foray into crochet!

Cute little yellow flower! 

So I am NOT a crochet-er by nature. I like knitting - nice straight lines (mostly), predictable rows. Crocheting is just so ... free. I think it was made for people more artsy than me. :) Regardless, it comes in really handy sometimes, like adding a border to a baby blanket - or adding a flower decoration to a new roll-brim hat! I'm really making like a hat a day at this point. So quick and so rewarding, and using up my stash so nicely!

Naked hat! Eek!

This was a basic roll-brim hat, see back a few posts for a pattern. This was actually made on size 8 needles as the yarn was a bit finer - Bernat Baby Coordinates. It may be a little hard to tell on the photo but it is this nice light gray with a strand of white. And it's super soft! 

For the flower, I used this tutorial from Scrapbooks and Cards Today. It is SUPER basic. I will probably branch out to more exotic flowers and things eventually, but for my level of crochet skill it was perfect. I highly recommend this site! It took maybe 15 minutes, start to finish. 

Ta-da!