Works in Progress III

#7 -- Blue Corners

(I really don't have an idea for a name yet.) I think the blocks are 8.25" and they were really fun to work on.













#8 -- Prayer Shawl (28.5" x 69")
I am working on sewing the ends in. It will be finished this evening, as I want to deliver it.




Update
#4 Disappearing Hour Glass
The top is completed, unless I decide to add a border. I am going to give myself a few days to think about it.

Another Year, More Hats

Hats & Caps for People

I am going to knit hats again this year.
Last year I knit a few but I did not make a big donation drop off. This year I am going to make a production of it. I will aim to knit another 52 hats -- one a week -- more or less. What with the hats I already have or which are partially or mostly finished I aim to donate 100 hats to Vina Moses December 1, 2014. When I turn the hats in, I will donate the remaining machine washable acrylic yarn to Goodwill.

So far it appears that I am alternating knitting a hat top to bottom and then the reverse. I really prefer knitting top down, but I assume I will continue to knit some one way and some the other. It's a good way to keep the projects interesting.

#1

In progress -- sitting on a quilt being quilted.



And here it is finished

#2 & #3

Both of them in the early stages (I am almost done with #3 -- just the ends to sew in)



#2 Finished
































So far so good.

Two Hats

Here are two more hats based on the Grow With Me Baby Hat I found at Hither Yarn blog. Or at least I hope by the time I get around to publishing this post I will have two photos. These dang blasted hats are not easy to photograph -- I swear they are harder to photograph than the admittedly terrified mice my cat releases into the bathroom -- even hiding behind the toilet and sitting on the pipes, they are easier to photograph and capture than these hats -- maybe it is just practice and eventually photographing hats will be as easy as knitting them.

Knit with acrylic and bamboo

Knit with a lilac heather acrylic I bought years ago

Taken almost from above

From a bit more to the side

I really like the way this hat decreases in 6 sections -- the cute little star shape that forms at the top, but then I like the hats that increase or decrease in eight segments too.

One Hat

Finally a hat post.

I have been making progress on my 52 Hats Project, but unfortunately I have not been finishing the blasted little things and even less have I been successfully photographing them. I think I am more or less on target, except for the finishing touches. I just cannot seem to get around to making the pompoms or knitting the flowers -- actually I am quite keen to try knitting the flowers, but I did not find appropriate yarn.


This hat is based on the Grow With Me Baby Hat by Hither and Yarn



This version, probably sized to fit a six month old, was knit in an acrylic bamboo blend by Caron. I knit this with the left overs from a scarf I knit for my aunt. The yarn is quite soft and pleasant to knit with and I have a couple of balls in other colours, so I will undoubtedly use more of it for baby hats.

Coasters

Honestly I haven't been doing much creating in the last month or so and hardly any quilting. I am beginning to feel a bit depressed and stressed about my lack of progress. It is a bit of a chicken and egg problem, I am not really sure which came first, the stress or the depression. What I do know, is that I have got to get back to work.

In my defense, I have been doing a fair bit of tutoring and somehow when I get home I am just not up to much. Further in my defense, I have several quilts worked to the point that they need borders, a stage which seems to require immense quantities of thought and mental dexterity. I've laid the quilts out on all kinds of fabric, but I am not yet, quite ready to cut. I promise I will get on with it.

In the mean time, I clearly have not met my minimum goal of one blog post a week, but I am getting close to being up to date on my one hat a week, or 52 hats in the year, knitting project. Knitting hats, children's or otherwise is the prefect project when you don't have the mental energy to do much thinking. I will take a few photos later in the week so I can post some evidence of my progress.



What I have completed are these four coasters. I made them from partial bits of blocks, which turned out to be unnecessary for use in a wall quilt I finished months ago. A friend bought the quilt, and I think I will go ahead and ship these coasters off to her -- doesn't every body need coasters to match their wall quilts?

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so I am a little late with my resolution, but the idea for my first resolution only just came to me last week.

I am teaching a knitting class this term, and in preparation I went to the public library and checked out a couple of knitting books, one of which was Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron. In the process of working on one of the patterns, so that I could help a student, it came to me -- I could and should knit 52 hats this year, basically one a week except that I am starting a bit late so I will really need to get my skates on. I have a simple go to hat pattern, which is infinitely variable, and which knits up quickly and almost always produces a satisfying result, but I think I will use this resolution as an excuse to do a little stretching. I plan to make a bunch of new hats.

This book has several very cute patterns, which I plan to make for kids rather than for adults. I have one hat knit -- except for the pompom and another hat well on the way. I think it is a bit small, so I have a wonderful excuse to make it again, in a slightly larger size. Plus I am not completely satisfied with the cast on and crown, so I may want to make a few more variations.

And since this whole hat project involves what is essentially a weekly task it occurred to me that I should also commit to at least one post a week. I can do this! I will prove it to you.

The New Green Shawl

A couple of days ago when my cold had really gotten me down and I was absolutely not up to making quilting decisions -- decisions which seem to take oodles of brain power, I began a new shawl. (I am knitting it as participation in a group making them to donate to those in need.) I started a new one although, my previous shawl, which I have been working on practically forever, is still not finished. It still has lots of ends to sew in, which is incredibly annoying as I bought one of those pound balls of yarn specifically so I would not have to sew in ends. Despite all the ends I was going to buy another ball of the stuff, when I came upon a steal of a deal. I got 7 balls of Lion brand olive green wool ease yarn for something like 6 dollars. So far I am enjoying knitting with this yarn -- which has at least a little bit wool content.



I am a little uncertain about how wide a shawl should be. This one is about 18 inches wide with the ribs collapsed and about 20.5 inches wide as shown in the photograph. Although I am uncertain how wide it should be, since I've already started this thing three times, this is how wide this one is going to remain. I think it will work.



The stitch, Vertical Drop Stitch, is basically a 2x2 rib, except that every 6 rows in every other rib on one side you make an extra stitch in the middle and on the other rib you drop a stitch. At some point I will need to spend a little time making sure all the dropped stitches have really dropped -- unless I just plan on tossing it in the washer when it is done -- that should do the trick

Winding it Up

I have been working on a project made from fine, lace weight yarn that came in hanks. Winding the hanks into balls was a slow and laborious process. Luckily, I had no trouble with the yarn being tangled, and I had a plastic bin that kept the yarn neat, while winding, but with 400 years per hank it was a slow process. After winding 2 balls with that method I changed rooms and bumped into my swiveling computer chair, draped with a fleece coat -- I was hit with the proverbial lightning bolt. The chair would be perfect for holding a hank. Without the coat the chair would be too small, but with the coat it is perfect. I bunched up the arms of the coat a little so that they hold the yarn and of course the yarn kind of clings to the fleece.

Winding the balls of yarn is still slow, but the process is much quicker because I do not need to unwind the yarn and navigate the corners of the bin, I can just gently push the chair so it spins and the yarn unwinds -- my own multi-use knitting knotty.

Sammy in My Knitting

This is where there can be real trouble because although he virtually ignores the yarn even when it is moving, he does have a penchant for chewing on knitting needles and since I love bamboo and wooden needles he can wreak real damage.