happy vd!

yah! yah! yah! so i'm a day late and a dollar short! the story of my life!
but it was finished before and i took the pictures on valentine's day so that should count in my book!

 i got the idea for this hat when i was grocery shopping and saw a young gal with a similar cabled hat. i caught a glimpse of her several times throughout the store but the clincher was when i was in my car and she pushed her cart right past me so i got a good look! i thought 'i can do that!'. i could hardly contain myself until i could get home and get on it! her hat was a bright pink but with the holiday fast approaching i thought this wonderful tonal red in 'cherry splash' by brown sheep lanaloft worsted weight would be perfect!

and it is! i started with an inch edging of k2,p2 and then combined an eight stitch cable and a four stitch cable for the body with three purl stitches between each cable.

i finished the top with a ssk/k2tog, beginning in the middle of the four stitch cables which decreased the top by twelve stitches each round.

i stayed with the pattern throughout and ended with six stitches which i finished by threading a yarn through and finishing off on the inside. i used size 7 needles and cast on 108 stitches. when i knit it again, i think i will use a size 5 or 6 needle for the k2/p2 band at the beginning so it is just a tad tighter! all in all, i'm very happy with the results and it will be perfect for our next snowpocalypse which i hope is a long, long, long way off! 

deux!

here they are! the other two hats that i knit in january.

this little number is the sockhead hat by kelly mcclure which is a freebie on ravelry and uses one skein of sock yarn. i used blue moon fiber arts socks that rock in the colorway 'knitters without borders' which has been occupying my stash for way too long (i shudder to think of how many years!). love the slouchey look and the fact that it uses up an entire skein of sock yarn as i have declared 2014 the year of sock yarn reduction!

speaking of slouchey, here is the rikke hat by sarah young, who is the owner of happy knits in portland. it is completely knit in garter stitch in the round which actually involves knitting a row of knit stitches followed by a row of purl stitches. this wonderful madelinetosh aran yarn in the colorway 'vanilla bean' made it just perfect for the cold, snowy days we've had this week! brrrrrrrr!

hats off!

january - come and gone!
and, and, and
what do i have to show for it?
well, not much, i'm sorry to say - just a couple of hats!

and a couple more that i haven't photoed yet (i promise i'll get on that sooner than later!)

supposedly january is 'selfish knit' month with the holidaze finished and such, this is our (knitters in general) opportunity to knit for ourselves. since i don't seem to have a problem doing that most of the time, i decided that bustin' stash with some hats was the ticket for me!

the first pic is of a hat designed by erica jackofsky entitled: southmoor and is knit from blue moon fiber arts 'socks that rock heavyweight'. it is a delicious combo of green, brown and blue and i used size 3 and 5 needles for this adventure.

the second hat is designed by linda shelhamer and is entitled: xenocryst. this was knit on #6 needles out of cascade yarns '220 heathers'. along the way i got to try out a new cast-on and a new lace stitch - always a plus when you learn a new technique!

and stepping back in time just a tad, i'll share a couple of pictures of holidaze knitting.

i knit four scarves out of cascade yarns 'indulgence' with lots of cables and a keyhole opening for securing around ones neck.

four pairs of fingerless mitts, baby cable handwarmers by linda kirschner out of debbie bliss 'cashmerino aran'.

and a burnished leaves cowl by chrissy prange out of cascade yarns 'indulgence'.  looking back, i guess i do deserve a little break during january as i did do a lot of knitting in december! whew!