head games!

                                                    Head games, in the first degree 
                                                    Head games, yeah, always you and me 
                                                    Head games, why do you do it baby? 
                                                    Head games

well, not the type of head games that foreigner sang about! more along the line of hats, and the desire for a good warm one when fall weather puts a chill in the air!

here are a few:

at the end of september, i took a class in felted hats at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (offf). our wonderful instructor, carin engen, led us through the process from beginning to end and this was the end product from that experience! kewl, eh? i think so!

after class, i picked up some merino fiber while shopping in the vendor areas and repeated the process about a week later just to see if i could do it my self and, voila, i think i've got another winner!!

i may have shared this little number in an earlier post but in case i didn't i'll run it by you again. i picked up this roving at the black sheep gathering in late june in eugene, oregon. it is from blarney yarn in the colorway "sour apple II". i used my drop spindle to spin it during the 'tour de fleece' in july. the pattern is "urchin" by ysolda teague. the pattern is at knitty.com. 

 this hat is from the purl soho website and is called the "thank you hat". i had just enough malabrigo rios, leftover from a shawl i knit earlier this summer, to complete it! whew!

this hat pattern is "wurm" a freebee on ravelry that has been on my hit list for a long time! the yarn is twisted from blue moon fiber arts in the colorway: sea scum, sea scum run. this yarn has tried to have a life in several other projects but this, at long last, is where it finally has found a home!

when this pattern, designed by franklin habit, showed up in the deep fall issue of knitty, i knew it needed to hit my needles and sooner than later so here 'tis! it is called 'uhlan' and will be perfect to keep my hubby's head warm as he marches through the brush chasing bambi! (run, bambi, run!)

think i'll take a break from hats for a moment and pound out a few cowls and such! i've got some new yarn from miss babs that really wants to get needled!

oh, by the way, 10/22/2012 - finished! 'nuff said! go beavs!

socktober rocks!

 this is it! the month for socks and i've got a great pair on my needles! well, actually only one since i have miraculously finished the first one this early in the month. my problem now is getting back on the horse to finish the second one, the so-called second sock syndrome!! the orange and black colorway of this yarn is not in honor of halloween but in tribute to my beloved beavers!! the yarn is ebullient by Frog Creek Fibers in the colorway: Go Beavs!. this sock is a combo affair with the leg in the 'tidal wave' pattern; the heel in cat bordhi's 'sweet tomato heel', and the toe is finished in a 'star toe' pattern. this is the first time i've tried the 'sweet tomato heel' and i'm anxious to see how it 'feels' when i wear the socks. it wasn't a terribly difficult heel to knit but it did seem to take longer than other heels.

remember that sweet little hat pattern that i posted several weeks ago? well, here it is on it's rightful owner - trew henry cross! we welcomed 'hank' to our world on monday, october 15 at 12:33 pm. isn't he a cutie? and isn't he handsome in his hat? judging by the smile on his face,  i think he likes it!

it took 'hank' awhile to decide that it was o.k. to come out and play so with time on my hands, i knit this hat for him! i used leftovers in rowan felted tweed yarn, a wonderful wool yarn.  i did a basic fair-isle checkerboard alternating colors in the body and topped it off with a pompom! i hope it will keep 'hank' warm during the cold winter months ahead!

the long and short of it...

is...i'm late! nuthin' new for me as it seems to be my usual mode of operende! time just seems to slip, slide away.

anyhoo, speaking of long and short, here are my socks from the past three months.

july:
pattern: bmfa - "summer of love lace socks" designed by jc briar.
yarn: regia bamboo - 45% bamboo, 40% wool, 15% polyamid

a soft and comfy (thanks to the bamboo) pair of anklets with a fold down top - perfect for a chilly summer morning or evening! these little cuties were knit from the top down starting with the lace border.

 august:
"a manly sock" - a plain vanilla, top-down number with a knit2,purl2 rib. 
a subtle, nondescript sock, perfect for a guy that isn't into anything flashy but wants a sock that feels good on his feet - these are 'the bomb'!
the yarn for these has been in my stash for way too many years! it is brown sheep 'wildfoote' luxury sock yarn (75% washable wool/25% nylon) in the colorway: tom cat. perfect for cattin' around!!

september:
a plain vanilla toe-up sock that just goes up and up and up! i used my favorite gusset heel that i can now knit from memory - thank you very much!! 
i'm really getting tired of small wads of left-over yarn from socks with normal leg heights of six inches, so i threw caution to the wind and decided to knit the entire skein to see what i'd end up with. and...there you have it!! almost knee high but not by the 4th of july!
one small caveat...skeins sometimes don't have exactly the same yardage! surprise! surprise! fortunately, by chance i picked the smaller skein for my first sock instead of vice versa as i had about 5 yards of yarn left over once my second sock matched the end of sock one! i wouldn't have been a happy camper had things gone the other way!
yarn: marks & kattens clown; 45% bomull (cotton), 40% superwash ull (wool), 15% nylon

so...what to do with those extra sock leftovers? well, knit a hat, of course, and make it a small one!!

here's another one for a new baby knit out of fingering weight leftovers from a sock i knit earlier this year. 
this is how i did it:
cast on 90 stitches on size one (2.50mm) needles, place marker and join to knit in the round.
purl 4 rounds, knit 3 rounds; repeat and then purl 4 more rounds. change to stockinette stitch (which is actually just knitting when you are working in the round! a kewl deal!) and knit all rounds until piece measures 3 1/2 to 4 inches from beginning.
begin the top of the hat as follows:
knit 13 stitches, k2tog, pm; repeat 5 times to end of row.
knit 1 round.
next row: knit to 2 stitches before marker, k2tog, slip marker; repeat to end of round.
knit 1 round. 
repeat these two rows until there are 3 stitches. with these 3 stiches knit i-cord for approx. 3 inches (enough length to tie a knot in end), cut a yarn tail approx. 6 inches. thread yarn on a yarn needle and pass through stitches and pull tightly. thread yarn down through i-cord for a couple inches. tie i-cord in an overhand knot.

voila! a toasty cover for a new little head! oh, happy day!