Hats Off

Timing, they say, is everything. As I began thinking over what I wanted write about, now that I'm back at it, I started creating mini lists in my head. Projects made with the same yarns, patterns by the same designer, projects with similar themes...

I decided this first post would be about hats. And as I started loading in the pictures I noted that all the hats I had recently made, was in the middle of making or planned to make (with one single exception) were all designed by either Jared Flood or Ysolda Teague. And as I was preparing to grab the URL for planned hats, I went over to b r o o k l y n t w e e d and read this amazing new post. So before I even get to what I've been doing you MUST pop over and read about Jared's first book!

So now, hats. What I've done, what I'm doing, what I plan to do. You know I knit up Habitat back in June. My cousin and I have still to meet up but with the outrageous heat of summer I know he's not missing his present too much. Of course this means I haven't had a proper photo shoot of it yet. The shots I took before really did nothing for me (nor anyone else apparently) so I took a little self portrait in the bathroom earlier. Not the most flattering of shots, but better than what I had going.
Habitat by Jared Flood


Why bring this up again? At the time, you may remember, I had to run out and buy a second ball of Classic Elite's Portland Tweed to get this hat finished up. It seemed a little ridiculous to have 3/4 of a ball left over. What would I do with that. So I bought another ball of course. But with a purpose. My dad's birthday is coming up and I will be seeing him when I go home NEXT WEEK! He bought a cabin a while ago up near the Tahoe area and I thought a hat might come in very handy next winter. Whilst rummaging through Ravelry looking for pattern ideas I realized the best choice was probably something I'd already made. By Jared Flood, of course. The famous Koolhaas comes to life once more. Now I only cast on Saturday night. And though, when properly motivated, to get a hat done I can finish it up in a day, since I don't fly out until next Thursday, and as much as love the look, it is a bit difficulty to muster the same excitement on any project the second time round. So for now, Koolhaas is relegated to car and lunch break knitting. If it's not done by the end of the weekend, I'll step it up. I have other plans for plane knitting.

Koolhaas by Jared Flood


In addition to these two hats, I plan on making Relm, Porom and that amazing slouchy purple hat in the new book. And in non hat news, I'm dreaming about starting a Girasole, blanket version. But not until it cools off considerably!

Tomorrow we'll look at what's been going on with the girlier hats by Ysolda Teague.

Tweed. Brooklyn Style.

Remember back a couple of weeks back, when I picked up some of this wonderful Portland Tweed (Classic Elite)?

and knew, as soon as I saw it, that it was destined to become Habitat (Rav linky)? Well here it is, in all its glory:

(true color is in the ball above and pattern closeup below)

Habitat by Jared Flood
yarn: Classic Elite Portland Tweed
fiber: 50% Virgin Wool, 25% Alpaca, 25% Viscose
color way: 5013 (charcoal gray)
needles: KP Options (16"), 4.5 mm & 5.0 mm
CO Sat night, 6/27
BO Sun night, 6/28I love all this cable goodness!

And my cousin has promised to model this just as soon as it gets to him. And its cool enough to warrant having it on his head for more than 10 seconds!

The thing is, I have almost a whole ball left over. Too little to make a hat with, but too much to let it just sit. So I'm investing in two more balls which will enough to make two more hats, one for me and one another super sekret project. (Oh how we justify these things.) I thought about making another Habitat, but really?!? Two hats, completely identical, when there are so many other possibilities? So I'm using my Tweed, Brooklyn style. Of course you'll have to wait a bit to find about the super sekret project, but the second hat will be for me. Relm (Rav linky) also by Jared Flood. (If you are a registered Ravelry user make sure you see the pattern there. The pictures are so much better!)

Unexpected Absences

Well I certainly didn't intend to disappear last week! Sunday had been a very busy day. Visiting both The Stockinette Knitting Cafe in Jersey City and Knitting Nation in Nyack in one afternoon! Try as I might to spend not a penny, I did manage to reign myself in enough to purchase only for intended gifts. Mostly.

But wait, there's more. I managed to get home in time to freshen myself up and head into the City for my cousin's birthday dinner. There I joined not only he, his wife and kids, but also his parents and brother, visiting from England. It was a wonderful family get together, though it did POUR on me all the way from E 49th back to Port Authority bus station (about a 20 minute walk). The whole thing (especially the weather) left me a bit weak. I suppose it wasn't surprising that I woke up the next morning to a killer migraine and remained in bed the better of that day and the next. By the time I got myself back to a normal schedule I just couldn't get it together to write. Of course I did find time to knit with some of my new found stashiness.

First the Dream in Color Classy I picked up at Knitting Nation. This was bought with purpose. To make Kirsten Kapur's new baby vest design Pembroke (Rav linky) for the Wigged One's Wee Little Wiggins.

This knit up nicely in two days and I am very happy with the result!

back

front

cable detail

v-neck closeup

I even managed to find the perfect buttons!

Now we just have to wait for Wee Little Wiggins to be a wee bit larger so he can properly model this for us. He should be a natural, his mama was a great model back in the day!

I also managed to pick up this great Portland Tweed from Classic Elite at the The Stockinette. What could be better than a classic tweed for a Jared Flood pattern?


This (and about 1/4 of another) transformed itself into Habitat (Rav linky) in just over 24 hours. My birthday present to my cousin. Of course it's been blocking since this morning so I'll photograph it when it's dry.

And lest anyone be wondering about other projects, I did indeed finish the Endpaper Mitts. The second one was knit quite a bit more loosely. I had to reblock the living daylights out of the first mitt so they would be the same size.

This pattern proved to be my own personal knitting nemesis. I am so NOT knitting these again. I hope they fit The Cheerleader well enough, and if they don't, well I just don't want to know. She'll just have to love her hat, when I make it.