2ktog

This is my first crochet hat, or really anything wearable, "Spring in Winter" from Happy Hooker. I'm really happy with it! I want to make another in black and maybe one in red, for a more sophisticated look. It reminds me of something the girls at the getcrafty forums saw on girlshop years ago and wanted to make. That was WAY before I could crochet myself out of a paper bag, but I still tried and failed with some Lion Kitchen Cotton, when it was still called that. Now they changed the name to "Lion Cotton" as if we all don't know what it is.

Here's without the flower:

Flower?

A better view of the whole shabang:

Please ignore the balloons that are still up from my birthday party.

Yarn: Malabrigo (green and orange) pink: Cascade 220. Leave it to me to put the itchy stuff right around my forehead. I have reports from the bald man that the body of the hat feels good on. The pattern called for a bulky yarn and an I hook, I used heavy worsted and a G.

This took me a few hours total, not as fast as it could be, I'm sure, I'm still really slow at everything except single crochet.

Posted by Miz Boots Valentine at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered.
I'm doing this meme because of this question, I always think about promoting blogs on here that I love that don't seem to have a big readership.

• Jenna of PinkMonkey Knits is awesome! I think I discovered her because she made a Kyoto. She taught knitting to women in India. She's always got something good to say and knit.


• Illanna of Knitpowers to Peace is prolific and interesting and has great taste!


• One of my favorite knitters has her knitting blog on LJ as purlygurl. She's not a regular knitting blogger but her FOs are lovely and suit her so well. Another friend made through Kyoto, even if the sweater never gets worn. :)


• Then there's Freecia, who I secret-palled for all those moons ago. She has a great sense of design and style and is always up on the latest tech widgets.


• I'm also a HUGE fan of Flickr photos tagged with Knitting, especially for days when I just want to look at pictures. More and more bloggers are using flickr, and it's fun to see y'all show up there. :)

2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative.
Of course we are extremely lucky to live near Grumperina, who untangles yarn and knitting conundrums for me on a regular basis. Also Ms. Bestitched and Ms. Dilletante Debutante, both prolific and fun, and Loops, who wants you to think about your cents per yard!. These are all my knitting group pals, is that cheating?

3. An unusual or weird animal picture.
Stuff on my cat

4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers.
Let us not speak of MiMi's darkest hour.

5. An idea you wish you’d thought of.
Dominknitrix's Autumn Argyles. Brilliant!

6. Something you’d like to knit.
I love Mermaid but it doesn't come in big enough sizes and the pattern is only available with the kit, which I'm sure doesn't have enough yarn. :(

7. A picture of something you consider beautiful.
I love pictures of doors and windows, and laundry on clotheslines.

My flickr favorites. Feel free to add me as a contact.

8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person.
I've been online pals with The Other Betsy (tm) for years, and I think she's the rockingest. :) And anyone from question 1!

9. A blog of someone you have already met in person.
I've had the great fortune to meet Ms. Hello Yarn and marvel at her wool house. :)

Posted by Miz Boots Valentine at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

First the hawing:

Here are the "yarn" cupcakes I gave to my knitting class the last day. The cupcakes are store bought, because yes, I'm like that, but the "yarn" is Twizzlers Pull and Peel rolled up into balls. I thought it was pretty clever, but none of the kids or other teachers seemed to get it? I think they looked too much like cherries. Over all, my experience teaching knitting was a good one. I think we made about five bunnies and a hamster. Unfortunately, the last one was the only one I got photos of:

Thanks for all the comment on the last entry about the flower girl basket for my friend's wedding. I think I've decided on a white basket with green squares that I will accent with red ribbons. The wedding is May 19, so I should start soon. Of course, May 1 is sockapaloooza deadline...and then there are those fishing gloves for my dad in June.

Speaking of socks, though,

I actually knit this entire sock while away for the weekend and ripped it out. I decided I didn't like the square heel and the instep was too big. I did like the double decrease toe from Folk Socks, and I'll probably use that again. This is going slowly for frickin' ankle socks.

New project: the Hourglass Sweater from Last MInute Knitted Gifts in Cascade Pima Tencel in a color that Knitpicks calls Rhubarb. (Mmm, rhubarb). It doesn't photograph well, nor do I feel that a picture of stockinette in the round is really warranted, but here it is all the same. I started this last Thursday in the biggest size. My swatch once agian lied and I ended up with a 56" monster. I restarted on Saturday and now I'm making the 45" size, which should be about 5" of negative ease, give or take given gauge adjustments. I'm thinking about making it with 3/4 sleeves, and I really want black accents of some kind on it. I like the hemmed look, although I picked up the stitches several rows after the purl ridge and it ended up slanting a bit in the direction of the stitches around the needle. I usually can't use Denises in this small of a size, but the 6s are working okay, the yarn is slick.

Posted by Miz Boots Valentine at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Nantasket Felted Basket

This is what I'm knitting for my friend's wedding in May! A basket for rose petals for the flower girl! I'm psyched.

Her dress is ivory. The bridesmaid's dresses are deep, deep red, almost black. They match the roses. The other flowers are white orchids with a lime green stripe and lime green bachelor buttons. So I'm going to make the basket in some combination of lime green, off white, and deep red. I am thinking I will choose two colors and use the third as an accent with satin ribbons. Let me know what you like best as a concept. These are not the exact colors, obviously.

I promise the colors will look good together. And the bow(s) will be smaller. I'm worried about the off white yarn felting. I've heard that it doesn't work so well, although I've sucessfully felted dyed Lion Brand fisherman's wool, but that is a very dirty natural color, I'd like something lighter. I'm thinking Knitpicks or Cascade 220.

Posted by Miz Boots Valentine at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)