Christmas Hats

Hi!

Sorry it's been soooooo long. But I've been on vacation. Okay, okay. I know that's no excuse, but really I haven't been at a computer almost at all in the last week. I've been playing with my niece&nephew, playing games, cooking, baking, making snowmen, doing puzzles...

AND I've been doing lots of knitting! Yay.

Unfortunately, almost everything I've made has been gifted and the people took them before I even got a chance to take a picture. Boo.

Fortunately, that has to mean that everyone liked their stuff. Right...?

So this year for Christmas, everyone in my family got a homemade toque (Americans: toque = beanie). These are the ones that I gave them. My brother in law got one of the ones that I made just in the nick of time!

It's called the Jacques Cousteau hat. And I like it a lot. The pattern took longer than I thought it should... It also took a lot more yarn than I thought it would... but what can you do? It's long so it will be warm, and because of the ribbing it's nice and stretchy.

Only, I totally messed up the pattern. It said to use 120 or 140 stitches! That is WAY too many in my opinion, so I cast on 110. That worked for the ribbing pattern... but when it came time to decrease, I was sort of in a bind. I had to do it so that the decrease panels are different sizes. Luckily, I don't think you can tell. :) (To make it all work out, I should have cast on 100. That would have for sure still been big enough.)

And I think my BIL liked it, so that's all you can ask for.

Hope y'all have had as great a Christmas as I've had. More finished projects to come soon. I promise.

Failure

The verdict is in: I am giving up on amigurami. Officially giving up on trying to make armigurami. (The little crocheted animal toys.) I've tried before and failed WAY before the steps where you get to put the toy together. This time, I made all of the pieces okay, but for some reason the result is a complete failure.

Is this not the scariest penguin you ever did see?

Maybe it's cause I use beads for the eyes. I tried to find the eye beads at Michael's yesterday, but no luck. Whatever it is that makes this penguin look freaky rather than cute, I don't think I can give it to my nephew for Christmas. Mr. Scary Penguin would be a cruel thing to give to a 3 year old.

But I don't like to leave on a sour note, so here is something else I whipped up. A head band. I didn't have a lot of yarn left over after I made a had out of that ball, so I used the base repeat from this pattern and stopped when I ran out of yarn.

I'm okay pleased with this ear warmer. It's not gorgeous, but I think it's wearable.

Hopefully I'll have a success before the end of the year.

Bella

This hat is weirdly pointy. Why...? I'm not quite sure. But at least I'm not the only one. A lot of the reviews of this pattern say that it turns out pointy. (Too bad I didn't read them *before* I made the hat!)
I made this out of the leftover yarn from the cabley mittens I made. I thought there would be enough yarn for the full hat, but crocheting always takes up more yarn than you think. But the stripe in the hat looks okay to me!
Now I just have to finish all those other projects... I really have to stop procrastinating!

What's it?

What's it?

Yup. That's all I have for you today - this mess of crocheted things. Really. It will turn into something eventually. Hopefully it will be something soon. Something cute even! I actually only have one more part to crochet, so hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll finally have another finished project to show off.
I'm still plugging away at other projects that will hopefully they will all get done in time! And then I'll be able to show them off too.

(Wow. I just wrote "hopefully" 3 times. I guess it is Christmas... the season of hope. ?)

Topographical

It's December! Can you believe it!?! It's time to count down until Christmas!! And the BIG knitted gift giving of 2009. Oh what a glorious day that will be. I hope there is snow so my family will have no choice but to wear what I made them! Oh the fabulous things I've been making...
Only... I've been struck with ADHD again. Yup. Look at this:


This hat is so not something on my list of gifts for Christmas 2009. Nope. Not on there. But I made it anyways!
I just haven't been able to concentrate on finishing a project recently. Nothing new, but this time around I'm blaming it on nanowrimo. How that? you ask. Well, I was so focused and dedicated to finishing that task, that it used up all of my concentration. Now that I no longer need to focus (because November is over and I won! Yay!!) on anything. I can't stay on task.
So I made this hat.

Not the mittens of the sweater I should be working on. They're boring. And half done. So hat it is! I had the yarn and it was perfect for the pattern. Why not make it?

Luckily, it was a super fast knit. Super easy to make. The yarn does all the work! You get a yarn with two colours and then just purl the stitches of the opposite colour to make the little ridges. (Hence the name!)
I thought it turned out really well. I like that I made it slouchy and for the first time it sort of worked. All the other times I've tried it, the results have been only so-so. But this time, with this hat it worked! It's totally simple, yet it looks pretty cool (imho).

So, although I wasn't planning on it, I have another hat to give away at Christmas. Cause really... I have more toques (beanies... whatever.) than I know what to do with. But don't think that's going to stop me from knitting them. Not a chance! Not a chance in the world. In fact, I bet you'll see another one before the end of 2009. (Pretty safe bet to make since it's about me and knitting.)

Happy (American) Thanksgiving

Happy (American) Thanksgiving y'all.

(As I've been constantly reminded by one of my bffs, it is AMERICAN Thanksgiving. Not my thanksgiving. Canadians celebrate in October.)

Thought you might like to see the pie I made this morning. Caramel Apple Walnut pie.

Um.... yeah... it does look so sweet that it could kill someone! It just might. I had NO idea there would be a whole caramel layer on the top. I thought it was going to be a drizzle not a full on layer.

Well, I hope my friend (recipient of the pink hat) & her family like it!

Chow-zers!

Wowzers! Isn't this a cute bag?
I'm pretty proud of it. Mostly because I came up with the design all on my own. Really. I did. It's fun to just sort of knit on the fly. Well, it's fun to knit on the fly when it works out. Like this time! I'm quite happy with the results.
I made this bag as a gift for a very cool girl...

If you can't figure out who this bag is for.... then you've got problems. Big problems. You're probably illiterate. Which means, you probably aren't reading this.... Soo.... moving on.

Anyways, here are the instructions for what I did. My first pattern? Kinda? They are more like notes on what I did. And there's probably mistakes in it, so follow at your own risk...

Little Brown Bag: (How's that for a pattern title?)

Yarn: Vanna's Choice Solids

Needles: US9
Gage:17 stitches / 4 inches

Directions:
Using the provisional cast on method, cast on 9 stitches.

R1: s1, k to end
R2: s1, p to end
R3: s1, k to end
R4: s1, p to end
R5: s1, p to end
R6: s1, k to end
R7: s1, p to end
R8: s1, k to end
R9: s1, k to end
R10: s1, p to end
R11: s1, k to end
R12: s1, p to end
Repeat rows 5-12, 10 times
Pick up 42 sts along both sides and the 9 provisional cast on sts. (102sts total)

Working on the round:
(I used A LOT of DPN for this. For some reason I have 2 sets of size 9's, and I used all 8 needles to work on this. It's awkward at the start, but it gets easier as the bag gets bigger and I eventually moved to a circular needle. If it helps, you can also place markers to mark the front, back and side panels.)

R1: p1, K40, p1, K9, p1, K40, p1, k9
R2: p1, K40, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1, p1, K40, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1

Repeat Rows 1 & 2 until the bag measures 12" from the base. (Or the depth 1/2 inch less than you desire.)

R3: p1, {K1,P1} *20, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1, p1, K40, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1
R4: p1, {P1,K1} *20, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1, p1, K40, p1, {S1,k1}*4, S1

Repeat Rows 3 & 4 once more.

R5: p1, cast off 40 sts.

Okay! You're at the top of the bag. There are two sections to work next: The handle and the flap. You can do either next.

Handle.

R1: S1, k 10, turn
R2: S1, p 10, turn
R3: S1, k to the end
R4: S1, p to the end
R5: S1, k2, C3F, k3 (C3F = Cable 3 Forward.)
R6: S1, p to the end

Repeat Row 1-6 until the handle is approximately the length you want, but a little shorter. It'll stretch. Trust me.

Pick up the 11 stitches from the side where the handle is suppose to attach and weave together using the kitchener stitch.

Flap:
Onto the flap! As you can see I put a design in mine. You don't have to, but you can! Get some graph paper and design what you want to be on the flap of the bag and then just knit it in! But remember to put it in upside down. You are knitting from the top down after all. This is what you do in general.

R1: k1, p1, k1, p1, K15, m1, K15, p1, k1, p1, k1 (You need a odd number for the last 6 rows.)
R2: k1, p1, k1, p34, k1, p1, k1
R3: k1, p1, k1, p1, K31, p1, k1, p1, k1

Repeat R2&R3, adding in your design if you want on on the flap of the back. Continue until the flap is 6 rows short of being the same length as your bag, ending with R3. Then:

R4: {K1, p1} * until last stitch, k1
R5: {K1, p1} * until last stitch, k1
R6: {K1, p1} *3, k2tog, yo, {K1, p1} until 9 stitches remain, yo, ssk, {K1, p1} *3, K1
R7: {K1, p1} * until last stitch, k1
R5: {K1, p1} * until last stitch, k1
R6: {K1, p1} * until last stitch, k1

Sew in loose ends. Pick cute button. Sew on said buttons.
Put something in it and then go for a stroll to show it off!

You know...

You know you are addicted to knitting when:
1) The day doesn't feel quite complete if you haven't knit at least one row of something.
2) Get really, really excited when you see a cute pattern and cast it on seconds after seeing it.
3) When you have 15 minutes to kill before meeting friends for dinner, you walk into the local REI not to check out camping or outdoors equipment, but to peruse the hat section for ideas.

Yup. That's what I did last night. I was about 15 min early for dinner with friends last night and so I honestly walked into the REI and picked up hat after hat, looking to see if I could replicate it. Yup. That's what I did. If I'd had paper with me I would have written down notes! That's how much of a geek I am!

You may see the results of said fact finding mission at some point in the future.

Best first project

Do you want to learn to knit? Or teach someone else to knit? Or do want to make someone a gift, but only have a short while?

Have I got the pattern for you!

Turn a Square is the perfect pattern to use to teach someone to knit. In fact, I used it this past spring to teach one of my friend's sisters to knit. Well, she already knew how to do the knit stitch, but this pattern is good because it uses knit, purl, k2tog and ssk. But the vast majority of this hat is knit. You only have to do the other stitches a few times. I definitely recommend it for a first project.

I made this hat a while ago to get rid of some bits of yarn I've had lying around forever. It kind of worked out pretty cool because it's stripes of blue and a variated yarn with the same blue in it. It didn't photograph very well, which is why I didn't blog about it at the time... but... I'm a little low on finished projects, so here you go.

But there's a cute one in the works, so hold tight and it might be ready by next week. (fingers crossed.)

Cabley

Mittens!

I love mitts. Well, okay, I love armwarmers more! But mittens are a close second. So much fun. They are fun to make and fun to wear.

These are no exception.

I got the pattern here, and it's pretty fun. I do like to do cables every once in a while.

My one dislike about the pattern is that the cuffs ribbing isn't that stretchy. I don't know if it's because I used two strands to make the mittens warmer or if it's because of the cables. I think the cables are cute, so I wouldn't remove them, but I worry that they will be a little large and snow could get down the cuff.

Well, I guess we'll see.

IWICMSTC

Welcome to the first (of probably many) editions of IWICMSTC.

What's that you say?

I said: I Wish I Could Make Something That Cool. Look at this!

Isn't this bowl the coolest thing in the world? And I didn't buy it! Handmade. Such a fun gift to receive! I've always wanted to learn how to do pottery. But, you know, it's one of those... I want to learn how to do pottery in the same way I want to be able to do a round-off triple flip in a tuck position. In other words: ain't gonna happen.

So I think it's so cool when other people try fun stuff like this! Oh you talented people! I'm so jealous of you.

And so thankful that you are my friends. You rock. I love it!

PS - I've had some unofficial editions of this. I'm lucky to have such talented friends.

Lil Dude

Surprises, surprises! Life is full of them. This one was a big, happy surprise when I heard the news. My niece&nephew count is going to increase to 3 come April! Yup. My older sister is havin' a baby! How fab is that?!

Now, I've mentioned about 10000 times how I'm planning on making Christmas sweaters for each little one, but somehow it didn't hit me until 3hrs after I heard the news that it meant I had some more Christmas gift knitting to do! :)

Here's the sweater I made:

I used a base baby cardigan pattern, but modified it to have the lace up the front. Here's the lace pattern I used:

R1: K3, yo, sl 1, k2tog, psso, yo, K3
R3: K2,yo, K1, sl 1, k2tog, psso, K1, yo, K2
R5: K1, yo, K2, sl 1, k2tog, psso, K2, yo, K1
R7: K
(purl even rows)

I should have moved it a few stitches away from the edge, but it's okay where it is.

All in all, a cute, pretty quick knit. And although I don't know whether it'll be a boy or a girl, I think this would be cute for either. I might write it up into a pattern, but I haven't decided yet. There's nothing crazy new or unique about the cardigan, but it is cute.

Ballard

It's November!

What a useless month November used to be for me. In Ottawa, I remember how it felt like there was no sun during the whole month. Sooo depressing. It's tons better here by the bay, but still. The shorter days are starting to get to me. I do not like running in the dark.

But I no longer hate November. That was then and this is now! Like the last three Novembers, and along with a lot of other crazy people, I'm going to busy over the next month trying to write a novel. So, if I don't post very often... it's probably because I'm not knitting as much as I normally do.

Which brings me to this pattern.

When I saw its name - Ballard - I knew I *had* to knit it. I had to do it because last year I wrote a novel about a girl who lived in Ballard, Wa. (Read: Seattle.) I didn't mind making it one bit either. It's super cute!

Even better - I can definitely see my character wearing this hat.

It was a fun&fast knit. The lace pattern was super easy to memorize and it gives a fun wave feel to it. The only mod I made to it was that I used the alternate cable cast on. (And really, that's not much of a mod.)

I got the pattern off of ravelry, but if you like it you can get it here too. As you can see the ones in the pattern turned out sooo much nicer than mine. Part of that might be my not perfect knitting style (?) but I think a lot of it has to do with the yarn that I chose and that I totally messed up the blocking of this hat. I just shouldn't have done it.

Yet, I love the colour of the yarn. I think it's perfect for this hat! I guess you can't win every battle.

Anyways, wish me luck with my November. Ima gonna need it.

(& I do have a few project stashed for posts. Come back on Thursday for a good pattern for a lil dude.)

I (heart) Etsy

Hi y'all.

Just a short note to mention what I'm doing today. I'm starting my Christmas shopping! Yup. Right here from home. I thought maybe you should start too.

Up front: I do not sell anything on Etsy, but I do love it. I love the stuff and I love the idea. Giving money directly to the people who make the product. I 100% believe that a handmade gift is the best gift.

If you handmake it, fab. But if you can't, something someone else made is pretty cool too.

Enter, etsy.

Go buy someone something super cute! I bet you they'll love it. Off I go to do just that.

Puff Hat

Last week I had a fun guest post by Steph, who as I mentioned is in some ways my twin. We like so many of the same things! So it was sort of funny when she sent her post over that she'd made a puff slouch hat, cause not that long ago I made one too. Different pattern, but very similar.

I didn't post about this hat before because I wasn't overjoyed by the outcome. It's okay, but not fabulous.

This was made for a friend from my soccer team for her birthday. Pink is her colour. She has pink on her cleats. If she can she wears pink soccer socks. She just loves pink. It seems that way doesn't it. Pink is one of those colours that people either love or hate.

I got the pattern from here and it was pretty easy to make. The puff stitch was totally new to me so I had to watch the video. But I've said it once and I will say it again, youtube has been the best thing ever for my knitting. Anything I need to learn it can teach me.

When you can't decide

Sometimes things have a hard time keeping my attention...

...

Wait. What was I saying?

Right. Attention.

Yeah. Sometimes I'm really good staying on task. Sometimes I have great focus and I will work at something for hours or days or months whole heartedly, just because I really want to finish it. And then there are times when nothing can keep my attention - not books (I'm reading 5 right now...), nor movies (I didn't finish the last 3 I started...), not even knitting projects.

Above is the knitting project I've been working on the longest - a pair of chevalier mittens. I got the pattern on ravelry, but I think you can get the pattern from this blog.

It's a fun pattern, and I really like the cables along the front of the mitten. They make it an interesting thing to knit. So you'd think I'd be done both by now.

Nope.

Just as I was finishing up the first mitten, I realized I'd made a mistake. The pattern is really easy to read (if you don't try to read the Finnish that is). It has a nice chart to help you along, and I definitely love charts. Yet somehow I ended up with the wrong number of stitches at the top and I wasn't willing to undo rows upon rows of work to fix it. So I fudged the decreases at the top. The mitts look okay, but the hands of the girl who I intended to give these to are definitely too small for them.

Oh well.

I just need to find someone else to gift them to, right?

Still it was a little discouraging. So I set them aside and started another project. And then another. And when I didn't want to finish that one, I started another. And then another. And you get the point.

Hopefully soon I will have a finished project to show you. Until then maybe I'll go look for another new pattern to start...

Puff Striped Slouch Hat by stephchows

Being born and raised in Canada, I've seen the Anne of Green Gables movies about 25 times (and read the books a few times too). I love them! And not just cause Anne has red hair.

In the books/movies Anne longs for to find a 'kindred spirit'. Just like Anne who finds Diana, I've been lucky enough to find a few friend's I would describe as a kindred spirit throughout my lifetime, and somehow, but some lucky fluke, the internet found me another.

I did a cookie exchange last Christmas and sent biscotti to Steph at stephchows. I started reading her fabulous food blog at that time, but it wasn't until later that I realized just how alike we are! Now not a week goes by that I read something on her blog and think - "I think/feel/love/hate the same thing!" Seriously. Sometimes I think it's like we were separated at birth we are so alike! And not just cause we have the same birthday. (Sadly, I am 1 yr older.)

Anyways, awhile back I suggested we do guest posts since I made a batch of pumpkin ginger granola I wanted to share.

In return this is Steph's crafting post back.

--

No matter if you like it or not... autumn weather... and even traces of frost and ice are creeping into the area! But don't fret, I have just the thing to keep you warm.

This is the perfect project to use up some random skeins of yarn you have laying around. It's also perfect for a nice quick project, just grab a K sized crochet hook, some worsted weight yarn, and plop yourself in front of some bad tv and go to town. By the end of a few shows (project runway, top chef, girls next door! oh DVR how I love you! no commercials for me!) you will have yourself a nice new hat to wear to work in the morning! (ok don't judge me on my shows... girls next door is very ummm educational... yes, that's it...lord why do I like that show!? I'd like to see your DVR list... I bet there are some doosies in there!)

I started making this hat with some leftover blue and a multicolor yarn... I got 4 rounds into it and knew it was an utter disaster. WOW, how on earth did I think that would look good??

Oh well, it was just practicing for the real thing right? I went back to my yarn stash and found a nice grey and a mellow white... ok much better, no clashing, or barf inducing color combination here!

If you'd like to be oh so stylish and cool, you can find the pattern here for free!

And if you are craving something tasty... stop on by my blog for a treat :)

C+

I designed another hat! But unlike my last design attempt (that was so horrible it deserved a T. ... for Troll), I think this one turned out okay. In fact, I think it deserves a solid C+.

It's not perfect, so it doesn't deserve an A. (Well, unless the A stands for Acceptable.) I'll be the first to admit that it has some problems. Still, I'm satisfied with it. I won't feel bad giving it as a birthday gift (which is why I made this one). But I know that there is still some room for improvement.

Good things about this hat:

1) The cables worked out nicely.

2) It's pretty simple, so it was easy to knit up.

3) It's the right size! It isn't too short or to small or too big.

Bad things:

1) The cables aren't as obvious as I would like them to be. I think that is partially because of the yarn. But still it could have been done better.

2) Okay. I admit it. While it's not too short or to small or too big, it is a little long. But if you do the cute flip up of the brim, it's an okay length. And I think the hat looks cute like that.

So there it is. My hat design attempt. I think I may try making this design again, but with different yarn and see if I can make the length and diamond design work better. If I can, I'll post the instructions. Ooh. Wouldn't that be exciting?! My first design!

Either way, I hope the gift is well liked. We'll see...

Scarf

Greetings fall. Hi autumn. I'm so glad you are here! I love you October. You herald in the days of squash, soups and sweaters. And although California falls are far from being the autumns of my youth, the days are chillier here too. I finally, for real, get to wear all of the things I've been making this year! This is reason to celebrate.

In that honour, and to go with my new green jacket from last year, I made this cute scarf.

I got the pattern here. And I think this scarf looks pretty good! I'm happy with the yarn and the outcome.
The pattern was really well written. The descriptions of the "treble" and "double treble" were easy to follow. I didn't even have to watch a youtube video. And I watch youtube videos for almost every new technique that is knitting/crochet related.
Now whether the scarf will be warm or not... that is yet to be seen. Even if it isn't, I love it! And I love you too October. I think I'm going to go make some fingerless mittens.

Just cause I can.

Durango

OMG. It's me with straight hair!

It is possible! Who knew?

Well... It's possible, but not easy. I can't do it. Actually, some professionals can't do it. Seriously. One time when I was getting my hair done for a wedding the stylist couldn't straighten it. She quit half way through and decided to go for a curly look. No joke.

So when I had straight hair last weekend I knew I had to take advantage of it. Luckily I had just finished this cute hat and had a reason to model it!

This hat is called a Durango and I got the pattern from here.

This hat also gave me a good way to use up some buttons. The green ones are from my February Lady sweater. (I've since swapped the buttons because I didn't like the green on green.) And the white button is from my stash of gift buttons. I love finding ways to use those buttons. :)

The pattern is pretty easy to follow. I think I'm getting better at reading and implementing crochet patterns!! Yay! Well... for some reason I did have to add three more rows of DCs to make the hat long enough. Not sure what's up with that. Otherwise I followed the pattern.

Close enough?

Let them eat Cupcakes

Earlier this summer I made a lot of cupcakes. A lot. It was all done as a trial for what I did last week. Last week, with a lot of help, I made the cupcakes for C's wedding. (The cupcakes were for eating... the fake cake was for decoration.)

In the end we decided to go for Chocolate with Mocha Meringue Buttercream (topped with a chocolate covered coffee bean), Lemon with Lemon Cream Cheese icing, and Vanilla Buttercream cupcakes. Yum!

And they must have been a hit since they all got eaten! It was lots of fun to do actually. I had a ton of help! I even made a new baking friend (a friend of the bride's who came to help). We've since emailed recipes back and forth. She did a fabulous job decorating them!
Since they say that a picture is worth a million words, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

This is unfortunately where fondant flowers go to die. They were made early, but not many survived the trip.

And here's the final result:

While I was vacationing

Sometimes getting home from vacation is sad. But sometimes getting home from vacation is nice. You get to sleep in your own bed. You get to make your own food in your own kitchen. And getting home from vacation is even nicer if you have a package of amazing surprises waiting for you!

Like this one!

I took part in Special K's Share Yourself exchange. I sent my package off before leaving for Canada a week an a half ago, and my package was waiting for me when I got back yesterday. Look at what I got! I'm in shock by all of the amazing looking treats that Angharad from eating-for-England sent me! She even wrapped all of them in funky paper that I am totally saving and reusing! (I know. I'm a pack rat. Sue me.)

I'm totally looking forward to trying it all. And reading more of her blog! I love finding good new blogs.

But, back to the stuff.

I've been meaning to try Marmite forever! She said it, and I've heard it before that it's something you either love or hate. I'm wondering which it'll be for me. Hopefully love The other stuff is perfect for me too. Who doesn't love Nutella? Whenever I eat it, I remember the week I lived off of it while traveling in Ireland. Good times! & I love tea! I drink it every morning. I haven't tried this kind so that'll be fun. Any cookie (sorry - biscuit) that are "melt-in-your-mouth" good and that you are supposed to dunk in tea sound fabulous to me! I can't wait to try it all.

Thanks so much!!

A Cake made of Styrofoam

When is a cake, not a cake? When it's styrofoam.
Yup. So here's the first set of pictures in the way of recap from last week. It was a busy week!! Bridesmaid-ing is hard work let me tell you. But fun! So much fun!

The two layers above are just styrofoam. On top, I put fondant. Horrible, beautiful, fondant. Sometimes it works. And sometimes it doesn't.

This layer, the top layer, was a real cake. The idea was that no one was going to eat this cake, but the bride & groom wanted to be able to cut the cake. So I made a $1 box cake and then covered it in fondant to go on top. I put ribbon at the base of those layers, and then the rest of the decorating was done by other fabulous ladies.

Enter the other 3 bridesmaids, some fresh cut flowers, and a lot of discussion.

And in the end, the cake was beautiful. Although I can't take full responsibility for it, but I am pretty proud of it. I think it looks pretty freaking fabulous. And I'm guessing with the flowers, fondant, cake and Styrofoam... it probably cost about $75. Not too bad.